The best news from Antarctica had been that conservationists discovered three bottles of Mackinlay highland malt scotch that Ernest Shackelton left behind in 1909 at the end of his first expedition.  The second best news was reported last week in the journal The Cryosphere. Scientists studying the logbooks of Shackleton and Robert Scott have concluded that Antarctic sea ice has been virtually unchanged for 100 years. Alas, John Kerry, in the waning days of rescuing the planet, was on an early November global warming pilgrimage to the Ross Sea ice shelf, expecting a world windsurfing rendezvous.  Instead, he found a frozen mass more extensive than at any time since the middle of the 20th century. Secretary Kerry's errand should have been to sub-Sahara Africa, where the World Health Organization says fewer than 16% of people have direct access to clean water. Lack of clean water for human consumption is, in fact, the existential threat, not global warming, nor...(Read Full Post)