Pentagon's top policy official John Rood resigns at Trump's request

Rood reportedly raised concerns about the freeze on military aid to Ukraine last year

John Rood, the Pentagon’s top policy official who reportedly raised concerns about the freeze on military aid to Ukraine last year – the issue at the heart of Donald Trump’s impeachment – has resigned at the request of the president.

The Trump administration’s delay in releasing that aid was central to the president’s impeachment by the House on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate voted to acquit the president. But in the wake of the Senate trial, an emboldened Trump has gone after officials he has perceived as being disloyal.

Rood, the undersecretary of defense for policy, appears to be the latest official to be purged. He had certified last year that the defense department had seen enough anti-corruption progress in Ukraine to justify releasing congressionally authorized aid.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration also fired Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the EU, and Lt Col Alexander Vindman from his White House post, who both delivered testimony deemed damaging to Trump during the impeachment inquiry.

At the time, Vindman’s lawyer, David Pressman, said: “He followed orders, he obeyed his oath, and he served his country. And for that, the most powerful man in the world – buoyed by the silent, the pliable and the complicit – has decided to exact revenge.”

Rood’s letter of resignation did not mention Ukraine but said that he was leaving at Trump’s request.

“It’s my understanding from Secretary Esper that you requested my resignation,” Rood said in his letter to Trump, adding that he will step down as of 28 February.

Mark Esper, the defense secretary, said Rood had played “a critical role’’ on issues such as nuclear deterrence, Nato, missile defense and the National Defense Strategy.

Trump tweeted on Wednesday that he wanted to “thank John Rood for his service to our Country, and wish him well in his future endeavors!”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/19/john-rood-pentagon-official-resigns-trump-request

Extreme cold weather being caused by the jet stream is not a result of Arctic warming, research suggests.

Extreme cold weather being caused by the jet stream is not a result of Arctic warming, research suggests.

Past studies have indicated the warming Arctic region causes a wavier jet stream – which can lead to the conditions caused by intense cold air striking the US and Europe.

However, the new study shows Arctic warming does not drive a more meandering jet stream.

Instead, the researchers from the University of Exeter believe any link is more likely to be a result of random fluctuations in the jet stream influencing Arctic temperatures, rather than the other way around.

The well-publicised idea that Arctic warming is leading to a wavier jet stream just does not hold up to scrutiny

Dr Russell Blackport, a research fellow in mathematics and lead author of the study, said: “While there does appear to be a link between a wavier jet stream and Arctic warming in year-to-year and decade-to-decade variability, there has not been a long-term increase in waviness in response to the rapidly warming Arctic.”

For about two decades, the jet stream – a powerful band of westerly winds – was observed to have a wavier flow, which coincided with greater Arctic warming through climate change.

These waves have caused extreme weather conditions to strike mainland Europe and the US, bringing intense cold air that leads to extreme cold weather.

In this new study, Dr Blackport and Professor James Screen studied not only climate model simulations but also the observed conditions going back 40 years.

They found that the previously reported trend towards a wavier circulation during autumn and winter has reversed in recent years, despite continued Arctic amplification.

This has resulted in no long-term trends in waviness, in agreement with climate model simulations, which also suggest little change in “waviness” in response to strong Arctic warming.

According to the study published in journal Science Advances, the observed and simulated link between jet stream waviness and Arctic temperatures do not represent a causal effect of Arctic amplification on the jet stream.

Professor Screen, an associate professor in climate science at Exeter, added: “The well-publicised idea that Arctic warming is leading to a wavier jet stream just does not hold up to scrutiny.

“With the benefit of 10 more years of data and model experiments, we find no evidence of long-term changes in waviness despite on-going Arctic warming.”

https://www.breakingnews.ie/world/extreme-weather-being-caused-by-jet-stream-not-because-of-arctic-warming-982778.html