Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
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
Another week of Climate Disruption News
Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
January 30, 2011
- Chuckles, COP17, G20, Cablegate, WSF-WEF, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Australia, Pakistan
- Bottom Line, Subsidies, Thermodynamics, UEF, Cook, Post CRU
- Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Agro Corps, Food Prices, Foresight, Food vs. Biofuel, IP Issues, GMOs, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Clouds, Paleoclimate, Historical Climate
- ENSO, Milankovitch, Ocean Currents, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Extreme Weather, Corals, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
- REDD, Transportation, Buildings, Geoengineering, Adaptation
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, DIY Science, Models, Paul Nurse, Pielke, Curry
- UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, WindMade, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- International Politics: Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, Water Politics & Business, Predictions
- National Politics: America, BP Disaster, Vilsack, Gingrich, Michaels, SoTUA
- Browner, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
- Britain, Europe, Australia, Murray-Darling, New Zealand, India, China, Asia, Middle East
- Canada, Post G20, NRTEE, Pipelines, Arctic Poll, Ethics, Tar Sands
- Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, North, Canadiana
- Ecological Economics, Children, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Video, Podcasts, Courts
- Energy, Fracking, Wind, Solar, FITs, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency
- Cars, Gee Whiz, Energy Storage, Business, Greenwashing, FAQs
- Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
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- 2011/01/26: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Externalities
- 2011/01/28: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Sustainable Bio-Fuel?
- 2011/01/28: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Lifestyle Choices
- 2011/01/28: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) We're all in this together?
- 2011/01/27: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Seller's Market?
- 2011/01/27: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Sustainable Development?
- 2011/01/27: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Food Security
- 2011/01/26: Seppo: (cartoon - Seppo) British government wants to sell off public forests
- 2011/01/28: DeSmogBlog: Greenpeace Airship Hovers Over Secretive Koch Summit with Message "Koch Brothers: Dirty Money"
- 2011/01/26: MTobis: (cartoon - Roberts) Another Roberts Toon
- 2011/01/25: ClimateP: (cartoon - Toles) The denier's defense against global warming
- 2011/01/24: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) The Deniers Defense Against Global Warming
- 2011/01/24: ClimateP: (cartoon - Horsey) Dashboard Earth
And for those who enjoy challenging Poe's Law:
- 2011/01/27: Wonkette: President Obama's State of the Salmon Address
- 2011/01/24: WtD: Faster climate change, kill, kill kill!
Looking ahead to COP17 and future international climate negotiations:
- 2011/01/28: PlanetArk: Japan Says To Work On New Global Climate Framework
Japan said it aims to propose an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol in coming months, after criticizing the international climate framework as neither using effective technology nor including major emitters. Tokyo will come up with a set of proposals to fight global warming beyond 2012, including bilateral agreements between countries on emission offsets generated by the use of clean-energy technology, government officials said on Thursday. - 2011/01/24: EurActiv: Sarkozy lays out G20 agenda, targets commodities
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called in a speech laying out his G20 agenda on Monday (24 January) for new rules to curb commodity price volatility, warning that the world risks food riots and weaker growth if leaders fail to act. - 2011/01/23: C&L: One Commodity to Rule Them All: Oil
The WEF in Davos and the WSF in Dakar are worlds apart:
- 2011/01/28: ENS: World Economic Forum: UN Chief Calls for 'Clean Energy Revolution'
- 2011/01/27: BBC: Davos 2011: World leaders warn on rising food prices
World leaders have warned that rising food prices could lead to social unrest and even "economic war". - 2011/01/27: PhysOrg: UN climate talks in focus at Davos forum
- 2011/01/27: Asia Times: Davos, Dakar and a ton of BRICS
- 2011/01/26: CNN: Roubini: Oil, energy, food prices a risk to stability
Roubini says sharp rise in commodity prices threatens global stability - He blames recent unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, in part on food, energy costs - Roubini says China, US, eurozone all face economic challenges this year - 2011/01/25: ENS: World Economic Forum: Water, Food, Energy Scarcity Multiplies Global Risk
The Sri Lankan floods still get some attention:
- 2011/01/25: EnergyBulletin: Small flood in Sri Lanka; no white people dead
Brazil is struggling with an unprecedented disaster:
- 2011/01/27: BBC: Brazil floods: 8,000 free homes for victims
Brazil says it is going to build 8,000 houses to give free to poor people made homeless by floods and landslides in Rio de Janeiro state this month. President Dilma Rousseff said 6,000 homes would be paid for by the state and federal governments. The other 2,000 would be donated by a consortium of construction companies. - 2011/01/24: TerraDaily: Staggering Brazil flood damage mounts
- 2011/01/23: BBC: Brazil flood deaths top 800 with 400 still missing
In Australia, an inland sea is moving slowly across Victoria state:
- 2011/01/28: EarthTimes: Floods savage Australia's coal exports
- 2011/01/26: CBC: Floods move across southeast Australia
- 2011/01/26: ABC(Au): Swan Hill told to brace for Friday flood peak
- 2011/01/24: TerraDaily: 'Amazing' Australian floodwaters enter new towns
Surging floodwaters broke levees in disaster-hit Australia on Monday to inundate more properties in the southeast, as residents sandbagged homes against the spiralling crisis. Swollen rivers in the southeastern state of Victoria have created a flood zone measuring an estimated 90 kilometres (56 miles) long and 40 kilometres wide, the State Emergency Service said. - 2011/01/25: PSinclair: Flood Damage in Billions -- After Costliest Disaster in its History, Australia Considers Tax for Rebuilding
Even after 7+ months, the Pakistan monsoon flood hardships remain:
- 2011/01/25: WFP: Pakistan: 6 Months On, Food Aid Helps To Power Flood Recovery
- 2011/01/28: UN: Pakistan: UNICEF voices concern over malnutrition crisis in flood-affected Sindh
- 2011/01/27: TerraDaily: UN says Pakistan still in emergency after floods
- 2011/01/25: TerraDaily: 166,000 still displaced six months after Pakistan flood: UN
- 2011/01/27: EarthTimes: UN urges donors to provide funds to Pakistan flood victims
- 2011/01/26: EarthTimes: Oxfam: millions of Pakistani flood victims still need assistance
- 2011/01/26: BBC: Pakistan floods crisis is far from over, says Oxfam
Six months after Pakistan's worst monsoon floods in 80 years, Oxfam says the crisis is far from over and could even get worse. The UK-based agency says malnutrition levels in the south have soared, and the aid community has only "scratched the surface of human need". At least 170,000 people remain in relief camps and swathes of land are still under foul water in the south. - 2011/01/25: UN: Thousands of flood-affected Pakistanis remain in camps and in need of help -- UN
- 2011/01/25: TreeHugger: Rogue Storm From Bay of Bengal Caused 2010 Pakistan Flooding
- 2011/01/25: Eureka: Rogue storm system caused Pakistan floods that left millions homeless
And on the Bottom Line:
- 2011/01/28: Grist: Investment is win-win for global economy and climate, Stiglitz argues
- 2011/01/27: TDC: What's the cost of climate change? Pick a number
Cost estimates for the damages wrought by climate change run a wide gamut, from $-9 to $3,243 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions, based on a review of scientific estimates. Within that universe, the federal estimates look low. - 2011/01/25: PlanetArk: Cost Of Natural Disasters $109 Billion In 2010: U.N
Who's getting the subsidies?
- 2011/01/27: PlanetArk: Europe's Green Energy Faces Subsidy Shake-Up
- 2011/01/26: Grist: What oil subsidies is Obama targeting?
Explicating the laws of thermodynamics...:
- 2011/01/30: TSoD: Understanding Atmospheric Radiation and the "Greenhouse" Effect - Part Three
- 2011/01/26: MGS: Rabett on History of Radiation
The Universal Ecological Fund story lingered:
- 2011/01/29: BSD: Spotted: the elusive alarmist equivalent to denialists
- 2011/01/30: SkeptiSci: Follow-Up Case Study in Skepticism
- 2011/01/25: Guardian(UK): A case study in climate science integrity
- 2011/01/24: ClassM: This is not helping
John Cook and friends continue their counterpoint articles:
- 2011/01/28: SkeptiSci: Animated powerpoint of the Indicators of Warming
- 2011/01/27: SkeptiSci: 2010: A Year of Record Warmth and Weird Weather by James Wight
- 2011/01/24: SkeptiSci: Rebuttal to 'Scientist's Can't Even Predict The Weather Right' [BV]
- 2011/01/23: SkeptiSci: A Flanner in the Works for Snow and Ice calculations
- 2011/01/23: SkeptiSci: A Flanner in the Works for Snow and Ice
Post CRU theft, controversy & inquiry:
- 2011/01/28: RealClimate: The obvious answer
- 2011/01/25: NewScientist:SSS: Freedom of information still a Climategate sore point [Pearce]
- 2011/01/25: NatureTGB: 'Climategate': time to move on
- 2011/01/25: BBC: ClimateGate affair: 'Learn and move on', say MPs
Inquiries into issues raised by 2009's climate e-mail hack did have flaws, a committee of MPs concludes. But despite questions over remits and omissions, they say it is time to make the changes needed and move on. The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee does not find anything to challenge the prevailing view of human-induced global warming. But it says data should be more open, and rules on how Freedom of Information (FoI) applies to science need reform. - 2011/01/24: ClimateP: VA conservatives persist in bogus 'Climategate' witch-hunt against Michael Mann
The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
- 2011/01/28: CCP: Robert F. Spielhagen et al., Science (28 January 2011), Enhanced Modern Heat Transfer to the Arctic by Warm Atlantic Water
- 2011/01/28: PostMedia: Water entering Arctic warmest in 2,000 years -- Modern increase not a temperature swing: scientists
A new study has found that water flowing from the Atlantic Ocean into the Arctic is warmer than it's been in 2,000 years. The increased heat input has "far-reaching consequences" and is likely helping fuel the remarkable change underway at the top of the planet, European and U.S. scientists report in the journal Science today. - 2011/01/27: ClimateP: Temperatures of North Atlantic "are unprecedented over the past 2000 years and are presumably linked to the Arctic amplification of global warming" - Science
- 2011/01/27: EurActiv: Scientists thrash out Arctic early warning system details
Scientists at an Arctic tipping point conference in Norway are trying to agree terms for an early warning system that could monitor sudden climate shifts, such as the much-feared melting of glaciers. If the Greenland ice sheet melted completely it would raise global sea levels by about seven metres, and leave many of the world's coastal cities underwater. "We need leading indicators to see when we are approaching a threshold so that we can stop before we reach it," Carlos Duarte, a professor at the Spanish Council for Scientific Research, told the conference. - 2011/01/27: NatureN: Arctic Ocean feels the heat -- Inflow from the Atlantic is warmest in 2,000 years
- 2011/01/27: Eureka: Warming North Atlantic water tied to heating Arctic, according to new study
- 2011/01/26: BBC: Greenland glaciers spring surprise
Some Greenland glaciers run slower in warm summers than cooler ones, meaning the icecap may be more resistant to warming than previously thought. - 2011/01/26: Guardian(UK): Greenland ice sheet is safer than scientists previously thought
New study overturns fears that increased melting could lubricate the ice sheet, causing it to sink ever faster into the sea - 2011/01/26: Eureka: 'Hidden plumbing' helps slow Greenland ice flow
- 2011/01/25: CCP: Dagmar Budikova, Global and Planetary Change, 68 (2009), Role of Arctic sea ice in global atmospheric circulation: A review
- 2011/01/25: BBC: Survey to probe Arctic ice melt
Scientists and explorers will shortly set off on an expedition aiming to discover how Arctic sea ice melts. This year's Catlin Arctic Survey will focus on the thin layer of water immediately under the floating ice. Arctic ice is melting faster in summer than many computer models predict. - 2011/01/25: EnergyBulletin: Arctic native peoples on the edge
- 2011/01/24: CCP: Um... Greenland's ice sheet melt in 2010 broke record
- 2011/01/24: MongaBay: Greenland melt is the worst yet
As for the charismatic megafauna:
- 2011/01/28: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Tears for Bears: Polar bear swims for 9 days searching for ice, losing her cub
- 2011/01/29: LA Times: Polar bear's long swim illustrates ice melt
Searching for food, one female bear was tracked as she swam for 9 days across the Beaufort Sea before reaching an ice floe. Litigation continues over protection of bear habitat. - 2011/01/28: CBC: Polar bear swims 9 days straight
- 2011/01/26: ABC(Au): Scientists track polar bear's nine-day swim
- 2011/01/25: TreeHugger: Polar Bear Observed to Swim Continuously for 9 Days Over 426 Miles
- 2011/01/25: BBC: Polar bear's epic nine day swim in search of sea ice
A polar bear swam continuously for over nine days, covering 687km (426 miles), a new study has revealed. Scientists studying bears around the Beaufort sea, north of Alaska, claim this endurance feat could be a result of climate change. - 2011/01/24: CBC: Polar bears likely to have tough year: expert -- Scientist says thin ice this season could have long-term impact
And the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
- 2011/01/28: CBC: New Baffinland owners shake up board
- 2011/01/25: Reuters: Arctic short-cut shipping to leap in 2011 -Russia
Polar short-cut applications up to 15 for 2011, 4 in 2010 -- Climate change opens Arctic to oil firms, miners, shipping - 2011/01/26: DerSpiegel: New Estimates for Drilling Costs -- The Exorbitant Dream of Arctic Oil
International oil companies are racing to develop new oilfields in the Arctic. But developing the vast reserves could be far more expensive than first thought, according to new calculations by US geologists obtained by Spiegel Online. - 2011/01/25: BBC: Canadians 'support more troops to defend Arctic claims'
- 2011/01/25: PlanetArk: New Shipping Rules Urged To Avert "Arctic Titanic"
- 2011/01/25: PlanetArk: Baffinland Iron Mine Construction May Start In 2013
- 2011/01/25: CBC: Baffinland bid extended
- 2011/01/24: PhysOrg: The Arctic: a new frontier for oil, gas firms
BP's deal with Rosneft to jointly explore the Arctic's huge oil and gas reserves sets out a new frontier in the race for resources, but one that is dogged by technical and environmental concerns. - 2011/01/27: BBC: Lake Vostok drilling in Antarctic 'running out of time'
- 2011/01/25: CCP: Pine Island Glacier: water channels underneath letting warmer ocean water melt it from beneath
The food crisis is ongoing:
- 2011/01/25: BBerg: Risk of Riots Rising as Governments Cut Food Subsidies, UN [FAO head, Josette] Sheeran Says
- 2011/01/28: JFleck: Having to rip out your lawn is not the worst thing that can happen
- 2011/01/29: CCurrents: World Is One Poor Harvest Away From Chaos, Book Warns, By Lester Brown
- 2011/01/29: CCurrents: Worsening Food Crisis Is Leading To Political Upheavals
- 2011/01/28: Guardian(UK): Will climate change burst the global 'food bubble'?
Lester Brown argues the pressures of rising population, consumption, water stress and global warming will pose the first serious challenge to civilisation through our food - 2011/01/28: ProMedMail: Potato virus Y - USA: new strains
- 2011/01/24: PhysOrg: Increasing levels of phosphate in farmland soil
Phosphate levels in arable farmland have risen over the past thirty years, despite the restrictive policy on manure. This is the conclusion of Alterra (part of Wageningen UR) researchers in the journal Soil Use & Management. - 2011/01/23: TerraDaily: From fire to flood for Australia's farmers
- 2011/01/24: BBC: Crop warning over China drought
A prolonged dry spell in parts of northern, central and eastern China is threatening both crops and water supplies, Chinese state media says. Shandong province is experiencing its driest weather for 60 years. Half the wheat-growing land there is affected, while almost a quarter of a million people face drinking water shortages, the China Daily said. - 2011/01/23: AlterNet: Steep Oil Prices, Food Shortages Will Likely Spark Deadly Riots This Year
As for the agro-chemical corps:
- 2011/01/27: CBC: Potash profit doubles, dividend hiked
- 2011/01/26: CBC: PotashCorp plans dividend hike, share split
Food Prices are rising steadily:
- FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
- 2011/01/29: NYT:PK: Commodities: This Time is Different
- 2011/01/28: CNN: Tensions rise on surging food prices
- 2011/01/23: Guardian(UK): Food speculation: 'People die from hunger while banks make a killing on food'
It's not just bad harvests and climate change -- it's also speculators that are behind record prices. And it's the planet's poorest who pay - 2011/01/28: EnergyBulletin: Oil and food prices
- 2011/01/27: VoxEU: Global food prices and inflation targeting by Luis AV Catão & Roberto Chang
Rising food prices once again pose central banks a tricky question. How far should they ignore food price inflation? This column suggests that food tends to have stronger predictive power on global inflation cycles than oil. The problem is more severe in emerging markets where consumption basket weights for food are two or three times larger than in rich nations. Central banks should pay close attention. - 2011/01/26: UN: UN issues policy guide for countries hit hard by high food prices
- 2011/01/24: CBC: Sarkozy says G20 will combat high food prices -- Cocoa the latest commodity in turmoil
The Foresight Report on Food and Farming Futures came out in Britain this week:
- 2011/01/24: BIS(UK): Global Food and Farming Futures
- 2011/01/24: Grist: Rising commodity prices and extreme weather events threaten global stability
- 2011/01/24: Grist: Growing population means world needs food-system overhaul, [UK Global Food and Farming Futures] report finds
- 2011/01/24: SeedDaily: World needs global food system overhaul: [UK Global Food and Farming Futures] report
- 2011/01/24: NatureTGB: Agriculture needs 'greenest' revolution to cope with rising prices [Foresight Programme]
- 2011/01/24: BBC: Global food stocks face crisis, says chief scientist [John Beddington]
- 2011/01/24: BBC: Report: Urgent action needed to avert global hunger
A UK government-commissioned study into food security has called for urgent action to avert global hunger. The Foresight Report on Food and Farming Futures says the current system is unsustainable and will fail to end hunger unless radically redesigned. It is the first study across a range of disciplines deemed to have put such fears on a firm analytical footing. - 2011/01/23: ECC: Will Biofuel Mandates Raise Food Prices?
Look out! the IP Rentiers are coming!
- 2011/01/24: GlobalPost: Rice wars: Has the US pirated Thailand's finest rice? Why Thais fear US "bio-piracy" of their Jasmine rice.
Regarding the genetic modification of food:
- 2011/01/28: ENS: USDA Approves Unregulated Planting of Transgenic Alfalfa
- 2011/01/28: AlterNet: Why You Can Now Kiss Organic Beef, Dairy and Many Vegetables Goodbye
Monsanto has been trying for years to gain approval for its genetically modified Roundup-Ready alfalfa seed. On January 27, 2011, it finally got the green light in the form of "deregulation." - 2011/01/27: USDA: USDA Announces Decision to Fully Deregulate Roundup Ready Alfalfa
- 2011/01/28: Grist: In a stunning reversal, USDA chief Vilsack greenlights Monsanto's alfalfa
- 2011/01/24: Purdue: Wheat resistance genes failing, new approach needed to stop flies
- 2011/01/24: PlanetArk: Most EU States Back Trace GM In Food Imports: [European Commission briefing] Paper
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2011/01/30: SolveClimate: UK Group [Fairtrade Foundation] Brews Up Solution to Help Save Coffee Crop from Warming
- 2011/01/27: Eureka: Study shows smaller rows contribute to more soybean yields in colder climates
- 2011/01/24: Guardian(UK): Fairtrade coffee producers face challenge of climate change
- 2011/01/24: UN: Deadly cattle plague [rinderpest] to be declared officially eradicated by June, UN agency says
- 2011/01/23: PhysOrg: Nailing down a crucial plant signaling system
Plant biologists have discovered the last major element of the series of chemical signals that one class of plant hormones, called brassinosteroids, send from a protein on the surface of a plant cell to the cell's nucleus. Although many steps of the pathway were already known, new research from a team including Carnegie's Ying Sun and Zhiyong Wang fills in a missing gap about the mechanism through which brassinosteroids cause plant genes to be expressed. Their research, which will be published online by Nature Cell Biology on January 23, has implications for agricultural science and, potentially, evolutionary research. - 2011/01/30: EarthTimes: Australia braces for cyclone [Anthony] as flood mop up continues
- 2011/01/30: ABC(Au): Tropical Cyclone Anthony is starting to cross the north Queensland coast near Bowen, bringing with it strong winds and flooding rain
- 2011/01/30: ABC(Au): Anthony intensifies to category two cyclone
- 2011/01/30: ABC(Au): Tropical Cyclone Anthony has picked up speed and is expected to bring destructive winds to coastal communities as it nears the north Queensland coast
- 2011/01/29: ABC(Au): The two cyclones [Anthony & Bianca] threatening Australia's east and west coasts are both weakening, offering a brief respite for the disaster-weary nation
- 2011/01/30: CBC: Cyclone [Anthony] makes way to northeastern Australia
A cyclone is racing toward Australia's flood-ravaged northeast, rattling nerves throughout a region that has already suffered billions of dollars worth of damage from the crisis. Cyclone Anthony intensified to a Category 2 storm Sunday with winds of 130 km/h. It was expected to cross the Queensland state coast early Monday morning. - 2011/01/29: WtD: Cyclone Bianca causes blackouts and tornados: yeah... it really is just a typical Australian summer
- 2011/01/28: EarthTimes: Cyclone Wilma lashes New Zealand, bringing floods, landslides
- 2011/01/26: Eureka: NASA's TRMM Satellite sees TD10S strengthen into Tropical Storm Bianca
- 2011/01/26: Eureka: NASA's Aqua Satellite sees Tropical Depression Anthony heading toward Australia
- 2011/01/25: Eureka: Cyclone Wilma's eye catches attention of NASA satellites
- 2011/01/25: PhysOrg: NASA infrared data [Aqua sat] sees birth of 10th tropical depression in Southern Indian Ocean near Australian coast
- 2011/01/24: PhysOrg: NASA TRMM satellite sees South Pacific's developing system 95P near Wallis island
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2011/01/27: UN: More funds required for Myanmar cyclone [Giri] response, UN agencies stress
As for GHGs:
- 2011/01/24: NYT:CW: Scenario to Cap World Emissions by 2020 Is Fading Fast, Warns IEA Economist
From his perch as chief economist for the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol is virtually shouting his global warming predictions from the Paris rooftops. Unless the United States, Europe, China, India and the other emerging economies get on a crash course to slash greenhouse gases, Birol contends, world leaders can simply forget about one of their oft-talked-about goals: stabilizing the average global temperature rise at 2 degrees Celsius. - 2011/01/28: Guardian(UK): If water vapour is the key greenhouse gas, why are man-made emissions important?
- 2011/01/26: TreeHugger: We Should Kiss 2°C Temperature Rise Target Goodbye: IEA Chief Economist [Fatih Birol]
- 2011/01/24: TerraDaily: IEA's Birol: Say goodbye to climate goals
Without a serious policy turnaround from the world's largest emitters, the world won't meet its target of limiting the global temperature increase to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, a top IEA official has warned. - 2011/01/25: TerraDaily: CO2-Chomping Microbes Battling For Ocean Iron
As for the temperature record:
- 2011/01/28: GreenGrok: Baby, It's Been Cold Outside ... and Hot
- 2011/01/26: ClimateSight: What's the Warmest Year -- and Does it Matter?
- 2011/01/26: Eureka: The water temperature in the subtropical Atlantic falls due to wind action
- 2011/01/26: SkeptiSci: Ten temperature records in a single graphic
- 2011/01/24: PlanetJ: 2010: A Year of Record Warmth and Weird Weather
- 2011/01/23: BDL: Holy Fracking Climate Frack!!
Clouds are one of the major uncertainties in climate. Much research revolves around them:
- 2011/01/23: ERabett: Dr. Why vs. Commander Coincidence
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2011/01/27: SciNow: How to Read a Prehistoric Thermometer
- 2011/01/27: PhysOrg: Geobiologists uncover links between ancient climate change and mass extinction
About 450 million years ago, Earth suffered the second-largest mass extinction in its history -- the Late Ordovician mass extinction, during which more than 75 percent of marine species died. Exactly what caused this tremendous loss in biodiversity remains a mystery, but now a team led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has discovered new details supporting the idea that the mass extinction was linked to a cooling climate. - 2011/01/23: NatureN: Coal-fired trigger of mass extinction -- Fly ash in the frame for Permian die-off
- 2011/01/23: SciNow: Toxic Ash Clouds Might Be Culprit in Biggest Mass Extinction
- 2011/01/24: CBC: Volcanoes led to largest extinction ever: study
- 2011/01/23: PhysOrg: Researchers find smoking gun of world's biggest extinction
About 250 million years about 95 per cent of life was wiped out in the sea and 70 per cent on land. Researchers at the University of Calgary believe they have discovered evidence to support massive volcanic eruptions burnt significant volumes of coal, producing ash clouds that had broad impact on global oceans. - 2011/01/24: EPFL(Ch): Man has been provoking climate change for thousands of years!
The Roman Conquest, the Black Death and the discovery of America -- by modifying the nature of the forests -- have had a significant impact on the environment. These are the findings of EPFL scientists who have researched our long history of emitting carbon into the environment. - 2011/01/25: WMO: El Niño/La Niña Update -- Current Situation and Outlook
A significant La Niña episode continues in the tropical Pacific Ocean, with effects extending into adjacent ocean basins. Atmospheric indicators show this episode to be one of the strongest of the last century, while oceanic indicators have been at moderate to strong levels. La Niña conditions are likely to continue through the first quarter of 2011... - 2011/01/25: WMO: WMO Update says La Niña expected to continue through first quarter of 2011 but gradually weaken
- 2011/01/27: PlanetArk: La Nina Likely To Persist Through First Quarter
- 2011/01/25: TerraDaily: La Nina weather pattern to last for months: UN agency
- 2011/01/25: CBC: La Nina expected to linger for months: WMO
- 2011/01/25: CC&G: Comparison of 2011-11 El Nino -- La Nina Cycle with Previous Cycles
- 2011/01/25: PhysOrg: La Nina weather pattern to last for months: UN agency [WMO]
- 2011/01/21: CEI:CM: La Niña Rolls On
Regarding Milankovitch cycles:
- 2011/01/25: Tamino: Milankovitch Cycles
As for ocean currents:
- 2011/01/30: Tamino: AMO [Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation]
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2011/01/26: TreeHugger: NASA's Glory Satellite Will Study the Climate Impact of Atmospheric Aerosols
- 2011/01/25: WaPo: Aging and failed [US] satellites jeopardize efforts to collect data on climate change
- 2011/01/24: BBC: Costly Euro space laser reviewed
European scientists are being asked whether they still want to go ahead with a pioneering space laser mission. The Earthcare satellite would study the role clouds and atmospheric particles play in a changing climate. But difficulties in developing the spacecraft's lidar instrument mean the cost of the venture will likely rise from 450m to 590m euros (£500m). A review is therefore taking place to assess the science value and technical risks of proceeding. - 2011/01/29: CSW: Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth
- 2011/01/27: GreenGrok: A Surprise in the Greenhouse
- 2011/01/28: KSJT: A fair spattering of ink for two Arctic climate news bits
- 2011/01/28: BizInsider: This Is A Real Headline About Australia
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2011/01/28: NatureN: Malaysia leads way in environmental study of deforestation -- Ecologists use project to devise guidelines on how to manage land conversion
- 2011/01/25: PressEurop: Environment - Europe devours Amazon, claims NGO
- 2011/01/27: BBC: Brazil approves start of Belo Monte dam construction
Brazil's environment agency, Ibama, has given the go-ahead for initial work to begin on a huge hydroelectric dam on a tributary of the Amazon River. Ibama approved the clearing of forest [238 hectares] at the planned site for the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant. Licences still have to be granted for the actual building of the plant. - 2011/01/26: BBC: Forest sale plans draw mixed reactions
- 2011/01/25: MongaBay: Indonesia grants slew of last-minute logging concessions on eve of moratorium
- 2011/01/24: CPositive: Indonesia delays deforestation ban
- 2011/01/24: Yahoo:AFP: Forest accords not saving trees, experts
International accords on saving vulnerable forests are having little impact because they do not attack the core causes such as growing demand for biofuels and food crops, a new report said. With Africa and South American alone losing 7.4 million hectares (18.3 million acres) of forest a year, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) said a drastic change of policy is needed by the United Nations and governments. - 2011/01/24: ABC(Au): NEFA wins fight to stop old growth logging on private land
A peak forest conservation group says its concern about logging of old growth forest along the mid north coast has been found to be valid. - 2011/01/27: Wunderground: Yet another record snowstorm wallops New England
- 2011/01/20: GlobalPost: Extreme weather: the reality of a warming world -- Scientists are starting to link natural disasters to rising greenhouse gases
- 2011/01/24: CBS: Is Extreme Weather a Result of Global Warming? (POLL)
- 2011/01/26: ClimateP: As floods and extreme weather devastate the world, CBS News explains the link to global warming
- 2011/01/26: Wunderground: Nor'easter poised to dump heavy snows; Australian tropical cyclone season heats up
- 2011/01/24: NYT: Cold Is Tied to Weaker Arctic 'Fence'
- 2011/01/24: KSJT: NYTimes: Ah, so that's it. Strange weather is merely upside down
- 2011/01/24: ClimateP: Another terrific ABC(US) News story -- on the role global warming is playing in extreme winter weather
- 2011/01/24: Wunderground: Is the U.S. climate getting more extreme?
Corals are dying:
- 2011/01/27: SciDaily: Fluorescent Color of Coral Larvae Predicts Whether They'll Settle or Swim; Finding Could Help Scientists Monitor How Corals Adapt to Global Warming
- 2011/01/26: BBC: Sir David Attenborough backs new corals website
A new website set up by Scottish scientists to raise awareness of cold-water corals is to premiere a short film by Sir David Attenborough. - 2011/01/29: SkeptiSci: Latest GRACE data: record ice loss in 2010
- 2011/01/29: Tamino: Glacial Cycles, part 2
- 2011/01/28: Tamino: Glacial Cycles, part 1b
- 2011/01/26: GreenGrok: As the Cryosphere Relentlessly Melts
- 2011/01/27: TreeHugger: Greenland's Glaciers Adapt Each Summer to Increased Melting, Slowing Down Ice Movement
- 2011/01/24: Eureka: Scientists find that debris on certain Himalayan glaciers may prevent melting
- 2011/01/23: SciNews: Glaciers largely stable in one range of Himalayas -- Ice in Karakoram region may even be growing, thanks to debris cover
- 2011/01/24: TreeHugger: Most Himalayan Glaciers May Be Retreating, But Half of Western Ones Are Advancing
- 2011/01/23: Reuters: Some Himalayan glaciers advance, despite warming
Sea levels are rising:
- 2011/01/27: EarthTimes: Jakarta plans dyke to prevent going underwater
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2011/01/28: USGS: More Frequent Drought Likely in Eastern Africa
- 2011/01/28: JFleck: Having to rip out your lawn is not the worst thing that can happen
- 2011/01/28: USGS: More Frequent Drought Likely in Eastern Africa
- 2011/01/28: Eureka: More frequent drought likely in eastern Africa
- 2011/01/27: TerraDaily: Over 1,300 feared dead in Rio flooding
- 2011/01/26: TerraDaily: Saudi scrambles rescue teams for Jeddah floods
- 2011/01/24: Guardian(UK): South Africa flood death toll rises as government declares 33 disaster zones
Warnings of humanitarian crises after flooding claims more than 100 lives and threatens rest of southern Africa - 2011/01/25: PlanetArk: China province Hit By Worst Drought, Warning On Wheat
- 2011/01/24: TerraDaily: South Africa flood death toll 123
- 2011/01/24: TerraDaily: China drought threatens water supplies: state media
- 2011/01/25: Wunderground: U.S. heavy precipitation events are increasing, but drought is not
- 2011/01/24: PhysOrg: Major floods recharge aquifers
- 2011/01/24: Eureka: First-ever global map of surface permeability informs water supply, climate modelling: UBC
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation has somehow seemed chimeric:
- 2011/01/27: TerraDaily: Global Pacts Like REDD Ignore Primary Causes Of Destruction Of Forests
- 2011/01/25: PlanetArk: U.N. Climate Plans Said Too Narrow To Save Forests
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2011/01/29: CalcRisk: ATA Truck Tonnage Index increased in December
- 2011/01/24: BBC: Toyota beats GM to end 2010 as world's biggest carmaker
Toyota ended 2010 as the world's largest carmaker despite suffering a series of recalls and safety issues. The Japanese company's sales reached 8.42 million vehicles, just beating General Motors' tally of 8.39 million. - 2011/01/22: AlterNet: Vision: Can a New High-Speed Rail System Save the American Dream?
- 2011/01/24: CalcRisk: DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven increased in November
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2011/01/27: BBC: 'Energy House' to reveal scale of UK retrofit challenge
A unique study, involving a full-scale terraced house built inside a chamber, hopes to find ways the UK housing sector can cut its energy use. - 2011/01/25: ScienceInsider: Study Says Rethinking Cities Is Key to Climate Change
- 2011/01/25: NRDC:SwitchBoard: To improve energy efficiency in commercial office buildings, the Administration should lead with these three measures
- 2011/01/25: Tyee: Step Inside the Real Home of the Future: Passivhaus
Canadians helped invent a house so efficient you could heat it with a hair dryer. Then we forgot about it. First of three parts. - 2011/01/26: GEP: IOC Releases Ocean Fertilization Policy Guide
- 2010/09/17: WOL:ASL: Might dimming the sun change atmospheric ENSO teleconnections as we know them? by Peter Braesicke et al.
- 2011/01/24: Wiley: What Impact Would Sun Dimming Have on Earth's Weather?
While on the adaptation front:
- 2011/01/28: Wunderground: The ARkStorm: California's coming great deluge
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2011/01/28: ACPD: Toward unification of the multiscale modeling of the atmosphere by A. Arakawa et al.
- 2011/01/28: OS: Assessment of the three dimensional temperature and salinity observational networks in the Baltic Sea and North Sea by W. Fu et al.
- 2011/01/28: OSD: High frequency variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation by B. Balan Sarojini et al.
- 2011/01/28: TCD: Geophysical evidence for soft bed sliding at Jakobshavn Isbrae, West Greenland by A. E. Block & R. E. Bell
- 2011/01/25: GMD: SMOKE for Europe -- adaptation, modification and evaluation of a comprehensive emission model for Europe by J. Bieser et al.
- 2011/01/26: CP: Southern ocean warming, sea level and hydrological change during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum by A. Sluijs et al.
- 2011/01/26: CPD: The last deglaciation: timing the bipolar seesaw by J. B. Pedro et al.
- 2011/01/26: CPD: Simulated climate variability in the region of Rapa Nui during the last millennium by C. Junk & M. Claussen
- 2011/01/25: CPD: Interhemispheric gradient of atmospheric radiocarbon reveals natural variability of Southern Ocean winds by K. B. Rodgers et al.
- 2011/01/28: Science: (ab$) Enhanced Modern Heat Transfer to the Arctic by Warm Atlantic Water by Robert F. Spielhagen et al.
- 2011/01/26: ACP: Detecting the influence of fossil fuel and bio-fuel black carbon aerosols on near surface temperature changes by G. S. Jones et al.
- 2011/01/26: ACP: Atmospheric ions and nucleation: a review of observations by A. Hirsikko et al.
- 2011/01/26: ACP: Relating tropical ocean clouds to moist processes using water vapor isotope measurements by J. Lee et al.
- 2011/01/26: ACP: Observations of Saharan dust microphysical and optical properties from the Eastern Atlantic during NAMMA airborne field campaign by G. Chen et al.
- 2011/01/25: ACP: Assessment of fossil fuel carbon dioxide and other anthropogenic trace gas emissions from airborne measurements over Sacramento, California in spring 2009 by J. C. Turnbull et al.
- 2011/01/24: ACPD: Change of the Asian dust source region deduced from the relationship between anthropogenic radionuclides in surface soil and precipitation in Mongolia by Y. Igarashi et al.
- 2011/01/24: ACPD: Theoretical basis for convective invigoration due to increased aerosol concentration by Z. J. Lebo & J. H. Seinfeld
- 2011/01/24: ACPD: Cosmic rays, aerosol formation and cloud-condensation nuclei: sensitivities to model uncertainties by E. J. Snow-Kropla et al.
- 2011/01/24: ACPD: Airborne observations of mineral dust over Western Africa in the summer monsoon season: spatial and vertical variability of physico-chemical and optical properties by P. Formenti et al.
- 2011/01/27: AGWObserver: Papers on Younger Dryas cold event
- 2011/01/25: PNAS: (letter$) Reply to Skole et al.: Regarding high-resolution carbon stocks and emissions in the Amazon by Gregory P. Asner et al.
- 2011/01/25: PNAS: (ab$) Integrating fisheries approaches and household utility models for improved resource management by E. J. Milner-Gulland
- 2011/01/25: PNAS: (abs) Arsenic pollution of groundwater in Vietnam exacerbated by deep aquifer exploitation for more than a century by Lenny H. E. Winkel et al.
- 2011/01/25: PNAS: (ab$) Widespread crown condition decline, food web disruption, and amplified tree mortality with increased climate change-type drought by Jofre Carnicer et al.
- 2011/01/25: PNAS: (ab$) Spring temperature change and its implication in the change of vegetation growth in North America from 1982 to 2006 by Xuhui Wang et al.
- 2011/01/24: OSD: Estimation of friction parameters in gravity currents by data assimilation in a model hierarchy by A. Wirth
- 2011/01/24: OSD: Comparison of SeaWiFS and MODIS time series of inherent optical properties for the Adriatic Sea by F. Mélin
- 2011/01/24: OSD: Numerical modelling of thermodynamics and dynamics of sea ice in the Baltic Sea by A. Herman et al.
- 2011/01/25: TCD: Scale-dependent measurement and analysis of ground surface temperature variability in alpine terrain by S. Gubler et al.
- 2011/01/24: AGWObserver: New research from last week 3/2011
- 2011/01/23: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Catastrophic dispersion of coal fly ash into oceans during the latest Permian extinction by Stephen E. Grasby et al.
- 2010/09/17: WOL:ASL: Might dimming the sun change atmospheric ENSO teleconnections as we know them? by Peter Braesicke et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2011/01/25: Ph&Ph: [link to 1.1 meg pdf] Swiss Re Scientific Arguments Against Climate Change Skeptics
- 2011/01/25: UNESCO: [1.3 meg pdf] A Scientific Summary for Policymakers on Ocean Fertilization
- 2011/01/25: CP: [Link to 4.5 meg pdf] NRTEE Recommends Phased-In Climate Harmonization Policy with U.S.
- 2011/01/24: BIS(UK): Global Food and Farming Futures
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2011/01/30: BCLSB: On Finding Versus Making Facts
- 2011/01/27: ScienceInsider: The Military Industrial Complex at Fifty: Is Science Society's Slave or Master?
- 2011/01/28: RealClimate: Friday round-up
- 2011/01/27: SkeptiSci: Rescue Climate Data by MartinS
- 2011/01/26: MSU: The undead [dormant microbes] may influence biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions
- 2011/01/25: PhysOrg: The 20th Century Reanalysis Project: A time machine for climate scientists
More DIY science:
- 2011/01/24: CC&G: Using RClimate To Retrieve Climate Series Data
What's new in models?:
- 2011/01/25: SEasterbrook: The first Numerical Weather Prediction on ENIAC
- 2011/01/25: Wunderground:RR: A Culture of Checking: Open Climate Models
Paul Nurse is emerging as a strong advocate for science:
- 2011/01/24: Independent(UK): Scientists face 'shocking levels' of vilification over discoveries
Scientists are being subjected to shocking levels of personal vilification and distrust, Britain's most senior scientist has warned. Sir Paul Nurse, the new president of the Royal Society, Britain's national academy of sciences, urged scientists to take on those critics who have cast doubt on the veracity of scientific discoveries ranging from the link between climate change and man-made carbon dioxide to the benefits of GM crops. Sir Paul said many scientists felt under attack from critics in the blogosphere and the mainstream media, but rather than retreating into their ivory towers they needed to speak directly to the people who paid their wages. - 2011/01/29: HotTopic: Paul Nurse: science under attack
- 2011/01/27: Tamino: Paul Nurse on science vs anti-science
- 2011/01/26: PSinclair: BBC - Science Under Attack
The Pielke fan clubbe, alas:
- 2011/01/28: JEB: Pielkes all the way down, revisited
Regarding Curry:
- 2011/01/30: JEB: Uncertainty on uncertainty
While at the UN:
- 2011/01/28: Grist: U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon shifts focus from climate fight to clean energy
- 2011/01/28: NatureTGB: UN secretary general to quit climate diplomacy
- 2011/01/27: Guardian(UK): Ban Ki-moon ends hands-on involvement in climate change talks -- UN secretary general will redirect efforts to making more immediate gains in clean energy and sustainable development
- 2011/01/27: Guardian(UK): Ban Ki-moon's green growth agenda can bring climate to the heart of the UN by Yvo de Boer
Ban Ki-moon must shift the UN's focus to take climate into the mainstream debate on sustainable development - 2011/01/27: SolveClimate: Like Obama, Ban Ki-moon Shifts from Climate to Clean Economy Focus
- 2011/01/24: UN: Dramatic greenhouse gas cuts are both achievable and affordable - UN [Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)]
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2011/01/27: Reuters: ICE extends spot CO2 trade suspension to February7
- 2011/01/28: EarthTimes: EU expects to begin reopening emissions trading next week
- 2011/01/28: TEC: Carbon Trading Grows Up
- 2011/01/27: Guardian(UK): European commission extends carbon market freeze indefinitely -- Countries must prove their systems are protected against theft of credits by hackers
- 2011/01/27: PhysOrg: EU extends hacker-induced emissions trading halt
The EU extended a freeze Thursday on trading in carbon credits ordered after hackers broke into national trading registries and stole and then sold millions of euros worth of polluting rights. - 2011/01/26: Guardian(UK): Seven charged in carbon trading VAT fraud case
Credits said to have been fictitiously traded in 'carousel fraud' - EU carbon spot market remains closed until next week - 2011/01/25: Reuters: EU awaits CO2 registry security reports to reopen
The European Commission said on Tuesday it was waiting for the bloc's national emissions registries to confirm they have put in place minimum security requirements before it reactivates them. - 2011/01/24: BG:AP: EU carbon trading thefts reveal systemic flaws
- 2011/01/25: EarthTimes: Partial shutdown of hacked EU emissions trading system to continue
- 2011/01/24: Guardian(UK): The carbon market -- gone in a puff of smoke?
The loss of carbon credits worth 28m euros to cyber attacks lays bare the faults of a highly flawed trading system - 2011/01/24: EurActiv: Europe votes to ban industrial gas credits
Carbon credits gained by destroying controversial HFC-23 and nitrous oxide industrial gases will be banned from Europe's emissions trading scheme (ETS) after a vote by EU member-state representatives. Environmental campaigners hailed the move as a "milestone" in upholding the ETS's integrity. The ban will come into effect in April 2013. - 2011/01/28: EarthTimes: Climate tax on meat and milk could help reduce Europe's carbon footprint
- 2011/01/25: Eureka: Climate tax on meat and milk results in less greenhouse gases
Do you think the WindMade label will take off?
- 2011/01/25: REA: New 'WindMade' Label Identifies Products Made with Wind Power
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:
- 2011/01/27: CCurrents: The Peak Oil Crisis: British Proposal For Tradable Energy Quotas
- 2011/01/24: OilDrum: Tradable Energy Quotas: A policy framework for peak oil and climate change
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
- 2011/01/27: DerSpiegel: Spying on the Left -- Berlin Officials Knew All About British Agent's Activities
Mark Kennedy spent years embedded in the European left-wing scene and infiltrated German activist groups as well -- at the behest of German officials, Spiegel Online has learned. He is also suspected of having participated in illegal activities in Germany. - 2011/01/28: ABC(Au): Protesters sued under victim compensation laws
A New South Wales coal company has been accused of misusing victims compensation laws to prosecute seven climate change activists. More than 40 protesters broke into Newcastle's coal terminal in September last year, climbing onto ship loaders and shutting down coal loading for several hours. Seven members of the group are now being pursued for over $500,000 in lost profits by the coal loader operator, Port Waratah Coal Services. - 2011/01/25: Guardian(UK): The price of undercover sex in the police
Sexual manipulation of climate activists appears to have been a deliberate police tactic, and demands a public inquiry Since police infiltration of the climate change movement was first revealed, a number of female activists have disclosed that they slept, and formed loving relationships, with men they subsequently discovered to be undercover officers. - 2011/01/27: TreeHugger: Sex Used By Police As Strategy to Disrupt Protests?
- 2011/01/24: SlashDot: UK Authorities Accused of Inciting Illegal Protest
What are the activists up to?
- 2011/01/25: DeSmogBlog: Right Wing Billionaire Koch Brothers Summit To Be Met With Protests
Polls! We have polls!
- 2011/01/24: CBS: Is Extreme Weather a Result of Global Warming? (POLL)
- 2011/01/25: CBC: Canada's North, South agree on Arctic: study -- Country clashes with other Arctic nations on sovereignty
- 2011/01/25: G&M: In the Arctic, Canada willing to fight to keep the true north free
[...]
A new opinion poll finds that Canadians are generally far less receptive to negotiation and compromises on disputes than their American neighbours. More than 40 per cent of Canadians said the country should pursue a firm line in defending its sections of the North, compared to just 10 per cent of Americans. - 2011/01/29: ChinaDaily: Millions face water shortage in China
- 2011/01/28: EurActiv: EU clamps down on member states' water quality
Four European countries [Greece, Belgium, the Czech Republic & Estonia] are in hot water with the European Commission after failing to meet environmental standards for wetland preservation and surface water quality. - 2011/01/24: JFleck: Stuff I Wrote Elsewhere: The Changing Ways New Mexico Manages its Water
- 2011/01/24: JFleck: Did the Imperial Irrigation district give away $246 million worth of water last year?
- 2011/01/23: JFleck: Expensive water
- 2011/01/23: AlterNet: Have Public Servants Charged with Protecting Drinking Water for 15 Million People Sold Out to the Gas Drilling Industry?
- 2011/01/23: TCoE: Doc alert: International water technology
Who's making predictions this week?
- 2011/01/27: TreeHugger: Gloomy Predictions Made On Effect of Climate Catastrophes in London
And on the American political front:
- 2011/01/29: TWM: The anti-science party...
- 2011/01/29: ClimateP: Oklahoma Lawmaker Sally Kern proposes bill that forces teachers to question evolution, climate science
- 2011/01/28: NYT:GW: Ariz. Pulls Support for EPA's Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding [after Republican Gov. Jan Brewer took over]
- 2011/01/28: TEC: The Rise of Innovation Hawks
- 2011/01/29: TEC: A more practical path to clean energy?
- 2011/01/28: SolveClimate: Illinois Lures Wind Farm Away from Missouri with Bold Energy Policy
Affinity Wind is building its first wind farm in Illinois, not home state Missouri, because of a wind-friendly RPS there -- and it's not alone - 2011/01/27: Grist: Paul LePage, new Maine guv, takes aim at the environment
- 2011/01/28: NPR: Loss Of Solar Jobs Has Mass. Rethinking State Aid
- 2011/01/27: ClimateP: Moonstruck: Climate science denier Harrison Schmitt, appointed to head NM environment agency, believes enviros and scientists like Holdren are communists
- 2011/01/27: MTobis: Meanwhile at the Other End of the Avenue
- 2011/01/26: CPD: FirstEnergy Corp.: Not enough solar power available to meet Ohio renewable energy standards
- 2011/01/27: DeSmogBlog: Texans Fight Against TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline: Don't Mess With Texas
- 2011/01/26: ENS: New Mexico Governor Loses Bid to Overturn Greenhouse Gas Cap
- 2011/01/26: DeSmogBlog: Maine Governor Paul LePage To Roll Back Environmental Protections
- 2011/01/25: NRDC:SwitchBoard: AZ Republicans and Democrats Agree, Energy Efficiency Saves Billions
- 2011/01/25: TreeHugger: US States Exporting Own Renewable Energy While Importing Coal, Whaaat?!?
- 2011/01/24: AutoBG: Auto dealers fight strict California emissions rules
- 2011/01/25: AutoBG: EPA, DOT, California all agree on timeframe for new CAFE standards
- 2011/01/24: WaPo: A Great Plains [Keystone XL] pipeline debate
- 2011/01/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: California, U.S. EPA and U.S. DOT agreement shows Clean Air Act works
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) have reached an agreement with California to coordinate the release of their respective proposals for vehicle carbon pollution and fuel economy standards for model years 2017 to 2025 cars and light trucks, according to joint statement released today by the agencies. - 2011/01/19: BBerg: Pickens Says U.S. Spent $337 Billion on Oil Imports [in 2010]
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
- 2011/01/28: PRWatch: EPA's Oil Dispersant Ignorance Again on Display
- 2011/01/27: ProPublica: Scientists Found Chemical Dispersants Lingering in Gulf Long After Oil Flow Stopped
- 2011/01/27: NatureN: Deepwater Horizon dispersants lingered in the deep -- Chemicals' toxicity to deep-water ecosystems remains an open question
- 2011/01/27: SciNews: Dispersants persisted after BP spill -- Chemicals used to break up oil lasted for months
- 2011/01/26: ENS: Chemical Dispersants Used by BP Linger in Deep Sea Plume
- 2011/01/25: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Oil and gas well cement jobs: "Very rarely are they perfect"
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack deregulated roundup ready alfalfa this week to great dismay:
- 2011/01/28: ENS: USDA Approves Unregulated Planting of Transgenic Alfalfa
- 2011/01/28: AlterNet: Why You Can Now Kiss Organic Beef, Dairy and Many Vegetables Goodbye
Monsanto has been trying for years to gain approval for its genetically modified Roundup-Ready alfalfa seed. On January 27, 2011, it finally got the green light in the form of "deregulation." - 2011/01/27: USDA: USDA Announces Decision to Fully Deregulate Roundup Ready Alfalfa
- 2011/01/28: Grist: In a stunning reversal, USDA chief Vilsack greenlights Monsanto's alfalfa
Newt Gingrich wants to trash the EPA:
- 2011/01/25: Grist: What's behind Newt Gingrich's proposal to abolish the EPA?
- 2011/01/25: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Who Loses If Gingrich Gets His Wish to Abolish the EPA?
- 2011/01/26: TreeHugger: Newt Gingrich Proposes Killing the EPA
- 2011/01/25: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Gingrich Said to Call for Abolishing EPA
- 2011/01/25: ClimateP: Newt Gingrich proposes abolishing EPA
It seems Pat Michaels may have perjured himself before congress:
- 2011/01/26: MoJo: Waxman Seeks Details on Skeptic's Income
- 2011/01/25: HuffPo: Rep. Waxman Presses for Inquiry on Global Warming Denier Pat Michaels
- 2011/01/26: HuffPo: Skepticgate: Revealing Climate Denialists for What They Are
Greenpeace USA's lead researcher Kert Davies just broke the story about a congressional investigation requested by Rep. Waxman that may finally put the climate denial machine under the microscope. This by all reckoning is a real "climategate" - a genuinely scandalous story in which a scientist who testified before Congress hid the fact that he was funded largely by corporate interests. But will it get the same airplay that the now debunked "climategate" story enjoyed? - 2011/01/27: CCP: Skepticgate: Revealing Climate Denialists for What They Are
- 2011/01/25: Guardian(UK): Climate sceptic 'misled Congress over funding from oil industry'
Patrick Michaels, fellow at the Cato Institute, claimed 3% of his funding came from industry, later revealed that figure to be 40% - 2011/01/25: CCP: Climate sceptic [Patrick Michaels] 'misled Congress over funding from oil industry'
- 2011/01/24: CCP: Waxman asks Upton to examine Patrick Michaels's Funding from fossil fuel industry sources
- 2011/01/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Waxman Presses Chairman Upton on Polluter Support for Climate Denier [Michaels]
- 2011/01/24: DeSmogBlog: Waxman Asks if Pat Michael has Misrepresented His Funding
Obama's State of the Union Address didn't mention the climate:
- 2011/01/28: Guardian(UK): No, clean energy is not a substitute for climate change
- 2011/01/27: ScienceInsider: Train 100,000 Science and Math Teachers? Obama Plan Leaves Unanswered Questions
- 2011/01/27: Reuters: Analysis: Obama energy plan best chance for clean power
President Barack Obama's new plan to double U.S. clean power output could provide the kind of compromise needed to pass a divided Congress because it offers benefits to lawmakers who want to cut planet-warming emissions and those who want more jobs in energy-rich states. - 2011/01/26: MongaBay: Is Obama's clean energy revolution possible?
- 2011/01/26: Grist: Obama's State of the Union energy proposals are ... thrilling? bipartisan? misleading?
- 2011/01/27: ClimateShifts: Obama and climate change
- 2011/01/26: UCSUSA: State of the Union Points Way Toward Progress on Vehicles, Energy
- 2011/01/26: Grist: We need trains to 'win the future' -- so get over that deficit hysteria
- 2011/01/26: TEC: Obama's 80 Percent Clean Energy Goal: Who's He Kidding?
- 2011/01/26: TEC: The President's Plan for Electric Vehicles
- 2011/01/26: TEC: Traditional Energy vs. Renewables: Sputnik State of the Union
- 2011/01/27: LA Times: Obama's clean-energy goals have industry questioning feasibility
Plans call for 1 million electric vehicles on the road within four years and 80% of the nation's power coming from green sources by 2035. Executives say the ability to get steady funding would help. - 2011/01/26: EnergyBulletin: Obama on energy and climate
- 2011/01/26: Guardian(UK): Climate change: Barack Obama less interested than Bush, analysis reveals
- 2011/01/26: ClimateP: Brulle: "By failing to even rhetorically address climate change, Obama is mortgaging our future and further delaying the necessary work to build a political consensus for real action."
- 2011/01/26: SolveClimate: Obama's State of the Union: Mum on Climate, Loud on a Clean Economy Future
- 2011/01/26: ClimateP: Obama's plan to win the clean energy future and the GOP plan to send us back to our dirty energy past
- 2011/01/26: Grist: Obama was wrong not to mention climate change in his State of the Union
- 2011/01/26: Grist: Obama finally pitched an energy tent big enough to attract Republicans
- 2011/01/26: Grist: Obama's energy gambit: a call for less coal
- 2011/01/25: Grist: Obama calls for clean energy and high-speed rail in State of the Union
- 2011/01/26: NatureTGB: Obama touts science, education in State of the Union address
- 2011/01/26: ScienceInsider: Obama Proposes Big Boost for Blue-Sky Energy Research Agency
- 2011/01/25: ENS: State of the Union: Obama Urges America to 'Win the Future' with Clean Energy
- 2011/01/26: WHOI: First Study of Dispersants in Gulf Spill Suggests a Prolonged Deepwater Fate
- 2011/01/26: TEC: State of the Union: 80 Percent Renewables by 2035? I'm Skeptical, Mr. President
- 2011/01/26: OilChange: What oil subsidies is Obama targeting?
- 2011/01/26: AutoBG: Obama: U.S. can reach 1 million plug-ins by 2015, will stop subsidizing "yesterday's energy"
- 2011/01/26: REA: Obama Calls for 80% "Clean Energy" by 2035
Clean energy advocates applauded the bold initiative, but cautioned against the inclusion of nuclear, clean coal and natural gas in a "clean energy standard." - 2011/01/25: OPB:EcoTrope: State of the Union: 5 science, environment targets
- 2011/01/25: Time:EcoCentric: The State of the Union Is All About Energy -- Not Climate
- 2011/01/25: QuarkSoup: Offsetting Obama's Hot Air
- 2011/01/25: ClimateP: Obama calls for massive boost in low-carbon energy, but doesn't mention carbon, climate or warming.
"This is our generation's Sputnik moment.... I challenge you to join me in setting a new goal: by 2035, 80% of America's electricity will come from clean energy sources." - 2011/01/25: BBC: State of the Union 2011: Obama hails 'Sputnik moment'
- 2011/01/24: Grist: Obama's State of the Union: what he should say but won't
Obama's energy & climate adviser Carol Browner is stepping down:
- 2011/01/25: NYT:GW: Energy and Climate Czar Browner's Resignation Seen as the End of an Era
- 2011/01/24: Wonkette: Obama Administration Fires Its Only Environmentalist
- 2011/01/25: Guardian(UK): Obama's climate adviser, Carol Browner, to depart White House
- 2011/01/25: Grist: Carol Browner is leaving: does it matter?
- 2011/01/25: NatureTGB: Obama's energy & climate czar steps down
- 2011/01/25: TreeHugger: Climate & Energy Czar Carol Browner Leaving White House
- 2011/01/25: Reuters: Obama climate adviser [Carol Browner] to depart in latest staff change
A key climate change adviser to President Barack Obama will step down soon, administration officials said on Monday, in the latest staff departure as the White House adapts to a shift in power in Congress. - 2011/01/24: WaPo: Key energy aide to Obama resigning
Carol M. Browner, an key adviser to President Obama on energy and environmental issues, said Monday night that she plans to leave the White House. - 2011/01/24: NYT: Director of Policy on Climate Will Leave, Her Goal Unmet
Carol M. Browner, the White House coordinator for energy and climate change policy, will leave the administration shortly, officials confirmed Monday night. - 2011/01/24: ClimateP: Carol Browner, Obama's energy and climate 'czar', to leave White House
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
- 2011/01/28: LA Times: Big breaks for Big Oil -- Obama wants to cut unneeded and expensive oil subsidies, but Congress won't go along
- 2011/01/28: Grist: For the last time: no, clean energy is not a substitute for climate change
- 2011/01/26: OilChange: "Clean" Obama Versus Newt King Coal?
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2011/01/28: NRDC:SwitchBoard: 2 op-eds, 2 views of future of biomass, only 1 is right
- 2011/01/27: SolveClimate: EPA Ethanol Expansion Hardens a Divide
The chasm between pro- and anti-ethanol forces is widening now that EPA has approved E15 gas for 2001-06 cars, and it's spilling over to Capitol Hill - 2011/01/27: TDC: Revised data show feds understate climate costs
Preliminary analysis suggests impacts from climate change could run twice as high as previous estimates, potentially giving regulators more firepower to justify emissions-cutting regulations. - 2011/01/24: NOAANews: Departments of Energy and Commerce Announce New Partnership to Further Cooperation on Renewable Energy Modeling and Forecasting
- 2011/01/26: AutoBG: Who's unhappy with EPA's E15 decision? Lots of people
- 2011/01/25: SolveClimate: Court Order Could Cause EPA Feud with GOP Congress to Boil Over
A recent court decision ordering EPA to speed up industrial boiler regulations could set the agency and the U.S. House on 'a real collision course.' - 2011/01/24: PlanetArk: U.S. Gives $650 Million Loan Aid For Biofuels From Waste
- 2011/01/24: CSW: "Will EPA sit out scientific integrity rulemaking?" asks Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2011/01/29: DeSmogBlog: GOP Lawmakers Submit First Attempt To Limit EPA Oversight
- 2011/01/28: NYT:CW: Sen. Inhofe Shapes Major GOP Bills to Fight EPA's Greenhouse Gas Regs
- 2011/01/28: Grist: California congressman [Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif)]: Highways are constitutionally mandated, bike paths not a federal concern
- 2011/01/27: QuarkSoup: Rand Paul Would Annihilate US Science
- 2011/01/25: TheHill:e2W: Key Republicans outlining proposal in coming weeks to block EPA climate authority
- 2011/01/25: ClimateP: Ed Whitfield (R-KY) and House GOP want more polluted air and less clean energy
- 2011/01/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Why don't we know how many drinking water sources have been harmed by natural gas operations?
- 2011/01/25: NRDC:SwitchBoard: A Pipeline Runs Through It: Still Down on Upton (Part II)
- 2011/01/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: A Pipeline Runs Through It: The Kalamazoo River, failing infrastructure, the Great Lakes and the fate of our nation
- 2011/01/24: UCSUSA: GOP Efforts to Defund Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is Foolhardy
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2011/01/28: Grist: In profound denial, Chamber of Commerce lectures on 'energy reality'
- 2011/01/27: TheHill:e2W: Industry ramps up oil-sands campaign ahead of key decision
The oil industry is ramping up its campaign to pressure the Obama administration to approve a massive tar-sands [Keystone XL] pipeline project, arguing that approval of the project would aid the country's economic recovery. - 2011/01/24: Grist: Chevron, under pressure for destruction of Amazon, was top oil lobbyist last quarter
While in the UK:
- 2011/01/28: Guardian(UK): Climate change could spark UK rail revival and tourism boom, research finds
Reports from Network Rail and Natural England say disused railways could reopen if higher summer temperatures foster greater domestic tourism - 2011/01/27: TerraDaily: Concern at British plan to rent out forests
- 2011/01/28: DeSmogBlog: A "Dash For Gas" Will Threaten Renewable Energy Development And Climate Action: British MPs
- 2011/01/28: BBC: DEFRA's UK climate-proofing plans unveiled
Roads built to the same standards as the scorching south of France; fish moved from the overheated Lake District to cooler waters in Scotland; lighthouses threatened by rising seas. - 2011/01/27: Guardian(UK): Two-thirds of UK biofuel fails green standard, figures show
Just 31% of the biofuel supplied under the government's initiative to tackle climate change met its own green standards, the Renewable Fuels Agency reports - 2011/01/26: BBC: Forest sale plans draw mixed reactions
The government is to publish its consultation on selling off tracts of publicly-owned forests in England. The plan has been greeted with anger by campaigners, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Judi Dench and Bill Bryson among signatories of a letter calling the sale "unconscionable". But the government says nature and rights of access will be protected. The plan could lead to the sale of all land in England owned by the Forestry Commission, totalling 2,500 sq km. Forests in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not affected. - 2011/01/28: EarthTimes: EU summit to call for shale gas analysis, papers show
- 2011/01/28: EarthTimes: Climate tax on meat and milk could help reduce Europe's carbon footprint
- 2011/01/27: EurActiv: Commission eyes resource efficiency targets for EU-27
- 2011/01/27: PlanetArk: Europe's Green Energy Faces Subsidy Shake-Up
- 2011/01/26: EurActiv: Wind energy fans welcome Sarkozy plans but question timing
France announced yesterday (25 January) tenders for a 10 billion euro offshore wind project that will create 600 wind turbines capable of churning out 3,000 MW of energy. But environmentalists warn that more still needs to be done to meet the country's and the EU's 2020 targets. - 2011/01/26: EarthTimes: Joschka Fischer says Nabucco key to viable European energy plan
- 2011/01/24: EurActiv: Czech minister: 'Fairer' CAP not good enough
Eastern European countries have waited long enough to get their fair share of the EU's farm budget, said Ivan Fuksa, the Czech agriculture minister, in an interview with EurActiv.cz. He dismissed European Commission proposals for an additional transition period to even out differences in payments between 'new' and 'old' EU members. - 2011/01/24: PlanetArk: Most EU States Back Trace GM In Food Imports: [European Commission briefing] Paper
PM Julia Gillard announced a new tax along with major cutbacks of green initiatives:
- 2011/01/27: ABC(Au): Oh my God. She killed Kevin.
It took Julia Gillard about thirty seconds to read out today, in matter-of-fact tones, a list of her predecessor's pet projects that she has decided to put to the sword.- Green Car Innovation Fund (axed):
- Cleaner Car Rebate scheme (axed):
- Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships and Solar Flagships schemes (deferred):
- Solar Hot Water Rebate scheme (capped):
- Green Start program (axed):
- Global Capture and Storage Institute (funding capped):
- 2011/01/28: ABC(Au): Climate policy: Gillard puts it all on black
News of a freakish reversal of direction in Australian climate policy is not, in itself, particularly stunning any more; this policy area is prone to more rethinks than Lady Gaga's day wardrobe.
But what Julia Gillard did at yesterday's National Press Club address is nonetheless pretty staggering.
Her cool public slaughter of about $1.3 billion in clean energy incentives could be described in several different ways.
Rudd-era greenies might call it "rat-f***ing."
Ms Gillard herself would call it "Seeing what needs to be done, and doing it."
I'd call it: "Putting It All On Black".- 2011/01/27: ABC(Au):TDU: The economics of flood recovery
- 2011/01/28: ABC(Au):TDU: Financial markets applaud Gillard's flood package
- 2011/01/27: TerraDaily: Australians face flood recovery tax
- 2011/01/28: ENS: Australia Cuts Green Programs, Imposes Tax to Fund Flood Recovery
- 2011/01/28: REA: Australian Flood Waters Cause Trickle of Solar Funding to Dry Up
- 2011/01/27: BBerg: Australia to Cut, Delay Clean-Energy Funding on Floods
- 2011/01/27: ClimateP: Australia to cut, delay $500 million of clean-energy funding after record warming-driven floods. Seriously!
- 2011/01/27: ABC(Au): Government cuts to green programs
- 2011/01/27: BBC: Australia floods: PM Julia Gillard unveils new tax
Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a new tax to help pay for devastating floods that she says will cost A$5.6bn ($5.6bn; £3.5bn) in reconstruction. Ms Gillard said the 12-month tax, starting from 1 July, would be levied on those earning A$50,000 or more, and those affected by floods would not pay.The Murray-Darling Basin Plan controversy continues through flood and drought:
- 2011/01/27: ABC(Au): Oh my God. She killed Kevin.
- 2011/01/28: ABC(Au): The appointment of Craig Knowles as the new chief of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has been welcomed by many, but the Opposition claims it looks like a Labor mates deal
- 2011/01/28: ABC(Au): Murray-Darling group welcomes key appointment
The Murray-Darling Association is optimistic the new head of the Basin Authority will balance the interests of irrigators with environmental considerations. Former New South Wales Labor MP Craig Knowles takes over from Mike Taylor, who resigned late last year. - 2011/01/28: ABC(Au): New Murray-Darling Basin Authority chief named
The Federal Government has appointed former New South Wales Labor minister Craig Knowles as the new head of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA). - 2011/01/27: ABC(Au): An Adelaide University scientist says floodwaters from eastern Australia will do little to restore the Coorong wetlands near the Murray mouth in the short term
- 2011/01/27: ABC(Au): Griffith Mayor calls for PM to intervene on plan
The Mayor of Griffith has called on the Prime Minister to admit the Guide to the Murray Darling Basin Plan was wrong and extend the deadline for its release. Mike Neville addressed Tony Windsor's committee, examining the socio-economic affects of the proposed cuts, in front of about 1000 people on Tuesday. - 2011/01/26: ABC(Au): Windsor: Tax blocking water saving projects
The MP heading the Murray Darling Basin inquiry [Tony Windsor] says tax charges on water saving projects is a significant issue that needs to be addressed. - 2011/01/26: ABC(Au): Conservation group calls for Basin Plan to continue
The nation's peak conservation group says water cuts proposed in the Murray Darling Basin Plan should not be halted because of flooding. - 2011/01/24: ABC(Au): Single map tracks Murray-Darling flows
- 2011/01/24: ABC(Au): Murray mayors to discuss flood risks
Flood management will be discussed by mayors from towns along the Murray today at a meeting in Adelaide called by the State Government. - 2011/01/30: ABC(Au): Prime Minister Julia Gillard has brushed aside calls from independent MPs for her to set up a permanent natural disaster fund
- 2011/01/27: JQuiggin: How to pay for the floods?
- 2011/01/24: ABC(Au): The Federal Government will delay the introduction of new tax rules for alternative fuels from July to December this year
And in New Zealand:
- 2011/01/29: RadioNZ: Govt to formalise reduction in greenhouse gases
The Government is to make law a planned 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050. Environment Minister Nick Smith announced the move on Saturday at the National Party's environment forum in Akaroa. The Government proposes to gazette the reduction under the Climate Change Response Act 2002, thus passing it into law. - 2011/01/25: HotTopic: Before and after science
While in the Indian subcontinent:
- 2011/01/24: TerraDaily: India environment minister [Jairam Ramesh] rejects 'Dr No' tag
India's environment minister sought Monday to reassure corporate leaders that he was pro-industry, saying he did not want to be known as the "Dr No" for blocking economic development. Jairam Ramesh, whose push to block projects threatening the environment has put him on a collision course with big business and cabinet colleagues, said he understood the need for industrialisation to create jobs. "I am not Dr No," Ramesh told a corporate forum, referring to the nickname given to him by critics of his proactive green policies. - 2011/01/28: IBTimes: China to import more fuels despite clean energy drive
China will ramp up conventional fuel imports and production to power its economy in 2011 despite accelerating efforts to develop clean, renewable and alternative energy. The National Energy Administration (NEA) estimated on Friday that energy demand in the world's second largest economy will increase steadily but the growth could moderate from last year. It did not provide an estimate of overall energy demand this year or energy used last year. - 2011/01/25: Reuters: South Korean industry wants CO2 trade delay
- 2011/01/25: MongaBay: Indonesia grants slew of last-minute logging concessions on eve of moratorium
And in the Middle East:
- 2011/01/29: EconBrowser: Geopolitical unrest and world oil markets
- 2011/01/26: OpenDem: The Arab crisis: food, energy, water, justice
Tunisia's popular uprising is reverberating across the Arab world. But such movements face problems that go far wider than dictatorship to encompass the whole range of human security, says Vicken Cheterian. - 2011/01/24: OpenDem: Tunisia and the world: roots of turmoil
The uprising in Tunisia is at once a response to systemic inequity and injustice and an expression of the limits of elite control. But to the economic and political ingredients of the revolt must be added the potent if less evident one of global environmental crisis. - 2011/01/28: Reuters: New Canada environment minister offers no new plans
- 2011/01/28: G&M: Peter Kent sees no pressing need for new climate laws
- 2011/01/28: CBC: Feds serious about environment: Kent -- Canada will continue to work with U.S. on strategy, minister says
- 2011/01/26: G&M: Does Peter Kent even care about emissions?
It was a pity, although quite predictable, that new Environment Minister Peter Kent should have leaped to defend the oil sands even before being briefed by his department. Mr. Kent was briefed, of course -- by the Prime Minister's Office, where the lines had been scripted for the oil sands' new song-and-dance man. - 2011/01/26: PostMedia: Minister rejects national cap-trade system
Canada's new environment minister, Peter Kent, is rejecting the advice of a government advisory panel that has urged him to moved ahead with made-in-Canada climate change policies, despite uncertainty about United States measures and regulations. In a report titled Parallel Paths: Canada-U. S. Climate Policy Choices, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy said Tuesday that Canada's plan to harmonize its climate change policies with the U.S. is "sensible and realistic." But it also recommended the government implement transitional measures, such as the introduction of a national cap-and-trade system in which large industrial polluting companies would be required to buy credits from greener companies that are reducing emissions at a price set by the market. - 2011/01/28: Rabble:KK: Activist Communique: Alex Hundert is out of jail
- 2011/01/29: TStar: G20 accused decries detention conditions
- 2011/01/27: MediaCoop: Alex Hundert: Out of Jail
- 2011/01/26: TSun: G20 suspect admits to breaking bail
An accused key organizer of the violent G20 demonstrations admitted he violated his bail conditions by participating in a peaceful rally at Ryerson University in September. Alex Hundert, 30, was released on bail on July 19, 2010, after his sureties pledged $100,000. One condition stipulated that Hundert "not plan for, or assist in the planning for, participate in, or attend at any public demonstration or protest." On Friday Hundert pleaded guilty to one count of breach of bail and was sentenced to 30 days time served. He was released on the same conditions. - 2011/01/28: DawgsBlawg: Alex Hundert released
- 2011/01/28: OrwellsBastard: The narrative. Always with the narrative.
- 2011/01/27: TStar: SIU reopens third G20 case
The province's police watchdog has reopened a third case alleging police brutality during the G20 summit after new video and still images have surfaced. Joseph Thomson's case was one of the original six G20 cases investigated and subsequently closed by the SIU at the end of November because there wasn't enough evidence to lay charges against a single officer. - 2011/01/27: G&M: SIU re-opens third case of alleged G20 police brutality
- 2011/01/27: OrwellsBastard: Fire up the Blue PR machine again!
- 2011/01/26: G&M: Artist cleared of all weapons charges in G20 case
- 2011/01/26: BBC: G20 charges dropped against Canadian woman
Charges have been dropped against a Canadian artist who was accused of possessing explosives and dangerous weapons in connection with Toronto's G20 summit. Kristen Peterson was charged in June 2010, a day after her partner, computer programmer Byron Sonne, was arrested. Mr Sonne remains in jail on charges including intimidation and threats against the justice system. - 2011/01/26: CBC: G20 charges dropped against Toronto artist [Kristen Peterson]
The Crown has dropped explosives and weapons charges laid against a Toronto artist just before last summer's G20 summit. Kristen Peterson is ecstatic following the Crown decision Wednesday to withdraw the charges, her lawyer, Brian Heller, said. - 2011/01/24: MediaCoop: Unravelling the G20
The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy delivered a report this week:
- 2011/01/25: CP: [Link to 4.5 meg pdf] NRTEE Recommends Phased-In Climate Harmonization Policy with U.S.
- 2011/01/25: PI: Pembina reacts to the new Canada-U.S. climate report from the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy
- 2011/01/25: CBC: Carbon plan needed with or without U.S.: panel [NRTEE]
- 2011/01/25: G&M: Break from U.S. and put price on carbon, Ottawa told
The Harper government should move ahead with "made-in-Canada" climate change regulations -- including a price on carbon dioxide emissions -- rather than wait for the United States to act, a government-appointed advisory panel recommends. In a report Tuesday, the national Roundtable on the Environment and Economy argues Canada would enhance its economic competitiveness if it acted now so as to avoid more costly actions later. - 2011/01/27: TheHill:e2W: Industry ramps up oil-sands campaign ahead of key decision
The oil industry is ramping up its campaign to pressure the Obama administration to approve a massive tar-sands [Keystone XL] pipeline project, arguing that approval of the project would aid the country's economic recovery. - 2011/01/27: DeSmogBlog: Texans Fight Against TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline: Don't Mess With Texas
- 2011/01/25: NRDC:SwitchBoard: A Pipeline Runs Through It: Still Down on Upton (Part II)
- 2011/01/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: A Pipeline Runs Through It: The Kalamazoo River, failing infrastructure, the Great Lakes and the fate of our nation
I am dubious about this poll, but here it is:
- 2011/01/25: CBC: Canada's North, South agree on Arctic: study -- Country clashes with other Arctic nations on sovereignty
- 2011/01/25: G&M: In the Arctic, Canada willing to fight to keep the true north free
[...]
A new opinion poll finds that Canadians are generally far less receptive to negotiation and compromises on disputes than their American neighbours. More than 40 per cent of Canadians said the country should pursue a firm line in defending its sections of the North, compared to just 10 per cent of Americans. - 2011/01/26: Rabble: Ethical oil and the right-wing echo chamber
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2011/01/28: PI: Approval of Total oilsands mine deeply flawed
- 2011/01/28: CBC: Oilsands mine approval condemned
Environmental groups Friday condemned a decision by a joint federal-provincial regulatory panel to conditionally approve a new oilsands project in northern Alberta. On Thursday, the Joint Review Panel outlined 20 conditions related to the environmental and technical aspects of the Joslyn North mine Total E&P Canada is proposing to build 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. The mine is due to start up in 2017 and produce 100,000 barrels of bitumen per day over its 20-year life. There are now four oilsands mines in operation. The panel said the project would have "no significant adverse effect" on wildlife and water quality and would meet targets on reducing waste, known as tailings, from the oilsands extraction process. - 2011/01/27: G&M: CBC oil-sands doc needs to wade deeper
- 2011/01/24: SolveClimate: To Green Tar Sands Mining, Solvent Instead of Steam?
Also in Alberta:
- 2011/01/29: CBC: Alberta aims for single oil and gas regulator
Energy associations in Alberta are applauding the province's move to set up a single regulator for the oil and gas sector. The province plans to set up one regulatory body that will make all decisions about land, water licences and environmental assessments. The move will streamline the application process, which currently requires companies to go through the Energy Resources Conservation Board, followed by Alberta Environment, Sustainable Resource Development and Alberta Energy. The province says the change will make the process for approvals faster, making Alberta's oil industry more competitive. - 2011/01/29: CleanBreak: Capital Power must continue to offset coal plant emissions as promised: regulator
- 2011/01/28: PI: Pembina Reacts: Genesee III coal power plant must deliver on promise to offset greenhouse gas emissions
In Manitoba, people have flooding on their minds:
- 2011/01/24: CBC: Man. flood outlook predicts repeat of '09
- 2011/01/24: Manitoba: First Spring Flood Outlook for Manitoba
Manitoba Water Stewardship's first spring flood outlook indicates the 2011 spring flood potential is high for much of Manitoba including the Red, Souris, Pembina, Assiniboine, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and Fisher rivers and the Interlake. High river flows, above-normal snow-water content in the snowpack, and an expected cooler and wetter spring have increased the probabilities of significant flooding. With average weather along the Red River, a flood the size of 2009 is anticipated while unfavourable weather could result in a flood of 1997 levels. With average weather along other rivers and streams in Manitoba, flooding is still anticipated and, with unfavourable weather, significant flooding could occur. - 2011/01/24: CBC: Ominous Manitoba flood forecast feared -- Province budgeting $22 million for flood fight
Ontario has it's Green Energy Act, now comes the implementation:
- 2011/01/26: CleanBreak: Toronto-area commuter trains to finally go electric, just not fast enough
- 2011/01/27: REA: Ontario Leaps to Second in North American Solar PV for 2010
- 2011/01/25: REA: Fits and Starts: Ontario's Green Energy Growth
- 2011/01/25: TStar: Ontario's $7B green energy contract details still secret: NDP
The provincial government is still hiding the exact costs and details of a historic green energy deal that convinced Samsung to invest $7 billion in the province, says the NDP. The Ontario, Samsung and Korea Electric Power Corporation deal forms the backbone of the government's green energy plan to bring solar and wind power jobs to the province. It ensures four clean energy manufacturing plants will be built in Ontario, bringing with them thousands of new jobs. - 2011/01/24: CBC: Ont. wind turbines challenged in court -- Lawsuit claims province failed to consider health effects
While in la Belle Province:
- 2011/01/28: PostMedia: Quebec to crack down on leaky shale gas wells -- 'The situation evolves,' environment minister says
Quebec will "require" shale gas developers to ensure that leaking wells in Quebec are repaired as quickly as possible, Quebec's environment minister said Friday morning. Six notices of infractions have been issued to companies following provincial inspections that have picked up in recent weeks. - 2011/01/28: CBC: Quebec issues warnings to shale gas explorers -- 2 companies warned about leaks
In the North:
- 2011/01/28: CBC: Nunavut heritage sites face climate threat
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
- 2011/01/27: DeSmogBlog: Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife: Not Even Canadians are Safe from the Kochs Anymore
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2011/01/17: C&C: Daniel Tanuro: The Futility of Green Capitalism
- 2011/01/29: CCurrents: What If We Stopped Fighting For Preservation?
- 2011/01/29: CCurrents: Oil And Food Prices
- 2011/01/28: Guardian(UK): Ban Ki-moon: World's economic model is 'environmental suicide'
UN secretary general tells Davos panel that an economic revolution is needed to save the planet as he shifts his focus from climate change to sustainability - 2011/01/24: CCurrents: The Illusion Of Money [Korten]
- 2011/01/24: CCurrents: "We Need To Stop This Culture Before It Kills The Planet" -- A conversation with Derrick Jensen
- 2011/01/24: MTobis: Post-Growth Progress
And in the Transition movement:
- 2011/01/26: CCurrents: Four Foundations Of Activism In The Face Of Collapse
What do we tell the children?
- 2011/01/27: ClimateP: Raffi on child honouring, the right to a future, and "tweeting while Earth burns" -- Urgent need for a new lens and lexicon for conveying climate collapse
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2011/01/26: NatureTGB: Abortion 'does not lead to mental health problems'
- 2011/01/26: CCurrents: Oil Decline Rate And Population
- 2011/01/24: TreeHugger: Is Cutting Population Easier than Cutting Consumption?
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2011/01/24: CCurrents: Rocky Times Ahead: Are You Ready?
- 2011/01/24: CCurrents: Driving Straight Into Catastrophe
- 2011/01/24: DD: Climate change: Driving straight into catastrophe
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
- 2011/01/27: RBroberg: UK Telegraph: RTFM IPCC AR4 WG1
- 2011/01/28: Deltoid: Andrew Bolt column flooded with deceit
- 2011/01/27: Grist: How to get the boob tube to tell the truth about climate change
- 2011/01/26: KlimaZwiebel: BBC policy on climate change
- 2011/01/26: JKB: James Delingpole interview on BBC : climate sceptic admits not to be qualified in climate science
- 2011/01/27: ABC(Au): Setting an example on climate change
- 2011/01/25: BBickmore: The Daily Herald Points Out Wet Year
- 2011/01/24: Deltoid: ABC's AM misleads listeners
- 2011/01/24: ClimateP: Brad DeLong 1, Joshua Green 0
While activists search for effective communication techniques:
- 2011/01/27: KSJT: NatureNews - Tim Radford whacks a canard. Scientists speak just fine, as such things go
- 2011/01/26: NatureN: Of course scientists can communicate -- Tim Radford takes aim at the popular myth that researchers are hopeless at explaining their work to a general audience
- 2011/01/26: BVerheggen: Eschenbach to Trenberth: Admit uncertainty but don't show uncertainty
Regarding the quality of blogosphere discussion:
- 2011/01/26: SEasterbrook: My evil twin [D Easterbrook]
- 2011/01/26: HotTopic: Core blimey, [Don] Easterbrook's at it again
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2011/01/30: PSinclair: Bill Maher on Climate Change
- 2011/01/29: CCP: Solo Sailor Recounts Grim State Of Southern Oceans
- 2011/01/29: ClimateP: Green on the Screen
- 2011/01/25: PRWatch: "Gasland" Up for Best Feature Documentary At Oscars
- 2011/01/28: ClassM: How bad could it get?
- 2011/01/28: PSinclair: Engineering Solar Solutions for Third World Poverty
- 2011/01/29: HotTopic: Paul Nurse: science under attack
- 2011/01/27: Tamino: Paul Nurse on science vs anti-science
- 2011/01/26: PSinclair: BBC - Science Under Attack
- 2011/01/26: TreeHugger: Climate Skeptic Delingpole on Why He Doesn't Read Science (Video)
- 2011/01/25: PSinclair: All Electric Cars: What will they look like in 2015?
- 2011/01/25: ClimateP: Must-see Delingpole meltdown on BBC: "It is not my job to sit down and read peer-reviewed papers because I simply haven't got the time... I am an interpreter of interpretations."
- 2011/01/25: TreeHugger: Fracking & Climate Change Refugee Documentaries Gasland, Sun Come Up Nominated for Oscars
- 2011/01/24: Guardian(UK): The TV interview that tied James Delingpole's tongue
The bellicose Telegraph climate sceptic has complained to the BBC of being 'intellectually raped' on Horizon during an interview with Nobel prize-winner Sir Paul Nurse - 2011/01/24: PSinclair: ABC News Gets it: Now to Communicate it Clearly
- 2011/01/23: PSinclair: Diving Under the Pole
As for podcasts:
- 2011/01/26: BNC: New BNC podcast series and predict millionth page view
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2011/01/27: ENS: Appeals Court Upholds Environmentalists' Right to a Preliminary Injunction
- 2011/01/27: DeSmogBlog: New Mexico's Supreme Court Overrules Climate Skeptic Governor: Greenhouse Gases Will Be Regulated
- 2011/01/26: al Jazeera: Shell faces hearing over Nigeria -- Oil giant accused of abusing human rights and destroying the environment at Dutch parliamentary hearing
- 2011/01/25: BBerg: BP Accused by Victims of Racketeering Law Violation
- 2011/01/25: OilChange: The "world's worst oil-related disaster"
- 2011/01/24: AutoBG: Auto dealers fight strict California emissions rules
- 2011/01/24: DesMoinesRegister: Court challenges stall new biofuel crops
- 2011/01/24: MoJo: Amazon Case Against Chevron Enters Final Stage
- 2011/01/23: Grist: A trend named Sue -- Climate-change lawsuits are on the rise
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
- 2011/01/28: IBTimes: China to import more fuels despite clean energy drive
- 2011/01/23: C&L: One Commodity to Rule Them All: Oil
- 2011/01/28: CCurrents: Clean Energy Dreams
- 2011/01/27: CCurrents: Climate Benefits Of Natural Gas May Be Overstated
- 2011/01/28: EurActiv: Russia, ExxonMobil seal $1bn Black Sea oil deal
- 2011/01/28: ClimateP: Evolving energy systems: The Swedish story
- 2011/01/28: RigZone: The Gaping Gap Between The Price of Nymex and Brent. Which is Right?
- 2011/01/28: OilDrum: NGL to the Rescue, Revisited (Part 1/2)
- 2011/01/26: NBF: UK Cella Energy develops hydrogen based fuel in microbeads that can lead to US$1.50 per gallon fuel compatible with existing cars
- 2011/01/26: Eureka: The world can be powered by alternative energy, using today's technology, in 20-40 years [Jacobson]
- 2011/01/26: OilDrum: The BP Energy Outlook to 2030 - a review
- 2011/01/25: Reuters: Rising Northwest hydro output may hurt wind farms
- 2011/01/25: CCurrents: Green Energy's Big Challenge: The Daunting Task Of Scaling Up
- 2011/01/26: BBC: Heritage Oil finds 'major gas field' in Iraq
- 2011/01/25: EnergyBulletin: Energy: Hydrocarbons in North America
- 2011/01/24: ProPublica: Inspectors Flagged Leaky Alaska Pipeline for Replacement Two Years Prior
- 2011/01/20: BBC: IEA doubles global gas reserves estimates
The world may have twice as much natural gas than previously thought, according to the rich nations' think tank the International Energy Agency (IEA). - 2011/01/24: EnergyBulletin: TWIP fails to warn of a 1.8 mb/d supply shortfall
- 2011/01/24: PlanetArk: Alaska Oil Line That Leaked Deemed Risky Since 2008
- 2011/01/24: OilChange: The Oil Boom is Back [says PFC Energy consultants]
- 2011/01/19: BBerg: Pickens Says U.S. Spent $337 Billion on Oil Imports [in 2010]
- 2011/01/24: BRitholtz: Energy Costs and the Economy
- 2011/01/24: NakedCapitalism: Ian Fraser: Myopic Metrics and Blind Alleys for High Finance -- and Big Oil, too [Reserves Replacement Ratio (RRR)]
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2011/01/28: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Why current chemical disclosure policies are not sufficient when it comes to oil and gas production
- 2011/01/27: NRDC:SwitchBoard: West Virginia: a spill not reported and not cleaned up, with no answers for the surface owners
- 2011/01/28: DeSmogBlog: A "Dash For Gas" Will Threaten Renewable Energy Development And Climate Action: British MPs
- 2011/01/28: EarthTimes: EU summit to call for shale gas analysis, papers show
- 2011/01/28: ProPublica: In Symbolic Move, Philadelphia Calls for Gas Drilling Ban
- 2011/01/26: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Another well blow-out during hydraulic fracturing
- 2011/01/25: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Fracking Exposé, "Gasland," Gets Oscar Nod
- 2011/01/26: SACurrent: Warming trend -- Regulators far from ready for challenges fracking brings to South Texas
- 2011/01/26: TreeHugger: Natural Gas Far Less Green Than Claimed - Fracking Emissions 1000s Times Higher Than Reported: EPA
- 2011/01/25: DeSmogBlog: Industry Groups Fight Dirty Against Oscar-Nominated Hydraulic Fracturing Documentary "Gasland"
- 2011/01/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Why don't we know how many drinking water sources have been harmed by natural gas operations?
- 2011/01/25: ProPublica: Climate Benefits of Natural Gas May Be Overstated
The answer my friend...:
- 2011/01/28: REA: Argentina Looks to Wind for the Answer to its Energy Woes
- 2011/01/27: REA: Central America's Wind Generation Grows 120%
- 2011/01/25: PlanetArk: France To Launch Offshore Wind Tender On Tuesday
- 2011/01/25: EarthTimes: France launches offshore wind turbine project
- 2011/01/24: REA: As Expected, U.S. Wind Installations Down 50% in 2010
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2011/01/25: FuturePundit: Cheaper Full Spectrum Solar Cells Developed
- 2011/01/28: REA: Spain Generated 3% of its Electricity from Solar in 2010
Despite the solar fallout, Spanish solar systems are delivering billions of kilowatt-hours to the country. Wind power is now bigger than hydro and coal in the country. - 2011/01/27: PhysOrg: Kenyan's mission: solar lamps to empower the poor
- 2011/01/26: PhysOrg: US solar firm [First Solar] to build $300 mln Vietnam plant
- 2011/01/24: LBL: The Practical Full-Spectrum Solar Cell Comes Closer
- 2011/01/24: SolveClimate: Solar Acquisition Paying Off for Powertool Giant Hilti
Feed-In-Tariffs are being variously implemented around the world:
- 2011/01/27: REA: FITs Drive Nearly 2,000 MW of Solar PV Development in Italy
- 2011/01/26: REA: UK Feed-In Tariff Enjoys Early Success
On the coal front:
- 2011/01/29: Economist: The coal boom - Burning ambitions -- What is good news for miners is bad news for the environment
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2011/01/27: TEC: Vinod Khosla and the Gasification/Fermentation Debate [Rapier]
- 2011/01/27: REA: RAND Report Sparks Debate about Advanced biofuels
- 2011/01/26: Eureka: Agave fuels global excitement as a bioenergy crop
- 2011/01/24: TEC: The Regulatory-Ethanol Complex
- 2011/01/23: Thehill:e2W: McCain: 'Ethanol is a joke'
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2011/01/27: EurActiv: East Europe nuclear plants struggle to find investors
Cash shortages and uncertainty over energy prices are delaying or cutting back nuclear power projects across Central and South-Eastern Europe, threatening energy supply and a push to abandon polluting coal. - 2011/01/24: NBF: Understanding the bias in the BP 2030 Energy forecast which shows no growth in nuclear energy
- 2011/01/25: EarthTimes: Poland will have nuclear energy by 2020, premier says
- 2011/01/25: EarthTimes: Belarusian nuclear power plant could be operational by 2017
- 2011/01/24: TEC: Brazil talks turkey with France, and so does Turkey
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2011/01/27: CCurrents: The Peak Oil Crisis: British Proposal For Tradable Energy Quotas
- 2011/01/26: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: British proposal for Tradable Energy Quotas
- 2011/01/26: CCurrents: Preparing For Life In A Peak Oil World
- 2011/01/24: REA: The Peak Oil Catastrophe-in-waiting
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2011/01/27: TEC: Let's "Kick the Tires" on our Power Grid
- 2011/01/20: BasqueResearch: PhD thesis contributes more stable grid connection and other enhancements to wind generators operating at very high potential
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2011/01/28: EUO: EU call to step up energy efficiency seen as weak
- 2011/01/27: TreeHugger: World Energy Use Could Be Reduced 73% By Energy Efficiency Alone
- 2011/01/27: NewScientist: Efficiency could cut world energy use over 70 per cent
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2011/01/25: FuturePundit: VW Diesel Electric Hybrid 261 MPG
- 2011/01/27: AutoBG: Report: Volkswagen to produce 260-mpg plug-in XL1
- 2011/01/25: TreeHugger: Does 261 MPG Sound Good to You? VW is Introducing the XL1 Prototype in Qatar
- 2011/01/24: PhysOrg: Electric vehicle capabilities way ahead of policy, infrastructure needs
The technologies needed to begin seriously weaning the U.S. transportation system away from petroleum and toward alternatives such as hybrid and pure electric vehicles have made great progress, but harnessing them on a scale that would significantly lower greenhouse-gas emissions or oil imports is complicated by issues of choosing the right policies and of implementing needed infrastructure improvements. - 2011/01/24: NBF: Bologna University final reports of the January 15th heat production experiment during preliminary tests on the Rossi "Ni-H" reactor/A>
As for Energy Storage:
- 2011/01/26: PhysOrg: High-performance capacitor could lead to better rechargeable batteries
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2011/01/25: PhysOrg: Companies' stock value can be hurt by greenhouse emissions
How much greenhouse gas a company produces has a significant effect on the value of the company's stock, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, - 2011/01/24: DeSmogBlog: British Government Continues Greenwashing Effort, Ignores Ecological Decline In UK
Who's fielding the FAQs?
- 2011/01/26: Guardian(UK): What is the greenhouse effect?
- 2011/01/24: Guardian(UK): How much warmer will the planet get?
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
- 2011/01/28: ClimateP: Energy and climate news for January 28...
- 2011/01/27: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for January 27...
- 2011/01/26: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for January 26...
- 2011/01/25: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for January 25...
- 2011/01/24: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for January 24...
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2011/01/28: RBroberg: Climate Blog and News Recap
- 2011/01/28: IJISH: Mindless Link Propagation
- 2011/01/28: Grist: A walk through the week's climate news -- The Climate Post: So really, how will we get to a post-carbon future?
- 2011/01/28: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Climate, Energy and Environment News from Latin America: 1.24 - 1.28.2011
- 2011/01/24: NRDC:SwitchBoard: India Climate Change and Energy News - January 9 to January 15, 2011
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2011/01/29: TPL: A "Cadre" of Dogmatic Scientists Trampling
- 2011/01/29: ERabett: Exploding the Italian Flag
- 2011/01/27: MillerMcCune: Is It Hot in Here? Or Is the Climate Changing?
What's one way to convert climate change skeptics? By making them sweat. - 2011/01/29: TreeHugger: Will Climate Skeptics Change Their Tune When They Feel the Heat?
- 2011/01/28: DeSmogBlog: Greenpeace Airship Hovers Over Secretive Koch Summit with Message "Koch Brothers: Dirty Money"
- 2011/01/28: TreeHugger: Climate Skeptic Mistake Goes Unchallenged?
- 2011/01/28: TreeHugger: Shell Denies Allegations in Nigeria, Where an Exxon Valdez-sized Spill Occurs Annually
- 2011/01/28: OilChange: Was Ugandan Oil Deal "Corrupt"?
- 2011/01/27: IJISH: E-mail to climate inactivist Joel Hesch
- 2011/01/27: ClimateP: Moonstruck: Climate science denier Harrison Schmitt, appointed to head NM environment agency, believes enviros and scientists like Holdren are communists
- 2011/01/27: OilChange: "Shell, Let's Go Clean Nigeria!"
- 2011/01/26: al Jazeera: Shell faces hearing over Nigeria -- Oil giant accused of abusing human rights and destroying the environment at Dutch parliamentary hearing
- 2011/01/27: WtD: Confronting the Cranks: journalist to challenge climate "cranks" on camera, hilarity sure to unfold
- 2011/01/26: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #8: Rising sea levels by Rob Painting
- 2011/01/26: TreeHugger: Climate Skeptic Delingpole on Why He Doesn't Read Science (Video)
- 2011/01/25: CCP: Mark Boslough: Climate-change deniers ignore science
- 2011/01/25: ERabett: Is Intellectual Rape a High Tech Lynching?
- 2011/01/25: TPL: The Climate Denier Dunce Cap
- 2011/01/25: TMoS: Rolling Stone Names Worst Climate Change Villains
- 2011/01/25: DeSmogBlog: Industry Groups Fight Dirty Against Oscar-Nominated Hydraulic Fracturing Documentary "Gasland"
- 2011/01/24: IdiotTracker: Minor myth: Russian scientists don't believe in global warming
- 2011/01/25: ClimateP: Must-see Delingpole meltdown on BBC: "It is not my job to sit down and read peer-reviewed papers because I simply haven't got the time... I am an interpreter of interpretations."
- 2011/01/24: RS: Who's to Blame: 12 Politicians and Execs Blocking Progress on Global Warming
- 2011/01/25: TreeHugger: Leading Climate Skeptic Reportedly Complains of "Intellectual Rape"
- 2011/01/25: WtD: Doubleplus-ungood: the language of deniers restricts their critical thinking on climate change (and a helpful dictionary of Denyspeak)
- 2011/01/24: ClimateShifts: Who's to blame for blocking progress on global warming?
- 2011/01/24: Guardian(UK): The TV interview that tied James Delingpole's tongue
The bellicose Telegraph climate sceptic has complained to the BBC of being 'intellectually raped' on Horizon during an interview with Nobel prize-winner Sir Paul Nurse - 2011/01/24: ClimateP: Rolling Stone names 12 politicians and executives blocking progress on global warming
- 2011/01/24: ClimateP: Revelle Medal winner Pieter Tans on the climate science disinformation campaign
- 2011/01/25: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #7: Snowjob by dana1981
- 2011/01/24: AlterNet: A Visual History of Koch Conservatism, from John Birch to Cato
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2011/01/28: Grist: Is it hot in here? Or is the climate changing?
- 2011/01/27: AlterNet: Time to Fight Back: How We Can Take on Those Who Are Sabotaging Our Response to the Climate Crisis
- 2011/01/27: ERabett: The Earth's energy budget: A slow-motion climate catastrophe [Farley]
- 2011/01/26: RBroberg: Huybers 2006b: Figure 1b
- 2011/01/25: RBroberg: Huybers 2006b: Porting the Pleistocene
- 2011/01/24: RBroberg: Huybers 2006b: A Summation of Summer Days
- 2011/01/25: Guardian(UK): Green Patriot Posters [10 pictures]
- 2011/01/23: PT:TDS: Climate change, insurance companies, and criminals
- 2011/01/25: WtD: Age of Carbon? Fall of empires, the rise of Hitler, the collapse of Communism and rising temperatures: stunning NASA maps chart the emergence of the "new normal"
- 2011/01/25: DeSmogBlog: On Climate Change: Is Individual Action Pointless?
- 2011/01/24: ERabett: Water, Water Everywhere and Neer a Drop Did Freeze
- 2011/01/24: SEasterbrook: Facts + Values = Action
- 2011/01/24: MGS: Whiteboard on the end of global warming
- 2011/01/24: WiC: Michael Klare: resource revolts
- 2011/01/23: Tamino: Loaded Questions
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- NSF: Science360 News Service
- WSF: World Social Forum 2011
- Transition Times
- Lophelia - the Cold-water coral, deep-sea coral and deep-water coral resource/A>
- RiverSmart: Murray-Darling Basin Flow Tracker
- Columbia Earth Institute -- Blogs
- Columbia Water Center -- Water Matters
- GeoMIP: The Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project
- ECC: The Economics of Climate Change [weekly lists of papers]
- Wiki: Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
- Wiki: Permian-Triassic extinction event
- Hot Topic - Global warming and the future of New Zealand
- Burning the Future
- 350 Org
- AGRA: Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
- Wiki: 2007-2008 world food price crisis
- GlobalWarmingArt: Sea Level Rise Explorer
- IFAD: International Fund for Agricultural Development
- NOAANews Archive
More black humour in a climatic vein:
There's a G20 meeting coming up:
Still some Cablegate news:
While in Antarctica:
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
Australia is getting it on both the East & West coasts. Oh, and Wilma zapped New Zealand:
And in the carbon cycle:
And in historical times:
While on the ENSO front:
More GW impacts are being seen:
This week in extreme weather:
Glaciers are melting:
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
And in Europe:
Otherwise in Australia:
And in China:
While elsewhere in Asia:
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
The G20 controversy lingers:
The battle over the Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipelines rages on:
Regarding the Tories ethical oil PR campaign:
This week in the Gee Whiz File:
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
Low Key Plug
My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.
<regards>
P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.
"We are facing the end of history. We don't want to be the sacrificed countries of the 21st century. We want to survive."
-Antonio Lima, Cape Verde ambassador to the UN, speaking at Cancún
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