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:Food Crisis, Do Nothing Speech, Paris
- Greenland, Ward Hunt, Antarctic Salinity, Stern, EGU, Jet Streams, Vulcan
- Hurricanes, Emanuel, GHGs, Temperatures, Carbon Cycle, Feedbacks, Sea Levels, Satellites, DSCOVR
- Impacts, Plankton, Forests, Corals, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
- Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration
- Journals, Misc. Science, Hansen
- Kyoto, Kyoto-2, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- Politics:International, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, India, Canada
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Video, Betting
- Energy, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing
- Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
- 2008/04/18: SeattlePI: (cartoon - Horsey) More Gas Emissions
- 2008/04/17: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) US Climate Policy
The food crisis is still front and centre this week:
- 2008/04/19: DeutscheWelle: German Minister Calls for Reversal of EU Agricultural Policy
German Agriculture Minister Horst Seehofer has called for a drastic rise in European agricultural production, in a reverse of the bloc's previous agricultural policy, to counter rising world food prices and shortages - 2008/04/18: DerSpiegel: Crisis in Egypt - The Daily Struggle for Food
- 2008/04/19: Guardian(UK): EU set to scrap biofuels target amid fears of food crisis
- 2008/04/15: Times(UK): France's answer to global food crisis is EU protectionism
- 2008/04/19: PeakEnergy: The Rice Panic
- 2008/04/19: BBC: WTO chief calls for aid rethink
The head of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy, has called for aid policies to be refocused to improve agriculture - 2008/04/18: BBC: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has offered to support countries dealing with the effects of rising food prices
- 2008/04/19: AFP: WTO head wants World Bank, IMF to refocus on food supply
- 2008/04/18: UN: UN food agency [WFP] faces $750 million shortfall as it bids to feed world's hungry
- 2008/04/18: ABC(Au): Climate change behind unrest, hunger: Sarkozy
- 2008/04/18: GristMill: Who's cashing in on the high price of food? With food riots raging in dozens of countries, let's open the books on the finances of Big [Food]
- 2008/04/17: TerraDaily: China seeks to boost farm output amid soaring food costs
- 2008/04/17: FTimes: Rice traders hit by panic as prices surge
- 2008/04/17: NewStatesman: How the rich starved the world
- 2008/04/18: DailyMail(UK): The REAL cost of inflation: The Mail's Cost of Living Index reveals food prices rising at SIX times official figure
- 2008/04/17: FTimes: The rising cost of food - Rice traders hit by panic as prices surge
- 2008/04/18: NYT: Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger
- 2008/04/17: EUO: EU fears food price rises will lead to 'spiral of protectionism'
- 2008/04/17: CasaubonsBook: The Mirror, Not Malthus: The Hunger Crisis and the Illusion of Scarcity
- 2008/04/16: TerraDaily: France's food fight
- 2008/04/17: Novosti: Hunger threat looms over the world
- 2008/04/17: PeakEnergy: More grain exports halted
- 2008/04/14: TKaron: There Goes the Washington Consensus
- 2008/04/17: FTimes: The rising cost of food - Indonesia raises price of subsidised rice
- 2008/04/17: Reuters: China hikes tariffs to stem fertilizer exports
- 2008/04/17: SwissInfo: Making biofuels could lower food production
High fossil fuel costs could lower food production in Switzerland if there were a switch to growing crops for biofuels, according to a study. - 2008/04/17: SwissInfo: Official blames food crisis on export subsidies
The outgoing head of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has said export subsidies are one of the main causes of the global food crisis. Walter Fust said as well as providing emergency food aid, people had to tackle urgently the underlying causes of the crisis, such as agricultural subsidies, the growth in crops used for ethanol production, global warming and poor infrastructure. Addressing foreign journalists in Geneva on Thursday, Fust said he feared that in many of the worst-affected countries the problems were structural. He warned that industrialised countries' export subsidies endangered developing countries' agriculture and that pursuing such a policy was "dishonest, incoherent and destructive". - 2008/04/18: Xinhuanet: Russian PM calls for food price regulation
- 2008/04/17: Xinhuanet: FAO expert [Fang Cheng]: multi-factors pushing up global rice price
- 2008/04/17: BBC: S Africans march over food prices - Thousands of South African trade unionists have taken to the streets to protest against rising food prices
- 2008/04/17: NYT: A Drought in Australia, a Global Shortage of Rice
- 2008/04/17: IHT: As Australia dries, a global shortage of rice
[...] The collapse of Australia's rice production is one of several factors contributing to a doubling of rice prices in the last three months... - 2008/04/17: Guardian(UK): UN fears tragedy over North Korean food shortage
- 2008/04/16: UN: UN Economic and Social Council to hold meeting on emerging food crisis
- 2008/04/16: JQuiggin: Food - The big increase in food prices over the last six months or so raises lots of issues...
- 2008/04/15: Maribo: Food prices and the use of corn
- 2008/04/16: CDreams: CapTimes: Food Shortage Looming if Crop Focus Isn't Altered
- 2008/04/15: CCurrents: India: Rising Food Prices Threaten Social Calamity
- 2008/04/15: CCurrents: Let Them Eat Ethanol!
- 2008/04/15: CCurrents: Why Food Costs Are Climbing
- 2008/04/16: CCurrents: Credit Crunch? The Real Crisis Is Global Hunger
- 2008/04/16: CCurrents: Global Hot Spots Of Hunger Set To Explode
- 2008/04/08: DemNow: Stuffed and Starved: As Food Riots Break Out Across the Globe
- 2008/04/16: DemNow: Stuffed and Starved: As Food Riots Break Out Across the Globe, Part II
- 2008/04/14: McClatchyDC: Food prices behind rising hunger in poor nations
- 2008/04/14: DerSpiegel: Global Food Crisis - The Fury of the Poor
- 2008/04/16: DerSpiegel: Harvesting Trouble - Pressure Grows on EU to Abandon Biofuels
- 2008/04/16: BBC: Steep rise in Chinese food prices
Food prices have risen 21% in China so far this year, fuelling concerns about inflation in the economy and the affordability of basic staple goods - 2008/04/15: EconBrowser: Food prices
- 2008/04/15: FTimes: Biggest grain exporters halt foreign sales
- 2008/04/16: NakedCapitalism: Some Big Grain Exporters Halt Foreign Sales; More on Ethanol Subsidies
- 2008/04/16: DerSpiegel: [policy/riot map] Global Food Crisis: The Fury of the Poor
- 2008/04/14: IPSNews: Global Hot Spots of Hunger Set to Explode
- 2008/04/16: Guardian(UK): How the food crisis is being felt around the world
- 2008/04/15: ICH: Global Hunger, Corporate Greed: When will enough be enough?
- 2008/04/14: UN: Emergency UN aid reaches 400,000 Afghans hit by rising food prices
- 2008/04/14: EUO: Paris calls on EU to tackle food price crisis
- 2008/04/14: GristMill: That '70s show - Thirty years ago, high crop prices caused environmental destruction, too
- 2008/04/15: DailyMail(UK): Transport costs rise by record 7% as food prices soar at fastest rate for 17 years
- 2008/04/15: PeakEnergy: Food riots 'an apocalyptic warning'
- 2008/04/15: Telegraph(UK): Global warming rage lets global hunger grow
- 2008/04/15: NYT: Fuel Choices, Food Crises and Finger-Pointing
- 2008/04/14: WSJ:EconB: EU Defends Biofuels Plans, Points at U.S., Amid Food Crunch
- Wiki: 2007-2008 world food price crisis
- 2008/04/14: CG&G: Ethanol: Our Energy Policy Helps Launch Worldwide Food Riots
- 2008/04/15: NakedCapitalism: Food Crisis Fuelling Global Instability
- 2008/04/14: CNN: Riots, instability spread as food prices skyrocket
Rise in food prices is "the world's big story," development official warns - World Bank chief warns that rise in prices could set anti-poverty efforts back - Crisis also spurs debate on whether ethanol production is to blame - Riots have occurred in numerous countries recently - 2008/04/14: CalcRisk: Food Riots and Falling Russian Oil Production
- 2008/04/13: EnergyBulletin: Manufactured foodscape
- 2008/04/14: Yahoo: EU defends biofuel goals amid food crises
- 2008/04/14: Yahoo: Food Costs Rising Fastest in 17 Years
- 2008/04/15: BBC: US President George W Bush has ordered the release of $200m in emergency aid to alleviate food shortages in Africa and other parts of the world
- 2008/04/14: TruthOut: Our Global Warming Rage Lets Global Hunger Grow
- 2008/04/14: NYT: Finance Ministers Emphasize Food Crisis Over Credit Crisis
- 2008/04/14: CBC: Beef is out; wheat is in: farmers
Financially beleaguered cattle producers in Manitoba are selling off their herds and switching to wheat, capitalizing on soaring grain prices. Martin Unrau, president of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, is just one of hundreds of ranchers expected to sell off their animals this year and put their fields to work raising grain. - 2008/04/14: BBC: The World Bank has announced emergency measures to tackle rising food prices around the world
[...] Emergency help would include an additional $10m (£5m) to Haiti, where several people were killed in food riots last week, and a doubling of agricultural loans to African farmers - 2008/04/18: AutoBG: Oxfam America: Bush is "ignoring reality" with climate initiative
- 2008/04/17: DerSpiegel: The US and Climate Change - Behind Bush's About-Face on Emissions
- 2008/04/18: DerSpiegel: Bush Has 'Understood Nothing, Learned Nothing'
- 2008/04/19: NYT: The Fat Bush Theory
[...] Instead of Kyoto, the administration is pushing for "a new process" in which the countries that do most of the polluting will get together and work on a climate agreement. That process was in fact chugging along this very week at a gathering in Paris, where Bush's speech was greeted with a round of excited reviews. Germany's environment minister, for instance, dubbed it "losership instead of leadership." - 2008/04/17: CBS: World Climate Talks Rattled By Bush Speech
- 2008/04/19: GristMill: Collins misoverestimates Bush - NYT columnist gives president too much credit on climate, which ain't hard [media]
- 2008/04/19: Maribo: Signs your climate policy is weak
- 2008/04/19: TP:WonkRoom: In Review: Bush's Day Of Climate Contempt
- 2008/04/19: ThinkP: Schwarzenegger: Bush's New Global Warming Plan = "No More Glaciers"
- 2008/04/17: CNN: Bush gets mixed reviews at climate change summit
Climate talks among the world's biggest polluters being held in Paris - Some call U.S. President Bush's call to stop emissions by 2005 too little, too late - Disppointment that Bush did not call for mandatory emissions cuts - Still, U.N. climate chief says it's good the U.S. has a "proposal on the table" - 2008/04/18: EUO: EU lukewarm on Bush climate plan
- 2008/04/18: WarmingLaw: Justice Delay is Climate Action Denied
- 2008/04/18: PlanetArk: Bush's CO2 Plan Is "Neanderthal" - German Minister
- 2008/04/17: TerraDaily: Bush under fire at Paris climate meeting
- 2008/04/17: TerraDaily: US shrugs off 'hot-blooded' climate critics
- 2008/04/18: DeSmogBlog: Carbon Cutting from a Caveman
- 2008/04/18: CSM: Bush's climate goals vague -- but a start
- 2008/04/18: CSM: Bush's legacy on global warming - His emissions goal may help loop China and India into setting goals. Will his strategy work?
- 2008/04/17: FPB: Quotable: Bush's neanderthal speech
- 2008/04/17: ThinkP: [White House spokesman Tony] Fratto Rewrites Bush Climate Policy, Claims President Called For Halting Carbon Emissions
- 2008/04/18: ABC(Au): US climate change plan 'disastrous and Neanderthal'
US President George W Bush's plan to cap greenhouse gases by 2025 has been dismissed as "disastrous" and "Neanderthal" by some ministers at a climate change meeting in Paris. Mr Bush has unveiled a plan to halt the growth of US emissions by 2025, which the US says is tougher than its previous goals. But delegates at the ministerial-level meeting of major carbon emitters, including the US, Australia and the European Union (EU), were less than impressed. Germany accused Mr Bush of turning back the clock to before last December's UN climate talks in Bali and even to before last July's G8 summit. In a statement entitled "Bush's Neanderthal speech," German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said: "His speech showed not leadership but losership. We are glad that there are also other voices in the United States." South Africa blasted Mr Bush's proposal as a disastrous retreat by the planet's number-one polluter and a slap to poor countries. - 2008/04/17: Guardian(UK): Bush's climate change sideshow
- 2008/04/16: ClimateP: Conservative bloggers don't "heart" Bush speech
- 2008/04/17: ABC(Au): US to cap greenhouse emissions by 2025
- 2008/04/17: DotEarth: The [Annotated] Climate Speech
- 2008/04/16: GristMill: Bush on climate - President Bush's speech on climate change, 16 April 2008, as prepared for delivery
- 2008/04/16: GristMill: V -- but not for victory - Who might like the president's bogus climate principles
- 2008/04/16: Maribo: US President Bush speaks about climate change
- 2008/04/16: QuarkSoup: Bush and Greenhouse Gases -- I mean, how can you not just laugh out loud?
- 2008/04/16: TerraDaily: Bush: US to halt greenhouse gas rise by 2025
- 2008/04/17: TreeHugger: UNSPOKEN: Bush Not Changing Position on Climate Change -- Video
- 2008/04/17: DeSmogBlog: Bush, Burning
- 2008/04/17: DeSmogBlog: Bush Climate Plan Evokes a Global Yawn!
- 2008/04/17: ENN: Bush climate plan criticized for lacking urgency
- 2008/04/17: Yahoo: Bush climate plan criticized for lacking urgency
- 2008/04/17: OilChange: Bush "Pledges To Do Nothing" on Climate Change
- 2008/04/17: WSJ:EnvCap: The French Disconnection: Bush Plan Fizzles at Paris Climate Talks
- 2008/04/17: CanWest: Bush policy on greenhouse gases 'too late'
- 2008/04/17: CSM: Bush sets greenhouse-gas emissions goal for 2025
- 2008/04/16: FPB: The climate speech that wasn't
- 2008/04/16: TP:WonkRoom: Earth To Bush: We Can't Wait 15 More Years
- 2008/04/17: Xinhuanet: Bush proposes halt of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions growth by 2025
- 2008/04/16: CBC: Bush sees U.S. greenhouse emissions levelling off by 2025 - U.S. president dismisses 'flawed' Kyoto plan to achieve cuts by 2012
- 2008/04/16: BBC: Bush sets new CO2 emission target
US President George W Bush says he is setting an "ambitious" new target of halting growth in US greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. Citing new technology as the key, he said emissions in the US needed to reach a peak within 15 years and decline after that - 2008/04/16: NatureTGB: Bush waxes aspirational on climate
- 2008/04/16: ClimateP: Bush/Nero climate speech: "Technology, technology, blah, blah, let's fiddle until 2025"
- 2008/04/16: ClimateP: Who's more confused about climate speech -- the media or Bush?
- 2008/04/15: ClimateP: Drinking game for Bush's Yogi Berra climate speech
- 2008/04/16: DotEarth: President Calls for Flat U.S. Greenhouse Emissions by 2025
- 2008/04/16: DotEarth: President to Come Full Circle on Limiting CO2
- 2008/04/16: PhysOrg: Bush revises strategy on curbing greenhouse gases
- 2008/04/16: WarmingLaw: President Bush Goes All Scooby-Doo On Warming Law, Judicial Review
- 2008/04/15: CSW: Will Bush acknowledge the harmful impacts of global climate disruption?
- 2008/04/16: C411: On the Plus Side, Bush Recognized the Need for Federal Action on Climate Change
- 2008/04/16: WaPo: Bush's Third Climate-Change Fake-Out
- 2008/04/14: TerraDaily: Bush 'can't support' climate bills in Congress: White House
- 2008/04/16: USAToday: Bush revises strategy on curbing greenhouse gases
- 2008/04/16: WSJ:EnvCap: Climate Politics: Bush Tips His Hat
- 2008/04/16: TP:WonkRoom: Bush's Climate Delayer Speech: Excerpts
- 2008/04/15: Reuters: Bush to announce intermediate goal for CO2 emissions
- 2008/04/16: WaPo: Bush to Endorse 'Intermediate' Emissions Goal
- 2008/04/16: DeSmogBlog: Strike three on climate change for the Bush White House?
- 2008/04/16: Guardian(UK): Bush to announce options for reducing US greenhouse emissions
- 2008/04/15: TruthOut: Bush Floating New Climate Proposal
- 2008/04/15: DotEarth: Bush to State Climate Goals Wednesday
- 2008/04/15: PhysOrg: Bush Floating New Climate Proposal
- 2008/04/15: GristMill: Bush to give speech on climate change strategy
- 2008/04/15: WarmingLaw: About That Rose Garden Address...And That Court Deadline
- 2008/04/15: TreeHugger: Bush's New (Old) Tack on Climate Change: Watch Me Pretend to Care
- 2008/04/15: ENN: Report: Bush considers backing global warming plan
- 2008/04/15: Yahoo: Bush floating new climate proposal
- 2008/04/14: StarTrib: White House floats new climate proposal with GOP conservatives
- 2008/04/14: TP:WonkRoom: As Earth Day Nears, White House Pretends To Take Action On Climate
- 2008/04/14: ClimateP: Fool me 3 times or more, shame on the media [GWB & CC leg]
- 2008/04/14: DotEarth: President Appears to Seek a Warming Legacy
- 2008/04/14: GristMill: For Earth Day, Bush claims to want climate solutions - Analysis: Bush announcement attempt to subvert action
- 2008/04/14: GristMill: Bush to push for climate legislation?
- 2008/04/14: DeSmogBlog: CEI: "Is Global Warming Burning Bush?"
- 2008/04/14: WSJ:EnvCap: Green Bush: White House to Push Climate Package?
Another Major Economies conference went down in Paris this week:
- 2008/04/19: DotEarth: Divisions Persist Among Greenhouse Giants
- 2008/04/18: PhysOrg: No accord at Paris climate meeting as more talks planned
- 2008/04/19: Xinhuanet: Meeting on climate change ends in Paris without tangible agreement
- 2008/04/14: EUO: Rich countries criticised for lack of leadership on climate change
- 2008/04/15: TruthOut: Top Emitters Meet in Paris, Worries on UN Overlap
- 2008/04/14: TerraDaily: Leadership lacking from rich countries on climate change: IPCC chief
- 2008/04/14: TruthOut: Rich States Failing to Lead on Emissions, Says UN Climate Chief
- 2008/04/14: Yahoo: Rich countries not leading on climate change: IPCC chief
- 2008/04/14: Guardian(UK): Rich states failing to lead on emissions, says UN climate chief [IPCC head, Rajendra Pachauri]
Developing world 'dismayed' by lack of leadership - New deal to replace Kyoto protocol under threat - 2008/04/14: OilChange: Rich States have Failed on Climate Leadership
Developing countries, including China and India, are unwilling to sign up to a new global climate change pact to replace Kyoto because the rich world has failed to set a clear example on cutting CO2. That's the blunt message from Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). - 2008/03/31: Science: Seasonal Speedup Along the Western Flank of the Greenland Ice Sheet by Ian Joughin et al.
- 2008/03/31: Science: Fracture Propagation to the Base of the Greenland Ice Sheet During Supraglacial Lake Drainage by Sarah B. Das et al.
- 2008/04/20: SciDaily: Greenland Ice May Not Be Headed Down Too Slippery A Slope, But Stability Still Far From Assured
- 2008/04/18: Eureka: Researchers warm up to melt's role in Greenland ice loss
- 2008/04/19: CBC:Q&Q: Draining the [Greenland] Lake - Dr. Sarah Das interview
- 2008/04/18: KSJT: AP, Wires, Brit Press, and more: Greenland's ice sheet lakes can open a drain hole all the way to bedrock, fast.
- 2008/04/18: RealClimate: Moulins, Calving Fronts and Greenland Outlet Glacier Acceleration
- 2008/04/18: SciDaily: Ice Sheet 'Plumbing System' Found: Lakes Of Meltwater Can Crack Greenland's Ice And Contribute To Faster Ice Sheet Flow
- 2008/04/18: FPB: Greenland had waterfall 3x bigger than Niagara Falls
- 2008/04/18: Guardian(UK): Greenland's disappearing lakes leave giant ice sheets largely unmoved
Meltwater plays only small role in glacier flow - Study casts doubt on 'lubrication' theory - 2008/04/17: NewScientist: Greenland ice lakes drain at speed of Niagara Falls
- 2008/04/17: PhysOrg: Lakes of meltwater can crack Greenland's ice and contribute to faster ice sheet flow
- 2008/04/17: WHOI: Lakes of Meltwater Can Crack Greenland's Ice and Contribute to Faster Ice Sheet Flow
Researchers Make First Observations of Surface Meltwater Cutting through the Ice Sheet to Lubricate the Bottom - 2008/04/14: TrentU: Trent's Dr. Derek Mueller Confirms Ice Shelf Losses in Arctic
- 2008/04/16: CBC: Cracks in Arctic ice shelves even worse than feared: scientist
- 2008/04/19: CBC:Q&Q: Breaking the Ice [Ward Hunt Ice Shelf] - Dr. Derek Mueller interview
- 2008/04/16: CBC: Cracks in Arctic ice shelves even worse than feared: scientist [Ward Hunt ice shelf]
- 2008/04/16: SciDaily: Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, Largest In Northern Hemisphere, Has Fractured Into Three Main Pieces
- 2008/04/14: G&M: Arctic [Ward Hunt] ice shelf now split in three, mission finds
Otherwise in the Arctic:
- 2008/04/: FA: Arctic Meltdown - The Economic and Security Implications of Global Warming
- 2008/04/18: CBC: Denmark invites Arctic nations to discuss claims to North
Denmark has invited the four other countries with Arctic coastal waters, including Canada, to a meeting in Greenland next month on northern territorial claims. Denmark, Canada, Russia, Norway and the United States all lay claim to large swathes of underwater territory in the Arctic, which is thought to be rich in deep sea oil deposits and other commodities. Under the United Nations Law of the Sea convention, signed by Canada in 2003, the five countries may be able to extend their sovereignty beyond the usual 200-nautical mile limit recognized in international law, if the seabed is an extension of the continental shelf. - 2008/04/16: KSJT: Fairbanks News-Miner, Boulder D. Camera: How hazy is the Arctic, and why?
- 2008/04/16: TreeHugger: Could an L.A. Mainstay [smog] be to Blame for the Arctic's Recent Warming?
Scientists have measured unusually high fresh water proportions in Antarctic oceans:
- 2008/04/20: PeakEnergy: Strong Current Warning
- 2008/04/18: Reuters: Freshening of deep Antarctic waters worries experts
- 2008/04/18: ABC(Au): Antarctic Ocean is 'less salty, less dense': scientist
- 2008/04/18: ENN: Freshening of deep Antarctic waters worries experts
- 2008/04/17: ABC(Au): Ocean salinity evidence of climate change: researchers
Nicholas Stern says he underestimated the impacts of GW:
- 2008/04/19: Stoat: Stern takes bleaker view on warming?
- 2008/04/19: PeakEnergy: Nicholas Stern Wrong - climate change is worse than he thought
- 2008/04/17: TerraDaily: Stern review author paints bleaker picture on climate change
- 2008/04/18: OilChange: Stern: "I Underestimated Risks"
- 2008/04/18: Guardian(UK): Global economy - I underestimated the threat, says Stern
- 2008/04/17: ClimateP: Stern admits report "badly underestimated" climate change risks
- 2008/04/17: TruthOut: Stern Admits Report "Badly Underestimated" Climate Change Risks
- 2008/04/17: DeSmogBlog: Climate Impacts Sternly Misunderestimated
- 2008/04/16: Yahoo: Stern review author paints bleaker picture on climate change
- 2008/04/17: WSJ:EnvCap: Stern Reality: Is Global Warming Even Worse than You Thought?
- 2008/04/17: CanWest: Climate changing faster than predicted, expert [Nicholas Stern] says
- 2008/04/16: FTimes: Climate change - Stern takes bleaker view on warming
The Stern report on climate change underestimated the risks of global warming, its author said on Wednesday, and should have presented a gloomier view of the future - 2008/04/18: NatureCF: EGU: Keeping an eye on carbon crimes
- 2008/04/17: NatureCF: EGU: North Atlantic Ocean may regain status as carbon sink
- 2008/04/16: NatureCF: EGU: Meeting the scientists
- 2008/04/15: NatureCF: EGU: Bespoke geoengineering - mitigation by design
- 2008/04/14: NatureCF: EGU: World's "water towers" under threat [glaciers]
There is a report the jet streams are shifting northward:
- 2008/04/18: KSJT: AP: Oh great. Now the jet streams are migrating north. Most likely suspect: us.
- 2008/04/17: Yahoo: Jet stream, America's storm maker, moving slowly northward
Another paper threw doubt on the imputed climate and cosmic ray link:
- 2008/04/18: BCLSB: No Solar Link Redux, Redux
- 2008/04/18: BBC: More doubt on cosmic climate link
Research has thrown further doubt on the notion that cosmic rays are a major influence on the Earth's climate. The idea that modern global warming is due to changes in cloudiness caused by solar influences on cosmic rays is popular with "climate sceptics". But scientists found changes in cosmic ray flux do not affect cloud formation - the second such report in a month - 2008/04/19: TreeHugger: Top 20 Worst Carbon Emitting Counties in the U.S. (Or Blame it All on Houston and L.A.)
- 2008/04/17: SciDaily: Worst Offenders For Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Top 20 US Counties Identified [Vulcan]
Neoguri slapped Southern China as the hurricane wars warmed up:
- 2008/04/19: BBC: Early typhoon hits southern China
More than 100,000 people had to be evacuated as Typhoon Neoguri battered China's southern province of Hainan - 2008/04/19: CBC: Thousands flee as typhoon [Neoguri] hits China
- 2008/04/19: AFP: Tropical storm [Typhoon Neoguri] hits south China, 38 fishermen rescued: report
- 2008/04/18: Eureka: No place like home: Katrina's lasting impact
- 2008/04/16: PhysOrg: Changing jet streams may alter paths of storms and hurricanes
- 2008/04/16: Eureka: Changing jet streams may alter paths of storms and hurricanes
- 2008/04/15: SciDaily: Forecasters Implement New Hurricane-tracking Technique [VORTRAC]
- 2008/04/15: SciDaily: Better Understanding Of Hurricane Trajectories Learned From Patterns On Soap Bubbles
- 2008/04/14: Intersection:CCM: "More Things on Heaven and Earth...Than Are Dreamt of in Your Meteorology" [Tropical Storm Erin]
Dr. Kerry Emanuel published a nuanced paper on hurricanes and global warming which got twisted every which way:
- 2008/04/19: SciDaily: Climate Change Likely To Intensify Storms, New Study Confirms
- 2008/04/17: PhysOrg: New study validates hurricane prediction
- 2008/04/17: Intersection:CCM: The Kerry Emanuel Conversion Story
- 2008/04/17: Denialism: The inconsistency of cranks
- 2008/04/15: NatureN: Hurricane outlook scaled back - Findings intensify debate over how storms and climate are linked
- 2008/04/14: CSM: Revisiting the global warming-hurricane link
Meanwhile GHGs are still going up:
- 2008/04/: EPA: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Reports
- 2008/04/18: PhysOrg: US carbon emissions to rise 23 percent over UN benchmark: IEA
- 2008/04/17: TreeHugger: Graphics Of The Day: USEPA Submits Latest Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory To IPCC
I thought this happened last year.:
- 2008/04/15: PhysOrg: China surpasses US as top carbon polluter: study
- 2008/04/15: Intersection:SRK: BBC News: China 'Now Top Carbon Polluter'
- 2008/04/15: OilChange: China "Now Top Carbon Polluter"
- 2008/04/14: BBC: China 'now top carbon polluter'
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2008/04/15: ENN: Forests' long-term potential for carbon offsetting
- 2008/04/15: SciDaily: Forests' Long-term Potential For Carbon Offsetting
- 2008/04/15: PhysOrg: Forests' long-term potential for carbon offsetting
As for the temperature record:
- 2008/04/19: Tamino: City of Musicians
- 2008/04/19: PeakEnergy: Global Warmth in March Hits Record
- 2008/04/18: KSJT: AP, Billings Gazette, The Age (Australia): March came and went - hot, or warm, or wet, or all over the place. Mostly hot though.
- 2008/04/18: PhysOrg: March the warmest on record over world land surfaces
- 2008/04/18: SciDaily: Global Land Temperature Warmest On Record In March 2008
- 2008/04/18: Yahoo: March the warmest on record over world land surfaces
- 2008/04/17: OF: Global Warmth Hits Record [in March]
- 2008/04/17: ClimateP: NOAA: The second warmest March on record
- 2008/04/15: Atmoz: AtmozTemp: Just the Mean of the Other Temps
- 2008/04/15: TerraDaily: Spanish Temperature Data Compiled As Evidence Of Climatic Change
Yes we have feedbacks:
- 2008/04/17: DerSpiegel: Melting Methane - A Storehouse of Greenhouse Gases Is Opening in Sibera
- 2008/04/16: ClimateP: Methane Hydrates: What's the worst -- and best -- that could happen?
Sea levels are rising:
- GlobalWarmingArt: Sea Level Rise Explorer
- 2008/04/17: PeakEnergy: World sea levels may rise 1.5m by 2100
- 2008/04/17: Guardian(UK): Waves of destruction
Rising seas are changing Britain's coast dramatically. Norfolk is the first low-lying area to face a stark and cruel new choice - plough millions into doomed defences, or abandon whole villages to the invading waters - 2008/04/16: NatureTGB: Sea level rise 'threatens millions'
- 2008/04/16: KSJT: New Scientist, Telegraph, BBC, etc: A new sea level forecast - could be up to 1.5 meters
- 2008/04/16: NewScientist: Sea levels 'will rise 1.5 metres by 2100'
Melting glaciers, disappearing ice sheets and warming water could lift sea levels by as much as 1.5 metres by the end of this century, displacing tens of millions of people. That's the conclusion of a new prediction of sea level rises that for the first time takes into account ice dynamics. Svetlana Jevrejeva of the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, UK, says a new, more accurate reconstruction of sea levels over the past 2000 years suggests that the prediction of a an 18-59 centimetre rise by 2100 made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is wildly inaccurate. Meeting at European Geosciences Union conference in Vienna, Austria, this week, researchers including Jevrejeva said in a statement that the pace at which sea levels are rising is accelerating. They predict they will be 0.8-1.5 metres higher by next century. - 2008/04/13: CSW: Comments on draft federal "Coastal Elevations and Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise" report
- 2008/04/16: OilChange: Sea-Level Rise Could Wipe Out Bangladesh by 2100
- 2008/04/15: NakedCapitalism: New Study: Seas Will Rise Up to 1.5 Meters by 2100
- 2008/04/15: Reuters: World sea levels seen rising 1.5m by 2100
[EGU Vienna conf.] Melting glaciers, disappearing ice sheets and warming water could lift sea levels by as much as 1.5 metres (4.9 feet) by the end of this century, displacing tens of millions of people, new research showed on Tuesday - 2008/04/15: Stoat: Don't believe a word of it, guv [SLR]
- 2008/04/15: BBC: Forecast for big sea level rise
Sea levels could rise by up to one-and-a-half metres by the end of this century, according to a new scientific analysis. - 2008/04/14: TreeHugger: See For Yourself: Interactive Sea Level Rise Explorer
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2008/04/17: TerraDaily: NASA satellite data charts ocean winds [QuikScat]
The campaign to uncover DSCOVR [Deep Space Climate Observatory] rolls on:
- 2008/04/18: DeSmogBlog: Did NASA Mislead the Media About the DSCOVR Climate Project?
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2008/04/19: Guardian(UK): Families living on the edge as cliff crumbles away - Property prices in freefall as bungalows demolished to stop them plunging into sea
- 2008/04/18: TreeHugger: California's Wildlife Past Offers New Look at Global Warming
- 2008/04/18: ENN: Turtles to be climate change canaries
- 2008/04/18: AFP: France warns climate change driving war, hunger
- 2008/04/18: Guardian(UK): Pyrenean snowfall could be cut by half
- 2008/04/17: TruthOut: Colorado River to Drop to 500-Year Low as World Warms
- 2008/04/17: PlanetArk: Oceans Absorbing Less CO2 May Have 1,500 Year Impact
- 2008/04/17: CanWest: Oceans are absorbing less carbon dioxide
- 2008/04/16: TruthOut: Melting Mountains Called a Water "Time Bomb"
- 2008/04/16: DerSpiegel: The Not-So-Fertile Crescent - Climate Change Threatens Cradle of Civilization
- 2008/04/14: EUO: Forest biodiversity threatened by fragmentation
- 2008/04/15: PeakEnergy: Barcelona forced to import water by ship
- 2008/04/15: PlanetArk: Melting Mountains A "Time Bomb" For Water Shortages
- 2008/04/14: Guardian(UK): Climate change affecting UK's coastal wildlife, report warns
- 2008/04/13: ENN: Bangladesh faces climate change refugee nightmare
It's been a week for phytoplankton:
- 2008/04/19: TreeHugger: Some (Phytoplankton) Like it Acidic
- 2008/04/18: NewScientist: Acidic oceans may be water of life for plankton
- 2008/04/17: NatureN: Phytoplankton responding to climate change - But the ocean organisms may not remove more carbon dioxide from the air
- 2008/04/17: DotEarth: Some Plankton Thrive With More CO2
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2008/04/18: TruthOut: Merrill Lynch's Carbon Bet - Why a Wall Street firm wants to save a forest in Sumatra
- 2008/04/18: CanWest: Threat to boreal forests overstated: scientist [Werner Kurz] - Canadian researcher dismisses Greenpeace 'carbon bomb' theory
- 2008/04/17: ENN: Going, Going, Gone? New Satellite Images Reveal a Shrinking Amazon Rainforest
Corals are dying:
- 2008/04/18: ABC(Au): Scientists look for link between [Ningaloo] coral bleaching and global warming
- 2008/04/16: Eureka: New study predicts where corals can thrive
As for wild fires:
- 2008/04/18: BBC: Smoke worsens over Buenos Aires
Smoke blanketing the Argentine capital Buenos Aires has thickened, prompting the authorities to close airports and major highways - 2008/04/18: BBC: Argentine fires blamed on farmers
- 2008/04/17: TerraDaily: Mediterranean forest fires set to become 'norm': green group
- 2008/04/18: PlanetArk: Wild Fires Likely To Spread Due To Global Warming
- 2008/04/16: CBC: State of emergency in Colorado as 3 die in wildfires
Colorado declared a state of emergency on Wednesday as three separate fires continued to blaze, razing thousands of hectares of land, forcing hundreds to evacuate from their homes and causing the deaths of three people. Gov. Bill Ritter made the declaration, freeing up state resources to fight fires that sparked Tuesday - 2008/04/17: ENN: Current Major Flooding in U.S. a Sign of Things to Come
- 2008/04/14: CBC: Belleville declares state of emergency amid floods - Rideau River crests in Ottawa
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
- 2008/04/20: TreeHugger: Common BioFuel Myth: Corn-Based Ethanol To Blame For Global Food Shortages
- 2008/04/19: AutoBG: Biofuels are an "Unlikely Foe" of the Grocery Manufacturers Association
- 2008/04/20: AFP: Biofuels under attack as world food prices soar
- 2008/04/20: WpgFP: Biofuels threat to environment, farms: activists - Group will be taking its message to Canadians in cross-country tour
- 2008/04/18: GristMill: What the world needs now - Three million more acres of industrial corn?
- 2008/04/14: FuturePundit: Biomass Energy Versus Food Crops
- 2008/04/18: NatureTGB: Brazil's president defends biofuels
- 2008/04/18: CanWest: It's time to scrap the ethanol boondoggle
Government-funded conversion to "biofuels" such as ethanol is scarcely helping with energy efficiency and is exacerbating a global food crisis. It's time for Canada to reverse course on this failed approach - 2008/04/17: WikiNews: Brazilian President [Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva]: not continuing to use biofuels would be a 'crime against humanity'
- 2008/04/15: Guardian(UK): A man-made famine
- 2008/04/17: BBC: Brazil president defends biofuels
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has rejected allegations that biofuels are responsible for the recent rise in global food prices - 2008/04/15: CDreams: Guardian(UK): Fueling the Food Crisis - The EU's biofuels policy will push up global food prices.
- 2008/04/16: SMH: Future may be driven by ethanol - From 2010 all standard unleaded petrol could be 10 per cent ethanol [NSW]
- 2008/04/15: Independent(UK): Biofuel: the burning question
The production of biofuel is devastating huge swathes of the world's environment. So why on earth is the Government forcing us to use more of it? - 2008/04/14: OLJ: Ethanol and bio-diesel: Fuels or threats to food security?
And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:
- 2008/04/18: CanWest: [Sulphur] From waste byproduct to billion-dollar commodity - Oil and gas companies hoping to cash in on astronomic price increases
- 2008/04/17: CanWest: Potash the new crude - Chinese agency agrees to hike price by $400 US a tonne
- 2008/04/20: TheDaily(Au): Apocalypse now [farming]
- 2008/04/19: ASNS: Food, land crisis linked to environmental degradation, UNCCD says
The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Luc Gnacadja warned Friday that the current food security crisis needs to be examined in line with the environmental change such as desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) - 2008/04/18: NewScientist: Food miles don't feed climate change - meat does
- 2008/04/17: IPSNews: "Increase Agricultural Productivity While Reducing the Environmental Footprint" - Q&A with Robert Watson, IAASTD director
- 2008/04/15: UNESCO: Modern agricultural practices must change, concludes report
- 2008/04/16: TerraDaily: World must reform agriculture now or face dire crisis: report [IAASTD]
- 2008/04/15: HoustonChronicle: Farming report released amid food shortage riots - UNESCO calls for a 'paradigm change' to move away from fossil fuels in agriculture
- 2008/04/16: CBC: New potash contract sends fertilizer stocks soaring
Stocks of potash producers hit all-time highs Wednesday on word that China has agreed to pay a lot more for the fertilizer. Canpotex, which markets Saskatchewan potash offshore on behalf of Potash Corp., Agrium and Mosaic has negotiated a new contract that will see China pay triple what it paid last year. Under terms of the new contract, Sinofert Holdings has agreed to pay $576 US a tonne for one million tonnes of Saskatchewan potash this year. That's up a whopping $400 US from the $176 US it agreed to pay in last year's contract - 2008/04/15: Guardian(UK): UN body urges agriculture reforms to stave off food crisis [IAASTD]
- 2008/04/16: Guardian(UK): Change in farming can feed world - [IAASTD] report
- 2008/04/15: UN: Food production must benefit world's poor, urge UN-backed scientists [IAASTD]
- 2008/04/15: BBC: Global food system 'must change'
The global agriculture system will have to change radically if the world is to avoid future environmental and social problems, a report has warned. The study, commissioned by the UN and World Bank, concluded that while recent advances had increased food production, the benefits were spread unevenly. It said that 850 million people were still not getting enough food to eat. The authors added that food prices would remain volatile as a result of rising populations and biofuel growth. - 2008/04/15: BBC: Farming practices 'must change'
A United Nations-sponsored report has warned that modern farming practices and rules must change in response to rising food prices. "Business as usual is no longer an option", says the report, as extra food costs threaten to plunge millions more people into poverty. The study, published by Unesco in Paris, calls for more emphasis on protecting natural resources. More natural and ecological farming techniques should be used, it says. These should include reducing the distance between production and the consumer. The report is the result of three years of work involving scientists and other experts, as well as governments of developed and developing countries. The authors conclude that progress in agriculture has reaped very unequal benefits - and that it has come at a high social and environmental cost. Unesco notes the ''considerable influence'' of big transnational corporations in North America and Europe. - 2008/04/15: WB: (282k pdf) Biofuels: The Promise and the Risk
Consider transportation & GHGs in the future:
- 2008/04/17: Atmoz: 10 Reasons Maglev Trains would be better than Planes
- 2008/04/17: GristMill: Oil hysteria - Let's rebuild our national rail network instead of repealing the gas tax
- 2008/04/16: TerraDaily: Rail Transit Poor Choice For Reducing Greenhouse Gases [says Cato]
- 2008/04/15: C411: Cost of Inaction on U.S. Transportation
- 2008/04/14: WBJournal: Railing Against Fuel Costs
With diesel topping $4 a gallon and trucking prices rising accordingly, it looks to some people like boom time for trains. Freight is already a cheaper form of transportation than trucks, and according to the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission's 2007 Regional Transportation Plan, railroads can move a ton of freight three times as far as a truck on a gallon of fuel - 2008/04/18: NEN: Building Green
- 2008/04/14: WorldChanging: Green Buildings and Smart Grids
On the sequestration front, the WWF, among others, has supported a CCS plan down under to great outcry:
- 2008/04/16: PRWatch: King Coal Gets Green Help Down Under
- 2008/04/18: NEN: World Wildlife Fund goes pro-coal, splitting greens
- 2008/04/17: EnergyDaily: Historic Alliance Calls For A National Task Force On Carbon Capture And Storage
In an historic alliance, industry, union and environment organisations have called on the Federal Government to establish a National Carbon Capture and Storage Taskforce to combat climate change. The new taskforce, proposed by the Australian Coal Association (ACA), CFMEU, The Climate Institute (CI), and WWF, would be charged with developing and implementing a nationally coordinated plan to oversee rapid demonstration and commercialisation of 10,000 GWh of carbon capture and storage (CCS) electricity per year by 2020. - 2008/04/17: TerraDaily: WWF Joins World's Leading Environment Proponents In CCS Call
- 2008/04/16: ABC(Au): Coal industry rejects criticism of carbon capture tech
- 2008/04/16: ABC(Au): WWF 'picketed' over carbon sequestration
- 2008/04/16: PeakEnergy: What Was The WWF Thinking?
- 2008/04/15: ABC(Au): New carbon alliance 'deeply disappointing' [to Greens & Greenpeace]
Two prominent environmental groups have joined forces with the coal industry to push the Government to do more to promote carbon capture and storage. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Climate Institute have teamed up with the Australian Coal Association (ACA) and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). Together they are calling on the Government to establish a task force to speed up the development of viable carbon capture and storage technologies. - 2008/04/15: ABC(Au): Conservationists split over carbon capture partnership
The green movement is divided over the announcement of a new alliance between some environment groups and the coal industry. WWF, the Climate Institute, the Australian Coal Association and the mining union will tomorrow unveil a new partnership supporting carbon capture technology. The group wants the Federal Government to set up a taskforce to help implement the burying of carbon as a way to cut carbon emissions. - 2008/04/18: ACPD: Technical Note: A new global database of trace gases and aerosols from multiple sources of high vertical resolution measurements by B. Hassler et al.
- 2008/04/17: ACPD: The role of atmospheric ions in aerosol nucleation - a review by M. B. Enghoff & H. Svensmark
- 2008/03/31: Science: Seasonal Speedup Along the Western Flank of the Greenland Ice Sheet by Ian Joughin et al.
- 2008/03/31: Science: Fracture Propagation to the Base of the Greenland Ice Sheet During Supraglacial Lake Drainage by Sarah B. Das et al.
- 2008/04/16: CAP: [link to 1.1 meg pdf] Early Deployment - Maximizing Carbon Capture and Storage Under the Lieberman Warner Global Warming Bill by Ken Berlin & Robert M. Sussman
- 2008/04/16: ACP: MIPAS: an instrument for atmospheric and climate research by H. Fischer et multi alia
- 2008/04/15: ACP: Air pollution during the 2003 European heat wave as seen by MOZAIC airliners by M. Tressol et al.
- 2008/04/14: ACP: Global anthropogenic aerosol effects on convective clouds in ECHAM5-HAM by U. Lohmann
- 2008/04/16: ACPD: The chemistry influencing Ozone Depletion Events in the Polar Boundary Layer in spring: a model study by M. Piot & R. von Glasow
- 2008/04/16: ACPD: Interpreting the variability of CO2 columns over North America using a chemistry transport model: application to SCIAMACHY data by P. I. Palmer et al.
- 2008/04/16: ACPD: Airborne in-situ measurements of vertical, seasonal and latitudinal distributions of carbon dioxide over Europe by C. Gurk et al.
- 2008/04/14: ACPD: Effects of urban pollution on UV spectral irradiances by R. L. McKenzie et al.
- 2008/04/07: Arxiv: Target atmospheric CO2: Supporting material by J. Hansen et al.
- 2008/04/07: Arxiv: Target atmospheric CO2: Where should humanity aim? by J. Hansen et al.
- 2008/04/15: WB: (282k pdf) Biofuels: The Promise and the Risk
- 2008/04/10: IPS: [link to pdf] World Bank: Climate Profiteer
Before we get into politics, there was some science done:
- 2008/04/20: NewScientist: Hothouse Earth would halt [slow down?] plate tectonics
- 2008/04/18: NewScientist: Clearing smog reveals true extent of global warming
- 2008/04/18: SciDaily: Seven Months On A Drifting Ice Floe
- 2008/04/16: PhysOrg: Methane sources over the last 30,000 years
- 2008/04/15: TerraDaily: Expedition On Drifting Ice Floe Produces Unique Data About Hibernal Atmosphere Above Central Arctic
- 2008/04/16: Eureka: Methane sources over the last 30,000 years - New insights into natural changes in atmospheric methane concentrations [EPICA]
- 2008/04/14: AWI: Seven Months on a Drifting Ice Floe
Drift Expedition NP 35 has Produced Unique Data about the Hibernal Atmosphere above the Central Arctic - 2008/04/18: CCurrents: Hansen's Climate Change And The Mobilization Solution
- 2008/04/17: CSM: A controversial fighter in the climate-change debate
NASA's James Hansen frequently clashes with global warming 'deniers,' as well as the Bush administration. - 2008/04/15: CCurrents: Jim Hansen, The Big Ice Melt And The Mainstream Media
- 2008/04/15: CCurrents: Yankee Ticket Prices And Fossil Fuels by James Hansen
- 2008/04/14: ClimateP: Hansen's plea for leadership to Nevada Gov.
- 2008/04/14: GristMill: Dear Mr. Gibbons - A letter from a climate scientist [James Hansen] to Nevada's governor [Jim Gibbons]
Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:
- 2008/04/14: UN: UN-backed programme [CDM] for clean energy projects passes 1000 milestone
And on the Kyoto-2 front:
- 2008/04/17: ENN: New Kyoto should focus on industry sectors: Mimura
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2008/04/16: People's Daily: China sells carbon credits
Swedish energy agencies have agreed to pay a total of more than 1 billion yuan to Chinese State-owned energy producers under the clean development mechanism (CDM) project - 2008/04/15: PlanetArk: Japan Ups CO2 Offset Buying As Nuclear Power Slows
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
- 2008/04/15: GMB: Bad News for the Pigou Club
- 2008/04/17: GMB: A Reading for the Pigou Club
- 2008/04/17: Forbes: Power company [NorthWestern Energy Corp.] says carbon tax muddies plans
- 2008/04/15: ClimateP: Is the gasoline tax regressive?
The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:
- 2008/04/18: GristMill: Cap & dividend: YEAH!
- 2008/04/17: NEN: Shell likes cap-and-trade -- with all nations in
- 2008/04/15: GristMill: An additional note on additionality - Carbon projects 'under attack' as UN clamps down
- 2008/04/15: NEN: Utilities and carbon caps
- 2008/04/14: NEN: Is emissions trading failing new energy? [World Bank: Climate Profiteer]
- 2008/04/14: WSJ:EnvCap: Carbon Credits: U.N. Raises Questions - Is the booming global trade in carbon credits doing anything to curb global warming?
- 2008/04/10: IPS: [link to pdf] World Bank: Climate Profiteer
- 2008/04/15: Asia Times: World Bank burns credibility
A study released by an independent policy think-tank casts further doubts on the World Bank's ability to stay neutral in the global politics of climate change. [...] The report, entitled "World Bank: Climate Profiteer", shows that instead of encouraging clean energy investors, the bank is lending much of its financial support to the fossil fuel industry - 2008/04/17: TerraDaily: G8 business chiefs spar over climate measures
And on the American political front:
- 2008/04/18: TruthOut: Polar Bears May Have to Chill Ten Weeks - Officials want time to review protections. Critics smell oil issues
- 2008/04/19: MTobis: Still No Progress
- 2008/04/17: CBC: U.S. seeks more time on polar bear decision
The U.S. Department of the Interior says it needs at least 10 more weeks to decide whether polar bears should be listed as a threatened species. Assistant Interior Secretary Lyle Laverty replied Thursday to a lawsuit filed last month by three conservation groups opposing the government's delay, which is now past the four-month mark. The Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defence Council and Greenpeace filed the lawsuit with the U.S. Federal Court in San Francisco in March. - 2008/04/16: CAP: [link to 1.1 meg pdf] Early Deployment - Maximizing Carbon Capture and Storage Under the Lieberman Warner Global Warming Bill by Ken Berlin & Robert M. Sussman
- 2008/04/18: WarmingLaw: Friday Roundup of State Climate Action
- 2008/04/16: GristMill: Carbon tax loses a congressional voice - Dingell takes his 'hybrid tax' off the table
- 2008/04/17: EnergyDaily: Analysis: Reps. want old FutureGen back
- 2008/04/16: VoxEU: Why the U.S. policy for climate change is flawed
US climate change policy relies on corporations voluntarily reducing their greenhouse gas output. But recent research shows that pledging to cut carbon is bad for business, which is why so few firms take such voluntary measures. Reducing carbon emissions will require regulation. - 2008/04/16: EconView: "Why the U.S. Policy for Climate Change is Flawed"
- 2008/04/14: ClimateP: With conservatives, nothing is certain but climate death and anti-taxes
- 2008/04/14: NEN: With Incentives - Big wind for Illinois & without incentives - little wind for Native Americans
Without federal incentives, Native Green Energy will build a 200-kilowatt installation in Maine and then a 2.2 megawatt installation in Michigan.
With federal incentives, Dominion Virginia will build a 300-megawatt installation in Illinois. - 2008/04/20: SMH: States bypass Bush on climate policy
- 2008/04/19: PhysOrg: 18 states commit to take action on climate change
- 2008/04/19: ABC(Au): US climate talks split on 2050 goals
- 2008/04/18: Yahoo: 18 states commit to take action on climate change
- 2008/04/17: WarmingLaw: Governors Displace White House's Climate "Losership"
- 2008/04/14: Yahoo: Govs to gather to address global warming
Organizers hope a gathering of governors this week will be as effective in addressing climate change as a similar event that launched the conservation movement a century ago. As many as 10 governors and leading experts on global warming plan to attend the conference Thursday and Friday at Yale University, and review state programs and develop a strategy to combat global climate change. - 2008/04/17: HillHeat: EPA Defies Another Subpoena: 'It May Create Erroneous Impressions'
- 2008/04/18: AutoBG: Bush administration backs automakers in Vermont in GHG emissions case
- 2008/04/18: TPMM: Again, EPA Asserts Executive Privilege against Embarrassment
- 2008/04/17: TP:WonkRoom: EPA Defies Another Subpoena: "It May Create Erroneous Impressions"
- 2008/04/17: ThinkP: EPA defies subpoena to turn over documents
- 2008/04/17: WarmingLaw: Stephen Johnson: Contempt for Congress (And Potential Contempt of Congress)
- 2008/04/17: WarmingLaw: Is Bush's Supreme Court Defiance Getting the Media's Attention?
- 2008/04/16: ClimateP: National Journal on the EPA Tailspin
- 2008/04/15: TruthOut: EPA is Missing in Action on Major Environmental Issues, Observers Charge
- 2008/04/14: WarmingLaw: EPA Motion to Dismiss DC Circuit Challenge to Waiver Denial
In Kansas, Governor Sebelius vetoed another coal bill:
- 2008/04/18: Reuters: Kansas gov again vetoes bill supporting coal plant
A standoff over coal-fired energy in Kansas continued Thursday as Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a bill designed to push through a controversial coal project that a state regulator has said could contribute to global warming. Sebelius, a Democrat, vetoed a similar bill last month put together by a Republican group of lawmakers on behalf of Sunflower Electric Power Corp, which wants to add two 700-megawatt units at a facility in western Kansas. The measure also would have stripped Kansas Secretary of Health and Environment Rod Bremby of some of his authority. Last year, Bremby denied an air quality permit for Sunflower's $3.6 billion project, saying that carbon dioxide emissions from the coal-fired units would contribute to global warming. - 2008/04/19: MTobis: WSJ Op-Ed Laments: No Science Debate
- 2008/04/19: PRWatch: Obama and Clinton Get Down & Dirty with 'Clean' Coal
- 2008/04/17: GristMill: Climate 'central' to McCain's campaign?
- 2008/04/15: WSJ:EnvCap: McCain: Curb Emissions? Later, Sure, But Not While I'm Running
The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:
- 2008/04/14: ERabett: Pat Robertson, Al Sharpton and Al Gore walk into a bar...
- 2008/04/14: Springer: Scientists debate the accuracy of Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth"
While in the UK:
- 2008/04/17: DerSpiegel: The Bizarre Fight to Be Mayor of London
- 2008/04/17: BBC: Inquiry into business CO2 output
MPs are investigating how best to lower the carbon footprint of Britain's offices, shops and factories. The all-party inquiry follows concerns that not enough is being done to tackle emissions from the sector. There is no target on emissions from commercial buildings, which account for about 20% of the UK's CO2 output - 2008/04/15: Guardian(UK): Eco-towns will not be green ghettoes, but thriving communities
- 2008/04/14: inel: Plane Stupid Scotland protest airport expansion from top of Parliament in Edinburgh
And in Europe:
- 2008/04/16: BioEnergyBiz: EU biofuels sustainability criteria could be toughened
- 2008/04/18: AutoBG: EU considering compromising on emissions requirements
- 2008/04/15: AutoBG: The European Commission says no to reviewing biofuel percentage goal
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2008/04/18: ABC(Au): Govt urged to boost solar incentives
- 2008/04/18: PeakEnergy: Submissions To The Garnaut Review
- 2008/04/17: HeraldSun: Now that's a bright idea [2020 Summit]
- 2008/04/17: ABC(Au): Companies want green fuel switch subsidised
The NRMA is calling on the Federal Government to give subsidies to companies that switch to using greener fuels in their vehicle fleets. The motoring group's survey of businesses in Sydney has found 80 percent of companies with vehicle fleets would be willing to switch to greener fuel if the Government provided an incentive - 2008/04/16: ABC(Au): 2020 have your say: sustainability and climate change
- 2008/04/16: ABC(Au): Glasshouse gets green cooling system
Port Macquarie's new cultural centre, the Glasshouse, will feature an environmentally friendly cooling system which is expected to result in significant carbon emission savings. The airconditioning system will involve pumping salt water from the Hastings River - 2008/04/14: ABC(Au): Australians ready to act on climate change: report
- 2008/04/14: ABC(Au): Australians hungry for climate change action: report
The forecast in India:
- 2008/04/16: TerraDaily: India's weather office forecasts good summer monsoon
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2008/04/19: CanWest: Canada's Arctic mapping key to resource claims: Lunn
- 2008/04/19: PeakEnergy: From One Depleting Resource To Another [Nfld]
- 2008/04/18: ChronicleHerald: Poll: Atlantic Canadians most worried about global warming [72% believe global warming is the single biggest threat to humankind]
- 2008/04/16: NatureTGB: Canada blocks American space takeover [RadarSat2]
- 2008/04/14: CBC: Wind research site still hopes for funding: director
BC is still wrestling with its climate policy:
- 2008/04/19: Canoe: Carbon tax won't park drivers
- 2008/04/18: CanWest: B.C. can profit from carbon trading - Province must move fast to stake its claim in what promises to be a multibillion-dollar industry
- 2008/04/18: CanWest: Liberals' cap-and-trade law leaves everything up to cabinet diktat
I wonder if Elections Canada will investigate this too:
- 2008/04/16: CanWest: Baird denies links to radio ad campaign - Friends of Science attacked Liberals on climate change
- 2008/04/14: UoC: University releases audit report
The University of Calgary today released the audit report of an independent review of research and trust accounts related to Friends of Science - 2008/04/15: BuckDog: Why Did The University of Calgary Fund Attack Ads Against The Liberals During The Last Federal Election?
- 2008/04/15: CanWest: 'Research' at U of C paid for attack ads
A radio ad campaign that attacked the former Liberal government's climate change policies and participation in the international Kyoto Protocol during the 2006 election campaign was funded through "research" accounts at the University of Calgary, a newly released audit has concluded. The internal university audit revealed the accounts, which received money from a fund at a community charity organization, collected more than $500,000 in donations. The money was spent to promote the activities of the Friends of Science, a Calgary-based group of academics and former oil industry insiders that questions scientific evidence about whether human activity is causing global warming. - 2008/04/18: JQuiggin: Guest post from John Mashey - Are neo-classical growth assumptions right?
- 2008/04/17: Asia Times: US power failure a 'dismal' turning point
- 2008/04/14: DymaxionWorld: Sure we can, but will we? ["implement the right policies in a timely manner"]
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2008/04/17: NakedCapitalism: The Rise of the Neo-Malthusians
- 2008/04/15: Forbes: Food Shortage Rises With Prices
- 2008/04/14: BtP: NPR Calls for Immediate Action to Increase Global Warming
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2008/04/16: EnergyBulletin: The specialization trap
- 2008/04/16: CCurrents: The End Of The World As You Know It
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
- 2008/04/20: ClimateP: Climate news you can't use: NYT Magazine's "The Low-Carbon Catalog"
- 2008/04/17: GristMill: Green journalists out of touch?
- 2008/04/17: TP:WonkRoom: Russert Claims Candidates "Don't Take The Initiative" To Discuss Climate Change
- 2008/04/15: TP:WonkRoom: Coal-Sponsored CNN Promotes Climate Killer Coal Technology [C2L]
A noxious little NPR piece kicked off a teacup tempest:
- 2008/04/17: MTobis: Defense of Kestenbaum
- 2008/04/17: QuarkSoup: Re: Defense of Kestenbaum [MTobis] [kirsten denial]
- 2008/04/16: ERabett: Kristen and the Strawmen
- 2008/04/17: Deltoid: Scientists 2, Teens 0, Journalists -2
- 2008/04/16: QuarkSoup: Kristen Byrnes on NPR - one of the most atrocious, absolutely embarassing pieces of scientific journalism I have ever witnessed
- 2008/04/15: Deltoid: NPR puff piece on Kristen Byrnes
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2008/04/19: ClimateP: NOVA: The Car of the Future [Apr 22nd]
The betting meme rolls on:
- 2008/04/17: Stoat: Is Gray a liar?
- 2008/04/14: BSD: I accept Bill Gray's climate bet offer - will he seal the deal?
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
- 2008/04/20: AutoBG: The possibilities of hydrous methane
- 2008/04/17: EnvFin: ADB to seed up to $1.2 billion of clean energy funds
- 2008/04/18: CBC: Oil surge continues, price hits $117 US
- 2008/04/18: MoJo: Our New Energy Crisis
- 2008/04/19: BBC: Powering Asia's sleeping giant
South East Asia's largest economy is facing a big problem - how much longer can the state electricity company meet the country's growing demand for power? In February, the islands of Java and Bali - Indonesia's economic powerhouses - both suffered blackouts. The immediate cause, officials said, was bad weather, which meant coal supplies were stuck in ports. But the stoppages highlighted the national grid's inability to keep the lights on, even in the capital, in the face of any kind of hiccup - 2008/04/18: Yahoo: Gas prices push closer to $3.50 a gallon, oil hits $116
- 2008/04/18: TEB: Pickens [US$10 billion] Wind Farm to Get Underway
- 2008/04/16: Guardian(UK): Endless possibility
Hermann Scheer is the force behind Germany's renewables revolution, and now he's on his way to the UK to try to persuade Britain that old technologies are best left in the past. - 2008/04/18: CBC: Hydro deal to generate thousands of jobs - Premier hopes to speed environmental-review process
- 2008/04/17: OilDrum: Hydrates updated by by Jean Laherraere
- 2008/04/17: AutoBG: Shell chief sees H2 difficulties
- 2008/04/18: Xinhuanet: Weak dollar not sole reason for high oil prices
- 2008/04/16: PeakEnergy: The Rise of the New Energy World Order
- 2008/04/16: NEN: Uh, about those new energy incentives...
- 2008/04/15: DerSpiegel: The Impending Power Gap - Where Will Germany's Energy Come From?
- 2008/04/16: Guardian(UK): Renewables rewards
- 2008/04/14: TruthOut: Big Oil to Big Wind: Texas Veteran [T Boone Pickens] Sets Up $10 Billion Clean Energy Project
- 2008/04/15: DotEarth: The Race Between Two Forms of Sunlight [CSP & coal]
- 2008/04/15: DeSmogBlog: Pickens Leans into the Wind
- 2008/04/15: EnergyBulletin: A conversation with Michael Klare, author of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet
- 2008/04/15: OilDrum: Unconventional Oil: Tar Sands and Shale Oil - EROI on the Web, Part 3 of 5
- 2008/04/15: PeakEnergy: Ontario Invests in Free Flow Underwater Turbines
- 2008/04/15: NEN: Europe's biggest wind now blowing in Scotland
- 2008/04/15: WSJ:EnvCap: Market Matters: High Energy Prices Reshape Climate Debate
- 2008/04/15: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Big picture on the fuel obligation
- 2008/04/14: PhysOrg: MIT to open energy resource center [MIT-Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems]
- 2008/04/14: TreeHugger: Hydro Power Without the Dams: Ontario Invests in Free Flow Underwater Turbines
- 2008/04/14: TreeHugger: T. Boone Pickens Rides the Wind
- 2008/04/14: PeakEnergy: Food, Fuel, and Finance: The Crisis of the Three Fs
- 2008/04/14: NEN: Saudis like solar, d