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 Instability News
Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is notWisdom
May 15, 2011
- Chuckles, COP17+, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy, Fukushima Talk, Flooding
- Arctic Council, SRREN, Wikileaks, UNGCF, Fossils vs Biofuels, Thermodynamics, Cook
- Melting Arctic, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Food Prices, Land Grabs, Food Production
- Hurricanes, Temperatures, Clouds, Ozone, Paleoclimate
- Historical Climate, Extinctions, Anthropocene, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Extreme Weather, Tornadoes
- Wildfires, Corals, Acidification, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Geoengineering, Adaptation
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, Hansen, Jenkinson
- International Politics: Kyoto, UN, ETS Tussle, Misc, Energy Race
- Law & Activism, Polls, Water Politics & Business, Religioso
- National Politics: America, Gulf, 2012, NRC, Education, Subsidies, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
- Britain, Europe, Australia, Carbon War, Murray-Darling, New Zealand, India, Asia, South America
- Canada, Delusion, Behaviour, Pipelines, Assiniboine
- Cohen Commission, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts, Betting
- Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Pipelines, Peak Oil, Biofuel
- Wind, Solar, Nukes, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
- Business, Greenwashing, FAQs, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
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- 2011/05/15: uComics: (cartoon - Auth) The Nations's Top Scientists Say...
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Frank is unwell
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Re-cycling
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Parking Charges
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Pinkism
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 24
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 23
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 22
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 21
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 20
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 19
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 18
- 2011/05/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 17
- 2011/05/13: QuarkSoup: (cartoon) Useless Occupations for the Apocalypse
- 2011/05/11: uComics: (cartoon - Auth) The Canary in the Kitchen
- 2011/05/10: ClimateP: (cartoon - Keefe) Looks like Greenland...
- 2011/05/08: TreeHugger: Sugar Sues High Fructose Corn Syrup
CoalCares bounced one off the coal companies:
- 2011/05/13: Grist: CoalCares responds to Peabody legal threat
- 2011/05/13: DeSmogBlog: Peabody Energy Threatens To Sue Yes Men For Exclusivity
- 2011/05/12: EnergyBulletin: Coal industry punk'd by hilarious spoof website
- 2011/05/12: Stoat: Coal Cares?
- 2011/05/11: DeSmogBlog: New Coal Cares(tm) Campaign Targeting Link Between Coal And Asthma Leaves Viewers Breathless
- 2011/05/11: PowerShift: Coal cares? St. Louis students find out otherwise
- 2011/05/11: ClimateP: Coal Cares: Spoof -- or reality?
- 2011/05/11: TreeHugger: World's Largest Coal Company Gives Out Free Asthma Inhalers to Kids (Not.)
- 2011/05/10: CCP: Coal is Killing Kids hoax (Yes Men Labs helped)! Peabody Coal Cares About Kids With Asthma
- 2011/05/10: Minyanville: Culture Jammers Take on Peabody Energy With "Coal Cares" Spoof
- 2011/05/10: TCoE: Coal Cares. No, really.
Looking ahead to COP17 and future international climate negotiations:
- 2011/05/12: EarthTimes: Bringing soot and methane on board, post-Kyoto
Fukushima news took a turn for the worse this week:
- 2011/05/13: NatureNB: Understanding the complete meltdown at Fukushima unit 1
- 2011/05/13: CCurrents: TEPCO Now Confirms Nuclear Meltdown In Fukushima Reactor No. 1
- 2011/05/13: APR: Fukushima Daiichi No. 1: Meltdown?
- 2011/05/13: APR: NISA responds to TEPCO plan to fill dry well at No. 1 plant
- 2011/05/12: Reuters: Fukushima reactor has a hole, leading to leakage
One of the reactors at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant has a hole in its main vessel following a meltdown of fuel rods, leading to a leakage of radioactive water, its operator said on Thursday. - 2011/05/12: Atlantic: Fukushima 'Full Meltdown' Made Official
- 2011/05/13: PlanetArk: Fukushima Reactor Has A Hole, Leading To Leakage
One of the reactors at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant has a hole in its main vessel following a meltdown of fuel rods, leading to a leakage of radioactive water, its operator said on Thursday. The disclosure by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) is the latest indication that the disaster was worse than previously disclosed, making it more difficult to stabilize the plant. - 2011/05/12: al Jazeera: Japan reactor leak 'serious setback'
Radioactive water pouring from troubled reactors is hindering efforts to bring the nuclear power plant under control. One of the reactors at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant has been damaged more severely than originally thought, officials said, a serious setback for efforts to stabilise the radiation-leaking complex. The data released on Thursday also showed that the water level in the core of Unit 1 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is much lower than previously thought, leaving the portion of the fuel rods still intact fully exposed. Other fuel has slumped to the bottom of the pressure vessel and is thought to be covered in water. - 2011/05/12: TEPCO: The results of nuclide analyses of radioactive materials in the air at the site of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (48th release)
- 2011/05/12: Telegraph(UK): Nuclear meltdown at Fukushima plant
One of the reactors at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant did suffer a nuclear meltdown, Japanese officials admitted for the first time today, describing a pool of molten fuel at the bottom of the reactor's containment vessel. - 2011/05/12: SlashDot: Engineers Find Nuclear Meltdown At Fukushima Plant
- 2011/05/12: Mainichi: Nuclear fuel at Fukushima No. 1 unit melted after full exposure
Water inside the troubled No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was at an unexpectedly low level, not enough to cover the nuclear fuel, hinting that a large part of the fuel melted after being fully exposed, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday based on data obtained by adjusted gauges. - 2011/05/12: GSN: Reactor Rupture Could Slow Japan Plant Stabilization
Coolant is escaping through a newly discovered opening in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's No. 1 reactor pressure vessel, a development that could slow efforts to prevent potential further radiation releases from the Japanese facility... - 2011/05/11: APR: TEPCO rapidly halts water flow to cable pit at No. 3 plant
- 2011/05/12: APR: TEPCO, NISA: Serious water loss at No. 1 plant
- 2011/05/12: APR: TEPCO Pressure Vessel Model photos
- 2011/05/12: BBC: Setbacks at Japan nuclear plant
A reactor at Japan's crippled nuclear plant has been more badly damaged than originally thought, operator Tepco has said. Water is leaking from the pressure vessel surrounding reactor 1 - probably because of damage caused by exposed fuel rods melting, a spokesman said. - 2011/05/11: APR: Fukushima Daiichi update
- 2011/05/10: APR: Fukushima Daiichi updates
- 2011/05/06: Cryptome: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Photos 14
- 2011/05/10: APR: TEPCO: New equipment illustrations
- 2011/05/09: NatureNB: VIDEO: Workers explore inside Fuksuhima
Post Fukushima, nuclear policies are in flux around the world:
- 2011/05/13: APR: Hamaoka No. 4 shut down; No. 5 to follow
- 2011/05/12: DerSpiegel: The World from Berlin -- 'A Reliable Energy Supply' Without Nuclear Power
A draft report on the future of nuclear energy in Germany has come to the conclusion that all the country's reactors should be shut down by 2021. But while setting a deadline might be a political necessity, German commentators argue that Chancellor Angela Merkel's government should focus on the changeover to renewables. - 2011/05/13: EurActiv: EU countries divided over nuclear stress tests
France and Britain, the two EU countries with the largest nuclear industry, strongly opposed stringent stress tests on nuclear power plants following the Fukushima disaster in Japan. Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger's proposal to introduce them was sponsored by Austria, a country without nuclear energy, and backed by Germany. - 2011/05/13: EUO: Europe delays nuclear stress tests
Europe's nuclear safety regulators on Thursday (12 May) failed to reach an agreement on 'stress tests' for nuclear plants, due to squabbling over whether to include terrorist attacks and other man-made disasters. Backed by Berlin, EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger had insisted that potential terrorist attacks be part of the screening for checking the resilience of Europe's 143 plants. The issue was forced on the the political agenda following the nuclear crisis at Japan's Fukushima plant. "We are glad Oettinger and Barroso are asking for stronger stress tests than what is currently on the table," German chancellor Angela Merkel told a group of journalists on Wednesday. But no deal was reached on the scope of the stress tests on Thursday following six hours of talks. Representatives from France and Britain insisted that nuclear plants should be examined only to see if they can withstand natural disasters. - 2011/05/12: HotTopic: Merkel's rush to renewables
- 2011/05/11: ScienceInsider: Japan's U-Turn on Nuclear Power: Reaction
- 2011/05/11: ScienceInsider: Ethics Commission Recommends Swift German Nuclear Phaseout
- 2011/05/10: NYT: Japan to Cancel Plan to Build More Nuclear Plants
- 2011/05/11: DeutscheWelle: Nuclear commission pinpoints 2021 for German atomic shutdown
A draft report from Germany's ethics commission on nuclear power says the country could and should close down all its nuclear power stations by 2021. And it says this date could even be moved forward by some time. - 2011/05/11: EurActiv: Nuclear plants across Europe face 9/11 test
The 143 nuclear power plants operating in Europe, plus the six under construction and the 15 planned, should be able to withstand any possible threat, including a malicious plane crash like the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, the European Commission announced. - 2011/05/11: Grist: Japan (shockingly!) gives up on further nuclear power
- 2011/05/10: NatureNB: Japan tears up nuclear plans in energy review
- 2011/05/11: TreeHugger: Nuclear power: If Japan and Germany don't need it, why does anyone?
- 2011/05/11: OilDrum: Fukushima Fallout: A Nuclear Japan is Sooooo Last Century
- 2011/05/10: DerSpiegel: Defending Nuclear Power in Court -- Utilities Could Block Merkel's Energy Revolution
Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing ahead with her plans to phase out nuclear power in Germany. The latest proposal would see the last reactor going offline around 2020. But resistance from the major power companies could throw a spanner in the works. - 2011/05/09: DerSpiegel: Interview with Günther Oettinger -- 'No Compromises When it Comes to Security'
Resolve for strict stress tests on European Union nuclear plants is dwindling. But in an interview with Spiegel, European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger says he will not sign on to a watered-down version of the plan. - 2011/05/10: PlanetArk: Japan To Shut [Chubu Electric] Nuclear Plant On Quake Fears
- 2011/05/10: BBC: Japan 'to review energy policy' over nuclear crisis
- 2011/05/10: CBC: Japan scraps 50% nuclear-power target
Japan's prime minister says the country will scrap a plan calling for increasing the share of nuclear power as an energy source to 50 per cent from the current 30 per cent. Naoto Kan told a news conference Tuesday that Japan needs to "start from scratch" on its long-term energy policy after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. - 2011/05/09: EnergyBulletin: Germany's unlikely champion of a radical green energy path
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is anything but a left-wing greenie. The party she leads, the Christian Democratic Union, is the political equivalent of the Republicans in the U.S. Her coalition government is decidedly pro-business. Often described as Europe's most powerful politician, Merkel's top priority is job creation and economic growth. Yet if the chancellor succeeds with her new energy policy, she will become the first leader to transform an industrialized nation from nuclear and fossil fuel energy to renewable power. - 2011/05/09: NatureNB: Japan to shut down 'dangerous' Hamaoka nuclear reactors
- 2011/05/09: TechRev:arXivB: Chain Reactions Reignited At Fukushima After Tsunami, Says New Study
And of course, the pundits. lobbyists and politicians have a lot to say:
- 2011/05/13: NBF: Tepco will install giant polyester covers over the Fukushima reactors
- 2011/05/13: CCurrents: Tepco "Compensation" For Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Is A Political Fraud
- 2011/05/11: TheState: Greater than expected damage seen at Japan reactor
- 2011/05/13: PSinclair: Gunderson: Fukushima Update
- 2011/05/13: CBC: Japan agrees on nuclear compensation plan
- 2011/05/12: PSinclair: Meltdown Confirmed and Updated: Crazed Expat Vlogger Vindicated
- 2011/05/12: BBC: Japan's government has approved a plan to help Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) compensate victims of the crisis at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant
- 2011/05/12: APR: Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 - estimates worsen
- 2011/05/12: PSinclair: Fukushima: Meltdown at Unit 1. Maybe at Unit 2. Maybe at Unit 3. American Media: Nothing to see here, move along.
- 2011/05/10: RawStory: Japanese nuclear firm asks for gov't bailout to pay disaster victims
The president of TEPCO on Tuesday submitted a request for Japanese government aid in compensating those affected by its stricken nuclear power plant, as the utility said it faced funding problems. Presenting the request to trade and industry minister Banri Kaieda, Masataka Shimizu told reporters that TEPCO would undertake bold restructuring measures to help pay for damages caused by the world's worst nuclear accident for 25 years. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said in the submitted document that the company faced "an extremely severe situation regarding fund-raising such as loans from financial institutions, not to mention bond issuance." The company said it needed state help to continue operating and avoid a scenario that threatened "fair and prompt compensation to affected people and causing fears over stable supply of electricity." - 2011/05/11: BBC: Japan crisis: Tepco agrees conditions for state aid
The operator of Japan's crisis-hit nuclear plant has agreed to drastic restructuring in return for government help paying a huge compensation bill. The conditions agreed by Tepco include massive cost-cutting, no upper limit for compensation payouts and accepting an investigation of its management. The move comes exactly two months after the devastating earthquake and tsunami. - 2011/05/11: PSinclair: Fukushima: Reactor 4 Building in Danger of Collapse?
- 2011/05/10: TreeHugger: "Fukushima Plate" Tells You If Your Sushi Is Radioactive
- 2011/05/10: CCurrents: Deadly Silence On Fukushima
- 2011/05/11: CSM: Japan's Fukushima crisis drives protests over world's largest nuclear plant in India
- 2011/05/09: HuffPo: Deadly Silence on Fukushima
- 2011/05/09: BBC: Japan's Tokyo Electric has said it will seek government help in compensating victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster
- 2011/05/09: ABC(Au): Japan halts nuclear plant on quake fears
The operator of Japan's ageing Hamaoka nuclear plant, located near a tectonic fault line south-west of Tokyo, said it would temporarily shut down its last two running reactors. Prime minister Naoto Kan on Friday called for the closure of the plant, eight weeks after a massive quake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant north-east of Tokyo, sparking the world's worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl in 1986. Seismologists have long warned that a major quake is overdue in the Tokai region south-west of Tokyo where the Hamaoka plant is located. It is only 200 kilometres from the capital and megacity of Tokyo. The Hamaoka plant has five reactor units, but only two are currently running - numbers four and five. Reactors one and two, built in the 1970s, were stopped in 2009, and three is undergoing maintenance. - 2011/05/09: PlanetArk: Chubu Elec Shares Tumble After Call To Shut Nuclear
- 2011/05/09: BBC: Chubu Electric set to close nuclear plant
Chubu Electric Power has agreed to suspend operations at a nuclear facility on safety concerns. On Friday, Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked Chubu to halt operations at its plant in Hamaoka in central Japan. Mr Kan said three reactors sit in an area due for an earthquake, and new safety measures needed to be put in place. - 2011/05/15: CNN: Mississippi River spillway opened as towns brace for floodwater
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to open one-fourth of Morganza spillway's floodgates - USDA says farmers eligible for crop insurance in accordance with their policies - Corps official: "As the river needs it, we'll open it" - "Right now, a lot of people are real nervous about it. It's sad," a resident says - 2011/05/14: CNN: First bay of Louisiana spillway opens, in attempt to lower river level
A Corps official says: "We think there is a successful operation going on" - 19 of Louisiana's 64 parishes are expected to see flooding, a state agency says - One of potentially several bays of the Morganza spillway opens Saturday - It will flood the Atchafalaya River Basin, but lessen damage down the Mississippi - 2011/05/14: BBC: Mississippi floods: Louisiana gates open to save cities
US army engineers have opened floodgates in Louisiana that will inundate up to 3,000 sq miles of land in an attempt to protect large cities along the Mississippi River. The Morganza Spillway opened at 1500 local time (2000 GMT) to ease pressure on Baton Rouge and New Orleans. This is the first time in four decades the level of the Mississippi has forced the floodgate to be opened. About 25,000 people and 11,000 buildings could be adversely affected. - 2011/05/14: CBC: Louisiana floodgates [Morganza spillway] release torrent
Army engineers bagan to slowly open the gates of an emergency spillway along the rising Mississippi River on Saturday, a move that will divert floodwaters from Baton Rouge and New Orleans, yet also inundate homes and farms in parts of Louisiana's populated Cajun country - 2011/05/13: MTobis: Strike Three? Will Louisiana endure yet another astonishing and enormous disaster?
- 2011/05/14: NASA:EO: Spring Floods in the U.S. Midwest and Canada
- 2011/05/14: BBC: US South braces for record Mississippi floods
- 2011/05/13: CBC: Flood-threatened Cajun areas urged not to hope
- 2011/05/13: NatureN: Why Mississippi floods were expected -- A combination of bad weather, ocean conditions and land development conspired to produce high waters
- 2011/05/12: CSM: Even miles from swollen Mississippi, flood threat 'unprecedented'
- 2011/05/12: CBC: Mississippi River spills over Louisiana levee
Water from the swollen Mississippi River poured over a century-old levee in northeastern Louisiana on Thursday, flooding 4,900 hectares of corn and soybeans despite farmers' frantic efforts to shore up the structure. Downstream, officials with the Port of New Orleans said the Coast Guard could close the river to ships as early as Monday, halting traffic on one of the world's busiest commercial waterways. - 2011/05/12: CNN: Louisianans brace for flood's onslaught
The Corps is opening more than 100 more bays today along a spillway - The river is at flood stage at New Orleans - "Nobody can wrap their heads around" what's coming, a resident says - The Army Corps of Engineers expects to open Morganza spillway - 2011/05/11: Grist: Climate crisis fueling Mississippi River's historic floods
- 2011/05/12: Wunderground: Mississippi River flood of 2011 already a $2 billion disaster
- 2011/05/11: CSM: Mississippi flooding drowns crops and casinos: What's the economic toll?
- 2011/05/11: BBC: Mississippi flood: Southern states brace for crest
- 2011/05/11: CBC: Flooded river taking aim at Mississippi Delta
- 2011/05/11: CNN: Floodwaters pour toward 'last place on Earth that needs' more water
"My house is completely submerged," Mississippi resident says - At Morganza Spillway, any number of 125 gate bays could be opened - Arkansas Farm Bureau estimates damage to state's agriculture to top $500 million - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says flooding could affect about 3 million acres - 2011/05/10: CSM: Memphis largely spared as Mississippi River floodwaters near historic high
- 2011/05/10: CBC: Memphis sees river crest but downstream states worry
- 2011/05/10: CNN: Mississippi River crest rolls south; Mississippi and Louisiana prepare
Corps opens 44 more gates on the Bonnet Carre spillway - "Water has done what it's going to do," Shelby County disaster manager says - The forecast crest of 48 feet in Memphis is just inches shy of the 1937 record - Louisiana and Mississippi must now deal with rising waters as the crest works south - 2011/05/09: MoJo: The Mississippi River Flooding, Explained -- The basics on the floods that are hitting the Heartland
- 2011/05/10: Grist: Is climate change causing the Mississippi flood?
- 2011/05/10: al Jazeera: Tennessee hit by worst floods in decades
Thousands evacuated and homes and roads under water as Mississippi swells to six times its normal width. - 2011/05/10: ABC(Au): The worst floods to hit the central United States in more than 80 years have swallowed homes, farms and roadways and has swollen the Mississippi River to six times its normal width
- 2011/05/09: Guardian(UK): Memphis on flood alert as Mississippi waters hit record peak
- 2011/05/09: Guardian(UK): Memphis braces for worse flooding as Mississippi rises - in [17] pictures
- 2011/05/09: CNN: Army Corps battles rising Mississippi from Memphis to New Orleans
Louisiana's governor urges residents to prepare for possible flooding - U.S. Corps Army Corps of Engineers opens a spillway to protect New Orleans - There's been flooding around Memphis, though levees appear sound, officials say - The river near Memphis is expected to crest at a near-record 14 feet above flood stage - 2011/05/09: Wunderground: Mississippi River sets all-time flood records; 2nd major spillway opens
- 2011/05/09: BBC: Memphis flooding: Thousands of homes evacuated
- 2011/05/09: BBC: In pictures: Memphis floods
- 2011/05/08: al Jazeera: Thousands flee surging river in US
Residents of Memphis living around the Mississippi are abandoning their homes as waters continue to rise. - The Arctic Council
- 2011/05/13: EUO: Clinton: Arctic Council enters new era
The Arctic Council - a forum of eight countries with territory in the polar region - has agreed its first legally-binding agreement, marking it out as a burgeoning decision-making arena at a time when global interest in the region is spiraling. Climate change, melting icecaps, offshore oil and new shipping routes are among the issues attracting an increasingly heavy-weight crowd, evidenced at a ministerial meeting in Nuuk, Greenland, on Thursday (12 May) by the attendance of US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. - 2011/05/13: EUO: EU gets cold shoulder in the Arctic
Arctic Council ministers have agreed on a new set of criteria for determining whether an external country or institution is eligible for 'permanent observer' status in the increasingly-important forum, but a decision on the European Commission's long-standing application could still be years away. - 2011/05/12: CSW: A stepped-up U.S. sense of urgency on rapid change in the Arctic? [TAC]
- 2011/05/12: BBC: Arctic states meet in Greenland to discuss resources
Eight states with interests in the Arctic are meeting in Greenland to discuss management of natural resources and the impact of climate change. - 2011/05/12: CBC: Arctic Council leaders sign rescue treaty
- 2011/05/12: G&M: Coastal nations urged to preserve Arctic waters
Two hundred miles above Canada's most northern shore lies a body of international water that has been covered in ice for more than 800,000 years -- a sea the size of the Mediterranean kept beyond reach of commercial fishing interests by a vast frozen dome of white. But the ice shield is melting and no agreements are in place to prevent boats from China, Japan and other fishing nations from entering the High Arctic to reap an undersea bounty that could become accessible in just a few years. - 2011/05/12: CBC: Is the search-and-rescue treaty a model for Arctic co-operation?
- 2011/05/12: CBC: Arctic Council leaders to discuss oil development
- 2011/05/12: EurActiv: Big powers plan polar carve up as Arctic Council opens
The seventh annual Arctic Council has opened in Greenland today (11 May) as secret US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks show that nations are racing to carve up the region's oil, gas and mineral resources, as its ice retreats because of global warming. Greenland is an autonomous territory under Danish sovereignty, but the cables show that US diplomats believe it "is on a clear track to independence," which they also see as "a unique opportunity" for American gas and oil companies. A Greenlandic official is quoted describing his "country" as "just one big oil strike away" from independence. The Arctic is estimated to hold about a quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves. - 2011/05/11: TAC: The Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting
Foreign Minister of Denmark, Lene Espersen and Premier of Greenland, Kuupik Kleist, are hosting the Arctic Council Minsterial Meeting in Nuuk. - 2011/05/12: ClimateP: Clinton and Salazar travel to Arctic Council meeting focused on challenges of rapid polar warming
- 2011/05/12: PlanetArk: Hillary Clinton Lands In Greenland For Arctic Summit
- 2011/05/11: CBC: Arctic 'superpower' leaders meeting in Greenland
- 2011/05/11: PlanetArk: Arctic Nations Eye Future Of World's Last Frontier
Leaders of Arctic nations gather in Greenland this week to chart future cooperation as global warming sets off a race for oil, mineral, fishing and shipping opportunities in the world's fragile final frontier. - 2011/05/10: Reuters: Arctic nations eye future of world's last frontier
Leaders of Arctic nations gather in Greenland this week to chart future cooperation as global warming sets off a race for oil, mineral, fishing and shipping opportunities in the world's fragile final frontier. - 2011/05/11: G&M: Arctic treaty leaves much undecided
Canada, Russia, the United States and their smaller circumpolar neighbours have agreed how to divvy up the fast-warming and fragile Arctic, but only for search-and-rescue responsibilities, leaving aside the vexed issues of sovereignty, oil drilling, pollution and shipping. - IPCC: Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation
- 2011/05/09: IPCC: [link to 964k pdf] SRREN: Summary for Policy Makers
- 2011/05/09: IPCC: [Press Release] Potential of Renewable Energy Outlined
- 2011/05/11: BVerheggen: IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN)
- 2011/05/10: NatureN: How green is my future? UN panel foresees big growth in renewable energy, but policies will dictate just how big
- 2011/05/10: EnergyBulletin: IPCC: Renewables could provide 80% of global energy by 2050
- 2011/05/09: UN: Renewable sources can meet most global energy demands - UN-backed report
- 2011/05/10: PlanetArk: Renewables Could Be 80 Percent Of Energy By 2050: U.N.
- 2011/05/09: UCSUSA: Renewable Energy Likely to Become Dominant Climate Change Solution by 2050, U.N. Study Concludes
- 2011/05/09: TreeHugger: Renewable Energy Can Power the World in 40 Years: IPCC
- 2011/05/10: OilChange: Who Needs Oil or Nukes Anyway? [SSREN]
- 2011/05/09: CBC: 80% renewable energy possible by 2050: U.N.
- 2011/05/09: Guardian(UK): Renewable energy can power the world, says landmark IPCC study
- 2011/05/09: BBC: Renewables can fuel society, say world climate advisers
Renewable technologies could supply 80% of the world's energy needs by mid-century, says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In a report, it says that almost half of current investment in electricity generation is going into renewables. But growth will depend on having the right policies in place, it says. - 2011/05/14: Independent(UK): Revealed: the secret battle for the riches of the Arctic
Leaked cables show how nations are carving up pristine wilderness - 2011/05/13: KSJT: BBC: Wikileaks cables reveal int'l rush to stake mineral claims in Arctic Ocean
- 2011/05/13: MSimon: Stephen Harper and the Arctic Farce
- 2011/05/12: BBC: Wikileaks cables show race to carve up Arctic
Secret US embassy cables released by Wikileaks show nations are racing to "carve up" Arctic resources - oil, gas and even rubies - as the ice retreats. They suggest that Arctic states, including the US and Russia, are all pushing to stake a claim. The opportunity to exploit resources has come because of a dramatic fall in the amount of ice in the Arctic - 2011/05/12: TreeHugger: WikiLeaks: Rush to Drill in Arctic is Stirring Military Tensions with Russia
- 2011/05/12: CBC: WikiLeaks: U.S. dismisses Harper's Arctic talk
A new WikiLeaks cable suggests the U.S. government views Stephen Harper's talk about Canadian Arctic sovereignty as little more than empty chest-thumping designed to win votes. In a diplomatic cable posted this week by the online whistleblower, the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa says the Tories have made successful political use of promises to beef up Canada's presence in the Arctic. But it says the Harper government has done only scant implementation on pledges like increasing surveillance over the Northwest Passage. - 2011/05/11: EmbassyMag: Harper only attended Copenhagen climate conference because of Obama: Cable
Oh What A Surprise! The UN GCF is unfunded:
- 2011/05/09: PlanetArk: Rich Nations Miss U.N. Climate Finance Deadline
Here's one of those studies I would like to see replicated:
- 2011/05/12: TreeHugger: Flying With Fossil Fuels May Sometimes Be Greener Than Biofuels - At Least In Extreme Examples
- 2011/05/11: Eureka: MIT Study: conventional fossil fuels sometimes 'greener' than biofuels
Delving into the laws of thermodynamics this week:
- 2011/05/15: TSoD: The Mystery of Tau - Miskolczi - Part Five - Equation Soufflé
John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:
- 2011/05/15: SkeptiSci: Special Parliament Edition of Climate Change Denial
- 2011/05/15: SkeptiSci: Drought in the Amazon: A death spiral? (part 1:seasons) by Rob Painting
- 2011/05/14: SkeptiSci: Who Ya Gonna Call??? by Daniel Bailey
- 2011/05/14: SkeptiSci: How people are using the Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism
- 2011/05/13: SkeptiSci: Lindzen Illusion #7: The Anti-Galileo by dana1981
- 2011/05/12: SkeptiSci: Book reviews of Climate Change Denial
- 2011/05/11: SkeptiSci: Infographic: 97 out of 100 climate experts think humans are causing global warming
- 2011/05/10: SkeptiSci: Lindzen Illusion #6: Importance of Greenhouse Gases by dana1981
The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
- 2011/05/12: ASI: TOPAZ: a short interview
- 2011/05/11: TCoE: Arctic ice volume: Definitely not good news
- 2011/05/11: ASI: PIOMAS April 2011
- 2011/05/11: UCopenhagen: Change is the order of the day in the Arctic
Climate change in the Arctic is occurring at a faster and more drastic rate than previously assumed, according to experts attending the AMAP conference in Copenhagen. The latest scientific data show that developments in the Arctic's climate are closely related to developments in the rest of the world. - 2011/05/10: ASI: Ice thickness models 2
- 2011/05/08: ASI: Franz Josef Land and Bering
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
- 2011/05/14: Independent(UK): Revealed: the secret battle for the riches of the Arctic
Leaked cables show how nations are carving up pristine wilderness - 2011/05/13: KSJT: BBC: Wikileaks cables reveal int'l rush to stake mineral claims in Arctic Ocean
- 2011/05/12: BBC: Wikileaks cables show race to carve up Arctic
Secret US embassy cables released by Wikileaks show nations are racing to "carve up" Arctic resources - oil, gas and even rubies - as the ice retreats. They suggest that Arctic states, including the US and Russia, are all pushing to stake a claim. The opportunity to exploit resources has come because of a dramatic fall in the amount of ice in the Arctic - 2011/05/12: TreeHugger: WikiLeaks: Rush to Drill in Arctic is Stirring Military Tensions with Russia
- 2011/05/12: CBC: WikiLeaks: U.S. dismisses Harper's Arctic talk
A new WikiLeaks cable suggests the U.S. government views Stephen Harper's talk about Canadian Arctic sovereignty as little more than empty chest-thumping designed to win votes. In a diplomatic cable posted this week by the online whistleblower, the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa says the Tories have made successful political use of promises to beef up Canada's presence in the Arctic. But it says the Harper government has done only scant implementation on pledges like increasing surveillance over the Northwest Passage. - 2011/05/10: Grist: A battle for the Earth's last remaining frontier -- There are clear signs that a new Arctic oil rush has begun
- 2011/05/10: Reuters: Arctic nations eye future of world's last frontier
Leaders of Arctic nations gather in Greenland this week to chart future cooperation as global warming sets off a race for oil, mineral, fishing and shipping opportunities in the world's fragile final frontier. - 2011/05/11: G&M: Arctic treaty leaves much undecided
Canada, Russia, the United States and their smaller circumpolar neighbours have agreed how to divvy up the fast-warming and fragile Arctic, but only for search-and-rescue responsibilities, leaving aside the vexed issues of sovereignty, oil drilling, pollution and shipping. - 2011/05/11: GreenGrok: Whale Confab in the Antarctic
- 2011/05/12: MBARI: Antarctic icebergs help the ocean take up carbon dioxide
- 2011/05/09: Wunderground:RR: Sea Ice South (1): A little geography
The food crisis is ongoing:
- 2011/05/14: GG&G: Another few plots on extreme heat and corn yields
- 2011/05/09: WFP: 10 Things Everyone Should Know About Hunger
- 2011/05/12: NYT:Opinionator: To Survive Famine, Will Work for Insurance
- 2011/05/11: DemNow: "Every 30 Minutes": Crushed by Debt and Neoliberal Reforms, Indian Farmers Commit Suicide at Staggering Rate
- 2011/05/11: UN: More than 1 billion tons of food lost or wasted every year, UN-backed report finds
- 2011/05/10: USAToday: New breed of Americans going hungry
- 2011/05/09: ITracker: Watch the food, ctd
- 2011/05/08: BSD: Climate change knocks wheat and corn production down 4-5%, US not hit so far [Lobell]
- 2011/05/07: MTobis: Food and Oil Over Longer Times
- 2011/05/06: BBerg: Europe Wheat Harvest to Fall on Drought, May Be Catastrophic, Agritel Says
- 2011/05/08: EconView: "Climate Change Stunts Growth of Global Crop Yields"
Food Prices are still problematic:
- FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
- 2011/05/13: BBC: Inflation in US food and fuel prices slows
- 2011/05/09: BPA: Canada Reports Significant Fall in Canola and Barley Stocks and a Rise in Corn Stocks
- 2011/05/10: BPA: FOCUS on Latest FAO Report: High Red Bean Prices in Central America
- 2011/05/10: BPA: Dry Bean Production is Falling in the U.S.
- 2011/05/10: CBC: Wheat prices rise on weather worries -- Flooding in western Canada adds to global concerns
- 2011/05/09: EurActiv: Climate change has spurred food prices: Study [Lobell]
Climate change cut global wheat and corn output by more than 3% over the past three decades compared to growth projections without a rise in temperatures, a study found on Friday. The impacts translated into up to 20% higher average commodity prices, before accounting for other factors, according to the paper published in the journal Science. - 2011/05/09: PlanetArk: Climate Change Has Spurred Food Prices: Study
- 2011/05/09: CBC: Rising fuel prices hurting poor, UN conference told
Speakers at a UN conference in Turkey that aims to help the world's poorest countries say rising food and fuel prices have put additional pressure on people living in poverty. - 2011/05/12: FAO: FAO head warns on land-grabbing -- Foreign investment as tool for development
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2011/05/14: CDreams: Keepers of the Seeds -- How Native farmers and gardeners are working to preserve their agricultural heritage
- 2011/05/10: WFP: WFP Calls For Global Leadership To Invest In Nutrition As Rising Prices Hit Hard
- 2011/05/12: FAO: A new approach to capacity development -- FAO sustains country-led efforts to address local needs
- 2011/05/11: FAO: Cutting food waste to feed the world -- Over a billion tonnes squandered each year
- 2011/05/12: BPA: U.S. Farm Productivity Versus Energy Use
- 2011/05/13: UN: UN resumes food deliveries in two Southern Sudanese states after assurances
- 2011/05/11: Grist: Factory farms the only way to 'feed the world'? Not so, argues Science paper
- 2011/05/12: BBC: One third of world's food is wasted, says UN study
About one third of all food produced for human consumption goes to waste, according to a study commissioned by the United Nations food agency. That amounts to more than one billion tonnes of waste around the world every year. - 2011/05/11: BBC: EU fisheries reform would 'privatise oceans'
- 2011/05/11: EnergyBulletin: Conference asks what the future of food should look like
- 2011/05/11: Eureka: Drought tolerance in crops: Shutting down the plant's growth inhibition under mild stress
- 2011/05/09: G&M: Warming trend could prove boon to Canadian farming
Investors in agricultural commodities have always had to keep an eye on the weather. But maybe they should keep a watch on the climate too. That's because global warming has the potential to be a boon for profit seekers. The reason: a hotter climate could undermine crops, leading to smaller harvests and higher prices. - 2011/05/06: AlterNet: The Future of Food: The Food Movement Goes Mainstream
Tropical Storm Aere zapped the Philippines last weekend, but otherwise it has been quiet:
- 2011/05/09: CBC: Tropical storm [Aere] kills 11 in Philippines
- 2011/05/08: al Jazeera: Philippines hit by deadly tropical storm [Aere]
Heavy rains and landslides kill nine people on northeast coast and force hundreds of thousands to leave their homes. - 2011/05/13: QuarkSoup: April Tied for 4th Warmest April in Records
Clouds are one of the major uncertainties in climate. Much research revolves around them:
- 2011/05/11: UGA: UGA scientists discover missing links in the biology of cloud formation over the oceans
Another report the ozone hole is healing...:
- 2011/05/13: SciNews: [Antarctic] Ozone hole on the mend -- Researchers claim to see atmospheric healing, more than a decade sooner than they expected
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2011/05/14: Stoat: Comets make men mad
And in historical times:
- 2011/05/11: Pitt: Pitt-led Team Unearths 2,300-Year Climate Record Suggesting Severe Tropical Droughts as Northern Temperatures Rise
A sediment core from a South American lake revealed a steady, sharp drop in crucial monsoon rainfall since 1900, leading to the driest conditions in 1,000 years as of 2007 and threatening tropical populations with water shortages, a team from Pitt, Union College, and SUNY-Albany reports in PNAS - 2011/05/09: TreeHugger: Human Activity is Causing Wildlife to Shrink
Oh look! The Anthropocene came up again:
- 2011/05/15: RawStory: Are humans reshaping Earth?
- 2011/05/12: NatureN: Human influence comes of age -- Geologists debate epoch to mark effects of Homo sapiens
Humanity's profound impact on this planet is hard to deny, but is it big enough to merit its own geological epoch? This is the question facing geoscientists gathered in London this week to debate the validity and definition of the 'Anthropocene', a proposed new epoch characterized by human effects on the geological record. "We are in the process of formalizing it," says Michael Ellis, head of the climate-change programme of the British Geological Survey in Nottingham, who coordinated the 11 May meeting. He and others hope that adopting the term will shift the thinking of policy-makers. - 2011/05/13: Eureka: Satellite images display extreme Mississippi River flooding from space
- 2011/05/11: BBC: UK leads space disaster charter
The UK is to lead the international effort that co-ordinates the acquisition of satellite pictures whenever there is a natural disaster. - 2011/05/09: BBC: Soils of UK and Europe drying out [SMOS]
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2011/05/13: PlanetArk: Trees May Grow 500 KM Further North By 2100
- 2011/05/09: MTobis: Dew
- 2011/05/09: SMandia: It's the Spiders, Stupid!
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2011/05/15: SkeptiSci: Drought in the Amazon: A death spiral? (part 1:seasons) by Rob Painting
- 2011/05/12: BBC: Brazil Congress again delays vote on key forest law
- 2011/05/11: Eureka: Reforesting rural lands in China pays big dividends, Stanford researchers say
- 2011/05/09: NatureN: Liberia and European Union sign pact to curb illegal logging
Agreement between EU and Liberia claimed to be some of the world's most comprehensive forest legislation - 2011/05/06: NOAA:ESRL:PSD: Preliminary Assessment of Climate Factors Contributing to the Extreme 2011 Tornadoes
- 2011/05/09: Google:AP: Fire and rain: Fed scientists point to wild April
- 2011/05/10: KSJT: AP: America's wild April might be due to La Niña. Partly. Maybe. And here are the references
- 2011/05/09: NOAANews: Weather, climate extremes punctuate warm, very wet April in U.S.
- 2011/05/10: Wunderground: April 2011: historic U.S. extremes in rains, floods, tornadoes, and fires
On the tornado front:
- 2011/05/10: ScienceInsider: Experts Sifts 'Tens of Thousands of Photos' in Post-Catastrophe Tornado Analysis
As for heatwaves and wild fires (feedback):
- 2011/05/11: BBC:RB: Megafires - a vicious climate circle?
- 2011/05/10: FAO: Growing number of mega-fires may contribute to global warming
FAO calls for wildfire emissions monitoring and comprehensive fire management strategies - 2011/05/10: UN: Mega-fires may be contributing to climate change, UN report finds
Corals are dying:
- 2011/05/13: BBC: Mining to blame for islands to sink beneath waves
Two small islands in South Asia's first marine biosphere reserve have sunk into the sea primarily as a result of coral reef mining, experts say. - 2011/05/12: Grist: Protect the coral reefs -- the life you save might be your own
- 2011/05/12: TreeHugger: Coal Ship Runs Aground, Destroys Coral Reef in Philippine Marine Sanctuary
Acidification is changing the oceans:
- 2011/05/11: UAF: UAF installs first ocean acidification buoy in Alaska waters
- 2011/05/09: UCopenhagen: CO2 makes life difficult for algae
The acidification of the world's oceans could have major consequences for the marine environment. New research shows that coccoliths, which are an important part of the marine environment, dissolve when seawater acidifies. Associate Professor Tue Hassenkam and colleagues at the Nano-Science Center, University of Copenhagen, are the first to have measured how individual coccoliths react to water with different degrees of acidity. - 2011/05/15: HotTopic: Listener gets serious about sea level
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2011/05/13: EnergyBulletin: Water shortages threaten the American West lifestyle
- 2011/05/13: MTobis: Ironic Weather
- 2011/05/12: TCoE: Triage: Sparing New Orleans from... Snowmageddon
- 2011/05/13: ClimateP: Hell and High Water: Weather Channel labels Texas drought and Mississippi floods truly "exceptional"
- 2011/05/12: UCSUSA: How Does Climate Change Contribute to Heavy Rain and Flooding?
- 2011/05/12: CBC: Rising B.C. rivers trigger evacuations and warnings
Rapidly rising waters on several rivers around the Interior of B.C. have forced the declaration of one local state of emergency and number of warnings for other areas. The Cariboo Regional District declared a local state of emergency after the Cottonwood River reached dangerous levels on Thursday. - 2011/05/10: ClimateP: Hell and High water: "Great Texas Drought" drives record wildfires as record deluge drives Mississippi floods
NOAA reports "April 2011: historic U.S. extremes in rains, floods, tornadoes, and fires" - 2011/05/10: Guardian(UK): La Niña and global warming blamed as torrential rains swamp Colombia
Hundreds die and thousands are made homeless as record-level rainfall and floods affect three-quarters of the country - 2011/05/11: ASA: New Strategy Aims to Reduce Agricultural Ammonia -- Feeding cows tannins can cut ammonia production by up to 30 percent
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2011/05/11: NBF: Trial runs of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway to begin
- 2011/05/11: AutoBG: Battle of the Commuters: EVs take on gasoline and the rails
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2011/05/12: OSU: Tornadoes raise questions about building practices, code enforcement
- 2011/05/11: Slate: The Death of the McMansion -- When the housing market returns, we'll want smaller homes built closer together
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- ICCGov: Modeling and Policy of CO2 Removal from the Atmosphere -- 30th - 31st May, 2011
- 2011/05/12: GEP: Bolivia Fights On
- 2011/05/12: NatureNB: Sucking carbon dioxide from air too costly, say physicists
- 2011/05/10: BSD: Open-air carbon capture economically unfeasible for decades
- 2011/05/09: e!Sci: APS releases new technical assessment: Direct air capture of CO2 with chemicals
- 2011/05/10: NYT: Physicist Group's Study Raises Doubts on Capturing Carbon Dioxide From Air
[...]
The report concluded it would cost at least $600 a ton to capture carbon dioxide from the air, compared with an estimated cost of about $80 a ton to capture the gas from a typical coal power plant. - 2011/05/09: Princeton: Report: Direct removal of carbon dioxide from air likely not viable
While on the adaptation front:
- 2011/05/11: Eureka: Coping with climate change -- Can we predict which species will be able to move far or fast enough to track changing climate?
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2011/05/12: NERC:NORA: In situ measurements of Antarctic snow compaction compared with predictions of models by Robert J. Arthern et al.
- 2011/05/12: NERC:NORA: Potential impact of CO2 storage on subsurface microbial ecosystems and implications for groundwater quality by Julia M. West et al.
- 2011/05/13: NERC:NORA: Biodiversity change after climate-induced ice-shelf collapse in the Antarctic by Julian Gutt et al.
- 2011/05/13: NERC:NORA: Harmonic analysis of climatological temperature over Antarctica: present day and greenhouse warming perspectives by F. Justino et al.
- 2011/05/13: NERC:NORA: Widespread persistent thickening of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet by freezing from the base by Robin E. Bell et al.
- 2011/05/13: NERC:NORA: A new record of Holocene sea-level change in the Thames Estuary and its implications for geophysical modelling by Nicole S. Khan et al.
- 2011/05/13: NERC:NORA: Greenhouse gases in the earth system: a palaeoclimate perspective by Eric.W. Wolff
- 2011/05/13: ACP: Anthropogenic aerosols may have increased upper tropospheric humidity in the 20th century by M. Bister & M. Kulmala
- 2011/05/13: ACP: Modeling the Frozen-In Anticyclone in the 2005 Arctic Summer Stratosphere by D. R. Allen et al.
- 2011/05/13: ACP: Influence of Galactic Cosmic Rays on atmospheric composition and dynamics by M. Calisto et al.
- 2011/05/13: GMDD: Development and evaluation of an Earth-system model - HadGEM2 by W. J. Collins et al.
- 2011/05/13: OSD: The vertical structure of oceanic Rossby waves: a comparison of high-resolution model data to theoretical vertical structures by F. K. Hunt et al.
- 2011/05/09: CP: The global ocean circulation on a retrograde rotating earth by V. Kamphuis et al
- 2011/05/12: CPD: Heinrich event 1: an example of dynamical ice-sheet reaction to oceanic changes by J. Ãlvarez-Solas et al
- 2011/05/10: CPD: Hydrological variability in northern Levant over the past 250 ka by F. Gasse et al
- 2011/05/13: Science: (ab$) Comparing Photosynthetic and Photovoltaic Efficiencies and Recognizing the Potential for Improvement by Robert E. Blankenship et al.
- 2011/05/06: Science: (ab$) Transforming U.S. Agriculture by J. P. Reganold et al.
- 2011/05/12: ACP: Detailed heterogeneous oxidation of soot surfaces in a particle-resolved aerosol model by J. C. Kaiser et al.
- 2011/05/12: ACP: On realistic size equivalence and shape of spheroidal Saharan mineral dust particles applied in solar and thermal radiative transfer calculations by S. Otto et al.
- 2011/05/12: ACP: Evaluation of the carbon content of aerosols from the burning of biomass in the Brazilian Amazon using thermal, optical and thermal-optical analysis methods by L. L. Soto-GarcÃa et al.
- 2011/05/12: ACPD: Seasonal variation in vertical volatile compounds air concentrations within a remote hemiboreal mixed forest by S. M. Noe et al.
- 2011/05/12: ACPD: Continental-scale enrichment of atmospheric 14CO2 from the nuclear power industry: potential impact on the estimation of fossil fuel-derived CO2 by H. D. Graven & N. Gruber
- 2011/05/11: ACPD: The unique properties of agricultural aerosols measured at a cattle feeding operation by N. Hiranuma et al.
- 2011/05/10: ACPD: Impact of dust aerosols on Hurricane Helene's early development through the deliquescent heterogeneous freezing mode by H. Zhang et al.
- 2011/05/09: ACPD: Observations of in-situ generated gravity waves during a stratospheric temperature enhancement (STE) event by A. J. Gerrard et al.
- 2011/05/09: ACPD: Observations of volatile organic compounds during ARCTAS - Part 1: Biomass burning emissions and plume enhancements by R. S. Hornbrook et al.
- 2011/05/12: AGWObserver: Papers on global vegetation climate feedback
- 2011/05/10: PNAS: (abs) Serine/threonine kinase gene Stpk-V, a key member of powdery mildew resistance gene Pm21, confers powdery mildew resistance in wheat by Aizhong Cao et al.
- 2011/05/10: PNAS: (letter$) Replies to Shen, Chen et al., and Yi and Zhou: Linear regression analysis misses effects of winter temperature on Tibetan vegetation by Eike Luedeling et al.
- 2011/05/10: PNAS: (letter$) Increasing contamination might have delayed spring phenology on the Tibetan Plateau by Shuhua Yi & Zhaoye Zhou
- 2011/05/10: PNAS: (letter$) Delayed spring phenology on the Tibetan Plateau may also be attributable to other factors than winter and spring warming by Huai Chen et al.
- 2011/05/10: PNAS: (letter$) Spring phenology was not consistently related to winter warming on the Tibetan Plateau by Miaogen Shen
- 2011/05/08: NatureMat: (ab$) Highly active oxide photocathode for photoelectrochemical water reduction by Adriana Paracchino et al.
- 2011/05/10: GMD: PREP-CHEM-SRC - 1.0: a preprocessor of trace gas and aerosol emission fields for regional and global atmospheric chemistry models by S. R. Freitas et al.
- 2011/05/10: GMD: Medusa-1.0: a new intermediate complexity plankton ecosystem model for the global domain by A. Yool et al.
- 2011/05/10: OSD: Black Sea coastal forecasting systems by A. I. Kubryakov et al.
- 2011/05/09: TCD: A statistical permafrost distribution model for the European Alps by L. Boeckli et al.
- 2011/05/09: AGWObserver: New research from last week 18/2011
And other significant documents:
- 2011/05/13: UNEP: [link to several pdfs] Decoupling: natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth
- 2011/05/09: Duke: [231k pdf] Whitepaper: Research and Policy Recommendations for Hydraulic Fracturing and Shale-Gas Extraction by Jackson et al.
- 2011/05/09: APS: [link to 2.4 meg pdf] APS Releases New Technical Assessment: Direct Air Capture of CO2 with Chemicals
- 2011/05/09: IPCC: [link to 964k pdf] SRREN: Summary for Policy Makers
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2011/05/13: NatureNB: Opening up scientific data
- 2011/05/11: IsaacHeld: 10. Atlantic hurricanes and differential tropical warming
- 2011/05/09: ClimateP: The first rule of vindicating climate science is you do not talk about vindicating climate science
Regarding Hansen:
- 2011/05/13: HotTopic: Hansen in NZ: first reports
- 2011/05/13: KSJT: Dominion Post, etc: Jim Hansen in New Zealand, trash-talking coal and green pretensions ; + some bloggin' and rap from Australia
- 2011/05/12: Stoat: Earth's Energy Imbalance and Implications?
Jenkinson obit:
- 2011/05/11: Guardian(UK): David Jenkinson obituary
Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:
- 2011/05/08: EarthTimes: UN Clean Development Mechanism Hits 3,000 Projects
And at the UN:
- 2011/05/13: UNEP: Secretary General Appoints Amina Mohamed of Kenya as Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme
- 2011/05/13: UNEP: Strengthening of IPCC Agreed at Plenary Session in Abu Dhabi
- 2011/05/13: ScienceInsider: International Climate Panel Announces Reforms on Conflicts, Errors
- 2011/05/14: WMO: Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Programme
- 2011/05/13: WMO: WMO Congress to Set Future Direction, Priorities, Budget
- 2011/05/12: UN: UN climate change chief [Figueres] urges governments to accelerate talks on emissions reduction
- 2011/05/12: UNEP: Humanity Can and Must Do More with Less: UNEP Report
- 2011/05/12: UN: Humanity's voracious consumption of natural resources unsustainable - UN report
- 2011/05/13: NatureNB: UN urges world to curb appetite for raw materials
- 2011/05/12: BBC: Rising resource use threatens future growth, warns UN
The world is set to consume three times more natural resources than current rates by the middle of the century, according to a United Nations report. - 2011/05/12: BBC:RB: Climate panel enters the harsh light of day
On the international political front, the extension of EU ETS rules to airlines is a point of conflict:
- 2011/05/12: CleanBreak: Can renewable jet fuels help airlines dodge EU aviation "carbon" charge coming in 2012?
- 2011/05/12: EUO: China joins US in battle against EU carbon rules for airlines
China has joined the US in looking for ways to get out of the EU's upcoming CO2 cap-and-trade regime for foreign airlines flying in and out of the union. A senior Chinese official speaking at an aviation forum in Beijing on Wednesday (11 May) said its airlines should get special treatment because China is still a relatively poor country. - 2011/05/11: EurActiv: China opposes including its airlines in EU's ETS
Chinese airlines have joined US rivals in opposing their inclusion in the European Union's carbon emissions trading scheme, which plans to cap the emissions of all global air carriers flying in and out of Europe from 2012. - 2011/05/11: PlanetArk: China Opposes EU Move To Curb Airline Emissions
Chinese airlines have joined U.S. rivals in opposing their inclusion in the European Union's carbon emissions market from 2012, while some European airlines have supported including all airlines in the scheme. From January 1 next year, the EU will require all airlines flying to Europe to be included in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), a system that forces polluters to buy permits for each tonne of carbon dioxide they emit above a certain cap. The China Air Transport Association (CATA) said on Sunday it opposed the inclusion of their flights into Europe in the ETS, the EU's main tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. An EU source said Chinese government officials had raised the same objections during a meeting with the European Commission on Friday, raising the dispute to a new level. Most flights that land and depart from EU airports will be covered, regardless of the operator's nationality. - 2011/05/11: NOAANews: U.S. and China agree to increase cooperation in greenhouse gas observing and fisheries and ocean management
- 2011/05/12: NOAANews: Rainwatch keeps eye on rainfall for West African farmers -- NOAA-funded program develops solution to address need
The energy race between China and the USA is on, or is it?
- 2011/05/12: NatureNB: The rapid rise of China's research quality
- 2011/05/10: TruthDig: The New Sputnik
In 1957, a United States shocked by the Soviet launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite bounced into action to compete on the world stage. More than 50 years later, in May of 2011, the U.S. is facing a new challenge. The Chinese Communist Party has decided to launch a crash program to produce green energy, a field where it already has a commanding lead over the U.S. The difference between 1957 and 2011 is that American politics in the meantime have been captured by parasitic or corrupt industries such as high finance and big oil and gas. The Green Gap produced by China's increasing lead in the technologies of the future is not even headlined in America's corporate mass media, much less galvanizing a nation of gas guzzlers and coal junkies.
[...]
In contrast to the strenuous efforts of 1958 to expand Americans' horizons, the House of Representatives in 2011 is full of politicians who actively despise science and higher education, hate environmentalism, deny global climate change and are in the back pocket of Big Oil. - 2011/05/08: QuarkSoup: Science and Technical Journal Articles
- 2011/05/08: PSinclair: US sinks to 17th in New Energy. China Number 2. Climate Deniers -- "Winning!"
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
- 2011/05/13: AlterNet: Why Does the Government Treat Nonviolent Environmental Activists Worse Than Extremists Who Aim to Kill
Polls! We have polls!
- 2011/05/13: EarthTimes: Climate change awareness down in Europe
- 2011/05/12: TreeHugger: 75% of Americans Have Never Heard of Climate-Gate, Study Reveals
- 2011/05/10: ClimateP: 9 in 10 Americans blame Wall Street and Big Oil for spiking gas prices
- 2011/05/09: ClimateP: Pew: 71% of Americans say "This country should do whatever it takes to protect the environment."
- 2011/05/09: AutoBG: 22% of Americans "extremely confident" gas will soon be too expensive to drive normally
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
- 2011/05/11: USGS: NOAA, USACE, and USGS Partner to Support Water Resources Management
- 2011/05/14: JFleck: River Beat: The Myth of a Busted La Niña Forecast
- 2011/05/13: Wunderground: America's Achilles' heel: the Mississippi River's Old River Control Structure
- 2011/05/13: JFleck: More Tunnel Talk
- 2011/05/12: JFleck: River beat: what a difference a month makes
- 2011/05/11: PlanetArk: Water Trade Part Of Answer To Feeding World: Nestle
Selling water on exchanges in the same way other commodities are traded could help solve a shortage of the world's most precious raw material likely to hit long before oil runs dry, the chairman of Nestle said on Tuesday. - 2011/05/11: JFleck: About that whole peripheral thingie...
- 2011/05/08: JFleck: Thinking about the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: click your heels together three times...
Among the world's religions:
- 2011/05/12: Grist: The Pope gets down with climate change
- 2011/05/11: DM:JLV: Will the Vatican's declaration on global warming have an impact on the overall climate debate?
- 2011/05/11: ClimateP: Vatican on climate: Pray for science
And on the American political front:
- 2011/05/14: GreenFyre: Observable, dramatic, immediate!
- 2011/05/13: TreeHugger: Will Climate-Related Disasters Convince Americans Global Warming is Real?
- 2011/05/13: CSM: Why the Sierra Club is worried about [California's] 'cap and trade'
- 2011/05/11: CJR: A Mining Disaster Follow-up Follows the Money -- L.A. Times's revealing report on inaction after the WV coal mine explosion
- 2011/05/12: PlanetArk: Texas Grid Says EPA Rules Force [Natural] Gas-Plants To Shut
- 2011/05/12: Grist: Climate disasters: unlikely to be agents of progressive change
- 2011/05/11: CSW: Environmental Information Initiative: "An Agenda to Strengthen Our Right to Know"
- 2011/05/11: NYT:GW: Calif. Auditor Slams Management of $43B High-Speed Rail Project, Urges Overhaul
- 2011/05/11: LA Times:GS: Sierra Club calls on Gov. Brown to revise global warming plan
- 2011/05/11: PSinclair: Birthers. Climate Deniers. Now add Windbaggers.
- 2011/05/11: TreeHugger: More Drilling Won't Keep Transportation Costs Down, But EVs & High Speed Rail Will
- 2011/05/10: DeSmogBlog: 350.org Launches Crowd-Funded Ad Campaign To Hold Polluter-Friendly Politicians Accountable
- 2011/05/09: ClimateP: Better fuel standards would save Americans $67 billion at the pump each summer
- 2011/05/10: NatureN: [Fuel] Costs to keep [IODP] ocean drilling ship in port
- 2011/05/05: AlterNet: How a Gas- and Oil-Rich Area of Montana Wilderness Was Saved From Drilling
- 2011/05/09: AlterNet: 10 Worst States To Be a Woman
- 2011/05/09: Guardian(UK): US food aid: Making the most of what we deliver
- 2011/05/09: Grist: The big question: What story about America's future can unite the U.S. left?
- 2011/05/05: AlterNet: GOP Assault on Truth: Why Do Conservatives Pretend They Know More About Science Than Scientists?
- 2011/05/08: al Jazeera: Global capitalism and 21st century fascism
The global economic crisis and the attack on immigrant rights are bound together in a web of 21st century fascism. - 2011/05/15: ClimateP: Scientists alarmed by diseased fish in the Gulf
- 2011/05/11: UNH: Deepwater Horizon Spill Threatens More Species Than Legally Protected
On the 2012 election trail:
- 2011/05/15: BBC: Mike Huckabee, former governor of the US state of Arkansas, has announced that he does not plan to stand in presidential elections next year
- 2011/05/14: ClimateP: Ron Paul: 'Why Not?' Abolish FEMA, since helping victims of disaster is "compounding our problems" [2012]
- 2011/05/13: CBC: Ron Paul to run for U.S. presidency
- 2011/05/12: Guardian(UK): Newt Gingrich confirms he will take on Barack Obama in White House race
- 2011/05/11: CBC: The field: Republicans eyeing the 2012 nomination
- 2011/05/09: ClimateP: Pawlenty's apology papers over his extensive support for cap and trade
The National Research Council delivered a climate report this week. Few noticed:
- America's Climate Choices
- 2011/05/13: TreeHugger: Things We Already Knew But Are Being Told Yet Again: US Domestic Inaction on Climate Stymies International Action & Resource Overconsumption Means We're Going To Need Another Planet by 2050
- 2011/05/12: GreenGrok: America's Climate Choices
- 2011/05/13: KSJT: No Media Splash: National Research Council says climate change getting worse, we gotta act fast. Again. Not at all the first time. Yawn. Wotta system.
- 2011/05/13: NatureNB: NRC sums up America's Climate Choices ... and they haven't changed
- 2011/05/12: NAS: America's Climate Choices (2011)
- 2011/05/12: NAS: (Press Release) Action needed to manage climate change risks; U.S. response should be durable, but flexible
- 2011/05/12: Eureka: Action needed to manage climate change risks -- new report
- 2011/05/12: NYT: Scientists' Report Stresses Urgency of Limiting Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- 2011/05/12: ClimateP: National Academy calls on nation to "substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions" starting ASAP
Education came up in several guises this week:
- 2011/05/13: DeSmogBlog: California Town's School Board Wants Politically "Balanced" Curriculum On Climate Change
- 2011/05/13: InformedComment: The Koch Brothers and the End of State Universities
- 2011/05/12: TCoE: California city's school board taken over by time travelers
- 2011/05/12: ClimateP: Los Alamitos School Board orders global warming class to teach the controversy, push disinformation
- 2011/05/11: NYT: Coal Curriculum Called Unfit for 4th Graders
Three advocacy groups have started a letter-writing campaign asking Scholastic Inc. to stop distributing the fourth-grade curriculum materials that the American Coal Foundation paid the company to develop. The three groups -- Rethinking Schools, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Friends of the Earth -- say that Scholastic's "United States of Energy" package gives children a one-sided view of coal, failing to mention its negative effects on the environment and human health. - 2011/05/10: AlterNet: Koch Brother Buys Professors At Public University to Spread Free Market Propaganda -- Is Public Education the Kochs' Next Front?
- 2011/04/20: HCN: Sustainable ag education loses funding [budget]
Taxes, Subsidies, Ethanol, Oil and Politics:
- 2011/05/14: OilChange: Top 5 myths about subsidies to oil companies
- 2011/05/12: Guardian(UK): The great fuel fail: ethanol from corn
The US's vast subsidy of ethanol production for petrol is a disastrous case of special-interest capture of public policy - 2011/05/11: RRapier: Getting to the Bottom of ExxonMobil's Taxes
- 2011/05/12: ProPublica: Despite Rhetoric, Cutting Oil Subsidies Would Have Little Effect on Gas Prices
- 2011/05/13: ClimateP: Congressional Research Service confirms closing tax loopholes won't affect gasoline prices
- 2011/05/12: SF Gate: It's time to end ethanol subsidies
- 2011/05/12: BBC: US oil bosses criticised over tax breaks
- 2011/05/11: AlterNet: Exxon Pays a Lower Effective Tax Rate than the Average American
- 2011/05/12: ClimateP: ConocoPhillips CEO Mulva refuses to apologize for saying it is "un-American" to end oil subsidies
- 2011/05/12: ClimateP: The facts of Big Oil's tax loopholes and windfall profits
- 2011/05/12: Grist: Oil bigwigs whine about proposed subsidy cuts
- 2011/05/12: Grist: Americans to Big Oil: We've got your number
The numbers don't lie. Tax loopholes allow Big Oil companies to ratchet up their annual earnings at the expense of American taxpayers. Well-placed campaign contributions to their congressional allies preserve these undeserved handouts. - 2011/05/12: OilChange: ConocoPhillips calls Democrats "Un-American"
Get ready for some fireworks this morning in the Senate. The latest spin coming from the oil industry is that Democrats and the more than 75% of Americans that support ending subsidies to Big Oil are somehow "un-American". - 2011/05/11: ClimateP: ExxonMobil pays a lower effective tax rate than you
- 2011/05/10: ClimateP: Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC) defends fairness of giving billions in oil subsidies to Exxon: "Fair is a relative word"
- 2011/05/09: OilChange: Subsidy Battle Hots Up
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
- 2011/05/14: CDreams: Drill, Obama, Drill: President Caves to Short-Sighted Pressure on Off-Shore Oil Production -- Obama Seeks More Drilling in Alaska, Gulf of Mexico
- 2011/05/14: CBC: Obama plans to ramp up U.S. oil and gas drilling
- 2011/05/14: LA Times: Obama to open Alaska petroleum reserve to new drilling
The broad energy plan, coming as gas prices continue to rise, would also fast-track environmental assessment of petroleum exploration elsewhere. President Obama will open Alaska's national petroleum reserve to new drilling, as part of a broad plan aimed at blunting criticism that he is not doing enough to address rising energy prices. The plan, unveiled in Obama's weekly radio address Saturday, also would fast-track environmental assessment of petroleum exploration in some portions of the Atlantic and extend the leases of oil companies whose work in the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean was interrupted by the drilling moratorium after last year's BP oil spill. - 2011/05/14: CSM: Obama says 'Drill, baby, drill.' Will new oil policy ease gas prices?
- 2011/05/14: BBC: Obama: US will seek oil in Alaska and Gulf of Mexico
The US will seek to expand domestic oil production in an attempt to reduce dependence on imported oil and bring down fuel prices, President Obama says. - 2011/05/13: PlanetArk: U.S. Asks Six Natgas Drillers To Disclose Waste Info
- 2011/05/13: PlanetArk: U.S. Approves Shell Deepwater Oil Drilling Plan [in the Gulf of Mexico]
- 2011/05/12: ScienceInsider: Director of Ecological Think Tank to Depart
The head of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) is leaving after 16 months on the job. Edward McCauley will return to the University of Calgary in Canada to be vice president for research in July. The development is not good news for NCEAS, which is also losing its core funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). - 2011/05/12: DeSmogBlog: [US] Fracking Study Panel Filled With Gas Industry Insiders
- 2011/05/12: NatureN: United States investigates fracking safety -- Energy department to scrutinize hydraulic fracturing for natural gas
- 2011/05/13: AutoBG: Bob Lutz: A CAFE level of 42 mpg is "totally ridiculous"
- 2011/05/13: AutoBG: CAFE 2025 debate heating up over 62 mpg limit
- 2011/05/11: NOAANews: NOAA administrator names governing panel for national climate assessment advisory committee
- 2011/05/10: CBC: FEMA asks for return of disaster relief money
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is asking thousands of Americans who were victims of natural disasters to return more than $22 million in government aid, acknowledging it mistakenly made payments to many people who were ineligible. FEMA is required by law to recover improperly spent money, but most of the people who were helped say they used the cash years ago, and they don't want to be financially punished because of the agency's errors. - 2011/05/10: AutoBG: EPA still doesn't really get stop-start technology, and that means Americans don't, either
- 2011/05/09: BBC: US awards $2bn for high-speed rail upgrades
The US government has awarded $2bn (£1.2bn) for high-speed rail in critical corridors after Florida's Republican governor declined the funds. The projects will boost rail services between Washington DC to Boston, as well as in the mid-west and California. Florida Governor Rick Scott cancelled a high-speed rail project in his state, fearing taxpayers there would have to subsidise the project in the future. - 2011/05/15: ClimateP: [Rep.] Joe Barton (R-TX) Complains that "Big Oil" Is "Pejorative" ... but he keeps attacking "big government"
- 2011/05/14: TCoE: Coal-to-liquids is not just a bad idea, it could become a bad law
- 2011/05/13: ClimateP: GOP bill shifts oil drilling cases to court dominated by judges with oil investments
- 2011/05/12: Grist: Jon Huntsman, once a climate hawk, now disses cap-and-trade like all the other Republicans
- 2011/05/12: ClimateP: Landrieu suggests oil executives should "just shut off the spigots and go elsewhere and maybe America could run everything on solar power for the next decade or two and see what happens"
- 2011/05/11: Stoat: [US Rep] Morgan Griffith (R-Va) is a tosser
- 2011/05/11: TreeHugger: Doctors Rebuke Rep. Barton Over His Claim That Coal Isn't That Bad For Your Health (Video)
- 2011/05/09: ClimateP: House GOP mark BP spill anniversary with rush for new drilling
- 2011/05/09: Grist: Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) wants better tax benefits for bike, transit commuters
While in the UK:
- 2011/05/13: EnergyBulletin: Is this the greenest government ever?
- 2011/05/14: Guardian(UK): David Cameron in danger of breaking green pledge, warn green groups
- 2011/05/14: Guardian(UK): Historic climate change deal with legal powers agreed by Cabinet
Chris Huhne will announce a long-term programme that will put Britain at the forefront of the battle against climate change Cabinet ministers have agreed a far-reaching, legally binding "green deal" that will commit the UK to two decades of drastic cuts in carbon emissions. The package will require sweeping changes to domestic life, transport and business and will place Britain at the forefront of the global battle against climate change. - 2011/05/09: MLynas: Time to stop arguing and start decarbonising
- 2011/05/10: MLynas: Co-operative Energy to sell nuclear + renewables green electricity
- 2011/05/13: AutoBG: Climate advisory panel says UK should rely more on nuclear reactors, less on wind farms
- 2011/05/14: BBC: Coalition 'losing way' on green policies - campaigners
The heads of 15 green campaign groups have written to the prime minister warning the government is in danger of losing its way on environmental policy. - 2011/05/12: Guardian(UK): Ed Miliband appeals to David Cameron over carbon budget row
- 2011/05/10: EnergyBulletin: Will the UK abandon its climate targets?
- 2011/05/10: Guardian(UK): Coalition will miss carbon budgets, analysts warn
Forecast shows the UK will miss its targets to cut emissions over the next decade if it relies on existing policies - 2011/05/10: Guardian(UK): Cable v Huhne -- why the friendly fire?
The 'yellow on yellow' spat between senior Liberal Democrats over carbon emissions cuts half a dozen different ways - 2011/05/10: Guardian(UK): Government's climate adviser steps in to carbon budget row
Lord Adair Turner meets cabinet ministers to help heal split over new emission targets - 2011/05/09: KSJT: BBC, etc: UK green energy advisory committee says we need more nukes
- 2011/05/10: BBC: Labour turn up heat on Huhne over carbon emissions row
Labour have sought to turn up the heat on Chris Huhne amid a row between the energy secretary and colleague Vince Cable over carbon emission targets. The business secretary wants plans to halve emissions between 1990 and 2025 amended, the BBC has learned, fearing it will slow the economic recovery. But fellow Lib Dem Mr Huhne believes the coalition must stick to the target. - 2011/05/09: Guardian(UK): Friends of the Earth boss demands climate target becomes policy
- 2011/05/09: Guardian(UK): This 'greenest government ever' is the greatest threat yet to our environment [Monbiot]
The coalition is preparing to bin Britain's climate change targets. After all, ministers have corporate sponsors to take care of - 2011/05/09: Guardian(UK): Vince Cable and Chris Huhne clash over carbon emissions
The business secretary, Vince Cable, has clashed with his Lib Dem cabinet colleague Chris Huhne by telling him he will not support carbon reduction targets recommended by the government's independent climate change advisory body. - 2011/05/10: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Huhne must be firm on climate change
- 2011/05/09: EarthTimes: Nuclear crutch needed says UK's Renewable Energy Review
- 2011/05/08: BBC: Nuclear 'cheapest low-carbon option' for UK energy
Nuclear power will remain the cheapest way for the UK to grow its low-carbon energy supply for at least a decade, according to government advisers. But renewables should provide 30-45% of the nation's energy by 2030, says the Committee on Climate Change (CCC). Its new report suggests ministers may want to temper ambitions for offshore wind, which is still fairly expensive. - 2011/05/09: Guardian(UK): Climate change adviser warns of coming test for Cameron's green credentials
And in Europe:
- 2011/05/13: NatureNB: Nuclear reactors under stress
The European Commission and the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) yesterday failed to reach agreement on the criteria for safety tests -- or 'stress tests' -- of Europe's nuclear power reactors. The tests, ordered by the European Union in March following the Fukushima disaster, are designed to check that plants can withstand natural disasters and other unexpected events. Yesterday's talks became deadlocked because of resistance by France and the UK to including the risk of terrorist and cyber attacks in the tests. - 2011/05/12: TreeHugger: French National Assembly Moves Against Fracking
- 2011/05/12: EurActiv: Brussels loosens 'binding' efficiency plans
The European Commission has watered down plans to advance the EU towards 20% energy savings by the end of the decade, EurActiv has learned from a draft efficiency directive. - 2011/05/11: BBC: EU fisheries reform would 'privatise oceans'
The European Commission is planning to reform the EU's fishing industry by giving vessels quota shares guaranteed for periods of at least 15 years. The commission will issue a proposal on reforming the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in July, to take effect in 2013. But a draft obtained by BBC News outlines moves that some environmentalists describe as "virtual privatisation of the oceans". Final decisions on fishing quotas will stay with politicians, not scientists. - 2011/05/09: EnergyBulletin: Germany's unlikely champion of a radical green energy path
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is anything but a left-wing greenie. The party she leads, the Christian Democratic Union, is the political equivalent of the Republicans in the U.S. Her coalition government is decidedly pro-business. Often described as Europe's most powerful politician, Merkel's top priority is job creation and economic growth. Yet if the chancellor succeeds with her new energy policy, she will become the first leader to transform an industrialized nation from nuclear and fossil fuel energy to renewable power. - 2011/05/09: EurActiv: Poland takes lead as EU's shale gas promoter
- 2011/05/09: EUO: Shale gas tussle bubbling under EU surface
Heralded as an energy game-changer by supporters, perceived as environmentally pernicious by critics, shale gas is both controversial and increasingly on the European agenda. - 2011/05/12: ABC(Au): Wong attacks Abbott's budget 'negativity'
Finance Minister Penny Wong has accused Tony Abbott of "mindless negativity" after he delivered his budget reply speech. - 2011/05/11: ABC(Au): A Northern Territory Labor Minister has called on his federal colleagues to abandon plans to set up a nuclear waste storage facility in the Northern Territory
- 2011/05/11: NatureN: Science escapes cuts in Australian budget
- 2011/05/10: ABC(Au): Greens bemoan what's not in 'lacklustre' budget
Greens Leader Bob Brown has lashed out at the Government for delivering a budget he says featherbeds the profits of large mining companies at the expense of the least fortunate in society. - 2011/05/10: ABC(Au): Victoria hopes budget includes flood relief
The Federal Member for Murray, Sharman Stone, says she wants the Commonwealth to ensure in its budget that flood relief funding starts arriving in Victoria. - 2011/05/10: ABC(Au): 'NO' to coal seam gas exploration in the Hastings
A group of concerned Camden Haven residents have formed a lobby group, in a bid to stop further expansion of coal seam gas mining in the Hastings region. - 2011/05/13: JQuiggin: Budget clears decks for carbon tax
- 2011/05/10: JQuiggin: Economists for the price mechanism
- 2011/05/10: ABC(Au): Treasurer Wayne Swan has dismissed as "tripe" claims from the Opposition that revenue figures in tonight's budget will be wrong unless the carbon tax is included
- 2011/05/09: ABC(Au): Climate change and the carbon tax will be among the issues discussed at a mining conference in Townsville in north Queensland today
After a 10 year drought and recent massive flooding, water usage planning is controversial and difficult:
- 2011/05/11: ABC(Au): 'Efficiency officers' suggested to reduce Riverina water use
- 2011/05/11: ABC(Au): Households hit with 26pc water price rise in South Australia
And in New Zealand:
- 2011/05/10: HotTopic: Treadgold gets it (nearly, but for $30bn) right
While in the Indian subcontinent:
- 2011/05/11: DemNow: "Every 30 Minutes": Crushed by Debt and Neoliberal Reforms, Indian Farmers Commit Suicide at Staggering Rate
- 2011/05/11: AutoBG: India set to reveal stringent CAFE standards of 40.7 mpg (U.S.) by 2015
And elsewhere in Asia:
- 2011/05/13: BBC: Malaysia's Petronas to invest $20bn in energy complex
Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas plans to a build a $20bn (£12.3bn) factory complex to produce chemicals and refine crude oil. The facility will be located in the southern state of Johor, bordering Singapore. Petronas says the strategic location is close to deepwater ports, international shipping lanes and areas of high energy demand. The project is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2016. - 2011/05/12: BBC: Brazil Congress again delays vote on key forest law
Brazil's Chamber of Deputies has again postponed a vote on controversial changes that would ease a key law on forest protection. After a marathon 12-hour debate that saw renewed splits over the proposals, the vote was put off until next week. The Forest Code currently requires that 80% of a landholding in the Amazon remain forest, 20% in other areas. Proponents of change say the law impedes economic development and Brazil must open more land for agriculture. - 2011/05/10: Guardian(UK): Protests after Chile backs giant dams in Patagonia's valleys
Activists fear ecological haven will be destroyed but government says project is vital for economic growth - 2011/05/13: MSimon: Stephen Harper and the Arctic Farce
- 2011/05/12: TStar: Harper's Arctic sabre-rattling a bid for votes, U.S. diplomats say
- 2011/05/12: CBC: WikiLeaks: U.S. dismisses Harper's Arctic talk
A new WikiLeaks cable suggests the U.S. government views Stephen Harper's talk about Canadian Arctic sovereignty as little more than empty chest-thumping designed to win votes. In a diplomatic cable posted this week by the online whistleblower, the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa says the Tories have made successful political use of promises to beef up Canada's presence in the Arctic. But it says the Harper government has done only scant implementation on pledges like increasing surveillance over the Northwest Passage. - 2011/05/11: EmbassyMag: Harper only attended Copenhagen climate conference because of Obama: Cable
Here's the delusion:
- 2011/05/11: BBerg: Canada as Energy 'Superpower' Requires More Pipelines, Expansion Into Asia
Canada's role as a global energy "uperpower"requires the U.S.'s largest trading partner to spend on pipelines and develop new markets in Asia while halting environmental damage, said Randy Eresman, Encana Corp. (ECA)'s chief executive officer. The nation's natural gas is locked within the North American market, and growing supplies mean natural-gas prices will be "constrained" around $6 per thousand cubic feet, said Eresman. Oil needs an outlet other than just the U.S. to help producers get better prices, said Lars Christian Bacher, who heads Statoil ASA (STL)'s Canadian operations. - 2011/05/11: PostMedia: Canada remains lone holdout in reporting greenhouse gas emissions
Canada has once again missed an international deadline for submitting an inventory of its greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations. While 42 governments, including from earthquakestricken Japan, have submitted their data on emissions of the heat-trapping gases that warm the atmosphere, Canada is the only one behind schedule in reporting to the UN's climate change secretariat as part of its international obligations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. - 2011/05/11: CBC: First Nations group protests pipeline proposal
An alliance of aboriginal groups with lands adjoining a proposed route for dual pipelines are opposed to the project. An alliance of aboriginal groups with lands adjoining a proposed route for dual pipelines are opposed to the project. EnbridgeAbout 40 people marched through downtown Calgary Wednesday to protest a proposed pipeline project that would carry oilsands crude to the west coast. Calgary-based Enbridge wants to build two pipelines from Alberta to Kitimat, B.C., stretching 1,170 kilometres. The $5.5-billion Northern Gateway project would carry about 525,000 barrels of oilsands crude per day from a site near Edmonton through the mountains to a proposed terminal in Kitimat, B.C. There it would be loaded onto tankers headed to the U.S. and Asia. - Province of Manitoba -- Flood Information
- 2011/05/15: CBC: Manitoba floodwater spreads across farmland
- 2011/05/13: CBC: Better flood defences needed along Assiniboine: Ashton
- 2011/05/14: ManGovt: Flooding Bulletin #47
The controlled release of water through the Assiniboine River dikes at the Hoop and Holler bend began at 7 a.m. this morning. - 2011/05/14: CBC: Water flows through Manitoba dike breach
The intentional release of water through the Assiniboine River dikes at the Hoop and Holler Bend in Manitoba has begun. The Manitoba government released a Twitter post saying the process began at 7 a.m. CT when two excavators made the first cut on the east and west sides of the release point, southeast of Portage la Prairie. "We've never had to do anything like this in Manitoba flood-fighting history so this is certainly an unprecedented move that the province is engaging in," Jay Doering, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Manitoba, said moments after the spill started. Excavators initially created a 20-metre wide breach then began to remove rocks, bit by bit, from a makeshift dam built behind the dike. As the rocks were removed and the water started flowing through, pressure began to be relieved on other dikes along the swollen Assiniboine River, which is not expected to crest until sometime between May 18 and 20. - 2011/05/13: WpgFP: Flood Fight 2011: From the ground
- 2011/05/13: WpgFP: Flood Fight 2011: From the air
- 2011/05/14: WpgFP: Water flowing through deliberate dike breach in southern Manitoba
- 2011/05/13: CBC: Lake Manitoba swells with diverted water
- 2011/05/12: CBC: Manitobans await word on dike breach -- Still not determined if and when the breach would take place
- 2011/05/12: PlanetArk: Manitoba To Break Dike On Flooded River Thursday
- 2011/05/12: CBC: Volunteers mobilize to battle Manitoba floods
- 2011/05/11: Man.Govt: Flood Bulletin #42
- 2011/05/11: CBC: Manitoba dike breach set for Thursday
Residents in Manitoba have been put on alert as the province announced a controlled breach of a dike along the Assiniboine River is set for 8 a.m. CT Thursday. - 2011/05/11: CBC: Dike breaches: doing damage to save properties
- 2011/05/09: WpgFP: Manitoba unveils plan to deal with Assiniboine flooding -- Province to divert Assiniboine into La Salle
- 2011/05/10: WpgFP: Province backtracks on gauge claim
Manitoba officials are backing away from a claim they made Friday that a faulty federal gauge in the Qu'Appelle River in Saskatchewan had thrown off their flood projections for Brandon. An official with the Water Survey of Canada office in Regina said Monday the gauge in Welby, Sask., is working properly. - 2011/05/10: WpgFP: Breach best of bad choices -- Officials decide to punch hole in Assiniboine dike east of Portage
- 2011/05/09: CBC: Flooding in Brandon prompts evacuation notice -- Hundreds of homes affected as western Manitoba battles water woes
- 2011/05/08: CBC: Troops will help battle Man. flooding -- City of Brandon declares state of emergency
The Cohen Commission continues accumulating reports:
- Cohen Commission -- Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River
- 2011/05/11: G&M: Fraser River sockeye face chemical soup of 200 contaminants
Sockeye salmon are exposed to a soup of chemicals in the Fraser River, and some of the ingredients are accumulating to potentially lethal levels in eggs, while others may be disrupting the sexual function of fish, according to a scientific review conducted for the Cohen Commission. - 2011/05/09: G&M: For salmon, a deadly sea
A landmark migration study on the West Coast that tracked thousands of young salmon as they swam down rivers and then went out to sea has upended one of the longest-held tenets of fisheries science. Until David Welch and his colleagues surgically implanted more than 3,500 young salmon with electronic tags, it had been believed the high mortality afflicting salmon happened mostly in river estuaries as fish made the transition from fresh to salt water. But Dr. Welch, president of Nanaimo-based Kintama Research Services Ltd., said an array of listening posts strung for more than 1,500 kilometres along the coast allowed researchers to follow the fish as they migrated out of B.C. rivers and headed north, swimming an average of 20 kilometres a day. - 2011/05/11: PI:B: Plenty of positive signals from B.C. on climate change
- 2011/05/12: WCEL: Tanker ban runs aground (for now) -- but people power will keep oil off our coast
- 2011/05/12: PostMedia: Victoria-based institute runs a variety of climate research projects
Green jobs, taxes on luxury vehicles and reasons for the decline of Garry oaks are among 27 research projects being funded by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. The cost to the institute is $1.8 million, made possible by a $19-million provincial government endowment in 2008. "There's a quite remarkable spectrum of projects being tackled here. Everything from improved wind turbine design, through taxation to the hardest issue of how do you change human behaviour," said Tom Pedersen, the institute's executive director. - 2011/05/12: CBC: B.C. premier wins close byelection
B.C. Premier Christy Clark squeaked out a narrow byelection victory Wednesday night that will see her return to the provincial legislature. Clark barely defeated B.C. NDP challenger David Eby in the tightly fought contest in the riding of Vancouver-Point Grey. - 2011/05/12: OSun: Levant wins award for defending tarsands
- 2011/05/12: AlbertaDiary: Oh dear! Beloved Peter Lougheed calls for higher corporate taxes and slow oilsands development
Also in Alberta:
- 2011/05/13: DeSmogBlog: A Less Dirty Energy Reliant Development Pathway In Alberta's Future?
[...]
According to council Chair David Emerson, a business executive and former federal cabinet minister, the council took a distinctive approach when evaluating Alberta's future: "Our starting place was a strong conviction that 'business-as-usual' is not an option for Alberta." The council does call on the province to continue developing its dirty tar sands oil, at least for the time being. But, in a break from the norm, this group of experts emphatically advocates for an immediate reorientation of Alberta's short-term and oil-dependent development strategy. The authors make clear that the tar sands are environmentally damaging, and serve as a dangerous distraction from the need to forge a path toward sustainable development. - 2011/05/12: DeSmogBlog: Spill Baby Spill? The 5,000 Alberta Oil Spills Industry Would Prefer You Did Not Know About
- 2011/05/12: CBC: Alta. oil spill cleanup costs at $11M so far
- 2011/05/12: PlanetArk: Enbridge Reports Leak On Norman Wells Pipeline
- 2011/05/12: PlanetArk: TransCanada Oil Line Set To Restart, Others Down
- 2011/05/09: CBC: Green party knocks leaky Alberta pipeline owner's record
The federal Green party says the owner of a pipeline that leaked a massive amount of oil in northern Alberta has a dismal safety record in the United States. Green Leader Elizabeth May says Plains All American, parent company of Plains Midstream Canada, was fined $3.25 million last year for 10 separate crude spills in the U.S. - 2011/05/13: G&M: Green energy: Ontario's new political battleground
Dalton McGuinty got himself uncharacteristically cranked up. The Opposition Leader across from him, he charged this week in the Ontario Legislature, could not make reference to the government's green-energy agreement with the Samsung Group "without saying that they are foreigners." Stopping short of calling Tim Hudak a xenophobe, the Premier settled for trying to brand him a relic who doesn't understand the realities of the global economy. - 2011/05/13: ScottsDiatribe: It is easier to destroy then to create
- 2011/05/12: CBC: Ont. green project may kill endangered species
A Toronto-based wind power company is proposing to build a green energy project on the shores of Lake Ontario, but it could threaten two endangered species. - 2011/05/10: CleanBreak: The gloves are off: anti-green Hudak says he will kill Ontario feed-in-tariff program and Samsung deal
- 2011/05/10: CBC: Ontario Tories vow to scrap Samsung deal
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak is promising to scrap two major components of the Liberal government's plan for green energy if he's elected next fall. He says a Tory government would kill Ontario's "odious" $7-billion deal with Samsung to manufacture components for green energy projects and end the province's feed-in tariff program. - 2011/05/10: NatureNB: Quebec opens northern region to mixed reviews
- 2011/05/10: BBC: Canada's Quebec province opens up north for mining
A large area of northern Canada is to be opened up to mining, energy and forestry projects. The government of Quebec has unveiled a massive plan to develop a largely inhospitable but untouched area in the north of the province. The "Plan Nord" aims to turn 1.2 million sq km of land into a major area of mining and renewable energy. The plan also aims to ensure that half of the area will be environmentally protected. - 2011/05/13: BPA: Using the term "Demand Destruction" is Like Scratching a Fingernail across the Chalkboard
- 2011/05/12: UN: Humanity's voracious consumption of natural resources unsustainable - UN report
- 2011/05/10: CCurrents: Earthlings Unite
- 2011/05/07: Gregor: Paper vs Real: Exit From Normal, Ecological Economics, and Probabilistic Regimes in One Chart
- 2011/05/08: ClimateShifts: Jeremy Grantham must-read, "Time to Wake Up: Days of Abundant Resources and Falling Prices Are Over Forever"
And in the Transition movement:
- 2011/05/11: EnergyBulletin: Transition and the collapse scenario
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2011/05/12: BPA: What Would Darwin Say? On Growth Subjects with a Map of High-fertility Human Populations
- 2011/05/13: CCurrents: Willfully Ignoring The Science Of Human Population Dynamics
- 2011/05/09: CleanBreak: It's getting crowded on this third, and increasingly warmer, rock from the sun... What to do?
- 2011/05/09: AlterNet: 10 Worst States To Be a Woman
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2011/05/09: CCurrents: The Dice Are Stacked Against Humanity by Noam Chomsky
As for how the media handles science:
- 2011/05/13: Guardian(UK): How much longer can Christopher Booker go on misleading readers?
- 2011/05/13: ClimateP: Washington Post story about impact of global warming on Greenland never mentions sea level rise
- 2011/05/11: MediaMatters: Stanford Scientist [Lobell] Criticizes Fox Distortion Of His Climate Study
- 2011/05/12: TCoE: Surprise! Fox News lies again about climate science
- 2011/05/12: KSJT: Guardian: Great gig! Write for Nature! But check out the scary contract
- 2011/05/10: MediaCulpa: More on Wente, laziness and plagiarism, plus May and Monbiot
- 2011/05/09: CitizensChallenge: Mann's "hockey stick" ~ the Medieval Warm Period and media manipulation
- 2011/05/09: TCoE: Deniers and liars: The Fox feedback loop in effect
- 2011/05/09: ClimateShifts: The Bolt Report: 'generally dull'
Here is something for your library:
- 2011/05/10: ClimateShifts: [Book Review] _Feeling The Heat_ by Jo Chandler
- 2011/05/03: Links(Au): [Book Review] _The Ecological Rift: Capitalism's War on the Earth_ by John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark & Richard York
- 2011/05/09: HotTopic: The Fate of Greenland
[Book Review] _The Fate of Greenland: Lessons from Abrupt Climate Change_ by Philip W. Conkling, with Richard Alley, Wallace Broecker & George Denton - 2011/05/13: Guardian(UK): Rap attack on climate change sceptics hits home
- 2011/05/14: Grist: I hear my mother calling: A new documentary on women and population [VIDEO]
- 2011/05/11: CleanBreak: Hilarious "climate scientist" rap video (warning: profanity)
- 2011/05/13: PSinclair: Gunderson: Fukushima Update
- 2011/05/11: Grist: Watch an entire country lose its sh*t for a bullet train
- 2011/05/13: TreeHugger: New Short Film Explains Ocean Acidification, Pathways For Solutions (Video)
- 2011/05/12: PSinclair: Meltdown Confirmed and Updated: Crazed Expat Vlogger Vindicated
- 2011/05/12: Guardian(UK): How do ice cores allow researchers to see climate change?
- 2011/05/12: PSinclair: Fukushima: Meltdown at Unit 1. Maybe at Unit 2. Maybe at Unit 3. American Media: Nothing to see here, move along.
- 2011/05/11: ClimateP: Hilarious video: Aussie climate scientists go all Beastie Boys on the deniers
- 2011/05/09: DPO: Undercover with Conservation International
- 2011/05/11: PSinclair: Fukushima: Reactor 4 Building in Danger of Collapse?
- 2011/05/11: GreenFyre: Rap Attack: I'm A Climate Scientist
- 2011/05/11: HotTopic: Climate rap -- scientists fight back
- 2011/05/10: Deltoid: Climate Scientist rap from Hungry Beast
- 2011/05/09: PSinclair: Naomi Oreskes: Climate Science Communicator of the Year
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2011/05/11: PlanetArk: Chevron, Ecuadoreans Spar Over Halted Damage Award
- 2011/05/09: Missoulian: Judge rejects climate-change challenge to coal leasing in Wyoming
- 2011/05/08: TreeHugger: Sugar Sues High Fructose Corn Syrup
It's about the lesser of two evils, isn't it? But when push comes to shove, how different is sugar from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)? The Western Sugar Cooperative is claiming that the two are in fact very different. It recently filed suit against sugar refiners for misleading consumers in calling HFCS corn sugar, according to the Des Moines Register and as discussed on Food Politics. "The lawsuit names as defendants Archer Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc., and other major corn syrup processors as well as the Corn Refiners Association." - 2011/05/10: Stoat: Sea ice, part 2
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
- 2011/05/15: BNC: Solar power in Florida
- 2011/05/14: OilDrum: Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century?
- 2011/05/15: OilDrum: Tech Talk - The Railroad Commission of Texas
- 2011/05/13: Grist: Today in "you should pay more attention to utilities" news
[...]
...we're nearing an inflection point. Massive new investments in power generation and transmission can no longer be avoided. Climate concern and support for clean energy keep growing, if fitfully. A bunch of EPA regulations are on the way. There's a great deal of uncertainty in the air. So it's interesting to see how utilities will respond. And it would be good for greens to get more directly involved in bringing public pressure to bear, both to punish and to support. - 2011/05/12: UColorado: CU method projected to meet DOE cost targets for solar thermal hydrogen fuel production
- 2011/05/12: Guardian(UK): [Letter] Renewable energy's engineering challenge
- 2011/05/12: BBC: Oil price warning from IEA over economic recovery
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says high oil prices could hit the global economic recovery and "sow the seeds of their own destruction". The body says global oil demand is set to average 89.2 million barrels a day this year, up from 87.9 million in 2010 but lower than a previous forecast. - 2011/05/11: BNC: Renewables and efficiency cannot fix the energy and climate crises (part 2)
- 2011/05/11: PlanetArk: China's Huadian [Corp] To Build Nu River Hydro Plant By 2015: Report
- 2011/05/11: PeakEnergy: Flaring - The Ultimate [Natural] Gas Guzzler
- 2011/05/10: PlanetArk: Chile OKs Divisive Mega [HidroAysen] Hydroelectric Dam Project
- 2011/05/10: EarthTimes: Why fickle wind power wins out over nuclear
- 2011/05/09: BBC: Chile officials approve HidroAysen electric dam project
Regulators in Chile have given the go-ahead for a controversial dam project in the south of the country. The HidroAysen project in Patagonia, worth more than $3bn (£1.8m), still needs final approval from government ministers. - 2011/05/09: ClimateP: Why clean energy can scale today -- Introducing energy reporter Stephen Lacey
- 2011/05/09: TreeHugger: Andrew Nikiforuk on Our Energy Slaves
- 2011/05/09: TreeHugger: Americans Are Working To Feed Their Cars, Not Their Families
- 2011/05/09: OilDrum: Random Thoughts from ASPO-9
- 2011/05/09: PeakEnergy: Origin's hot Chile [geothermal] play
- 2011/05/09: BBC: Pembrokeshire tidal power impact studied
Scientists are to investigate the impact tidal energy generation could have on Pembrokeshire's marine environment. - 2011/05/13: TreeHugger: Hydraulic Fracturing Causing 'Fraccidents' All Across United States
- 2011/05/12: ProPublica: Fracking: The Music Video
- 2011/05/10: GreenGrok: Hydrofracking and Drinking Water Contamination?
- 2011/05/13: ClimateP: Must-see ProPublica video on natural gas fracking -- Plus a map of 'Fraccidents' around the U.S.
- 2011/05/13: PlanetArk: U.S. Asks Six Natgas Drillers To Disclose Waste Info
Environmental regulators on Thursday directed six natural gas drillers to disclose how they dispose of or recycle waste water in Pennsylvania after a recent Chesapeake Energy Corp accident. A regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency asked Chesapeake, Chevron-owned Atlas Resources, Talisman Energy USA, Range Resources, Cabot Gas and Oil Corp, and SWEPI, LP for the information. The companies did not immediately respond to questions about the EPA request. - 2011/05/12: TreeHugger: French National Assembly Moves Against Fracking
- 2011/05/12: EnergyBulletin: Will Natural Gas Fuel America in the 21st Century? - Foreword to new report
- 2011/05/12: DeSmogBlog: [US] Fracking Study Panel Filled With Gas Industry Insiders
- 2011/05/12: PlanetArk: French Ban On Shale Gas Drilling Passes Lower House
- 2011/05/12: TreeHugger: Discover What The Fuss About Fracking Is All About - Attend Water Fight! May 16th, New York City
- 2011/05/10: DailyMail(UK): Drinking water in thousands of homes 'contaminated with harmful levels of methane'
- 2011/05/10: DM:JLV: Fracking is good for you. Trust me, I have a nice voice and I could be your neighbor
- 2011/05/11: OilChange: France to Say "Non" to Fracking
- 2011/05/10: DeSmogBlog: Scientists Confirm Fracking Link To Flammable Drinking Water
- 2011/05/10: EnergyBulletin: Methane in well water from gas fracking
- 2011/05/10: ClimateP: Duke study finds "systematic evidence for methane contamination of drinking water associated with shale gas extraction"
- 2011/05/10: ABC(Au): 'NO' to coal seam gas exploration in the Hastings
A group of concerned Camden Haven residents have formed a lobby group, in a bid to stop further expansion of coal seam gas mining in the Hastings region. - 2011/05/10: PlanetArk: Report Links Fracking To Tainted Drinking Water
- 2011/05/10: NatureN: Methane threat to drinking water -- Fracturing rock to extract natural gas boosts methane in nearby water wells
- 2011/05/09: SciNow: Study: High-Tech Gas Drilling Is Fouling Drinking Water
- 2011/05/09: CSM: 'Fracking' for natural gas is polluting ground water, study concludes
- 2011/05/09: ProPublica: Scientific Study Links Flammable Drinking Water to Fracking
- 2011/05/10: SlashDot: High-Tech Gas Drilling Is Fouling Drinking Water
- 2011/05/09: BBC: Shale gas drilling 'contaminates drinking water'
Shale gas drilling operations increase the risk of nearby drinking water becoming contaminated with methane, a study has suggested. Researchers found, on average, methane concentrations 17 times above normal in samples taken near drilling sites. - 2011/05/09: Guardian(UK): Methane contamination of water rises near to shale gas sites, study shows
Homeowners in Pennsylvania and upstate New York warned of methane levels 17x normal within 1km of natural gas wells - 2011/05/11: CJR: A Mining Disaster Follow-up Follows the Money -- L.A. Times's revealing report on inaction after the WV coal mine explosion
- 2011/05/11: NBF: Time magazine blog refers to Deaths per TWH and US Coal Industry pushes bills to lower safety and delay pollution controls
- 2011/05/11: TCoE: Coal is Killing Kids. Really.
- 2011/05/11: HotTopic: Suck this, old king coal
- 2011/05/11: ClimateP: Peabody continues making dubious claims about coal
On the gas and oil front:
- 2011/05/13: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
OIL (US$/bbl)
Nymex Crude Future...99.65
Dated Brent Spot....113.80
WTI Cushing Spot.....99.65 - 2011/05/11: AutoBG: It's official: National average gas price hits $4
- 2011/05/12: PostMedia: High gas prices here for the long haul
Even if crude costs fall as needed, economist says, the summer driving season brings its own hike - 2011/05/09: Reuters: Special report: What triggered oil's greatest rout?
- 2011/05/09: BBC: Oil price bounces after record fall
Crude oil prices have recovered after last Thursday's commodity market rout. Brent crude futures rose 6.5% on Monday to over $116 a barrel, still well below their recent peak of more than $126. The relief rally comes after a week-long 17% decline in the price - including crude oil's biggest ever one-day fall on Thursday, which was triggered by weak US economic data. - 2011/05/09: CNN: Americans blame oil companies, speculators for [high gasoline] prices
- 2011/05/09: PeakEnergy: Final Crude and Condensate Statistics Show New High
- 2011/05/08: EconBrowser: Lower oil prices
Pipelines:
- 2011/05/13: CBC: U.S. regulators probe TransCanada Keystone spill
- 2011/05/12: Grist: Keystone pipeline spilled tar-sands oil 11 times in past year. Do we really want to supersize it?
- 2011/05/12: DeSmogBlog: Spill Baby Spill? The 5,000 Alberta Oil Spills Industry Would Prefer You Did Not Know About
- 2011/05/09: CBC: Spill closes Keystone pipeline
A malfunction and spill have forced the closure of a major pipeline that carries about 450,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada into the United States. TransCanada Corp. says it shut off its Keystone line early Saturday morning after something went wrong with a valve at a pumping station near Milnor, N.D. - 2011/05/13: EnergyBulletin: Peak coal this year?
- 2011/05/12: Tyee: Thar She Blows: Whale Age Teaches Us about Oil -- A boom, a bonanza, a decimation, a collapse. Learn from Ahab.
- 2011/05/10: PopSci: How 29 Long-Ignored Elements Could Make or Break the Clean-Energy Revolution [PO]
- 2011/05/10: CCurrents: No Crocodile Tears For The Oil Industry: A Response To Nate Hagens And Robert Rapier
- 2011/05/10: RWER: How long will it last? -- 4 graphs
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2011/05/09: EnergyBulletin: A case study of cellulosic ethanol
- 2011/05/09: Eureka: The ethics of biofuels
- 2011/05/09: AutoBG: Brazil reducing mandatory ethanol blend from 25 to 18 percent
The answer my friend...:
- 2011/05/13: EnergyBulletin: Harvesting Utah's urban winds
- 2011/05/09: Grist: Want local communities to support wind? Put them in charge
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2011/05/15: TreeHugger: Threatened Tortoises Slow Down Desert Solar Project
- 2011/05/12: NREL: NREL's Multi-Junction Solar Cells Teach Scientists How to Turn Plants into Powerhouses
[...]
The annually averaged efficiency of photovoltaic electrolysis based on silicon semiconductors to produce fuel in the form of hydrogen is about 10 percent, while a plant's annually averaged efficiency using photosynthesis to form biomass for fuel is about 1 or 2 percent. - 2011/05/12: Eureka: Solar cells more efficient than photosynthesis -- for now
- 2011/05/12: Eureka: NREL's multi-junction solar cells teach scientists how to turn plants into powerhouses
- 2011/05/12: ClimateP: Will China's 50 GW goal create a solar bubble? No.
In fact, the dramatic scaling of solar manufacturing capacity is just what's needed to keeps costs dropping - 2011/05/10: Eureka: Harnessing the energy of the Sun: New technique improves artificial photosynthesis
- 2011/05/10: ClimateP: NREL reports high growth in U.S. solar PV
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2011/05/13: NBF: OECD nuclear generation 10 TWH ahead of 2010 for first two months and Australia talks about doubling Uranium production
- 2011/05/11: ProPublica: NRC Waives Enforcement of Fire Rules at Nuclear Plants
- 2011/05/11: ProPublica: Editor's Note on Our Investigation Into Fire Risks at Nuclear Power Plants
- 2011/05/10: CBS: Alabama nuclear plant cited for safety lapses
Feds issue rare red finding against Browns Ferry nuclear power plant after emergency cooling system failure - 2011/05/11: ClimateP: Indian Point boss laughs off nuclear safety threat with quotes from alcohol-and-sex comedy "The Hangover"
- 2011/05/11: EUO: Germany 'not satisfied' with nuclear fusion spending
Germany has said it is unhappy with the "exorbitant" cost of the EU's international nuclear fusion project, Iter EU, and called for more transparency on spending. - 2011/05/11: PlanetArk: NRC Head Unable To Calm Fears At NY [Indian Point] Nuclear Plant
- 2011/05/10: PlanetArk: Japan, U.S. Plan Nuclear Waste Storage In Mongolia
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2011/05/11: Eureka: Finding reserves on the electrical grid
- 2011/05/11: DerSpiegel: Esthetic Energy Autobahns -- Can Designer Power Masts Win Over the Public?
Europe is undergoing a revolution in energy production that requires massive new infrastructure to support the shift to renewables. But do new power lines always have to result in blight? Some utility companies are hoping that designer power masts can help overcome local opposition. - 2011/05/12: TreeHugger: GE Replacing Fluorescents With New LED Overhead Light Design
- 2011/05/11: EurActiv: Energy firms face new efficiency regime
Energy companies will need to make savings among final customers of 1.5% a year under a new regime of audits, inventories and savings obligations outlined in a draft directive seen by EurActiv. - 2011/05/12: BBC: Nissan profits rise as annual sales hit record
- 2011/05/09: NBF: Official EPA mileage rating of 207.5 MPGe for most efficient street legal full sized sedan in the world
- 2011/05/09: BBC: Electric car charging points 'shortfall'
Just over a tenth of electric car charging points needed in the UK have been built so far, the BBC has learned. Only 704 of the 4,700 expected by the end of the year are in place and two-thirds of towns with a population of over 150,000 do not have any public charging infrastructure. - 2011/05/13: Eureka: Enhanced electrical energy [supercapacitor] storage may result from professor's research
- 2011/05/09: PeakEnergy: A Second Life for the Electric Car Battery
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2011/05/10: PeakEnergy: Corporate leaders in a climate of disbelief
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
- 2011/05/09: DPO: Undercover with Conservation International [video]
- 2011/05/11: Ecologist: Conservation International 'agreed to greenwash arms company'
US environmental charity under fire for close links with controversial companies, including Cargill, Chevron, Monsanto and Shell A leading environmental charity has been accused of corporate 'greenwashing' after a senior employee was secretly filmed by undercover reporters discussing ways in which the organisation could help an arms company boost its green credentials, the Ecologist can reveal. Options outlined by the representative of Conservation International (CI) included assisting with the arms company's green PR efforts, membership of a business forum in return for a fee, and sponsorship packages where the arms company could potentially invest money in return for being associated with conservation activities. - 2011/05/11: DeSmogBlog: Conservation International Greenwashing Scandal Exposed By Undercover Journalists
Who's fielding the FAQs?
- UCSUSA: Is Global Warming Linked to Severe Weather?
- 2011/05/11: Guardian(UK): Could climate change be a good thing?
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
- 2011/05/13: ClimateP: May 13 news...
- 2011/05/11: ClimateP: May 11 News...
- 2011/05/10: ClimateP: May 10 news...
- 2011/05/09: ClimateP: May 9 new[s]...
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2011/05/14: BPA: Agriculture News
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2011/05/14: Tamino: Fake Forcing
- 2011/05/13: Deltoid: Anthony Watts contradicted by Watts et al
- 2011/05/13: WottsUWT: The surfacestations paper --- statistics primer
- 2011/05/13: TreeHugger: A 'Converted' Climate Skeptic Explains Why He Changed His Mind (Audio)
- 2011/05/12: EnergyBulletin: How the Michael Lewis school of revisionism informs the gas debate
- 2011/05/12: DM:JLV: Cognitive Dissonance & the Apocalypse
- 2011/05/11: Grist: Nine of the 10 loudest climate-denying scientists tied to Exxon
- 2011/05/11: ClimateShifts: Advertisers pull out of The Bolt Report
- 2011/05/09: Good: Nine of Out Ten Climate Denying Scientists Have Ties to Exxon Mobil Money
- 2011/05/10: WottsUWT: Failing to make his case, James Hansen uses children as legal pawns
- 2011/05/10: Tamino: Five Years
- 2011/05/09: WottsUWT: The surfacestations.org paper - accepted
- 2011/05/09: Tamino: Favorite Denier Tricks, or How to Hide the Incline
- 2011/05/08: Tamino: Gullible's Island
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2011/05/13: CSW: Naomi Oreskes and Alliance for Climate Education named 2011 Climate Change Communicators of the Year
- 2011/05/13: Eureka: BU researchers identify extensive methane leaks under streets of Boston
- 2011/05/12: Eureka: Economist studies how higher gas prices affect consumer behavior
- 2011/05/11: Guardian(UK): Climate migration will not wait for scientific certainty on global warming
- 2011/05/11: HotTopic: Back to the futures forum
- 2011/05/06: AlterNet: The Link Between Deadly Weather and Global Warming Is Real -- and Conservatives Can't Just Wish It Away
- 2011/05/10: GreenFyre: Media Strategy for the Tyndall Gas Effect
- 2011/05/09: Grist: New study: How to get your kids to become environmentalists
- 2011/05/09: JFleck: Flood memory half-life
- 2011/05/10: TreeHugger: Fighting Record Floods Means Tackling Climate Change Too
- 2011/05/09: Guardian(UK): Climate change 'threatens UK wi-fi connections', says government report
- 2011/05/09: AFTIC: Looking through the wrong end of the climate telescope
- 2011/05/08: CitizensChallenge: Frauenfeld, Knappenberger, and Michaels 2011: No Worries
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- ICCGov: Modeling and Policy of CO2 Removal from the Atmosphere -- 30th - 31st May, 2011
- Wiki: Morganza Spillway
- America's Climate Choices
- TEPCO: Tokyo Electric Power Company
- The Arctic Council
- International Charter - Space and Major Disasters
- Province of Manitoba -- Flood Information
- Teaching Climate Change Law & Policy
- Coal Cares
- e! Science News
- BC Wildfires
- Meltfactor
- Wiki: Ecological footprint
- NERC: NERC Open Research Archive
- Bob Park - What's New?
- Wiki: Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme [aka AusETS]
- Wiki: Typhoon Morakot (2009)
It's always nice to start with a chuckle:
Major river systems across North America are flooding. See also the Assiniboine:
Not to protect the Arctic, but to carve up the resources, the Arctic Council met this week:
The IPCC released a Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation this week:
A variety of Wikileaks documents showed up this week:
While in Antarctica:
So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?
As for the temperature record:
What's new on the extinction front?
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
This week in extreme weather:
Sea levels are rising:
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
And in miscellaneous news:
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
As for what is going on in Congress:
Meanwhile in Australia:
The Australian carbon war rages on:
In South America:
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
Here's the behaviour:
The battle over the Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipelines rages on:
Manitoba has no spillway, but a deliberate dike breach is now flooding farmland:
In BC, the stage is set. Now what will Clark do?
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
In Ontario, upcoming election issues are appearing:
While in la Belle Province:
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
And for your film & video enjoyment:
Among the non-members of Gamblers Anonymous:
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
On the coal front:
Yes we have peak everything:
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
As for Energy Storage:
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.
I notice moyhu has set up a monster index to old AWoGWN on AFTIC."What has happened down here, is the winds have changed,
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain,
It rained real hard, and it rained for a real long time,
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline --
Oh, Louisiana, Louisiana --
They're trying to wash us away --"
-Randy Newman
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