Another Week of Global Warming News, June 15, 2008

By illconsidered on June 16, 2008.

Sipping from the internet firehose...

This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H.E.Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup

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June 15, 2008

Top Stories:UNFCCC in Bonn, Melting Arctic, Antarctica, Permafrost, Solar Cycle, Late Comments
Food Crisis, Rome Summit, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
Hurricanes, Myanmar, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Satellites
Impacts, Forests, Corals, Wacky Weather, Tornadoes, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts, US Midwest, China
Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Geoengineering
Journals, Misc. Science, Scientists Warn, Pielke
Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy, ICROA
Politics:International, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Canada
Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
Energy, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, World Oil Production vs. Demand, Cars, Greenwashing
Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.

-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.

"The framework developed in the preceding chapter focused on changing cost/benefit ratios for investment in complexity. The shift to increasing complexity, undertaken initially to relieve stress or realize an opportunity, is at first a rational, productive strategy that yields a favourable marginal return. Typically, however, continued stresses, unanticipated challenges, and the costliness of sociopolitical integration combine to lower this marginal return. As the marginal return on complexity declines, complexity as a strategy yields comparitively lower benefits at higher and higher costs. A society that cannot counter this trend, such as through acquisition of an energy subsidy, becomes vulnerable to stress surges that it is too weak or impoverished to meet, and to waning support in its population. With continuation of this trend collapse becomes a matter of mathematical probability, as over time an insurmountable stress surge becomes increasingly likely. Until such a challenge occurs, there may be a period of economic stagnation, political decline, and territorial shrinkage."
-Joseph A. Tainter, _The Collapse of Complex Societies_, page 127

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Another Week of Global Warming News, June 15, 2008

Sipping from the internet firehose...

June 15, 2008

Here's a wee chuckle for ya:

The UNFCCC meeting in Bonn concluded this week to little fanfare or result:

The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

As does the Antarctic:

Not to mention Damocles sword:

The next solar cycle is slow. Expect much denial hype:

Late comment on that IEA "Energy Revolution" report:

Late comment on CDM failures:

The food crisis remains a top story:

Late comment on the Rome summit:

The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

There were no cyclones this week:

The news from Myanmar remains scarce & dismal:

Meanwhile GHGs are still going up:

As for the temperature record:

The ozone layer closing will impact future climate:

While in the paleoclimate:

Glaciers are melting:

Sea levels are rising:

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

More GW impacts are being seen:

And then there are the world's forests:

As for the corals:

Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

Meanwhile in tornado alley:

As for wild fires:

And speaking of floods & droughts:

The US Midwest has been soaked this week:

As has South China:

Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

The changes to transportation, and hence GHG production, are arising from fuel costs, not climate policy:

While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

Meanwhile in the journals:

Before we get into politics, there was some science done:

The National Academies of the G8+5 nations, among other scientists, warned of the need for prompt action:

The Pielke fan clubbe raised its sickly head:

And on the carbon trading front:

The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

Voluntary offset providers formed a global alliance called ICROA:

Meanwhile on the international political front:

And on the American political front:

Late comments on the dead Climate Security Act:

One hears a lot about the campaign(s), not much about climate:

While in the UK:

And in Europe:

Meanwhile in Australia:

And in New Zealand:

While in China:

And in Japan:

In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:

They're still arguing over the Liberal's unreleased carbon tax plan:

The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:

The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:

IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:

Apocalypso anyone?

As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

Here is something for your library:

And for your film & video enjoyment:

Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:

Meanwhile among the solar afficionados:

The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

Biofuel bickering abounds:

The nuclear energy controversy continues:

Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

Note that world oil production is ~81.53 mp/d and demand is ~86.88 mb/d:

Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:

Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

Roy Spencer is following the Lindzen strategy of focussing on uncertainty:

Then there was the usual news and commentary:

And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:

Low Key Plug

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