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
July 13, 2008
- Top Stories:G8, World's Biggest Polluter, Melting Arctic, Wilkins Ice Shelf, Smog & Aerosols
- Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Feedbacks, Paleoclimate, Glaciers, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Corals, Wacky Weather, Tornadoes, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
- Journals, Misc. Science
- UN, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- Politics:International, Security, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, Canada
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
- Energy, Pickens, High Cost Impacts, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Insurance
- Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
- 2008/07/10: inel: (cartoon - BiLicki) We Are Destroying Earth
- 2008/07/12: PeakEnergy: (cartoon - Moir) End Of The Road [PO]
- 2008/07/10: ERabett: (cartoon - Narelle?) The Facts...
- 2008/07/08: SeattlePI: (cartoon - Horsey) Among The Extinct
There was a lot of comment on the G8:
- 2008/07/11: Guardian(UK): The G8 is becoming increasingly irrelevant - The sooner other global players, such as China and India, are given more than walk-on roles, the better for all
- 2008/07/11: AFTIC: What do the largest world economies have in common? [academy statements]
- 2008/07/10: Guardian(UK): Beyond the summit - The G8 meeting proves we need effective new models of multilateral action, not just noble-sounding communiques
- 2008/07/10: Guardian(UK): G8 climate deal is empty promise, says UK government economist
- 2008/07/10: KSJT: AP, etc: Fast-growing new powers reject G8's climate plan, weak as it is
- 2008/07/10: ABC(Au): No concrete action from 'stepping stone' G8 summit
- 2008/07/09: Stoat: G8 and climate: more words
- 2008/07/10: TreeHugger: G8: The Devil Is In The Details - Where Are The Angels Hiding?
- 2008/07/10: DeSmogBlog: Bush, Putin, Harper Bring G8 to a Standstill
- 2008/07/09: DeSmogBlog: Developing Countries to G-8: "You Lead, We'll Follow!"
- 2008/07/10: ENN: G8 patches up climate deal, others want more
- 2008/07/10: CCurrents: Planet Burns While G8 Fiddles
- 2008/07/10: NYT: Global Warming Talks Leave Few Concrete Goals
- 2008/07/09: Yahoo: Key developing nations reject G-8 climate plan
- 2008/07/09: ThinkP: Perino Demands Apology After Boxer Calls Out White House For Lying About Cheney's Global Warming Editing
- 2008/07/09: DerSpiegel: Hot Air from the G-8 - No Solutions to be Found in Japan
The G-8 summit in Japan this year seemed more interested in harmony than in making progress on a number of pressing issues. From climate change to world finance, courage was nowhere to be seen. - 2008/07/08: DerSpiegel: G-8 Agrees on Emissions Reduction Goals
The G-8 countries gathered in Japan this week may disagree about the role nuclear energy should play in the energy mix of the future, but they did decide it was time to set emission reduction targets. But there is still disagreement about how to get there - 2008/07/09: SMH: Push for 2050 emissions target rejected
Leaders of the world's emerging economies have rejected a push from the Group of Eight industrialised nations, backed by the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to commit to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions as part of a new international deal to tackle climate change. On the final day of the G8 summit in Japan, a declaration by the world's major emitting economies refused to endorse the rich world's goal of halving emissions by 2050. - 2008/07/09: Guardian(UK): Global polluters agree need for cuts in emissions - but not how or when
- 2008/07/09: Guardian(UK): The developed world must shoulder the burden
The G8 pact isn't enough - rich countries have emitted the most CO2, and must take responsibility for the massive cuts needed - 2008/07/09: Guardian(UK): Ignoring the climate change alarm
George Bush's agreement at the G8 to halve carbon emissions by 2050 won't make up for his climate change obstructionism - 2008/07/09: UN: G-8 summit good start but further action needed to tackle global crises, says Ban
- 2008/07/09: UN: UN agency [UNEP head Achim Steiner] says G-8 leaders 'missed opportunity' on climate change
- 2008/07/09: BBerg: G-8 Failure on Emissions Plan Threatens Climate Fight
- 2008/07/09: NatureN: Developing nations reject G8 climate agreement
- 2008/07/09: NatureCF: G8 Hokkaido Summit: developing nations reject deal
- 2008/07/09: ClimateP: The long journey from denier to delayer -- Bush hits the climate alarm snooze button at G8
- 2008/07/09: ABC(Au): G8 buries climate pledges in time capsule
- 2008/07/09: ABC(Au): No G8 climate breakthroughs, Rudd admits
- 2008/07/09: ABC(Au): 'Put shoulder to wheel' on emissions, Rudd urges G8
- 2008/07/09: DotEarth: Rich and Emerging Greenhouse-Gas Emitters Fail to Set Common Long-Term Goal for Cuts
- 2008/07/09: PhysOrg: Developing economies don't back G-8 climate goal
- 2008/07/09: GristMill: You win summit, you lose summit - Not everyone jazzed about the G8 climate agreement
- 2008/07/09: GristMill: Your city council could save the world - How local building codes can be adapted to meet the 2030 Challenge right now
- 2008/07/08: GristMill: Summit of its parts - Bush administration, other G8 leaders agree to halve emissions by 2050
- 2008/07/09: GWWatch: G8 negotiations on track for 2009 climate deal
- 2008/07/08: TerraDaily: 'Serious omission' in G8 summit climate pledge: IPCC chief [Rajendra Pachauri]
"There's a serious omission in terms of not addressing the Bali action plan, which has called for deep cuts in emissions by 2020." - 2008/07/09: TreeHugger: "The Most Important G8 Gathering In A Decade" Ends
- 2008/07/09: Yahoo: Rich nations pledge action on food, oil, but deadlock on climate
- 2008/07/09: Google:AP: Bush Hails G-8 summit's work on climate change
- 2008/07/09: BBC: Summit ends with climate 'vision'
World leaders have proclaimed a "shared vision" on climate change, but failed to bridge differences between rich and emerging nations on curbing emissions. Concluding a summit in northern Japan, leaders from the G8 and developing countries said "deep cuts" in greenhouse gas emissions were needed. China and other emerging powers declined to endorse specific targets. - 2008/07/09: People's Daily: Chinese president [Hu Jintao] attends [Major Economies] meeting on energy security, climate change
- 2008/07/09: ETimes: G8 evading responsibility on climate change, Japanese media says
- 2008/07/09: ETimes: G8 refers tough decisions to the UN
- 2008/07/09: WaPo: Climate Change Economics [G8]
- 2008/07/09: NYT: Richest Nations Pledge to Halve Greenhouse Gas
- 2008/07/09: SMH: G8 agrees on 'vision' to halve emissions by 2050
- 2008/07/08: Guardian(UK): Bush signs G8 deal to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
- 2008/07/08: Guardian(UK): G8 statement on climate change and environment [full text]
- 2008/07/09: Guardian(UK): A deal on climate change - but then the backlash -- US signs up to 50% target but emerging economies demand more
- 2008/07/09: Guardian(UK): G8 Climate deal - Checking the small print
- 2008/07/08: Reuters: S.Africa: G8 climate change plan a 'regression' - no firm targets
- 2008/07/08: Guardian(UK): Clouds part slowly in climate change diplomacy
- 2008/07/08: Guardian(UK): 100 months to save the Earth - There isn't much time to turn things around. And today's G8 announcements on climate change set the bar too low
- 2008/07/08: NatureN: Leaders still vague on emissions targets - G8 talks fail to advance fight against climate change.
- 2008/07/08: NatureCF: G8 Hokkaido Summit: Mass media confusion over climate proposal
- 2008/07/08: KSJT: Wires, more: G8 summit agrees (again) it would be best to halve CO2 emissions by 2050
- 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): G8 leaders agree on climate change goals: reports
- 2008/07/08: DotEarth: The (Annotated) Climate Declaration from the Industrial Powers
- 2008/07/08: NewScientist: Why G8 climate pledge doesn't go far enough
- 2008/07/08: PhysOrg: G-8 endorses halving global emissions by 2050
- 2008/07/08: QuarkSoup: Cuts by 2050 [G8]
- 2008/07/07: TerraDaily: Analysis: Climate study criticizes G8
- 2008/07/08: DeSmogBlog: G-8's Ultimatum To Nature: 50 percent Cuts Below Current Levels! Take it or leave it!
- 2008/07/08: ENN: Global Leaders Need to Forge Consensus and Act Now, Climate Change Experts
- 2008/07/08: ENN: G8 papers over differences on climate change
- 2008/07/08: CNN: Environmentalists dismiss G-8 emissions target
G-8: Goal must be reached with cooperation from all major economies - Critics argue the 50 percent reduction target is insufficient - Two of world's top five polluting nations are not G8 members: China and India - Previous efforts to prompt coordinated global action on climate change have stalled - 2008/07/08: WSJ:EnvCap: G-8 Gamble: Pols Hope for Salvation in 'Clean Coal'
- 2008/07/08: OilChange: G8 Agrees Deal to Halve Emissions by 2050
- 2008/07/08: NYT: G-8 Leaders Pledge to Cut Emissions in Half by 2050
- 2008/07/08: BBC: G8 fails to set climate world alight
At first sight, the G8 agreement on climate change promises much. Leaders are "committed to avoiding the most serious consequences of climate change", and determined to stabilise greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at levels that would avoid "dangerous climate change". In fact, this is exactly what leaders of nearly 200 countries signed up to in the original UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), agreed at the 1992 Earth Summit. So if re-stating a 16-year-old commitment is progress, then this is clearly a success - 2008/07/08: BBC: G8 urged to do more for climate - Five of the biggest emerging economies have urged leading industrial nations to do more to combat climate change.
Mexico, Brazil, China, India and South Africa challenged the Group of Eight countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% by 2050. The so-called G5 countries threw down the gauntlet in a statement before they joined the G8 summit in Japan. Earlier, the G8 restated a lower target of 50% cuts over the same period, which environmentalists said was "pathetic". The joint statement from the G5 developing nations said: "It is essential that developed countries take the lead in achieving ambitious and absolute greenhouse gas emission reductions." - 2008/07/08: BBC: Brown hails G8 emissions progress - UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown says "major progress" has been made at the G8 summit after world leaders agreed to halve carbon emissions by 2050
- 2008/07/08: BBC: G8 aims to halve greenhouse gases - World leaders say they will aim to set a global target of cutting carbon emissions by at least 50% by 2050 in an effort to tackle global warming
- 2008/07/08: AFP: G8 leaders agree on halving emissions by 2050
- 2008/07/08: ETimes: G8 agrees to common 2050 emission cuts
- 2008/07/08: ETimes: Environmentalists slam G8's 50/50 deal on climate change
- 2008/07/08: ETimes: G8 cuts 50/50 climate deal, critics unimpressed
- 2008/07/08: CTV: G8 climate goal dismissed as 'empty slogan'
- 2008/07/08: APOV: (Non)Progress On Climate Change: Part Deux
- 2008/07/08: Guardian(UK): [Letters] - Green agenda for the G8 summit
- 2008/07/07: UN: As G-8 leaders gather in Japan, Ban urges action on three key challenges [food, CC & MDGs]
- 2008/07/07: Google:CP: No hard targets for major economies in draft statement on climate change
- 2008/07/07: NatureCF: G8 Hokkaido Summit: Tale of the unexpected
- 2008/07/07: NatureCF: G8 Hokkaido Summit: Report from a remote outpost
- 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): G8 wrangles over climate change, aid to Africa
- 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): G8 leaders gather to thrash out emissions cuts
- 2008/07/07: GWWatch: Developing world won't take lead in climate fight
- 2008/07/07: Guardian(UK): It may seem ineffective, but we need G8 in order to face the daunting future
- 2008/07/07: CFR: Climate Change Clouds and the G8 Summit
- 2008/07/07: FTimes: Bush says China [& India] key to climate progress [G8]
- 2008/07/07: ETimes: EU urges G8 to approve 'binding' long-term goals on climate change
- 2008/07/07: Guardian(UK): A G8 removed from the real world - Climate, oil and food crisis - it's no longer business as usual for world's leaders
- 2008/07/07: Guardian(UK): G8 summit -- The F-words - food, fuel and finance
And clueless George outdid himself:
- 2008/07/13: GWWatch: George Bush proud to lead world's biggest polluter - Just how embarrassing is it to be an American these days?
- 2008/07/12: DeSmogBlog: Bush to Nature: "Shove It!"
- 2008/07/11: DerSpiegel: The Incredible Shrinking Bush
There is little consensus on whether the G-8 summit can be seen as a success for the climate. What is certain is that US President George W. Bush had little part in the efforts to save the world. He didn't lead, he only followed -- and the American superpower never before looked as small as it did this week - 2008/07/10: Telegraph(UK): President George Bush: 'Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter'
- 2008/07/10: DeSmogBlog: Proud Bush celebrates U.S. as "world's biggest polluter"
- 2008/07/10: ClimateP: Great moments in Presidential speaking: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter"
- 2008/07/10: AFTIC: Good News, Bad News
- 2008/07/10: OilChange: 'Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter' -- And so begins George's long walk into the history books...
- 2008/07/10: ThinkP: Bush to G8: 'Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter.'
The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:
- 2008/07/11: BBC: Russian ice camp in rapid shrink
Twenty Russian scientists are to be evacuated from their camp on a drifting ice-floe in the Arctic after it started disintegrating sooner than expected - 2008/07/11: QuarkSoup: Arctic Sea Ice
- 2008/07/09: PhysOrg: How will the Arctic sea ice cover develop this summer?
- 2008/07/09: ERabett: The iceman leaveth [Arctic sea ice]
- 2008/07/09: SciDaily: Summer Arctic Sea Ice Expected To Be Among Lowest On Record
- 2008/07/09: Eureka: How will the Arctic sea ice cover develop this summer? Climate scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute present their own prognosis for the first time
- 2008/07/09: DailyIndia: Climate change amplified in the Arctic
- 2008/07/08: ArcticEcon: Old Ice and the Northwest Passage
As does the geopolitical posturing:
- 2008/07/10: ABC(Au): Arctic fever: Russia races against time to stake claim
- 2008/07/07: RigZone: Canada, US Break Ice to Map Arctic
In Antarctica, the Wilkins ice shelf is breaking up:
- 2008/07/12: ABC(Au): Wilkins ice shelf at risk of breaking from Antarctica
- 2008/07/11: People's Daily: Vast Antarctic [Wilkins] ice shelf disintegrating
- 2008/07/12: DailyIndia: Antarctic ice bridge near collapse
- 2008/07/11: ABC(Au): Antarctic ice shelf 'hanging on by a thread'
- 2008/07/11: DeSmogBlog: Wilkins Ice Shelf, Antarctica, close to collapse
- 2008/07/11: ENN: Antarctic ice shelf 'hanging by thread': European scientists
- 2008/07/10: OTF: What the Future Looks Like - The Wilkins ice shelf, in Antarctica, is collapsing...
- 2008/07/10: ESA: Wilkins Ice Shelf [Antarctica] hanging by its last thread
A tangle of stories about smog & aerosols got twisted every which way:
- 2008/07/12: RealClimate: Aerosols, Chemistry and Climate
- 2008/07/11: Atmoz: Aerosols, Clouds, and European Warming
- 2008/07/11: AutoBG: Improved air quality contributing to global warming?
- 2008/07/11: PhysOrg: EPA: Smog could get worse with global warming
- 2008/07/09: NewScientist: Cleaner skies explain surprise rate of warming
Regarding solar cycles:
- 2008/07/11: PhysOrg: What's Wrong with the Sun? (Nothing)
Stop the presses! The sun is behaving normally. So says NASA solar physicist David Hathaway. "There have been some reports lately that Solar Minimum is lasting longer than it should. That's not true. The ongoing lull in sunspot number is well within historic norms for the solar cycle." - 2008/07/11: BCLSB: Quiet Sun No Big Deal
The food crisis remains a top story:
- 2008/07/12: ETimes: World Bank's Zoellick says food prices high until 2012
- 2008/07/11: UN: Horn of Africa: 14 million in need of emergency aid, says UN
- 2008/07/10: UN: Lauding G-8 resolve to tackle food crisis, UN urges practical steps to help hungry
- 2008/07/11: Xinhuanet: FAO: Food crisis hit African countries need minimum $1.7 bln to revive agriculture
- 2008/07/09: Asia Times: Greed and dogma fertilize food crisis
- 2008/07/12: Xinhuanet: Kazakhstan gears up to tackle food crisis
- 2008/07/10: TerraDaily: Global Food Crisis As An Opportunity To End Hunger In Africa
- 2008/07/09: UN: UN seeks $400 million to feed Afghans hit by food crisis and drought
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
- 2008/07/11: Guardian(UK): Food before fuel - The global food crisis should force governments to rethink plans to use biofuels as a green energy source
- 2008/07/10: Slate: Good Crop, Bad Crop -- Once-lauded biofuels are now blamed for high food prices. But the next generation might yet work
- 2008/07/11: WB: (138k - pdf) Rising food prices: policy options and World Bank response
- 2008/07/10: Guardian(UK): [link to 665k pdf] The biofuels report they didn't want you to read
The implication of the report is that crop-derived fuels have been the ultimate cause of food riots, starvation and high prices around the world - 2008/07/09: GristMill: World Bank responds to Guardian biofuel report - Bank chief Zoelick hints his old boss Bush is full of it on biofuels and food prices
- 2008/07/10: Scotsman: 'Food versus fuel debate is far too simplistic' -- [NFUS president, Jim] McLaren
- 2008/07/09: TreeHugger: "Secret" World Bank Biofuel Report May Not Have Been So Secret After All
- 2008/07/09: FTimes: Setback to biofuels expansion
Contentious plans to raise the European Union's biofuels use have been dealt a blow after legislators called for the brakes to be put on the proposals. EU leaders last year backed a goal of taking 10 per cent of European transport fuel from renewable energy sources by 2020, with biofuels expected to be the main component. But European parliamentarians have voted to lower the target, underlying growing concerns over the effects of the EU's plan to turn to plant-based fuels to tackle climate change. - 2008/07/08: DeSmogBlog: World Bank's Dirty Little Secret: Biofuels Make the World Hungrier -- By 75 Percent
- 2008/07/08: PeakEnergy: EU Backs Away From Biofuels
- 2008/07/07: WSJ:EnvCap: Bad Juice II: Biofuels Maybe Not Quite So Bad, World Bank Says
- 2008/07/08: TStar: Biofuels fuel global food crisis [WB]
- 2008/07/07: PeakEnergy: World Bank Report On Biofuels
- 2008/07/07: WSJ:EnvCap: Bad Juice: World Bank Blames Biofuels for High Food Prices
- 2008/07/07: AutoBG: Ouch! World Bank says biofuels responsible for 75% rise in food prices
- 2008/07/07: BBC: US and EU urged to cut biofuels
World Bank President Robert Zoellick has called for reform of biofuel policies in rich countries, urging them to grow more food to feed the hungry. He was speaking at the G8 summit in Japan, where soaring food and fuel prices are top of the agenda. - 2008/07/07: BBC: The UK is to slow its adoption of biofuels amid fears they raise food prices and harm the environment, the transport secretary [Ruth Kelly] has said.
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2008/07/12: TreeHugger: Graphic Of The Day: Bloom Is Off The Corn
- 2008/07/11: GristMill: Too much of a good thing - The toll of agriculture and hundred-year rains on Wisconsin's farmland
- 2008/07/12: HZone: Is sewage fertilizer safe? Worries grow over 'stew' of chemicals spread on farmland
- 2008/07/12: NYT: Keeping the Reserve in Conservation
- 2008/07/10: TerraDaily: Indian state facing famine after rat plague: report
- 2008/07/11: ODT(NZ): Farms feel squeeze from costs: survey
- 2008/07/11: WaPo: USDA Rule Change May Lead To Crops on Conserved Land
Under pressure from farmers, livestock producers and soaring food prices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is weighing a policy change that could lead to the plowing of millions of acres of land that had been set aside for conservation. At issue is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), under which the government has paid farmers to stop growing row crops, such as corn and soybeans, on 34 million acres across the country. Designed in the mid-1980s to hold down production and bolster commodity prices, the $1.8 billion-a-year program has turned into a major boon for conservation, with much of the acreage planted with perennial grasses or trees, or restored to wetlands. But the ethanol boom, widespread flooding and high prices for feed crops have changed the equation. Livestock producers have been howling about the high price of animal feed. Pork producers say they are losing $30 per pig. - 2008/07/10: Eureka: Water: The forgotten crisis - How do we find more water to feed a growing population?
- 2008/07/09: BBerg: Global Fertilizer Demand May Rise 14% on Higher Food Demand
- 2008/07/09: AngryBear: Food Shortages: Oil, Globalization, Mechanization
In the NE Pacific, Douglas died and Elida was born while in the Atlantic, Bertha drifted:
- 2008/07/12: Wunderground: Nothing new with Bertha
- 2008/07/12: CBC: Slow-moving Hurricane Bertha heads toward Bermuda
- 2008/07/10: TerraDaily: Hurricane Bertha barrels towards Bermuda
- 2008/07/11: Wunderground: Bertha heads towards Bermuda
- 2008/07/11: DailyIndia: Bermuda under Bertha storm watch
- 2008/07/10: Wunderground: Bertha back at Category 2 strength
- 2008/07/10: CBC: Bertha weakens into Category 1 hurricane
- 2008/07/09: Intersection:CCM: Bemoaning Bertha
- 2008/07/09: Wunderground: Bertha strengthening again, after rapidly falling apart
- 2008/07/07: TerraDaily: First hurricane of season formed in Atlantic
- 2008/07/08: Wunderground: Hurricane Bertha: 6th strongest early season hurricane on record
- 2008/07/08: CBC: Bertha weakens to Category 2 storm
- 2008/07/07: Wunderground: Bertha becomes the season's first hurricane
- 2008/07/06: Wunderground: Bertha over warmer waters, should strengthen
- 2008/07/07: CBC: Bertha becomes first hurricane of Atlantic season
Elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2008/07/10: KSJT: Times of India, Tewksbury Advocate, Ottawa Citizen: Twisters, cyclones, and global warming
- 2008/07/08: CBC: Burma has opened doors to 1,670 aid workers
As for GHGs:
- 2008/07/11: TerraDaily: Ozone-Friendly Replacement Gases [are potent GHGs &] Will Be Disastrous For Global Warming
- 2008/07/09: TerraDaily: World ports tackle greenhouse gas emissions
- 2008/07/10: ENN: World ports tackle greenhouse gas emissions
- 2008/07/10: ENN: What If China's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Are 25% Made By The Export Sector?
- 2008/07/10: ENN: LCD Chemical [NF3] Found to Have 17,000 Times the Climate Impact of CO2
- 2008/07/07: RealClimate: CO2 is not the only greenhouse gas, and greenhouse effects are not the only CO2 problem
As for the temperature record:
- 2008/07/10: NatureCF: The global warming signal minus the El Niño noise
- 2008/07/09: QuarkSoup: June Temperature Anomaly
- 2008/07/09: NOAANews: Warm June for U.S. with Wet and Dry Extremes
- 2008/07/08: Tamino: Cold Comfort
- 2008/07/08: Tamino: Heat Wave
- 2008/07/08: ClimateP: Yes, the globe is warming. But how fast?
- 2008/07/07: DotEarth: Climate Trends With Some 'Noise' Removed
Here is another feedback:
- 2008/07/10: MongaBay: Pine beetles eat Canada, boosting GHG emissions
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2008/07/11: PhysOrg: Researchers Find Ancient Evidence of 'Snowball Earth'
LSU scientist Huiming Bao, along with colleagues from UCLA and China, recently discovered some of the first atmospheric evidence in support of the "Snowball Earth" hypothesis. This theory suggests that Earth was entirely covered by ice during the Cryogenian period, which took place from about 790 to 630 million years ago. - 2008/07/09: KSJT: AP: In California, near Oregon, a famed mountain [Shasta] bucks the trend and GROWS its glaciers
- 2008/07/08: CNN: Despite warming, peak's glaciers still grow
At 14,162 feet, Mount Shasta is one of California's tallest peaks - Mountain is benefiting from changing weather patterns over the Pacific Ocean - A warming Pacific means more moist air, which falls on the mountain as snow - Climate change is causing 90 percent of the world's mountain glaciers to shrink - 2008/07/08: PhysOrg: Ice dam to break prematurely on Argentine [Perito Moreno] glacier
- 2008/07/08: PhysOrg: Intensified ice sheet movements do not affect rising sea levels
Meltwater is rapidly increasing the tempo of glacial movements on the rim of the Greenland ice sheet. Over the long term, however, this process is interrupted as meltwater drains away via broad channels, as a result of which ice movement decreases once again. Ultimately, this is not a cause of accelerated sea level rise - 2008/07/07: NewScientist: Greenland meltwater will take slow wave around globe
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2008/07/11: SciDaily: Satellite View Of Cloud Tops Might Warn Of Storms
- 2008/07/11: TreeHugger: NASA Satellite Could Make Floating Ocean Wind Farms Possible
- 2008/07/08: PhysOrg: Satellite view of cloud tops might warn of storms brewing
For three years a new way to use data collected by NOAA weather satellites has been giving North Alabama short-term warnings of "pop-up" thunderstorms - 2008/07/08: Eureka: Recovery of long-term climate measurements - lost satellite measurement capabilities
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2008/07/10: UN: Climate change will have major impact on fishing industry, says UN agency
- 2008/07/11: PhysOrg: Summer Storms Could Mean More Dead Zones [via increased fertilizer runoff]
- 2008/07/11: Yahoo: EPA: Smog could get worse with global warming
- 2008/07/10: Eureka: Projected California warming promises cycle of more heat waves, energy use for next century
- 2008/07/09: CanWest: Global warming may cut severity of storms - The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says wind shear will literally chop the tops off them...
- 2008/07/08: PhysOrg: New study finds that some plants can adapt to widespread climate change
- 2008/07/08: SUNews: New study finds that some plants can adapt to widespread climate change
- 2008/07/08: Yahoo: Russia faces disease, drought from global warming: WWF
- 2008/07/08: Guardian(UK): Trawlermen cling on as oceans empty of fish - and the ecosystem is gasping
Europe is propping up an unsustainable industry in an extreme example of short-termism that our children will pay for - 2008/07/07: PhysOrg: Parasite migration signals climate change
- 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): Experts warn of climate change health risks
- 2008/07/07: BasqueRes: CO2 increase in the atmosphere augments tolerance of barley to salinity
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2008/07/08: PNAS: Humid tropical forest clearing from 2000 to 2005 quantified by using multitemporal and multiresolution remotely sensed data by Matthew C. Hansen et al.
[From the Abstract] A probability-based sampling approach that synergistically employs low and high spatial resolution satellite datasets was used to quantify humid tropical forest clearing from 2000 to 2005. Forest clearing is estimated to be 1.39% (SE 0.084%) of the total biome area. This translates to an estimated forest area cleared of 27.2 million hectares (SE 2.28 million hectares), and represents a 2.36% reduction in area of humid tropical forest. Fifty-five percent of total biome clearing occurs within only 6% of the biome area, emphasizing the presence of forest clearing "hotspots." Forest loss in Brazil accounts for 47.8% of total biome clearing, nearly four times that of the next highest country, Indonesia, which accounts for 12.8%. Over three-fifths of clearing occurs in Latin America and over one-third in Asia. Africa contributes 5.4% to the estimated loss of humid tropical forest cover, reflecting the absence of current agro-industrial scale clearing in humid tropical Africa. - 2008/07/08: NewScientist: Rainforests get a climate boost from UK grassland
Corals are dying:
- 2008/07/11: NatureTGB: No reef relief
- 2008/07/11: KSJT: LA Times, NPR, BBC, much more: A third of reef coral species imperiled by warming seas
- 2008/07/11: ABC(Au): Reef extinction risk increases
- 2008/07/11: News(Au): Acid sea will dissolve coral reefs
- 2008/07/10: BBC: 'Alarming' plight of coral reefs - A third of the world's reef-building coral species are facing extinction
- 2008/07/10: Guardian(UK): One third of reef-building corals face extinction, study shows
- 2008/07/10: NewScientist: A quarter of the world's corals face extinction
- 2008/07/10: Eureka: 1/3 of reef-building corals face extinction
- 2008/07/09: C411: Coral Reefs in Decline
- 2008/07/08: TerraDaily: Caribbean coral reefs only 25 percent healthy: report
- 2008/07/08: NatureTGB: US reefs under threat
- 2008/07/08: KSJT: Wires, LA Times, USA Today, etc: US coral reefs taking a nose dive
- 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): Summit tackles threats to reefs - The world's largest scientific meeting on coral reefs, the International Coral Reef Symposium, is under way in the United States.
- 2008/07/07: PhysOrg: NOAA report states half of US coral reefs in 'poor' or 'fair' condition
- 2008/07/07: NOAANews: NOAA Report States Half of U.S. Coral Reefs In "Poor" or "Fair" Condition
- 2008/07/07: Eureka: Smithsonian coral biodiversity survey of Panama's Pearl Islands
- 2008/07/07: Eureka: NOAA report states half of US coral reefs in 'poor' or 'fair' condition
- 2008/07/07: CBC: Coral reef losses threaten marine life, warn U.S. scientists
Yes we have no wacky weather, except:
- 2008/07/11: GristMill: Model behavior - Global warming will worsen storms, says U of Michigan scientist
- 2008/07/11: CBC: Heavy storm wallops southern Saskatchewan
- 2008/07/11: Xinhuanet: Mexico declares state of emergency in rainstorm-hit Veracuz
- 2008/07/09: TerraDaily: How Intense Will Storms Get?
- 2008/07/08: PhysOrg: How intense will storms get? New model helps answer question
- 2008/07/08: Eureka: How intense will storms get? New model helps answer question
A new mathematical model indicates that dust devils, water spouts, tornadoes, hurricanes and cyclones are all born of the same mechanism and will intensify as climate change warms the Earth's surface. The new equation, developed by University of Michigan atmospheric and planetary scientist Nilton Renno, could allow scientists to more accurately calculate the maximum expected intensity of a spiraling storm based on the depth of the troposphere and the temperature and humidity of the air in the storm's path. - 2008/07/07: CBC: Severe weather lashes southern Alberta
Meanwhile in tornado alley:
- 2008/07/11: DailyIndia: South Saskatchewan cleans up after twisters
- 2008/07/10: DailyIndia: Denver most prone to tornadoes
- 2008/07/07: CBC: Tornado touches down in Manitoba
As for heat waves and wild fires:
- 2008/07/13: PhysOrg: As 300 fires rage, California to get foreign help
- 2008/07/11: CNN: Burnt body found in wildfire region, authorities say
Butte County Sheriff's Department deputy finds body around 10 a.m. - Body found in burnt home of someone named in a missing person report - More than 1,400 fires contained, but major fires are still burning - Fire warnings still in effect for much of northern California - 2008/07/11: CSM: Battling California fires, inmates find a chance at better role - About 2,500 trained inmate firefighters are providing vital help in the wildfire crisis
- 2008/07/10: ETimes: In blazing temperatures crews gain on fire
- 2008/07/10: BBerg: California Asks for Federal Troops to Battle Fires
- 2008/07/10: TP:WonkRoom: Global Boiling: Yes, CNN, Global Warming Is To Blame For Wildfires
- 2008/07/09: ABC(Au): Indigenous rangers slashing savanna bushfire emissions
A north Australian fire scientist says a change in how the burning of native vegetation is undertaken could halve the Northern Territory's greenhouse gas emissions within four years. - 2008/07/09: CSM: California's trial by fire - Will a longer wildfire season force states in the West to focus on prevention?
- 2008/07/09: DailyIndia: Calif. wildfire spreads in Butte County
- 2008/07/09: ETimes: Fire destroys 40 homes in northern California
- 2008/07/09: AP: Erratic winds prompt new evacuations in California
- 2008/07/08: ETimes: [California] Firefighters make progress ahead of hotter weather
- 2008/07/08: ETimes: Two dead in forest fire in southern Turkey
- 2008/07/08: ETimes: Greece prepares to battle week of intense heat
- 2008/07/07: KCRA: Emergency Plan Activated For Heat, Smoke - Governor [Schwarzenegger] Orders State Agencies To Coordinate
- 2008/07/06: CBC: Cooler temperatures give firefighters some relief in California
And speaking of floods & droughts:
- 2008/07/10: ABC(Au): Drought in the Murray Darling Basin getting worse
- 2008/07/10: Yahoo: Decade-long Australian drought worsens
- 2008/07/10: BBC: South Australia drought worsens
A long-running drought in Australia's main food-growing region, the Murray-Darling river basin, has worsened, a new report says. Three months of dry weather and the driest June on record have plunged the area back into drought, the Murray-Darling Basin Commission says - 2008/07/09: SMH: Farmers tell of drought devastation
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2008/07/10: KSJT: SciDev.Net: To stop Sahara, African nation's embrace a "Great Green Wall" of vegetation and green belts
- 2008/07/10: ENN: Carbon Sciences: Turning Carbon Emissions into "GreenCarbon"
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2008/07/12: AutoBG: French rail company makes $1.7 billion profit in 2007
- 2008/07/12: NakedCapitalism: Branson: "Spectacular Casualties" Coming to Airlines Soon
- 2008/07/10: OilDrum: Fuel for Thought - The Future of Transport Fuels
- 2008/07/11: PhysOrg: 'Fuel for thought' on transport sector challenges
- 2008/07/11: CSIRO: 'Fuel for thought' on transport sector challenges
A report on how Australia can best respond to the environmental and economic challenges arising from its dependence on fossil fuels for transport is being released in Melbourne today - 2008/07/11: WSJ:EnvCap: Ship Shape: Ports Spearhead Drive to Clean Up Shipping
- 2008/07/11: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Climate policy on a wing and a prayer
- 2008/07/10: NatureTGB: Giant airship's eco-credentials
- 2008/07/09: NOAANews: NOAA Takes First Broad Look at Soot from Ships
- 2008/07/08: Rabble: It's the end of tourism as we know it
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2008/07/13: ABC(Au): 'Cut not sink' emissions, says expert
An Australian climate expert says it would be more beneficial for the country to reduce its greenhouse emissions rather than trying to sink them into the sea using ocean fertilisation. "If you asked me would I do this for CO2 mitigation [I'd say] not now," says Associate Professor Thomas Trull of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre in Hobart. - 2008/07/09: CSIRO: Coal-generated CO2 captured in Australia -- a first
In a first for Australia, carbon dioxide (CO2) has been captured from power station flue gases in a post-combustion-capture (PCC) pilot plant at Loy Yang Power Station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley - 2008/07/09: PhysOrg: Coal-generated CO2 captured in Australia -- a first
In a first for Australia, carbon dioxide (CO2) has been captured from power station flue gases in a post-combustion-capture (PCC) pilot plant at Loy Yang Power Station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley - 2008/07/09: CanBiz: Carbon capture and storage: Grave concerns
- 2008/07/09: DeSmogBlog: Carbon Capture and Storage: An Expensive Dead End
- 2008/07/08: Eureka: Incentives for carbon sequestration may not protect species
- 2008/07/07: GristMill: CCS: Environmental whack-a-mole
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2008/07/09: Guardian(UK): Fertile ground for exploitation [iron hypothesis]
While on the adaptation front:
- 2008/07/09: CSM: Better buffer than levees - Water management and retreat from flood plains make more sense and cost less.
- 2008/07/07: MongaBay: Some grasslands resilient against climate change, according to 13 year study
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2008/07/11: TCD: High resolution modelling of snow transport in complex terrain using simulated wind fields by M. Bernhardt et al.
- 2008/07/11: ACP: Validation of aerosol and cloud layer structures from the space-borne lidar CALIOP using a ground-based lidar in Seoul, Korea by S.-W. Kim et al.
- 2008/07/10: ACP: Contribution of residential wood combustion and other sources to hourly winter aerosol in Northern Sweden determined by positive matrix factorization by P. Krecl et al.
- 2008/07/10: ACP: The role of iron and black carbon in aerosol light absorption by Y. Derimian et al.
- 2008/07/11: ACPD: Sensitivity of aerosol optical thickness and aerosol direct radiative effect to relative humidity by H. Bian et al.
- 2008/07/09: ACPD: Comparison of CMAM simulations of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) with observations from Odin/SMR, ACE-FTS, and Aura/MLS by J. J. Jin et al.
- 2008/07/11: WB: (138k - pdf) Rising food prices: policy options and World Bank response
- 2008/07/10: Guardian(UK): [link to 665k pdf] The biofuels report they didn't want you to read
The implication of the report is that crop-derived fuels have been the ultimate cause of food riots, starvation and high prices around the world - 2008/07/09: CPD: The carbon cycle during the Mid Pleistocene Transition: the Southern Ocean Decoupling Hypothesis by P. Köhler & R. Bintanja
- 2008/07/10: Science: (ab$) One-Third of Reef-Building Corals Face Elevated Extinction Risk from Climate Change and Local Impacts by Kent E. Carpenter et al.
- 2008/07/04: Science: (ab$) Large and Rapid Melt-Induced Velocity Changes in the Ablation Zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet by R. S. W. van de Wal et al.
- 2008/07/09: ACP: A model tool for assessing real-time mixing of mineral and anthropogenic pollutants in East Asia: a case study of April 2005 by F. Lasserre et al.
- 2008/07/08: ACP: Sea surface wind speed estimation from space-based lidar measurements by Y. Hu et al.
- 2008/07/09: ACPD: Clear sky UV simulations in the 21st century based on ozone and temperature projections from Chemistry-Climate Models by K. Tourpali et al.
- 2008/07/09: ACPD: Bromine in the tropical troposphere and stratosphere as derived from balloon-borne BrO observations by M. Dorf et al.
- 2008/07/08: ACPD: Assessing temporal clear-sky errors in assimilation of satellite CO2 retrievals using a global transport model by K. D. Corbin et al.
- 2008/07/07: ACPD: Radiative forcing of the direct aerosol effect using a multi-observation approach by G. Myhre et al.
- 2008/07/07: ACPD: Monthly-averaged anthropogenic aerosol direct radiative forcing over the Mediterranean from AERONET derived aerosol properties by A. Bergamo et al.
- 2008/07/08: PNAS: Humid tropical forest clearing from 2000 to 2005 quantified by using multitemporal and multiresolution remotely sensed data by Matthew C. Hansen et al.
Before we get into politics, there was some science done:
- 2008/07/11: PhysOrg: Research team draws 150-meter ice core from McCall Glacier
- 2008/07/10: UAF: Research team draws 150-meter ice core from McCall Glacier
- 2008/07/10: PhysOrg: Shells - a unique climate archive on the ocean floor
- 2008/07/07: CBC: NASA team lands in Yellowknife to study forest fire smoke
- 2008/07/07: PhysOrg: Process used by microbes [methanogens] to make greenhouse gases uncovered
- 2008/07/07: NOAA:NEFSC: Scientists Integrate Data in Three Dimensions Across Coastal Seascapes to Study Climate Effects on Young Fish
Meanwhile at the UN:
- 2008/07/10: GhanaWeb: Ghana to host international conference on Climate Change
Ghana and the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on Thursday signed letters of exchange to enable Ghana to host a Conference on Climate Change in August. The conference slated for August 21-30 will be attended by about 2,000 delegates from 192 countries and will prepare the grounds for the roadmap to a major conference to the held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2009. The Ghana conference under the theme: "Accra Climate Change Talks 200" would also use Ghana as the "Wind of Change" for the international action on climate change. - 2008/07/09: UN: Climate change, UN reform and global food crisis top General Assembly agenda
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
- 2008/07/08: Rabble: Carbon taxes and social classes
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:
- 2008/07/11: CEC: Cap & Trade - Misplaced Confidence
- 2008/07/09: GMB: Orszag on Cap and Trade
[...] lawmakers are going through a lot of needless work just to avoid the word "tax." - 2008/07/09: ENN: What's the difference between Carbon Offsets and Renewable Energy Credits, Anyway?
- 2008/07/09: EnvEcon: Carbon taxes vs. cap-and-trade
- 2008/07/07: JQuiggin: Carbon taxes vs emissions trading
Meanwhile on the international political front:
- 2008/07/07: Yahoo: UN chief [Secretary General Ban Ki-moon] says US must take lead on climate change
As for GW & security:
- 2008/07/09: ClimateP: Turning Wind Farms Into Weapons Systems, Part 2
- 2008/07/08: ClimateP: Turning Wind Farms Into Weapons Systems, Part I
And on the American political front:
- 2008/07/09: Forbes: Sue OPEC? Congress Should Sue Itself
- 2008/07/12: ABC(US):PR: Schwarzenegger Blasts Bush on Global Warming
- 2008/07/11: ClimateP: U.S. News "Energy Independence" smackdown: Climate Progress vs. Dick Cheney's friend
- 2008/07/11: ClimateP: EPA: "The administration didn't want to show a high-dollar value for reducing carbon." How high? Only $2 trillion by 2020!
- 2008/07/10: GristMill: What's not the matter with Kansas - Gov. Kathleen Sebelius talks to Grist about her fight against coal and her VP potential
- 2008/07/10: GristMill: Restating the obvious: Coal isn't renewable - Alaska state legislature proposes fund to support alternative energy including coal
- 2008/07/10: GristMill: Bingaman gets it right - Smart ideas for post Lieberman-Warner climate policy
- 2008/07/10: Guardian(UK): Blowing the whistle on climate change - New evidence shows the extent to which the White House censored scientific reports on the dangers of global warming
- 2008/07/10: ClimateP: The cruel offshore-drilling hoax, Part 1
- 2008/07/10: GristMill: A coalonial House - Boucher's bill to fund CCS technology at the expense of rate-payers
- 2008/07/09: GristMill: Coal money talks, public ignores - Poll shows 86 percent of public wants a five-year halt on new coal plants
- 2008/07/09: PhysOrg: Polar bear harassment by oil companies challenged
- 2008/07/08: SeattlePI: Climate change: U.S. not interested
- 2008/07/08: ClimateP: Who got us in this energy mess? Start with Ronald Reagan
- 2008/07/07: ClimateP: Senate GOP: "balance" = climate-destroying shale, RNC: "balance" = "a climate in crisis"
- 2008/07/08: C411: Leaked EPA Draft: Net $ Benefits from Lowered Emissions
- 2008/07/08: AutoBG: Richard Viguerie: Blame a liberal for high energy prices
- 2008/07/07: Yahoo: NYC to spend billions to cut greenhouse gases [30 percent in 30 years in municipal buildings and operations]
- 2008/07/07: HNN: Is it Safe Now to Admit Jimmy Carter Was Right?
[...] Americans, who hate to be told they must change, roundly condemned Jimmy Carter's memorable "Crisis of Confidence" speech of July 15, 1979. In it, Carter outlined a program for achieving energy independence:
"On the battlefield of energy we can win for our nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny."
We admirers have long endured ridicule whenever we dared to defend Carter's prescient plan for reducing U.S. dependence on oil.
But today, after all the abuse and scorn heaped on Jimmy Carter and his supporters, we find ourselves paying more than $4 a gallon at the pump to fill our hulking gas guzzlers.
It turns out that Carter was right after all. - 2008/07/07: WaPo:NW: An Energy Future Passing Us By [US energy policy]
- 2008/07/07: C411: A Carbon Cap Would Revitalize Our [US] Economy
- 2008/07/07: TWM: Global Warming...A few days ago I wrote a brief post highlighting an EPA report...
- 2008/07/07: GreenBiz: New Cars in California Must Display Global Warming Score
The Bush administration EPA is seeking public comments in order to delay regulating greenhouse gases:
- 2008/07/12: ABC(Au): US Govt delays regulation of greenhouse gases
- 2008/07/12: PhysOrg: White House rejects regulating greenhouse gases
- 2008/07/12: Yahoo: White House rejects regulating greenhouse gases
- 2008/07/11: Yahoo: Excerpts from greenhouse gas decision documents
- 2008/07/11: Yahoo: EPA says climate rules are the job of U.S. Congress
- 2008/07/11: HillHeat: In Draft of Greenhouse Gases Regulations, Bush Administration Attacks Clean Air Act
- 2008/07/11: EnvEcon: EPA's proposed climate rules without White House filter
- 2008/07/11: TPMM: Bush Administration Formally Disavows EPA Staff Conclusion On Greenhouse Gases
- 2008/07/11: TP:WonkRoom: Facing Undeniable Global Warming Threat, Bush Administration Instead Attacks The Rule Of Law
- 2008/07/11: ThinkP: Administration disavows its own global warming report
- 2008/07/11: ETimes: US environmental agency delays climate action, seeks public input
- 2008/07/11: Guardian(UK): Climate change: US environmental agency [EPA] delays emissions regulation until end of Bush term
- 2008/07/11: GristMill: Countdown to Crawford - Bush administration decides to run out the clock on regulating greenhouse-gas emissions
- 2008/07/11: DeSmogBlog: Bush to Supreme Court: 'Shove it!'
- 2008/07/11: WSJ:EnvCap: EPA: Let Congress Regulate Emissions -- We Can't
- 2008/07/11: AutoBG: Bush Administration to leave emissions regulations to next President
- 2008/07/11: WaPo: EPA Won't Act on Emissions This Year - Instead of New Rules, More Comment Sought
Dick Cheney's office censored CDC director Gerberding's testimony to Congress:
- 2008/07/08: CSW: Jason Burnett confirms that Cheney's office and CEQ censored CDC director Gerberding's testimony
- 2008/07/08: ClimateSpin: Cheny's office wanted cuts in climate change testimony
- 2008/07/08: PRWatch: Cheney's Office Pushed Purge of Climate Change Testimony
- 2008/07/08: McClatchyDC: Ex-EPA official: White House cut global-warming testimony
- 2008/07/09: NYT: Cheney's Office Said to Edit Draft Testimony
- 2008/07/10: Guardian(UK): Cheney tried to alter climate change testimony, says official
- 2008/07/09: NatureTGB: The Interactive Political Interference Story [Cheney]
- 2008/07/09: ClimateP: Dick Cheney didn't get memo on shifting from denial to delay
- 2008/07/09: DotEarth: Cheney's Office and the Course of Climate Policy
- 2008/07/08: GristMill: Cheney reaction - Ex-EPA official details White House interference on climate action
- 2008/07/09: HillHeat: Office of Vice President Censored Testimony on Global Warming Endangerment
- 2008/07/09: DeSmogBlog: Cheney Censored CDC On Health Impacts of Warming
- 2008/07/09: ENN: Cheney wanted cuts in climate testimony
- 2008/07/08: SeattlePI: Cheney censored climate testimony, EPA official says
- 2008/07/08: TPMM: Cheney's Office Pushed for Trims to EPA Congressional Testimony
- 2008/07/08: Reuters: White House in climate change "cover up"
- 2008/07/08: Guardian(UK): Cheney accused of suppressing testimony on climate change's risks
- 2008/07/08: Yahoo: Cheney wanted cuts in climate change testimony
- 2008/07/08: TP:WonkRoom: Global Boiling: Cheney's Office Blocked Testimony On Global Warming Health Threat
- 2008/07/08: ThinkP: Ex-EPA Official: White House Lied To Hide Cheney's Role In Eviscerating Global Warming Testimony
Last October, Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the "Human Impacts of Global Warming." [...] The White House tried denying that it had "watered down" Gerberding's testimony, but Press Secretary Dana Perino later admitted that the Office of Management and Budget had redacted testimony that contained "broad characterizations about climate change science that didn't align with the IPCC." A new letter from former EPA administration official Jason Burnett, however, reveals that the White House was lying. In fact, Vice President Cheney called for the deletions because he feared tough testimony by Gerberding might make it harder for the Bush administration to avoid regulating greenhouse gas emissions... - 2008/07/11: NatureN: US court slaps down pollution law - Major clean-air programme [CAIR: Clean Air Interstate Rule] is now in limbo.
- 2008/07/11: TP:WonkRoom: 'Dirty Bomb' Decision On Behalf Of King Coal
Dana Perino has her quota of chutzpah and more:
- 2008/07/10: DeSmogBlog: Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino demands apology from Barbara Boxer
- 2008/07/07: TP:WonkRoom: Perino: Bush Has 'Actually' Reduced US Global Warming Emissions
One hears a lot about the campaigns, not much about their climate & energy policies:
- 2008/07/13: ClimateP: Who's strongest on climate? Half the Country is Waiting to Decide
- 2008/07/11: GristMill: Rail love - Obama reaffirms support for rail and transit
- 2008/07/11: AngryBear: Reaction to the McCain Economic "Plan" -- Energy Issues
- 2008/07/10: AngryBear: How Serious is McCain About Cap&Trade?
- 2008/07/09: ClimateP: National Review: Cap-n-trade "eradicated" from McCain campaign
- 2008/07/08: GristMill: Energy ad wars begin - New Obama ad knocks McCain's energy policy
- 2008/07/09: FactCheck: A False Accusation About Energy - An RNC ad claims Obama has "no new solutions" to the energy problem, when he actually proposes $150 billion worth
- 2008/07/07: ClimateP: McCain on energy efficiency: He is Cheney's third term!
- 2008/07/07: ClimateP: $3 million RNC energy ad buy targets the very easily-duped
The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:
- 2008/07/10: GristMill: A convenient truth - Al Gore to speak at free event in D.C.
While in the UK:
- 2008/07/09: Guardian(UK): The real waste is to reduce a historic study to soundbites
This analysis of food goes to the heart of the flaws in the production model. Why has it been served up as all about leftovers? - 2008/07/09: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Boris mustn't go soft on climate change
- 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): Britain to put brakes on biofuels
- 2008/07/08: TreeHugger: City of London Withdraws free Electric Vehicle Parking
- 2008/07/08: BBC: Brake on biofuel - Why UK advisers want to slow the green juggernaut
- 2008/07/08: BBC: Brown faces climate change revolt
Gordon Brown is facing the prospect of another significant backbench rebellion - this time over climate change. More than 80 Labour MPs have signed an amendment to the Climate Change Bill, which would force ministers to promise greater cuts in carbon emissions. The bill commits Britain to make at least a 60% cut in CO2 emissions by 2050. The MPs want that to rise to 80% - 2008/07/09: CarbonFinance: Parliament votes to extend EU ETS to aviation
- 2008/07/11: CCurrents: Questioning EU Policies On Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- 2008/07/10: PRWatch: Europe Backpedals on Biofuels
- 2008/07/09: EUO: Plans for 'eco-tolls' on Europe's lorries unveiled
- 2008/07/08: EUO: MEPs give final blessing to airline emissions deal...a plan to include airlines into a pollution-reducing Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) from 2012...
- 2008/07/08: CSM: Why Europe backpedals on biofuel targets - Ethanol and other biofuels are boosting food prices and greenhouse gases, says a new British report.
- 2008/07/09: SMH: EU parliament calls for cut in biofuel targets
- 2008/07/08: BBC: EU includes aviation in CO2 curbs - The European Parliament has backed a law to include aviation in Europe's CO2 Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for cutting greenhouse gases
- 2008/07/07: EUO: EU signals retreat on biofuels target
European energy ministers have backed away from the EU's biofuels for transport target, admitting a gross confusion on their part in which they said they had been misreading policy documents since the target was initially proposed a year and a half ago. The ministers, meeting in Paris for informal discussions, said that upon closer inspection, EU proposals that aim for a target of 10 percent of fuels for cars and lorries coming from biofuels by 2020 in fact only demand that 10 percent of fuels come from renewable sources, which may or may not be the controversial energy source. - 2008/07/13: Yahoo: 37 arrested at Australian climate protest: police
- 2008/07/13: SMH: Rudd pledges drought relief
The Prime Minister has flagged extra drought relief for the bush after Australian of the Year and country singer Lee Kernaghan warned the current scheme is leaving farming families crippled by debt. Mr Kernaghan, launching the search to find his successor at Old Parliament House in Canberra yesterday, said rural families were under immense financial, emotional and psychological strain after a decade of drought - 2008/07/12: ABC(Au): Demands for more emphasis on climate change education
The Federal Government is under pressure from the Australian Association for Environmental Education to lift its practices to educate people about climate change. - 2008/07/12: GWWatch: Winds of (climate) change blow
- 2008/07/11: IW(Au): Adelaide's great rail divide - After eight hours in a single day on buses and trains, Yvonne Wenham realised Adelaide's public transport system was shot.
- 2008/07/11: ABC(Au): Murray forecast puts crops in doubt
- 2008/07/11: ABC(Au): Petrol report [Fuel for Thought] a wake-up call: environmentalists
Environmentalists say a CSIRO report predicting the price of petrol could rise to $8 a litre in 10 years should serve as a wake up call to the public and governments. - 2008/07/11: ABC(Au): Parties split on emissions scheme - There is now a split between the Federal Government and the Opposition about a greenhouse gas trading system
- 2008/07/10: ABC(Au): Power chiefs fear emissions deadline will cripple industry
Power bosses in the Latrobe Valley say a future emissions trading scheme must have a transitional period if the industry is to survive - 2008/07/11: ABC(Au): World climate change commitments a long way off: Rudd
- 2008/07/10: ABC(Au): Power supply under threat
A new report shows Victoria could experience electricity shortages under an Emissions Trading Scheme. - 2008/07/09: SMH: Brown's chilling vision of our fate
The Greens leader, Bob Brown, says he fears a "tentative and ineffective" emissions trading system will be developed by the Federal Government and it could be worse than having no trading system at all. - 2008/07/09: ABC(Au): [Victorian Premier John] Brumby wants emissions trading eased in
- 2008/07/08: Australian: Doing nothing is not an option for survival by Australian PM Kevin Rudd
- 2008/07/09: SMH: Rudd push for new climate goals
The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, will use Australia's first appearance at a Group of Eight summit to urge all nations, including the big developing economies of China and India, to take urgent action on climate change - 2008/07/09: SMH: Emissions trading is the new GST
There's a paradox at the heart of Kevin Rudd's efforts to halt climate change. At one level, global warming is the biggest social and economic threat to face humankind since time immemorial. Our need to convert the global economy to one that doesn't rely on fossil fuels is a remarkably tall order. As Professor Ross Garnaut says, it's a "diabolical" policy problem. At another level, however, the emissions trading scheme the Rudd Government has promised to introduce in two years' time isn't the big deal many people imagine. - 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): Concerns aired over farmers coping with more drought
- 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): WAFF [Western Australian Farmers Federation] keen to see climate change funding details
- 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): Farmers talk tough on emissions trading scheme
- 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): Australia should be clean-energy reliant by 2040: expert
- 2008/07/08: TerraDaily: We Know The Climate Risks Now For Solutions Say Aussie Farmers
- 2008/07/08: SMH: Coalition backs down on carbon trading
The Government remained unclear yesterday about whether it would start an emissions trading scheme in 2010, as the Coalition walked away from its election policy and said Australia should not act until the world's major polluters do. With bipartisan support for an emissions trading scheme rapidly disintegrating, the Opposition Leader, Brendan Nelson, said it would be environmental and economic "suicide" if Australia moved before countries such as the United States, China and India. - 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): MP wants more than just emissions trading scheme
New South Wales Nationals' leader and north coast MP Andrew Stoner says the Federal Government should not rely solely on an emissions trading scheme as it fights climate change. - 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): PWC [Price Waterhouse Coopers] says business needs carbon pricing quickly
- 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): Warning from former Environment Minister
The former Environment Minister Ian Campbell has warned the Federal Opposition not to oppose the inclusion of petrol in a carbon emissions trading scheme. - 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): [Aus Fed] Govt gives $46m to help farmers reduce emissions
- 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): NT [Northern Territory] 'needs to act now' to cope with carbon trading
- 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): Victoria's grim climate outlook
The Department of Sustainability and Environment has warned Victoria's average temperature could soar by almost three degrees by 2070 if carbon emissions continue to grow. - 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): [Federal Climate Change Minister Penny] Wong flags possible emissions trading delay
- 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): Farmers [NFF] want input on drought planning
- 2008/07/07: TerraDaily: Kyoto Rules Must Change If Farmers Are To Contribute [says Australian NFF (National Farmers' Federation)]
- 2008/07/07: TreeHugger: Australia's Climate Change Report Reads "Like a Disaster Novel"
- 2008/07/07: SMH: Drought relief bill to soar, say scientists
Australia will experience severe heat waves almost every year and droughts more often and over wider stretches of the country during the next three decades - with serious implications for how taxpayers help affected farmers, a group of scientists says. Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO scientists have found that exceptionally hot years, instead of occurring once in 22 years, as was the case last century, will occur almost every year for 30 years beginning in 2010. - 2008/07/07: Guardian(UK): Climate change report like a disaster novel, says Australian minister
Like many conservatives, Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson seems to be having difficulty with the shifting winds of climate change:
- 2008/07/13: ABC(Au): Nelson 'frightened' over climate change
Greens leader Bob Brown says Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson's shifts on climate change policy show he is "frightened" by the issue. - 2008/07/12: SMH: Colder for Nelson after climate change
Brendan Nelson's leadership was being called into question internally yesterday after it took him a week to comply with party policy on climate change. - 2008/07/11: ABC(Au): Parties split on emissions scheme - There is now a split between the Federal Government and the Opposition about a greenhouse gas trading system
- 2008/07/10: ABC(Au): Nelson denies ETS position change
- 2008/07/10: ABC(Au): Coalition position 'irrelevant' on emissions trading scheme
The Greens say the Opposition's position on an emissions trading scheme is so confused that the minor parties will have to play a key role in negotiating it through the Senate. - 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): Nelson must support emissions scheme: former Liberal MP
Ross Garnaut and his report are still getting a lot of headlines:
- 2008/07/11: ABC(Au): Garnaut rules out emissions trading petrol price link
- 2008/07/11: ABC(Au): Garnaut to front public forum in Brisbane
- 2008/07/10: ABC(Au): G8 emissions target a positive step, says Garnaut
- 2008/07/09: ABC(Au): Coal group [Collie Coal Futures Group] fears Garnaut Report cost
- 2008/07/08: ABC(Au): Garnaut spruiks climate hope for SA
- 2008/07/08: PeakEnergy: Heeding Garnaut
- 2008/07/08: SMH: [NSW Treasurer Michael] Costa ducks Garnaut on debate
Michael Costa has turned down the opportunity to discuss the science of global warming with the Federal Government's chief climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, after earlier rubbishing the interim report the professor released on Friday. The NSW Treasurer kicked off a war of words yesterday, writing that discussion of the report contained "Chicken Little arguments" and that Professor Garnaut did not inhabit the "real world". Professor Garnaut responded by saying that Mr Costa was a "well-known denier of the science" of climate change, and suggested the two meet in Sydney on Thursday to talk it over. - 2008/07/07: NatureTGB: Garnaut mania takes over Australia
- 2008/07/07: NatureCF: Parched Australia told to trade emissions [Garnaut]
- 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): Concerns over Garnaut report: [WA Premier Alan] Carpenter
- 2008/07/07: ABC(Au): [NSW Treasurer Michael] Costa fires warning shot on Garnaut report
The Federal Government is facing mounting pressure from within Labor ranks on the content and the start date of its emissions trading scheme. New South Wales Treasurer Michael Costa says the recently-released Garnaut report contains "nonsensical" and "Chicken Little"-like warnings which fail to consider the nation's energy security and overlook the need for compensation for the power sector. He is demanding that the Federal Government reject Professor Ross Garnaut's proposal that all permits to emit greenhouse pollution should be auctioned. - 2008/07/07: SMH: All nations should heed Garnaut by Tim Flannery
While in New Zealand:
- 2008/07/07: BBC: NZ emissions plan upsets farmers
Farmers in New Zealand have criticised a bold plan by the government to make the country carbon neutral by 2040. The agricultural sector thinks the plan to reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases to zero is unsustainable. Concerns have also been raised by steel companies, which have insisted that a proposed emissions trading scheme would make them uncompetitive. The government is trying to win support from minor parties to legislate on the scheme before an election this year. - 2008/07/08: ERabett: India's plan to combat climate change
- 2008/07/07: ENN: India launches climate change action plan
- 2008/07/06: NEN: India gets serious about solar [climate plan]
While in Japan:
- 2008/07/07: BBC: Japan says that it will not negotiate new targets on CO2 emissions until it sees what the new US President has to offer on climate change
- 2008/07/04: BBC: Japan rues Kyoto climate experience
The Kyoto Protocol on climate change negotiated in 1997 was unfair to Japan, one of the nation's chief climate negotiators has told BBC News