Sipping from the internet firehose...
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H.E.Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
- Top Stories:UN CC Session, Investor Summit, AAAS Annual Meeting, ZIFs
- Melting Arctic, Border Jousting, Dead Zones, Earth Hour, Climate Code Red
- Hurricanes, Paleoclimate, ENSO, THC
- Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts, Food vs. Biofuel
- Mitigation, Transportation, Shipping GHGs, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Planktos, Adaptation
- Journals, Misc. Science
- Kyoto-2, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- Politics: America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Japan, Canada
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books
- Energy, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Cars, Business, Greenwashing, Insurance
- Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
- 2008/02/11: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) The Bush Legacy
The UN General Assembly held a climate session this week:
- 2008/02/14: PhysOrg: UN Debate Keys on Rich Nation Emissions
- 2008/02/14: Xinhuanet: Developed countries urged to lead emissions cuts efforts at UN debate
- 2008/02/12: UN: Clear global strategy crucial in fighting climate change - Assembly President [Srgjan Kerim]
- 2008/02/11: UN: Effective partnerships key to tackling climate change, says Assembly President [Srgjan Kerim]
- 2008/02/11: UN: United States actress [Daryl Hannah], English entrepreneur [Richard Branson] issue call at UN for climate action
- 2008/02/13: TruthOut: UN Security Council Urged to Punish CO2 Offenders
- 2008/02/12: Yahoo: Tiny nations seek climate help at UN
- 2008/02/12: CBC: At UN meeting, small nations seek help to deal with global warming
- 2008/02/13: SMH: NY acts first on carbon cuts
New York [city] will slash its carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and the United States should do likewise, the city's billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has told the United Nations General Assembly. - 2008/02/12: TruthOut: Billionaires Step Up at UN to Target Climate Shifts - Branson, Bloomberg bring ideas for action to panel's green goals
- 2008/02/12: TreeHugger: Bloomberg Deems Threat of Global Warming as Serious as Terrorism
- 2008/02/12: ThinkP: Bloomberg: global warming as big a threat as terrorism
- 2008/02/11: PhysOrg: UN Chief Calls for Climate Change Action
- 2008/02/11: Yahoo: UN gathering to address climate change
The U.N. General Assembly is bringing together business leaders, activists and government officials for a debate on climate change starting Monday -- an effort to keep up the momentum for a new treaty by 2009 to fight global warming. The two-day session is a follow-up to the international climate conference in December on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, where delegates from nearly 190 nations agreed to adopt a blueprint to control global warming gases before the end of next year. - 2008/02/11: OilChange: "Biofuels Branson" is UN's Special Guest at Climate Meeting
- 2008/02/11: CBC: UN chief calls for action on climate change in 2008 as 2-day debate opens
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged all nations on Monday to join private companies, civic groups and individuals this year in sustaining "the unprecedented momentum" to fight global warming. "If 2007 was the year when climate change rose to the top of the global agenda, 2008 is the time we must take concerted action," Ban said at the start of a two-day UN General Assembly debate to generate support for a new treaty by 2009 to fight global warming. General Assembly president Srgjan Kerim invited UN member states, government officials and business and civic leaders to the United Nations to follow up December's international climate conference on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. There, delegates from nearly 190 countries agreed to adopt a blueprint to control global warming gases before the end of next year. - 2008/02/14: Google:AP: Investors Eye Climate Role at UN
- 2008/02/16: TreeHugger: Big Money Invests in Cleantech
- 2008/02/14: HillHeat: Investor Summit on Climate Risk
- 2008/02/15: HillHeat: McKinsey: Energy Efficiency Investment Offers Massive Returns
- 2008/02/15: JQuiggin: One-percenters underbid by McKinsey
- 2008/02/14: SeattlePI: Gore warns on 'subprime carbon' industry
- 2008/02/15: Yahoo: Business chiefs vow to lead fight against global warming
Elsewhere in the business world:
- 2008/02/15: AFP: Business chiefs vow to lead fight against global warming
Some of the world's top companies vowed Friday to step up efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, saying governments were failing to show sufficient leadership in the fight against global warming. The declaration reflects a growing trend by global corporations waging war on climate change by taking steps to reduce or offset the amount of carbon dioxide belched out by their offices and factories. A dozen corporations including Sony Corp., Nokia Corp., Nike Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. issued an urgent call for firms around the world to reduce the damage they inflict on the planet and to promote a "low-carbon lifestyle". - 2008/02/15: Guardian(UK): Investment fund giants demand 90% reduction in carbon emissions
Institutions try to seize control of green agenda - Listed firms would have to disclose climate cost. Some of the largest institutional investors in the world yesterday called on the US Congress to introduce a mandatory national policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% below 1990 levels by 2050. It is the latest move that underlines the way business leaders have dramatically seized the environmental agenda and are now pushing politicians to tackle global warming. The group of 40 investors, which includes F&C Asset Management in London and controls $1.5tr (£760bn) worth of funds, also wants the financial regulator, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to insist that companies listed in New York and elsewhere disclose their exposure to climate change risk. - 2008/02/15: ABC(Au): 30pc emission cut affordable: [McKinsey & Co.] report
The AAAS annual meeting is going down Feb 14-18:
- 2008/02/14-18: AAAS: 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston
- 2008/02/16: Eureka: Iowa Staters talk biofuels, healthy oils and 'pharma crops' at AAAS meeting
- 2008/02/16: Eureka: MIT expert: How to toughen up environmental treaties
- 2008/02/15: NatureCF: AAAS meeting: Sharks could invade Antarctica
- 2008/02/15: KSJT: Ink from Boston: AAAS annual meeting underway. Ocean science goes first.
- 2008/02/13: EnergyDaily: Top scientists gather for debate on 21st century challenges
- 2008/02/13: Eureka: AAAS honors climate scientist James Hansen
- 2008/02/13: PhysOrg: Top scientists gather for debate on 21st century challenges
Scientists have developed a new material [ZIF] that absorbs CO2 well. Now what are the issues involved in making it? Where do we dispose of it and how long to get it out of the lab?
- 2008/02/17: People's Daily: U.S. researchers develop carbon dioxide sucker
- 2008/02/15: TreeHugger: UCLA: New Super-Porous Materials Can Trap CO2
- 2008/02/15: TechRev: A Better Way to Capture Carbon - New materials provide a potentially cheaper way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants
- 2008/02/15: AfterGutenberg: Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks
- 2008/02/15: CBC: New materials can selectively capture CO2, scientists say
- 2008/02/14: NewScientist: CO2 sponges could scrub emissions clean
- 2008/02/14: PhysOrg: New materials can selectively capture carbon dioxide
- 2008/02/14: Eureka: New materials [zeolitic imidazolate frameworks, or ZIFs] can selectively capture carbon dioxide, UCLA chemists report
The Arctic melt still gets a lot of attention:
- 2008/02/15: CBC: Recent cold snap helping Arctic sea ice, scientists find
- 2008/02/12: Yahoo: Climatologist: Sea Ice to keep shrinking
Arctic sea ice next summer may shrink below the record low last year, according to a University of Washington climatologist. Ignatius Rigor spoke Monday at the Alaska Forum on the Environment and said global warming combined with natural cyclical changes likely will continue to push ice into the North Atlantic Ocean. The last remnants of thick, old sea ice are dispersing and the unusual weather cycles that contributed to sea ice loss last year are continuing, he said. "The buoys are streaming out," Rigor said, referring to the markers used to monitor the flushing of ice into the North Atlantic. A similar pattern preceded sea ice loss last summer was not expected to continue so strongly. - 2008/02/13: RegisterGuard: Climatologist says [Arctic] sea ice likely to continue shrinking
- 2008/02/12: KSJT: Anchorage Daily News: It is midwinter. Already the Arctic's ice is looking shaky for this summer
- 2008/02/12: ClimateP: Greenland Study: Sea level rise could be double IPCC projections
- 2008/02/12: TerraDaily: New Greenland Ice Sheet Data Will Impact Climate Change Models
- 2008/02/12: SciDaily: Global Warming: Sea Level Rise Could Be Twice As High As Current Projections, Greenland Ice Sheet Study Suggests
- 2008/02/12: ADN: Polar ice pack loss may break 2007 record - Ocean currents, global warming and wind combine to leave the Arctic ice fragile.
- 2008/02/11: CCurrents: Huge Polar Ice Loss Demands Global Declaration Of Climate Emergency
- 2008/02/11: PhysOrg: New Greenland ice sheet data will impact climate change models
- 2008/02/11: UBuffalo: New Greenland Ice Sheet Data Will Impact Climate Change Models
With digital imaging techniques, scientists find new data in old aerial photographs - 2008/02/15: NatureN: Arctic mapping redraws borders - Secrets emerge from "least-mapped place in the world"
- 2008/02/11: APRN: New study expands Alaska's continental shelf
- 2008/02/13: CanWest: U.S., Canada on collision course in Arctic - Untapped resources fuel undersea land grab: U.S. expert [NOAA official, Andy Armstrong]
- 2008/02/12: KSJT: AP: New Bathymetry reveals more US territory (maybe) under the retreating ice
- 2008/02/12: DotEarth: Arctic Melt Yields Hints of Bigger U.S. Seabed Claim
- 2008/02/12: SciDaily: Continental Slope Off Alaska 100 Nautical Miles Further Off Coast Than Assumed
- 2008/02/12: STimes: U.S. Arctic claim may get stronger
- 2008/02/11: PhysOrg: UNH-NOAA ocean mapping expedition yields new insights into arctic depths
While in the Antarctic:
- 2008/02/11: SciDaily: Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapse Blamed On More Than Climate Change
The dead zone off the west coast is intensifying:
- 2008/02/15: KSJT: Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Uh oh. Low O2 dead zone offshore is getting lower and deader
- 2008/02/15: PhysOrg: Researchers study widespread areas of low oxygen off northwest coast
- 2008/02/15: TerraDaily: Pacific Northwest Hypoxic Events Unprecedented
- 2008/02/15: Eureka: Oregon researchers study widespread areas of low oxygen off northwest coast - NOAA fisheries scientist working on issue
- 2008/02/15: SeattlePI: Scientists fear 'tipping point' in Pacific Ocean - Coast has seen deadly drop-off in oxygen levels for sea life
- 2008/02/15: CanWest: West Coast had an ocean 'dead zone' in '06 - 3,000 sq. km south of B.C. lost masses of sea life to oxygen-deprived water
- 2008/02/15: Oregonian: 'Dead zones' off coast tell no tales
An OSU team finds no record of earlier sealife-killing conditions and fears more may come The eerie "dead zones" that suffocated marine life off the Oregon coast in recent summers are unlike anything recorded over the past 50 years and could be driven by stronger winds that might reflect global warming trends. - 2008/02/15: STimes: Ocean dead zones off Oregon coast "not normal," scientists find
- 2008/02/15: LA Times: Dead zones off Oregon and Washington likely tied to global warming, study says
- 2008/02/14: Eureka: Pacific Northwest hypoxic events unprecedented
A review of all available ocean data records concludes that the low-oxygen events which have plagued the Pacific Northwest coast since 2002 are unprecedented in the five decades prior to that, and may well be linked to the stronger, persistent winds that are expected to occur with global warming. - 2008/02/15: NatureN: Harvard adopts open-access policy
- Free Science News
- Free Science Sources
Tamino has started a series on Principal Components Analysis:
- 2008/02/16: Tamino: PCA, part 1 [Principal Components Analysis]
The Earth Hour campaign is slowly picking up:
- 2008/02/16: PhysOrg: Chicago to turn off lights for one hour - Earth Hour 2008
- 2008/02/14: ABC(Au): Call for Earth Hour support - The Mayor of Glenorchy wants her council to fully back participation in next month's Earth Hour.
Late comment on Climate Code Red:
- 2008/02/12: PeakEnergy: The Atmospheric Singularity
- 2008/02/11: OilDrum: Climate Code Red: The Case for a Sustainability Emergency
- 2008/02/11: CCurrents: Climate Code Red And The Crucial 08 Election
- 2008/02/11: DymaxionWorld: Gibbering terror II [Code Red]
Late comment on the nine tipping elements:
- 2008/02/13: C411: 9 Dangerous "Tipping Elements"
- 2008/02/12: AngryBear: Before 2100: Tipping Points in Global Warming?
In the hurricane wars, Ivan & Nicholas are wreaking havoc:
- 2008/02/17: BBC: Cyclone [Ivan] bears down on Madagascar
Emergency services in Madagascar are on high alert for a tropical cyclone which is expected to hit the north-east of the Indian Ocean island. Ivan, a Category Four cyclone, has winds of more than 200km/h (125mph)... - 2008/02/16: ENN: Cyclone [Nicholas] heads for West Australia mining region
- 2008/02/15: TDG: Cyclones Take Aim at Australia, Madagascar
- 2008/02/15: Intersection:CCM: Cyclone Trouble Begins in the South
And then there is the usual cyclonic reports:
- 2008/02/16: PhysOrg: The key to quieter Atlantic hurricane seasons may be blowing in the wind
- 2008/02/15: Eureka: The key to quieter Atlantic hurricane seasons may be blowing in the wind [Saharan dust]
- 2008/02/15: BBC: 'Monsoon risk' to cyclone victims
More than 1.3m people affected by the Bangladesh cyclone are still living in temporary shelters as the monsoon rains approach, global charity Oxfam warns - 2008/02/11: PhysOrg: 2007 Hurricane Season Starts Early, Ends Late
- 2008/02/11: TerraDaily: 2007 Hurricane Season Starts Early, Ends Late
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2008/02/16: MongaBay: Past greenhouse warming events offer clues on future climate change [PETM]
- 2008/02/15: PhysOrg: Past greenhouse warming events provide clues to what the future may hold [PETM]
- 2008/02/15: Eureka: Antarctic life hung by a thread during ice ages
- 2008/02/15: Eureka: Past greenhouse warming events provide clues to what the future may hold [PETM]
- 2008/02/12: TerraDaily: Fossil Record Suggests Insect Assaults On Foliage May Increase With Warming Globe
- 2008/02/11: Eureka: Fossil record suggests insect assaults on foliage may increase with warming globe
- 2008/02/11: Eureka: Ancient leaves point to climate change effect on insects [PETM]
While on the ENSO front:
- 2008/02/07: NOAA: El Nino/Southern oscillation (ENSO) diagnostic discussion
Synopsis: La Niña is expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere spring 2008 - 2008/02/17: SciDaily: La Niña Conditions Strengthen, Expected To Continue
- 2008/02/11: UN: La Niña weather pattern likely to last for some months - UN agency [WMO]
- 2008/02/13: ENN: Australia sees La Nina weather staying for months
- 2008/02/12: People's Daily: WMO: La Nina may be partial cause of S China's freeze-up
- 2008/02/11: ENN: La Nina Pacific cooling may last to mid-year: U.N. [WMO]
The THC came up in that AAAS meeting:
- 2008/02/17: Eureka: Will North Atlantic threshold response to ocean changes be enough?
- 2008/02/16: NewScientist: Global warming may not have caused sluggish Atlantic
- 2008/02/17: GWWatch: North Atlantic current could be slowing naturally
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2008/02/17: Eureka: Climate change has major impact on oceans
- 2008/02/16: AFP: Global warming threatens to redraw world's wine map: experts
- 2008/02/16: ABC(Au): Global warming could invite sharks to Antarctica: biologists
- 2008/02/16: NewScientist: Warming seas threaten Antarctic marine life
- 2008/02/16: DailyIndia: Global warming brings [predatory] crabs to Antarctic
- 2008/02/15: BBC: Unique marine life in Antarctica will be at risk from an invasion of sharks, crabs and other predators if global warming continues, scientists warn
- 2008/02/15: PhysOrg: Warming waters may make Antarctica hospitable to sharks, with potentially disastrous consequences
- 2008/02/15: PhysOrg: Global warming threatens to redraw world's wine map: experts
- 2008/02/15: TreeHugger: Ancient Findings Show Warmer Planet Could Mean More Insect Troubles
- 2008/02/14: ABC(Au): NZ wine industry upbeat about global warming
- 2008/02/12: NatureTGB: Climate pressure on "two-footed bio-indicators" [king penguins]
- 2008/02/12: OilChange: Climate Change: King Penguin Faces Extinction
- 2008/02/11: MongaBay: Global warming puts penguins at risk of extinction
- 2008/02/11: PhysOrg: King penguins could be wiped out by climate change: study
- 2008/02/11: PhysOrg: Fossil record suggests insect assaults on foliage may increase with warming globe
- 2008/02/11: ENN: Climate warming threatens Antarctic king penguins
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2008/02/16: PhysOrg: Haiti's Efforts to Save Trees Falters
- 2008/02/11: BBC: Consumers must stop forest destruction
- 2008/02/12: TruthOut: Rising Deforestation in Amazon Undermines Brazil's Environmental Policies
- 2008/02/11: TerraDaily: No amnesty for Amazon deforestation: Brazil
- 2008/02/11: SciDaily: Deforestation May Make Humans More Vulnerable To Infection
Yes we have no wacky weather, except:
- 2008/02/16: MTobis: The First Big Surprise [cold weather]
- 2008/02/15: Wunderground: A cool, snowy January for the globe in 2008
- 2008/02/15: BCLSB: Just In Case You're Thinking...Damn there's alot of snow outside.
- 2008/02/13: WSWS: Recent tornadoes in the Southern US: both a natural and social disaster
We have heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2008/02/11: CNN: Wildfires keep some candidates away from Virginia
Thousands in Virginia, Carolinas without power after wildfires and high winds - Both Democratic presidential candidates cancel Monday appearances in Roanoke - Virginia, North and South Carolina had more than 100 fires each on weekend - Some houses and small buildings burned; no injuries reported - 2008/02/15: ABC(Au): Major funding boost to drought proof Tasmania
- 2008/02/14: TerraDaily: Mozambicans safe from floods for now: authorities
- 2008/02/15: TerraDaily: Heavy Rainfall On The Increase [UEA]
- 2008/02/15: SciDaily: Heavy Rainfall On The Increase In UK
- 2008/02/15: CSM: Drought-stricken Georgia, eyeing Tennessee River, revives old border feud - State lawmakers seek to move part of Georgia's border one mile north into Tennessee
- 2008/02/15: BBC: Study into intense rain patterns [UEA]
- 2008/02/14: ClimateP: Australia's Worst Drought Ending After Rains
- 2008/02/15: ABC(Au): Drought killing wildlife: 'never dry as this'
- 2008/02/14: PhysOrg: Heavy rainfall on the increase [in UK]
- 2008/02/14: PhysOrg: Study: Key Western Reservoirs in Danger [Lake Mead & Lake Powell]
- 2008/02/14: UEA: Heavy rainfall on the increase
Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have found that winter precipitation -- such as rain and snow - became more intense in the UK during the last 100 years. Similar increases in heavy rainfall have now also become evident in spring and, to a lesser extent, autumn. - 2008/02/14: OilChange: Lake Mead Could Dry Up Within Years
- 2008/02/13: BBC: Bolivia floods misery continues
The Bolivian authorities estimate that some 60,000 families across the country have been affected by severe flooding, which has followed weeks of heavy rain. The flood waters, which have killed at least 60 people, are threatening to inundate the Amazon city of Trinidad, sparking large-scale evacuations. The government has declared a state of emergency in the worst-hit areas. - 2008/02/13: NatureTGB: Even money on Vegas [Lake Mead] running dry in 2021
- 2008/02/13: KSJT: NY Times, wires, regional US dailies: Lake Mead could dry up in another dozen years - given current trends etc etc
- 2008/02/13: TruthOut: Lake Mead Could Be Within a Few Years of Going Dry, Study Finds
- 2008/02/13: NYT: Lake Mead Could Be Within a Few Years of Going Dry, Study Finds
- 2008/02/13: CSM: Lakes Mead and Powell could run dry by 2021
It's a 50 percent possibility, a new Scripps study finds, which would squeeze water supplies in Arizona, California, Nevada, and New Mexico. - 2008/02/13: BBC: Bolivia declares flood emergency - Bolivian President Evo Morales declares a national disaster as floods leave more than 50 dead
- 2008/02/12: MongaBay: Lake Mead could dry up by 2021
- 2008/02/12: PhysOrg: Lake Mead could be dry by 2021
There is a 50 percent chance Lake Mead, a key source of water for millions of people in the southwestern United States, will be dry by 2021 if climate changes as expected and future water usage is not curtailed, according to a pair of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego - 2008/02/12: SciDaily: Lake Mead, Key Water Source For Southwestern US, Could Be Dry By 2021
- 2008/02/11: USAToday: Drought spreading in Southeast
- 2008/02/10: WaPo: Drought Has Georgia Revisiting Border Dispute - Flawed 1818 Survey Left State a Mile Short of Tennessee River
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
- 2008/02/14: Forbes: Thailand worries over food shortages amid palm oil debate
- 2008/02/15: PhysOrg: Policies key as ethanol 'revolution' links agriculture, energy sectors
- 2008/02/15: Purdue: Policies key as ethanol 'revolution' links agriculture, energy sectors
The recent boom in production of ethanol from corn grain has tightly linked the agriculture and energy sectors in an unprecedented fashion. - 2008/02/13: ClimateP: Bloomberg on U.S. ethanol policy: "People literally will starve to death"
And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:
- 2008/02/15: IWPR: Central Asia's Poorest States in Crisis
After a freezing winter marked by severe energy shortages, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan fear spring could bring food shortages as well. - 2008/02/15: FTimes: Insight: The next crisis will be over food
- 2008/02/15: PeakEnergy: Insect explosion 'a threat to food crops'
- 2008/02/14: GristMill: Attack of the superweeds - While global GMO acreage surges, herbicide-resistent weeds thrive
- 2008/02/14: CanEast: Flour shortage sees bread costs rising
- 2008/02/14: BBC: Cereal prices hit poor countries
The rising price of cereals such as wheat and maize is a "major global concern", the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says. Poor countries could see their cereal import bill rise by more than a third. Africa as a whole is expected to see an estimated 49% increase this year. International wheat prices have risen 83% in the past 12 months. Demand from emerging countries such as China, and droughts and flooding have pushed cereal prices to record highs. - 2008/02/13: MTobis: Globally Sustainable Population and Food
- 2008/02/12: TerraDaily: Australia probes soaring food prices
- 2008/02/12: Google:AFP: As Asia food prices bite, analysts warn of worse to come
- 2008/02/11: TerraDaily: China struggles to avoid past mistakes in controlling food prices
- 2008/02/11: USAToday: Global demand lifts grain prices, gobbles supplies
- 2008/02/12: OilChange: Insect Explosion Threatens Food Crops
- 2008/02/12: Independent(UK): Insect explosion 'a threat to food crops'
Food crops could be ravaged this century by an explosion in the numbers of insect pests caused by rising global temperatures, according to scientists who have carried out an exhaustive survey of plant damage when the earth last experienced major climate change. Researchers found that the numbers of leaf-eating insects are likely to surge as a result of rising levels of CO2, at a time when crop production will have to be boosted to feed an extra three billion people living at the end of 21st century - 2008/02/12: SMH: Food bills likely to remain high despite heavy rainfall
A break in the drought will not lead to cheaper food prices, producers have warned. Instead, the price of beef and lamb is expected to rise significantly over the next 12 months as farmers hang on to their remaining stock. - 2008/02/10: TerraDaily: As Asia food prices bite, analysts warn of worse to come
Rising food prices have hit Asia's poor so hard that many have taken to the streets in protest, but experts see few signs of respite from the growing problem. An array of factors, from rising food demand and high oil prices to global warming, could make high costs for essentials such as rice, wheat and milk a permanent fixture, they say. "The indications are in general pointing to high prices," Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior grains analyst at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome, told AFP. The agency's figures show food prices globally soared nearly 40 percent in 2007, helping stoke protests in Myanmar, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. - 2008/02/16: AutoBG: Carbon capture strategy could lead to emission-free cars
- 2008/02/14: MongaBay: Stabilizing climate requires cutting emissions to zero
- 2008/02/15: PhysOrg: Stabilizing climate requires near-zero carbon emissions
- 2008/02/14: Eureka: Stabilizing climate requires near-zero carbon emissions
- 2008/02/15: PeakEnergy: Farming carbon as a cash crop
- 2008/02/12: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Biofuels and carbon capture can cut CO2 levels
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2008/02/14: EnvFin: IMO [International Maritime Organization] body deals blow to ship emissions trading
- 2008/02/11: AirWise: Airlines Look For Savings As Fuel Costs Rise
- 2008/02/11: GristMill: A climate for old men - Spearheading transit for livable cities at 93
- 2008/02/08: Sightline: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
- 2008/02/08: Sightline: Climate Emissions by Travel Type
- 2008/02/08: Guardian(UK): Aircraft numbers may double by 2026
A UN report on CO2 emissions from shipping has been leaked:
- 2008/02/14: TreeHugger: Fuzzy Math Leads to a (Serious) Reevaluation of Shipping's Climate Impact
- 2008/02/14: SMH: Shipping emissions twice level of airlines
- 2008/02/13: NatureN: Ships' greenhouse emissions revealed - New figures bolster calls for shipping to be included in Kyoto Protocol
- 2008/02/13: TruthOut: True Scale of CO2 Emissions From Shipping Revealed
- 2008/02/13: ABC(Au): Shipping carbon emissions greater than thought: UN report
- 2008/02/13: OilChange: Shocking Scale of C02 Emissions from Shipping Revealed
- 2008/02/13: Guardian(UK): True scale of C02 emissions from shipping revealed - Leaked UN report says pollution three times higher than previously thought
- 2008/02/13: Guardian(UK): Shipping boom fuels rising tide of global CO2 emissions
While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:
- 2008/02/12: TreeHugger: Yet Another Mainstream Development where Solar is Standard
- 2008/02/12: StatesmanJournal: Green building programs bloom across U.S.
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2008/02/13: NEN: Sequestration is safe?
- 2008/02/10: NEN: CCS in the EU
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2008/02/15: NatureCF: Weathering climate change - removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere based on the Earth's natural weathering process
- 2008/02/13: Wunderground: Geoengineering: should we pump sulfur into the stratosphere?
Planktos ist kaput:
- 2008/02/15: NatureN: Planktos dead in the water - Company aiming for ocean fertilization says funds have run dry
- 2008/02/15: ClimateP: Ocean fertilization offset plan sinks without a trace of iron-y
- 2008/02/14: WorldChanging: Planktos, Geo-Engineering and Politics
- 2008/02/13: QuarkSoup: Planktos Backs Down
- 2008/02/13: DotEarth: Commercial Ocean Fertilization Project Halted
Planktos, the California company trying to turn a profit by fertilizing the ocean with iron dust, pulled the plug on planned field tests on Wednesday, citing a lack of funds - 2008/02/11: TruthOut: UN Systems to Gear Up to Save Farm Sector From Climate Impact
- 2008/02/11: TreeHugger: A 'Global Refunding System' to Fight Climate Change
- 2008/02/10: VoxEU: Climate Policy with a Global Refunding System
Tackling climate change is difficult because it requires international cooperation to address global externalities. This column proposes a global refunding system, which would provide incentives for emissions reductions while allowing member countries to choose their carbon tax rates. - 2008/02/16: CPD: Response of regional climate and glacier ice proxies to El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the subtropical Andes by E. Dietze et al.
- 2008/02/14: ACP: Chemical isolation in the Asian monsoon anticyclone observed in Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE-FTS) data by M. Park et al.
- 2008/02/13: ACP: The wintertime two-day wave in the polar stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere by D. J. Sandford et al.
- 2008/02/15: ACPD: Modelling representation errors of atmospheric CO2 concentrations at a regional scale by L. F. Tolk et al.
- 2008/02/15: ACPD: Aerosol direct radiative effect in the Po Valley region derived from AERONET measurements by M. Clerici & F. M?lin
- 2008/02/14: ACPD: Total column ozone variations over oceanic region around Indian sub-continent during pre-monsoon of 2006 by M. C. R. Kalapureddy et al.
- 2008/02/14: ACPD: Validation of NO2 and NO from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) by T. Kerzenmacher et al.
- 2008/02/13: ACPD: A mechanism for biologically-induced iodine emissions from sea-ice by A. Saiz-Lopez & C. S. Boxe
- 2008/02/13: ACPD: Correlation between equatorial Kelvin waves and the occurrence of extremely thin ice clouds at the tropical tropopause by F. Immler et al.
- 2008/02/13: ACPD: Airborne measurements of nucleation mode particles II: boreal forest nucleation events by C. D. O'Dowd et al.
- 2008/01/: UK CIP: (58k pdf) Climate Digest
- 2008/02/15: EnvironmentalDefence: [link to 970k pdf] Canada's Toxic Tar Sands: The Most Destructive Project on Earth
- 2008/02/12: ACPD: Sea surface wind speed estimation from space-based lidar measurements by Y. Hu et al.
- 2008/02/12: ACPD: Nanoparticle formation in the exhaust of vehicles running on ultra-low sulfur fuel by Hua Du & Fangqun Yu
- 2008/02/11: ACPD: Impact of the new HNO3-forming channel of the HO2+NO reaction on tropospheric HNO3, NOx, HOx and ozone by D. Cariolle et al.
- 2008/02/12: PNAS: Influence of ocean winds on the pelagic ecosystem in upwelling regions by Ryan R. Rykaczewski & David M. Checkley, Jr
- 2008/02/12: PNAS: Sharply increased insect herbivory during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum by Ellen D. Currano et al.
- 2008/02/12: PNAS: Tipping elements in the Earth's climate system by Timothy M. Lenton et al.
- 2008/02/12: PNAS: Insects take a bigger bite out of plants in a warmer, higher carbon dioxide world by Evan H. DeLucia et al.
Before we get into politics, there was some science done:
- 2008/02/14: Atmoz: Water Vapor Measurements during the North American Monsoon
- 2008/02/14: PhysOrg: Volunteers Across Nation to Track Climate Clues in Spring Flowers
- 2008/02/14: Eureka: First datasets for national biomass and carbon dataset now available
- 2008/02/13: PhysOrg: Oil Rigs Will Be Used to Measure Weather [for NOAA]
- 2008/02/12: NASA:EO: Low-Level Volcanic Activity Impacts Clouds
- 2008/02/12: Atmoz: Satellite Observations of the Impact of Weak Volcanic Activity on Marine Clouds
- 2008/02/12: Eureka: Scientists expand understanding of how river carbon impacts the Arctic Ocean
- 2008/02/11: TerraDaily: Studying Rivers For Clues To Global Carbon Cycle
Meanwhile on the Kyoto-2 front:
- 2008/02/16: Yahoo: China: rich `culprits' on climate change
Negotiations on a new treaty to fight global warming will fail if rich nations are not treated as "culprits" and developing countries as "victims," China's top climate envoy said. The whole world must take action to confront climate change, but developed countries have a "historical responsibility" to do much more because their unrestrained emissions in the past century are responsible for global warming, said Ambassador Yu Qingtai. - 2008/02/12: Yahoo: UN hosts post-Bali ministerial session on climate change
And on the emissions trading front:
- 2008/02/14: Reuters: Exchanges merge to create spot market for carbon
Two European carbon trading exchanges are merging their platforms to offer spot trading in European Union and United Nations credits, they said on Thursday. Spot trading platforms New Values and euets.com, owned by Budapest-based Vertis Finance, will merge into a single electronic exchange, called Climex, where traders will be able to buy and sell EU Allowances (EUAs) and credits issued under the Kyoto Protocol (CERs and ERUs). The platform, to begin trading on February 18, will be the first to offer spot trading of Kyoto credits... - 2008/02/17: GWWatch: America's $1 trillion carbon market twelve years away
- 2008/02/15: CarbonFinance: US pricing in "de facto $50 carbon price" -- Lash
Wall Street financiers are effectively imposing a $50/tonne price of carbon dioxide on their investment decisions regarding new power generation in the US, according to the president of the World Research Institute [Jonathan Lash] - 2008/02/15: NewScientist: Greening US likely to create huge carbon market
- 2008/02/14: Eureka: $1 trillion US carbon trading market by 2020: study
- 2008/02/12: SF Gate: Extending 'cap and trade' across state lines
- 2008/02/15: Xinhuanet: Study: U.S. expected to be $1 trillion carbon trading market by 2020
- 2008/02/12: PlanetArk: NY Company [Natsource LLC] Buys First Californian Forest Carbon Credits
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
- 2008/02/11: KSJT: San Jose Merc-News: A carbon tax, fee, tariff, whatever you want to call it - from a smog board
The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:
- 2008/02/13: GMB: Carbon Tax vs Cap-and-Trade
- 2008/02/17: Guardian(UK): Carbon offset projects to get code of conduct [DEFRA voluntary code]
- 2008/02/15: EnvEcon: Some evidence of a carbon cap (and trade) buy-in from the electric utility industry
- 2008/02/15: NEN: [US] States join in call for offset standards
What exactly is a carbon offset? That's what these states' Attorneys General want the Federal Trade Commission to define. - 2008/02/15: Guardian(UK): Firms will act on CO2 only if its cost triples [to US$100/ton], says Shell
And on the American political front:
- 2008/02/16: GristMill: Eliminating fossil fuels is friggin' cheap - A third of our military budget could cure our carbon addiction
- 2008/02/15: Yahoo: [International Energy] Agency urges US to use pricing to fight energy woes
- 2008/02/15: CDreams: IPS: Top Scientists Want Research Free From Politics
- 2008/02/15: CSW: "Scientific Freedom and the Public Good" -- Statement to the next president
- 2008/02/15: Mercury: Bill would require California's science curriculum to cover climate change
A Silicon Valley lawmaker is gaining momentum with a bill that would require "climate change" to be among the science topics that all California public school students are taught. The measure, by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would mandate that future science textbooks approved for California public schools include climate change. - 2008/02/15: ClimateP: The Subsidy Tease -- Part III
- 2008/02/14: ClimateP: The Subsidy Tease - Part II
- 2008/02/13: ClimateP: The Subsidy Tease -- Part I
- 2008/02/14: TruthOut: US Misses Second Deadline to Protect Polar Bears
- 2008/02/14: GristMill: Why a climate bill in 2008? Part II - Delay makes environmental catastrophe more likely
- 2008/02/14: GristMill: Get it right the first time - Carl Pope of the Sierra Club lays out a blueprint for an effective climate bill
- 2008/02/14: HillHeat: Sierra Club ED Takes Strong Stand on Cap-and-Trade Legislation
- 2008/02/14: HillHeat: Budget Briefing: Transportation Budget Cut, Shifts Funds from Mass Transit to Highways
- 2008/02/14: WarmingLaw: What Is the Auto Industry Talking About? Congressional Lobbying Gone Awry
- 2008/02/13: CSW: Why hasn't White House science director issued required science communication integrity principles?
- 2008/02/14: EnvCap: Green Ink: The Political Climate
- 2008/02/13: GristMill: Houston, we have a problem - Opinion writer suggests efficiency stimulus would be more effective
- 2008/02/13: Reuters: Second deadline to protect polar bears missed
The United States has missed its own postponed deadline to decide if polar bears need protection from climate change, and critics link the delay to an oil lease sale in a vast swath of the bear's icy habitat. "When it comes to the survival of the polar bear, the Bush administration is putting the 'dead' back into 'deadline,"' said Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who heads a House of Representatives panel on climate change. - 2008/02/13: OilChange: Democrats Unveil New Energy Tax Package
- 2008/02/13: AutoBG: NADA Chairwoman says flexibile CAFE standards are the right move
- 2008/02/13: Oregonian: Meanwhile, the mountain [Mt. Hood] melts away - A modest global warming bill to collect emissions data deserves passage in the Oregon House
- 2008/02/13: ThinkP: Sportsmen come out in favor climate change legislation
- 2008/02/12: AutoBG: Environmental Protection Agency bumps renewable fuel requirement
- 2008/02/11: HillHeat: Waxman Subpoenas EPA Docs; Congressional Pressure Continues to Build
- 2008/02/11: WarmingLaw: Waxman Subpoenas EPA Docs; Congressional Pressure Continues to Build
- 2008/02/10: Maribo: Tom Delay and 'believing' in climate change
One hears a lot about the campaign(s), not much about climate:
- 2008/02/15: GristMill: John McCain and climate change - How strong is McCain's commitment to fighting global warming?
- 2008/02/14: ClimateP: John McCain is a compulsive - non-truth teller
- 2008/02/14: EnvEcon: Obama vs McCain on climate
- 2008/02/14: CSM: Presidential campaigns have climate change on agenda
- 2008/02/12: TruthOut: John McCain and Climate Change
- 2008/02/11: FPB: Ten things that won't change (no matter who gets elected)
The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:
- 2008/02/17: BSD: My 95% serious suggestion for Al Gore
- 2008/02/16: PeakEnergy: Subprime Carbon Warning
- 2008/02/15: TruthOut: Gore Warns on "Subprime Carbon" Industry
- 2008/02/15: TreeHugger: Time To Ditch Those Sub-Prime Carbon Assets [Gore]
- 2008/02/15: ThinkP: Gore warns Wall Street of "subprime carbon" industry
While in the UK:
- 2008/02/13: Guardian(UK): Path of least resistance
The government's fallacious use of carbon pricing means that it can disguise its aviation expansion plans as alleviating climate change - 2008/02/13: Guardian(UK): Firms say carbon commitment is a curb too many
- 2008/02/11: KentOnline: NASA scientist [James Hansen] hits out at power station plans
Note the differing spins on this report:
- 2008/02/13: OilChange: UK: Climate Change Will Kill Thousands
- 2008/02/13: BBC: Global warming 'may cut deaths'
The risk of a fatal heatwave in the UK within ten years is high, but overall global warming may mean fewer deaths due to temperature, a report says. A seriously hot summer between now and 2017 could claim more than 6,000 lives, the Department of Health report warns. But it also stresses that milder winters mean deaths during this time of year - which far outstrip heat-related mortality - will continue to decline. - 2008/02/12: Guardian(UK): Climate change soon could kill thousands in UK, says report
- 2008/02/12: Guardian(UK): A summary of the report, Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK 2008, by the Department of Health
- 2008/02/12: Reuters: Climate change may kill thousands in UK by 2017
The LEZ is drawing comment:
- 2008/02/14: AutoBG: Congestion charge up for gas guzzlers: 25 quid for a ride in Central London
- 2008/02/13: AutoBG: Toyota Aygo, Yaris and Prius exempt from revised London Congestion Charge [LEZ]
- 2008/02/13: Guardian(UK): 25 pound congestion charge will hit 30,000 of worst polluting vehicles, says mayor
- 2008/02/12: ABC(Au): London to slug gas-guzzlers A$53 a day
- 2008/02/12: TreeHugger: London Drivers to Pay $49 USD/Day Carbon Charge
- 2008/02/12: AutoBG: Electric vehicle drivers get some not-so-good news in London [LEZ]
The Heathrow controversy rages on inel's pages anyway:
- 2008/02/15: inel: Study shows serious flaws in economic analysis used to justify Heathrow expansion
- 2008/02/13: inel: Plain English calls on DfT [Department of Transport] to redraft Adding capacity at Heathrow airport
The royal tampon has spoken:
- 2008/02/14: EUO: Climate change is EU's moment in history, says UK Prince [Charles]
- 2008/02/15: MongaBay: Prince Charles says protecting forests vital against climate change 'doomsday clock'
- 2008/02/14: BBC: Prince sees climate fight as war
Prince Charles has described the fight against global climate change as a war, with the Doomsday Clock "ticking ever closer to midnight". In a speech to the European Parliament, he called for a solution to the loss of the world's tropical forests, to make them worth more alive than dead. He said the crisis required the biggest public-private partnership ever seen. The prince praised the European Commission's recent proposals to reduce greenhouse gases by 20% by 2020 - 2008/02/14: ENN: Germany says won't meet carbon permits deadline
- 2008/02/13: EUO: EU finance chiefs want say over climate change deal
- 2008/02/13: EUO: EU biofuels strategy supports human rights 'disaster' say Indonesian NGOs
- 2008/02/12: ENN: Norway's climate goals seen relying on quotas
- 2008/02/12: ENN: EU ministers urge caution on cost of climate plan
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2008/02/15: WSWS: Australia: Prime Minister Rudd backs NSW state power sell-off in face of growing opposition
- 2008/02/15: ABC(Au): Tourism industry urged not to panic over climate change
A Gold Coast academic says the tourism industry should pay attention to climate change, but it should not panic over the issue. Professor Ralf Buckley from Griffith University has told a national tourism conference the industry can weather storms, floods, droughts and other effects of climate change - 2008/02/13: ABC(Au): Climate change research wins Burnie student national science award
- 2008/02/13: ABC(Au): Melbourne to lead UN climate change study
- 2008/02/11: ABC(Au): Govt allocates $20m for school energy efficiency
The New South Wales Government is spending $20 million on programs to help 225 high schools cut their energy bills and greenhouse emissions. - 2008/02/11: ABC(Au): Researchers to assess Barrier Reef flood damage
- 2008/02/11: SMH: Water next big battleground
Disputes about the [Australian] nation's dwindling water supplies loom as the next great legal battleground, according to the country's most senior judge, Murray Gleeson. - 2008/02/11: SMH: Uncertainty could delay greener energy plants
Australia could, like Europe, experience a delay of investment in its energy sector unless details of the proposed emissions trading scheme are released quickly, people in the industry say. Uncertainty about the cost of carbon and economical alternatives meant the country could end up with costly energy solutions. - 2008/02/17: People's Daily: Power resumed on snow-interrupted Chinese rail line
The power on a Chinese north-south railway artery, which has been cut off by snow for more than 20 days, was completely restored on Saturday - 2008/02/13: BBC: China snowstorms 'to cost $15bn'
- 2008/02/12: People's Daily: China's snow-plagued Zhejiang expects to restore power grid at end of March
- 2008/02/11: ENN: More snow looms for China amid transport crunch
- 2008/02/11: NEN: For "clean" coal, China opens the door
Meanwhile in Japan:
- 2008/02/11: ClimateP: Japan: We can meet Kyoto goals
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2008/02/15: CanWest: Government buries climate science: NDP critic
The suppression of a study that shows Great Lakes pollution may be a threat to the health of more than nine million people is typical of the secrecy that surrounds Canadian government environmental science, an NDP environment critic charges. Nathan Cullen yesterday demanded in the House of Commons to know why the government has kept a recent health study on Great Lakes pollution secret. He said the report shows that Great Lakes pollution is "spinning out of control." Environment Minister John Baird responded to the question by accusing the NDP of not voting for funds to clean up the Great Lakes. - 2008/02/13: CSW: New Harper government policy muzzles communication by Environment Canada government scientists
- 2008/02/11: TreeHugger: Prime Minister Mini-Me Cans Science Advisor
- 2008/02/11: TStar: All politics, no science, for Harper
The Sierra Club published their "Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way" report card this week:
- 2008/02/13: IndieScribe: Sierra Club slams Conservatives on Climate Change - Lead, Follow, or Get out of the Way
- 2008/02/13: CBC: Sierra Club gives feds failing grade on climate change, kudos to Que., B.C.
- 2008/02/13: CanWest: Sierra Club slams Ottawa on Kyoto - But annual report card [Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way] praises Quebec, B.C.
GreenPeace marked Canada's Kyoto signing anniversary in a unique manner:
- 2008/02/15: GreenPeaceCanada: Greenpeace projects message [Wanted: Climate Leaders] on Parliament Buildings to mark anniversary of Kyoto
- 2008/02/15: BCLSB: You're Looking In The Wrong Place
The BC speech from the throne went down this week clarifying little:
- 2008/02/15: CanWest: Conserve power and save, premier says - B.C. does not have an endless supply of energy, Campbell tells The Sun
- 2008/02/13: CanWest: Climate change remains the top priority
[...] The B.C. Liberals are planning to move heaven and earth to cut greenhouse gas emissions 33 per cent by 2020. They are committing to wholesale changes in the way society works and preparing to impose restrictions that could cost billions. [...] Nobody knows exactly what the government is doing. But the fact it is doing something is still a winning concept. Climate change is now the cardinal initiative of the Liberal government. It's so important it gets its own separate budget day. The government has so much faith in it that it is staging the full unveiling of the plan some time after next week's budget. - 2008/02/13: CanWest: Green projects a priority for Liberals - Critics wonder if environmental promises are recycled from last year
- 2008/02/13: CanWest: Between the lines of the throne speech [LiveSmart BC strategy, Smart meters & Plant more trees]
- 2008/02/13: CanWest: Victoria's message to B.C. on health, climate: it's up to you - 'We all must do our part'
- 2008/02/12: Reuters: Canadian province [BC] enlists trees in climate fight
- 2008/02/13: Tyee: Green Gord: Unclear on Concept? Throne speech still fuzzy on global warming plan
The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:
- 2008/02/15: OilChange: Oil Sands Firms See Record Year
- 2008/02/15: CPunch: How Oil Sands Extraction Threatens British Columbia's Wild Coast - Alberta's Black Gold Rush
- 2008/02/14: FTimes: US risks trade dispute with Canada on fuel
- 2008/02/14: DeSmogBlog: Polling the Politicians On Alberta Oil Sands
- 2008/02/14: OilChange: Oil Sands Costs Continue to Skyrocket
Environmental Defence released a report on _Canada's Toxic Tar Sands_:
- 2008/02/15: EnvironmentalDefence: [link to 970k pdf] Canada's Toxic Tar Sands: The Most Destructive Project on Earth
- 2008/02/15: SOSD: Canada's oil sands a massive disaster -green group
Canada's massive oil sands are "the most destructive project on earth" and the federal government must intervene to clean up the mess, a leading green group [Environmental Defence] said Friday. - 2008/02/15: CBC: Feds allowing tarsands to become 'most destructive project on Earth': report
- 2008/02/15: G&M: Environmentalists' report to call for Ottawa to act on oil sands
Alberta's oil sands are the most destructive project on Earth, causing environmental damage well beyond provincial borders, a new report says. From acid rain falling in Saskatchewan to toxic pollution spewing from Ontario oil refineries, a report to be released this morning by Toronto-based Environmental Defence calls on Ottawa to act where Alberta will not. The environmentalists will be joined by two Alberta native leaders, who will describe first hand how oil sands pollution is affecting fish and water on their traditional lands. Titled Canada's Toxic Tar Sands, the detailed report argues oil sands projects are violating existing Canadian laws such as the Fisheries Act. - 2008/02/16: DeSmogBlog: National Post "Rabid Response Team" Assails Suzuki Over Jail Quote
- 2008/02/13: CanWest: David Suzuki deals a devastating blow to his climate-change cause
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2008/02/11: JVail: Hierarchy must grow, and is therefore unsustainable
- 2008/02/13: OilDrum: Peak Oil and "The Limits to Growth": two parallel stories
- 2008/02/12: EnergyBulletin: Peak oil and The Limits to Growth: two parallel stories
- 2008/02/12: PeakEnergy: South Africa and The Limits to Growth
- 2008/02/09: ZNet: The (un-) sustainability of growth
How long until the concept of ecological crime is formalized?
- 2008/02/12: CSW: An eminent climate scientist working to hold government officials accountable
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2008/02/10: WorldChanging: What are the Sustainability Implications of Peak Population?
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2008/02/11: PhysOrg: Model of Easter Island Collapse Might Reveal Message for Today
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
- 2008/02/17: NatureCF: AAAS: Lost in Translation - how the media communicates climate change
Here is something for your library:
- 2008/02/11: Intersection:CCM: The Best Global Warming Book I've Ever Read... _The Hot Topic_ by Gabrielle Walker & Sir David King
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
- 2008/02/17: Courant: Pull Plug On Giveaway To Oil Giants
- 2008/02/13: FuturePundit: Nuclear Powered Liquid Hydrocarbons For $4.60 Per Gallon
- 2008/02/13: UPI: Energy policy is foreign policy
- 2008/02/15: TruthOut: Oceans [the Gulf Stream] Eyed as New Energy Source
- 2008/02/15: OilChange: "Mankind can't afford more oil drilling," says Ex-BP Man [Jan-Peter Onstwedder]
- 2008/02/12: BBC: Going green - We need to think about tech energy - Can the tech community go green?
- 2008/02/14: PhysOrg: Oceans Eyed As New Energy Source
Just 15 miles off Florida's coast, the world's most powerful sustained ocean current - the mighty Gulf Stream - rushes by at nearly 8.5 billion gallons per second. And it never stops. To scientists, it represents a tantalizing possibility: a new, plentiful and uninterrupted source of clean energy - 2008/02/12: ChicagoTrib: Refinery pollution may soar - Midwest projects would increase emission up to 40%
- 2008/02/13: DotEarth: Federal Lab [LNL] Says It Can Harvest Fuel from Air (With a Catch)
- 2008/02/13: PhysOrg: Synthetic Fuel Concept to Steal CO2 From Air
- 2008/02/13: PhysOrg: The need for fossil fuels will last for decades, according to BP's chief scientist [Steven Koonin]
- 2008/02/13: NEN: Utilities buying wind
- 2008/02/12: NEN: Wind at price parity with coal: expert
- 2008/02/11: OilDrum: Ethanol from Coal
Meanwhile among the solar afficionados:
- 2008/02/17: ABC(Au): World environment leaders to attend Solar Conference
More than 700 delegates from 35 countries are in Adelaide for the Third International Solar Conference. - 2008/02/13: FuturePundit: New Record For Solar Concentrator Energy Production
- 2008/02/15: TreeHugger: The World's Largest Solar Farm Opens [in Spain 20 megawatts]
- 2008/02/14: NEN: Motley Fool says buy solar and be patient
- 2008/02/14: Mercury: Solar power industry shares surge on Wall Street
- 2008/02/13: PhysOrg: New world record for solar-[thermal]-to-grid conversion efficiency
- 2008/02/13: NEN: Like UAE, Qatar & Egypt go for solar
- 2008/02/11: TreeHugger: Life Cycle Perspective On California Solar Photovoltaic Supply Chain
- 2008/02/11: NEN: Building a Solar Boom
The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:
- 2008/02/14: HoustonChronicle: After the coal rush
Spiking global prices of coal should make energy experts rethink the wisdom of depending on it for long-term fueling of electricity plants. - 2008/02/16: TreeHugger: Lester Brown: Time's Up, Coal
- 2008/02/14: Reuters: Time is up for coal: environmental analyst [Lester Brown]
- 2008/02/14: QuarkSoup: FutureGen - the NY Times hit the nail exactly on the head
- 2008/02/15: Eureka: Coal gasification -- myths, challenges and opportunities - PNNL uses technology to advance the understanding of clean coal
- 2008/02/14: EPI: U.S. Moving Toward Ban on New Coal-Fired Power Plants
- 2008/02/14: ClimateP: Kansas one sad step closer to new coal
- 2008/02/14: AfxNews: Shell sees coal still a key energy source over coming decades
- 2008/02/14: PeakEnergy: Time To Bulldoze Old Coal Fired Power Stations
- 2008/02/13: NatureN: Natural gas back in favour with US power companies - Coal gets cold shoulder as utilities anticipate carbon legislation
- 2008/02/13: PeakEnergy: Coal Consumption: The China Syndrome
- 2008/02/10: WorldChanging: What are We Going to Do with all this Coal?
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2008/02/14: QuarkSoup: Biofuels
- 2008/02/15: Time: The Trouble With Biofuels
- 2008/02/14: EnergyBulletin: Biofuels and the fertilizer problem
- 2008/02/13: SF Gate: Better biofuels before more biofuels
It's all about the land, not the crops. While California and the nation pursue biofuels for energy security and climate change, we must ensure that cleaner technologies are the result, not irreversible damages. New research suggests that corn ethanol may have greenhouse gas emissions nearly double the emissions of gasoline. The reason is that the way we make biofuels today increases the global demand for land and accelerates the clearance of wilderness for new farms. - 2008/02/11: SameFacts: A really bad day for biofuels
- 2008/02/13: GristMill: Biofuels and the fertilizer problem - Can a 'renewable fuel' rely on mining a finite resource?
- 2008/02/13: GristMill: Biofuels: good for agrochemical/GMO biz - GMO giant Monsanto wows Wall Street, consolidates its grip on South America
- 2008/02/12: Maribo: Biofuels and the "land use cascade"
- 2008/02/13: TAS: Biofuels Meltdown
- 2008/02/13: OilDrum: The Politics of Biofuels
- 2008/02/12: PeakEnergy: Apart from used chip fat, there is no such thing as a sustainable biofuel
- 2008/02/12: CCTimes: [California] State's corn production skyrockets - Experts say soaring demand for ethanol a big factor in 98 percent jump
- 2008/02/11: Guardian(UK): Biofuel demand leading to human rights abuses, report claims
- 2008/02/11: DeSmogBlog: Biofuels, once the 'silver bullet' of global warming, are causing more emissions than fossil fuels
- 2008/02/11: CDreams: Guardian(UK): Biofuel Demand Leading to Human Rights Abuses, Report Claims
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2008/02/14: MTobis: Austin Energy Eschews Nuke Opportunity
- 2008/02/11: JapanFocus: Southeast Asia's Looming Nuclear Power Industry
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2008/02/16: PeakEnergy: Peak Oil, IHS Data and The Broken Clock
- 2008/02/16: PeakEnergy: Peak Oil - A "Class Zero" Catastrophe?
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2008/02/16: AutoBG: Nissan has been field testing lithium ion hybrid batteries for 3 years
- 2008/02/15: AutoBG: Is GM backtracking on its hybrid promises?
- 2008/02/13: BBC: India's Tata backs air-power car
- 2008/02/13: VSappani: India to launch zero emissions air power car
Uhh, could we see a timeline for this projection, please?
- 2008/02/11: GaTech: Carbon Capture Strategy Could Lead to Emission-Free Cars
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2008/02/17: Guardian(UK): Storm brews over the content of ethical funds - There are plenty of climate change and eco options, but few are really green...
- 2008/02/15: ENN: Sony, others to step up fight against global warming
- 2008/02/11: CTB: Wake Up Call -- "The Carbon Principles"
- 2008/02/14: EnvFin: Investors set climate disclosure standards for power sector
- 2008/02/14: EnvFin: FT500 reporters embrace climate disclosure
- 2008/02/14: EnvFin: [Former Governor George] Pataki to head Chadbourne [& Parke] climate change law practice
- 2008/02/15: SacBee: Climate change funding jumps - Coalition led by state's pension funds pledges $10 billion for clean technology
Nearly 50 major U.S. and international investors are upping the ante to create a greener planet, pledging Thursday to invest $10 billion in clean technology over the next two years. The investment commitment, led by activist pension funds from California to New York, represents a significant boost from two years ago when 26 funds made a $1 billion pledge. The greater participation represents a major shift by Wall Street investors who increasingly believe they can't ignore the economics of climate change - 2008/02/13: CanWest: Green funds now examining the bigger picture - Investment managers look for firms showing broad responsibility
- 2008/02/12: MPR: Cashing in on global warming
The stock market may be falling, but the carbon market is bullish. Carbon dioxide is considered major contributor to global warming. Carbon is now traded like a commodity on the Chicago Carbon Exchange and for farmers and cities, that can mean an unexpected cash infusion. - 2008/02/11: TriplePundit: PR, Media Attention & Consumers Driving Climate Change in the Corporation
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
- 2008/02/13: AlterNet: Is Corporate Greenwashing Headed for a Fall?
- 2008/02/11: PRWatch: GM Runs from RAN, then Discusses Greenwashing
A new depth in double speak?
- 2008/02/15: EnergyDaily: Peabody Energy CEO [Gregory H. Boyce] Calls Clean Coal 'Sustainable'
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
- 2008/02/14: BBC: Insurers warn on flood risk homes
Millions of homes could be uninsurable and uninhabitable unless stricter planning controls are introduced, an insurance trade body has warned. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said a third of the three million new homes the government wants to see by 2010 will be built on flood plains. The ABI says last summer's floods cost the industry more than £3bn. It said 13 major developments have been passed, despite Environment Agency advice on flood risk in the past year. - 2008/02/16: Atmoz: GISS Adjustments to Miles City - USHCN#245690 [surface stations]
- 2008/02/16: JEB: Corbyn on February
- 2008/02/16: CanWest: A modest sacrifice for the climate
- 2008/02/15: Atmoz: A Surface Station You'll Never See Profiled at Climate Audit
- 2008/02/14: ThinkP: Coal Industry Exploits Kids To Spout Coal Propaganda
- 2008/02/13: ERabett: Richard Courtney neither lives in, nor visits, nor passes through, nor flies over...
- 2008/02/13: Deltoid: Lomborg beats Gore 110 to 2 [in error count]
- 2008/02/13: DeSmogBlog: Climate Change Denial: State of the Art
- 2008/02/13: ERabett: Why it pays to have clever anonymice - Previously, Eli had written about Gerhard Kramm in the field of rakes...
- 2008/02/12: ERabett: Kramm steps on another rake
- 2008/02/12: MTobis: Denialists Fail to Go Away
- 2008/02/12: RealClimate: Antarctica is Cold? Yeah, We Knew That
- 2008/02/12: TreeHugger: Bank Of American CEO Launches A Big One Over The Climate Skeptics
- 2008/02/12: CCurrents: Global Warming Contrarians Exposed - Must See Free Video - The American Denial of Global Warming by Naomi Oreskes
- 2008/02/11: Atmoz: United States Surface Stations Over-samples Temperature
- 2008/02/11: ClimateP: How do we really know humans are causing global warming?
- 2008/02/11: inel: Apocalypse? No! Just a cover story
- 2008/02/11: DeSmogBlog: Scientist Busts Biz Sheet for Misrepresenting His Work
GM chairman Bob Lutz has come out as a denier:
- 2008/02/14: GristMill: Trippin' Lutz - General Motors vice chair is not a climate-change believer
- 2008/02/13: AutoBG: GM chairman Bob Lutz: Global warming is a "total crock of sh*t"
- 2008/02/11: HillHeat: GM Chief Asks Dealers to Lobby Against State-Level Greenhouse Limits
Then there was the usual news and commentary:
- 2008/02/17: GWWatch: Man-made global warming predicted in 1896 [Arrhenius]
- 2008/02/16: ERabett: Redistribution of Enthalpy
- 2008/02/16: AfterGutenberg: Paying the Price of Our Dawdling
- 2008/02/15: CDreams: BrattleboroReformer: McKibben: Local Activism is Key to Fighting Climate Change
- 2008/02/14: OTF: Scenes from Six Degrees
- 2008/02/15: DotEarth: Imagine Everyone Was Equal, in Emissions
- 2008/02/15: GristMill: [Dessler] Happy birthday - The fourth IPCC report is still going strong a year later
- 2008/02/14: ScienceAlert: Shrinking timeframe to prevent dangerous climate change?
- 2008/02/14: EnergyBulletin: Climate mobilization: suddenly a dam breaks
- 2008/02/14: PhysOrg: Carbon study could help reduce harmful emissions
- 2008/02/13: DeSmogBlog: Hunting for Solutions
- 2008/02/14: BBC: Only about 4% of the world's oceans remain undamaged by human activity, according to the first detailed global map of human impacts on the seas
- 2008/02/14: RFKActionFront: WSJ recommends letting the poor freeze to death to combat global warming
- 2008/02/12: GristMill: A post-energy bill agenda - 12 simple things green groups can do about climate change
- 2008/02/12: inel: Airport expansion? Coal-fired power stations without CCS? Not NIMBY but NOOP!
- 2008/02/12: TreeHugger: Connecticut Teen Creates Fashion Statement in Fight Against Global Warming
- 2008/02/12: UNESCO: International Year of Planet Earth to be launched at UNESCO
Building safer, healthier and wealthier societies around the globe by using the knowledge of the world's 400,000 earth scientists more effectively is the main goal of the International Year of Planet Earth - Earth science for Society