Another Week of Anthropocene Antics, October 27, 2013

By illconsidered on October 29, 2013.

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

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Information Overload is Pattern Recognition

October 27, 2013

Chuckles, COP19+, Bangkok, Post-AR5, Maldives, Potash, Energiewende
Bottom Line, Pricing Nature, Cook, Shrinkology
Fukushima: Note, News, Policies, Related Papers
Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food: Crisis, Fisheries, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, GMOs, Labelling, Production
Hurricanes, Monsoon, Notable Weather, Extreme Weather
GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Aerosols, Volcanoes Ozone
Temperatures, Proxies, Satellites Paleoclimate
Oceans, Ocean Currents, Biosphere, Extinctions, Bees & CCD
Impacts, Forests, Smog & Health, Phenology
Wildfires, Corals, Glaciers, Sea Levels, GW Deluge, Floods & Droughts
Mitigation, Cities, Synthetic Biology, Transportation, Geoengineering, Conservation, Restoration, Adaptation
Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, Free Science
International Politics: UN, Hormuz, South China Sea, Airlines, Minerals, Treaties, Misc.
Law & Activism, Activism, Divestment, Polls, H2O Biz
National Politics: Britain, Europe, Australia, Abbott, Abbott & Fires, MDBP, India, China
Japan, Asia, Africa, South America, Canada, Muzzling, GHGs, TarSand Rules, Elsipogtog
East-West, NorGate, Liberals, Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Ontario, Maritimes, North
America, BP Disaster, Sandy, Keystone, Mayflower, Carbon Tax
Birth Control, Shutdown, 2014, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Rose Coloured, Why We Fight, Fixes, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts, Courts
Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Oil & the Economy, Pipelines, Oil Transportation, Energy Independence, Biofuel
Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Fusion, FITs, Grid, Utilities, Efficiency, Cars, Gee Whiz, Energy Storage
Business, Insurance, Other Lists, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

Looking ahead to COP19 at (Warsaw) and future international climate negotiations:

2013/10/25: RTCC: Figueres: IPCC's 'carbon budget' will not drive Warsaw talks
The UN climate change chief says it would be too 'politically difficult' to negotiate national allocations of carbon emissions A key finding of the UN climate panel's latest report on climate change is too politically "difficult" to drive international climate talks in November, according to the UN's climate chief.
2013/10/24: Guardian(UK): IPCC's 'carbon budget' will not drive Warsaw talks, says Christiana Figueres
2013/10/23: RTCC: USA reveals red lines for 2015 climate change deal
The USA's chief climate diplomat [Todd Stern] has warned the chances of an effective emissions reduction deal in 2015 could vanish unless some countries drop their calls for a 'rigid' legally binding treaty.
2013/10/23: RTCC: Climate leaders face "Custer's last stand" as UN talks approach
2013/10/22: EurActiv: French Greens prepare for 2015 UN climate conference in Paris
The French Greens have called on European countries to adopt a unified stance at the 2015 UN climate conference, underlining the importance of supporting Poland in its energy transition.
2013/10/25: RTCC: UN climate talks: what do developed countries want in Warsaw? [Part 2]
2013/10/22: RTCC: UN climate talks: what do developing countries want in Warsaw? [Part 1]
2013/10/22: RTCC: [UNFCCC head, Christiana Figueres] underlines Green Climate Fund concerns
Declining levels of climate finance contributions from developed nations are slowing efforts to address global warming, the UN's top climate change official warned on Monday.
2013/10/22: BBC: UN climate chief's tears over future generations
The head of the UN body tasked with delivering a global climate treaty broke down in tears at a meeting in London as she spoke about the impact of global warming on coming generations.

Apparently there was a Montreal Protocol meeting in Bangkok this week:

2013/10/25: NatureNB: India balks during Montreal Protocol talks
2013/10/24: Grist: India blocking efforts to save planet from climate-killing air conditioners
2013/10/24: RTCC: India and US HFC row brews at UN talks in Bangkok
India is blocking a US proposal to curb the use of a potent greenhouse gas under the Montreal Protocol India has blocked attempts to curb the use of the highly polluting chemicals used in refrigeration this week, in a move which places them on collision course with the US.
[...]
In meetings to discuss the Montreal Protocol this week, the US suggested that HFCs be monitored under the agreement, as they are a direct replacement for the previous ozone damaging chemicals. But India objected to the amendment, citing the fact that because it is not harmful to the ozone layer, its regulation ought to remain under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol.
2013/10/22: RTCC: UN urged to take action against HFCs at Montreal Protocol talks
Without an HFC ban, analysts say 100 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) could be released into the atmosphere Governments are being urged to agree to a global ban on the use of climate-warming gases used in refrigeration units at UN talks taking place in Bangkok this week.

The Post-AR5 discussions and analysis continue:

Another election day is set in the Maldives:

2013/10/26: Xinhuanet: News Analysis: Political infighting in Maldives could lead to constitutional crisis
Colombo -- Political infighting has brought the idyllic Maldives islands into a tenuous state with barely two weeks to elect a new president and avoid a constitutional crisis but there is little sign that the various parties will reach a compromise. Tangles of the Maldivian political system have already derailed two attempts to have presidential elections with the third scheduled on Nov. 9 but front-runner former Maldives President Mohammad Nasheed has already said that he has no faith in the process. If a new president is not sworn in by Nov. 11 as specified in the Maldives Constitution, it will lead to a void where the Speaker of Parliament will take over and oversee the transition of power. However, this process is dependent on the Supreme Court, which is largely seen as lacking independence, and could issue contrary orders.
2013/10/25: al Jazeera: The end to the dream of a democratic paradise
The Maldives' democratic experiment is threatened by remnants of the old dictatorship, write authors.
2013/10/22: Guardian(UK): Maldives: new presidential election date set
Vote to take place on 9 November after earlier results were annulled and police prevented a ballot last weekend
2013/10/22: PLNA: Maldives Sets Presidential Elections for November 9
2013/10/21: Xinhuanet: China hopes Maldives maintains national stability: FM
2013/10/20: UN: Maldives: UN chief voices deep concern at delay of presidential re-run
2013/10/20: BBC: Maldives crisis: Nasheed urges new vote under caretaker
Maldives opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed has called for fresh presidential polls under a caretaker leader, after police halted the vote.

Some fallout of the potash cartel meltdown:

2013/10/24: CBC: Potash Corp. earnings tumble as prices drop
Potash Corp. says its third-quarter net earnings dropped 45 per cent to $356 million from $645 million in the same period last year as a result of weaker prices and lower potash sales volumes.

How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

2013/10/25: DerSpiegel: Reality Check: Germany's Defective Green Energy Game Plan
Germany pretends to be a pioneer in the green revolution. But its massively expensive Energiewende has done nothing to make the environment cleaner or encourage genuine efficiency. One writer argues: Either do it right, or don't do it at all.
2013/10/24: PSinclair: It's about Ownership. Why Germany Kicks Butt in Renewable Energy
2013/10/23: CleanTechnica: 3 Reasons Germans Are Kicking Ass & Taking Names With Renewable Energy
2013/10/22: Grist: Three reasons why Germany is kicking our arsch on solar
2013/10/22: Lenz: Testing PreussenElektra?
2013/10/22: RealEconomics: Renewables teething problems
2013/10/21: RT: Germany's 'green energy revolution' costing billions

And on the Bottom Line:

2013/10/25: BizGreen: Investors demand fossil fuel giants assess climate risks
Ceres and Carbon Tracker join forces to urge fossil fuel companies to declare risks posed by climate policies and impacts
2013/10/25: TP:JR: Major Pension Funds Push Fossil Fuel Companies To Address How They'll Deal With Climate Change
2013/10/25: PSinclair: Carbon Bubble anyone? "The Scientific Trajectory is Clearly in Conflict"
2013/10/25: CCurrents: Investors Worth $3tr Warn Oil And Gas Firms To Diversify -- or Die
2013/10/24: RTCC: Investors worth $3tr warn oil and gas firms to diversify -- or die
2013/10/24: ICN: Wall Street Demands Answers From Fossil Fuel Producers on 'Unburnable' Carbon
Groundbreaking initiative is forcing an investor rethink: What's the value of fossil fuel stocks if companies must leave reserves in the ground?
2013/10/24: CSM: Global climate investment hits plateau
2013/10/22: EurActiv: Global climate investment flatlines
The world invested almost a billion dollars a day in limiting global warming last year, but the total figure - $359 billion - was slightly down on last year, and barely half the $700 billion per year that the World Economic Forum has said is needed to tackle climate change.

So, If we put a price on nature, will it deal with externalities and lead to greater conservation
or will it lead to greater exploitation or what?

2013/10/21: TheConversation: Paying Ecuador to save Yasuni was an idea ahead of its time
2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Putting a price on Australia's groundwater
Australia's groundwater is worth $34 billion, according to The National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. The centre has commissioned a report which looks at the industries like mining and farming which are dependent on groundwater, which comes from aquifers and bores.

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

Various psychological angles arise in considerations of the ecological crisis:

A note on theFukushima 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. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.]
And the IAEA is now saying 40 years too.
[Now some people are talking about a century or more. Sealing it in concrete for 500 years.]
We'll see.
At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
Meanwhile...
It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of propagated information.
How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
Do they have an agenda?
Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
Do they want to write a good news story?
Do they want to write a bad news story?
Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

2013/10/27: EneNews: "Nothing like this has ever been attempted" - Yale Professor: "All of humanity will be threatened for 1000s of years" if rods in Unit 4 pool touch and have nuclear reaction during removal process...
2013/10/26: EneNews: US Gov't: Plutonium is from Fukushima reactors, not fuel pools...
2013/10/26: EneNews: Fukushima documents discuss "fuel that is severely damaged" inside cooling pool - Illustrations of "deformed or leaking fuels" (photo)
2013/10/26: DD: Video: Fukushima workers face low pay, high risks, and gangsters
2013/10/26: IndiaTimes: Fukushima workers evacuated as small tsunami hits Japan
2013/10/25: BBC: Small tsunami reaches Japan after earthquake
A small tsunami triggered by a quake has hit Japan's eastern coast - where the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is located - but no damage is reported. The 30cm (1ft) waves reached the region after the 7.1 magnitude tremor struck at a depth of 10km (six miles), about 320km off the coast.
2013/10/25: RT: Fukushima whistleblower exposes yakuza connections, exploitation of cleanup workers
2013/10/25: CCurrents: Fuel Removal From Fukushima's Reactor 4 Threatens 'Apocalyptic' Scenario
2013/10/25: EneNews: NY Times: "Worrisome" evidence at Fukushima plant - "Latest releases appear to be carrying much more contaminated water than before into Pacific"...
2013/10/25: RT: Fuk-'hush'-ima: Japan's new state secrets law gags whistleblowers, raises press freedom fears
Many issues of national importance to Japan, probably including the state of the Fukushima power plant, may be designated state secrets under a new draft law. Once signed, it could see whistleblowers jailed for up to 10 years. Japan has relatively lenient penalties for exposing state secrets compared to many other nations, but that may change with the introduction of the new law. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has agreed on draft legislation on the issue on Friday and expects the parliament to vote on it during the current session, which ends on December 6.
2013/10/25: Reuters: Special Report: Help wanted in Fukushima: Low pay, high risks and gangsters
2013/10/25: CBC: Fukushima tsunami threat lifted after 7.3-magnitude quake
Japan's Meteorological Agency lifts tsunami advisory for the region, including site of nuclear plant
2013/10/25: QuarkSoup: Another Big Earthquake off Japan
2013/10/24: CDreams: Fuel Removal From Fukushima's Reactor 4 Threatens 'Apocalyptic' Scenario
2013/10/24: CCurrents: Fukushima - A Global Threat That Requires A Global Response
2013/10/24: EneNews: Radiation readings spiking to record levels all around Fukushima plant
2013/10/24: Xinhuanet: Radiation level doubles in drain water at crippled Fukushima plant
2013/10/24: RT: Fukushima moves radioactive water as it braces for Typhoon Francisco
2013/10/23: EneNews: TV: Powerful typhoon bearing down on Japan...
2013/10/23: EneNews: Japan Times: Concern mounts at Fukushima, big typhoons may collide - Francisco to be "unable to move" due to Lekima, says forecast
2013/10/22: EneNews: Japan Journalist: Melted nuclear fuel sank into the ground under Fukushima reactors - Irradiated groundwater is flowing into ocean through sea-bottom springs, it's too late to do anything about this (photo)
2013/10/22: EneNews: Japan Diplomat: Concern fuel rods in Unit 4 pool are damaged - "Have they moved?" - Transfer process could go on for decades, not months
2013/10/22: EneNews: Fukushima plant "braces for super-typhoon" - Officials admit "tough situation" could occur...
2013/10/22: EneNews: AP: Japan cancer surgeon in fear of what's to come after Fukushima disaster -- "A terrible thing has happened, but people don't realize it at all"
2013/10/22: al Jazeera: Fukushima clean-up years behind schedule
Residents of towns in exclusion zone around nuclear power station told they will not be moving back for some time.
2013/10/21: UN: UN team hails Japan's remediation efforts in Fukushima-affected areas
2013/10/21: EneNews: Newspapers: Fukushima problems causing concern in U.S. as radionuclides cross Pacific - EPA: 'No comment'...
2013/10/21: EneNews: Powerful Typhoon Francisco on track for Fukushima - Typhoon Lekima develops in Pacific - Concern storms may collide, "It's called the Fujiwara effect"
2013/10/21: EneNews: LA Times: "Plutonium having melted and dropping somewhere" is suspected to be causing contamination of underground water at Fukushima -Japan nuclear professor
2013/10/21: EneNews: Japan Times: "Plague of radioactive water" from Fukushima; Will need monitoring for next 100 years, maybe even longer...
2013/10/21: CSM: Japan nuclear plant radiation cleanup delayed up to three years
2013/10/21: Xinhuanet: Breached barriers causes more toxic leaks at Fukushima as IAEA suggests continuous water monitoring
2013/10/21: BBC: Japan's Fukushima in toxic water leak after heavy rain
Highly radioactive water has leaked from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan after unexpectedly heavy rain on Sunday, its operator said. Water with high levels of the toxic isotope Strontium-90 overflowed containment barriers around water tanks, operator Tepco said.
2013/10/21: al Jazeera: Fukushima overwhelmed with radioactive water
Temporary cooling system inundated after operator Tepco failed to estimate amount of rain that would fall over weekend.
2013/10/20: RT: Heavy rains overflow barriers surrounding Fukushima water tanks
2013/10/20: DD: Plummeting morale at Fukushima Daiichi as nuclear cleanup takes its toll...

Post Fukushima, nuclear policies are in flux around the world:

2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): Fukushima proved turn-off point for nuclear power
The Japanese disaster made many reject the nuclear option, but China's need to replace fossil fuels has kept its hopes alive
2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): China's need for nuclear power leads Britain to revive outdated technology
Critics say the new plant in Somerset will be heavily subsidised and cushioned from financial reality

What do we have for Fukushima related papers this week?

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

2013/10/26: Xinhuanet: Russia seeks to expand influence in Arctic: official
2013/10/25: RT: Greenland lifts 'zero tolerance' uranium mining ban
2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): Greenland gives green light for uranium and rare earths mining
2013/10/25: EurActiv: Greenland votes to allow uranium, rare earths mining
Greenland's parliament voted on Thursday (24 October) to end a decades-long prohibition on mining for radioactive materials like uranium, further opening up the country to investors from Australia and China eager to tap its vast mineral resources.
2013/10/25: ABC(Au): Greenland gives the go-ahead for mining of radioactive materials
2013/10/24: BBC: Greenland has awarded UK-based company London Mining a 30-year licence to build and run a giant iron ore mine

While in Antarctica:

2013/10/24: CDreams: Hopes Dim to Protect World's 'Last Ocean' from Human Destruction
Pristine waters and fragile Antarctic ecosystem could remain unprotected against human destruction if "political will" not found
2013/10/23: RawStory: Nations debate whether to create two giant Antarctic ocean sanctuaries
2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Meeting to decide the fate of pristine Antarctic areas
A meeting in Hobart is considering the creation of a series of marine protected areas to the east of Antarctica. Members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) will spend the next nine days discussing the plan. More than 300 scientists and CCAMLR delegates from 24 countries and the European Union are attending the meeting.
2013/10/22: ABC(Au): Nations discuss fresh bid to create world's largest marine park [in Antarctic]
2013/10/17: ABC(Au): End of an era as research ship Southern Surveyor docks for final time

The food crisis is ongoing:

2013/10/23: DerSpiegel: Factory Farming: The True Price of a Pork Chop
Germany slaughters 58 million pigs a year and has built an efficient meat industry second only to the US in pork exports. Its optimized breeding, feeding and killing system churns out wondrously cheap cutlets -- but at a hidden cost to the environment and our health.
2013/10/26: WSWS: US food stamp assistance to be slashed next week
Benefit payments from the US government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps, will be slashed drastically on November 1, the first across-the-board cut in food stamp benefits in US history. The cuts will amount to $5 billion per year, and a total of $11 billion through 2016. The average household of three will receive a benefit cut of $29 a month, or $319 per year.
2013/10/25: UN: Madagascar: concerned by rising food insecurity, UN agency calls for more funding
2013/10/24: CSM: McDonald's helpline to employee: Go on food stamps
2013/10/24: ScienceInsider: Report Claims Industry Influence at European Food Watchdog Persists
2013/10/22: WSWS: Australia: Escalating need for food handouts
The past year saw a near 10 percent increase in the number of Australians seeking food from the country's largest provider of food assistance, according to a recent report. Foodbank provides food via charities to more than 473,000 people per month, but a further 65,000 people, including 30,000 children, are turned away each month despite their need. The figures are symptomatic of worsening social hardship in the working class, a product of growing unemployment and underemployment, deep welfare cuts and cost-of-living increases.
2013/10/21: DD: Photo gallery: Effects of Agrochemicals in Argentina
2013/10/21: Grist: Here's why privatizing food inspection might not be the greatest idea
2013/10/20: CDreams: Food Stamp Corporate Welfare
If you think the SNAP food stamps debate is about poor people's need to eat, you're wrong. It's about big corporations' need to profit. "Xerox, JPMorgan Chase and eFunds Corporation have all successfully turned poverty into a profit center." So have Coca Cola, Kroger, Wal-Mart, Kelloggs and a large slice of the rest of the Fortune 500 corporations.
2013/10/20: SlashDot: Scientists Say Climate Change Is Damaging Iowa Agriculture

The state of the world's fisheries is a concern. See also:

2013/10/24: EurActiv: Parliament rejects subsidies for new fishing boats
Fishermen will not get European Union subsidies to build new vessels for the bloc's already swollen fleet, EU lawmakers agreed on Wednesday (23 October), in a vote that raised hopes for an end to decades of over-fishing in Europe.
2013/10/23: ScienceInsider: E.U. Parliament Confirms Intentions to Crack Down on Overfishing

The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

2013/10/23: EurActiv: Bulgaria extends land purchase ban despite EU warning
Bulgaria's parliament on Tuesday (22 October) extended a moratorium on arable land purchases by foreign investors until 2020 despite warnings from the European Union that it would result in a review of its accession treaty.

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

2013/10/25: TreeHugger: Monsanto's agrochemicals are poisoning Argentines, but Monsanto blames victims for misusing products
2013/10/23: MoJo: Argentina Is Using More Pesticide Than Ever Before.
And Now It Has Cancer Clusters. And birth defects are also on the rise in some agricultural regions
2013/10/20: CDreams: Argentina: Case Study in Perils of Pesticide-Heavy GMO-Crop Boom
2013/10/20: CDreams: Huge GMO News

Regarding labelling GM food:

2013/10/25: CDreams: Pepsi, Nestle, Coca Cola Revealed as Big Money Behind GMO Labeling Fight
In Washington state battle, pro-GMO lobbyists forced to expose illegally hidden donors
2013/10/22: TreeHugger: Food corporations donate $17.2 million to fight GMO labeling in Washington state
2013/10/22: TheConversation: Food eco-labelling -- green credentials or green-mail?

And how are we going to feed 9 billion, 10 billion, 15 billion?

In the Western Pacific, Typhoon Francisco threatened Japan, but pulled its punch:

2013/10/26: MODIS: Typhoon Francisco (26W) in the Pacific Ocean [on Oct.19]
2013/10/26: ABC(Au): Powerful typhoon hits Japan
A powerful typhoon hit Japan's Shikoku on Friday, bringing strong winds and heavy rains to the region. Francisco, the 27th typhoon of the year, packing winds of around 15 kilometers per hour, passed through the sea surface off Minami Daito, Okinawa Prefecture, and slowly moved northeast.
2013/10/25: IndiaTimes: Typhoon Francisco: Japanese take shelter as storm looms
2013/10/24: Eureka: NASA sees rainfall in Tropical Storm Francisco
2013/10/22: NASA: NASA's Aqua Satellite Sees Typhoon Francisco Approaching Japan
2013/10/21: NASA: NASA Satellites Investigate Typhoon Francisco Heading for Japan
2013/10/21: MODIS: Typhoon Francisco (26W) in the Pacific Ocean [on Oct.17]

Also in the Western Pacific, Typhoon Lekima looks to curl up East of Japan:

2013/10/24: Eureka: NASA sees Super-typhoon Lekima ready to make the curve
2013/10/24: Wunderground: Australia Avoids a Fire Catastrophe; Raymond Spares Mexico; Lekima a Cat 5
2013/10/23: Eureka: NASA eyes Super-typhoon Lekima in the northwestern Pacific [Cat 5]
2013/10/22: NASA: NASA Sees Hint of Typhoon Lekima's Rapid Intensification
2013/10/21: Eureka: Tropical Storm Lekima [TD28W] born in northwestern Pacific Ocean
In the Eastern Pacific, Hurricane Raymond nearly came to a standstill, then slowly moved out to sea:
2013/10/25: al Jazeera: Another storm, another deluge for Mexico
Hurricane Raymond has finally moved away from country's Pacific coastline
2013/10/23: al Jazeera: Mexico hammered by yet another hurricane
Hurricane Raymond brings further flooding and mudslides to southwestern parts of Mexico
2013/10/24: IOTD: Hurricane Raymond [on Oct,21,22]
2013/10/21: DD: Hurricane Raymond swirls off Mexico, dumps heavy rain on Acapulco...
2013/10/21: NASA: NASA Sees Major Hurricane Raymond Lashing Western Mexico
2013/10/21: CSM: Hurricane Raymond: Strong hurricane meanders off Mexico's south coast
2013/10/22: IndiaTimes: Hurricane Raymond swirls off Mexico, hits Acapulco with more rain
2013/10/21: BBC: Hurricane Raymond has strengthened off Mexico's Pacific coast, meteorologists in Mexico say
2013/10/21: CBC: Hurricane Raymond meanders off Mexico's Pacific coast
Storm strengthens to Category 3, bringing threat of heavy rains, further mudslides on coast
2013/10/21: CBC: Hurricane Raymond grows [to Cat 3] as it nears Mexico west coast
2013/10/21: CNN: Raymond becomes major hurricane, menaces Mexico's Pacific Coast
Raymond becomes a major hurricane - It has maximum sustained winds of 120 mph - A hurricane warning is in effect from Tecpan de Galeana to Lazaro Cardenas - Heavy rainfall is forecast along the south-central coast
2013/10/21: Wunderground: Category 3 Raymond Drenching Acapulco; Extreme Air Pollution in Harbin, China
2013/10/21: CSM: Hurricane Raymond swells to major Cat. 3 hurricane
In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Lorenzo stayed safely in mid-ocean:
2013/10/23: Eureka: NASA's TRMM satellite shows wind shear's effect on Tropical Storm Lorenzo
2013/10/21: NASA: NASA Animation Shows Birth of Thirteenth Atlantic Tropical Depression
In the South Indian Ocean, there is an unreported but numbered storm [01S] heading North of Madagascar:

While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
Wiki: Fujiwhara effect
2013/10/24: CBC: Atlantic hurricane season predictions fall flat -- Forecasters called for three to six major storms in 2013
Despite dire predictions to the contrary, the 2013 hurricane season is turning out to be a dud. With a little over a month left in the North Atlantic hurricane season, it's now clear that the long-range U.S. forecasts issued in the spring -- all calling for a high level of storm activity -- weren't even close.
As for the Monsoon:
- 2013/10/26: CNN: Floods kill dozens in eastern India
  "The entire Delta area is completely inundated," an official says - Flooding led to the cancellation of a cricket match between India and Australia - Ganjam District was most heavily affected, with 85,000 people evacuated
- 2013/10/26: DD: 85,000 evacuated in new flooding in southeast India - "The situation is very grim as the entire Delta area is completely inundated"
- 2013/10/26: IndiaTimes: Rain ravages Andhra Pradesh, death toll mounts to 29; 72,000 evacuated
- 2013/10/26: ABC(Au): Floods claim 48 lives in eastern India: official
- 2013/10/25: Xinhuanet: 22 killed as heavy monsoon rains batter eastern India
This week in notable weather:
- 2013/10/26: al Jazeera: Major storm bears down on Western Europe
  Severe weather conditions head towards southern UK threatening widespread disruption
- 2013/10/26: BBerg: U.K. Braces for Hurricane Winds in Worst Storm Since 2008
This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:
- 2013/10/26: RealClimate: A new European report on climate extremes is out
- 2013/10/21: ERW: Insight: 'paired' climate extremes are increasing
  Rising global temperatures and changing precipitation patterns can produce heat waves, floods and droughts. To understand these hazards better, researchers are beginning to examine the relationship between temperature and precipitation extremes. The results of such a study have been published in Environmental Research Letters (ERL).
As for GHGs:
- 2013/10/23: CCentral: Methane Complicates U.S. Greenhouse Emissions Outlook
- 2013/10/22: CSM: US carbon emissions fall to 18-year low. What's behind it?
- 2013/10/22: RTCC: US emissions fall to lowest level since 1994
- 2013/10/22: SciAm:PI: No shenanigans here, U.S. carbon emissions are down
- 2013/10/21: DOE:EIA: U.S. Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions, 2012
- 2013/10/21: QuarkSoup: U.S. 2012 CO2 Emissions Down 4% (But Never Enough)
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2013/10/24: ERW: Insight: satellite observations of snow improve model estimates of carbon dioxide fluxes
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
- 2013/10/27: MODIS: Dust storm in northern Iraq [on Oct.18]
What's up with volcanoes this week?
- 2013/10/27: ABC(Au): Mount Etna erupts, sending lava and ash plumes into Sicilian sky
- 2013/10/25: IOTD: Klyuchevskaya Erupts [on Kamchatka, Oct.20]
- 2013/10/24: CBC: 2nd eruption of Mount Sinabung in Indonesia forces 3,300 people from homes - Volcano shoots ash 3 kilometres into air
Regarding ozone:
- 2013/10/26: Xinhuanet: Antarctic ozone hole slightly smaller than average: NASA
- 2013/10/26: IOTD: Ozone Hole 2013 [on Sept.16]
How is the temperature record?
- 2013/10/25: CBC: Eastern Arctic temperatures likely at 120,000-year high -- Models may underestimate Arctic temperature swings
- 2013/10/25: CCP: Alaska: Warm temps (20-30 degrees above normal) delay Interior freeze-up, bring flowers back to life
- 2013/10/25: CCP: Unprecedented Arctic Warming: Average Summer Temperatures in Last 100 Years May Be Warmest in 120,000 Years
- 2013/10/21: Moyhu: TempLS global temp up 0.01°C in September
What's new in proxies?
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2013/10/23: Grist: We could detect wildfires faster by using satellites
And in the paleoclimate:
- 2013/10/25: BBC: Dino impact also destroyed bees, says study
  Scientists say there was a widespread extinction of bees 66 million years ago, at the same time as the event that killed off the dinosaurs.
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Bees almost disappeared with the dinosaurs [K-T]
What's the State of the Oceans?:
- 2013/10/25: EneNews: Head researcher "is sounding the alarm" over striking changes in killer whales off Canada and Alaska since 2011...
- 2013/10/24: Eureka: Increasing toxicity of algal blooms tied to nutrient enrichment and climate change
- 2013/10/21: UKISS: The Ocean is Broken
As for Ocean Currents:
- 2013/10/20: Eureka: Global ocean currents explain why Northern Hemisphere is the soggier one
And the State of the Biosphere?
- 2013/10/24: TheConversation: Leave it in the ground! How fossil fuel extraction affects biodiversity
- 2013/10/22: ABC(Au): Distressed animals seeking refuge after being caught up in NSW bushfires
- 2013/10/20: DD: Wild bird populations continue to decline in UK
And on the extinction watch:
- 2013/10/24: SciAm:EC: Good Dads Help Rare Haitian Frogs Breed in Captivity
- 2013/10/21: TreeHugger: Poachers kill 300 elephants with cyanide in 'worst massacre in southern Africa for 25 years'
The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern. And then, there are the Neonicotinoids:
- 2013/10/24: EcoWatch: Scientists Discover Key Molecule Linking Neonicotinoids to Honey Bee Viruses
- 2013/10/25: CCP: Scientists Discover Key Molecule Linking Neonicotinoids to Honey Bee Viruses
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2013/10/24: Eureka: Climate change and coevolution: We've done the math
- 2013/10/23: TP:JR: Hundreds Of Millions Of The Global Poor Will Be Affected By Warming Oceans
- 2013/10/23: SciNow: When the Land Burns, Lizards Thrive
- 2013/10/21: MPG(De): How climate change affects microbial life below the seafloor
  Sediments from the deep sea give insight into the dynamics of the deep biosphere
- 2013/10/21: UMU(Se): Climate change increased the number of deaths
- 2013/10/21: PLNA: Consequences of climate change for the Caribbean
- 2013/10/21: DD: Foliage season under fire from climate change...
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2013/10/23: BBC: Emerald ash borer beetle on the march across Europe
  An invasive species of beetle that has killed tens of millions of ash trees in North America could "spread unhindered" across Europe, researchers have warned.
- 2013/10/22: TP:JR: Amazonian Smokestack? The Rainforest's Dry Season Is Three Weeks Longer Now Than It Was 30 Years Ago
- 2013/10/21: RTCC: Amazon decline worse than IPCC projections
- 2013/10/21: CCP: Dry season lengthening increases risk of Amazon rainforest dieback
- 2013/10/20: BBC: British forests under new threat from pests
- 2013/10/16: USask: Climate change could alter face of Canadian forests, says University of Saskatchewan researcher
Aerosols affect the climate, but they also affect people's health:
Changes in natural cycles are showing up:
- 2013/10/26: ABC(Au): Warmer weather may have prompted early start to endangered green turtle mating season
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2013/10/25: ABC(Au): Warnings of more heatwaves for the Pacific
  A leading climate change scientist says tropical islands in the Pacific are going to regularly experience heatwaves of unprecedented magnitude over the next century.
- 2013/10/25: IndiaTimes: Australian fire crisis eases, but firefighters warn fight isn't over - 24 of 66 active fires uncontained
- 2013/10/25: ABC(Au): Firefighters keep close watch on Kimberley bushfires
- 2013/10/25: ABC(Au): 'Average' fire season forecast for central Australia
- 2013/10/25: WSWS: Australia: Blue Mountains fires ignited by power lines and military exercise
- 2013/10/24: TP:JR: Even If Your State Has No Wildfires, Don't Expect To Escape The Smoke
- 2013/10/24: Wunderground: Australia Endures Another Dangerous Fire Weather Day; Lorenzo Dissipates
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Fires rage on 'worst Wednesday ever'
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): NSW bushfire crisis eases as Defence blamed for State Mine fire in Blue Mountains
- 2013/10/24: BBC: A plane fighting bushfires in the Australian state of New South Wales has crashed, killing its pilot...
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): NSW bushfires: pilot killed in fire-fighting crash, Defence apology over Lithgow fire
- 2013/10/24: Guardian(UK): NSW bushfires live - plane involved in firefighting crashes near Ulladulla
- 2013/10/24: CBC: Pilot dies while fighting Australian wildfires -- 61 fires still burning Thursday, with 23 of those out of control
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Live: Firefighting aircraft crashes west of Ulladulla, RFS confirms
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): NSW bushfires Q & A: How firefighters contain a massive blaze
- 2013/10/23: UCSUSA:B: "Catastrophic" Fire Conditions Arrive Early in Australia, Mirror the 2013 U.S. Wildfire Season
- 2013/10/23: BBC: Australian fire officials say the threat to the Blue Mountains west of Sydney "has been averted" for the day, but warn the crisis is far from over
- 2013/10/23: CBC: Australian wildfires force home evacuations near Sydney
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): NSW RFS says Defence Force explosives caused destructive Lithgow bushfire
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Blue Mountains families arrive at evacuation centre armed with treasured items
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Back-burning: fighting fire with fire [pix]
- 2013/10/23: WSWS: Australia: "Red October" bushfires continue in New South Wales
- 2013/10/23: al Jazeera: Australian wildfires force thousands to flee
  Government tells residents in Blue Mountains to get out and stay out as fires rage amid worsening weather conditions.
- 2013/10/23: MODIS: Fires and smoke in eastern China [on Oct.12]
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Live: New emergency warning for Stockrington bushfire burning near Newcastle
- 2013/10/23: Xinhuanet: China provides satellite imagery to assist Australia in fighting against bushfire
- 2013/10/23: IndiaTimes: New blazes as Australia firefighters battle torrid conditions
- 2013/10/23: IndiaTimes: Australia firefighters brace for horror day
- 2013/10/23: Wunderground: As Bad as it Gets: Fire Conditions in Australia; Raymond Weakens, Deluging Mexico
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Fire crews and residents keep close eye on Mount Victoria blazes
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): NSW Blue Mountains fires to keep firefighters busy for weeks
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Three emergency fires in NSW
- 2013/10/23: Guardian(UK): NSW bushfires live -- emergency warning in Hunter region as weather worsens
- 2013/10/23: PLNA: Wildfires Expand in New South West, Australia
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Climate outlook indicates drier summer
  It could be a busy start to summer for the state's firefighters with the latest seasonal outlook showing up to a 70 per cent chance of below average rain over most of Queensland and the Northern Territory. Senior forecaster Matthew Bass says Arnhem Land and Queensland's interior have the highest odds of being dry.
- 2013/10/22: Guardian(UK): Bushfires: New South Wales braces for its most dangerous day
  Fire commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons announces weather warning has been upgraded to 'as bad as it gets'
- 2013/10/22: BBC: In pictures: Australia bushfires
- 2013/10/22: BBC: Australia fire crews face extreme weather in NSW
  More than 3,000 firefighters in Australia are battling devastating bushfires raging across New South Wales as weather conditions worsen
- 2013/10/22: PLNA: Winds and High Temperature Worsen Fire Situation in Australia
- 2013/10/22: DD: Image of the Day: Satellite view of Australia bushfires, October 2013
- 2013/10/22: CNN: 'As bad as it gets': Australia braces for worst of wildfires
  A line of wildfires nearly 1,000 miles long threatens the state of New South Wales, Australia - High winds and temperatures threaten to make Wednesday the worst day for the blazes - More than 200 homes in the Blue Mountains region west of Sydney have been destroyed - Fire commissioner: Conditions Wednesday expected to be "about as bad as it gets"
- 2013/10/22: ABC(Au): Bushfires ease but forecasts 'as bad as it gets'
- 2013/10/22: ABC(Au): Lithgow fire crews prepare for high winds Wednesday
- 2013/10/22: IndiaTimes: Australia merges blazes in wildfire battle to prevent 'megafire'
- 2013/10/22: ABC(Au): Live: RFS link up major NSW bushfires as winds drop
- 2013/10/22: ABC(Au): UN climate chief Christiana Figueres calls for global action amid NSW bushfires
  The United Nations says the New South Wales bushfires are an example of "the doom and gloom" the world may be facing without vigorous action on climate change. The executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, says the fires prove the world is "already paying the price of carbon".
- 2013/10/21: WtD: Blackest day: stunning NASA images of NSW fires
- 2013/10/22: Guardian(UK): NSW bushfires live - firefighters join two fires together as part of backburning
- 2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): Australian firefighters battle weather in worst bushfires for 45 years
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Fires continue to threaten NSW homes
  There are still more than 60 fires burning in New South Wales. Firefighters are dealing with several emergencies as fires bear down on communities in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. At the same time thousands of firefighters are preparing for worsening conditions later in the week. People in some Blue Mountains communities were advised to leave their homes this afternoon. In other parts of the Blue Mountains residents have been told to shelter in their homes as fires threaten properties. The commissioner of the Rural Fire Service, Shane Fitzsimmons, says this is just the beginning.
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Parks deputy incident controller outlines enormity of Lithgow fire
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Fire expert, Professor David Bowman, discusses the latest bushfire emergency
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Firefighters prepare for the worst
  NSW firefighters have spent the day backburning in the Blue Mountains as they try and prevent two major blazes from joining and becoming a "megafire".
- 2013/10/21: Xinhuanet: State of emergency as fires converge on Sydney
- 2013/10/21: CSM: Communities pitch in as fires threaten Sydney's outskirts
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au): 'Worst-case scenario': Blue Mountains blazes threaten to combine into mega-fire
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Fighting fires from RFS headquarters: an inside look
- 2013/10/21: WSWS: Australia: Bushfire emergency in New South Wales
- 2013/10/21: al Jazeera: Australia bushfires rage out of control
  Firefighters brace for "mega-fire" as two huge blazes in New South Wales look set to merge in coming days.
- 2013/10/21: al Jazeera: Australia declares emergency over bushfires
  New South Wales premier says state of emergency allows rescue services to force evacuations from worst fires in decades.
- 2013/10/21: BBC: Australia fires: NSW Blue Mountains fires 'could merge'
- 2013/10/21: WtD: The shape of infernos to come: the NSW super fires as precursor to the great disruption
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Live blog: NSW bushfires threat 'unparalleled' as conditions worsen
- 2013/10/20: BBC: Australia bushfires: New South Wales declares state of emergency
  A state of emergency has been declared in New South Wales as Australian firefighters battle bushfires that have already destroyed more than 200 homes.
- 2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): Australia bushfires live: fears Blue Mountains fires will join together
- 2013/10/20: DD: Fear of super-fire in Australia may force mass evacuations affecting tens of thousands of people...
- 2013/10/20: DD: New South Wales declares fire emergency as 'nightmarish weather conditions' close in...
- 2013/10/20: CBC: Australian wildfires stretch along 300-kilometre front
Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:
- 2013/10/25: Grist: Coral reefs are producing a chemical [DMSP] that staves off global warming
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Coral more resilient than first thought, Australian scientists find
- 2013/10/22: TreeHugger: Documenting Danajon Bank, the cradle of life for the Pacific Ocean
Glaciers are melting:
- 2013/10/24: FaGP: Yanashallasa Glacier Retreat, Peru
Sea levels are rising:
- 2013/10/24: CCurrents: Rising Waters: How Fast And How Far Will Sea Levels Rise?
- 2013/10/21: DD: Rising sea threatens Stone Age village Skara Brae...
These extreme rainfall events are becoming all too frequent:
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2013/10/27: IOTD: Flooding along the Heilong River [Sept. 2010 vs 2013]
- 2013/10/24: al Jazeera: Mass evacuations in South Sudan -- Weeks of heavy rain causes widespread disruption across parts of eastern Africa
- 2013/10/23: TP:JR: The Dead Tree That's Bringing Drought To Life
- 2013/10/23: Xinhuanet: Two killed by flood water released from Malaysian dam
First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
Second, put a price on carbon
Third, begin to reduce the human population
And elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2013/10/23: JCBaez: What To Do About Climate Change?
- 2013/10/21: AutoBG: UCS infographics illustrate path to 'half the oil' by 2035
- 2013/10/21: CBC: Cow burps tapped for fuel -- Methane successful collected from cow's digestive system by Argentine scientists
Can cities take up the slack when nations shirk their responsibilities?
- 2013/10/23: TP:JR: Five Cities That Are Taking Climate Preparation Seriously
Synthetic Biology is moving into industrial production of food, fuel and precursor chemicals:
- 2013/10/24: WaPo: Companies rush to build 'bio-factories' for medicines, flavorings and fuels
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): 'Teens just can't afford to drive': study blames recession for drop in licences
- 2013/10/21: PI:B: Unpacking the truths about transit investment
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- Climate Engineering Conference 2014 -- Call for Session Proposals
- Civil Society Meeting on Geoengineering - November 4, from 1:30-5:30 PM
- 2013//: NoGeoingegneria: Terra Futura 2013: Interview with Vandana Shiva about geoengineering
- 2013/10/26: GEP: Cool Planet Launches Biochar Product for Commercial Trials
- 2013/10/20: NPR: To Fix Climate Change, Scientists Turn To Hacking The Earth
- 2013/10/20: Independent(UK): Let's play God: The scientific experiments that might save the world (or destroy it...)
  Fake volcanoes, giant space mirrors, oceans of iron filings… One of these ideas might save our planet from the worst effects of global warming - or destroy it. Memphis Barker reports on the rise of geoengineering - and the rift it has opened in the scientific community
- 2013/10/20: GEP: London Protocol Adopts Amendments to Regulate All Marine Geoengineering
- 2013/10/20: NPR: To Fix Climate Change, Scientists Turn To Hacking The Earth
What's new in conservation?
- 2013/10/24: DerSpiegel: Europe Gone Wild: Back to Nature on the Continent
  Conservationists want to turn parts of Europe back into wilderness, teeming with wild horses, lynxes and native bison. But there are varying interpretations of what "wilderness" means and conflict over how much it should be managed.
- 2013/10/24: CDreams: Hopes Dim to Protect World's 'Last Ocean' from Human Destruction
  Pristine waters and fragile Antarctic ecosystem could remain unprotected against human destruction if "political will" not found
- 2013/10/23: Guardian(UK): Cheetahs' Iranian revival cheers conservationists
- 2013/10/22: ERW: Protecting tropical rainforest: are parks or payments best?
What's new in restoration?
- 2013/10/22: USGS: White Sturgeon Hatch-Success Study Yields Clues to Restoration Strategy
While on the adaptation front:
- 2013/10/24: TheConversation: How can we build houses that better withstand bushfires?
- 2013/10/21: TheConversation: Living with fire: deciding where to build
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2013/10/15: Nature:Comm: (ab$) Earthworms facilitate carbon sequestration through unequal amplification of carbon stabilization compared with mineralization by Weixin Zhang et al.
- 2013/10/21: GMD: An optimally tuned ensemble of the "eb_go_gs" configuration of GENIE: parameter sensitivity and bifurcations in the Atlantic overturning circulation by R. Marsh et al.
- 2013/10/21: GMD: The potential of an observational data set for calibration of a computationally expensive computer model by D. J. McNeall et al.
- 2013/10/21: GMD: Intercomparison of temperature trends in IPCC CMIP5 simulations with observations, reanalyses and CMIP3 models by J. Xu et al.
- 2013/10/22: OSD: Eddy length scales and the Rossby radius in the Arctic Ocean by A. J. G. Nurser & S. Bacon
- 2013/10/22: TCD: Little Ice Age climate reconstruction from ensemble reanalysis of Alpine glacier fluctuations by M. P. Lüthi
- 2013/10/07: Nature: (ab$) Loss mitigation in plasmonic solar cells: aluminium nanoparticles for broadband photocurrent enhancements in GaAs photodiodes by N. P. Hylton et al.
- 2013/10/22: PNAS: (ab$) Changes in ecosystem resilience detected in automated measures of ecosystem metabolism during a whole-lake manipulation by Ryan D. Batt et al.
- 2013/10/22: PNAS: (ab$) Insect nicotinic receptor interactions in vivo with neonicotinoid, organophosphorus, and methylcarbamate insecticides and a synergist by Xusheng Shao et al.
- 2013/10/22: PNAS: (abs) Human and natural influences on the changing thermal structure of the atmosphere by Benjamin D. Santer et al.
- 2013/10/22: PNAS: (ab$) Delayed detection of climate mitigation benefits due to climate inertia and variability by Claudia Tebaldi & Pierre Friedlingstein
- 2013/10/22: PNAS: (ab$) Molecular understanding of atmospheric particle formation from sulfuric acid and large oxidized organic molecules by Siegfried Schobesberger et al.
- 2013/10/22: PNAS: (abs) Vegetation controls on the maximum size of coastal dunes by Orencio Durán & Laura J. Moore
- 2013/10/22: PNAS: (ab$) Holocene dynamics of the Florida Everglades with respect to climate, dustfall, and tropical storms by Paul H. Glaser et al.
- 2013/10/22: PNAS: (letter$) More evidence for anthropogenic influence on climate change by Gerald R. North
- 2013/09/24: OJ:Forestry: Distribution, impact and rate of spread of emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in the Moscow region of Russia by Nigel A. Straw et al.
- 2013/10/22: ESD: Comment on "Polynomial cointegration tests of anthropogenic impact on global warming" by Beenstock et al. (2012) - some hazards in econometric modelling of climate change by F. Pretis & D. F. Hendry
- 2013/10/24: ACP: Ozone trends derived from the total column and vertical profiles at a northern mid-latitude station by P. J. Nair et al.
- 2013/10/23: ACP: Contributions of biomass/biofuel burning to organic aerosols and particulate matter in Tanzania, East Africa, based on analyses of ionic species, organic and elemental carbon, levoglucosan and mannosan by S. L. Mkoma et al.
- 2013/10/23: ACP: Modeling polarized solar radiation from the ocean-atmosphere system for CLARREO inter-calibration applications by W. Sun & C. Lukashin
- 2013/10/24: ACPD: Estimating Asian terrestrial carbon fluxes from CONTRAIL aircraft and surface CO2 observations for the period 2006 to 2010 by H. F. Zhang et al.
- 2013/10/23: ACPD: Representing ozone extremes in European megacities: the importance of resolution in a global chemistry climate model by Z. S. Stock et al.
- 2013/10/22: ACPD: Global top-down smoke aerosol emissions estimation using satellite fire radiative power measurements by C. Ichoku & L. Ellison
- 2013/10/21: ACPD: Three years of aerosol mass, black carbon and particle number concentrations at Montsec (southern~Pyrenees, 1570 m a.s.l.) by A. Ripoll et al.
- 2013/10/23: PLoS One: First Evidence for a Massive Extinction Event Affecting Bees Close to the K-T Boundary by Sandra M. Rehan et al.
- 2013/10/21: WoL:GRL: (ab$) Unprecedented recent summer warmth in Arctic Canada by Gifford H. Miller et al.
- 2013/10/24: BG: Global atmospheric carbon budget: results from an ensemble of atmospheric CO2 inversions by P. Peylin et al.
- 2013/10/24: BG: Indian Ocean Dipole and El Niño/Southern Oscillation impacts on regional chlorophyll anomalies in the Indian Ocean by J. C. Currie et al.
- 2013/10/24: BG: Global changes in dryland vegetation dynamics (1988-2008) assessed by satellite remote sensing: comparing a new passive microwave vegetation density record with reflective greenness data by N. Andela et al.
- 2013/10/23: BG: Calcification intensity in planktonic Foraminifera reflects ambient conditions irrespective of environmental stress by M. F. G. Weinkauf et al.
- 2013/10/23: BG: The influence of food supply on the response of Olympia oyster larvae to ocean acidification by A. Hettinger et al.
- 2013/10/25: BGD: A satellite data driven biophysical modeling approach for estimating northern peatland and tundra CO2 and CH4 fluxes by J. D. Watts et al.
- 2013/10/24: BGD: Exploring the response of West Siberian wetland methane emissions to future changes in climate, vegetation, and soil microbial communities by T. J. Bohn & D. P. Lettenmaier
- 2013/10/24: BGD: Phosphate supply explains variation in nucleic acid allocation but not C : P stoichiometry in the Western North Atlantic by A. E. Zimmerman et al.
- 2013/10/25: CP: Re-evaluation of the age model for North Atlantic Ocean Site 982 - arguments for a return to the original chronology by K. T. Lawrence et al.
- 2013/10/23: CP: Eurasian Arctic climate over the past millennium as recorded in the Akademii Nauk ice core (Severnaya Zemlya) by T. Opel et al.
- 2013/10/22: CP: Pre-LGM Northern Hemisphere ice sheet topography by J. Kleman et al.
- 2013/10/22: CP: Holocene climate variability in the winter rainfall zone of South Africa by S. Weldeab et al.
- 2013/10/25: CPD: Pliocene to Pleistocene climate and environmental history of Lake El'gygytgyn, Far East Russian Arctic, based on high-resolution inorganic geochemistry data by V. Wennrich et al.
- 2013/10/25: CPD: Terrigenous input off northern South America driven by changes in Amazonian climate and the North Brazil Current retroflection during the last 250 ka by A. Govin et al.
- 2013/10/22: CPD: A seasonality trigger for carbon injection at the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum by J. S. Eldrett et al.
- 2013/10/25: ACP: Reduced efficacy of marine cloud brightening geoengineering due to in-plume aerosol coagulation: parameterization and global implications by G. S. Stuart et al.
- 2013/10/25: ACPD: Aqueous-phase photochemical oxidation and direct photolysis of vanillin - a model compound of methoxy-phenols from biomass burning by Y. J. Li et al.
- 2013/10/23: GMD: Scheme for calculation of multi-layer cloudiness and precipitation for climate models of intermediate complexity by A. V. Eliseev et al.
- 2013/10/25: OSD: Experiments with the Secchi disk by E. Aas et al.
- 2013/10/25: TC: Net accumulation rates derived from ice core stable isotope records of Pío XI glacier, Southern Patagonia Icefield by M. Schwikowski et al.
- 2013/10/24: TC: Recent mass balance of the Purogangri Ice Cap, central Tibetan Plateau, by means of differential X-band SAR interferometry by N. Neckel et al.
- 2013/10/25: TCD: A new method for deriving glacier centerlines applied to glaciers in Alaska and northwest Canada by C. Kienholz et al.
- 2013/10/24: TCD: On the magnitude and frequency of Karakoram Glacier surges by D. J. Quincey & A. Luckman
- 2013/08/01: ERL: Changes in concurrent monthly precipitation and temperature extremes by Zengchao Hao et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2013/10/24: EnviroCan: [link to 1.5 meg pdf] Canada's Emissions Trends 2013
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2013/10/25: MPG(De): Green algae move to the beat -- Max Planck researchers in Dresden explain the flagellar synchronisation of swimming algae
- 2013/10/22: Guardian(UK): XPRIZE dives into Earth's final frontier -- our oceans and their future health
  Scientific funding foundation launches new prizes for research into acidification, climate change, garbage and other issues
- 2013/10/21: IsaacHeld: 42: Aqua-planet hurricanes and the ITCZ
What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?
- 2013/10/24: V V: Many (new) open-access journals in meteorology and climatology
- 2013/10/23: Eureka: How are Open Access and MOOCS disrupting the academic community in different ways?
  New article in SAGE Open compares and contrasts the disruptive tensions of open-access publishing with MOOCs
- 2013/10/22: NatureN: Brazil fêtes open-access site -- South American SciELO project weighs up future after 15 years of free publishing
- 2013/10/22: Tyee: Open Access to Canada's Research Nears Tipping Point
  Shift reflects the notion that taxpayer-supported findings should be free for the public.
- 2013/10/21: NatureNB: Drug industry can profit from clinical-trial data openness, say leading regulators
- 2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): Bad metrics and PDF graveyards: why development needs open data
Meanwhile at the UN:
- 2013/10/25: UN: UN expert urges greater legal inclusion of measures to ensure global right to food
- 2013/10/23: UN: In Denmark, Ban launches sustainable energy hub, urges commitments on climate financing
- 2013/10/22: UN: In Copenhagen, Ban calls for clean energy transformation for more sustainable future
- 2013/10/21: NatureNB: United Nations embraces science's best minds
- 2013/10/21: ScienceInsider: U.N. Names New Science Advisory Board
- 2013/10/21: WMO: WMO E-Guide on NMHSs
On the international political front, tensions continue as the empire leans on Iran:
- 2013/10/26: RT: US against new sanctions as Iran prepares to protect 'inalienable' nuclear right at P5+1 talks
  The leading US negotiator in nuclear diplomacy with Iran [Wendy Sherman] has asked US politicians to pause any new sanctions against Tehran. Meanwhile Iranian lawmakers seem adamant to protect the "inalienable right" for nuclear research during the next P5+1 talks.
- 2013/10/25: AntiWar: US Won't Ease Sanctions Early in Iran Negotiations -- Iran Not Seeing Any Benefits From Diplomacy
  The Obama Administration today said that they have no intention of easing any sanctions against Iran any time soon, and don't intend to do so at all "at the front end" of the ongoing negotiations with the nation.
- 2013/10/25: Asia Times: US sanctions bleed Iran's health system
- 2013/10/24: CSM: Pakistan looks to Iran to help keep the lights on
- 2013/10/24: LobeLog: Israelis, Saudis Just Getting Started in Opposing U.S.-Iran Detente
  The trick to finding an agreement between the P5+1 world powers and Iran has become clear: keep Israel and Saudi Arabia out of the room. (But don't expect them to be happy about it.)
- 2013/10/23: AntiWar: Iran Halts 20 Percent Uranium Enrichment -- MP: Iran Doesn't Need Any More
- 2013/10/23: Xinhuanet: Iran to launch nuclear fuel production line in 3 months
  Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali-Akbar Salehi said Iran will operate a production line of enriched UO2 (uranium dioxide) in three months, Tehran Times daily reported on Wednesday. The enriched UO2 would be used to provide nuclear fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant, said Salehi.
- 2013/10/22: CCurrents: Some Basic Facts And Background: New Nuclear Negotiations Between The U.S. And Other World Powers And Iran
- 2013/10/22: AntiWar: Iran Talks: Devil Is in the Details -- Plenty of Room for Talks, But Finalizing Could Take Awhile
South [& East] China Sea tension persists:
- 2013/10/27: ABC(Au): Japan's PM Shinzo Abe says the country will step up as leader to counter growing power of China
- 2013/10/27: al Jazeera: Japanese PM warns China on use of force
  Shinzo Abe says Japan ready to be more assertive should China use force to attain its diplomatic goals.
- 2013/10/26: BBC: Japan will stand up to China, says PM Shinzo Abe
- 2013/10/26: WSWS: US stages show of naval force in the South China Sea
  On October 25, the US Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS George Washington entered Manila Bay. At the head of Carrier Strike Group Five, the aircraft carrier had spent the past week sailing the disputed waters of the South China Sea, visiting various regional claimants.
- 2013/10/25: Xinhuanet: News Analysis: Japan being more provocative with continuous military muscles flexing
- 2013/10/25: BBC: South Korea conducts military exercise at disputed islands
  South Korean forces have carried out a drill aimed at repelling foreign landings on disputed islands at the heart of a row with Japan. The drill took place at an outcrop known in South Korea as Dokdo and in Japan as Takeshima.
Who is serious about reducing airline carbon emissions?
- 2013/10/23: ICN: U.S. and India Dig In Against EU Air Carbon Charge
In the "global competition for natural resources":
- 2013/10/23: CBC: Quest Rare Minerals marks big [tantalum, niobium & ?] find in northern Quebec
- 2013/10/22: NBF: Seafloor mining robots and equipment nearing completion to mine for gold, silver and copper
- 2013/10/22: CCurrents: Mining The Ocean Floor
The Trans-Pacific Partnership looks like a stealth corporate takeover:
- 2013/10/25: CDreams: Secret Trade Agenda Threatens Shift Toward Sustainable Food System
- 2013/10/24: RealEconomics: TPP -- naked predation
And in miscellaneous international political jousting:
- 2013/10/22: Xinhuanet: Medvedev says Rosneft to supply additional oil to China
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
- 2013/10/24: Grist: Russia drops Greenpeace piracy charges, alleges activists are hooligans
- 2013/10/23: Guardian(UK): Greenpeace activists have piracy charges dropped by Russia
  Protesters who were aboard Arctic Sunrise and have been held over a month now face far lesser charges of hooliganism
- 2013/10/23: BBC: Russia has dropped piracy charges against 30 Greenpeace activists, replacing them with hooliganism charges...
- 2013/10/23: BBerg: Russia Drops Greenpeace Piracy Charges in Favor of 'Hooliganism'
- 2013/10/23: al Jazeera: Russia rejects court over Greenpeace arrests
  Moscow says it will boycott maritime tribunal in attempt by the Netherlands to release 30 detained Greenpeace activists.
- 2013/10/21: SwissInfo: Activist remains behind Russian bars
  Swiss Greenpeace activist Marco Paolo Weber has been denied bail by a court in Murmansk, the Swiss branch of the environmental organisation and Russian news agency TASS confirmed on Monday.
- 2013/10/21: UN: Netherlands takes dispute with Russia over Greenpeace ship to UN-backed tribunal
  The Netherlands today submitted a request to the United Nations-backed International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for provisional measures in a dispute with Russia over the recent arrest and detention of a ship used by Greenpeace International to stage a protest over oil drilling.
- 2013/10/21: CCP: Hundreds of Protests in 36 Countries Demand Release of Arctic 30 by Russia
What are the activists up to?
- 2013/10/21: Resilience: How One Farmer Protects His Land from Fracking
- 2013/10/20: DeSmogBlog: Worldwide Protests Challenge Fracking Industry
The move to divest from fossil fuel investments is growing slowly:
- 2013/10/27: Guardian(UK): UK universities urged to pull cash from fossil fuel giants -- Anti-carbon divestment campaign targets £5bn of British funds
- 2013/10/23: TP:JR: The Dangerous Bargain Harvard's Dr. Faust Has Made With Fossil Fuels
- 2013/10/22: Grist: Divestment: Making colleges do the right thing with their cash since before you were born
Polls! We have polls!
- 2013/10/25: TP:JR: Virginia Poll Finds More Than 60 Percent Believe Human Activity A Major Cause Of Climate Change
Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:
- 2013/10/25: Asia Times: The Ganges to perdition
- 2013/10/25: ABC(Au): Arsenic contamination found in Vietnam's water: study
  A study in Vietnam has revealed that massive over-pumping of groundwater sources to meet surging demand is drawing arsenic into the country's village wells.
- 2013/10/21: Eureka: Nitrogen fertilizer remains in soils and leaks towards groundwater for decades, researchers find
  Long-term legacy of past fertilizer applications must be considered in reducing nitrate contamination of aquatic ecosystems, study indicates
- 2013/10/21: Asia Times: Chinese mine spill pollutes Tibet
- 2013/10/16: WaterWired: Infographic & Report: 'America's Water - An Exploratory Analysis of Municipal Water Survey Data'
While in the UK:
- 2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): Ed Davey interview: 'I'm not going to give up on renewable energy'
- 2013/10/25: NatureNB: UK environmental regulator to cut more than 1,500 jobs - raising fears that its ability to function will be compromised
- 2013/10/25: BBC: National Trust has 'open mind' on fracking
  National Trust director-general Dame Helen Ghosh says the conservation charity has an "open mind" about allowing fracking on its land.
- 2013/10/24: Monbiot: Breach of Trust -- Ill-informed and incoherent: the head of the National Trust talks nonsense on fracking
- 2013/10/24: GaianEcon: Does the Hinkley Deal Involve Subsidy?
- 2013/10/24: Guardian(UK): Tory anti-environment advocacy protects corporate, not public, interests
  Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg's Telegraph screed supports Cameron's contempt for green policies at our expense
- 2013/10/24: BBC: Fuel poverty campaigners have written to Prime Minister David Cameron demanding cross-party action on the "national crisis" of cold homes
- 2013/10/24: EurActiv: Cameron pledges review of green energy tariffs
  UK Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to roll back the £112 annual costs of green tariffs on energy bills, as he came under fire over Sir John Major's call for a windfall tax on the excess profits of Britain's big six energy companies.
- 2013/10/24: BBC: Nick Clegg 'disagrees' with David Cameron on 'rolling back' green levies
  The prime minister's announcement that he wanted to "roll back" green levies pushing up energy bills was unexpected, Nick Clegg has said.
- 2013/10/23: BBC: Cameron 'panicking' over energy taxes, say Lib Dems
  The Liberal Democrats have accused David Cameron of making a "panicky U-turn" after he announced a review of green energy taxes.
- 2013/10/23: RTCC: David Cameron threatens to scrap key UK climate legislation - wants to cut green levies
- 2013/10/23: BBC: GDF Suez buys £24m stake in UK shale gas projects
  French utility firm GDF Suez has signed a deal with UK-based Dart Energy to explore Cheshire and the East Midlands for shale gas. GDF Suez will buy a 25% share in Dart's 13 onshore licences for £7.4m ($12m), followed by £16.7m for ongoing costs. The licences overlay the Bowland Shale area, estimated to contain 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas. The company said several wells will be drilled in the 1,378 sq km (532 sq miles) area, if the government allows.
- 2013/10/22: BBC: UK set to underwrite up to £33bn of infrastructure schemes
  A string of renewable energy projects have been earmarked for possible government backing.
- 2013/10/22: IndiaTimes: Britain commits to new nuclear power plant
- 2013/10/22: RT: 'Historically safest energy': UK needs nuclear plants to reduce carbon emissions but won't stop there
  Two UK nuclear power plants aimed at meeting obligations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions will likely be followed by others once the government sees the energy comes at a reasonable price, former adviser to the UK government Sir David King told RT.
- 2013/10/21: Monbiot: Fiscal Meltdown -- The government is betting the farm on a nuclear technology that might soon look as hip as the traction engine
- 2013/10/21: BBC: Npower to raise energy prices by 10.4%
  Energy firm Npower has become the third major supplier to announce price rises, with a dual-fuel bill to go up 10.4%. The price rise will take effect on 1 December, and is the highest increase announced by any supplier so far. SSE will increase prices by 8.2% from 15 November and British Gas said prices would go up by 9.2% on 23 November. The Npower increase includes an electricity price rise of 9.3% and a gas price rise of 11.1%. The move will affect 3.1 million customers.
- 2013/10/20: BBC: UK nuclear power plant set for go-ahead
  The government is set to give the go-ahead for the UK's first new nuclear station in a generation. France's EDF Energy will lead a consortium that includes Chinese investors, to build the Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset.
And in Europe:
- 2013/10/26: BBC: Czech election: Social Democrats lead but no clear winner
- 2013/10/25: TP:JR: Report: Poland Could Halve Its Demand For Coal By 2030 And Create Jobs
- 2013/10/25: EurActiv: The European Parliament called on Thursday (24 October) for EU countries to better implement European environmental rules despite the initial costs involved
- 2013/10/25: EurActiv: EU candidates table list of energy infrastructure needs
  Meeting in Belgrade yesterday (24 October), the energy ministers of the Energy Community, an organisation of countries seeking closer EU integration or membership, adopted a list of 35 energy projects of regional importance, mirroring a recent EU effort which identified 248 projects of common importance for the Union.
- 2013/10/25: EUO: Greenland votes in favour of mining uranium
- 2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): Greenland gives green light for uranium and rare earths mining
- 2013/10/24: ScienceInsider: Report Claims Industry Influence at European Food Watchdog Persists
- 2013/10/24: EurActiv: Parliament rejects subsidies for new fishing boats
- 2013/10/24: EUO: MEPs end support for building of new fishing boats
- 2013/10/23: NatureNB: Guarded welcome for EU fisheries reform vote
- 2013/10/23: WSWS: German Social Democrats' convention backs coalition talks with conservative parties
- 2013/10/23: NatureN: Europe debates fisheries funding -- Campaigners want subsidies to be focused on conservation
- 2013/10/23: EurActiv: Bulgaria extends land purchase ban despite EU warning
- 2013/10/23: EurActiv: Leaked memo threatens 'end of European conservation as we know it'
  A non-descript memo to the EU's climate commissioner from her director-general could spell the end of attempts to conserve natural habitats through hundreds of small-scale projects across Europe, campaigners say. The memo, which EurActiv has seen, proposes ending funding for local climate-related projects from an E864 million environmental protection programme called Life, and using the lion's share of it as public seed money to leverage private sector cash instead.
- 2013/10/23: EUO: EU food safety authority too close to industry, report says
- 2013/10/22: CCurrents: Shale Gas Exploitation And Environmental Destruction In Romania
- 2013/10/21: EurActiv: Shale gas firms to be brought under 'robust' new EU law
  Shale gas companies operating in Europe will soon have to respect a muscular legislative package which the European Commission is preparing to publish in December or January, EurActiv has learned.
- 2013/10/21: WSWS: German Social Democrats, conservatives agree on talks to form coalition government
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2013/10/26: ABC(Au): Labor MP Brenton Best calls for Premier Lara Giddings to be replaced by David O'Byrne
  Behind the scenes rumblings in the Tasmanian Government have exploded into the open after backbencher Brenton Best called for Premier Lara Giddings to be replaced.
- 2013/10/25: TheConversation: Are the NSW bushfires linked to climate change?
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Ballina Mayor wants CSG buffer around entire shire
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): More exploration permits granted for Great Australian Bight
  Exploration permits for the Great Australian Bight have been awarded to Santos, Chevron, and Murphy Australia Oil.
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Climate Change Hastings urges Abbott government to keep carbon tax
  The Hastings branch of Climate Change Australia is strongly urging the Abbott government not to repeal the carbon tax. President Harry Creamer said there is no good reason to drop the tax. He said the tax has had little impact on the economy but a big impact on Australian emissions, lowering them by almost 8 percent.
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Fears Queensland's severe drought will lead to more farmer suicides
  There are fears that Queensland's severe drought could trigger even more suicides by farmers. A new study has found 147 farmers committed suicide in Queensland in the decade after the 2000, compared to 92 in New South Wales. Researchers say the number of suicides in NSW could be even higher, but it is harder to define because of the way the statistics are gathered.
- 2013/10/21: TheConversation: Fire and climate change: don't expect a smooth ride
- 2013/10/22: BBC: Australia fire fighters back-burn to merge NSW fires
- 2013/10/22: WSWS: Australia: Escalating need for food handouts
  The past year saw a near 10 percent increase in the number of Australians seeking food from the country's largest provider of food assistance, according to a recent report. Foodbank provides food via charities to more than 473,000 people per month, but a further 65,000 people, including 30,000 children, are turned away each month despite their need. The figures are symptomatic of worsening social hardship in the working class, a product of growing unemployment and underemployment, deep welfare cuts and cost-of-living increases.
- 2013/10/22: al Jazeera: Australia races to contain bushfires
  Firefighters toil to put out series of massive blazes in mountains west of Sydney that have destroyed hundreds of homes.
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Fresh assessment takes Forestry Tasmania losses higher
- 2013/10/20: Guardian(UK): Pricing carbon must be [an Australian] Labor article of faith
Now we get to watch the suppository of wisdom destroy what little Australia has done to fight climate change:
- 2013/10/27: NewAnthropocene: Alarm Bells: Abbott giving an indication of what we can expect
- 2013/10/26: WtD: Carbon tax is socialism: Tony Abbott's great big conspiracy theory
- Wiki: New World Order (conspiracy theory)
- 2013/10/27: ABC(Au): Government working on terms of reference for judicial inquiry into home insulation scheme
  The Federal Government is close to finalising the terms of reference for its proposed judicial inquiry into the former Labor government's home insulation scheme.
- 2013/10/26: ABC(Au): Winmalee residents criticise disaster relief eligibility rules, as Blue Mountains fires burn
  Fire-affected residents in the Blue Mountains have criticised the Federal Government for tightening the eligibility rules for disaster relief payments, as fires continue to burn uncontrolled.
- 2013/10/26: ABC(Au): Abbott likens carbon tax to socialism in speech to party faithful
  Prime Minister Tony Abbott has used Labor's internal leadership rivalries as ammunition to goad the Opposition into helping scrap the carbon tax. Mr Abbott wants legislation to end the tax passed by Christmas, but has so far failed to secure enough support in the Senate.
- 2013/10/24: Guardian(UK): Greg Hunt uses Wikipedia research to dismiss climate change-bushfires link
- 2013/10/24: WtD: #GregHuntResearch takes off: twitter meme that parodies Enviro Minister Greg Hunt
- 2013/10/25: JQuiggin: Abbott's Sister Souljah non-moment
- 2013/10/25: EnvEcon: "Australia's PM Takes on Carbon Tax"
- 2013/10/25: TheConversation: Fire and climate change: fire risk needs to be managed
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Federal Government releases laws to repeal mining tax; Clive Palmer's party likely to have final say
  The Federal Government is pushing ahead with axing the troubled mining tax, pressuring Labor to respect its mandate and pass the repeal legislation before Christmas. Draft laws to abolish the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) have been released ahead of their expected introduction to parliament next month.
- 2013/10/24: Tamino: Fire Down Below
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): First step to mining tax end
  The Abbott Government is taking the first step towards abolishing the mining tax. It's released draft legislation to have the tax repealed from July next year and when it goes, so will $13 billion in sweeteners, including the Schoolkids Bonus and the low income superannuation contribution.
- 2013/10/24: UKISS: Greg Hunt --- not very good at his job
- 2013/10/23: CCurrents: New Pro-Zionist Australian Coalition Government Threatens Anti-racist Jewish Academics Who Support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Against Apartheid Israel [Polya]
- 2013/10/22: Guardian(UK): UN climate chief says Direct Action 'a lot more expensive' than pricing carbon
  Christiana Figueres calls for rapid emissions cuts to avoid 'doom and gloom' events such as the NSW bushfires
- 2013/10/22: ABC(Au): Federal Government defends level of assistance for NSW bushfire victims
- 2013/10/21: CCP: Australian climate science witch hunt proposed by Liberal Party in Western Australia
- 2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): 'Illegals' - Australia's latest smear on refugees
  If refugees who arrive by boat are breaking the law, how come the minister for immigration is unable to tell us which one?
- 2013/10/21: CCP: Government cut in aid 'heartless'
  Heartless conservative Australian government denies aid to fire victims unable to reach their homes in need of food, medicine, clothing
Abbott has made his denial explicit in the matter of climate change and increasing bushfires:
- 2013/10/27: ABC(Au): Fires incite political debate over climate change
  As bushfires devastated parts of New South Wales, the political sphere was heating up over whether global warming is behind the ferocity of the Australian fire season.
- 2013/10/26: WtD: Political fires: climate debate shifting in Australia, not to Abbott's liking
- 2013/10/26: DD: Massive bushfires in Australia blamed on climate change...
- 2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): Climate change linked to bushfire risk says Environment Department website
  Site contradicts Tony Abbott's statement that link is 'hogwash', pointing to 'growing and robust body of evidence'
- 2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): A week is a long time in Australian climate change politics
  Two people died, flora and fauna were decimated and hundreds of homes lost in NSW, but the firestorm didn't end there
- 2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): More frequent bushfires? Fears are being realised, says emergency council
  Climate change link has been on the agenda since 2009, despite Tony Abbott believing it is 'hogwash'
- 2013/10/25: NewAnthropocene: Bushfires and climate change: oh, blasphemy!
- 2013/10/25: ABC(Au): Climate Council links NSW bushfires to climate change
- 2013/10/25: WSWS: The Australian bushfires and the climate change "debate"
- 2013/10/25: ABC(Au): Anger in Marshalls over Abbot's climate change remarks
- 2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): Climate Council finds 'clear link' between bushfires and climate change
  Independent body Coalition axed challenges Abbott's view that connecting global warming to recent fires is 'hogwash'
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au):TDU: Bushfires, climate and the debate we have to have
  Moral outrage and condemnation is not the way to encourage a conversation about climate change and Australia's policy response, writes Marcus Priest.
- 2013/10/24: Guardian(UK): Bushfires: Coalition deploys straw man against burning issue of climate change
  Government is desperate to keep bushfires and climate change apart for fear its emissions reduction policy will be found wanting
- 2013/10/24: Guardian(UK): Pacific nations 'very disappointed' by Tony Abbott's climate scepticism
- 2013/10/24: Guardian(UK): Informed discussion on climate change impacts can turn the table on denialist prime minister
- 2013/10/24: TP:JR: Rhetoric Over Climate's Role In Australian Bushfires Heats Up As Blazes Burn On
- 2013/10/24: Guardian(UK): Al Gore attacks Tony Abbott's refusal to link bushfires with climate change
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Greg Hunt defends Tony Abbott's climate change comments in testy BBC interview
- 2013/10/24: JQuiggin: Falling off the tightrope
- 2013/10/24: PeakEnergy: Action on climate is a duty above politics
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Environment Minister clashes with BBC broadcaster
  The Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, has had an angry clash with a BBC interviewer who asked him about Tony Abbott's remark three years ago that climate change is "crap".
- 2013/10/24: WtD: Deers in headlights: Abbott's government of "grownups" losing control of climate change narrative
- 2013/10/23: Guardian(UK): Australian prime minister denies 25 years of research linking climate change to bushfires
- 2013/10/23: Guardian(UK): Tony Abbott says UN climate head is 'talking through her hat' about fires
  PM dismisses comments by Christiana Figueres, and says bushfires are 'part of the Australian experience'
- 2013/10/23: Guardian(UK): Fire and climate change: don't expect a smooth ride
  With fires still burning across New South Wales, it's time to have a look at the role climate change might have played. Are the conditions we're seeing natural variation, or part of a long term trend?
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Tony Abbott accuses UN official of 'talking through her hat' on climate change
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Al Gore weighs into debate over links between bushfires and climate change
- 2013/10/23: TheConversation: What firefighters say about climate change
- 2013/10/23: CCP: Graham Readfearn: Australian prime minister denies 25 years of research linking climate change to bushfires
- 2013/10/23: PSinclair: In Australia: The Stupid, It Burns.
- 2013/10/22: Guardian(UK): Heed the warnings on the new climate reality
  Australia has a choice to heed the warnings of the new climate reality and start cutting our carbon pollution, says Dr Paul Sinclair in this guest blog.
- 2013/10/22: Resilience: Let's talk about Bushfires, Climate Change and Coal
- 2013/10/22: ABC(Au):TDU: Now is the time to talk about climate change
  While we'd like to think of climate change as a long-term global risk we can emotionally detach from, the bushfires currently raging in New South Wales bring the threat uncomfortably close to home, writes Paul Gilding.
- 2013/10/22: ABC(Au): UN climate chief Christiana Figueres calls for global action amid NSW bushfires
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au):TDU: Climate change action is essential risk management
  While the government is preparing to repeal the carbon price, the fires in New South Wales remind us that it is in Australia's interest for the world to act on climate change - and that starts with a credible effort at home, writes Frank Jotzo.
- 2013/10/21: TP:JR: Australian Wildfires Threaten New Prime Minister's Anti-Climate Agenda
- 2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): Why we need to politicise the bushfires
  The refusal to make the link between the fires and climate change will condemn more people to the inferno
- 2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): We need to talk about bushfires and climate change - if not now, when?
  Adam Bandt was rebuked for mentioning the elephant in the room but policymakers can no longer credibly look away
- 2013/10/21: NewAnthropocene: As NSW burns, we refuse to learn
- 2013/10/20: CDreams: As 'Unparalleled' Bushfires Ravage Australia, Calls to 'Connect the Dots'
After years of wrangling, the Murray Darling Basin Plan is in place, but the water management fights are far from finished:
- 2013/10/25: ABC(Au): Scrivener Dam workers up against it as lake levels lift
- 2013/10/25: ABC(Au): Water Corp sorry about Broome interruptions
  The Water Corporation says there should not be any more emergency interruptions to Broome's water supply this week. Old Broome residents had no water for three hours on Tuesday night and five hours on Wednesday night.
- 2013/10/25: ABC(Au): Graziers fight for survival as drought grips Queensland
  With two thirds of the State drought declared, the ABC's Pete Lewis joined the new Federal Agricultural Minister Barnaby Joyce for a tour of some of the worst affected areas.
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Caltex pulls out as drought sets in
  Caltex has come under fire for pulling out of a drought-stricken North Queensland town its supplied with fuel for the past six years.
- 2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Mount Isa may face tougher water bans
  The Mount Isa City Council says an average of eight people every day are being fined for flouting water restrictions. The city is drought declared and under level two water restrictions, meaning sprinklers can only be used to water gardens during two hours - morning and night on alternative days. The city's main water source, Lake Moondarra, is sitting at 30 per cent capacity, while the back-up dam, Lake Julius, is now under 70 per cent. Mayor Tony McGrady says people will be fined if they do not abide by the rules and more people are also reporting residents who are not doing the right thing.
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Water charges waived for Hunter residents in bushfire zones
  The New South Wales government has announced that Hunter residents will not be charged for water used to defend their homes during the bushfire crisis.
- 2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Level Two water restrictions for Willow Tree
- 2013/10/22: ABC(Au): A coming Coalition split over the Murray-Darling?
  The listing of the Murray-Darling Basin as a threatened ecological community could spell trouble ahead for the Coalition, as science and politics intersect.
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Water Corporation launches campaign to persuade public to accept recycled drinking water
- 2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Council makes emergency water offer to parched Gympie residents
  Gympie has suffered from two major floods this year but a dry spell in the south-east Queensland city is now causing problems. Councillor Larry Friske says residents whose water tanks are low can pay $2 to fill a 1,000-litre portable tank for emergency drinking supplies.
While in the Indian subcontinent:
- 2013/10/24: Asia Times: India cuts troubling mining probe short
- 2013/10/22: BBC: BHP withdraws from most India oil and gas projects [citing bureaucracy and a lack of clear policy]
- 2013/10/22: BBC: Kudankulam: India nuclear plant begins operating
  The controversial Kudankulam nuclear plant in India's Tamil Nadu state has begun producing electricity after years of delays and protests, officials say.
- 2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): India pushes to change WTO subsidy rules so it can stockpile food
  India says paying farmers higher prices will help boost food security, but critics say it will hurt poor producers elsewhere
- 2013/10/21: RT: India exodus: BHP Billiton walks away from oil and gas
And in China:
- 2013/10/26: DD: Image of the Day: Satellite view of dangerous China smog, 22 October 2013
- 2013/10/25: SciAm:PI: China enveloped in smog, as seen from space. Again.
- 2013/10/23: Xinhuanet: Severe smog continues to shroud China's Changchun [pix]
- 2013/10/23: IOTD: Smog Shuts Down Harbin [on Oct.21]
- 2013/10/22: QuarkSoup: Asian Pollution Causing Computer Failures
- 2013/10/22: QuarkSoup: Heavy smog in China
- 2013/10/22: al Jazeera: Chinese city choked by blanket of smog
  Visibility in Harbin slashed to a few metres, forcing schools to close in scenes that underline nation's pollution woes.
- 2013/10/21: RT: North China suffers super smog, record pollution levels [pic]
  Harbin, home to 11 million people, was all but shut down on Monday due to smog. Other parts of China's north were also affected.
- 2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): Chinese city paralysed by smog
  In parts of Harbin, the PM2.5 measure of air pollution reaches 1,000 - 40 times the WHO's recommended daily exposure level
While in Japan:
And elsewhere in Asia:
In Africa:
- 2013/10/23: CSM: Can Africa dodge 'curse' of new oil wealth?
And South America:
- 2013/10/27: BBC: Argentina votes in key test for President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
- 2013/10/23: CSM: Brazil oil auction forces Rousseff to reconsider Petrobras's role
- 2013/10/23: WSWS: Brazil's Workers Party government mobilizes troops against striking oil workers
- 2013/10/22: al Jazeera: Brazil oil-auction protests turn violent
  Unions angered by foreign firms' participation in state-run oil company's successful bid to develop offshore field.
- 2013/10/22: TRN: Brazil's Rousseff Set to Privatize Libra Oil Field
  Despite protests and previously stating her opposition, Brazil's Dilma Rousseff auctions off 60% of Brazil's largest oil field
- 2013/10/22: Guardian(UK): Brazil's Libra oilfield auction goes ahead despite protests
  Massive resource deep beneath the Atlantic stays 40% state-owned, with 60% going to Shell, Total and Chinese partners
- 2013/10/21: UDW: Chixoy Dam Justice And Reparations Delayed: 31.5 Years And Counting
- 2013/10/21: UDW: Colombia: Paramilitary Group Threatens Indigenous Protesters with 'Social Cleansing'
- 2013/10/21: BBC: Brazil troops deployed ahead of Rio oil field auction
  The Brazilian government has begun deploying troops on the streets of Rio de Janeiro ahead of a major auction for oil exploration rights. Some 1,100 soldiers sealed off the seafront hotel, where the auction of the huge offshore Libra field is due to take place on Monday. President Dilma Rousseff ordered tighter security after violent demonstrations in Rio last week.
In Canada, neocon PM Harper, aka The Blight, pushes petroleum while ignoring the climate and ecology:
- 2013/10/25: DeSmogBlog: Harper Government's $16.5 Million Canadian Energy Ad Campaign Gets Underwhelming Response in US
- 2013/10/23: JQuiggin: Free riders
- 2013/10/22: TheCanadian: Risks to Democracy from Harper's Pipeline Agenda (Vancouver - Oct.22)
- 2013/10/22: LeftistJab: Environment Canada To Adopt The "What Does Leona Aglukkaq's Brother Think?" Based Approach To Climate Change
- 2013/10/21: TheCanadian: Kinder Morgan president: Harper's heavy-handed tactics hampering pipelines
- 2013/10/21: TMoS: 'Slackjaw Joe' Oliver Pisses Off Pipeline Operator
The muzzling of Canada's scientists has now been documented:
- 2013/10/21: PIPSC: PIPSC to reveal findings of a major survey documenting "muzzling" among federal scientists
- 2013/10/21: CBC: Muzzling of federal scientists widespread, survey suggests
  4,000 responded to survey commissioned by PIPSC to gauge political interference in science Hundreds of federal scientists responding to a survey said they had been asked to exclude or alter information for non-scientific reasons and thousands said they had been prevented from speaking to the media. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), which commissioned the survey from Environics Research "to gauge the scale and impact of 'muzzling' and political interference among federal scientists," released the results Monday at a news conference. The union sent invitations to 15,398 federal scientists in June, asking them to participate in the survey. More than 4,000 took part.
Environment Canada released its yearly GHG emissions report this week. It's not very good:
- 2013/10/24: EnviroCan: [link to 1.5 meg pdf] Canada's Emissions Trends 2013
- 2013/10/25: TreeHugger: Canada is forecast to exceed its 2020 emission target by 122 million tonnes of CO2
- 2013/10/25: Xinhuanet: Canada falls behind greenhouse gas emissions target
  Ottawa -- Canada is falling behind in meeting its 2020 target for the greenhouse gas emission reductions under the Copenhagen Accord, a report said Thursday. Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are expected to reach 734 megatons in 2020, only three megatons less than the 2005 level, according to the 77-page Canada's Emissions Trends report released by Environment Canada.
- 2013/10/24: CBC: Canada failing to meet 2020 emissions targets
  Canada will fail to meet its 2020 greenhouse gas reductions targets under the Copenhagen Accord even with more regulation of the oil and gas sector, according to a new report and internal government analysis obtained by CBC News. A report released today titled Canada's Emissions Trends shows projections to 2020 with a significant and growing gap for targets even under variable economic growth and energy resource development scenarios.
- 2013/10/24: CBC: Kent says Canada 'halfway' to 2020 emissions targets
  Environment Canada report projects 2020 greenhouse gas emissions at 3% below 2005 levels
- 2013/10/24: PI: Pembina reacts to Environment Canada's projections for national greenhouse gas emissions
And in one of those late Friday afternoon sneak releases, the Harper gang let slip their new tar sand rules:
The New Brunswick fracking protests are ongoing:
- 2013/10/26: CBC: 'Suspicious' fire investigated at Elsipogtog RCMP station -- Latest fire and Oct. 18 fire caused only minor damage to detachment
- 2013/10/21: Tyee: Another Story from Elsipogtog
  Look beyond violent imagery from anti-fracking protests and understand why Mi'kmaq put their bodies on the line.
- 2013/10/21: Guardian(UK): New Brunswick fracking protests are the frontline of a democratic fight
- 2013/10/22: TheCanadian: NB group questions RCMP tactics in breaking up fracking protest
- 2013/10/21: TheCanadian: Vancouver rally for Elsipogtog all about unity [vid]
- 2013/10/21: CBC: Shale gas company loses bid for injunction to halt N.B. protests
- 2013/10/21: TheCanadian: Breaking: Judge lifts injunction against Elsipogtog fracking protest
- 2013/10/20: DD: Protests sweep Canada following paramilitary assault on indigenous fracking blockade...
- 2013/10/20: TheCanadian: Grand Chief: Unite in face of Elsipogtog, Harper 'War on Mother Earth'
- 2013/10/20: TheCanadian: Elsipogtog community meets over fracking protest
- 2013/10/20: CfC: Is anybody actually in favour of fracking?
- 2013/10/20: CBC: N.B. fracking protests are about nature, Manitoba chief says -- Grand Chief Derek Nepinak meets Elsipogtog Chief Aaron Sock in Rexton, N.B.
The West-East pipeline is suddenly a focus of much dispute:
- 2013/10/25: PGraham: Video: No Prairie Pipeline
- 2013/10/22: DeSmogBlog: Pipeline Expert: Over 90% Probability of Line 9 Rupture with Tar Sands Dilbit
- 2013/10/23: TStar: Enbridge ordered to make final pipeline argument in writing
The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:
- 2013/10/25: BCLSB: Andrew Leach Lays Out The Odds
- 2013/10/25: PostMedia: Analysts don't like Gateway's chances -- Transportation issues hamper oil producers
  Enbridge Inc.'s Northern Gateway has the least chance of being approved among the pipelines being proposed in the country, according to analysts.
- 2013/10/24: TheCanadian: Rafe Mair: Enbridge pipeline should face BC referendum
Another Liberal policy, a la Justin Trudeau, peeks over the parapet:
- 2013/10/27: BCLSB: Justin On Keystone
- 2013/10/25: CBC: Justin Trudeau shares 'steadfast' Keystone XL support in D.C.
The ISA/PRV/IHN/Alpha virus in Canadian waters is potentially disastrous:
- 2013/10/23: EcoWatch: Salmon Face Upstream Battle as Blueprints for Recovery Are Ignored [Suzuki]
- 2013/10/22: TheCanadian: Cohen Commission on salmon: a year later and nothing from DFO
Now that Christy Clark has a mandate, what will she do?
- 2013/10/25: TheCanadian: Burnaby residents complain of fumes from Kinder Morgan oil terminal
- 2013/10/25: TheCanadian: Will new Water Act rein in groundwater use for fracking, LNG?
- 2013/10/24: G&M: Environmental NGOs launch B.C. oil-spill study
- 2013/10/24: TheCanadian: Historic Haida Gwaii totem raising celebrates protection from logging
- 2013/10/23: G&M: Christy Clark's unenviable path to B.C. pipeline prosperity
- 2013/10/23: BLongstaff: B.C. 's "textbook example" of good climate policy [says OECD]
- 2013/10/21: WCEL: Will local government election rules silence the public?
- 2013/10/21: CBC: Why B.C., Alberta are ending their pipeline standoff -- New thaw seen in getting Alberta's oil sands bitumen to West Coast
  Last week saw a remarkable shift in the pipeline standoff between B.C. and Alberta over the contentious problem of getting Alberta's oil to B.C. ports, for shipment to Asia. Until recently, government officials on both sides of the Rockies had described this particular interprovincial relationship as "frosty." With neither side even willing to seriously discuss it. But now, with B.C.'s spring election fading in the rear-view mirror, it appears the Liberal government's hard line over transporting Alberta's oil is starting to defrost -- rapidly.
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2013/10/25: RTCC: Cancer warning over Canada's tar sand heartland
- 2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): Keystone XL and Canadian tar sands are incompatible with solving climate change
- 2013/10/24: ArcticNews: Are Alberta's Tar Sands prepared for a torrential rain event?
- 2013/10/24: DeSmogBlog: Koch Brothers' Tar Sands Waste Petcoke Piles Spread to Chicago
- 2013/10/24: Tyee: Alberta's Oil Legacy: Bad Air and Rare Cancers
  Sickening carcinogens now saturate the province's Industrial Heartland, study finds.
Also in Alberta:
- 2013/10/26: CBC: Wildrose Party promises big policy changes at AGM
  500 delegates expected in Red Deer to address policies such as climate change, human rights commission The Wildrose Party is promising big changes as party members gather for its annual general meeting in Red Deer, Alta., this weekend.
  [...]
  Smith says she now believes climate change exists and that mankind is at least partially to blame. "I accept that climate change is a reality, as do our members. I accept that there's a human influence on it," Smith told reporters. "I leave the debate about the details to the science about what extent it is and how fast it is occurring."
- 2013/10/26: TheCanadian: Wildrose leader Smith admits climate change real, human-caused
- 2013/10/23: BCLSB: [Fort] Mac Mayor Talks Global Warming: B.C. Is Sinking And Alta. Real Estate Is Going UP UP UP
- 2013/10/22: CBC: Evacuation order lifted near derailed Alberta propane cars
- 2013/10/22: TP:JR: Five Months After Tar Sands Leaks Are Reported In Alberta, Company Ordered To Find Cause
- 2013/10/22: TheCanadian: Residents remain out of homes after CN oil train derailment
- 2013/10/22: CBC: CN to carry out 3rd controlled burn at Alberta derailment site -- More than 100 residents still don't know when they can go home
- 2013/10/21: Grist:Oil and gas train runs off tracks, explodes in Canada -- again
- 2013/10/21: Tyee: Home, Fracked Home: Lost Hair and Dead Cows
  Alberta landowners say nearby industry has fractured their lives.
- 2013/10/21: CBC: CN still working to get residents home after Alberta derailment -- CN carries out 2nd controlled burn at derailment site
- 2013/10/21: TheCanadian: Fracking's impacts on Alberta farming families: Lost hair, dead cows
- 2013/10/20: DD: Canadian hamlet evacuated after oil train crash causes huge blaze...
- 2013/10/20: CBC: 100 remain displaced after 3rd CN derailment in recent weeks
In Ontario, Wynne is struggling to establish herself. Energy still looms large:
- 2013/10/22: CBC: Candu looks overseas after Ontario nixes new nuclear plants
In the Maritimes:
- 2013/10/23: CPW: Nova Scotians overwhelmingly support continued ban on fracking
In the North:
- 2013/10/25: CBC: Mackenzie Valley pipeline facing possible revival
  Revival of $500M fund signals renewed interest in project - and possible new route There are growing signs that the stalled Mackenzie Valley pipeline project could get a new lease on life.
- 2013/10/24: CBC: Inuit group calls on Canada to better fund Arctic research -- Inuit Circumpolar Council wants to see more long-term support for scientists
  Inuit leaders say they want to see more long term government support for Arctic research into issues affecting the North. Senior officials of the Arctic Council wrapped up three days of closed door meetings in Whitehorse on Wednesday.
- 2013/10/23: CBC: Quest Rare Minerals marks big [tantalum, niobium & ?] find in northern Quebec
- 2013/10/22: CBC: Edmonton-sized wildfire burning under Dehcho, N.W.T.
  Two large wildfires that started this summer are still burning and likely will continue to burn under cover of snow and ice through this coming winter, officials in the N.W.T. said Tuesday. The fires, both in the Dehcho region of the Northwest Territories, are burning underground, burning up roots and other flammable material.
And on the American political front:
- 2013/10/21: TP:JR: Al Gore: Divest Now From 'Sub-Prime' Coal And Oil Companies Before 'Carbon Bubble' Bursts
- 2013/10/27: Lenz: Al Gore Completely Wrong
- 2013/10/26: WSWS: US food stamp assistance to be slashed next week
- 2013/10/25: RT: North Dakota failed to inform the public of 100s of oil spills over last two years - report
- 2013/10/25: CleanTechnica: Dirty Tricks In Arizona's Net Metering War
- 2013/10/25: TP:JR: Everything's Bigger In Texas, Including The Carbon Pollution
- 2013/10/24: QuarkSoup: Federal Spending, and Science
- 2013/10/24: CSM: McDonald's helpline to employee: Go on food stamps
- 2013/10/24: UCSUSA:B: A Boost for Electric Vehicles: Eight States Set New Goals for EV Deployment
- 2013/10/24: UCSUSA: UCS Applauds Multi-State Effort to Develop More Robust Market for Electric Vehicles
- 2013/10/24: Salon: Nebraska approves climate-denying study; scientists refuse to conduct it
- 2013/10/24: TP:JR: Nebraska Scientists Refuse To Conduct Climate-Denying Study
- 2013/10/23: QuarkSoup: Cuccinelli Losing to a Hockey Stick
- 2013/10/25: TP:JR: Virginia Poll Finds More Than 60 Percent Believe Human Activity A Major Cause Of Climate Change
- 2013/10/23: ScienceInsider: Statistical Fluke? Researcher's Observations on Tea Party and Science Spark Political Frenzy
- 2013/10/23: TheCanadian: Colorado fracking flood raises deeper issues - like extreme energy, endless growth
- 2013/10/22: CSW: Lowering approval ratings of climate science denialist lawmakers
- 2013/10/22: CCP: The Tea Party is an anti-populist elite tool. And it has progressives fooled
- 2013/10/22: TreeHugger: Evangelical Christians call on Obama to protect public lands from oil and gas leasing
- 2013/10/22: TP:JR: The Radical Right Wing Is Becoming An Unlikely Advocate For Solar Power
- 2013/10/21: Grist: Here's why privatizing food inspection might not be the greatest idea
- 2013/10/21: Wonkette: Ken Cuccinelli Flings Santorum All Over Virginia
- 2013/10/21: CCP: Making Republicans pay a price for climate science denialism
- 2013/10/20: CDreams: Food Stamp Corporate Welfare
  If you think the SNAP food stamps debate is about poor people's need to eat, you're wrong. It's about big corporations' need to profit. "Xerox, JPMorgan Chase and eFunds Corporation have all successfully turned poverty into a profit center." So have Coca Cola, Kroger, Wal-Mart, Kelloggs and a large slice of the rest of the Fortune 500 corporations.
- 2013/10/19: SST: McAullife's future
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
- 2013/10/23: DeSmogBlog: Gulf Shrimper Dean Blanchard of Grand Isle Sets the Record Straight About BP's Failed Cleanup
- 2013/10/21: Grist: Gulf fisherman: "There is no life out there"
- 2013/10/18: G&M: Three million pounds of oil found on Louisiana shore three years after BP spill
Hurricane Sandy's anniversary brought several retrospective articles:
- 2013/10/26: CSM: A year later, superstorm Sandy can still be felt
- 2013/10/26: al Jazeera: Hurricane Sandy one year on: What have we learned?
  Investing in disaster preparedness has saved countless lives, but further investment is necessary.
- 2013/10/26: CNN: What we didn't learn from Superstorm Sandy
  Adam Sobel: The short-term responses to Hurricane Sandy were successful - Forecasts were very accurate, FEMA and MTA responded effectively, he says - Sobel says the one failure was that it hasn't prompted sufficient concern about climate change - Threat of storms, flooding will increase; cities need to prepare now, Sobel says
- 2013/10/26: IndiaTimes: A year after superstorm Sandy, a slow recovery for thousands
- 2013/10/24: Guardian(UK): Key developments as Sandy anniversary approaches
- 2013/10/24: CSM: Superstorm Sandy, one year later
- 2013/10/24: UCSUSA:B: Satellites, Storm Surge, and Sandy: The Need for Science to Inform Our Coastal Planning
- 2013/10/22: Grist: NYC hurricane expert: "Sandy wasn't the Big One"
The Keystone XL wheel grinds slowly. And it grinds woe:
- 2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): Keystone XL and Canadian tar sands are incompatible with solving climate change
- 2013/10/23: DeSmogBlog: Carbon Billionaire Kochs Will Profit Plenty on Keystone XL, Counters IFG
- 2013/10/23: JQuiggin: Free riders
- 2013/10/21: RTCC: Keystone will create 'cash cow on steroids' for Koch brothers
- 2013/10/21: CCP: Koch billionaires' carbon bomb
- 2013/10/21: TheCanadian: Koch Brothers could make $100 Billion from Keystone XL pipeline
- 2013/10/20: DeSmogBlog: Study: Koch Brothers Could Make $100 Billion if Keystone XL Pipeline Approved
The Mayflower oil spill and its ramifications just keep dragging on:
With the deficit hawks panicking about things financial, there has been talk of a carbon tax solution:
- 2013/10/22: TP:JR: Study Shows Why We Need A Carbon Tax, Not R&D, To Preserve Livable Climate For Our Children
The GOP War on Women continues. See also:
- 2013/10/26: RT: Jailed Wisconsin mother challenges law after fetus appointed attorney
- 2013/10/23: RawStory: Harsh new Texas voter ID law almost blocks woman judge from voting
- 2013/10/21: CCP: Texas Republicans Find A Way To Disenfranchise Women Voters
Lingering shutdown effects ail the body politic:
- 2013/10/23: CJR: Shutdown science -- The Guardian says the shutdown betrays [reveals] conservative anti-science attitudes
- 2013/10/22: NatureN: Pain of US shutdown lingers -- Researchers fear that continuing budget fights will further harm government-funded science
- 2013/10/21: ScienceInsider: U.S. Shutdown Fallout Continues as Agencies Reschedule Grant Panels
- 2013/10/20: ScienceInsider: Despite End of U.S. Shutdown, Antarctic Research Projects Still Getting Cancelled
Looking ahead to the 2014 & 2016 elections:
- 2013/10/25: DeSmogBlog: Climate Policy Already Headlining 2014 Midterm Elections
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2013/10/25: Grist: Federal solar auction flops in Colorado - no bids
- 2013/10/24: FuelFix: Leaked proposal irks both oil and ethanol groups
- 2013/10/24: TP:JR: The EPA Is Touring The Country For Recommendations On Cutting Carbon
- 2013/10/24: TP:JR: How The Department Of Energy Is Working To Reduce The Cost Of Solar By 75 Percent
- 2013/10/24: CSW: Review comments on CAR-6: U.S. Climate Action Report draft lacks long-term strategy
- 2013/10/22: Grist: Clean-water laws: The second front in the war on greenhouse gases
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2013/10/22: DD: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders: 'Global warming is a far more serious problem than al Qaeda'
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2013/10/24: DeSmogBlog: US Chamber President Tom Donohue Pushes Deceitful Dirty Energy Talking Points
- 2013/10/22: TreeHugger: Food corporations donate $17.2 million to fight GMO labeling in Washington state
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2013/10/22: Resilience: Energy, ecology & economics -- part III
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2013/10/22: ABC(Au): A snip for the planet
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2013/10/25: Resilience: Catabolic Ephemeralization? Carson versus Greer
- 2013/10/22: CCurrents: What Collapse Feels Like, Part 4 of 5: Despair: Every Hour Offers A Choice
- 2013/10/22: FergusB: I can't believe we're on the eve of destruction
Please adjust your rose coloured glasses as necessary:
- 2013/10/26: P3: David Brin on Optimism
Why we fight:
- 2013/10/25: QuarkSoup: "...no alternative to continuing to struggle"
- 2013/10/23: Resilience: Comes a Fight
  Here is a fact that most well-meaning citizens simply don't want to face: There is an epic, inescapable, high stakes battle brewing in our society. History has handed us a job to do that will require a whole new word for courage before we are done.
Okay hot shot, how are we gonna fix this?
- 2013/10/25: Rabble:ST: Global Declaration: To confront the climate emergency we need to dismantle the WTO and the free trade regime
How do the corporate media measure up?
- 2013/10/24: CBC: Facebook a source of news for 1/3 of Americans -- 80% happen upon news while checking up on friends, sharing photos
- 2013/10/23: UCSUSA:B: Editorial Writers Consider the Water Crisis, Informed by UCS Experts [media]
- 2013/10/23: SkS: Fox News defends global warming false balance by denying the 97% consensus by dana1981
- 2013/10/22: CleanTechnica: 24 Hours Of Reality Takes Viewers Around The World To Assess The Cost Of Carbon
- 2013/10/21: Grist: How 9 major papers deal with climate-denying letters
- 2013/10/21: FAIR: USA Today Forgets That Climate Is a Part of Wildfire Context
- 2013/10/23: Guardian(UK): Fox News defends global warming false balance by denying the 97% consensus
- 2013/10/23: Guardian(UK): Talkback host Alan Jones wrong about climate salaries, media watchdog finds
  Acma says Harbour Radio, licensee of 2GB, breached its accuracy obligations under the commercial radio code
- 2013/10/22: PSinclair: Trolls R Us: How Fox News Sock Puppets Spam Comment Threads
- 2013/10/21: NYT:PK: Attack of the Sock Puppets [media]
- 2013/10/20: MediaMatters: Fox News Reportedly Used Fake Commenter Accounts To Rebut Critical Blog Posts
  New Book Details An Extensive Campaign By The Networks' PR Staffers
- 2013/10/21: P3: Evidence that Murdoch Organization Is Behind Blog "Astro-Turf" Attacks
- 2013/10/21: DeSmogBlog: Why the Media Is Right to Toss Climate Deniers' Opinions
- 2013/10/21: CCP: Mass extinction of climate journalists
- 2013/10/20: TP:JR: Miami Herald Story On City's Worsening Coastal Flooding Never Mentions Global Warming Or Sea Level Rise
While activists search for effective communication techniques:
2013/10/23: GreenGrok: Creating a Moving Case for Climate Action
Wikipedia seesm to be under (primarily) corporate attack:
2013/10/26: CBC: Wikipedia launches 'sockpuppet' probe into edit-for-pay users -- PR firm comes under scrutiny as Wikipedia investigates page edits
2013/10/22: SlashDot: Wikipedia Actively Battling PR Sockpuppets
2013/10/21: BBC: Wikipedia probe into paid-for 'sockpuppet' entries
Wikipedia editors have expressed "shock and dismay" at the discovery of hundreds of user accounts set up to make paid-for entries. Paid-for advocacy and the adoption of fake "sockpuppet" identities for promotional purposes are against the free web encyclopaedia's policies. Sue Gardner, executive editor of the Wikimedia Foundation, said "as many as several hundred" accounts were suspect.
Here is something for your library:
- 2013/10/23: NYRB: [Book Review] _The Climate Casino: Risk, Uncertainty, and Economics for a Warming World_ by William D. Nordhaus
- 2013/10/25: ERabett: Some People Are Just Lucky
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2013/10/26: PSinclair: The Weekend Wonk: Mark Jacobsen on David Letterman
- 2013/10/25: PGraham: Video: No Prairie Pipeline
- 2013/10/23: CCP: Stefan Rahmstorf: The View from Reykjavik and Earth 101
- 2013/10/23: PSinclair: Joe Romm on the Carbon Tax
- 2013/10/22: PSinclair: Joe Romm on the New IPCC Report
- 2013/10/21: TheCanadian: Vancouver rally for Elsipogtog all about unity
As for podcasts:
- 2013/10/26: CBC:Q&Q: #5) Boreal Forest's Future on Fire
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2013/10/25: PLNA: Ecuadorian Ambassador in Egypt Denounces Chevron Excesses
  Cairo - The ecological abuses committed by the oil trans-national Chevron in Ecuador were denounced here today by this country''s ambassador, Edwin Johnson.
- 2013/10/25: BBerg: Ecuador Judge Says He Inflated Bribery Claims to Chevron
- 2013/10/23: Slate: Former Judge Testifies to Taking Bribes to Write Rulings Ordering Chevron to Pay Villagers $19 Billion
- 2013/10/23: Reuters: Former Ecuadorean judge testifies to bribery in Chevron case
- 2013/10/22: TreeHugger: Greed is good? Lawsuits over mineral rights royalties could help minimize natural gas flaring
- 2013/10/16: SCOTUSBlog: Analysis: Greenhouse gases case
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
- 2013/10/27: Guardian(UK): Five questions that the big six energy firms must answer
- 2013/10/25: TreeHugger: How renewables can keep the lights on when the sun doesn't shine, pt. 2
- 2013/10/25: PeakEnergy: Ethiopia Announces Plans to Build 1000 MW Geothermal Power Plant
- 2013/10/25: UCSUSA:B: Disproving the Skeptics: 10x More Windpower and Solar is No Problem!
- 2013/10/25: Guardian(UK): Fighting the fuel giants for a fully renewable future
  Tackling the world's most powerful corporations, whose interest it is to continue consuming fossil fuels, is a formidable but essential task
- 2013/10/24: NBF: Energy harvester based on quantum wells can reach 1.8 kw per square meter for a temperature difference of 1 K more power than from sunlight per square meter
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifers for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2013/10/26: TP:JR: More Than 15 Million Americans Now Live Within One Mile Of A Fracking Well
- 2013/10/25: RT: Fracking alert: New York switches to shale gas
- 2013/10/24: TP:JR: Fracking Goes To Sea: California Regulators Startled To Learn Of Offshore Hydraulic Fracturing
- 2013/10/23: ICN: What's Behind Surging Ozone Pollution in Texas? Study to Weigh Role of Fracking in Health Hazard
- 2013/10/22: USGS: Earthquake Swarm Continues in Central Oklahoma
- 2013/10/22: CCurrents: Shale Gas Exploitation And Environmental Destruction In Romania
- 2013/10/22: Grist: Fracking won't fix the climate
- 2013/10/21: Grist: Colorado frackers paying tiny fines for keeping chemicals secret
- 2013/10/21: Tyee: Home, Fracked Home: Lost Hair and Dead Cows
  Alberta landowners say nearby industry has fractured their lives.
- 2013/10/21: CCP: Fracking news courtesy of RJ Sigmund
- 2013/10/21: Resilience: How One Farmer Protects His Land from Fracking
- 2013/10/21: EurActiv: Shale gas firms to be brought under 'robust' new EU law
- 2013/10/21: RT: "Fracking risks ending of life on Earth as we know it"
On the coal front:
- 2013/10/24: WSWS: Four coal miners killed during government shutdown
On the gas and oil front:
- 2013/10/25: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Dated Brent Spot....106.93
  WTI Cushing Spot....97.85
- 2013/10/25: TheCanadian: Shell predicts end of oil in 2070
- 2013/10/25: CSM: Oil prices fall below $100. Still good for US economy?
- 2013/10/24: BBerg: Oil's $5 Trillion Permian Boom Threatened by $70 Crude
- 2013/10/24: TheConversation: Leave it in the ground! How fossil fuel extraction affects biodiversity
- 2013/10/23: CSM: Oil and gas development is key to US future. Don't ban it. Regulate it
- 2013/10/23: SoberLook: Reasons behind the sell-off in crude oil
- 2013/10/21: CSM: Is the next oil boom under water?
- 2013/10/22: Xinhuanet: Medvedev says Rosneft to supply additional oil to China
- 2013/10/21: RT: India exodus: BHP Billiton walks away from oil and gas
- 2013/10/21: OilChange: Chinese Changing Global Energy Market
Regarding oil and the economy:
- 2013/10/23: OFW: Rising Energy Costs Lead to Recession; Eventually Collapse
- 2013/10/24: CassandrasLegacy: Crude oil: another collapse ahead?
And in pipeline news:
- 2013/10/25: RT: North Dakota failed to inform the public of 100s of oil spills over last two years - report
- 2013/10/23: DeSmogBlog: Documents Raise Important Questions About Tesoro's Pipeline Spill in North Dakota
- 2013/10/22: DeSmogBlog: Pipeline Expert: Over 90% Probability of Line 9 Rupture with Tar Sands Dilbit
Ships and boats and trains -- How to tranport the stuff?
- 2013/10/24: CBC: CN hiding derailment, falsifying stats, employees allege -- Company denies coverups and rejects fraud allegations in U.S. suit
- 2013/10/24: CBC: Whistleblower lawsuit says CN is cooking its books
- 2013/10/23: CBC: CN, CP report record profits amid rail scrutiny
- 2013/10/23: BBerg: Canada Rail Stocks Reach Record as Profits Beat Estimates
  Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) and larger rival Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) surged to record highs after the companies reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts' estimates.
  [...]
  Both companies benefited from growing demand to haul crude oil while bolstering operating ratio, a costs-to-revenue measure of railroad efficiency. After Canadian National yesterday reported a 17 percent increase in petroleum and chemicals sales, Canadian Pacific posted the same gain in industrials and consumer products revenue, which includes crude shipments.
- 2013/10/22: CSM: Train vs. pipeline: What's the safest way to transport oil?
  [...]
  The public debate about the trade-offs between rail and pipeline transportation is relatively new. However, most evidence thus far has found that pipelines are safer but have a higher leak-rate than rail. On top of the safety record, one must also consider the cost differential between the two transportation methods -- it costs about $7 to transport a barrel of oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast by pipeline compared to between $15.50 and $31 for the same trip by rail.
- 2013/10/21: CBC: Alberta train derailment adds fuel to pipeline debate
  Trains now carry 175,000 barrels of oil per day, up from 10,000 barrels a day four years ago
A rush of American triumphalism pervades the energy independence PR campaign. Think it will last?
- 2013/10/25: Grist: Repeat after me: There's no such thing as energy independence
- 2013/10/24: NBF: Spraberry/Wolfcamp shale oil in Texas has over 50 billion recoverable barrels making it the second largest in the world
- 2013/10/23: CSM: America's natural gas revolution isn't all it's 'fracked' up to be
- 2013/10/23: Grist: The Northeast is producing more natural gas than Saudi Arabia
- 2013/10/22: CSM: The age of oil will not last forever
- 2013/10/21: CCurrents: The Numbers Don't Add Up To U.S. Energy Independence
- 2013/10/20: Resilience: The numbers don't add up to U.S. energy independence
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2013/10/24: RTCC: Palm oil lobby lashes out at EU complaints over illegal logging
- 2013/10/22: CCurrents: Straw Could Supply Energy To Millions Of Households
- 2013/10/21: UFZ: The potential of straw for the energy mix has been underestimated
- 2013/10/21: CCurrents: Countries Must 'Review Biofuel Policies', Says UN
The answer my friend...
- 2013/10/25: PeakEnergy: The World's Largest Wind Turbine (2013)
- 2013/10/24: NYT: To Expand Offshore Power, Japan Builds Floating Windmills
- 2013/10/24: PSinclair: Canada Ranks Top Bird Killers. Guess Where Wind Turbines Come in?
- 2013/10/23: CleanTechnica: Spain's First Offshore Wind Turbine Inaugurated
- 2013/10/23: CleanTechnica: Record Year Blows United Kingdom Small Wind Installations Past 102MW
- 2013/10/22: Eureka: Shifting winds in turbine arrays
- 2013/10/22: UCSUSA:B: Do Wind Turbines Affect Property Values? No - or at Least "No Statistical Evidence" - Says New Hedonic Study
- 2013/10/21: RTCC: Wind power 'significantly' reduces CO2
  Contrary to claims by critics of wind power, Spanish researchers say, the turbines do reduce carbon dioxide emissions significantly...
- 2013/10/21: CleanTechnica: Wind Power Cuts CO2 Emissions Considerably, Even At High Penetration Levels
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2013/10/26: NBF: Atomic layer deposition will eliminate two major defects stopping LEDs and solar PV from reaching higher efficiency
- 2013/10/26: CleanTechnica: Deutsche [Bank] Says Solar PV Market Could Reach 50 GW In 2014
- 2013/10/25: CSM: How solar power is lighting up business in rural East Africa
- 2013/10/25: AutoBG: GM's 1.8 MW big solar field on Ohio factory will be state's largest
- 2013/10/25: CleanTechnica: Home Solar Loans From Admirals Bank That Trump Solar Leasing?
- 2013/10/24: PeakEnergy: Solar storage plant Gemasolar sets 36-day record for 24/7 output
- 2013/10/24: CleanTechnica: Vivint Solar Raises $540 Million Of New Funding For Home Solar Leasing
- 2013/10/22: RT: Pouring sun on energy mix: UAE kick off its first $35mn solar plant
- 2013/10/22: NBF: Aluminium studs can make all solar panels 22% more efficient
- 2013/10/22: SciAm:PI: Meet the super efficient Lego® brick-like solar panel
- 2013/10/22: CleanTechnica: Solar Cell Efficiency Breakthrough Achieved By Channeling LEGO
- 2013/10/21: CleanTechnica: My First Solar Water Heater -- A 2-Year Review
- 2013/10/21: CleanTechnica: An Affordable, Compact Solar Light Bulb
- 2013/10/21: TP:JR: Middle-Class Homeowners Are Leading the Rooftop Solar Revolution in the U.S.
- 2013/10/21: UC3M: Solar panels can be used to provide heating and air conditioning
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2013/10/22: BBC: Kudankulam: India nuclear plant begins operating
  The controversial Kudankulam nuclear plant in India's Tamil Nadu state has begun producing electricity after years of delays and protests, officials say.
- 2013/10/22: NBF: Two and half years after construction was completed India connects the Kudankulam nuclear reactor to the Grid
- 2013/10/21: TheConversation: Hinkley C goes ahead, but future nuclear costs must fall
Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:
Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:
- 2013/10/21: ScienceInsider: Fusion Researchers Recommend ITER Design Tweaks
Feed-In-Tariffs (Net Metering & Time-of-Use Tariffs) are being variously implemented around the world:
- 2013/10/25: CleanTechnica: Dirty Tricks In Arizona's Net Metering War
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2013/10/21: TP:JR: Independence Through Microgrids: When The Power Goes Out, Some Are Just Going Off The Grid
How are the utilities adjusting (or not)?
- 2013/10/25: CleanTechnica: Australian Utilities Erect Barricades In Bid To Halt Solar Storm
  Australia's major electricity utilities are acting to brake or even halt the rapid uptake of solar PV -- pushing for higher network charges, refusing connections and downsizing rooftop proposals, as well as removing discounts and forcing tariff changes on solar consumers. The push to contain the rush for solar PV - which is occurring even after most subsidies have been removed -- comes as major generators, network operators and electricity retailers admit that solar PV is upsetting their decades-old business model -- which is based on a high-volume, low margin business that relies on continued growth.
- 2013/10/24: CleanTechnica: RWE Dramatically Changing Its Business Model, Making Radical Departure From Conventional Utility Approach
- 2013/10/22: Grist: Utility trying to bury solar in Arizona
- 2013/10/21: PSinclair: New Energy Upending Electric Business
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2013/10/25: TreeHugger: Buenos Aires is switching around 100,000 street lamps to LED technology, cutting energy use by 50%
- 2013/10/25: CleanTechnica: Energy Efficiency Is The World's Most Important "Fuel," IEA Says In New Report
- 2013/10/24: CBS: Bright Lights, Big City: NYC Swapping All 250,000 Street Lights To LED
  Bloomberg: Effort To Retrofit Street Lights Will Save City $14 Million Annually
- 2013/10/23: TP:JR: New Study Suggests Your Typical City Office Building Wastes Lots Of Energy
- 2013/10/23: SciAm:PI: Sealing leaky homes could save Americans $33 billion a year
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2013/10/24: CleanTechnica: 8 US States Target 3.3 Million Electric Vehicles On The Road By 2025
- 2013/10/21: TreeHugger: Toyota's new Fuel Cell Vehicle: What it is, how it works, and how it drives
This week in the Gee Whiz File:
- 2013/10/26: CleanTechnica: Integrated Transparent Solar Cells Open New Windows
- 2013/10/25: RTCC: New 'transparent' solar panels could turn cities into power stations
- 2013/10/24: RawStory: Game changer? Chinese scientists create window that generates energy
- 2013/10/21: Eureka: Cleaner and greener cities with integrated transparent solar cells
  High power conversion of new solar cells that are thin, flexible, and transparent makes them ideal for a wealth of new applications
As for Energy Storage:
- 2013/10/24: NBF: Energy Storage with zinc air batteries for electric cars with longer range and competitive grid storage
- 2013/10/24: NBF: Batteries could capture trillion dollar market over the next decade
- 2013/10/24: CleanTechnica: Solar Grid Storage & AllCell Technologies Team Up For Grid Storage Solution
- 2013/10/23: Eureka: New device stores electricity on silicon chips [supercaps]
- 2013/10/22: NBF: A123 partners with SolidEnergy to bring 800 Wh/kg solid polymer lithium batteries to market
- 2013/10/21: SciAm:PI: Vanadium Flow Batteries Could Become a Cost Effective Solution for Balancing Texas' Power Grid
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2013/10/25: BBerg: Wal-Mart Now Draws More Solar Power Than 38 U.S. States
- 2013/10/24: TheConversation: Big data lets global corps bet on the threat of climate change
- 2013/10/23: TheCanadian: Home Energy Management -- Green Business Opportunity
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
- 2013/10/25: Wunderground: Earth's 4th Warmest September on Record; 32 Billion-Dollar Disasters so far in 2013
What do we have in (weekly) lists?
- 2013/10/26: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #43B by John Hartz
- 2013/10/23: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #43A by John Hartz
- 2013/10/21: BPA: Agriculture News Links
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

Note: You may notice my denialist coverage flagging. I am finding it increasingly difficult to give any attention to these people.
- 2013/10/21: NatJo: Debunking the U.N. Climate-Change Conspiracy
- 2013/10/24: ERabett: Judy Finds Willis XIV
- 2013/10/23: FergusB: If I listened long enough to you - is it time to 'hug a Fuzzy'
- 2013/10/23: ERabett:BSD: Sympathy for those lost in the shuffle
- 2013/10/25: QuarkSoup: Singer: I Don't Like Saying They're Fraudulent, But...
- 2013/10/25: Stoat: As the days of my life are but grains of sand
- 2013/10/24: HotWhopper: Talking to contrarians. Why do you do it? Or why not?
- 2013/10/26: DD: Heartland Institute sends climate disinformation to U.S. educators
- 2013/10/25: TP:JR: Yes, It Gets Cooler In The Fall. No, That Doesn't Mean Climate Change Stopped.
- 2013/10/25: FergusB: Oops, I did it again; Tol 'Lomborged' by Ridley?
- 2013/10/27: ERabett: Lewandowsky Invariance
- 2013/10/21: Wonkette: Weather Channel Founder [John Coleman] Says Polar Bears Doing Great Because Eskimos Stopped Being Savages
- 2013/10/20: QuarkSoup: Joe Bastardi, a Bad Penny
Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:
2013/10/25: Grist: Coal-plant owner offers to wash cars after spewing ash over city
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2013/10/22: Asia Times: Low-tech stoves cut deaths in kitchen
- 2013/10/21: P3: What Would Woody Do?
- 2013/10/23: CCP: The Climate Reanalyzer: introducing a great website from the University of Maine
- 2013/10/22: AutoBG: EV pioneer Paul Scott turning Obama snub into crowdfunded documentary
- 2013/10/23: TreeHugger: Green 101: Replace old thermostats with programmable electronic models
- 2013/10/23: EconView: 'Climate Change, Public Policy, and the University' - Robert Stavins
- 2013/10/26: CSW: 21st Century climate extremes and the next "Greatest Generation"
- 2013/10/21: GreenGrok: Year-Specific Predictions of Climate Change
- 2013/10/21: TCoE: We need to have an adult conversation about climate change
- 2013/10/21: NewAnthropocene: Who should run a school?
- 2013/10/21: CCurrents: When Poverty Quietly Morphs Into Catastrophe [ODI]
- 2013/10/20: RealEconomics: The final garbage dump?
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- Climate Engineering Conference 2014 -- Call for Session Proposals
- CCAMLR: Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
- The Climate Reanalyzer
- PKP: Public Knowledge Project
- NSW Rural Fire Service
- ScholarlyOA: Potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access journals
- ScholarlyOA: Beall's List: Potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access publishers
- Tellus A: Dynamic Meteorology and Oceanography
- Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology
- EGU:NPG: Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics
- OFW: Our Finite World
- Wiki: Fujiwhara effect
- Wiki: Indian Ocean Dipole
- MethaneTracker - Methane concentration levels in 3D
- Africa Climate Conference 2013
- A View From The Cave - Reporting on international aid and development
- ODI: Open Data Institute
- Shaping Tomorrow's World
- WaterWired
Low Key Plug

My first novel _Water_ was published in May 2007. An Introduction is available.
My most recent novel _The Bottleneck Years_ is being serialized online atmy siteand on AFTIC at Table of Contents
If you want further information, see A Gentle Introduction. If you want a copy, see The Deal.
An overview of my writing is available here.

A Simple Plea

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<regards>

-het

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.

"Mother Nature doesn't do bailouts. One day, Mother Nature shows up and blows out your knee caps." -Denis Hayes
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Last modified October 27, 2013

Another Week of Anthropocene Antics, October 27, 2013

Information Overload is Pattern Recognition

October 27, 2013

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

Looking ahead to COP19 at (Warsaw) and future international climate negotiations:

Apparently there was a Montreal Protocol meeting in Bangkok this week:

The Post-AR5 discussions and analysis continue:

Another election day is set in the Maldives:

Some fallout of the potash cartel meltdown:

How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

And on the Bottom Line:

So, If we put a price on nature, will it deal with externalities and lead to greater conservation or will it lead to greater exploitation or what?

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

Various psychological angles arise in considerations of the ecological crisis:

A note on theFukushima disaster:

Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

Post Fukushima, nuclear policies are in flux around the world:

What do we have for Fukushima related papers this week?

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

While in Antarctica:

The food crisis is ongoing:

The state of the world's fisheries is a concern. See also:

The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

Regarding labelling GM food:

And how are we going to feed 9 billion, 10 billion, 15 billion?

In the Western Pacific, Typhoon Francisco threatened Japan, but pulled its punch:

Also in the Western Pacific, Typhoon Lekima looks to curl up East of Japan:

In the Eastern Pacific, Hurricane Raymond nearly came to a standstill, then slowly moved out to sea:

In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Lorenzo stayed safely in mid-ocean:

In the South Indian Ocean, there is an unreported but numbered storm [01S] heading North of Madagascar:

While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

As for the Monsoon:

This week in notable weather:

This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

As for GHGs:

And in the carbon cycle:

Aerosols are making their presence felt:

What's up with volcanoes this week?

Regarding ozone:

How is the temperature record?

What's new in proxies?

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

And in the paleoclimate:

What's the State of the Oceans?:

As for Ocean Currents:

And the State of the Biosphere?

And on the extinction watch:

The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern. And then, there are the Neonicotinoids:

More GW impacts are being seen:

And then there are the world's forests:

Aerosols affect the climate, but they also affect people's health:

Changes in natural cycles are showing up:

As for heatwaves and wild fires:

Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

Glaciers are melting:

Sea levels are rising:

These extreme rainfall events are becoming all too frequent:

As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels Second, put a price on carbon Third, begin to reduce the human population And elsewhere on the mitigation front:

Can cities take up the slack when nations shirk their responsibilities?

Synthetic Biology is moving into industrial production of food, fuel and precursor chemicals:

Consider transportation & GHG production:

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

What's new in conservation?

What's new in restoration?

While on the adaptation front:

Meanwhile in the journals:

And other significant documents:

As for miscellaneous science:

What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

Meanwhile at the UN:

On the international political front, tensions continue as the empire leans on Iran:

South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

Who is serious about reducing airline carbon emissions?

In the "global competition for natural resources":

The Trans-Pacific Partnership looks like a stealth corporate takeover:

So, If we put a price on nature, will it deal with externalities and lead to greater conservation
or will it lead to greater exploitation or what?

First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
Second, put a price on carbon
Third, begin to reduce the human population
And elsewhere on the mitigation front: