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Vaccination against Covid-19 provides stronger protection than immunity from a previous infection with the coronavirus, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Friday. The study looked at more than 7,000 people hospitalized with Covid-like illnesses, and found that those who were unvaccinated — but had a previous case of the illness — were five times more likely to have a confirmed case of Covid than people who were fully vaccinated and had not had Covid before. A previous infection does provide some degree of immunity and protection against reinfection, but the findings suggest that...

Days ahead of the opening of the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, a group of faith institutions joined the growing movement to divest from fossil fuels. The group includes 72 institutions — 36 of them Catholic — with assets of more than $4.2 billion. Salesian Father Joshtrom Kureethadam, coordinator of Ecology and Creation at the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, welcomed the announcement during an Oct. 26 video conference organized by leading divestment proponents. The Vatican and Pope Francis have become increasingly vocal about shifting investment funds from fossil fuels toward clean energy alternatives. In...

Why would a pope do such a thing?I have a few busy days right now and also people in town, so my energies are divided.However, I bring to your attention the fact that, other day, with other religious leaders Francis signed a document about “safeguarding nature” in advance of some gassy climate confab in Scotland. Antonio Socci says that the 2350 word document has not a single reference to God or a creator or creation.I have to ask myself: Why would a Pope sign such a document?On the other hand, Francis also appointed Jeffrey Sachs to the Pontifical Academy of...

When considering the implications of thawing permafrost, our initial worries are likely to turn to the major issue of methane being released into the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming or issues for local communities as the ground and infrastructure become unstable. While this is bad enough, new research reveals that the potential effects of permafrost thaw could also pose serious health threats. As part of the ESA–NASA Arctic Methane and Permafrost Challenge, new research has revealed that rapidly thawing permafrost in the Arctic has the potential to release antibiotic-resistant bacteria, undiscovered viruses and even radioactive waste from Cold War nuclear...

The annual United Nations climate conference is where world leaders go to make a reputation for themselves. For Gov. Gavin Newsom, this year’s climate summit couldn’t come at a better time. On the heels of the recall election, Newsom is primed to boldly reassert California’s leadership on climate. He ran on a pro-science message — contrasting his stance on COVID and the climate crisis with that of his conservative challengers — and it worked. The governor defeated the recall attempt by the same 24-point margin that he was elected with in 2018.

With the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, just weeks away, several federal agencies simultaneously on Oct. 21 released four new analyses on the national security implications of climate change—including a report from the White House on climate change and migration stating that individuals citing climate change “may, in limited instances, have valid claims for refugee status” in the United States. That White House report states that nationals from a foreign state can be granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) on the basis of “climate-related factors,” later recommending that Congress consider relaxing TPS requirements and making it easier for...

--SNIP--- According to a schedule obtained by CNN, the president is sending top climate advisers Gina McCarthy and jet-setting John Kerry to the November summit alongside, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, WH Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Eric Lander, and National Economic Council director Brian Deese.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Earth’s warming and resulting natural disasters are creating a more dangerous world of desperate leaders and peoples, the Biden administration said Thursday in the federal government’s starkest assessments yet of security and migration challenges facing the United States as the climate worsens. The Defense Department for years has called climate change a threat to U.S. national security. But Thursday’s reports by the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, National Security Council and Director of National Intelligence provide one of the government’s deepest looks yet at the vast rippling effects on the world’s stability and resulting heightened...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department on Thursday took the first step for financial markets to start pricing in the potential risks and costs from climate change, key to transforming the economics of reducing carbon emissions. The Financial Stability Oversight Council — led by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen — has issued a 133-page report that outlines plans to measure the damage climate change could pose to the world economy. Also among the 10 voting members on the council are the heads of the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission. By releasing the document 10 days before a United...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal water managers warned Wednesday that like other basins across the western U.S., the Pecos River Basin in New Mexico is likely to experience growing water shortages as temperatures continue to rise over the next century. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation discussed the findings of a recently completed study on the basin during a virtual briefing, saying the goal of the work was to better understand the threats to water supplies in the region due to climate change. Officials also looked at what tools could be used to stretch resources to help sustain viable agriculture over...

James Murdoch, the son of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and his wife Kathryn are close to a deal to fund a climate reporting division of the Associated Press, according to Axios. The Murdoch couple will make a multi-million-dollar investment in the Associated Press as part of the deal, two sources familiar with the negotiations told Axios. The investment will go towards the creation of a new AP climate reporting hub which will employ 20 reporters. The new climate division at the AP would reportedly have other donors in addition to the Murdochs, according to Axios. James and Kathryn Murdoch...

China is making a mockery of climate targets as it announced plans to build more coal-fired power plants and increase oil and gas exploration, just weeks ahead of the COP26 summit where world leaders were expected to agree to ambitious emission cuts. Beijing's National Energy Commission said late Tuesday it is important 'to build advanced coal-fired power plants' and intensify domestic oil and gas exploration after the country was hit by blackouts last week.Li Keqiang, China's second-in-command, made the announcement after the meeting and hinted that a pledge to cap the country's carbon emissions by 2030 - which already lags...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has faced a flurry of criticism from Republicans for taking paid parental leave with his husband and two newborns. But Buttigieg wants to refocus the conversation on another topic entirely: climate change. “Inevitably, every transportation decision is a climate decision, whether we acknowledge it or not,” Buttigieg said in an interview with The Climate 202. “So I think that's absolutely part of our mandate and part of our set of responsibilities as a department.” **SNIP** Cars and trucks account for the bulk of the sector's pollution, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency. And in...

UN Climate Change Conference Reportedly Using Diesel Generators To Charge Teslas Being Used As Shuttles We’re not sure we can think of a better analogue for the lunacy behind the climate change hysteria that what is reportedly going on in Glasgow. As many people know, the Conference of the Parties (COP) Climate Change Conference, hosted by the UK in partnership with Italy, is taking place in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12. One blogger from Brighton wrote this week that attendees from the conference will be staying at Gleneagles Hotel. He wrote that there’s 20 Teslas at the hotel...

Dozens of climate activists have been arrested after they clashed with police in Washington DC and forced their way into the Interior Department building in scenes that some have called reminiscent of the US Capitol riot. An Interior Department spokeswoman said a group of demonstrators rushed the lobby on Thursday, injuring multiple security officers, at least of whom was taken to a nearby hospital. Police and protesters clashed outside the building, and officers used Tasers and batons against several unarmed protesters, representatives for the activist group said. The group said 55 participants were arrested.

The Biden administration is taking steps to address the economic risks from climate change, issuing a 40-page report Friday on government-wide plans to protect the financial, insurance, and housing markets and the savings of American families. The report lays out steps that could potentially alter the mortgage process, stock market disclosures, retirement plans, federal procurement, and government budgeting. “If this year has shown us anything, it’s that climate change poses an ongoing urgent and systemic risk to our economy and to the lives and livelihoods of everyday Americans, and we must act now,” Gina McCarthy, the White House national climate...

The Queen has criticised world leaders’ inaction on addressing the climate crisis, admitting she is “irritated” by individuals who “talk but don’t do”. She made the remarks, which were picked up on a livestream, at the opening of the Welsh parliament in Cardiff on Thursday. During a conversation with the Duchess of Cornwall and Elin Jones, the parliament’s presiding officer, the Queen referred to the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow starting on 31 October, which she is scheduled to attend along with other members of the royal family. She said: “Extraordinary isn’t it. I’ve been hearing all about Cop ......

“I’m not in the transitory-inflation crowd. The private sector is allocating all the money to the fast-growing software, eating-the-world companies. It’s not allocating money to companies that actually make things and provide other kinds of services that people find less exciting, meaning there are shortages of these things now.”These comments from Greenlight Capital’s founder David Einhorn in a recent RealVision interview, while addressing the broader "transitory vs permanent" inflation debate, are especially apt in describing the transformation taking place in the energy sector where the recent ESG mania has deprived legacy fossil-fuel companies of much needed capital (not just growth...

Pope Francis will not attend the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, the Vatican indicated on Friday. Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See press office, said on Oct. 8 that the Vatican’s delegation to the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) would be led by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The Vatican never officially acknowledged the possibility that the pope would take part in the Nov. 1-12 event. But Pope Francis noted in an interview with Spain’s COPE radio station aired on Sept. 1 that he hoped to travel to Scotland to take part in the conference....

HUNT VALLEY, Md. (SBG) — UPDATE 10/5/21: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed their 2021 holiday guidance Tuesday and said the update was a mishap. The agency said its recommendations for virtual gatherings that mirrored 2020 guidance does not reflect this year's, and new suggestions are coming soon. Original story from Monday below. Despite vaccinations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends people celebrate Thanksgiving virtually this year. Updated guidance states that attending gatherings for events and holidays still increases the risk of getting and spreading COVID-19, especially with the threat of the highly transmissible delta...