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This is a good question, let's enumerate some important laws which came in the newspapers in the past 12 months.We shall make this post crowd-sourced. And we are planning to reward our contributors by giving them credits* -Detailed Well Presented 100 word Explanation - 2000Giving Valid Links and a Small Brief - 1000Giving Names of New Laws - 500Contributors (As of now) - Jai Parimi, Divya Malika, Prasanna, Ashutosh Pandey, Arihant Pawariya (अरिहंत पावङिया), Divya Choudhary (दिव्या चौधरी), Varsha Singh, Priyanka Peeramsetty, User, Gaurav Kumar, Jagannadh, Arpit Pareek, Nikhil Deshmukh, Harshit Ladva1) The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014 and the 99th Constitutional AmendmentA bill to provide for the composition of the Judicial Appointments Commission for the purpose of recommending persons for appointment as Chief Justice of India and other Judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justices and other Judges of High Courts, its functions, procedure to be followed by it and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.Key Issues and AnalysisThe current method of appointments has been examined by various bodies including the Law Commission and the Parliamentary Standing Committee. They vary in the role of the executive and judiciary in making appointments of judges.The composition of the JAC has not been included in the Constitution, but has been left for Parliament to decide by law. This implies that modifying the composition of the JAC would not require a constitutional amendment, but may be altered by a simple majority in Parliament.The Standing Committee examining the JAC Bill has recommended that (i) the JAC be composed of three eminent persons, (ii) the broad parameters for short listing of candidates for HC appointments be laid down in the Bill, and (iii) the center also consider the setting up of state level appointments commissions comprising the Chief Minister, the Chief Justice of HC and the Leader of Opposition.2) Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Reservation Act, 2013Objective - The principle objective of the new bill is fair compensation, thorough resettlement and rehabilitation of those affected, adequate safeguards for their well-being and complete transparency in the process of land acquisition. The title has been amended to reflect this.Need - There is unanimity of opinion across the social and political spectrum that the Old Law (The Land Acquisition Act 1894) suffers from various shortcomings and is outdated. Some of these include Forced acquisitions, No safeguards, Silent on resettlement and rehabilitation of those displaced, Urgency clause, Low rates of compensation, Litigation. To say the least, the Old Act needs to be replaced at the earliest by fair, reasonable and rational enactment in tune with the constitutional provisions, particularly, Article 300A of the Constitution.Link - Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 20133) Companies Act, 2013 (CSR Pref)Objective - Effective from financial year 2014-15, every company, private limited or public limited, which either has a net worth of Rs 500 crore or a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or net profit of Rs 5 crore, needs to spend at least 2% of its average net profit for the immediately preceding three financial years on corporate social responsibility activities.Impact - The CSR activities undertaken by the companies will benefit hunger and poverty eradication, promoting preventive healthcare, promoting education and promoting gender equality, setting up homes for women, orphans and the senior citizens, measures for reducing inequalities faced by socially and economically backward groups, ensuring environmental sustainability and ecological balance, animal welfare, protection of national heritage and art and culture and many more.Link - Companies Act, 2013, Companies - It's a good articlePRSIndia– This describes the whole of companies act – Checkpoint 135 for CSR4) Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005Objective - Landmark bill, which realized the Right to seek and access Information in line with the interpretation of Art.19(1)(a) of our constitution.Impact - Champion to ensure Transparency and accountability in the governance procedures. it enforces the right of every citizen of India to have an access to the information regarding any money given by the State to any authority, thereby causing such authority to utilize such money reasonably and judiciously and also for keeping a check over their conduct and indulgence in corrupt activities. In 2002, SC’s verdict gave the citizens have a right to know about charges against candidates for elections as well as details of their assets, since they desire to offer themselves for public service and public servants cannot claim exemption from disclosure of charges against them or details of their assets. It is a powerful tool which can be realised in changing social dynamics and needs.Criticism - Debates regarding the ambit of RTI’s scope have been articulated, to be extended, say to the political parties, temples, schools and also privatized public utility companies. Evidences of misusage have come to the limelight, say Naxalites using RTI’s to check the assets of local landlords to loot themGuide to RTI : Page on rti.gov.in5) Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act, 2005Objective - The SEZ Act is expected to give a big thrust to exports and consequently to the foreign direct investment (“FDI”) inflows into India, and is considered to be one of the finest pieces of legislation that may well represent the future of the industrial development strategy in India. The new law is aimed at encouraging PPP to develop world-class infrastructure and attract private investment (domestic and foreign), boosting economic growth, exports and employmentImpact - The government gets the capital needed to establish the required infrastructure and also the expertise. SEZ’s with relaxed import tariffs help the Import dependent and export driven industries to flourish. SEZ’s create immense employment opportunities and improve the country’s foreign export.Criticism - Practical implementation witnesses several backlogs ranging from regional disparities, grabbing arable land, labour laws issues and supply chain management which fail to be addressed effectively through the bill6) Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013Objective -The government introduced the Bill to redefine the offence of rape and amend the penal laws in line with the recommendations of the Law Commission and the National Commission for Women. The government withdrew the previous Bill and Ordinance, and introduced the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013. The changes wrt the ordinance in the act are:Impact - Popularly known as the Anti-rape bill, this came out of the protests of 2012 Delhi Gang rape case.Criticism - For not including certain suggestions recommended by the Verma Committee Report like, marital rape, reduction of age of consent, amending Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.Some detailed work: http://www.atimysore.gov.in/workshops/wppts/gender_issues/crim_law_amnd_2013_drjagadeesh_jsslaw_college.pdf7) Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013Objective - To provide protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. the protection against sexual harassment and the right to work with dignity are universally recognized human rightsImpact - On a broader line, this ensures safe work environment for women against sexual abuse at work place and is capable of garnering a greater female work force and these are the Major features the act provides for.Criticism - It does not cover women in the armed forces and excludes women agricultural workers, "a gross injustice to agricultural workers. The burden of proof is on the women who complain of harassment. If found guilty of making a false complaint or giving false evidence, she could be prosecuted, which has raised concerns about women being even more afraid of reporting offences. Furthermore, the law requires a third-party NGO to be involved, which could make employers less comfortable in reporting grievances, due to confidentiality concerns.8) DNA Profiling Bill, 2012Purpose - DNA analysis makes it possible to determine whether the source of origin of one body substance is identical to that of another, and further to establish the biological relationship, if any, between two individuals, living or dead without any doubt.Tip - Lawful purposes of establishing identity in criminal or civil proceedings.Impact - It will be essential to establish standards for laboratories, staff qualifications, training, proficiency testing, collection of body substances, custody trail from collection to reporting and a Data Bank with policies of use and access to information therein, its retention and deletion.DNA Data Bank Manager will supervise, execute and maintain this system and a DNA Profiling Board of eminent scientists, administrators and Law enforcement officers will administer and carry out other functions assigned to it under this Act.Link - DNA Profiling Bill - PDF9) Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority Bill, 2011Purpose - So far, India has excellent record in nuclear safety and radiation safety; but the Central Government intends to promote nuclear energy to meet shortfall in total energy requirement of the country; and whereas such excellent safety record in nuclear safety and radiation safety is required to be sustained for growth in the nuclear energy sector.Impact - Now, therefore, it has been considered necessary and expedient to establish regulators to ensure continued excellence in nuclear safety and radiation safety in all applications of radiation and atomic energy on a large scale.10) Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010Purpose - As the name itself indicates that it is an Act to provide for civil liability for nuclear damage and prompt compensation to the victims of a nuclear incident through a no-fault liability regime channeling liability to the operator.Impact - Appointment of Claims Commissioner, establishment of Nuclear Damage Claims Commission connected there with.11) IT Act, 2000 and IT (Amendment) Bill, 2006Purpose - It is an Act to provide legal recognition for the transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication, commonly referred to as "Electronic Commerce", which involve the use of alternatives to paper based methods of communication and storage of information, to facilitate electronic filings of documents with the Government and other related agencies.Tip - It is renamed as the Information Technology Act, 2008Impact - To promote efficient delivery of Government services by means of reliable electronic records.12) National Green Tribunal Bill, 2009Purpose - For the effective disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal rights relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property.Impact - National Green Tribunal law is enacted in view of the involvement of multi-disciplinary issues relating to the environment and also to implement the decisions taken at Rio de Janeiro and Stockholm Conferences.Link - NGT Bill - PDF13) Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969Objective - It is designed to ensure that the operation of the economic system does not result in concentration of the economic power to the common detriment.The act also provides for probation of monopolistic, unfair and restrictive trade practices.Impact - The MRTP Commission if on enquiry concludes that the practice under consideration is of restrictive or unfair in nature , it may:Order discontinuation of the practice and restrict its repetition (cease and desist order ), the agreement shall be void and shall stand modified as may specified in the order. It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.Link - MRTP Act, 196914) Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2008(Coal scam and SC verdict, so important)Objective - To develop and regulate mining & mineral industries and bring it under the control of one union by setting up mineral funds on National level, granting concessions, share benefit schemes while preventing illegal mining.Impact - Safeguards on regulating and safe disposal of waste in consonance with environmental norms will be incorporated. Through implementation of proper taxing and speedy approvals on action against violations illegal mining will be preventedLink - Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill 200815) Whistleblower Protection Bill, 2011It seeks to establish a mechanism to register complaints on any allegations of corruption or wilful misuse of power against a public servant. The Bill also provides safeguards against victimisation of the person who makes the complaint.Highlights of the BillThe Bill seeks to protect whistleblowers, i.e. persons making a public interest disclosure related to an act of corruption, misuse of power, or criminal offence by a public servant.The Vigilance Commission shall not disclose the identity of the complainant except to the head of the department if he deems it necessary. The Bill penalises any person who has disclosed the identity of the complainant.Key Issues and AnalysisThe Bill aims to balance the need to protect honest officials from undue harassment with protecting persons making a public interest disclosure. It punishes any person making false complaints. However, it does not provide any penalty for victimizing a complainant.16) Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection) Bill 2014Objectives: The Bill seeks to achieve the objectives of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children. It specifies procedural safeguards in cases of children in conflict with law. It seeks to address challenges in the existing Act such as delays in adoption processes, high pendency of cases, accountability of institutions, etc. The Bill further seeks to address children in the 16-18 age group, in conflict with law, as an increased incidence of crimes committed by them have been reported over the past few years.Coverage: The Bill defines a child as anyone less than 18 years of age. However, a special provision has been inserted for the possibility of trying 16-18 year old committing heinous offenses, as adults. A heinous offense is defined as one for which the minimum punishment under the Indian Penal Code is seven years.17) Citizens Charters & Grievance Redressal Bill, 2011. (CCGR)The Citizen's Charter and Grievance Redressal Bill 2011 also known as The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 or Citizens Charter Bill was a proposed in Lok Sabha in December 2011. The bill lapsed due to dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 lays down obligations of every public authority towards citizens, specifying delivery of goods and services in a time-bound manner and providing for a grievance redressal mechanism for non-compliance of citizens charter.Highlights :The Bill makes it mandatory for every public authority to publish a Citizen’s Charter within six months of the commencement of the Act.The Citizen’s Charter shall list the details of the goods and services provided by a public authority; the name of the person or agency responsible for providing the goods or services; the time frame within which such goods or services have to be provided; the category of people entitled to the goods and services; and details of the complaint redressal mechanism.Grievance redress officer : It requires every public authority to designate grievance redress officers in all public offices to enquire into and redress any complaints from citizens in a timeframe not exceeding 30 days from the date of receipt of the complaint.Public Grievance Redressal Commissions : The Bill provides for constitution of the state public grievance redressal commission and the central public grievance redressal commission consisting of chief commissioners and other commissioners.Penalty : DA and Commission can impose fine of Max. Rs 50000 to concerned officials/GRO. The penalty shall be recovered from the salary of the official. Such penalty may be awarded as compensation to the appellant.Corruption Prevention : The Designated Authority and the Commissions may refer a matter to the appropriate authorities if there is prima facie evidence of a corrupt act under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. An appeal against the decision of the Central Commission shall be filed before the Lokpal. An appeal against the decision of the State Commission shall be filed before the Lokayukta.Criticism :Against federal Spirit : Citizens’ charter bill provides for GRO and Grievances Commission at state and central level, but Parliament doesn’t not have jurisdiction to enact such law. Only State legislature has jurisdiction to make laws regarding state public services.More than ten states have already enacted a Citizen Charter Act or Public Services Guarantee Act in their respective states. Many of these state laws have provisions that are much better than the proposed Bill.Lack of Autonomy : According to the bill, the commissioners may be removed without judicial inquiry.Duplication of work : Several states have their own grievance redressal laws, The mechanism provided under these laws is different from that provided under the Bill. This will lead to duplication of work and organizations.MNREGA Act, RTE Act, National Food Security Bill, and the Public Procurement Bill also have their own grievances redressal forums. This will again lead to more duplication.Sources :Copy of Bill : Page on prsindia.orgSummery of Bill : Page on prsindia.orgWiki Page : Citizen's Charter and Grievance Redressal Bill 2011Mrual Page : Citizens Charter Bill 2011: Salient Features, Issues, CriticismRediff Page : All you need to know about the Citizen's Charter Bill18) Right to Education Act, 2009The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE), was enacted on 4 August 2009, which describes the rules and regulations for free and compulsory education of children between 6 and 14 under Article 21A of Constitution. India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the act came into force on 1 April 2010.Highlights :The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009 stipulates that private schools reserve 25 per cent of seats at the entry level for children belonging to ‘disadvantaged groups’ and ‘weaker sections’.The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. There is also a provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age.Mentally and physically challenged children, entitled to free education in special schools, were included in the definition through an amendment in 2012.It also prohibits all unrecognised schools from practice, and makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admissions.Criticism :The act has been criticised for being hastily-drafted, not consulting many groups active in education, not considering the quality of education, infringing on the rights of private and religious minority schools to administer their system, and for excluding children under six years of age.Problems faced :Poor Response : Lack of awareness about the Act, inability to meet the distance criteria and difficulty in obtaining necessary certificates from government authorities could be some of the reasons for this.The Act provides for admission of children without any certification. However, several states have continued pre-existing procedures insisting that children produce income and caste certificates, BPL cards and birth certificates.The Act is not applicable to private minority schools and boarding schools.Report on the status of implementation of the Act released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development admits that 8.1 million children in the age group six-14 remain out of school and there’s a shortage of 508,000 teachers country-wide.Conclusion :For all its flaws, the RTE Act is a progressive piece of legislation that aims to take education to the masses and fill the gaps in the social system.Sources :Copy of Act : Page on ssa.nic.inWiki page : Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education ActHindu Article : Advantages and disadvantages of RTE Act19) Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2013 (POSCO)Objective – The act aims at ensuring protection of children from sexual abuse.Pros –1. Gender Neutral bill. 53% victims of children are victims.2. Stringent punishment (upto life imprisonment)3. Covers broad range of sexual crimes such as non-penetrative sexual assault, sexual harassment, and the use of children for pornography4. Includes special procedures to prevent the re-victimisation of children at the hands of an insensitive justice delivery system5. Protects victims identity and provides assisting legal, medical and psychological facilitiesCons –1. Criminalises all consensual sexual contact below 18 years age.2. The age provision is not in consonance with other acts.3. Regressive and draconian considering today’s social realities. Children are increasingly aware of each others sexualities at early age.4. Child marriage is prevalent on large scale. The age provision ignores this reality. Liable to bogus and unjustified complaints.Source – The Hindu : Good Act, bad provision20) The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013Objective – The act aims to combat corruption in government agencies and public sector businesses in India.Pros -1. Covers the offence of giving a bribe to a public servant under abetment. Specific provisions related to giving a bribe to a public servant, and giving a bribe by a commercial organisation.2. Redefines criminal misconduct to only cover misappropriation of property and possession of disproportionate assets.3. Modifies the definitions and penalties for offences related totaking a bribe, being a habitual offender and abetting an offence.4. Introduces Powers and procedures for the attachment and forfeiture of property of public servants accused of corruption.5. The Act requires prior sanction to prosecute serving public officials. The Bill extends this protection to former officials.Cons -1. The Bill makes giving a bribe a specific offence. There are diverging views on whether bribe giving under all circumstances must be penalised. Some have argued that a coerced bribe giver must be distinguished from a collusive bribe giver.2. The Bill has deleted the provision that protects a bribe giver from prosecution, for any statement made by him during a corruption trial. This may deter bribe givers from appearing as witnesses in court.3. The Bill has replaced the definition of criminal misconduct. It now requires that the intention to acquire assets disproportionate to income also be proved, in addition to possession of such assets. Thus, the threshold to establish the offence of possession of disproportionate assets has been increased by the Bill.4. By redefining the offence of criminal misconduct, the Bill does not cover circumstances where the public official: (i) uses illegal means, (ii) abuses his position, or (iii) disregards public interest and obtains a valuable thing or reward for himself or another person.5. Under the Act, the guilt of the person is presumed for the offences of taking a bribe, being a habitual offender or abetting an offence. The Bill amends this provision to only cover the offence of taking a bribe.Source - The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 201321) Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) (Regulation) Bill 2010Objective – The bill aims at legalizing (commercial) surrogacy.Pros –1. Offers legal protection to child and surrogate mothers.2. Regulation of IVF/ART clinics and holding them Accountable for ensuring best medical practices.3. Curbs exploitation of mother. Limits number of child births per mother to five.4. Introduces age limit for surrogate mother – 21 to 35.5. Ensures Child’s citizenship to be same as parents.Cons –1. Legal back up will lead to widespread commercialization of surrogacy, posing serious ethical, moral and philosophical questions.2. Mandatory certificate ensuring legality of surrogacy in foreign couple’s home country needed. Impediments in smooth commercial functioning.3. No provision in the bill if parent’s change their mind or die. Child’s responsibility in this case is debatable.4. Plethora of in-genuine clinics in India. Exploitation of poor and illiterate mothers because of their incapability to understand legalities involved.Source - Issues of surrogacy, PIB English Features22) Biotechnology Regulatory Authority Bill, 2013Objective - The Bill sets up an independent authority, the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI), to regulate organisms and products of modern biotechnology.Pros –1. BRAI will regulate the research, transport, import, containment, environmental release, manufacture, and use of biotechnology products.2. Regulatory approval by BRAI will be granted through a multi-level process of assessment undertaken by scientific experts.3. BRAI will certify that the product developed is safe for its intended use. All other laws governing the product will continue to apply.4. A Biotechnology Regulatory Appellate Tribunal will hear civil cases that involve a substantial question relating to modern biotechnology and hear appeals on the decisions and orders of BRAI.5. Penalties are specified for providing false information to BRAI, conducting unapproved field trials, obstructing or impersonating an officer of BRAI and for contravening any other provisions of the Bill.Cons -1. The Tribunal has jurisdiction over a ‘substantial question relating to modern biotechnology’ – An ambiguous term.2. The Tribunal will consist of one judicial member and five technical members. This is not in conformity with a SC decision that the number of technical members on a bench of a Tribunal cannot exceed the number of judicial members.3. The Tribunal’s technical members shall be eminent scientists or government officials with experience in the field. It is unclear whether the technical expertise of the latter can be equated with the former.4. The Bill does not specify any liability for damage caused by a product of biotechnology. Therefore, it will remain open to the courts to determine liability arising out of any adverse impact of modern biotechnology.5. Tribunal will not accept complaints from civil society, in spite of the fact that the Bill directly or indirectly affects every citizen. No public consultation done.6. Non clarity over Dept of GoI that will service BRAI. No mention of mandatory labelling of GM crops.7. Takes away rights of states to decide on Agriculture, which is state subject.8. The Convener of the Selection Committee for members of BRAI will be from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), which is a vendor of genetic engineering (the technology that BRAI is supposed to regulate) in the country. Conflict of Interest will arise.Source - The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2013Unconstitutional, unethical, unscientific23) Coal Regulatory Authority Bill, 2013ObjectiveTo set up an independent regulatory body for the coal sector that shall help in the regulation and conservation of coal resources and will benefit all stakeholders i.e. - coal companies, coal consuming industries such as power, steel, cement and coal bearing States and people, directly or indirectly associated with the coal industry.A fund called ‘The Coal Regulatory Authority Fund” is created to credit all the receipts and fees received.Constituents1 chairperson + 4 members. One each from legal , technical , administrative and financial wings. All to be selected by a committee of Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Cabinet Secretary.What will it do ?Inject transparency in allocation of coal blocks.Decide and Monitor operational norms and mining closure compliances and such.Determine pricing of the fuel and publishing surveys, information, statistics, etc related to coal sector and coal quality.Adjudicate disputes between entities and between entities and other persons.Advise government on technologies, policy, promotion, investment etc.Ref :- The Coal Regulatory Authority Bill, 2013,Coal Regulatory Authority Bill likely in Winter session24) eWaste (Management and Handling) Act, 2011What is it ?E-waste has beendefined as “waste electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part or rejects from their manufacturing and repair process, which are intended to be discarded”.AIM :-Reduction in the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.Specifying threshold for use of hazardous material including lead, mercury and cadmium.Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) thus introduces the concept of "Extended Producer Responsibility".How will it work ?It fixes responsibilities on every producer, seller, consumer or bulk consumer, collection centre, dismantler and recycler of e-waste involved in the manufacture, sale, purchase and processing of electrical and electronic equipment or components.E.g. :Recycling of E-Waste generated during manufacturing and "End of Life" of electronic and electrical equipments.Setting up of collection centres by companies or individuals to collect E-waste and discard them.Setting up of funds by corporate to boost scientific and eco-friendly disposal of E-waste.CritiqueNo accountability set on anyone.E-Industry remains skeptical of the efficacy of this act.No specific targets set.Ref :- @E-waste management rules kick in today@Page on moef.nic.in25) Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, 2011What is it ?The bill is intended to prevent “any act or series of acts, whether spontaneous or planned, resulting in injury or harm to the person and or property, knowingly directed against any person by virtue of his or her membership of any group."How ?The billAddresses identity-based or targeted crimes and organised mass violence as special offences.Places accountability of public officers with varying penalties for dereliction of duty it.Provides for the creation of a National Authority and the State authorities to ensure justice and reparation.Addresses issues faced by specific communities like economic boycott, denial of public service, forced migration , hostile environment etc.Empowers state and center government to intercept any messages and communication that it feels might lead to communal violence.Sets up district level authorities to assess compensation.CritiquesCurbing freedom of expression by terming it as Hate propaganda.Presumption of guilt and burden of proof on the accused – The accused will have to prove innocence.All the persons acting under this Act will have blanket of protection of action taken in good faith.Brings civil servants in direct line of fire by vaguely defining "dereliction of duty".26) Competition Act, 2002The Competition Act was passed in 2002Competition Commission of India (CCI) was established on March 1, 2009 as an autonomous body comprising of a Chairperson and six members.CCI not only hears and investigates cases based on the information received by it, but it also takes suo moto action wherever it finds that a prima facie violationCommission had taken suo-moto cognizance of the reported manipulation of the bids by manufacturers of LPG cylinders for supplying cylinders to the Indian Oil CorporationMany more such notices have been sent by CCI in the Petroleum sector, Agricuture sector etc. taking cognisance suo-moto.Role of trade associationsCompetition law treats the activities of trade associations much like any other form of cooperation between competitors.decisions or recommendations of trade associations are treated as agreements between its members and law may be breached even when they are not binding on the members.CCI imposed a nominal penalty of Rs. 1 lakh each on 27 film producers on charges of colluding through an association to exploit multiplex owners.number of cases involving the associations in the Pharmaceutical sector/Film production etc where CCI has passed orders against the associations and asked them to “cease and desist” from activities that may be anti-competitive in nature.Public Procurement and Competition LawPublic procurement is a contentious issue vis-à-vis application of competition lawpublic enterprises, which are generally the big procurers, are subject to competition assessment.Commission has decided a number of matters, including cartelization in government contracts. Penalties have been imposed on firms to discourage the anti-competitive practices and abuse of dominanceCompetition Commission of India is set to change the rules of the game and play the role of a watchdog to check anti-competitive practices in the markethttp://echoofindia.com/reflex-action/competition-commission-india-4-years-enforcement-competition-law-3216927) Prasar Bharati (Amendment) Bill, 201028) Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 200229) Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitaion Act, 2013. (Important, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan)30) Child Labour (Prohibition) Act, 198631) Scheduled Tribes and Recognition of Forest Rights Bill, 200632) Environment Protection Law, 198633) Wildlife Protection Act, 197234) The Electricity Act, 200335) Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act, 199636) Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 199237) Factories Act 1948/Amendment Bill 201438) Apprentice Act 1961/ Amendment Bill 201439) The Pension Fund Regulatory And Development Authority Act, 201340) The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 201341) Benami Transaction (Prohibition )Act, 198842) The National Food Security Act, 201343) Pesticides Management Bill, 2008*Maximum Credits per Person - 5000**Contributors earning more than 1000 credits <must> -a) Promote to at least 100 people.b) Share this list everywhere. :P :P LOL !Thank you all. :)Thanks for the A2A Anon. :)

Hi PD Bond is always safeguarding (Indemnity) the Indian Government revenue since it is heading to The President of India / Commissioner of Customs . Whenever you clear the cargo /goods on provisional clearance or may be final clearance ,even while Apply for any duty refund with customs . Kindly refer below Customs Notification for details understanding.OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (IMPORT)JAWAHARLAL NEHRU CUSTOM HOUSE, NHAVA SHEVA,DIST. RAIGAD,MAHARASHTRAhttp://F.NO. EDI-13/02-03 JNCH Date:01/12/2003Standing Order No.81/2003Sub: ICES - Bond Management System � Modifications � reg.Attention of all Officers and Staff Members at Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House is invited to the Bond Management Procedure vide Public Notice No. 6/2002 dated 18.02.2002 regarding centralized Bond Management System. The existing procedure of Bond Management System is modified to the following extent as given below, which will come into effect from 01.12.2003.1 Bond Management SystemThe Indian Customs EDI System (ICES) proposes to introduce Bond Cell, which will be responsible for maintenance of documents related to Bonds, Bank Guarantees and Undertakings. Officers of the rank of DC/AC shall handle the Bonds. The Bond Cell will be responsible for the following:- Registration of Bonds/undertakings, Bank Guarantees, Sureties- Debit and Credit of Bonds for EDI B/Es and Manual B/Es- Closure of Bonds, Bank Guarantees- Enhancements- Issue of recovery notices- Issue of reminders- Generation of MIS reportsAll categories of bonds, including the Revolving / Continuity and the Specific Bonds have to be registered and maintained in the Central Bond Cell. The Appraising Groups will determine the Bond requirements, the type and the amount of bond is to be decided by the Appraising Officer of the Group and approved by the Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner. However, the system will assist in determining the type of Bond / BG and value. Bond requirement details will be printed on the B/E after the assessment. The details include the type of Bond, amount and the Bank Guarantee.2 Bond Cells(A) The Appraising Groups of Import Commissionerate will handle the following bonds for the Bills of Entry pertaining to Group 1 to 7.Provisional Duty Bond - GeneralTest BondEnd Use Bond / UndertakingProvisional Duty Bond - Project Imports(B) The DC/AC Bond and the Bond Department of Import Commissionerate will handle the following Bonds for imports in Import.Extra Duty DepositTransit BondWarehouse Bond (including Tank licence Bond)100% EOU Bonds (3 in 1 Bonds),Procurement Certificate and Re-ware housing Certificate.The DC bond, will be a nodal officer for all bonds being registered in Jawaharlal Nehru Customs House. The bond department will attend to all kinds of miscellaneous works with respect to all bonds in Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House.3 Registration of BondThe bond module provides for registration of all Bonds / Undertakings, Bank Guarantees, Sureties etc. in the system. The importer shall furnish the following details for registration at Service Centre-II located at New Administrative Bldg., 2ndfloor, A-wing. In case of specific bonds, the Bill of Entry has to be filed first. After the assessment of the B/E the bond details as mentioned below shall be submitted for bond registration: -.Bonds / Undertakings- IEC- Bond Type- Bond Amount *- Revolving / Specific- Date of Bond- Date of Expiry- Date of enforcement- Whether BG Y/N- Surety Y/N- Cash Deposit Y/N- Remarks* for Bonds already executed, the existing balance to be captured as opening balance in the LedgerBG Details- Serial No. (as given by the Bank)- Bank branch code- Bank name- BG amount- BG date- Expiry date of BG- Date of enforcement- RemarksSurety Details- Serial No. ( as given by the party )- Surety Name- Address- Identification particulars of surety (CHA code, Chartered Accountant Registration No. Etc.)- RemarksCash Deposit- Challan No.- Date- Amount- Date of DepositThe bond detail shall be entered in the Service Centre-II. On entry, system will assign a job no. and checklist will be generated. The importers / CHA shall satisfy with the correctness of details in the checklist. The corrections if any shall be made and job shall be submitted.After submission, the job shall be forwarded to AC /DC designated to accept the bond. The importer shall present the original bond documents to the respective designated AC / DC for acceptance.The AC /DC shall observe all the instructions regarding acceptance of bond issued by the Board / Custom House from time to time. After satisfying that the documents submitted are in order & acceptable the AC/DC shall retrieve the bond details on screen by entering the job no., view the entries made in the system. If the information in the system match with the documents & conditions for acceptance of the bonds are satisfied, the AC / DC may accept the bond in the system. The AC/ DC can also make corrections in the system if so required. After acceptance of the bond by AC / DC the bond documents shall be taken by the bond officer / bond clerk of the Appraising Groups/Bond Section. The Bond officer/ Bond clerk after receipt of the Bond / BG / Security etc. shall enter in the system the location of bond storage where the bond documents have to be physically stored. At this stage the system will generate the bond registration No. This Registration Number has to be endorsed on the original documents and also communicated to the importer for their future reference. The original Bond alongwith zerox copy of BG shall be retained in the safe custody of the Appraising Groups/Bond section. The AC/DC incharge of Appraising Groups/Bond department shall monitor the validity/extension of Bond/BG and take enforcement action/cancellation at appropriate time and finalize the same. The original BG shall be detached by the Bond Clerk of Appraising Group/Bond department and sent it to the C.A.O. under proper acknowledgement for safe custody.In case of continuity bond, the bond has to be registered first and then only B/Es have to be filed.4 Bond Registration NumberSystem would maintain a single running Serial No. for all types of Bonds.The present series of numbers will be continued.5 Processing of Bill of Entry (with Bond)5.1 Declaration in theServiceCenterIn case the importer has already registered a Continuity Bond with the Bond Cell, he has to specify the type of Bond and Registration Number in the Service Centre declaration. However, the Bond value and BG amount is determined by the Appraising Officer. If Continuity Bond is not there, no declaration (bond) needs to be given in the Service Centre. Bond details will be printed on the Checklist.In case of EOU Bond already submitted at the Central Excise Commissionerate / Office, the Certificate Number has to be provided. If Certificate Number is declared, EOU bond is not required. At the submission stage, the validity of bond is checked.5.2 AppraisingThe AO has the option to ask for bond as condition of assessment. The following type of Bonds can be opted:Provisional Duty Bond - GeneralTest BondEnd Use Bond / UndertakingTransitProvisional Duty Bond - Project ImportsExtra Duty DepositEOU BondWarehouse BondBE Type `W�: Warehouse Bond is mandatory.EOU Bond: In case of items, where EOU Notification is claimed, EOU Bond or procurement Certificate from Central Excise authorities is mandatory.Provisional assessment: If any of the items is assessed provisionally, the Bond (Provisional or Test) is mandatory.The AO has to specify Type of Bond, Bond Amount, BG%, BG amount, basis for bond amount at the BE level.AC (Group) has to confirm the action of AO. Auditor has no option in respect of bonds. However, he can view the Bond requirements.Bond requirement details:On completion of assessment, the Bond requirement details will be printed on the Assessed Copy of the BE.5.3 AC/DCWhere the Bond has not been executed before assessment, on completion of assessment and payment of duty (wherever required) the importer is required to execute the Bond in respect of the Bill of Entry in question, before goods registration in the Shed. If the Bond has not been executed against the Bill of Entry the goods registration cannot be done.The Importer has to give a written request to AC/DC for debiting the bond against a BE. The importer shall specify the Bond Registration No. BE No. and Date. The AC/DC has to retrieve the Bond and debit the Bond and BG. He/She has the option to view the BE.Before debiting the system will pose the following query:Whether the language of the bond meets the legal requirement of the assessment of the BE.If the amount to be debited is more than the credit balance in the Bond and BG Ledgers, the system will not allow debit and the AC/DC has to raise a query to the Importer for filing fresh bond /BG.The system will not allow goods registration and out of charge, if the debit entry is not made against the BE in the Bond and BG Ledgers.5.4 Bond re-creditThe AC has the option to re-credit value after finalization of assessment.Following entries will be made in the Bond and BG ledgers;- Date of credit- BE No. and Date- Amount credited- Reasons for credit(a) Assessment finalized no recovery(b) Assessment finalized and differential deposited separately.(c) Necessary end use certificate submitted.(d) Re-warehousing certificate submitted.(e) Test results received confirming the goods as declared bythe importer in the BE.(f) Others. (Specify)Bond Ledger FormatBE No.BE DateType of Document (manual or EDI)Debit Amount (Specified by AO)Credit amountDate of debit / creditOfficer Id.6 Debiting of the Bond for manual Bill of entryA continuity or a specific bond shall be accepted & registered in the system. A continuity bond registered in the system can be utilized in respect of an electronic as well as manual bill of entries. For debiting manual bill of entry the bond officer shall select the option of MBE-debit and enter the details of the manual bill of entry and amount of bond / BG etc.. After debiting, a debit slip will be generated which can be printed one copy of slip should be attached with the B/E and other copy given to the importer.In respect of Bills of Entry, where processing has not yet been automated, it would still be possible under the aforesaid Bond Management System to register the bond in the system and utilize it against a manually processed date of entry as per procedure indicated alone in respect of a continuity / revolving bond.7 Changes made in the Processing of Bills of Entry (Warehousing Bill and Provisionally assessed Bills)Consequent upon the introduction of the Bond Management System, changes are made in the processing of Bills of Entry for Warehousing of Imported goods and goods assessed to duty provisionally. The Bills of Entry would be linked to the respective Bonds and the system will maintain an account in this behalf. The procedure for processing of such Bills of Entry is briefly indicated below: -7.1. Warehousing bill of entryFor the Warehousing bill of entry the type of bill of entry should be indicated as �W�. The importer may indicate the bond details if a continuity bond has already been executed in the same manner as has been explained in respect of 100% EOU.The processing of warehousing bill of entry shall continue to be as at present in the respective groups on first come first serve basis.The system at the time of assessment of a Warehousing B/E shall display before the Appraiser the requirement of bond equal to double the amount of duty payable. The appraiser at the time of the assessment can change the bond /BG amounts. Where the bond details have been entered at the time of data entry the same shall be displayed by the system & debit details will be printed on the bill of entry. Where bond has not been debited at the time of data entry of B/E, bond requirement shall be printed along with the print of the bill of entry.The bond shall be registered with the designated bond Officer & debited in respect of a B/E. Unless the bond is debited in the system, bill of entry cannot be registered for examination & out of charge at the shed / docks.7.2 Provisional AssessmentsWhere an item of the bill of entry is assessed provisionally by the Appraiser irrespective of the fact, whether EOU /W/Hg Bill of Entry, PD bond will also be required in addition to the EOU / WHg. Bond. The details of the bond can be entered at the time of data entry as explained for EOU bill of entry. The type of bond for provisional assessment shall be �PD�.The System will indicate sum of the duty assessed provisionally for assistance of the appraiser for determining the amount of bond / BG for debiting. The Appraiser can change the amount of bond and/ or B.G. for debiting.If the bond details have not been entered at the time of data entry, the system will enforce bond. The Appraiser shall specify the amount of bond and bank guarantee. The duty if any assessed shall be deposited with designated bank as usual. The bill of entry will not be registered in the shed / docks for examination & out of charge till the duty is paid and the bond and BG as specified has been debited. The details of bond debit or the bond requirements shall be printed on the provisionally assessed B/E. Details of a debited bond will also be printed on the Importer�s copy and Exchange control copy of Bill of Entry.In case any Cash deposit is required to be taken, the Appraiser can specify the amount of Cash deposit; the Challan for Cash deposit will also be printed with the assessed copy of B/E, which will also be deposited with the designated bank like the duty and fine/penalty.Any difficulties faced in the implementation of the Standing Order may be brought to the notice of the concerned Jt.Commr. / Addl.Commr. of the respective Dept.. For systems related problems, the Joint Commr./Dy. Commr. Of Customs, EDI may be approached.Sd/-(R.SHARMA)COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS (IMPORT)JAWAHARLAL NEHRU CUSTOM HOUSEAttested by(B.NALEGAVE)Deputy Commissioner Of Customs (EDI)Encl : As above.APPENDIX - AFORMAT FOR DECLARATION AT SERVICE CENTRE FOR DATA ENTRY1. (a) CHA Licence No. :(b) Name :(c) Address of the CHA :2. Importer Particulars(a) Importer � Exporter Code(IEC) : (b) Branch Serial Number(c) Name of the Importer :(d) Address :3. Type of Importer(Tick) : (a) Government Departments (G)(b) Government Undertakings (U)(c) Diplomatic/UN and itsOrganisations(O)(d) Others (P)4. Authorized Dealer Code ofthe bank :5. Type of Bill of Entry(A) (H) Home Consumption(W) Warehouse(X) Ex-bond(B) (N) Normal Bill of Entry (after filing of IGM and after entry inward)(P) Prior BE (after filing of IGM and before entry inward)(A) Advance Bill of Entry (filed before filing of IGM and before entryinward)(C)HighSeaSale(HSS) : Yes/NoIf yes, high sea seller particulars-(a) Importer � Exporter Code(IEC) :(b) Branch Serial Number :(c) Name of the high sea seller :(d) Address :(D) Section 46 (1) Proviso Case : Yes/No6. Special requests, if any(A) First Check requested : Yes/No(B) Green Channel facility for clearancewithout examination requested : Yes/No(B) Urgent clearance requested againsttemporary documentation (kachcha B/E): Yes/No(D) Extension of time limit requestedunder Section 48 : Yes/NoIf yes, reasons for late filing of BE :-7.PortofShipment:8. Country of Origin :(if same for all goods of the consignment, otherwise declare at the item levelat http://S.No. 39 )9. Country of Consignment :IGM Details10. (a) Import General Manifest (IGM)No./Year :(b) Date of entry inward :11. (a) Master Airway Bill(MAWB) No./Bill of Lading (HBL) No. :(b) Date :12. (a) House Airway Bill No(HAWB)./House Bill of Lading(HBL) No. :(b) Date :13. Marks & Numbers :14. (a) Number of Packages :(b) Type of Package :15. (a) Gross Weight :(b) Unit of weight :16. Additional information for clearance of goods at Inland Container Depots(ICDs)(a) Name of the gateway port :(b) Gateway IGM Number :(c) Date of entry inwards atgateway port :17. Container details, (in case of clearance at ICDs andSeaPorts) wherever applicable------------------------------------------------------------------------------------CONTAINER NO SEAL NO FCL/LCL-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BOND DETAILS18. (a) Whether clearance of imported goods is sought against any type of Bond already registered with customs at the point of import: Yes/No(b) IF YES, particulars of bond : -------------------------------------------------Type of Bond Bond Regn. No.-------------------------------------------------Warehousing (WH)100% EOUs etc. (EO)Provisional Duty (PD)Job-work (JB)------------------------------------------------(c) Details of procurement certificate, if any, from Central Excise Commissionerate.(i) Certificate Number :(ii) Date :(iii) Location code of the Central Excise Office issuing the CertificateCommissionerate :Division :Range :INVOICE PARTICULARS19. Whether Import undermultiple invoices : Yes/NoIf Yes, (a) no of invoices :(b) Total Freight :(c ) Total Insurance :DETAILS OF EACH INVOICE20. (a) Invoice number : (b) Date:21. (a) Purchase Order Number : (b) Date:22. (a) Contract Number : (b) Date:23. (a) Letter of Credit (LC) : (b) Date:Number24. Supplier details(a) Name of the supplier :(b) Address :(c) Country :25. If supplier is not the seller, -(a) name of the seller :(b) Address :(c) country :1. 26. Broker/Agent details:(a) name of the broker/agent :(b) address :(c) country :27. Nature of transaction (Tick)(a)Sale(b)Saleon consignment basis(c) Hire(d) Rent(e) Replacement(f) Gift(g) Sample(h) Other free of cost.28. Terms of Payment (Tick)(a) LC(b) DP/DA(c) SD(d) FOC(e) Others29. Conditions or restrictions, if any, attached to the sale30. Method of valuation applicable :31. (a) Invoice value : (b) Currency:32. Terms of invoice (Tick) : (a) FOB/ (b) CIF /(c) CI / (d) CF33. Freight, Insurance and othercharges :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rate (%) OR Amount Currency---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(a) Freight :(b) Insurance :(c) Loading, unloading andhandling charges[ Rule 9(2)(b)] : 1%(d) Other charges related to thecarriage of goods (eg. daughtervessel expenses, transit/transshipmentcharges etc) :34. Cost and services not included in the invoice value and other miscellaneouscharges :Rate(%) OR Amount Currency(a) Brokerage and commissions :(b) Cost of containers :(c) Cost of Packing :(d) Dismantling, transport andhandling charges at the country of :export or any other country(e) Cost of goods and servicessupplied by buyer :(f) Documentation :(g) Country of Origin Certificate :(h) Royalties and licence fees :(i) Value of proceeds, which accrueto seller :(j) Cost of warranty services if any,provided by the seller or on :behalf of the seller(k) Other costs or payments, if any,to satisfy the obligation of the seller :(l) Other charges and payments, if any :35. Discount, if any : Yes/NoIf yes,(a) Nature of Discount :(b) Rate (%) or amount :36. Additional charges, if any for : Rate (%) OR Amount (In Rs.) purchase on high seas37. Any other relevant information which has a bearing on value :38. Details of SVB Loading wherever applicable (at Invoice level):(if same for all goods of the consignment, otherwise declare at the item level at http://S.No.39)Whether the buyer & seller are related : Yes/NoIf yes, whether relationship has beenexamined earlier by SVB : Yes/NoIf yes,(a) Ref No :(b) Date :(c) Custom House :(d) Load on : (A) Assessable value (B) Duty(C) Both(e) Loading rate ------------------------------------------------Assessable Value Duty-----------------------------------------------Rate in %age :(f) Provisional (P)/ Final (F) :-----------------------------------------------39. Items of Import:A. Detailed Description of Items:(1) Invoice Serial Number: (2) Actual Invoice NumberItem NoItem DescriptionGeneric DescriptionUnit PriceQuantityUnit of QuantityAccessories,If anyManufac-turer�sNameBrandModel/grade/specificationEnd use ofthe itemCountryof OriginPrevious imports, if anyB/E No.DateUnit ValueCurr-encyCustomHouse1234567891011121314151617B. Classification Details(1) Invoice Serial Number: (2) Actual Invoice Number:Classification DetailsImport Licensing DetailsSVB DetailsItem No.RITCCTHNotn./Sl NoCETHNotn/Sl No.SplAddlDutyNotn/Sl noSIANotn/Sl noSEDNotn/Sl NoTTANotn/Sl No.NCDDutyNotn/Sl noRe-Im-portY/NRSP Per UnitExim scheme code, if anyImport against licence Y/NParaNo/ Year of Exim PolicySVB Ref.No./DateCustom HouseLoadon Assess valueLoad on dutyPrpv(P) /Final (F)12345678910111213141516171819202122C. In case of re-import, Shipping Bill Details.(1) Invoice Serial Number (2) Actual Invoice NumberItem No.ShippingBill No.ShippingBill datePort ofExportInvoice No. ofSBItem Sl. No. in SBPayments made for export on Pro-rata basis (In Rs.)Freight Insurance12345678D Details relating to duty Exemption based on Exim Schemes and Licence particulars.(1) Invoice Serial Number (2) Actual Invoice NumberItem NoAddl Duty Exmpn.RequestedY/NNotification/Langrennski, Alpinski, Sykkel, Fjellutstyr, Klatreutstyr, Fotballsko, Joggesko og Klær.Licence Regn.No.Licence Regn.DateDebit Value (Rs.)DebitQty.UnitItemSl. No. in Licence123456789I enclose herewith the copies of following import documents:(1) INVOICE (2) PACKING LISTNOTE: Where the Invoice contains more than one unit of item and more than one description of items, UNIT PRICE of each item shall be mandatory.DECLARATION:I certify that aforesaid declaration, the documents & the information contained therein is true and correct in all respects.Signature:Name of the Signatory:Name of the Importer/ Authorized Customs House Agent :Date:

Yes.The official publication of “the hockey stick” temperature graph, shown below, convinced the world that there had to be a real Global Warming problem that should be addressed. And that could be achieved by reducing the use of fossil fuels by Western nations.This infamous fudged graph came from revising history by Michael Mann to HIDE THE DECLINE IN TEMPERATURE by removing the reality of the Medieval Warming Period and the Little Ice Age. It had an enormous effect on public fears of global warming.It certainly convinced me initially.So I graphed the original IPCC published data from 1990 against the “Hockey Stick”. The comparison shown above was stark. The intentional deception eliminated the previously well understood Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age, . Added to the Mann graphic was “Mike’s Nature Trick to hide the decline”the original data showed a “decline” and that had to be “hidden”.The process involved was well explained by Prof Richard Muller in the is short extract from a presentation in October 2010 before his institution of the BEST temperature study.edmhdotmeMany scientists oppose the action of Michael Mann erasing climate history to create a new theory. Dr. Tim Ball is one of the most vigorous. For his efforts Mann started a SLAP libel suit to shut down the criticism. Mann recently lost the suit in the Supreme Court of BC for inordinate delay. He also refused to abide by a consent order to divulge his original data.Read the Supreme Court judgment finding against Michael Mann yourself here and you will see behavior unworthy of upright scientists by this man.SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 BY ANDREW LAWTON“Like the sword of Damocles”: Judge dismisses Michael Mann’s lawsuit against Tim Ball“A mere eight-and-a-half years after Penn State climatologist Michael Mann filed a lawsuit against Canadian professor Tim Ball, the case has been tossed out for its “inexcusable” delays.Justice Christopher Giaschi of the Supreme Court of British Columbia issued his decision in Vancouver on Aug. 22, in response to an application to dismiss by Ball.Based on his reasons, included in full below, the dismissal was ultimately justified by glacial pace at which the proceedings moved, and what the judge characterized as an absence of action by Mann’s team.The judge noted several periods of inaction between the commencement of the action in March, 2011 and the date of his decision.While Mann submitted four binders worth of documentation to combat the motion to dismiss, the judge found there was “no evidence from the plaintiff (Mann) explaining the delay.”Giaschi said the “inordinate delay” was not excusable, and that it prejudiced justice.An excerpt:The evidence is that the defendant intended to call three witnesses at trial who would have provided evidence going to fair comment and malice. Those witnesses have now died. A fourth witness is no longer able to travel. Thus, in addition to finding that presumption of prejudice has not been rebutted, I also find that there has been actual prejudice to the defendant as a consequence of the delay.Turning to the final factor, I have little hesitation in finding that, on balance, justice requires the action be dismissed. The parties are both in their eighties and Dr. Ball is in poor health. He has had this action hanging over his head like the sword of Damocles for eight years and he will need to wait until January 2021 before the matter proceeds to trial. That is a ten year delay from the original alleged defamatory statement. Other witnesses are also elderly or in poor health. The memories of all parties and witnesses will have faded by the time the matter goes to trial.I find that, because of the delay, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for there to be a fair trial for the defendant.The judge awarded Ball legal costs for the dismissal motion, and also the case itself.Mann v. Ball Page 4[8] I now turn to whether the delay is excusable. In my view, it is not. There is no evidence from the plaintiff explaining the delay. Dr. Mann filed an affidavit but he provides no evidence whatsoever addressing the delay. Importantly, he does not provide any evidence saying that the delay was due to his counsel, nor does he provide evidence that he instructed his counsel to proceed diligently with the matter.He simply does not address delay at all.[9] Counsel for Dr. Mann submits that the delay was due to his being busy onother matters, but the affidavit evidence falls far short of establishing this. The affidavit of Jocelyn Molnar, filed April 10, 2019, simply addresses what matters plaintiff's counsel was involved in at various times. The affidavit does not connect those other matters to the delay here. It does not explain the lengthy delay in 2013and 2014 and does not adequately explain the delay from July 2017. The evidence falls far short of establishing an excuse for the delay.[10] Even if I was satisfied that the evidence established the delay was solely due to plaintiff's counsel being busy with other matters, which I am not, I do not agree that this would be an adequate excuse. Counsel for the plaintiff was unable to provide any authority establishing that counsel's busy schedule is a valid excuse for delay. In contrast, the defendant refers me toHughes v. Simpson-Sears, [1988] 52D.L.R. (4th) 553, where Justice Twaddle, writing on behalf of the Manitoba Court of Appeal, stated at p. 13 that:...Freedman, J.A. said that the overriding principle in cases of this kind is “essential justice.”There is no doubt that that is so, but it must mean justice to both parties, not just to one of http://them.In Law Society of Manitoba v. Eadie (judgment delivered on June 27, 1988), Is stated my preference for a one-step application of the fundamental principleon which motions of this kind should be decided. The fundamental principle is that a plaintiff should not be deprived of his right to have his case decided on its merits unless he is responsible for undue delay which has prejudiced the other party. A plaintiff is responsible for delays occasioned by his solicitors. I have already dealt with the consequence of the solicitors' conduct being negligent. Once it is established that the delay is unreasonable having regard to the subject matter of the action, the complexity of the issues, and the explanation for it, the other matter to be considered is the prejudice to the defendant. It is in the task of balancing the plaintiff's right to proceed with the trial.”“IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIACitation: Mann v. Ball,2019 BCSC 1580Date: 20190822Before: The Honourable Mr. Justice GiaschiOral Reasons for JudgmentBall:M. ScherrD. Juteau Place and Date of Hearing: Vancouver, B.C.May 27 and August 22, 2019Place and Date of Judgment: Vancouver, B.C. August 22, 201[1] THE COURT: I will render my reasons on the application to dismiss. I reserve the right to amend these reasons for clarity and grammar, but the result will not change.[2] The defendant brings an application for an order dismissing the action for delay.[3] The plaintiff, Dr. Mann, and the defendant, Dr. Ball, have dramatically different opinions on climate change. I do not intend to address those differences. It is sufficient that one believes climate change is man-made and the other does not. As a result of the different opinions held, the two have been in near constant conflict for many years.[4] The underlying action concerns, first, a statement made by the defendant in an interview conducted on February 9, 2011. He said, “Michael Mann at Penn State should be in the state pen, not Penn State.” This statement was published on a website and is alleged to be defamatory of the plaintiff. The notice of civil claim also alleges multiple other statements published by Mr. Ball are defamatory. It is not necessary that I address the many alleged defamatory statements.[5] 0690860 Manitoba Ltd. v. Country West Construction, 2009 BCCA 535, at paras. 27-28, sets out the four elements that need to be considered on a motion to dismiss. They are:a) Has there been inordinate delay in the prosecution of the matter?;b) If there has been inordinate delay, is it excusable in the circumstances?;c) Has the delay caused serious prejudice and, if so, does it create a substantial risk that a fair trial is not possible?; andd) Whether, on balance, justice requires that the action be dismissed.[6] I turn first to whether there has been inordinate delay. Some key dates in the litigation are:a) March 25, 2011, the action was commenced;b) July 7, 2011, the notice of civil claim was amended;c) June 5, 2012, the notice of civil claim was further amended;d) From approximately June of 2013 until November of 2014, there were no steps taken in the action;e) November 12, 2014, the plaintiff filed a notice of intention to proceed;f) February 20, 2017, the matter was initially supposed to go to trial, but that trial date was adjourned;g) July 20, 2017, the date of the last communication received from Mr. Mann or his counsel by the defendant. No steps were taken in the matter until March 21, 2019 when the application to dismiss was filed;h) April 10, 2019, a second notice of intention to proceed was filed; andi) August 9, 2019, after the first day of the hearing of this application, a new trial date was set for January 11, 2021.[7] There have been at least two extensive periods of delay. Commencing in approximately June 2013, there was a delay of approximately 15 months where nothing was done to move the matter ahead. There was a second extensive period of delay from July 20, 2017 until the filing of the application to dismiss on March 21, 2019, a delay of 20 months. Again, nothing was done during this period to move the matter ahead. The total time elapsed, from the filing of the notice of civil claim until the application to dismiss was filed, was eight years. It will be almost ten years by the time the matter goes to trial. There have been two periods, of approximately 35 months in total, where nothing was done. In my view, by any measure, this is an inordinate delay.[8] I now turn to whether the delay is excusable. In my view, it is not. There is no evidence from the plaintiff explaining the delay. Dr. Mann filed an affidavit but he provides no evidence whatsoever addressing the delay. Importantly, he does not provide any evidence saying that the delay was due to his counsel, nor does he provide evidence that he instructed his counsel to proceed diligently with the matter. He simply does not address delay at all.[9] Counsel for Dr. Mann submits that the delay was due to his being busy on other matters, but the affidavit evidence falls far short of establishing this. The affidavit of Jocelyn Molnar, filed April 10, 2019, simply addresses what matters plaintiff's counsel was involved in at various times. The affidavit does not connect those other matters to the delay here. It does not explain the lengthy delay in 2013 and 2014 and does not adequately explain the delay from July 2017. The evidence falls far short of establishing an excuse for the delay.[10] Even if I was satisfied that the evidence established the delay was solely due to plaintiff's counsel being busy with other matters, which I am not, I do not agree that this would be an adequate excuse. Counsel for the plaintiff was unable to provide any authority establishing that counsel's busy schedule is a valid excuse for delay. In contrast, the defendant refers me to Hughes v. Simpson Sears, [1988] 52 D.L.R. (4th) 553, where Justice Twaddle, writing on behalf of the Manitoba Court of Appeal, stated at p. 13 that:...Freedman, J.A. said that the overriding principle in cases of this kind is “essential justice”. There is no doubt that that is so, but it must mean justice to both parties, not just to one of them.In Law Society of Manitoba v. Eadie (judgment delivered on June 27, 1988), I stated my preference for a one-step application of the fundamental principle on which motions of this kind should be decided. The fundamental principle is that a plaintiff should not be deprived of his right to have his case decided on its merits unless he is responsible for undue delay which has prejudiced the other party. A plaintiff is responsible for delays occasioned by his solicitors. I have already dealt with the consequence of the solicitors' conduct being negligent. Once it is established that the delay is unreasonable having regard to the subject matter of the action, the complexity of the issues, and the explanation for it, the other matter to be considered is the prejudice to the defendant. It is in the task of balancing the plaintiff's right to proceed with the defendant's right not to be prejudiced by unreasonable delay that justice must be done.[Emphasis added][11] Additionally, based upon the evidence filed, the plaintiff and his counsel appear to have attended to other matters, both legal matters and professional matters in the case of the plaintiff, rather than give this matter any priority. The plaintiff appears to have been content to simply let this matter languish.[12] Accordingly, I find that the delay is inexcusable.[13] With respect to prejudice, such prejudice is presumed unless the prejudice is rebutted. Indeed, the presumption of prejudice is given even more weight in defamation cases: Samson v. Scaletta, 2016 BCSC 2598, at paras 40-43. The plaintiff has not filed any evidence rebutting the presumption of prejudice.[14] Moreover, the defendant has led actual evidence of actual prejudice. The evidence is that the defendant intended to call three witnesses at trial who would have provided evidence going to fair comment and malice. Those witnesses have now died. A fourth witness is no longer able to travel. Thus, in addition to finding that presumption of prejudice has not been rebutted, I also find that there has been actual prejudice to the defendant as a consequence of the delay.[15] Turning to the final factor, I have little hesitation in finding that, on balance, justice requires the action be dismissed. The parties are both in their eighties and Dr. Ball is in poor health. He has had this action hanging over his head like the sword of Damocles for eight years and he will need to wait until January 2021 before the matter proceeds to trial. That is a ten year delay from the original alleged defamatory statement. Other witnesses are also elderly or in poor health. The memories of all parties and witnesses will have faded by the time the matter goes to trial.[16] I find that, because of the delay, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for there to be a fair trial for the defendant. This is a relatively straightforward defamation action and should have been resolved long before now. That it has not been resolved is because the plaintiff has not given it the priority that he should have. In the circumstances, justice requires that the action be dismissed and, accordingly, I do hereby dismiss the action for delay.[17] Before concluding, I wish to note that the materials that have been filed on this application are grossly excessive in relation to the matters in issue. There are four large binders of materials filed by the plaintiff on the application to dismiss, plus one additional binder from the defendant. The binders contain multiple serial affidavits, many of which are replete with completely irrelevant evidence. In my view, this application could have been done and should have been done with one or two affidavits outlining the delay, the reasons for the delay, and the prejudice.[18] Those are my reasons, counsel. Costs?[19] MR. SCHERR: I would, of course, ask for costs for the defendant, given the dismissal of the action.[20] MR. MCCONCHIE: Costs follow the event. I have no quarrel with that.[21] THE COURT: All right. I agree. The costs will follow the event, so the defendant will have his costs of the application and also the costs of the action, since the action is dismissed.ERASING CLIMATE HISTORY TO CREATE A TEMPERATURE DECEPTIONThere is an abundance of evidence that the Medieval Warm period and the LIttle Ice age were real and global and there is no credible data to justify Michael Mann erasing these significant parts of the earth’s climate history.American history is replete with evidence of the Little Ice Age including George Washington’s famous march to Valley Forge suffering harsh winters.The story of that terrible winter has often been told. It was cold, but not quite cold enough, with abundant precipitation—sleet and freezing rain, calculated to drown roads in slush and wash out ferries and fords. Supplies disappeared. Men shivered in ragged summer uniforms, starved, and succumbed to disease. Worst, many officers gave up—not the likes of Henry Knox, Greene, Friedrich von Steuben, Anthony Wayne and many others, nor their wives—but the field officers essential to keeping the army functioning on a day to day basis. They resigned in droves.A Miracle of Leadership: George Washington at Valley Forge - Edward LengelAmerica’s Worst Winter EverBy Ray Raphael“For a Fortnight past the Troops both Officers and Men, have been almost perishing for want.” -George Washington, January 8, 1780BY CONNATIXIn January 1780, fighting in the Revolutionary War came to a standstill as Mother Nature transformed America into a frigid hell. For the only time in recorded history, all of the saltwater inlets, harbors and sounds of the Atlantic coastal plain, from North Carolina northeastward, froze over and remained closed to navigation for a period of a month or more. Sleighs, not boats, carried cords of firewood across New York Harbor from New Jersey to Manhattan. The upper Chesapeake Bay in Maryland and the York and James rivers in Virginia turned to ice. In Philadelphia, the daily high temperature topped the freezing mark only once during the month of January, prompting Timothy Matlack, the patriot who had inscribed the official copy of the Declaration of Independence, to complain that “the ink now freezes in my pen within five feet of the fire in my parlour, at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.”The weather took an especially harsh toll on the 7,460 patriot troops holed up with General George Washington in Morristown, N.J., a strategic site 30 miles west of the British command in New York City. On January 3, the encampment was engulfed by “one of the most tremendous snowstorms ever remembered,” army surgeon James Thacher wrote in his journal. “No man could endure its violence many minutes without danger of his life.” When tents blew off, soldiers were “buried like sheep under the snow…almost smothered in the storm.” The weather made it impossible to get supplies to the men, many of whom had no coats, shirts or shoes and were on the verge of starvation. “For a Fortnight past the Troops both Officers and Men, have been almost perishing for want,” George Washington wrote in a letter to civilian officials dated January 8.The winter at Valley Forge two years earlier is a celebrated part of America’s Revolutionary mythology, while its sequel at Morristown is now largely forgottenRef. America's Worst Winter EverPublished abstracts of research expose the tampering with history in Orwellian fashion as evidence of the Little Ice Age emerges around the world including China and the Southern hemisphere.GREAT WALL OF CHINA BUILT DURING MING DYNASTYClimatic ChangeNovember 2014, Volume 127, Issue 2, pp 169–182How climate change impacted the collapse of the Ming dynasty· Authors· Jingyun Zheng, Lingbo Xiao, Xiuqi Fang, Zhixin Hao Quansheng GeEmail author Beibei LiAbstractBased on the reconstructed temperatures, precipitation changes, and occurrences of extreme climate events, together with historical records on fiscal deterioration, food crises, and the frequencies of popular unrest, rebellions and wars, we identified three principal ways in which climate change contributed to the collapse in the Ming dynasty. Firstly, cooling, aridification, and desertification during a cold period destroyed the military farm system, which was the main supply system for the provisioning of government troops on the northern frontiers; these impacts increased the military expenditure from 64 % of total government expenditure in 1548–1569 to 76 % in 1570–1589 and thus aggravated the national fiscal crisis that occurred during the late Ming dynasty. Secondly, climate deterioration (e.g., cooling, aridification, and an increase in the frequencies of frost- and drought-related disasters, etc.) led to a 20–50 % reduction in the per capita production of raw grain in most areas of China, which resulted in widespread food crises and exacerbated the vulnerability of social structures during the last several decades of the Ming dynasty. Thirdly, the severe droughts occurring in 1627–1643 were a key trigger to the peasantry uprising. These droughts also played a significant role to promote the peasantry uprising, especially reviving the peasantry troops by recruitment of famine victims when they nearly perished in 1633 and 1638, and severely disrupting the food supply for the government troops, resulting in the final defeat of the government troops by the peasantry troops. This study contributes to an understanding of the climate-related mechanisms behind the collapse of the Ming dynasty, and provides a historical case study that enhances our understanding of the nature of interactions between climate change and social vulnerability.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-014-1244-7Little Ice Age Climate near Beijing, China, Inferred from Historical and Stalagmite RecordsAuthors Weihong Qian YafenZhuhttps://doi.org/10.1006/qres.2001.2283Get rights and contentAbstractFour data sets yield information about Holocene climatic change in China at different scales of space and time: (a) 120-yr ground temperature and precipitation measurements covering eastern China; (b) two NOAA 10-yr 850 hPa wind records that highlight features of data set a; (c) an 1100-year record of annual calcite accumulation on a stalagmite near Beijing, and (d) Lamb-type average wetness and temperature data from Chinese historical records back to A.D. 1470 and 1450, respectively. Dry–wet fluctuations and cold–warm oscillations are inferred using the long-term stalagmite thickness series. Quasi-70, 140, 450, and 750-yr oscillations have been detected using a wavelet transform technique. A phase relationship between temperature and precipitation oscillations has been identified based on modern observations and historical records. In northern China, relatively lower temperatures correlate with periods when precipitation shifted from above to below normal. Three colder periods during the Little Ice Age (LIA) in China are inferred, centered in the late 14th century (750-yr oscillation), the early 17th century (450-yr), and the 19th century (140-yr). The latest cool period (1950s–1970s) is found at the 70-yr oscillation. Interdecadal drought–flood and cold–warm differences are explained using modern circulation patterns. LIA climate in China was likely controlled by East Asian monsoon circulation anomalies that were affected by variations in continent–ocean thermal contrast.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033589401922835Those who claim Mann was right sometime focus on his numbers at the tip of the blade. This is a mistake as making the the stick flat with no temperature increase for a thousand years was the crazy and unjustified revision. His hockey stick with a flat stick had the effect of erased the Medieval Warming Period and the Little Ice Age that mattered for the radical claim that suddenly under industrialization humans are making the climate too hot with Co2.You see in these two graphs the Orwellian revision of conventional history by Michael Mann, yet he continues to refuse to show his data. The most insightful explanation comes from Dr. Richard Muller who is objective on this issue and has had direct experience with evaluating what happened.Hockey Stick graph is not ok today!"We have to get rid of the Medieval Warm Period!"ScootleRoyalePublished on 29 Oct 2010“Video of Dr David Deming's statement to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works on December 6, 2006. Dr Deming reveals that in 1995 a leading scientist emailed him saying "We have to get rid of the Medieval Warm Period". A few years later, Michael Mann and the IPCC did just that by publishing the now throughly discredited hockey stick graph. “There is a lot of data showing that as of today the blade of the hockey is false also because of the pause in warming and now temperatures are falling.“Reflections on Mark Steyn’s ‘A Disgrace to the Profession’ about Dr. Michael MannGuest Blogger / March 29, 2017Given what happened today in live testimony before the House Science Commiittee where Dr. Mann was testifying, this review seems germane and timely.“Guest essay by Rick Wallace“Mark Steyn’s A Disgrace to the Profession is a compilation of scientific commentary on Michael Mann and his work and is a valuable antidote to the idea that questioning or criticizing this particular researcher is an overt admission of ignorance, let alone an “attack on science”. What I will argue in this essay is that Steyn has done serious students of the AGW hysteria an even greater service. In fact, this work reveals some features of the hysteria that are, I think, critical for understanding it in depth. The present essay, which will elaborate on this point, is intended as a contribution to the study of what one of those quoted in Steyn’s book called “pathological science”.“For those who aren’t familiar with the work, Steyn’s book is a collection of highly critical comments by scientists of varying degrees of eminence concerning Michael Mann and his (in)famous “hockey stick” temperature graph. The book emanated from a still-ongoing lawsuit that Mann filed against Steyn for writing in a National Review Online article that the hockey stick was fraudulent. Steyn was struck by the fact that, when it came time to file third-party amicus briefs, no one filed a brief in Mann’s defense. So he began combing the Web and other resources, and found a plethora of critical comments that he collected into one volume.2,3“In fact, by now almost everyone, skeptic or warmest, has backed away from this very flawed piece of evidence.“The Medieval Warm Period – when Greenland got its name and was extensively farmed, and vineyards flourished in much of England – was a matter of uncontroversial historical record. But once you’ve decided to “repeal“it, it’s amazing how easy it is.” (Steyn, 33)“[The earlier account of past temperatures] was simply expunged from the 2001 IPCC report, much as Trotsky and Yezhov were removed from Stalin’s photographs by dark-room specialists in the later years of the dictator’s reign. There was no explanation of why both the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age, very clearly shown in the 1990 report, had simply disappeared eleven years later.” (Steyn, 10)“”The hockey stick is an extraordinary claim which requires extraordinary evidence,” wrote Oxford physicist Jonathan Jones. Nature never asked for any and, when it fell to others to demonstrate the flaws of the stick, the journal declined to share their findings with its readers. Mann and a few close allies controlled the fora that mattered, and banished any dissidents. “It’s a completely rigged peer-review system,” concluded Cal Tech’s Dr David Rutledge.” (Steyn, 6)[Emphasis added]Reflections on Mark Steyn’s ‘A Disgrace to the Profession’ about Dr. Michael MannMann has argued that erasing Medieval history is justified because the warming and cooling only happened in Europe and was not global. This claim is contradicted with many peer reviewed studies showing Medieval Warming and Little Ice Age cooling around the world at the relevant times.Medieval Temperature Trends in Africa and ArabiaA synthesis of paleotemperature reconstructions from published case studies suggests warm onshore temperatures persisted across most of Afro-Arabia between 1000 and 1200 CE.By Terri Cook 9 February 2018Reconstructions of Northern Hemisphere temperatures have repeatedly indicated the Afro-Arabian region experienced climate perturbations, including an extended period of anomalously warm conditions, during medieval times. Because this Medieval Climate Anomaly represents the closest analogue to modern warming, it defines a crucial baseline by which modern postindustrial climate trends can be compared.Although the Medieval Climate Anomaly has also been documented in other parts of the world, its occurrence on the Arabian Peninsula and the African continent, which together comprise about one quarter of Earth’s landmass, is less certain.This is due to the lack of high-quality proxy records, such as ice cores and tree rings, in the region. To help fill this gap, Lüning et al. correlated and synthesized the findings of 44 published paleotemperature case studies from across the region and mapped the resulting trends of the anomaly’s central period, which lasted from about 1000 to 1200 CE.A comprehensive review of paleotemperature reconstructions paints a picture of warm onshore temperatures across Afro-Arabia between 1000 and 1200 AD.To better characterize temperature fluctuations in Africa and Arabia during medieval times, researchers synthesized paleotemperature records from across the region, including the Tanzanian portion of Lake Tanganyika (pictured here). A core from this lake represents one of the few medieval paleotemperature reconstructions that are available from the East Africa Rift. Credit: Andreas31, CC BY-SA 3.0The results indicate that the majority of onshore Afro-Arabian sites experienced warming during the Medieval Climate Anomaly. The one exception was the southern Levant, which endured a cold phase during the same interval. From offshore records, the team also documented cooling in locations that currently experience cold-water upwellings but generally warmer conditions away from these upwelling zones during the same period.In some records, the researchers noted the presence of obvious cold spikes during intervals corresponding to decreased solar activity or declining ocean cycles. This, they argue, suggests that solar forcing and changing ocean circulation are the most likely causes of medieval era climate change.This study represents a step toward globally characterizing the Medieval Climate Anomaly, an improved understanding of which will help scientists refine global climate models and improve hindcasting. To date, however, very few paleotemperature data exist from Afro-Arabia; the authors note that all of West Africa is currently represented by a single data point. Systematic research will be necessary to adequately reconstruct medieval paleotemperature patterns and their causes across this vast region.More evidence that the Medieval Warming Period was global, not regionalPaleoceanography Reseaerch Article“Warming and Cooling: The Medieval Climate Anomaly in Africa and ArabiaSebastian Lüning Mariusz Gałka Fritz VahrenholtFirst published: 26 October 2017 Warming and Cooling: The Medieval Climate Anomaly in Africa and Arabia Cited by: 6“AbstractThe Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) is a well‐recognized climate perturbation in many parts of the world, with a core period of 1000–1200 Common Era. Here we present a palaeotemperature synthesis for the MCA in Africa and Arabia, based on 44 published localities. The data sets have been thoroughly correlated and the MCA trends palaeoclimatologically mapped. The vast majority of available Afro‐Arabian onshore sites suggest a warm MCA, with the exception of the southern Levant where the MCA appears to have been cold. MCA cooling has also been documented in many segments of the circum‐Africa‐Arabian upwelling systems, as a result of changes in the wind systems which were leading to an intensification of cold water upwelling. Offshore cores from outside upwelling systems mostly show warm MCA conditions. The most likely key drivers of the observed medieval climate change are solar forcing and ocean cycles. Conspicuous cold spikes during the earliest and latest MCA may help to discriminate between solar (Oort Minimum) and ocean cycle (Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, AMO) influence. Compared to its large share of nearly one quarter of the world's landmass, data from Africa and Arabia are significantly underrepresented in global temperature reconstructions of the past 2,000 years. Onshore data are still absent for most regions in Africa and Arabia, except for regional data clusters in Morocco, South Africa, the East African Rift, and the Levant coast. In order to reconstruct land palaeotemperatures more robustly over Africa and Arabia, a systematic research program is needed.”Citing LiteratureNumber of times cited according to CrossRef: 6Sebastian Lüning, Mariusz Gałka and Fritz Vahrenholt, The Medieval Climate Anomaly in Antarctica, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109251, (109251), (2019).CrossrefChengcheng Liu, Hong Yan, Haobai Fei, Xiaolin Ma, Wenchao Zhang, Ge Shi, Willie Soon, John Dodson and Zhisheng An, Temperature seasonality and ENSO variability in the northern South China Sea during the Medieval Climate Anomaly interval derived from the Sr/Ca ratios of Tridacna shell, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 10.1016/j.jseaes.2019.103880, (103880), (2019).CrossrefSebastian Lüning, Mariusz Gałka, Iliya Bauchi Danladi, Theophilus Aanuoluwa Adagunodo and Fritz Vahrenholt, Hydroclimate in Africa during the Medieval Climate Anomaly, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.01.025, 495, (309-322), (2018).CrossrefSarah Coffinet, Arnaud Huguet, Laurent Bergonzini, Nikolai Pedentchouk, David Williamson, Christelle Anquetil, Mariusz Gałka, Piotr Kołaczek, Monika Karpińska-Kołaczek, Amos Majule, Fatima Laggoun-Défarge, Thomas Wagner and Sylvie Derenne, Impact of climate change on the ecology of the Kyambangunguru crater marsh in southwestern Tanzania during the Late Holocene, Quaternary Science Reviews, 10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.07.038, 196, (100-117), (2018).CrossrefSebastian Lüning, Mariusz Gałka, Florencia Paula Bamonte, Felipe García Rodríguez and Fritz Vahrenholt, The Medieval Climate Anomaly in South America, Quaternary International, 10.1016/j.quaint.2018.10.041, (2018).CrossrefSebastian Lüning, Mariusz Gałka, Felipe García-Rodríguez and Fritz Vahrenholt, The Medieval Climate Anomaly in Oceania, Environmental Reviews, 10.1139/er-2019-0012, (1-10), (2019).CrossrefSupporting InformationFilename Descriptionpalo20457-sup-0001-2017PA003237-SI.pdfPDF document, 3.8 MB Supporting Information S1palo20457-sup-0002-2017PA003237-ds01.zipapplication/x-zip-compressed, 304 KB Data Set S1″Warming and Cooling: The Medieval Climate Anomaly in Africa and Arabia“Big data finds the Medieval Warm Period – no denial hereJennifer Marohasy22 August 20177:49 AM“According to author Leo Tolstoy, born at the very end of the Little Ice Age, in quite a cold country:The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he already knows, without a shadow of a doubt, what is laid before him.So, our new technical paper in GeoResJ (vol. 14, pages 36-46) will likely be ignored. Because after applying the latest big data technique to six 2,000 year-long proxy-temperature series we cannot confirm that recent warming is anything but natural – what might have occurred anyway, even if there was no industrial revolution.Over the last few years, I’ve worked with Dr John Abbot using artificial neural networks (ANN) to forecast monthly rainfall. We now have a bunch of papers in international climate science journals showing these forecasts to be more skilful than output from general circulation models.During the past year, we’ve extended this work to estimating what global temperatures would have been during the twentieth century in the absence of human-emission of carbon dioxide.We began by deconstructing the six-proxy series from different geographic regions – series already published in the mainstream climate science literature. One of these, the Northern Hemisphere composite series begins in 50 AD, ends in the year 2000, and is derived from studies of pollen, lake sediments, stalagmites and boreholes.Typical of most such temperature series, it zigzags up and down while showing two rising trends: the first peaks about 1200 AD and corresponds with a period known as the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), while the second peaks in 1980 and then shows decline. In between, is the Little Ice Age (LIA), which according to the Northern Hemisphere composite bottomed-out in 1650 AD. (Of course, the MWP corresponded with a period of generally good harvests in England – when men dressed in tunics and built grand cathedrals with tall spires. It preceded the LIA when there was famine and the Great Plague of London.)Ignoring for the moment the MWP and LIA, you might want to simply dismiss this temperature series on the basis it peaks in 1980: it doesn’t continue to rise to the very end of the record: to the year 2000?In fact, this decline is typical of most such proxy reconstructions – derived from pollen, stalagmites, boreholes, coral cores and especially tree rings. Within mainstream climate science the decline after 1980 is referred to as “the divergence problem”, and then hidden.In denial of this problem, leading climate scientists have been known to even graft temperature measurements from thermometers onto the proxy record after 1980 to literally ‘hide the decline’. Phil Jones, the head of the Climate Research Unit, University of East Anglia, aptly described the technique as a ‘trick’.Grafting thermometer data onto the end of the proxy record generally ‘fixes’ the problem after 1980, while remodelling effectively flattens the Medieval Warm Period.There are, however, multiple lines of evidence indicating it was about a degree warmer across Europe during the MWP – corresponding with the 1200 AD rise in our Northern Hemisphere composite. In fact, there are oodles of published technical papers based on proxy records that provide a relatively warm temperature profile for this period. This was before the Little Ice Age when it was too cold to inhabit Greenland.The modern inhabitation of Upernavik, in north west Greenland, only began in 1826, which corresponds with the beginning of the industrial age. So, the end of the Little Ice Age corresponds with the beginning of industrialisation. But did industrialisation cause the global warming? Tolstoy’s ‘intelligent man’ would immediately reply: But yes!In our new paper in GeoResJ, we make the assumption that an artificial neural network – remember our big data/machine learning technique – trained on proxy temperatures up until 1830, would be able to forecast the combined effect of natural climate cycles through the twentieth century.Using the proxy record from the Northern Hemisphere composite, decomposing this through signal analysis and then using the resulting component sine waves as input into an ANN, John Abbot and I generated forecasts for the period from 1830 to 2000.Our results show up to 1°C of warming. The average divergence between the proxy temperature record and our ANN projection is just 0.09 degree Celsius. This suggests that even if there had been no industrial revolution and burning of fossil fuels, there would have still been warming through the twentieth century – to at least 1980, and of almost 1°C.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, relying on General Circulation Models, and giving us the Paris Accord, also estimates warming of approximately 1°C, but claims this is all our fault (human caused).For more information, including charts and a link to the full paper read Jennifer Marohasy’s latest blog post.Illustration: Detail from Peasants before an Inn, Jan Steen, The Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery, The Hague.”New relevance of the history of the Little Ice Age as fear of too much warming shifts to the reverse concern of catastrophic freezing.Australia has record winter snowfall in July.Are You Ready For A Catastrophically Cold Winter?Published on November 11, 2019Written by Michael Snydercredit: i.ytimg.comExperts are warning us that this will be a “freezing, frigid, and frosty” winter, and even though the official beginning of winter is still over a month away, it already feels like that in much of the country right now.Over the next several days, it will literally feel like it is mid-January in much of the central and eastern portions of the United States. Many areas will be hit by temperatures that are 30 degrees below normal, and heavy snow is expected in some areas of the Midwest.Unfortunately, this bitterly cold weather is coming at a very bad time for corn farmers. According to the latest USDA crop progress report, only 52 percent of the corn in the middle of the country has been harvested. So about half of the corn is still sitting out there, and these extraordinarily low temperatures could potentially be absolutely devastating.In essence, this cold front threatens to put an exclamation point on an absolutely horrific year for U.S. farmers. According to the National Weather Service, we could possibly see “170 potential daily record cold high temperatures” over the next three days…“The National Weather Service is forecasting 170 potential daily record cold high temperatures Monday to Wednesday,” tweeted Weather Channel meteorologist Jonathan Erdman. “A little taste of January in November.”The temperature nosedive will be a three-day process as a cold front charges across the central and eastern U.S. from Sunday into Tuesday.We are being told that low temperatures in certain portions of Texas could plunge into the teens, and all across the Upper Midwest we could see low temperatures that are well below zero.Of course this is not the first wave of record cold weather to come rolling through this season. During the month of October, a couple of major blizzards roared through the Midwest and countless new cold temperature records were established.And unfortunately we should expect a lot more bitter weather in the months ahead. Both the Farmers’ Almanac and the Old Farmer’s Almanac are projecting that this upcoming winter will be unusually cold and snowy…Not long after the Farmers’ Almanac suggested it would be a “freezing, frigid, and frosty” season, the *other* Farmer’s Almanac has released its annual weather forecast—and it’s equally upsetting.While the first publication focused on the cold temperatures anticipated this winter, the Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts that excessive snowfall will be the most noteworthy part of the season.The Old Farmer’s Almanac, which was founded in 1792, says that the upcoming winter “will be remembered for strong storms” featuring heavy rain, sleet, and a lot of snow. The periodical actually used the word “snow-verload” to describe the conditions we can expect in the coming months.So why is this happening?It is actually quite simple.During a solar minimum, solar activity drops to very low levels, and that tends to mean lower temperatures on Earth.Earlier this year, a panel of experts gathered to discuss the current solar minimum, and they came to the conclusion that it “could last for years”…If you like solar minimum, good news: It could last for years. That was one of the predictions issued last week by an international panel of experts who gathered at NOAA’s annual Space Weather Workshop to forecast the next solar cycle. If the panel is correct, already-low sunspot counts will reach a nadir sometime between July 2019 and Sept 2020, followed by a slow recovery toward a new Solar Maximum in 2023-2026.“We expect Solar Cycle 25 will be very similar to Cycle 24: another fairly weak maximum, preceded by a long, deep minimum,” says panel co-chair Lisa Upton, a solar physicist with Space Systems Research Corp.But that would actually be a best case scenario.There are others that believe that we have now entered a “grand solar minimum” such as the one that our planet experienced several hundred years ago. That one was known as “the Maunder Minimum”, and it resulted in a “little ice age”…The extreme example happened between 1645 and 1715 when the normal 11-year sunspot cycle vanished. This period, called the Maunder Minimum, was accompanied by bitterly cold winters in the American colonies. Fishing settlements in Iceland and Greenland were abandoned. Icebergs were seen near the English channel. The canals of Venice froze. It was a time of great hardship.Ultimately, the longer winters and shorter summers during the “Maunder Minimum” resulted in famine all over the globe, and multitudes ended up perishing…The Maunder Minimum is the most famous cold period of the Little Ice Age. Temperatures plummeted in Europe (Figs. 14.3–14.7), the growing season became shorter by more than a month, the number of snowy days increased from a few to 20–30, the ground froze to several feet, alpine glaciers advanced all over the world, glaciers in the Swiss Alps encroached on farms and buried villages, tree-lines in the Alps dropped, sea ports were blocked by sea ice that surrounded Iceland and Holland for about 20 miles, wine grape harvests diminished, and cereal grain harvests failed, leading to mass famines (Fagan, 2007). The Thames River and canals and rivers of the Netherlands froze over during the winter (Fig. 14.3). The population of Iceland decreased by about half. In parts of China, warm-weather crops that had been grown for centuries were abandoned. In North America, early European settlers experienced exceptionally severe winters.So far in 2019, there have been more than 200 days without a single sunspot on the sun.We do not know when solar activity will return to normal, but for now we should all prepare for a bitterly cold winter.Beyond that, we had better hope that we have not entered another “Maunder Minimum”, because right now we are struggling to feed everyone on the planet even in the best of years.Despite all of our advanced technology, we remain deeply dependent on the weather. Even a year or two of bad harvests could potentially be absolutely catastrophic, and the mainstream media will not tell us the truth until it is way too late to do anything about it.CommentsJAMES MATKINNovember 11, 2019 at 8:12 pm | #Snow predictions demolish false global warming crisis –“2000 Dr. David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, predicts that within a few years winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event”. “Children just aren’t going to know what snow is.” See here.“2001 IPCC TAR (AR3) predicts that milder winter temperatures will decrease heavy snowstorms. See here.“2004 Adam Watson, from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Banchory, Aberdeenshire, said the Scottish skiing industry had no more than 20 years left. See here.Some Failed Climate PredictionsThink about why alarmists thought warming would end freezing winters in the future and you will see that if the earth is to ever exit the current Quaternary Ice Age [look it up in google] polar ice must become ice free in the summer. But heavy snowfall in the winter with the SNOW albedo keeps temperatures too cold to melt the glaciers in the spring and summer. Therefore the only way for ice free summers is for no or little snow in the winter. Because this is so far from happening around the world this issue becomes a silver bullet demolishing the fear of global warming and the need for the Paris Climate Accord.Are You Ready For A Catastrophically Cold Winter? | PSI IntlThe Little Ice Age is a history of resilience and surprises – Dagomar Degroot | Aeon EssaysSurviving Little Ice Age possible with “bold economic and social change” new ‘lessons history’Little Ice Age lessonsThe world’s last climate crisis demonstrates that surviving is possible if bold economic and social change is embracedWinter Landscape with Ice Skaters (c1608), by Hendrick Avercamp. Avercamp was deaf and mute and specialised in painting scenes of the Netherlands in winter. Courtesy the Rijksmuseum, AmsterdamMidway through the 17th century, Dutch whalers bound for the Arctic noticed that the climate was changing. For decades, they had waited for the retreat of sea ice in late spring, then pursued bowhead whales in bays off the Arctic Ocean islands of Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen. They had set up whaling stations and even towns in those bays, with ovens to boil blubber into oil. Europe’s growing population demanded oil for lighting and cooking, and for industrial purposes that included the manufacture of soap. Now, thick sea ice kept whalers from reaching their ovens even in mid-summer. Climate change, it seemed, had doomed their trade.Whaling Grounds in the Arctic Ocean by Abraham Storck, 1654-1708. Courtesy the Rijksmuseum, AmsterdamYet in the frigid decades of the late-17th century, the Dutch whaling industry boomed. Whalers discovered how to boil blubber aboard their ships or on sea ice, then learned how to transport it from the Arctic to furnaces in Amsterdam. There, labourers boiled the oil until it reached a purity never achieved in the Arctic, giving Dutch whalers a competitive edge in the European market. Shipwrights greased and reinforced the hulls of whaling vessels so that they could slide off thick ice and survive the occasional collision. The governing council of the Dutch Republic – the country that would become the Netherlands of today – allowed a corporate monopoly on whaling to expire, and thereby encouraged competition between hundreds of new whalers. Ironically, by provoking crisis, climate change spurred a golden age for the Dutch whaling industry.Many of us think of today’s extraordinarily rapid, human-caused climate change as an existential threat to humanity, one that will inevitably wipe away cities, industries, countries, perhaps even our species – or at least our way of life. Many historians, archaeologists and natural scientists have thought about the modest, natural climate changes that preceded the 20th century in much the same way: as existential threats to past civilisations. In their accounts, communities and societies wedded to old ways of life had little recourse when previously predictable weather patterns abruptly changed. Time and again, they argue, past climate changes provoked civilisational ‘collapse’: a sudden unravelling of social and economic complexity, culminating in a catastrophic decline in population. In popular books and articles, journalists and scientists draw on these ideas to argue that because natural climate changes destroyed past civilisations, anthropogenic warming could well doom ours.Yet new research is telling us something very different. It is revealing that many – perhaps most – communities successfully endured past climate changes. Some bounced back quickly after severe and previously unusual weather; others avoided disaster entirely. Many adapted to become more resilient to damage, or to exploit new opportunities. Climate change in fact repeatedly altered environments so they better suited how some societies grew food, made money, or waged war.Even in resilient societies, thousands died amid the most extreme weather unleashed by past climate changes. Yet it is becoming increasingly clear that our ancestors often acted decisively and creatively to make the best out of trying times. Far from an outlier, the story of Dutch whalers in the Arctic is merely one example in a history of ingenuity in the face of past climate change.Sign up to our newsletterUpdates on everything new at Aeon.DailyWeeklySee our newsletter privacy policy hereIf you follow the weather, you will no doubt have heard that a day, month or year is the hottest on record. It might be tempting to assume that this record involves all of natural or at least human history, but it really refers only to the almost century-and-a-half in which weather stations equipped with accurate thermometers gradually spread across the world. For much of that period, human greenhouse gas emissions have been the driving force behind changes in Earth’s average annual temperature.To determine just how unusual these global changes are, how they might transform local environments, and how they are linked to the changing chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere, researchers have searched far and wide for evidence of earlier climatic variability. By measuring the thickness of rings embedded in the trunks of trees, for example, they have traced how the growth rates of trees scattered around the Earth accelerated or slowed in past centuries. They have compared these fluctuating growth rates to recent, reliable records of temperature and precipitation, and thereby developed an understanding of how different trees respond to climatic trends. With that knowledge, they have used growth rings in living trees, fossilised wood and even timber embedded in ancient buildings to reconstruct changes in Earth’s climate from antiquity to the present.Tree rings in bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) wood. Photo by James St John/Flickr; licensed under CC BY 2.0Other scientists have drilled deep into the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, and exhumed long cylinders – ‘cores’ – of densely packed ice. The deepest ice in Antarctic cores might be millions of years old. Just as tree trunks are wound with growth rings, the cores are stacked with layers that register the annual accumulation of snow. By comparing the shifting ratios of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in these layers, scientists learn how precipitation patterns have fluctuated around the poles, which in turn reveals much about the history of Earth’s average annual temperature. Bubbles trapped in cores even contain tiny samples of the ancient atmosphere that, when carefully measured, reveal historic changes in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and other gases.Climate ‘proxy’ sources such as tree rings or ice cores register the influence of past climate change. They do not directly record it as a thermometer might. Their ‘resolution’ – a word that could be roughly defined as their precision in time and space – might be quite low, and each source tends to work best for a particular period or place. Historians have learned to help scientists fill some of the gaps by using archaeological, textual or oral records of past weather. Perhaps the most abundant and most useful are logbooks written by European sailors in the age of sail. Because sailors had to keep track of the wind in order to navigate when out of sight of the coast, logbooks contain rich records of daily or even hourly weather.Under the scrutiny of historians and scientists, Earth’s past climate has gradually and grudgingly divulged its secrets, one imperfect source at a time. It turns out that our planet is a volatile place, with a climate that never stops changing.Global cooling in even the chilliest decades probably did not exceed 0.5 degrees CelsiusMidway through the 13th century, for example, parts of the Northern Hemisphere started cooling. The causes were complex, but involved some combination of cyclical changes in the orientation of Earth’s rotational axis, repeated declines in solar radiation, random fluctuations in oceanic and atmospheric currents, and volcanic eruptions that temporarily shrouded the Earth in veils of sunlight-scattering sulphur dioxide.Temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere fluctuated for a while before cooling sharply in the 15th century. They rebounded briefly in the 16th, then dropped across much of the world – including the Southern Hemisphere – later in that century. Temperatures in some places warmed briefly halfway through the 17th century, then cooled again until early in the 18th. After several decades of modest warming, renewed cooling beset much of the world until midway through the 19th century, when persistent warming finally set in.Global temperatures over the past 2,000 years, according to different statistical methods. The black line represents modern warming, as measured by meteorological instruments (such as thermometers in weather stations)These cooling waves are together called the ‘Little Ice Age’, which is more than a bit of a misnomer. Global cooling in even the chilliest decades of the 17th and 19th centuries – the coldest of the period – probably did not exceed 0.5 degrees Celsius. Unlike today’s warming, cooling reached different places at different times, with more or less severity, and hot years could interrupt even the coldest decades. Glaciers did expand out of many mountain ranges, but this was not an ‘Ice Age’.Nor was it ‘little’. Temperature anomalies were probably longer-lasting and more severe than any had been for millennia, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. They brought short-term changes in ocean currents and wind patterns that repeatedly drenched some regions in torrential rain, or afflicted others with landmark droughts. For those who lived through it, the Little Ice Age was no trivial matter.Archaeologists and historians have long argued that many societies were woefully unprepared for the cooling of the Little Ice Age, and therefore suffered tremendous losses. When the Little Ice Age first chilled Greenland, for example, the sedentary agricultural practices that Vikings brought with them from Europe were no longer viable. Yet the Vikings, they supposed, stubbornly adhered to those practices, victims of cultural assumptions that they could not abandon. As temperatures continued to drop in the 14th and 15th centuries, the Viking settlements disappeared.The remains of Hvalsey Church, the location of the last written record of the Greenlandic Vikings. Photo courtesy WikipediaAt around the same time, waves of bubonic plague swept across Eurasia, killing tens of millions. Some scholars have argued that torrential rains associated with the onset of a newly unstable European climate in the early 14th century ruined harvests and spurred the rise of disease among cattle, leading to a Great Famine that killed perhaps 10 per cent of the continent’s population. Malnutrition in children can permanently weaken immune systems, and those who were children during the Great Famine were especially vulnerable to the later arrival of the plague. Others claim that precipitation extremes provoked by the onset of a cool but unstable climate drove booms and busts in the population of rodent vectors for the plague. When rodents in central Asia multiplied, fleas that carried plague did too; when they declined, fleas overcrowded on surviving rodents fled in desperation to new hosts: humans living nearby. After such migrations, waves of plague slowly travelled west towards Europe.Researchers once knew little about the effects of the Little Ice outside of Europe, but no longer. It now seems, for example, that the frigid decades of the 15th century brought unseasonal frost across Mesoamerica, repeatedly ruining maize harvests in the Aztec empire. Food shortages provoked famine and, if surviving accounts can be believed, even cannibalism, weakening the empire just before the arrival of European ships and soldiers.Across Europe and North America, the 17th century was the coldest of the Little Ice Age. Researchers have argued that, by then, the world’s great empires had grown vulnerable to even the slightest shift in environmental conditions. Populations that expanded in the warmer decades of the 16th century increasingly depended on crops grown on marginally productive farmland. Imperial governments financed ever-more expensive wars using surpluses siphoned from far-flung hinterlands. With rural areas already stretched to breaking point, temperature and precipitation extremes provoked calamitous food shortages. Famines led to widespread starvation, migration and epidemics, which in turn kindled rebellions, civil wars and conflict between states. According to the historian Geoffrey Parker, this ‘fatal synergy’ between climatic cooling, starvation, disease and conflict culminated in a ‘global crisis’ that killed perhaps a third of the world’s population.Mutually reinforcing environmental trends exacerbated already-dangerous military and economic pressuresOver much of the world, the Little Ice Age reached its coldest point in the early 19th century, with the chilliest decade of all following in the wake of a massive volcanic eruption in 1809 and the cataclysmic detonation of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. Researchers have traced how summer frost ruined crops across China, especially in the province of Yunnan, where millions starved to death. Cooling also weakened the temperature differential between land and water, which delayed the vital rains of the Indian monsoon and thereby unleashed famine and epidemics across India.The caldera left behind by the Tambora eruption in 1815, which blew away much of the mountain. Photo courtesy WikipediaYet a new wave of research is revealing previously overlooked examples of creativity and adaptability even in communities that suffered most as Earth’s climate changed. Let us revisit, for example, the plight of the Vikings in medieval Greenland. Archaeologists now know that Viking settlers did not simply bring the same, inflexible set of subsistence strategies to every environment they colonised. In Greenland, for instance, Viking hunters learned to travel for hundreds of miles to kill walrus and harvest their ivory and hides. Sailors in longboats would bring these commodities to Europe in exchange for iron and other supplies that were difficult to obtain in the Arctic.As the north cooled in the 13th century, Viking colonists developed an innovative irrigation system that increased hay harvests, while reducing their dependence on agriculture by hunting more seals and caribou. At first, Vikings in Greenland therefore adapted well to a cooler climate. Then, in the 14th century, the Thule – ancestors of today’s Inuit and Inupiat peoples – migrated into Greenland and clashed with Vikings over access to vital hunting grounds. European tastes also shifted away from walrus ivory, robbing the Greenlandic Vikings of their main export. It was only in this context – with several crises unfolding at once – that climatic cooling started to unravel the lives and livelihoods of Vikings in Greenland.The climatic story, too, is more complex than it once seemed. Cooling by itself might not have done in the Vikings. Rather, local and regional increases in the frequency and severity of storms; the extent and persistence of sea ice; and the variability and unpredictability of weather together disrupted Viking trade, hunting activities and agriculture. It was only when faced with all these challenges that the Vikings eventually disappeared from Greenland.It now seems that our ancestors were more than hapless victims in the face of climate change. In Greenland, cooling did not simply cause the destruction of stubborn agriculturalists, as scholars once believed. Rather, it was part of shifting and mutually reinforcing environmental trends that exacerbated already-dangerous military and economic pressures. Caught in that complex vice, the Vikings endured until they no longer could.Let us return to the Dutch Republic, a little country that has left behind a voluminous record of its travails in the frigid 17th century. At first glance it, too, was swept up in the global crisis. Scarcely a year went by that the Republic was not at war, if not in Europe then in the far-flung reaches of an embattled empire. Simmering tensions between different religious and political factions repeatedly erupted in mob violence and even, briefly, the beginnings of civil war. Between invasion and revolts, the existence of the Republic repeatedly looked uncertain. Taxation, public debt and the cost of labour soared over the course of the 17th century, while previously competitive industries, from textile manufacturing to brewing, declined. Powerful storms, a feature of the Little Ice Age in northwestern Europe, repeatedly broke through Dutch dikes and sluices, drowning thousands. Small wonder that researchers have grouped the Republic with other examples of climate-caused crisis in the 17th century.Yet take a step back, and the Dutch experience of climate change seems completely different. The Dutch economy boomed for much of the late-16th and 17th centuries, so that per-capita wealth was higher in the Republic than it was anywhere else in the world. Even in the face of economic headwinds later in the 17th century, the economy was flexible enough to transform itself, rather than decline. The Republic’s population soared, too, and urbanisation in the coastal provinces had little parallel until the 20th century. Infrastructure rapidly improved, and commerce expanded globally until the Dutch became the world’s leading trading nation. The Dutch army and especially its navy won battles and wars against far more populous nations, and the Republic became, for a while, Europe’s leading maritime power. Culture and science underwent such a remarkable efflorescence that the 17th century is still remembered by some as the Dutch ‘Golden Age’.To some extent, the Republic’s successes were partly a product of Dutch resilience to the Little Ice Age. People in coastal cities, for example, had diverse diets and could therefore cope with shortages in a particular food. Urban charities provided for the poor, who were particularly vulnerable to harvest failures in other countries. Climate change also seems to have benefitted the Dutch. Much of the Republic’s economic dynamism stemmed from activities at sea, where complex changes in patterns of prevailing wind mattered more than cooling. These changes shortened Dutch commercial voyages and often helped Dutch war fleets more effectively harness the wind when sailing into battle.A Dutch icebreaker, designed to break harbour ice into pieces for use in cellars. Courtesy the Rijksmuseum, AmsterdamClimate change did pose severe challenges for the Dutch and, when it did, the Dutch often adapted creatively. When storms sparked a series of urban fires across Europe, for example, Dutch inventors developed and then exported new firefighting technologies and practices. When winter ice choked harbours and halted traffic on essential canals, the Dutch invented skates and refined icebreakers. Merchants set up fairs on the ice that attracted thousands from afar, and pioneered insurance policies that protected them from the risks of storms at sea.Both Europe and the Americas now seem like hotbeds of resilience and adaptation to climate changeOther examples of societies that thrived during the Little Ice Age are now coming into focus. In the Americas, Indigenous communities appear to have been especially inventive and resilient in the face of the Little Ice Age. In the 16th and 17th centuries, for example, Neutral Iroquoians in Northeastern America adapted to a cooling climate by shifting away from sedentary agriculture, prioritising hunting and building smaller settlements. Neighbouring Iroquioan communities, by contrast, migrated and depended on decentralised social networks to share increasingly scarce resources. Some Algonquian societies adopted the opposite approach, abandoning egalitarian social orders in order to more effectively defend cornfields from rival communities. Wabanaki raiders used an Indigenous technology, the snowshoe, to outmanoeuvre English soldiers. And in the American Southwest, Mojave peoples learned how to store and transport food as effectively as any Dutch merchant.Comanche Indians Chasing Buffalo with Lances and Bows (1846-1848), by George Catlin. Courtesy WikipediaLike the Dutch Republic, the vast Comanche polity that surged to prominence across the 18th-century Great Plains seems both to have benefitted from and adapted to the cooling of the Little Ice Age. Beginning in the 16th century, chilly, rainy weather encouraged bison to migrate and then expand rapidly across the plains. While many Indigenous societies moved to take advantage, the Comanche soon dominated them by combining guns and horses for both hunting and raiding. By exploiting the vast and growing bison herds, the Comanche of the 18th century gained the wealth to raid or trade with societies across the entire Great Plains region. When frost or drought provoked food shortages in one community, another far away usually experienced different weather and therefore had enough supplies to make up the shortfall.Europe and the Americas: both continents once looked like epicentres of a global climate crisis. Yet increasingly, both now seem like hotbeds not only of vulnerability to climate change, but also of resilience and adaptation. Different communities and even individuals within societies experienced climate change very differently, and there does not seem to have been a common, dismal fate shared by all who faced the coldest centuries of the Little Ice Age.Our tendency in both popular media and academia to tell simplistic climate-change disaster stories has not served us well, either in understanding the past or in preparing for the future. Popular misconceptions that humanity is doomed – that we are, as the US presidential candidate Andrew Yang put it recently, ‘10 years too late’ – threaten to discourage the very action that could still limit anthropogenic climate change to manageable levels. Far less defensible assumptions that climate change has happened before and is therefore nothing to worry about – ahistorical nonsense often fronted by those who once denied the very existence of human-caused warming – pose even greater obstacles to urgent action. It is crucial that we expand the space between these harmful extremes. Writing more nuanced histories of past climate change is one way to do it.Those histories cannot reveal how exactly we will cope with extreme warming. The environmental challenges we face are far greater than those overcome by the Dutch or Comanche, but our means of understanding and confronting them are greater, too. Yet the past can reveal deep truths – parables – that might otherwise have remained hidden. It suggests, for example, that relatively small environmental shocks can provoke outsized human responses, especially in times when economic or political systems are strained to the breaking point. Yet it also reveals that climate change does not simply determine human outcomes, as some have assumed.The past tells us that when climatic trends make it impossible to live in the same city, grow food in the same way or continue existing economic relationships, the result for a society is not invariably crisis and collapse. Individuals, communities and societies can respond in surprising ways, and crisis – if it does come – could provoke some of the most productive innovations of all. Those responses, in turn, yield still more transformations within evolving societies. If that was true in the past, it is even more true today, as seismic political and cultural changes coincide with the breakneck development and democratisation of artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and other revolutionary technologies.Most attempts to estimate the economic or geopolitical impacts of future warming therefore involve little more than educated guesswork. The future is hard to predict – perhaps harder than it ever was – and both collapse and prosperity seem possible in the century to come. So let us approach the future with open minds. Rather than resign ourselves to disaster, let us work hard to implement radical policies – such as the Green New Deal – that go beyond simply preserving what we have now, and instead promise a genuinely better world for our children.Environmental history History of technology The environmentThe Little Ice Age is a history of resilience and surprises – Dagomar Degroot | Aeon EssaysUsing Patterns of Recurring Climate Cycles to Predict Future Climate ChangesD.J. Easterbrook, in Evidence-Based Climate Science (Second Edition), 2016“2.3.3 Medieval Warm Period (900–1300 AD)The Medieval Warm Period (MWP) is the most contentious of the late Holocene climatic oscillations because of claims by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and CO2 alarmists that it didn't really happen, ie, the basis for the infamous “hockey stick” assertion of no climate changes until CO2 increase after 1950.Oxygen isotope data from the GISP2 Greenland ice core clearly show a prominent MWP (Fig. 21.8) between 900 and 1300 AD. It was followed by global cooling and the beginning of the Little Ice AgeFigure 21.8. Oxygen isotope curve from the GISP2 Greenland ice core. (Red = warm, blue = cool.)Plotted from data by Grootes, P.M., Stuiver, M., 1997. Oxygen 18/16 variability in Greenland snow and ice with 103 to 105–year time resolution. Journal of Geophysical Research 102, 26455–26470 data.The MWP is also conspicuous on reconstruction of sea surface temperature near Iceland (Fig. 21.9; Sicre et al., 2008).Sign in to download full-size imageFigure 21.9. Summer sea surface temperatures near Iceland (Sicre et al., 2008).As shown by numerous studies using a wide variety of methods, the MWP was a period of global warming. One example among many is the study of tree rings in China (Fig. 21.10; Liu et al., 2011).Figure 21.10. Temperature reconstruction from tree rings in China. (Red = warm, blue = cool.)Modified from Liu, Y., Cai, Q.F., Song, H.M., et al., 2011. Amplitudes, rates, periodicities and causes of temperature variations in the past 2485 years and future trends over the central-eastern Tibetan Plateau. Chinese Science Bulletin 56, 2986–2994.Historical accounts confirm the worldwide occurrence of the MWP. It was a time of warm climate from about 900 AD to 1300 AD. Its effects were evident in Europe, where grain crops flourished, alpine tree lines rose, many new cities arose, and the population more than doubled. The Vikings took advantage of the climatic amelioration to colonize Greenland, and wine grapes were grown as far north as England, where growing grapes is now not feasible, and about 500 km north of present vineyards in France and Germany. Grapes are presently grown in Germany up to elevations of about 560 m, but from about 1100 AD to 1300 AD., vineyards extended up to 780 m, implying temperatures warmer by about 1.0–1.4°C. Wheat and oats were grown around Trondheim, Norway, suggesting climates about 1°C warmer than present (Fagan, 2000).Elsewhere in the world, prolonged droughts affected the southwestern United States and Alaska warmed. Sediments in central Japan record warmer temperatures. Sea surface temperatures in the Sargasso Sea were approximately 1°C warmer than today (Keigwin, 1996), and the climate in equatorial east Africa was drier from 1000 AD to 1270 AD. An ice core from the eastern Antarctic Peninsula shows warmer temperatures during this period.Oxygen isotope studies in Greenland, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Tibet, China, New Zealand, and elsewhere, plus tree-ring data from many sites around the world, all confirm the existence of a global MWP. Soon and Baliunas (2003) found that 92% of 112 studies showed physical evidence of the MWP, only 2 showed no evidence, and 21 of 22 studies in the Southern Hemisphere showed evidence of Medieval warming. Evidence of the MWP at specific sites is summarized in Fagan (2007) and Singer and Avery (2007).Evidence that the MWP was a global event is so widespread that one wonders why Mann et al. (1998) ignored it. Over a period of many decades, several thousand papers were published establishing the MWP from about 900 ADto 1300 AD. Thus, it came as quite a surprise when Mann et al. (1998), on the basis of a single tree-ring study, concluded that neither the MWP nor the Little Ice Age actually happened and that assertion became the official position of the 2001 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC 3rd report (Climate Change, 2001) totally ignored the several 1000 publications detailing the global climate changes during the MWP and the LIA and used the Mann et al. single tree-ring study as the basis for the now-famous assertion that “Our civilization has never experienced any environmental shift remotely similar to this. Today's climate pattern has existed throughout the entire history of human civilization” (Gore, 2007). This claim was used as the main evidence that increasing atmospheric CO2 was causing global warming, and so, as revealed in the “Climategate” scandal, advocates of the CO2 warming theory were very concerned about the strength of data showing that the MWP was warmer than the 20th century and had occurred naturally, long before atmospheric CO2 began to increase. The Mann et al. “hockey stick” temperature curve was at so at odds with thousands of published papers, one can only wonder how a single tree-ring study could purport to prevail over such a huge amount of data.McIntyre and McKitrick (2003) and McKitrick and McIntyre (2005) evaluated the data in the Mann paper and concluded that the Mann curve was invalid “due to collation errors, unjustifiable truncation or extrapolation of source data, obsolete data, geographical location errors, incorrect calculation of principal components and other quality control defects”. Thus, the “hockey stick” concept of global climate change is now widely considered totally invalid and an embarrassment to the IPCC.”Medieval Warm PeriodHolocene Climate Variability*M. Maslin, ... V. Ettwein, in Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences (Second Edition), 2001Little Ice Age (LIA)The most recent Holocene cold event is the Little Ice Age (see Figures 2 and 3). This event really consists of two cold periods, the first of which followed the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) that ended ∼1000 years ago. This first cold period is often referred to as the Medieval Cold Period (MCP) or LIAb. The MCP played a role in extinguishing Norse colonies on Greenland and caused famine and mass migration in Europe. It started gradually before ad 1200 and ended at about ad 1650. This second cold period, may have been the most rapid and the largest change in the North Atlantic during the Holocene, as suggested from ice-core and deep-sea sediment records. The Little Ice Age events are characterized by a drop in temperature of 0.5–1°C in Greenland and a sea surface temperature falls of 4°C off the coast of west Africa and 2°C off the Bermuda Rise (see Figure 3).Download full-size imageFigure 3. Comparison of Greenland temperatures, the Bermuda Rise sea surface temperatures (SST) (Keigwin, 1996), and west African and a sea surface temperature (deMenocal et al., 2000) for the last 2500 years. LIALittle Ice Age; MWPMedieval Warm Period. Solid triangles indicate radiocarbon dates.D.J. Easterbrook, in Evidence-Based Climate Science (Second Edition), 20161 Solar Variation—Grand Minima“At the end of the Medieval Warm Period, ∼1300 AD, temperatures dropped dramatically and the cold period that followed is known as the Little Ice Age. The periods of colder climate that ensued for five centuries were devastating. The population of Europe had become dependent on cereal grains as a food supply during the Medieval Warm Period, and with the colder climate, early snows, violent storms, and recurrent flooding that swept Europe, massive crop failures occurred, resulting in widespread famine and disease (Fagan, 2000; Grove, 2004). Glaciers in Greenland and elsewhere began advancing and pack ice extended southward in the North Atlantic, blocking ports and affecting fishing. Three years of torrential rains that began in 1315 led to the Great Famine of 1315–1317.The Little Ice Age was not a time of continuous cold climate, but rather repeated periods of cooling and warming, each of which occurred during times of solar minima, characterized by low sunspot numbers, low total solar irradiance (TSI), decreased solar magnetism, increased cosmic ray intensity, and increased production of radiocarbon and beryllium in the upper atmosphere.Centuries of observations of the sun have shown that sunspots, solar irradiance, and solar magnetism vary over time, and these phenomena correlate very well with global climate changes on Earth. A number of solar Grand Minima, periods of reduced solar output, have been recognized (Fig. 14.1).Download full-size imageFigure 14.1. Solar minima.1.1 Wolf Minimum (1290–1320 AD)The Wolf Minimum was a period of low sunspot numbers (SSNs) and TSI between about 1300 and 1320 AD. It occurred during the cold period that marked the end of the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and the beginning of the Little Ice Age (LIA) about 1300 AD.The change from the warmth of the MWP to the cold of the LIA was abrupt and devastating, leading to the Great Famine from 1310 to 1322. The winter of 1309–1310 AD was exceptionally cold. The Thames River froze over and poor people were especially affected. The year 1315 AD was especially bad. Jean Desnouelles wrote at the time, “Exceedingly great rains descended from the heavens and they made huge and deep mud-pools on the land. Throughout nearly all of May, June, and August, the rains did not stop.” Corn, oats, and hay crops were beaten to the ground, August and September were cold, and floods swept away entire villages. Crop harvests in 1315 AD were a disaster, affecting an enormous area in northern Europe. In places, up to half of farmlands were eroded away, cold, wet weather prevented grain harvests, and fall plantings failed, triggering famines.In 1316 AD, spring rain continued, again impeding the sowing of grain crops, and harvests failed once again. Diseases increased, newborn and old people died of starvation, and multitudes scavenged anything edible. Whole communities disappeared and many farms were abandoned. The year 1316 was the worst for cereal crops in the entire Middle Ages. Cattle couldn’t be fed, hay wouldn’t dry and couldn’t be moved so it just rotted. Thousands of cattle froze during the bitterly cold winter of 1317–1318 and many others starved. The cold immobilized shipping. Rain in 1317–1318 continued through the summer and people suffered for another seven years. The coincidence of sudden cooling of the climate from the warm Medieval Warm Period to the harsh cold climate of the Little Ice Age during the Wolf Minimum was not just a coincidence, as shown by at least five later, similar instances.1.2 Sporer Minimum (1410–1540)The Sporer Minimum occurred from about 1410 to 1540 (Fig. 14.1). Like the Wolf Minimum, the Sporer coincided with a cold period (Fig. 14.2).Download full-size imageFigure 14.2. Relationship of solar minima, solar irradiance, and glacier advances. Blue areas were cool periods. Cool climates prevailed in all six solar minima since 1300 AD.1.3 Maunder MinimumThe Maunder Minimum is the most famous cold period of the Little Ice Age. Temperatures plummeted in Europe (Figs. 14.3–14.7), the growing season became shorter by more than a month, the number of snowy days increasedfrom a few to 20–30, the ground froze to several feet, alpine glaciers advanced all over the world, glaciers in the Swiss Alps encroached on farms and buried villages, tree-lines in the Alps dropped, sea ports were blocked by sea ice that surrounded Iceland and Holland for about 20 miles, wine grape harvests diminished, and cereal grain harvests failed, leading to mass famines (Fagan, 2007). The Thames River and canals and rivers of the Netherlands froze over during the winter (Fig. 14.3). The population of Iceland decreased by about half. In parts of China, warm-weather crops that had been grown for centuries were abandoned. In North America, early European settlers experienced exceptionally severe winters.Download full-size imageFigure 14.3. 1663 painting by Jan Grifier of the frozen Thames River in London during the Maunder Minimum.Download full-size imageFigure 14.4. Glaciers in the Alps advanced during the Little Ice Age.Download full-size imageFigure 14.5. Central England temperatures (CET) recorded continuously since 1658. Blue areas are reoccurring cool periods; red areas are warm periods. All times of solar minima were coincident with cool periods in central England.Download full-size imageFigure 14.6. CET during the Maunder Minimum.Download full-size imageFigure 14.7. Oxygen isotope record, GISP2 Greenland ice core showing the Maunder Minimum. Blue area is cool, red is warm. The isotope record shows the same cooling as the CET.”Medieval Warm Period