Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
Another week of Climate Disruption News
Information Overloadis Pattern Recognition
September 11, 2011
- Chuckles, COP17+, Horn of Africa, Pakistan, Wigley, Keystone XL
- WikiLeaks, Dessler, Spencer, Monnett, Ecocide, How To?, Cook
- Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
- Melting Arctic, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Food Prices, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Extinctions
- Impacts, Forests, Extreme Weather, Tornadoes
- Wildfires, Sea Levels, GW Deluge, Floods & Droughts
- Transportation, Buildings, Geoengineering, Adaptation
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, DIY Science
- International Politics: UN, Carbon Trade, Bank Tax
- Rare Earths, Law & Activism, Polls, Water Politics & Business, Religioso
- National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Mann, Gore, Ozone, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
- Britain, Europe, Australia, Carbon War, Murray-Darling, China, Asia
- Canada, Post G20, Arctic Oil Spills, Bitumen Exports, Cohen Commission
- Doer, Elections, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, North, Canadiana
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Media, Books, Video
- Energy, Fracking, Oil & Gas, Pipelines, Peak Oil, Biofuel, Wind, Solar
- Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Fusion, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
- Business, Insurance, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- New Web Site, Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
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- 2011/09/08: JoeMohr: (cartoon - Mohr) Tea Party Panda Bears
- 2011/09/06: CA: (cartoon - TomTom) The mystery of liberal behavior!
- 2011/09/06: SeattlePI: (cartoon - Horsey) Is Mitt Romney's jobs plan a con job?
- 2011/09/08: SeattlePI: (cartoon - Horsey) Conservatives hate government -- until they need it
- 2011/09/09: uComics: (cartoon - Auth) Gov. Perry Builds A Platform...
- 2011/09/08: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) The Texas Miracle
And for those interested in exploring the nether reaches of Poe's Law:
- 2011/09/08: S&R: Fuckem's Razor and the solution to the climate question
- 2011/09/06: Onion: We Need To Do More When It Comes To Having Brief, Panicked Thoughts About Climate Change
- 2011/09/06: Wonkette: Texas Lawmakers Notice Wildfires, Slash Funding To Firefighters
Looking ahead to COP17 and future international climate negotiations:
- 2011/09/08: PlanetArk: U.N. Chief Urges World To Redouble Efforts On Climate Talks
- 2011/09/07: UN: Ban and Pacific leaders urge 'ambitious' reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
- 2011/09/06: Guardian(UK): Can game theory save the UN climate talks?
German academics have used the mathematics behind the strategic behaviour of countries to propose a way though the myriad impasses - 2011/09/05: UN: UN chief and Kiribati leader warn over climate change threat to Pacific islands
The Horn of Africa drought and famine continues to be a major disaster:
- 2011/09/05: FAO: Famine spreads further in Somalia -- FAO calls for stepped up response
- 2011/09/06: WMO: Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum considers September-December rainfall
- 2011/09/08: DerSpiegel: The Birth of a City -- Putting Down Roots in a Refugee Camp
The Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya is the world's largest. The machinery of international famine relief is in full gear there, but hundreds of thousands of people may become long-term residents. Conditions have prompted a camp manager to transform a temporary refuge into a city of the future. - 2011/09/09: BBC: Ethiopia urges protected aid corridors for Somalia
Ethiopia has called for humanitarian corridors in Somalia to be protected by peacekeepers, so that aid can reach famine-hit areas held by rebels. - 2011/09/09: UN: UN ramps up aid in drought-stricken Horn of Africa as number in need rises
- 2011/09/05: OpenDem: Eritrea: the politics of food security
Eritrea's people are sharing in the food hardships of the wider region. But their government's authoritarian rule is intent on keeping their fate from wider view, says Selam Kidane. - 2011/09/06: UN: More than 80 per cent of Somali refugees in Ethiopia are children -- UN
- 2011/09/06: TreeHugger: Somalia Famine Could Claim 750,000 Lives in Next Four Months Without Better Aid
- 2011/09/02: MoJo: Millions Are Starving in the Horn of Africa, but Nobody's Talking About It
- 2011/09/05: UN: Horn of Africa food crisis remains dire as famine spreads in Somalia - UN
- 2011/09/05: WMTC: what happens to a child who is hungry?
- 2011/09/05: CBC: UN declares famine in 1 more Somalia region
- 2011/09/05: al Jazeera: Somalia: Without a hash tag
Will the world only pay attention to starving Somalis when their famine trends on Twitter? - 2011/09/05: al Jazeera: Famine spreads to sixth region of Somalia
UN unit says tens of thousands, half of them children, have already died as famine conditions continue to spread. - 2011/09/05: BBC: A sixth region of Somalia has been declared a famine area by the UN, which warns the situation will only worsen in the coming months
- 2011/09/04: CBC: Dadaab refugees face sexual violence on camp journey
Pakistan is flooding again:
- 2011/09/10: al Jazeera: Anger grows over Pakistan flood relief
Rescue efforts after heavy flooding in Sindh province still hampered by bad weather, as 132 deaths reported. - 2011/09/10: UN: UN agencies begin relief campaign as flood waters swamp southern Pakistan
- 2011/09/09: al Jazeera: Millions affected by deadly Pakistan floods
Bad weather hampers rescue efforts in Sindh province, leaving those displaced facing shortages of drinking water. - 2011/08/19: Springer:CC: (ab$) Coal to gas: the influence of methane leakage by Tom M. L. Wigley
- 2011/09/09: TP:JR: Natural Gas Bombshell: Switching From Coal to Gas Increases Warming for Decades, Has Minimal Benefit Even in 2100
- 2011/09/09: ClassM: Another blow to the natural gas alternative
- 2011/09/09: DeSmogBlog: Reliance on Unconventional Gas is No Good for Climate, Says Scientist Tom Wigley
- 2011/09/11: BNC: Switching from coal to natural gas would do little for global climate
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: Switching To Natural Gas From Coal Will Reduce Global Warming Much Less Than Hoped
- 2011/09/08: UCAR: Switching from coal to natural gas would do little for global climate, study indicates
- 2011/09/08: Eureka: Switching from coal to natural gas would do little for global climate, study indicates
The Keystone XL civil disobedience action is still getting some coverage:
- 2011/09/10: CCP: Lou Gold, VisionShare: Andrew Revkin proposes new strategy of looking into other people's backyards...
- 2011/09/10: CCP: Bill McKibben's response to Andrew Revkin
- 2011/09/09: Tyee: Inside the Keystone XL Protests
- 2011/09/09: PostMedia: Keystone protests straining U.S.-Canada relations -- Congressman apologizes for the "bruising" over controversial bitumen pipeline
Heated protests against the proposed Keystone oil pipeline expansion have marred relations between Canada and its southern cousin, said a U.S. senator in Calgary for a conference this week. Republican Sen. Tommy Moffat said the debate over the Alberta to Texas pipeline was shaping, if not defining, Canada-U.S. relations, despite being confident the contentious project will go ahead. "I don't think I'm going out on a limb here to predict the pipeline will be approved," Moffat said Thursday, from the sidelines of a conference hosted by the Canada West and Asia-Pacific foundations. "However I hasten to add my apologies to our Canadian friends and colleagues for the bruising that our longtime relationship has taken in order to get there." - 2011/09/07: Grist: What comes next for the Tar Sands Action? by Bill McKibben
- 2011/09/07: Grist: The Dalai Lama and other Peace Prize winners ask Obama to reject Keystone XL
- 2011/09/07: POGGE: Noise
- 2011/09/07: CBC: Nobel winners urge Keystone rejection
- 2011/09/07: Guardian(UK): The Kochs' Keystone clique exposed
Only the Koch brothers' club of billionaires and political cronies will profit if the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline goes ahead - 2011/09/07: TP:JR: McKibben: What Comes Next for Tar Sands Action
- 2011/09/07: Rabble: Activists rally to put the kibosh on the Keystone pipeline
- 2011/09/06: AlterNet: Why the Tar Sands Pipeline Will Be Game Over for Our Planet
- 2011/09/05: TreeHugger: "This is the Biggest Civil Disobedience Action in the US this Century": Bill McKibben
- 2011/09/04: G&M: High-profile oil-sands protesters take last stand outside White House
Another batch of cables from WikiLeaks casts a light on Australia, US, China and Japan climate policies:
- 2011/09/08: Guardian(UK): WikiLeaks cables reveal Australian 'middle power diplomacy' on green issues
Documents show a country under Kevin Rudd pulled in different directions by the US, China and Japan - 2011/08/29: CablegateSearch: Cable reference id: #09CANBERRA1092 -- Australia Ups Pressure On Big LNG Project Partners
- 2011/08/29: CablegateSearch: Cable reference id: #10CANBERRA41 -- Australia Focus On Copenhagen Accord, China
- 2011/08/30: WikiLeaks: Cable 05CANBERRA432, DISCUSSIONS BEGIN FOR CHINA TO BUY AUSTRALIAN
- 2011/08/30: WikiLeaks: Cable 08CANBERRA59, RUDD'S FOREIGN POLICY--AN OVERVIEW
- 2011/08/30: WikiLeaks: Cable 07CANBERRA1738, MEETING THE PRIME MINISTER
Andrew Dessler's paper demolishes several misconceptions:
- 2011/08/29: GRL: (ab$) Cloud variations and the Earth's energy budget by Andrew E. Dessler
- 2011/09/08: SkeptiSci: Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper by grypo
- 2011/09/07: QuarkSoup: The Essence of Dessler's Rebuttal
- 2011/09/08: SkeptiSci: Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths by dana1981 & Rob Painting
- 2011/09/06: QuarkSoup: Dessler's Video
- 2011/09/06: SkeptiSci: Andrew Dessler's New Paper Debunks Both Roy Spencer And Richard Lindzen by Rob Painting & dana1981
- 2011/09/06: ERabbet: GRL doi:10.1029/2011GL049236 Andy Dessler does not like Spencer and Braswell very much
- 2011/09/06: Deltoid: Dessler shows that clouds aren't causing climate change, refuting Spencer and Braswell
- 2011/09/06: Eureka: Texas A&M prof says study shows that clouds don't cause climate change
Somehow the focus has shifted from Wagner back to Spencer:
- 2011/09/08: WottsUWT: The science is scuttled: Abraham, Gleick, and Trenberth resort to libeling Spencer and Christy [Spencer]
- 2011/09/07: BBickmore: Roy Spencer Responds With More Shoddy Statistics and Excuses
- 2011/09/07: PSinclair: Bad Week for Roy "Wrong-Way" Spencer
- 2011/09/07: Stoat: I think we should expect that more-even most-papers from skeptics will be of poor quality
- 2011/09/06: S&R: Editor-in-chief resigns as a new paper identifies errors in "fundamentally flawed" climate paper
- 2011/09/06: BBickmore: Roy Spencer Persecuted By Own Data
- 2011/09/06: TPL: The Eternal Return or: The Unbearable Wrongness of Spencer and Braswell
- 2011/09/06: SMandia: Roy Spencer Wants You to Believe the Magician Really Cuts Her Body in Half
- 2011/09/06: ITracker: Spenser and Braswell; Hangover edition
- 2011/09/06: KSJT: Blogstorm, and some press: Journal editor resigns after taking "flawed" contrarian paper
- 2011/09/06: RealClimate: Resignations, retractions and the process of science
- 2011/09/05: ERabett: Eli predicts that Roy's Tuesday is not going to be much better than his Friday
- 2011/09/05: TP:JR: The Damaging Impact of Roy Spencer's Serially-Wrong 'Science'
- 2011/09/04: ERabett: Roy Spencer and the Galileo Godwin Meltdown
- 2011/09/04: ERabett: Wagner apologized
- 2011/09/04: ERabett: Making Sausage and Editing Scientific Journals
The Monnett saga is still in the air:
- 2011/09/07: CCP: Interior Employee Set Off Inquiry on Polar Scientist, Official Says
The question of an international legal framework has arisen once more:
- 2011/09/08: HotTopic: The Crime of Ecocide
The question of individual versus collective action:
- 2011/09/07: NYT: Going Green but Getting Nowhere
- 2011/09/08: Grist: Do individual green actions matter? Maybe not, says New York Times
John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:
- 2011/09/11: SkeptiSci: Haydn Washington talks Climate Change Denial on Steaming Toad
- 2011/09/10: SkeptiSci: Lessons from Past Climate Predictions: IPCC TAR by dana1981
- 2011/09/09: SkeptiSci: Spending A Week Above Arctic Circle On M.S. Fram Off Greenland's West Coast by Bud Ward
- 2011/09/09: HotTopic: John Cook Wins Eureka Prize
- 2011/09/08: TP:JR: Skeptical Science Wins Award for Demolishing Denier Myths
- 2011/09/08: SkeptiSci: Conspiracy Dog-whistling about GRL and the New Dessler Paper by grypo
- 2011/09/08: SkeptiSci: Dessler Demolishes Three Crucial 'Skeptic' Myths by dana1981 & Rob Painting
- 2011/09/06: SkeptiSci: Andrew Dessler's New Paper Debunks Both Roy Spencer And Richard Lindzen by Rob Painting & dana1981
- 2011/09/06: SfB: Congrats to John Cook of SkepticalScience.com [on winning a Eureka prize]
- 2011/09/06: SkeptiSci: On Mowing a Virginia Lawn ... And Contemplating a Greenland Iceberg by Bud Ward
- 2011/09/06: SkeptiSci: [link to 2.6 meg pdf] OA not OK: Booklet available
- 2011/09/05: SkeptiSci: Extreme Flooding In 2010-2011 Lowers Global Sea Level by Rob Painting
A note on the Fukushima disaster:
It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. We'll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:
- 2011/09/11: JEB: [jules' pics] n11 commemorations
- 2011/09/11: al Jazeera: Japan marks six months since disasters
Ceremonies take place in Japan to commemorate six months since northeast coastline was devastated by quake and tsunami. - 2011/09/10: CBC: Japanese minister quits after Fukushima gaffe
- 2011/09/10: BBC: Japan trade minister Hachiro quits over nuclear gaffe
Japan's new trade minister has quit after calling the area around the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant a "town of death", media reports say. Yoshio Hachiro is also reported to have rubbed his jacket against a reporter, saying "I will give you radiation" after visiting the plant on Thursday. Mr Hachiro's comments were widely seen as insensitive and prompted calls by opposition parties for him to resign. - 2011/09/10: al Jazeera: Japanese trade minister Hachiro quits over gaffes
Yoshio Hachiro resigns after just eight days in office, following comments deemed as insensitive. Japan's trade minister has resigned, after just eight days in office, following two separate incidents where comments he made were deemed to be inappropriate and insensitive. Yoshio Hachiro announced his departure at a news conference late on Saturday, apologising repeatedly for calling the evacuated area around the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant "a town of death". This came a day before Japan was to mark six months since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which left 20,000 dead or missing and sparked the nuclear crisis at Fukushima. - 2011/09/09: EneNews: Dr. Koide: Massive amounts of radioactivity may again be released from Fukushima -- Mentions "steam explosion" after melted fuel hits water
- 2011/09/09: EneNews: Kyoto U. expert: Melted fuel may have sunk into ground -- "We are now head to head with a situation that mankind has never faced before"
- 2011/09/09: CDreams: Sea Radiation from Fukushima Seen Triple TEPCO Estimate
- 2011/09/08: Guardian(UK): Fukushima nuclear disaster: PM at the time feared Japan would collapse
Naoto Kan said that TEPCO had considered abandoning the plant after it was hit by the 11 March tsunami - 2011/09/08: EneNews: NHK: New estimate triples amount of radioactivity released from Fukushima reactors into sea
- 2011/09/09: EneNews: 3 Pennsylvania nuke plants preparing for flooding -- 'Abnormal operating procedure' underway at Three Mile Island
- 2011/09/09: EneNews: Japan gov't reveals 'unlucky combination' of rain and wind washed down radioactive debris over wide area around meltdowns -- Radiation had been expected to go over Pacific
- 2011/09/08: MeteoJapan: Radioactivity in Japan -- Dispersion movie for Japan
- 2011/09/07: EneNews: Iodine-131 now being detected in large amounts almost 200 km from Fukushima meltdowns
- 2011/09/08: BBC: New Japan PM visits crippled Fukushima nuclear plant
Yoshihiko Noda is making his first visit as Japan's new prime minister to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, almost six months after the devastating earthquake and tsunami. Mr Noda, who took office last week, met workers who have been battling to stabilise the plant. The new leader, who has promised to speed up earthquake reconstruction work, thanked them for their efforts. Engineers are working to bring the plant to a cold shutdown by January. - 2011/09/07: NatureNB: Directly comparing Fukushima to Chernobyl
- 2011/09/07: NatureNB: Video: Fukushima nuclear crisis, six months later
- 2011/09/07: NatureN: Fukushima's reactor cores still too hot to open
Six months after the disaster that caused three meltdowns, efforts to stabilize the Japanese nuclear power plant continue. - 2011/09/07: NatureN: Fukushima impact is still hazy -- Chaos and bureaucracy hamper assessment of nuclear crisis.
- 2011/09/07: CBC: Japan PM feared nuclear disaster worse than Chornobyl -- Naoto Kan, who resigned last week, expected Tokyo would be deserted
- 2011/09/05: CNN: Official: Japanese nuclear plant stabilization ahead of schedule
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was crippled by the March tsunami - A TEPCO official says the second shutdown phase may be achieved before January - Large amounts of radioactive water are the most difficult issue, he says - 2011/09/04: TreeHugger: Radioactive Waste Is Piling Up in Japanese Sewage Treatment Plants, Some Sold as Fertilizer
- 2011/09/05: EneNews: Cesium-137 found in urine of child near Tokyo, despite mother's stringent efforts at radiation protection -- "Mixture of shock and a feeling that of course this is the case"
- 2011/09/05: EneNews: Fuku1live: Strange flash in Fukushima nuclear plant (video)
Post Fukushima, nuclear policies are in flux around the world:
- 2011/09/07: TBAS: The coming German energy turnaround
* Germany has decided to close all of its nuclear power plants by 2022 and embark on an energy turnaround that focuses on large increases in sustainable energy production.
* Such a turnaround is technically possible but will require an investment of about 200 billion euros ($290 billion) from private and public sources over the next decade.
* Even if that investment is made, short-term electricity prices will probably rise slightly, but over time hundreds of thousands of jobs are likely to be created in the sustainability sector. - 2011/09/10: CNN: Six months post-Fukushima, weighing costs, risks key to nuclear debate
A March 11 earthquake in Japan led to a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - The incident triggered a global debate about the risks and potential of nuclear power - Some nations, like Germany, Italy and Japan, have opted to abandon such programs - Others, like France and China, are continuing and, in some cases, building new plants - 2011/09/09: BBC: UK nuclear support 'rises after Fukushima'
- 2011/09/05: GlobalPost: Can Germany kick its nuke habit?
A hasty, post-Fukushima nuclear phase-out is causing pain across an already-weak German economy. - 2011/09/11: ClimateShifts: A new low for Arctic sea ice
- 2011/09/10: ITracker: Record arctic melt
- 2011/09/10: ASI: SIE 2011 update 20: the fat lady is still humming
- 2011/09/09: Guardian(UK): The 'other' Arctic sea ice melt
- 2011/09/09: ASI: Historical Minimum in Sea Ice Extent
- 2011/09/08: PlanetArk: Experts Drill Arctic Ice To Fathom Speed Of Melt
- 2011/09/08: PlanetArk: Witness: Arctic Ice Breaks Up As Polar Bears Stalk Ship
- 2011/09/09: RealClimate: The unnoticed melt
- 2011/09/08: CBC: Ice islands drift into western Nfld. bay
Believed to be from Greenland's Petermann Glacier came in on a northeasterly wind - 2011/09/08: ASI: Final poll results
- 2011/09/08: PSinclair: Arctic Ice: New Record Low in Area -- Have we Hit Bottom?
- 2011/09/07: TP:JR: Arctic Death Spiral Continues: Sea Ice Volume Hits Record Low for Second Straight Year
- 2011/09/07: CCP: NSIDC: Report of September 6, 2011 -- Arctic sea ice near record lows
- 2011/09/07: TCoE: Arctic antics
- 2011/09/07: HotTopic: Latest Arctic Sea Ice Report
- 2011/09/07: ASI: PIOMAS August 2011 (new volume record)
- 2011/09/07: TreeHugger: Arctic Sea Ice Declines To Second Lowest Amount on Record in August
- 2011/09/06: ASI: NSIDC Arctic sea ice news August 2011
- 2011/09/06: PlanetArk: Total Arctic Sea Ice [Volume] At Record Low In 2010: Study
- 2011/09/06: TreeHugger: Arctic Sea Ice Volume Set Record Low in 2010, New Model Shows
- 2011/09/06: TreeHugger: Then-and-Now Pics Reveal Stunning Greenland Glacier Melt
- 2011/09/05: ASI: Replacement for PIPS ice displacement
- 2011/09/05: BBC: 'Gob-smacking' scale of Petermann Glacier break-up
New pictures have revealed the extent to which a huge glacier in northern Greenland has broken up in just two years, claims a glaciologist. Dr Alun Hubbard of Aberystwyth University said he was "gob-smacked" by the scale of the Petermann Glacier's break-up since he last visited in 2009. The glacier is 186 miles (300km) long and 3,280ft (1000m) high - over three times the height of the Eiffel Tower. - 2011/09/04: CCP: Second giant ice island set to break off Greenland's Petermann Glacier.
Astonished scientist, Alun Hubbard, says he was 'completely unprepared for the gob-smacking scale of the breakup, which rendered me speechless' - 2011/09/04: ASI: Melting season 2011 (video)
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
- 2011/09/09: CBC: Canada unprepared for Arctic oil spill, group says
- 2011/09/09: MetaC: Ill-gotten Geld: EXXON and Arctic Sea Ice
- 2011/09/08: CBC: Arctic oil spill cleanup would be badly hindered
- 2011/09/06: Independent(UK): Oil exploration under Arctic ice could cause 'uncontrollable' natural disaster
- 2011/09/06: OilChange: Arctic Spill Would Be "Uncontrollable" Catastrophe
While in Antarctica:
- 2011/09/08: SciNow: King Crab Invasion
- 2011/09/07: Eureka: King crabs threaten seafloor life near Antarctica
- 2011/09/07: CBC: King crabs invade Antarctic waters
- 2011/09/06: BBC: Giant crabs make Antarctic leap
King crabs have been found on the edge of Antarctica, probably as a result of warming in the region, scientists say. Writing in the journal Proceedings B, scientists report a large, reproductive population of crabs in the Palmer Deep, a basin cut in the continental shelf. They suggest the crabs were washed in during an upsurge of warmer water. - 2011/09/09: Grist: It's raining chemicals
- 2011/09/08: AlterNet: Food Emergency: How the World Bank and IMF Have Made African Famine Inevitable
- 2011/09/08: NatureNB: Illegal fishing under the spotlight
The United States and Europe pledged to cooperate in clamping down on illegal fisheries today, as a new report showed just how powerful a force this activity is in devastating fish stocks. - 2011/09/07: Eureka: Deep-sea fish in deep trouble
Scientists find nearly all deep-sea fisheries unsustainable, call for stopping unsustainable fisheries and government subsidies that support them A team of leading marine scientists from around the world is recommending an end to most commercial fishing in the deep sea, the Earth's largest ecosystem. Instead, they recommend fishing in more productive waters nearer to consumers. - 2011/09/06: CDreams: In the World's Breadbasket, Climate Change Feeds Worry
- 2011/09/07: Grist: Surprise! Americans are drinking A LOT of soda - nearly 10 percent of their calories
- 2011/09/06: PlanetArk: In The World's Breadbasket, Climate Change Feeds Some Worry
Food Prices are still problematic:
- FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
- 2011/09/08: FAO: FAO Food Price Index almost unchanged -- But cereal prices up in August
- 2011/09/08: BPA: FAO September 2011 Report: Global Cereal Prices are Headed Up
- 2011/09/08: UN: World food prices remain steady during August, UN agency [FAO] reports
- 2011/09/08: BBC: Food prices stay near record high, says UN agency
Global food prices remain near a record high, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The index reached 231 points in August, up 26% from the same period last year. The index hit an all-time record of 238 points in February. - 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: Oxfam Takes on Land Grabs -- Rich Investors: "They're Not Countries, They're Commodities"
- 2011/09/06: EnvFin: Biomass energy fuelling developing country land-grab - IIED
Regarding the genetic modification of food:
- 2011/09/09: Grist: Superweeds go mainstream
- 2011/09/08: DVoice: EU High Court Rules on GMO Contamination; Opens Door to Biotech Liability -- EU Beekeepers Gain in Genetic Contamination Case
- 2011/09/08: MoJo: Monsanto Denies Superinsect Science
As far back as 2002, scientists have been warning that bugs would develop resistance to Monsanto's Bt corn. - 2011/09/08: ADN: Murkowski to push for ban on genetically modified salmon
- 2011/09/08: CDreams: EU Court Says French GM Maize Ban Was Illegal
France acted illegally when it imposed a ban on the cultivation of a genetically modified (GM) maize variety developed by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto in 2008, Europe's highest court ruled on Thursday. French farmer Jose Bové has been a leader in the fight against Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) maize. The French authorities did have the right to impose a moratorium on the growing of Monsanto's insect-resistant MON810 maize, but based its decision on the wrong EU legislation, the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice said. To impose such a ban, member states must demonstrate a potentially serious risk to human or animal health or the environment, and notify EU authorities of the need to take emergency measures, it added. Emergency measures must be based on science and backed by an assessment from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), according to the European Commission. - 2011/09/07: PressEurop: GMO honey banned in Europe
- 2011/09/07: EurActiv: Court ruling challenges EU laws on GMO co-existence
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled yesterday (6 September) that honey containing traces of genetically-modified (GM) products, even unintentionally, "must always be regarded as food produced from a GMO," paving the way for compensation claims to farmers whose crops were contaminated. The judgement follows legal action by a German beekeeper who sought compensation from the Bavarian government after he was prevented from selling his honey because it contained traces of GM pollen. The ruling, which comforted the plaintiff, could pave the way for compensation claims by beekeepers against biotech companies such as Monsanto or governments which authorise test fields. - 2011/09/05: FoodFreedom: GM Feed Toxic, New Meta-Analysis Confirms
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2011/09/07: FAO: Global Soil Partnership for Food Security launched at FAO -- New effort to assure soils future generations
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: Organic and Local On the Rise at Grocers Nationwide. Energy Efficiency, Too
- 2011/09/08: Grist: Stamping out hunger with fast food?
- 2011/09/08: SciAm:Obs: Can Shrinking Cities Regrow as Farms? [Video]
- 2011/09/07: CSM: The US should invest in farmers' markets, report says
- 2011/09/07: UN: Global steps vital to preserve worldwide soil fertility and avoid famine, UN warns
- 2011/09/06: Grist: Farmers who don't believe in climate change adapting to it anyway
- 2011/09/05: EnergyBulletin: SPIN Farming Basics: a book review
- 2011/09/05: al Jazeera: You can't buy a better agriculture
With the Earth's cropland quickly eroding, a shift to perennials is needed for a sustainable food supply. - 2011/09/06: CNN: Death toll rises to 47 after [Tropical Storm Talas] hits Japan
The death toll has risen to 47 - The storm caused 34 deaths in Wakayama prefecture - Record rainfall triggers landslides and flooding - Talas moved through western Japan on Saturday - 2011/09/06: CBC: Japan typhoon [Talas] death toll rises [to 37]
- 2011/09/05: CNN: Tropical Storm Talas leaves 29 dead, 56 missing in Japan
- 2011/09/05: BBC: Typhoon Talas: Japan searches for missing dozens
Japanese rescue teams have resumed the search for dozens of people missing after powerful Typhoon Talas ripped through the west of the country. At least 26 people have been killed by the storm, which made landfall on Shikoku island on Saturday, triggering floods and landslides. More than 50 people are believed to be missing, according to local media. Japan is hit by several typhoons each year, but Talas is the most destructive since 2004. - 2011/09/04: BBC: In pictures: Japan's deadly Typhoon Talas
- 2011/09/05: al Jazeera: Death toll rises from Japanese typhoon
At least 25 dead and dozens missing as heavy rains and strong winds from Typhoon Talas sweep across main island. - 2011/09/05: CBC: Japan seeks survivors of Typhoon Talas
- 2011/09/04: CBC: Typhoon Talas kills 20 in Japan -- Evacuation orders issued to 460,000 people in west, central regions
In the Atlantic and Caribbean Nate, Maria, Katia and the remnants of Lee made things uncomfortable:
- 2011/09/10: Wunderground: No change to Nate; Maria fizzles; Katia headed to Britain
- 2011/09/09: Wunderground: Little change in strength for Nate and Maria
- 2011/09/09: Eureka: NASA's Aqua satellite sees 3 in 1: Tropical storms Nate, Lee, fires
- 2011/09/09: Eureka: NASA satellite rainmap shows extent of Tropical Storm Lee's heavy rainfall
- 2011/09/09: Eureka: Tropical Storm Maria's 'West Side Story' to the Caribbean
- 2011/09/09: CSM: Hurricane hunters kept busy by three storms
- 2011/09/09: BBC: Floods worsen in eastern US after Tropical Storm Lee
The Susquehanna River has reached record levels in Pennsylvania and New York, swollen by torrential rainfall from Tropical Storm Lee. The president declared a state of emergency in both states, bringing federal aid to affected areas. - 2011/09/09: CBC: Floodwaters easing in U.S. northeast -- At least 11 deaths have been blamed on storm and flooding
- 2011/09/09: CNN: Hurricane Katia slips into north Atlantic; Nate churns in Gulf
Caribbean islands fall under a tropical storm watches and warnings - Nate is expected to become a hurricane Friday - Tropical Storm Maria could threaten the U.S. next Tuesday, Wednesday - Hurricane Katia stays far from land - 2011/09/10: CBC: Oil workers missing in gulf storm [Nate]
- 2011/09/08: Wunderground: Nate almost a hurricane; Maria remains disorganized
- 2011/09/08: NASA: NASA Sees 4 Tropical Cyclones in the Atlantic Today [Katia, Lee, Maria & Nate]
- 2011/09/08: Eureka: 2 NASA satellites catch Tropical Storm Nate's quick formation
- 2011/09/08: CSM: As Katia blows by the East Coast, Nate and Maria are brewing in tropics
- 2011/09/09: CBC: Texas oil workers missing in Mexico gulf before Nate
Tropical Storm Maria heads toward Atlantic, Lee inundates northeastern U.S. states - 2011/09/09: al Jazeera: Toxic floods hit US northeast coast
Sewage-tainted flood waters threaten public health, officials warn, after five killed in deluge. Relentless rain has caused catastrophic flooding in the eastern United States, killing at least five people and forcing the evacuation of more than 130,000 in three states. Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee swamped homes and businesses from Maryland to New England on Thursday and dropped up to 30cm of rain outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which declared a state of emergency. - 2011/09/08: BBC: Swollen Susquehanna River prompts evacuation orders
Nearly 100,000 people in the north-eastern US have been given orders to evacuate areas around the Susquehanna River after torrential downpours. Squalls from Tropical Storm Lee drenched New York and Pennsylvania and pushed river levels dangerously high. - 2011/09/08: CBC: Post-Lee rain driving 100,000 from homes in U.S. -- 11 deaths blamed on storm
- 2011/09/07: Wunderground: Tropical Storms Nate, Maria have formed; 2011 season on the heels of 2005's numbers
- 2011/09/07: Eureka: NASA panorama sees Tropical Storm Maria join Hurricane Katia
- 2011/09/07: Wunderground: TD 14 likely to become Maria; new Gulf of Mexico system brewing
- 2011/09/06: Eureka: NASA satellites 'eyes' changes in Hurricane Katia
- 2011/09/07: CBC: Hurricane Katia weakens to Category 1 storm
- 2011/09/06: BBC: Hurricane Katia not expected to make US landfall
- 2011/09/06: PlanetArk: Katia Ramps Up Power, But Seen Missing East Coast
- 2011/09/06: CBC: Hurricane Katia weakens to Category 3 -- Storm may pass southeast of N.L. on Saturday or Sunday
- 2011/09/05: PlanetArk: Tropical Storm Lee Forms Near Louisiana Coast: NHC
- 2011/09/05: Wunderground: Lee's winds fan deadly Texas fires; a dangerous day for Lee's floods and tornadoes
- 2011/09/04: Wunderground: Lee drenching the Gulf Coast; Katia a Cat 2
- 2011/09/05: CBC: Weakened Lee poses flood threats in U.S. South
- 2011/09/05: al Jazeera: Tropical Storm Lee weakens over Louisiana
New Orleans escapes mostly unscathed but other southeastern regions still face threat of flash flooding and tornadoes. - 2011/09/04: CSM: New Orleans finds tropical storm Lee is no Katrina
- 2011/09/04: CBC: New Orleans' levees hold as Lee moves north
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2011/09/09: Eureka: Using 61 years of tropical storm data, scientists uncover landfall threat probabilities
- 2011/09/04: Nature:B: Storms Inside Storms: How Hurricanes Spawn Tornadoes
As for GHGs:
- 2011/09/08: Eureka: First global picture of greenhouse gases emerges from pole-to-pole research flights
3-year series of scientific missions from Arctic to Antarctic produces new views of atmospheric chemistry - 2011/09/07: UCAR: First global portrait of greenhouse gases emerges from pole-to-pole flights
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2011/09/06: Eureka: Study finds crop performance matters when evaluating greenhouse gas emissions
- 2011/09/06: BBC: Invasive earthworms can alter the carbon and nitrogen cycles in woodland, as well as undermining native plant species, a study has said
As for the temperature record:
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: Texas, Summer 2011: Officially the Hottest in U.S. History
- 2011/09/08: NOAANews: U.S. experiences second warmest summer on record -- Texas has warmest summer on record of any state
- 2011/09/09: Wunderground: Hottest U.S. summer in 75 years; La Niña is back; Nate and Maria update
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2011/09/05: SciNews: Acid oceans helped fuel mass extinction -- Great die-off 250 million years ago could trace in part to waters' change in pH
While on the ENSO front:
- 2011/09/08: NOAA:NCEP: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion
Synopsis: La Niña conditions have returned and are expected to gradually strengthen and continue into the Northern Hemisphere winter 2011-12. - 2011/09/09: al Jazeera: La Nina is back
The ocean-atmosphere phenomenon promises to disrupt the weather across the globe once more. - 2011/09/09: PlanetArk: La Nina Gets Reborn, Will Strengthen During Winter: CPC
- 2011/09/09: NatureNB: After a wild ride, La Niña is back for more
- 2011/09/08: NOAANews: NOAA's Climate Prediction Center: La Niña is back
What's new on the extinction front?
- 2011/09/07: SciAm:HoG: September 7, 1936: The last Thylacine
What's new in proxies?
- 2011/09/10: JFleck: Tree rings and fire history in the Appalachians
- 2011/09/08: ERW: Highland sheep affect tree-ring widths
Nibbling herbivores may have muddled our temperature records from the past. New research shows that browsing animals decrease the width of tree rings and, at high animal densities, have a greater impact on tree-ring growth than climate. - 2011/09/07: Eureka: Tree rings reveal forest fires from hundreds of years ago, says Texas A&M researcher
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2011/09/05: ERW: Extinct plankton returns to Atlantic
A species of plankton that became extinct in the North Atlantic 800,000 years ago has returned to the region. The development could upset the marine ecosystem, according to researchers from the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS) in the UK. The melting Arctic has opened a Northwest Passage across the Pole for the plankton (Neodenticula seminae). Its move back to the Atlantic is believed to be the first evidence of a trans-Arctic migration by plankton in modern times. - 2011/09/07: MoJo: This Is What Global Warming Looks Like
- 2011/09/07: Grist: This is what global warming looks like
- 2011/09/04: CAbyss: The Electric Dust Storm
- 2011/09/04: TP:JR: Labor Day 2040: Endless Summer
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2011/09/09: FAO: Better landscape management needed to prevent forest fires -- Fire management will require increased investment
- 2011/09/09: CCurrents: Bolivia: Amazon Protest -- Development Before Environment?
- 2011/09/09: EnergyBulletin: Saving ancient walnut forests in the valleys of central Asia
- 2011/09/09: UN: Countries need to pay more attention to managing fires near forests - UN and partners
- 2011/08/31: UDW: Rainforest Defenders Marked for Death in Brazil
- 2011/09/05: SwissInfo: Solar cookers to save Madagascar's forests
Solar cookers are becoming common in Madagascar despite some resistance to change Each year, 200,000 hectares of forest vanish in Madagascar as trees are cut down to provide wood for heating and charcoal for cooking. - 2011/09/07: Nature: (Editorial) Heavy weather -- Severe storms make the public think of climate change. Scientists must work to evaluate the link
- 2011/09/09: USAToday: Climate report links extreme weather events to global warming
- 2011/09/07: KSJT: Minnesota Public Radio: Horrid year for weather. Not here. But Texas and tornado alley and Atlantic+Gulf...
- 2011/09/07: NatureN: Climate and weather: Extreme measures -- Can violent hurricanes, floods and droughts be pinned on climate change? Scientists are beginning to say yes
- 2011/09/07: BPA: Extremes of the Weather: Summer 2011 in the U.S.
- 2011/09/05: Guardian(UK): US counts the cost of nine months of unprecedented weather extremes
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration, there have been 10 major disasters this year - 2011/09/05: CBC: Tornado touchdown confirmed in Trois-Rivières [F-0]
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2011/09/10: CNN: More wildfires erupt in Texas as it faces worst dry spell since 1895
Bastrop fire is now 50% contained - State issues hotel vouchers for those in shelters - Texas experiences 24 more wildfires, which are mostly small - More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed so far - 2011/09/09: MTobis: Texas Pics
- 2011/09/09: CBC: Texas wildfire fight progressing but flare-ups a concern -- Residents ask why Gov. Perry hasn't spent more time in the state
- 2011/09/08: CNN: Texas wildfire 30% contained with 'potential for growth'
Fire north of San Antonio "more than 50% contained" - In the past week, Texas Forest Service responds to 176 fires - Forest Service: Most of "forward progress" of Bastrop fire has been stopped - Nearly 1,400 homes have been destroyed in the Bastrop fire, officials say - 2011/09/09: PlanetArk: Heat And Fires Scorch South As Drought Toll Rises
- 2011/09/08: DemNow: Texas Faces Massive Wildfires, Record Drought as Gov. Rick Perry Denies Existence of Global Warming
- 2011/09/08: MTobis: Bastrop Fires Subside
- 2011/09/07: CSW: Talking about the Texas disasters -- climate and political
- 2011/09/08: CBC: Texas residents quickly fled as wildfire closed in -- 'Everything's gone now,' Texas man says after fire destroys his home
- 2011/09/07: QuarkSoup: Striking Fire Picture from Texas
- 2011/09/07: CAbyss: Last Map of Bastrop Fire and Only Map of Riley Road (Magnolia) Fire
- 2011/09/07: MTobis: More on Fires
- 2011/09/07: BBC: Texas firefighters say they have contained 30% of the state's most destructive wildfire in years.
- 2011/09/05: CDreams: Two Dead, Hundreds of Homes Burned in Texas Wildfires
- 2011/09/07: ITracker: Texas burns
- 2011/09/07: Grist: First-hand accounts from inside Texas' raging inferno
- 2011/09/06: SciAm:PI: Central Texas is on fire -- vulnerability, the grid, and the view from space
- 2011/09/06: MTobis: Not the Obligatory Spencer Post
- 2011/09/07: CBC: Texas wildfire slows but remains out of control -- Latest blaze, blamed on yearlong drought, torches at least 1,000 homes
- 2011/09/07: al Jazeera: Texas wildfires destroy 1,000 homes
At least four people killed and thousands evacuated as more than 180 wildfires rage across rain-starved US state. - 2011/09/06: TP:JR: Hell and High Water Stoke Texas Blaze...
- 2011/09/06: CNN: Texas wildfires destroy more than 700 homes in two days
"We were doing everything we could," firefighter says - More than 700 homes have burned in last two days, Texas Forest Service reports - The largest fire, the Bastrop County Complex, is up to 30,000 acres and largely uncontained - Some evacuated residents near Austin allowed back home - 2011/09/06: CAbyss: Bastrop (Texas) Fire: Latest Map
- 2011/09/05: MTobis: Approaching Bastrop Today
- 2011/09/05: MTobis: "Lost Pines" Today vs 30 Months Ago
- 2011/09/05: MTobis: A Recent Comment About Lost Pines
- 2011/09/06: Wunderground: Texas fires will diminish today; Lee's rains set all-time records
- 2011/09/06: CSM: Texas wildfires collide with urban sprawl
- 2011/09/06: BBC: Texas wildfires torch 1,000 homes
Dozens of wildfires raging in rain-starved Texas are now known to have engulfed more than 1,000 homes, say state officials. The biggest of the blazes - 16 miles (26km) wide - in rural Bastrop County remained completely uncontained early on Tuesday. - 2011/09/06: CBC: Raging Texas wildfire forces thousands to flee -- Wind gives firefighters a break, but fire a long way from being controlled
- 2011/09/06: CBC: West Kelowna wildfire forces evacuation of 550
- 2011/09/05: BBC: In pictures: Texas wildfire
- 2011/09/05: BBC: Firefighters in drought-stricken Texas are struggling to contain a 16-mile-wide (26-km) wildfire that has destroyed almost 500 homes
- 2011/09/05: CBC: Texas wildfire destroys hundreds of homes
- 2011/09/05: CAbyss: Bastrop (Texas) Fire
- 2011/09/05: TreeHugger: Massive Wildfires Sweep Texas: 17,000 Acres Decimated, 300 Homes Destroyed, 2 Dead
Sea levels are rising:
- 2011/09/06: TreeHugger: Bangkok May Be Swamped By Rising Seas, Sinking Land by 2030
These global warming deluges are becoming all too frequent:
- 2011/09/09: TP:JR: "An Extreme Rainfall Event Unprecedented in Recorded History Has Hit the Binghamton, New York Area"
- 2011/09/09: MTobis: Daily Rainfall Record Exceeded By 60%
- 2011/09/08: Wunderground: 1-in-100 year rains cause extreme flooding in NY, PA; Nate, Maria, and Katia
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2011/09/06: WMO: Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum considers September-December rainfall
- 2011/09/09: CAbyss: Texas Drought and Global Warming
- 2011/09/07: CBC: Flooding, mudslides, closures hit B.C.'s North Coast
- 2011/09/05: PlanetArk: The Mighty Missouri River: The Flooding And The Damage Done
- 2011/08/: MansfieldHeliFlight: Vermont Flood Hi-Res Gallery
On the mitigation front, consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2011/09/11: HotTopic: Breaking the deadlock on shipping emissions
- 2011/09/08: Guardian(UK): Beijing set to become world's busiest aviation hub with new mega-airport
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2011/09/08: TreeHugger: Unity College Scores Again With TerraHaus That's Passivhaus
- 2011/09/06: PSinclair: Before and After: This Old House Goes Net Zero
- 2011/09/06: TreeHugger: 10,000 Buildings Now Certified Under LEED. That's Amazing.
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2011/09/07: GEB: Runaway Warming
- 2011/09/08: Guardian(UK): [Letters] I hope we never need geoengineering, but we must research it
While on the adaptation front:
- 2011/09/08: Guardian(UK): Artificial island could be solution for rising Pacific sea levels
Kiribati's President Anote Tong is considering radical action of moving 100,000 people to 'structures resembling oil rigs' - 2011/09/08: NERC:NORA: Major changes in forest carbon and nitrogen cycling caused by declining sulphur deposition by Filip Oulehle et al.
- 2011/09/07: NERC:NORA: Clade perseverance from mesozoic to present: a multidisciplinary approach to interpretation of pattern and process by David K.A. Barnes
- 2011/09/07: NERC:NORA: Identifying governance strategies that effectively support ecosystem services, resource sustainability, and biodiversity by R.E. Kenward et al.
- 2011/09/07: NERC:NORA: Antarctic glacial history and sea-level change by Peter F. Barker et al.
- 2011/09/07: NERC:NORA: Ongoing glacial isostatic contributions to observations of sea level change by M. E. Tamisiea
- 2011/09/07: NERC:NORA: Controls of carbon dioxide concentrations and fluxes above central London by C. Helfter et al.
- 2011/09/05: NERC:NORA: Dynamic response of the shallow marine benthic ecosystem to regional and pan-Tethyan environmental change at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary by Jawad Afzal et al.
- 2011/09/09: ACP: Source apportionment of the carbonaceous aerosol in Norway - quantitative estimates based on 14C, thermal-optical and organic tracer analysis by K. E. Yttri et al.
- 2011/09/09: ACP: High-ozone layers in the middle and upper troposphere above Central Europe: potential import from the stratosphere along the subtropical jet stream by T. Trickl et al.
- 2011/09/09: ACP: Trace gas fluxes of CO2, CH4 and N2O in a permanent grassland soil exposed to elevated CO2 in the Giessen FACE study by M. Kaleem Abbasi & C. Müller
- 2011/09/09: ACP: Microphysical simulations of new particle formation in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere by J. M. English et al.
- 2011/09/09: ACPD: Tight coupling of particle size and composition in atmospheric cloud droplet activation by D. Topping & G. McFiggans
- 2011/09/07: GMD: The Atmosphere-Ocean General Circulation Model EMAC-MPIOM by A. Pozzer et al.
- 2011/09/07: GMD: A pragmatic approach for the downscaling and bias correction of regional climate simulations: evaluation in hydrological modeling by T. Marke et al.
- 2011/09/07: GMD: The HadGEM2 family of Met Office Unified Model climate configurations by The HadGEM2 Development Team
- 2011/09/07: OSD: Towards a regional ocean forecasting system for the IBI (Iberia-Biscay-Ireland area): developments and improvements within the ECOOP project framework by S. Cailleau et al.
- 2011/09/09: TC: Warming of waters in an East Greenland fjord prior to glacier retreat: mechanisms and connection to large-scale atmospheric conditions by P. Christoffersen et al.
- 2011/09/08: TCD: How reversible is sea ice loss? by J. K. Ridley et al.
- 2011/08/19: Springer:CC: (ab$) Coal to gas: the influence of methane leakage by Tom M. L. Wigley
- 2011/08/25: GRL: (ab$) The frequency response of temperature and precipitation in a climate model by Douglas G. MacMynowski
- 2011/09/07: CPD: Vegetation-climate interactions in the warm mid-Cretaceous by J. Zhou et al.
- 2011/09/07: RSPB: A large population of king crabs in Palmer Deep on the west Antarctic Peninsula shelf and potential invasive impacts by Craig R. Smith et al.
- 2011/09/08: ACP: Carbon monoxide (CO) and ethane (C2H6) trends from ground-based solar FTIR measurements at six European stations, comparison and sensitivity analysis with the EMEP model by J. Angelbratt et al.
- 2011/09/08: ACP: The multi-seasonal NOy budget in coastal Antarctica and its link with surface snow and ice core nitrate: results from the CHABLIS campaign by A. E. Jones et al.
- 2011/09/08: ACP: NASA A-Train and Terra observations of the 2010 Russian wildfires by J. C. Witte et al.
- 2011/09/08: ACP: A global climatology of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone derived from Aura OMI and MLS measurements by J. R. Ziemke et al.
- 2011/09/07: ACP: Airborne DOAS measurements in Arctic: vertical distributions of aerosol extinction coefficient and NO2 concentration by A. Merlaud et al.
- 2011/09/07: ACP: Cloud base vertical velocity statistics: a comparison between an atmospheric mesoscale model and remote sensing observations by J. Tonttila et al.
- 2011/09/06: ACP: Interpreting methane variations in the past two decades using measurements of CH4 mixing ratio and isotopic composition by G. Monteil et al.
- 2011/09/05: ACP: Composition changes after the "Halloween" solar proton event: the High Energy Particle Precipitation in the Atmosphere (HEPPA) model versus MIPAS data intercomparison study by B. Funke et al.
- 2011/09/05: ACP: Global cloud condensation nuclei influenced by carbonaceous combustion aerosol by D. V. Spracklen et al.
- 2011/09/05: ACP: On the relationship between low cloud variability and lower tropospheric stability in the Southeast Pacific by F. Sun et al.
- 2011/09/05: ACP: Black carbon aerosol mixing state, organic aerosols and aerosol optical properties over the United Kingdom by G. R. McMeeking et al.
- 2011/09/08: ACPD: The influence of boreal biomass burning emissions on the distribution of tropospheric ozone over North America and the North Atlantic during 2010 by M. Parrington et al.
- 2011/09/07: ACPD: Further analyses of the decadal-scale responses and trends in middle and upper stratospheric ozone from SAGE II and HALOE by E. E. Remsberg
- 2011/09/05: ACPD: Impacts of near-future cultivation of biofuel feedstocks on atmospheric composition and local air quality by K. Ashworth et al.
- 2011/09/05: ACPD: Nucleation and growth of sulfate aerosol in coal-fired power plant plumes: sensitivity to background aerosol and meteorology by R. G. Stevens et al.
- 2011/09/06: PNAS: (ab$) Permafrost carbon-climate feedbacks accelerate global warming by Charles D. Koven et al.
- 2011/09/06: PNAS: (letter$) Himalayan glaciers: The big picture is a montage by Jeffrey S. Kargel et al.
- 2011/09/06: OS: A study of the hydrographic conditions in the Adriatic Sea from numerical modelling and direct observations (2000-2008) by P. Oddo & A. Guarnieri
- 2011/09/06: OS: Silicon pool dynamics and biogenic silica export in the Southern Ocean inferred from Si-isotopes by F. Fripiat et al.
- 2011/09/06: TCD: Surface mass budget and meltwater discharge from the Kangerlussuaq sector of the Greenland ice sheet during record-warm year 2010 by D. van As et al.
- 2011/08/29: GRL: (ab$) Cloud variations and the Earth's energy budget by Andrew E. Dessler
- 2011/09/05: AGWObserver: New research from last week 35/2011
- 2011/08/02: GRL: (ab$) Climate simulations of the Permian-Triassic boundary: Ocean acidification and the extinction event by A. Montenegro et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2011/09/06: SkeptiSci: [link to 2.6 meg pdf] OA not OK: Booklet available
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2011/09/05: Guardian(UK): Publish-or-perish: Peer review and the corruption of science
- 2011/09/08: TWTB: The conservative face of science and the role of consensus
- 2011/09/07: CCP: Rudy Baum: Climate Change Schizophrenia
- 2011/09/04: Stoat: Why does the stratosphere cool under GW?
- 2011/09/04: Tamino: Odd Introduction to a New Paper
More DIY science:
- 2011/09/09: moyhu: August GMST - TempLS no change
While at the UN:
- 2011/09/09: UN: Private sector role in climate change fund for poorer countries focus of UN meeting
- 2011/09/08: Guardian(UK): How to ensure climate change finance is well spent
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2011/09/06: PlanetArk: EU, Australia To Discuss linking Carbon Trading Schemes
The Robin Hood tax, aka the Tobin tax, aka the Bank tax, aka the Financial Transaction tax keeps coming up:
- 2011/09/06: EurActiv: Barroso tries to twist arms on financial tax
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has gone on a global trek to convince opponents of a tax on financial transactions to reconsider their stance. Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are his first stops this week. - 2011/09/09: PlanetArk: U.S., EU, Japan To Discuss Rare Earths In October
- 2011/09/08: AutoBG: Three rare earth mines in China to halt extraction by year's end
- 2011/09/07: PlanetArk: EU Looks To Stockpile Rare Earths, Molycorp Silmet Says
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
- 2011/09/05: SwissInfo: Anti-nuclear protestors removed from Mühleberg
Police have cleared one of two groups of protestors from the Mühleberg atomic power plant outside the capital, Bern. The 20 or so demonstrators said they did not resist. - 2011/09/09: BBC: UK nuclear support 'rises after Fukushima'
An opinion poll suggests that support for nuclear power in Britain has increased in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. In the British Science Association poll, over 40% of respondents said the benefits outweighed the risks. Researchers believe that worries about future energy security have become far more important in people's minds. - 2011/09/11: BBC: Our Rivers campaign reveals 'blacklist'
Wildlife campaigners have published a list of 10 rivers in England and Wales where they say environmental problems have not been tackled properly. - 2011/08/30: AlterNet: FIJI Water and Their Parent Company's Shady Water Dealings in the US and Abroad
- 2011/09/08: Guardian(UK): The battle to save Iran's Lake Orumieh
The world's third-largest salt lake is drying up and all the government has done is repress peaceful environmental protests - 2011/09/07: UN: Djibouti: UNICEF launches scheme to provide safe drinking water
- 2011/09/07: JFleck: The farm bill and water policy
- 2011/09/07: Reuters: Saudi Arabia's water needs eating into oil wealth
- 2011/09/05: Guardian(UK): Iranian greens fear disaster as Lake Orumieh shrinks
- 2011/09/04: BBC: Iran arrests saltwater lake protesters
Iranian officials say 60 people have been arrested in protests calling for the government to save a shrinking lake in the north-west of the country. Lake Orumiyeh, one of the world's largest salt lakes, has lost more than half its surface area in 20 years due to drought and the damming of rivers. A local MP says if the lake disappears it will leave behind 10bn tonnes of salt and displace millions of people. An emergency rescue plan for the lake was rejected by parliament last month. Correspondents say the government has yet to take a position on the future of the lake. - 2011/09/09: ITracker: Religious faith and global warming denial
And on the American political front:
- 2011/09/11: SfB: Will USA wake up soon that climate change is already here?
- 2011/09/09: PlanetArk: Weather Disasters Keep Costing U.S. Billions This Year
- 2011/09/09: Grist: As waves lap at their doorsteps, Alaskan islanders take on climate polluters
- 2011/09/09: Guardian(UK): Hurricanes, floods and wildfires -- but Washington won't talk global warming
America is seeing record-breaking extreme weather, yet the US political class is paralysed in climate change negligence - 2011/09/10: CSW: "As the Costs of Extreme Weather Rise, Americans Cannot Afford Denial"
- 2011/09/08: AdWeek: 'Tea Party Zombies' Creator Draws Ire -- Conservatives call for StarvingEyes boycott
- 2011/09/08: PlanetArk: New York Extends Period For Comments On Fracking
- 2011/09/09: Grist: The gas tax is actually super low, thanks to inflation
- 2011/09/07: Onion: Nation Would Rather Think About 9/11 Than Anything From Subsequent 10 Years
- 2011/09/08: Grist: Chris Christie met with Koch brother before pulling out of climate pact
- 2011/09/08: SciAm:Obs: Stupid Science Statements Made by Public Figures: Send Us Your Favorites [US pol]
- 2011/09/09: DM:CCM: Global Warming, the Tea Party, and Unwavering Certainty
- 2011/09/08: AlterNet: NJ Governor Christie's Secret Meeting With Koch Brothers Causes Political Firestorm
- 2011/09/08: Guardian(UK): The world needs to prepare for a climate sceptic defeating Obama
- 2011/09/08: TP:JR: Christie Stunner: NJ Gov Met With Pollutocrat Koch Before Pulling Out of Successful Carbon Pollution Reduction Program
- 2011/09/08: Grist: The conservative game plan on energy subsidies
- 2011/09/08: TP:JR: Creating Jobs by Harnessing Our Renewable Resources
- 2011/09/08: MTobis: Another Anthropogenic Forcing
- 2011/09/07: TP:JR: Key Source Disputes Misleading NY Times Green Jobs Story: 'It's Like the Facts Were Misstated ... to Put Forward an Agenda'
- 2011/09/06: Grist: David Brooks' myth-ridden flip-flop on green jobs
- 2011/09/07: TreeHugger: Here's Why the US Has One-Fourth the Renewable Energy of Germany: Inconsistent Policy
- 2011/09/07: DeSmogBlog: On Global Warming, the Tea Party is Worse than the GOP
- 2011/09/06: RawStory: Texas cut fire department funding by 75 percent this year
- 2011/09/06: TP:JR: David Brooks Cites Debunked NY Times Story in His Myth-Riddled, Hypocritical, Flip-Flop on Green Jobs
- 2011/09/06: TP:JR: Petro-Boss Charles Koch Labels Obama "Saddam Hussein," Tells Big Donors He Must Be Defeated In "Mother Of All Wars"
- 2011/09/06: Grist: Missouri puts payoff of local power in peril
- 2011/09/05: Guardian(UK): Hurricane Irene relief fund estimated at $1.5bn
- 2011/09/05: TP:JR: Must-Read Tell All: "Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult"
- 2011/09/05: AutoBG: CARB fines two cargo ships $53,000 each for using illegal fuel
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
- 2011/09/08: BostonGlobe: BP removes tar balls in Alabama
- 2011/09/07: PlanetArk: BP Looks To Ramp Up Gulf Of Mexico Activity
- 2011/09/05: WHOI: WHOI-Led Study Sharpens Picture of How Much Oil and Gas Flowed in Deepwater Horizon Spill
- 2011/09/06: TreeHugger: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: New [WHOI] Study Gives More Accurate Picture of the Disaster
- 2011/09/05: PlanetArk: Analysis: Damages Ruling May Be Pivotal In BP Case
The 2012 clown show rolls along:
- 2011/09/09: UCSUSA:B: Republican Party's Moment of Truth on Science
- 2011/09/06: ProPublica: Our Guide to the Best Coverage of Newt Gingrich and His Record
- 2011/09/08: ProPublica: Our Guide to the Best Coverage on President Obama and the Economy
- 2011/09/09: AlterNet: Is Rick Perry's Budget Feeding Texas Wildfires? Local Fire Departments Suffer $23 Million in Cuts
- 2011/09/09: ITracker: Rick Perry launches the Galileo Gambit into the mainstream
- 2011/09/08: NYT: Divining Perry's Meaning on Galileo Remark
- 2011/09/08: TP:JR: Rick Perry's Inane Miscue on Galileo and Climate Change
- 2011/09/08: AutoBG: Mitt Romney ready to exploit all U.S. energy reserves; Rick Perry still climate change skeptic
- 2011/09/08: DemNow: Texas Faces Massive Wildfires, Record Drought as Gov. Rick Perry Denies Existence of Global Warming
- 2011/09/08: TPM: Cue Violins
- 2011/09/09: PSinclair: I knew Galileo. Rick Perry, you are no Galileo.
- 2011/09/08: Guardian(UK): Is Rick Perry a 21st-century Galileo?
- 2011/09/08: Grist: Rick Perry: Just because global warming is a 'fact' doesn't mean it's real
- 2011/09/07: Grist: Mitt stakes: Romney botches 9 energy facts
- 2011/09/07: TP:JR: Fineman: Perry Over His Head On Climate Change
- 2011/09/07: CSW: Talking about the Texas disasters -- climate and political
- 2011/09/08: TreeHugger: GOP Debate Fireworks: Perry Doubles Down on Climate Denial, Huntsman Says GOP Can't Run from Science
- 2011/09/07: CSM: Texas wildfires: Is Rick Perry being hypocritical asking for federal aid?
- 2011/09/07: Wonkette: Rick Perry Remembers He Hadn't Yet Blamed Feds For Texas Wildfires
- 2011/09/06: TP:JR: Rick Perry: The EPA 'Won't Know What Hit 'Em'
- 2011/09/05: PlanetArk: Perry Sought To Sideline Nuclear Waste Site Critic
Texas governor Rick Perry tried to sideline a state commissioner who opposed expanding the scope of a nuclear-waste landfill owned by one of the governor's biggest political donors, Reuters has learned. Bobby Gregory, owner of a wildlife ranch and landfill company south of Austin, had opposed a plan to let 36 states send nuclear waste to a 1,338-acre site in Andrews County. On the other side of the issue was billionaire Harold Simmons and his company Waste Control Specialists LLC, which stood to gain millions of dollars from accepting out-of-state shipments. Simmons had donated over $1 million to Perry's gubernatorial campaigns. - 2011/09/06: UCSUSA: Scientist Intervenes in Virginia Email Case to Protect Rights
- 2011/09/06: CCP: Former University of Virginia climate scientist Michael Mann filed a legal intervention last Friday to block the American Tradition Institute (ATI) from gaining access to scientists' email correspondence and other documents protected under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
The Gore-apalooza seems to be revving up again:
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: Join Al Gore for 24 Hours of Climate Reality, September 14 2011
- 2011/09/07: TP:JR: Al Gore: Obama Bowed to Pressure from Polluters
- 2011/09/07: TreeHugger: Al Gore: Obama isn't "relying on science"
- 2011/09/07: Guardian(UK): Al Gore accuses Barack Obama of bowing 'to pressure from polluters'
Al Gore makes a blunt public attack on the Obama administration for its failure to enforce stricter pollution standards - 2011/09/10: QuarkSoup: What the Ozone Nonregulations Won't Prevent
- 2011/09/10: Stoat: Ozone regs
- 2011/09/06: GreenGrok: Obama: A No-Go on Ozone -- A tactical retreat or an abdication?
- 2011/09/06: FAIR: Smog Rules and Hazy Reporting
- 2011/09/07: FAIR: The Pragmatism of Dirty Air
- 2011/09/07: QuarkSoup: Smog Levels to Remain Higher than Scientists Suggest Safe for Public Health
- 2011/09/07: PlanetArk: Ozone In Smog Damages Health Even At Current Level
- 2011/09/07: Grist: Obama pulls a Bush on clean air
- 2011/09/07: DemNow: Smog v. Jobs: Is Obama Admin Endangering U.S. Environment, Public Health With Retreat on Smog Standards?
- 2011/09/06: CCP: Joe Romm on Countdown: Keith Olbermann Excoriates Obama's Reversal On Smog Regulation (video)
- 2011/09/06: TP:JR: "This is a Fight and We Need a Leader": Environmental Champion Leon Billings Slams Obama's Ozone Retreat
- 2011/09/02: LegalTimes: Obama Sides with Business, Overrides EPA on Smog Regs
- 2011/09/05: PlanetArk: Obama Backtracks On Smog Plan, Bows To Big Business
- 2011/09/05: TP:JR: Krugman Slams "Latest Obama Cave-In," Explains Why "Tighter Ozone Regulation Would Actually Have Created Jobs"
- 2011/09/02: FDL: Capitulation on Ozone Much Worse When You Learn the Context
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
- 2011/09/09: Wonkette: Hot Video of Obama Making Fake Promises and GOP Talking Points
- 2011/09/08: TP:JR: Polling Expert: Is Obama's Reluctance to Mention Climate Change Motivated by a False Assumption About Public Opinion?
- 2011/09/02: HuffPo: Is the Obama Administration Putting Corporate Profits Above Public Health? by Robert Redford
One reason I supported President Obama is because he said we must protect clean air, water and lands. But what good is it to say the right thing unless you act on it? Since early August, three administration decisions -- on Arctic drilling, the Keystone XL pipeline and the ozone that causes smog -- have all favored dirty industry over public health and a clean environment. Like so many others, I'm beginning to wonder just where the man stands. - 2011/09/04: BBC: US President Obama says federal help to areas struck by Hurricane Irene won't be affected by budget concerns
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2011/09/09: PlanetArk: Department Of Energy Offers Aid For Solar On Military Bases
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: FBI Raids Offices of Bankrupt Solar Panel Maker Solyndra
- 2011/09/07: Grist: Memo to EPA chief Lisa Jackson: Defy Obama or resign
- 2011/09/08: NOAANews: NOAA sends balloons aloft to collect data for renewable wind energy project
- 2011/09/07: NOAANews: Atmospheric and Environmental Research teams with NOAA on hail and severe storms risk management initiative
Weather risk services firm launches AER Respond for insurers to better manage hail claims - 2011/09/07: Grist: Here's what happens to EPA whistleblowers (hint: it isn't pretty)
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2011/09/10: Wonkette: [Rep.] Joe Walsh (R-IL) Heroically Sues Ex-Wife Over Child
- 2011/09/09: ScienceInsider: Senate Budget Bill Holds Energy Department Science Level
- 2011/09/08: Grist: Representative [Joe Wilson (R-SC)] thinks Obama controls the weather
- 2011/09/06: TP:JR: Harry Reid: I'm 'Not Confident' Congress Can Extend the Production Tax Credit for Wind
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2011/09/10: TreeHugger: More Rumor Mongering Against US EPA - What Gives?
- 2011/09/07: DeSmogBlog: Open Letter to Oprah Winfrey on 'Ethical Oil' Ads
While in the UK:
- 2011/09/09: Guardian(UK): Caroline Lucas: 'The odds of serious Green influence are extremely high'
Andrew Sparrow speaks to the Green party leader about economic growth, proportional representation and Greenham Common - 2011/09/09: Guardian(UK): 'Free' corporate help accepted by energy department, Caroline Lucas reveals
Greens' leader says big business 'expects something in return', using conference speech to position her party as free of vested interests - 2011/09/06: OpenDem: Britain is debating reforms backed by the anti-abortion lobby
- 2011/09/04: Guardian(UK): Weatherwatch: local authorities and climate change
More than 10 years ago the government instructed every local authority in England to plan for climate change. This was partly aimed at alerting councillors to the increasing dangers of river, sea and flash flooding and was also making sure planning decisions took this into account. Shortly afterwards by coincidence there was severe flooding in many parts of the UK. A recent study of 11 local authorities from the south coast to the Tees, taking in city and rural councils, has shown that over the past decade councillors have largely ignored the advice. Eight out of the nine councils in danger of river or coastal flooding have increased development in areas most at risk, and in four the rate of building in the most vulnerable areas was faster than elsewhere in their boroughs. - 2011/09/09: PlanetArk: EU To Delay Action On Biofuels' Indirect Impact
- 2011/09/08: RRapier: Germany's Renewable Energy Sources Rise to 20 Percent
- 2011/09/09: DerSpiegel: Fingers in the Dyke -- Germany Lacks Clear Plan for Climate Change
Germany is preparing for climate change by installing air conditioners in overheated cities and irrigation systems on dry fields. But a new federal proposal is short on details, state programs differ and there is no solid plan for preparing the country for a warming world. - 2011/09/09: EurActiv: Greens alarmed as EU lobbies to maintain Kosovo coal plant
Environmentalists have condemned a letter sent by two EU commissioners calling on World Bank chief Robert Zoellick to continue funding for a 600MW lignite coal plant near Pristina. - 2011/09/08: EurActiv: EU attempts to 'speak with one voice' on energy
Günter Oettinger, the EU's energy commissioner, yesterday (7 September) unveiled proposals aimed at strengthening the EU's voice on energy matters vis-à -vis foreign countries such as Russia. But the proposal appears to face an uphill battle. - 2011/09/08: ABC(Au):TDU: When it comes to precedents and parallels, Gillard stands alone
- 2011/09/06: ABC(Au): Lismore to host coal seam gas forum
The New South Wales Government will hold two public hearings [Lismore this month & Taree in October] into the coal seam gas industry in the north coast region. - 2011/09/06: PeakEnergy: Will NSW renewables be blown off course by Victoria's winds of change?
- 2011/09/06: PeakEnergy: Origin, AGL call for [Australian] national energy scheme
- 2011/09/05: PeakEnergy: $45bn coal seam gas projects draw workers from around the world
The Australian carbon war rages on:
- 2011/09/07: ABC(Au): LNP urges Qld Labor to oppose carbon tax
The Opposition has used the federal carbon price debate to attack the Bligh Government in the Queensland Parliament. The LNP says public opinion is largely against the new tax. Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney says state Labor should fight it. - 2011/09/06: ABC(Au): Pyne out to thwart 'rushed' carbon vote
The Opposition says it will use whatever means necessary to thwart the Government's ambition for a vote on its carbon tax legislation next month. Anthony Albanese, the Government's Manager of Business in the House, has confirmed 13 carbon tax bills will be introduced into Parliament next week. The Opposition has consented to starting earlier on Tuesday and the Government wants the debate to start the next day. But the manager of Opposition business, Christopher Pyne, is not happy with Labor's timetable. - 2011/09/05: ABC(Au): Former BHP chair renews carbon tax criticism
- 2011/09/05: ABC(Au): Euro chief backs Gillard over carbon price
The Murray-Darling Basin Plan controversy continues:
- 2011/09/08: ABC(Au): Murray-Darling authority chairman to address national conference
- 2011/09/05: ABC(Au): Water deal to benefit SA irrigators
A new water sharing and storage arrangement for the Murray-Darling Basin has come into effect between South Australia and the eastern states. - 2011/09/09: AutoBG: China's tragic train crash may change nation's electric vehicle strategy
And elsewhere in Asia:
- 2011/09/10: al Jazeera: Anger grows over Pakistan flood relief
- 2011/09/09: ClimateShifts: Pacific leaders identify climate change as a major priority
In Canada, neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2011/09/08: PostMedia: Tories quietly drop vow to cut bitumen exports -- Pledge described as 'electioneering'
The Harper government has quietly buried a controversial promise to ban bitumen exports to countries that are environmental laggards, as Alberta and the energy industry formalize plans to ship oilsands product to lucrative Asian markets. One person familiar with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's surprise announcement during the 2008 federal election campaign said the pledge was simply electioneering at the time and was to be "buried and never seen again." - 2011/09/07: TStar: Greens deserve a place at the table
- 2011/09/07: CBC: Revived EcoEnergy program to advise on energy use
$78 million initiative could reduce greenhouse gas emissions if consumers take government's advice - 2011/09/06: PostMedia: Feds climate incentives costly, says internal report
The federal government is getting little bang for its buck on some of its spending initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to an internal Environment Canada report. The analysis, obtained by Postmedia News, uncovered billions of dollars in spending in recent years, resulting in what it describes as "substantive" reductions in the gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. But the numbers in the report - Complete Analysis of Notable Climate Change Incentives in Canada, dated March 2 - estimates that several programs are costing hundreds of dollars for each tonne of pollution reduced. - 2011/09/06: BO: Let the Green Revolution Begin!
The G20 controversy lingers:
- 2011/09/09: DD: He did the right thing...and was arrested for it...Dan Kellar Arrested After Blog Post on G20 "Infiltrator"
Questions and debate about offshore and Arctic drilling continue:
- 2011/09/09: CBC: Canada unprepared for Arctic oil spill, group says
Notice how Mr Baird neglects to mention that nearly all of the world's bitumen handling oil refineries are on the US Gulf Coast:
- 2011/09/10: OSun: Canada will ship oilsands exports elsewhere if U.S. turns down pipeline, minister [John Baird] says
The Cohen Commission hearings caught fire this week:
- 2011/09/08: TheCanadian: Title Fight at Cohen Commission: Morton vs. Industry-Government Juggernaut
Yesterday, on the penultimate day of the Cohen Commission's hearings on aquaculture and diseases, Alexandra Morton finally took the stand. To say the event lived up to its billing is an understatement, as the Inquiry often characterized by technocratic tedium was jolted to life in its final rounds. At the heart of the conflict lay the pattern of breathtaking industry-government collusion and secrecy that has characterized the aquaculture issue for decades - to a degree even I didn't fully fathom until now. - 2011/09/06: CSBC: Salmon Extinction BC
- Catch Salmon BC
- The Common Sense Canadian
- Alexandra Morton
- AlexandraMorton: The Global Battle Against Salmon Feedlots - News
- 2011/09/06: PostMedia:TimesColonist: Hell to pay for letting ISA virus into the Pacific
The worst possible thing that could happen to Pacific salmon has happened: Norwegian, Atlantic Ocean ISA virus that has wiped out every fish farm country in the world has been brought to the Pacific Ocean where there was no ISA - until it was brought to Chile and now B.C. There is only one solution: Get fish farms out of the water immediately and onto land where they can infect nothing other than themselves. The best data are the province's. After seeking to keep them secret, Christy Clark's government relented. See: www.catch salmonbc.com. - 2011/08/31: AlexandraMorton: Day 7 - There is something wrong with this process
- 2011/09/01: AlexandraMorton: Cohen Inquiry Aquaculture Hearings August 31
- 2011/09/08: AlexandraMorton: On the Stand at Cohen
- 2011/09/05: AlexandraMorton: Unwanted Trespass!!!!
- 2011/09/07: AlexandraMorton: Today I am on the stand
- 2011/09/04: TheCanadian: Precautionary Principle Missing in Protecting Wild Salmon
Gary Doer is still working on his infamy:
- 2011/09/07: POGGE: Noise
- 2011/09/07: CBC: Doer wants Keystone pipeline approved 'on merit'
- 2011/09/06: PostMedia: U.S. will approve Keystone XL pipeline if Obama looks at facts, not 'noise': ambassador
Canada's ambassador to the U.S. Gary Doer said Tuesday he is confident the Obama administration will approve the controversial Keystone XL oilsands pipeline if it is guided by facts about the project's safety and environmental impacts, and not the "noise" generated by opponents who protested for two weeks outside the White House. - 2011/09/05: CBC: Elections loom in 7 provinces, territories
BC is wrangling over energy:
- 2011/09/07: G&M: Clark's Hydro policy threatens to collapse B.C.'s climate-change progress, scientist says
- 2011/09/08: PostMedia: Clean power industry is under threat
The fight against climate change, partnerships with first nations and an emerging industry will all be undercut should the B.C. Liberals slacken their drive to make the province self-sufficient in electricity. So said advocates for the province's clean power industry Wednesday, at a news conference in the provincial capital. They were responding to one of the recommendations of the recent review of soaring electricity rates, namely that BC Hydro rely less on power purchased on a long-term basis from clean energy producers here in B.C., more on power purchased on the usuallycheaper-in-the-short-term spot electricity market. Making the case against that shift in environmental terms was Andrew Weaver, the worldrecognized climate scientist from the University of Victoria. - 2011/09/05: TheCanadian: The Financial Pain Produced by Campbell/Clark's Energy Policies
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2011/09/08: Tyee: Who's Behind New Pro-Oil Sands Ad Blitz?
Billing itself as 'grassroots', EthicalOil has close ties to a top oil sands law firm. - 2011/09/07: TheCanadian: Tar Sands Pipelines: Our Moment of Truth
- 2011/09/07: ClimateSight: The Tar Sands
Also in Alberta:
- 2011/09/09: Rabble:KK: Activist Communique: Media Alert -- Indigenous women blockade Murphy Oil fracking site
- 2011/09/06: DeSmogBlog: New West Partnership Includes CAPP Lobbyists in Fracking Policy Development
- 2011/09/06: CBC: Suncor CEO vows to return to Libya
In Manitoba, an election looms:
- 2011/09/07: CD: The Manitoba Election: Can Selinger Take It?
In Ontario, upcoming election issues are appearing:
- 2011/09/05: PI: Pembina reacts to Ontario Liberal Party platform
In the North:
- 2011/09/08: DM:DB: Arctic Blimps and Stealth Snowmobiles. Is There Something You'd Like to Share With Us, Canada?
- 2011/09/09: NBF: Large Hybrid Airship Purchase
- 2011/09/07: TGBeaver: Arctic aviation . . .
- 2011/09/06: ChronicleHerald: Arctic airship deal signed -- Manufacturer, aviator to develop giant airborne vehicles
The idea has been floating around for years, but a deal between a northern aviator and a British manufacturer could finally see giant airships sailing through Arctic skies within three years. - 2011/09/09: CBC: Scientist helps students adapt to climate change
Toronto school board develops climate-change course with Environment Canada - 2011//: SCarana: Towards a Sustainable Economy
Feebates are the most effective way to facilitate the shift towards a sustainable economy - 2011/09/09: CCurrents: Humanity's Fatal Distraction -- Metaphorically, our well is running dry, yet we insist on tinkering with the pump.
- 2011/09/09: CCurrents: Taking A Path Toward Sustainability While There Is Still Time
- 2011/09/08: CCurrents: Reality Vs Wishful Thinking -- Reflections on Chris Clugston's upcoming book, "Scarcity"
- 2011/09/08: CCurrents: The Times Are Too Desperate For Despair by Ellen Cantarow
- 2011/09/08: DVoice: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide -- Enforced Dependency is Everywhere
- 2011/09/09: AlterNet: How Fewer Working Hours Can Save Our Health, Economy, and the Planet
- 2011/09/07: IanWelsh: The Golden Laws of Prosperity
- 2011/09/08: EnergyBulletin: Living right on the "wrong" side of town
- 2011/09/08: CDreams: The Path to Real Prosperity by David Korten
A new jobs plan is thinking too small. What we need is a new economy. - 2011/09/06: EnergyBulletin: Cassandra and the limits to growth
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2011/09/06: OpenDem: Britain is debating reforms backed by the anti-abortion lobby
- 2011/09/06: SingularityHub: World Population To Reach 7 Billion This Month
- 2011/09/04: JFleck: Will Sunbelt Growth Return?
As for how the media handles science:
- 2011/09/10: TP:JR: Murdoch's NY Post Fabricates Statistic to Vilify Green Jobs
- 2011/09/06: Atlantic: Arrington's TechCrunch Moves Even Startle Trade Mag Editors
- 2011/09/08: CJR: SolveClimate Goes Inside -- How an environmental news startup found its way to investigative reporting
- 2011/09/08: Stoat: Global cooling, again
- 2011/09/07: TP:JR: The Washington Post Continues to Publish George Will's Climate Change Disinformation
- 2011/09/05: CCurrents: Australian ABC Lies About Key Climate Emergency Issues [Polya]
- 2011/09/02: MoJo: Millions Are Starving in the Horn of Africa, but Nobody's Talking About It
- 2011/09/04: TP:JR: Conservative Media Inanely Declare Solar Power 'Doesn't Work'
- 2011/09/05: TreeHugger: Conservative Media Continues Bizarre Crusade Against Solar
- 2011/09/05: al Jazeera: Somalia: Without a hash tag
Will the world only pay attention to starving Somalis when their famine trends on Twitter? - 2011/09/05: HotTopic: [Book Review] _The Inquisition of Climate Science_ by James Lawrence Powell
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2011/09/10: PSinclair: The Weekend Wonk: Dessler vs Lindzen Debate
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: The Fat Lady is Singing & the Sh!t has Hit the Fan ... the End of Climate Denial is Nigh! (Videos)
- 2011/09/10: PSinclair: Potholer: DisCERNing "Cosmic Ray" Nonsense
- 2011/09/09: PSinclair: 2011: A Year of Extremes
- 2011/09/10: PSinclair: Dessler: No Weather event unrelated to Climate Change Anymore
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: Plenitude Economics: Work Less, Play More, and Stop Screwing the Planet (Video)
- 2011/09/07: QuarkSoup: A Very Fast Fire
- 2011/09/06: MTobis: Lost Pines, Yesterday
- 2011/09/07: TreeHugger: "Ethical Oil" Ad Campaign is Complete and Utter Bull$#!t (Video)
- 2011/09/06: QuarkSoup: Dessler's Video
- 2011/09/06: PSinclair: Before and After: This Old House Goes Net Zero
- 2011/09/05: PSinclair: Carl Sagan on Global Warming
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
- 2011/09/07: Google:AP: Shocker: Power demand from US homes is falling
American homes are more cluttered than ever with devices, and they all need power: Cellphones and iPads that have to be charged, DVRs that run all hours, TVs that light up in high definition. But something shocking is happening to demand for electricity in the Age of the Gadget: It's leveling off. Over the next decade, experts expect residential power use to fall, reversing an upward trend that has been almost uninterrupted since Thomas Edison invented the modern light bulb. - 2011/09/11: TheCanadian: Shades of Green: The World's Changing Energy Equation
- 2011/09/08: PeakEnergy: Work starts on French offshore tidal power project
- 2011/09/07: TreeHugger: Here's Why the US Has One-Fourth the Renewable Energy of Germany: Inconsistent Policy
- 2011/09/06: TreeHugger: 20% Of Germany's Electricity Now Comes From Renewable Energy
- 2011/09/06: InformedComment: Top Ten Good News Green Energy Stories
- 2011/09/05: EnergyBulletin: Garbage in, garbage out
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2011/09/10: DeSmogBlog: More Than a War of Words: Gas Industry Plays Fracking Victim
- 2011/09/09: Rabble:KK: Activist Communique: Media Alert -- Indigenous women blockade Murphy Oil fracking site
- 2011/09/08: PlanetArk: New York Extends Period For Comments On Fracking
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: Facts On Fracking, Pros & Cons of Hydraulic Fracturing For Natural Gas (Infographic)
- 2011/09/07: Eureka: Boom in fracking for oil and gas recovery sparks new technology
On the gas and oil front:
- 2011/09/09: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
OIL (US$/bbl)
Nymex Crude Future...87.24
Dated Brent Spot....112.24
WTI Cushing Spot.....87.24 - 2011/09/09: BBC: Oil has been discovered off the coast of French Guiana, exploration firm Tullow has said, potentially opening a major crude region in South America
- 2011/09/07: TP:JR: Oil Industry Report Outlines How to Create Temporary Jobs While Permanently Destroying the Climate
- 2011/09/06: BBC: New oil well-capping device unveiled at Offshore Europe
A new well-capping device, aimed at combating a major oil and gas offshore incident, has been unveiled at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen. - 2011/09/05: OilChange: To the Victors go the Spoils -- Was the western intervention in Libya primarily driven by oil?
- 2011/09/05: BBC: Shares of CNOOC, China's biggest offshore energy producer, fell after an oil leak forced the company to cut output estimates
And in pipeline news:
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: Landowners Rise Up Against Oil Pipeline (video)
- 2011/09/09: DeSmogBlog: San Bruno Gas Explosion One Year Anniversary, Lax Oversight is Blamed
- 2011/09/10: TreeHugger: NY Times: Oil Companies Operating on 'Honor System' When It Comes to Pipeline Safety
- 2011/09/07: EUO: Russia opens Nord Stream pipeline
- 2011/09/07: DeSmogBlog: America's Natural Gas Pipelines - A Closer Look At This Gigantic Pipeline System
- 2011/09/06: EurActiv: Russia starts filling Nord Stream gas pipe
- 2011/09/06: TreeHugger: China Pushes Ahead on Controversial Burma Pipelines
- 2011/09/06: BBC: Putin opens Nord Stream Baltic gas pipeline to Germany
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has pressed the start button to open a pipeline carrying natural gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea. He said the Nord Stream pipeline would reduce Russia's dependence on Ukrainian pipelines, which were shut during gas disputes between Moscow and Kiev. - 2011/09/08: OilDrum: Peak Oil, Peak Debt, and the Concentration of Power
- 2011/09/08: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: efficiency is the solution
- 2011/09/06: EnergyBulletin: Peak Oil: No laughing matter
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2011/09/08: BPA: Year-to-date Ethanol Exports in 2011 are Already More than the Combined Total of 2009 and 2010 Exports
- 2011/09/06: BPA: Brazil's Record Soybean Supply Means Favorable Export Potential as the U.S.'s Diminishes
The answer my friend...:
- 2011/09/05: OilDrum: Global Wind Power Potential
- 2011/09/05: PeakEnergy: How wind is cutting energy costs
- 2011/09/05: PSinclair: Offshore Wind -- The Sway Turbine Design
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2011/09/09: TP:JR: Are the Chinese Using Predatory Pricing to Knock America Out of Solar Manufacturing?
- 2011/09/07: DerSpiegel: The Sun Rises in the East -- German Solar Firms Eclipsed by Chinese Rivals
Green energy used to be Germany's great hope for its economic future. But now the German solar industry is in trouble amid huge losses, job cuts and the threat of bankruptcies. Chinese firms are gaining an ever greater share of the German market -- and are benefiting from German subsidies for renewable energy. - 2011/09/09: TP:JR: China's New Plan for Solar Power Supremacy
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: FBI Raids Offices of Bankrupt Solar Panel Maker Solyndra
- 2011/09/08: TP:JR: Solar Comes of Age: SolarCity to Double PV Systems on Americans Homes by 2016
- 2011/09/07: NBF: Natcore Technologies makes progress to 30% efficient quantum dot solar cells
- 2011/09/07: PlanetArk: U.S. Solar Firm Solyndra Files For Bankruptcy
- 2011/09/07: Eureka: New type of solar cell retains high efficiency for long periods
- 2011/09/06: CleanBreak: Is First Solar gaming the system? Getting $456 million U.S. loan guarantee to develop low-risk Ontario projects indicates as much
- 2011/09/06: EnvFin: Solar PV edging towards grid parity in Europe
- 2011/09/06: EurActiv: European solar power to be competitive by 2020, says lobby
European solar module-generated power may take until the end of the decade to compete with conventional forms of energy across Europe for cost, the world's biggest solar association said yesterday (5 September). - 2011/09/05: Eureka: Photovoltaics among fastest growing industries in the world
- 2011/09/05: PlanetArk: SolarWorld Shuts Production At U.S. Plant
- 2011/09/05: PeakEnergy: America's solar flame-out
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2011/09/08: APR: APR Atomic Journal - ELK RIVER 1
- 2011/09/08: BNC: Two responses to the U.S. BRC on the nuclear fuel cycle
- 2011/09/07: NYT: After Quake, Virginia Nuclear Plant Takes Stock
After weathering the East Coast's recent quake, the North Anna nuclear plant finds itself in a situation that no American reactor has ever faced before. The shock was bigger than anything its designers thought it would ever experience -- big enough to make 17-ton canisters of spent fuel skitter a few inches on their storage pad. The situation is so unusual that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, already facing questions about American earthquake safety after a meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant, has no protocol in place for determining whether North Anna's 1970s design still holds up, post-earthquake. - 2011/09/01: SwissInfo: Swiss nuclear future could hinge on thorium
The Senate votes at the end of the month on the future of Swiss energy -- but while the anti-nuclear camp thinks the nuclear option is dead, not everyone is so sure. - 2011/09/06: BBC: Bacteria 'nano-wires' clean up uranium contamination
Tiny filaments growing from the surface of bacteria could help to improve the efficiency of uranium removal from contaminated waters. Uranium mining and atomic weapons testing during the Cold War era led to the contamination of sediments and groundwaters by toxic soluble uranium. Some clean-up methods use bacteria to solidify the uranium in sediments. But the mechanisms by which this occurs are not well understood, the US team reports in PNAS journal. As a result, control of uranium contamination is still problematic. - 2011/09/10: NBF: Advanced Fusion Reactors for Space Propulsion and Power Systems
- 2011/09/09: BBC: UK joins laser nuclear fusion project
The UK has formally joined forces with a US laser lab in a bid to develop clean energy from nuclear fusion. Unlike fission plants, the process uses lasers to compress atomic nuclei until they join, releasing energy. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the US is drawing closer to producing a surplus of energy from the idea. The UK company AWE and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory have now joined with NIF to help make laser fusion a viable commercial energy source - 2011/09/09: SciAm:PI: Routine Maintenance Plunges Southern California into Darkness
- 2011/09/09: BBC: Power is steadily returning to two southwestern US states and Mexico, following a massive blackout which affected more than five million people
- 2011/09/09: BBC: Massive blackout hits California, Arizona and Mexico
- 2011/09/09: CBC: San Diego power restored after massive blackout
Outage affecting Southern California, Mexico triggered by Arizona electrical worker - 2011/09/09: al Jazeera: Blackout hits southern US and Mexico
Flights cancelled and millions affected as power line fails and nuclear plant shuts down after "human failure". - 2011/09/09: TP:JR: Google: Cloud Services like Gmail Are 80 Times More Efficient Than Localized Email Services
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2011/09/10: CleanBreak: Ignorance and the art of electric car bashing
- 2011/09/10: AutoBG: Flywheel hybrid test vehicle nets 22.4% improvement in fuel economy
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: Electric Hearses as the Perfect Early EVs? Bury Me By Battery.
- 2011/09/08: AutoBG: Why "killing the electric car" is a terrible idea
- 2011/09/08: TreeHugger: Why Electric Cars Have No "Gasoline Equivalent"
- 2011/09/08: AutoBG: Why 110-volt charging makes sense for some plug-in vehicle drivers
- 2011/09/07: AutoBG: Diesel vehicle sales up 37% in August 2011; VW Jetta TDI remains on top
- 2011/09/07: AutoBG: Increasing CAFE standards is only the second-best solution to greener cars
As for Energy Storage:
- 2011/09/10: BBC: Jelly batteries: Safer, cheaper, smaller, more powerful
A new polymer jelly could be the next big step forward for lithium batteries. - 2011/09/08: Eureka: ORNL new material possible boon for lithium ion batteries
- 2011/09/09: NBF: Battery Storage Could Get a eight times higher capacity by using Seaweed and silicon anodes
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2011/09/08: WaPo: Stung by accusations its business harms the planet, Google discloses its energy use
- 2011/09/08: Guardian(UK): Google discloses carbon footprint for the first time
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
- 2011/09/10: SwissInfo: Catastrophe claims are already "second highest"
An unusually high number of hurricanes and tornadoes in the first six months has already made 2011 the second costliest year for insurers, Swiss Re said on Friday. Industry insured losses from natural catastrophes rose to an estimated $67 billion (SFr58 billion) in the first half of the year, more than twice the level in the 2010 period, the Zurich-based company said. - 2011/09/09: PlanetArk: Weather Disasters Keep Costing U.S. Billions This Year
- 2011/09/02: EnvFin: Insurers unprepared for climate risk
The vast majority of insurers are unprepared to handle climate risks even though they acknowledge the impact of climate change on extreme weather events, according to a report by investor coalition Ceres. - 2011/09/09: TP:JR: September 9 News...
- 2011/09/08: TP:JR: September 8th News...
- 2011/09/06: TP:JR: September 6th News...
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2011/09/06: BPA: Agriculture News
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2011/09/10: TP:JR: Exxon Makes Billion-Dollar Bet Climate Change is Real, Here Now and Going to Get Worse But Keeps Funding Deniers
- 2011/09/08: Tyee: Who's Behind New Pro-Oil Sands Ad Blitz?
- 2011/09/10: AFTIC: Actions are louder than words
- 2011/09/08: DeSmogBlog: Meet Marlo Lewis: The Dirty Energy Industry's Best Friend
- 2011/09/08: ITracker: Deniers pwnd
- 2011/09/06: HotTopic: What Motivates the Scientist Deniers?
- 2011/09/06: TP:JR: Rupert Murdoch and Dick Cheney Back an Oil Shale Company With Faulty Wells. We're Shocked!
- 2011/09/06: TP:JR: Petro-Boss Charles Koch Labels Obama "Saddam Hussein," Tells Big Donors He Must Be Defeated In "Mother Of All Wars"
- 2011/09/06: DeSmogBlog: Why Questionable "Science" Gets Published, Pounced On in the Media, Retracted, Causes Resignations ... Rinse and Repeat
- 2011/09/05: DeSmogBlog: John Stossel Tells EPA To Pack Up Shop
- 2011/09/04: ITracker: Minor myths: the Galileo Gambit
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2011/09/10: TP:JR: If You Could Ask a Climate Scientist One Question...
- 2011/09/06: USGS: New Science to Help Direct Action on Excessive Nutrients in Rivers and Estuaries
- 2011/09/10: HotTopic: A Week of Contradiction
- 2011/09/09: TreeHugger: The Low Carbon Revolution is Everywhere. And Visibility Matters.
- 2011/09/08: ABC(Au): Da Vinci sketch recreated on melting Arctic ice
- 2011/09/07: QuarkSoup: No, a new study does not show cosmic-rays are connected to global warming
- 2011/09/05: ITracker: The Dukakis effect
- 2011/09/04: EconView: "Must We Act As If They Mean What They Say?" -- John Holbo tries to explain why conservatives get away with saying outrageous things, but liberals don't
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- Wiki: (1.72 meg animated gif) Tectonic Reconstruction
- Wiki: Geologic time scale
- EoL: Encyclopedia of Life
- Indigenous Environmental Network
- Climate Connections
- Meta Climate [TPL change of address]
- Agricultural Institute of Canada
- 2011/09/06: CSBC: Salmon Extinction BC
- Catch Salmon BC
- The Common Sense Canadian
- Alexandra Morton
- AlexandraMorton: The Global Battle Against Salmon Feedlots - News
- Oil Price: Crude Oil Price, Commodity Prices & Crude Oil Analysis
- Environmental Finance
- Severe Weather Information Centre
- Meteoalarm - severe weather warnings for Europe
- Retraction Watch
- SPIN-Farming - How to farm commercially on under an acre
More black humour in a climatic vein:
Tom Wigley's paper on coal versus natural gas runs counter to commercial interests, therefore...:
A paper showing that switching from coal to natural gas will bring no benefit runs counter to commercial interests, therefore...:The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
The food crisis is ongoing:
So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?
After Talas zapped Japan, Kulap, Noru and several numbered storms spun up, mostly out at sea:
This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:
On the tornado front:
Meanwhile in the journals:
In the Rare Earths' tussle:
Polls! We have polls!
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
Among the world's religions:
Further in the ongoing Mann saga:
They're still talking about Obama's ozone reversal:
And in Europe:
Meanwhile in Australia:
While in China:
Looks like an election season is coming:
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
Here is something for your library:
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:
Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
Low Key Plug
New Web Site:
I have a new website. Everything that was on Autobahn has been ported over. I have 100 megs to play with here, so the Archives will get deeper.
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's going on in the US is tsunamis of stupidity, arrogance, greed, and sadism. But the re really is nothing like mass protest and solidarity to make one determined not to give up. The times are too desperate for despair." -Ellen Cantarow
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