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
July 20, 2008
- Top Stories:Australian CPR, Gore's Moon Shot, Melting Arctic, Geopolitics, OECD, Earth Hour, Methane, Late Comments
- Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Sea Levels, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Corals, Wacky Weather, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts
- Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
- Journals, PNAS on Ecosystem Services, Misc. Science
- UN, Carbon Trade, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- Politics:Security, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, Asia, Japan, Canada
- IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video
- Energy, High Cost Impacts, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing, Insurance
- Carbon Lobby, APS, The Usual, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
- 2008/07/16: DeSmogBlog: (cartoon - Rogers) Bush's Climate Control Plan
- 2008/07/15: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Emission Accomplished
The Australian government of Kevin Rudd has released a Green Paper on their proposed carbon trading plan:
- Gov(Au): Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme - Green Paper
- 2008/07/20: ABC(Au): Govt ads to push carbon trade plan
- 2008/07/20: JQuiggin: How green is the green paper?
- 2008/07/19: SMH: Devil in the detail of climate plan
- 2008/07/20: SMH: Climate won't wait, Mr Rudd
If ever our planet needed inspiring leadership, it is now, writes Christine Milne. The first of Nelson Mandela's eight lessons of leadership is that "Courage is not the absence of fear - it's inspiring others to move beyond it". If ever our planet needed inspiring leadership it is now, as we face the twin threats of climate change and peak oil. Our leaders need the courage to take the bold, far-sighted action we need if we are to survive this challenge and emerge better off. In perhaps as little as two decades we have to radically transform our society and economy. - 2008/07/19: SMH: Emissions scheme adds to LNG costs, Shell says
- 2008/07/17: Oikos: Thoughts on the green paper - Part 1: petrol
- 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): Chevron worried about emissions scheme impact
- 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): Rudd says emissions scheme won't be 'pain-free'
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has shrugged off the growing corporate backlash to his emissions trading scheme, saying he never expected the introduction of the scheme to be easy. - 2008/07/18: GWWatch: Thoughts on Rudd's Petrol Excise Cut 'n Run
- 2008/07/17: TerraDaily: Australia's Rudd hits out at critics of carbon trading scheme
- 2008/07/18: GWWatch: Green paper tinged with blue hue
- 2008/07/18: WSJ:EnvCap: Sorry, Mate: Australia Confronts the Cost of Cutting Carbon
- 2008/07/18: SMH: Carbon market to have two bosses
An independent regulator will have the task of running the new market in carbon emissions permits but the Federal Government will give itself the power to set reduction targets. The Government's climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, recommended a body similar to the Reserve Bank of Australia be created to run the carbon market but Professor Garnaut wanted it to also have the ability to decide the targets. However, the Government has decided it needs to remain in charge of targets because they will be affected by international negotiations. - 2008/07/17: FTimes: Australia plans industry-friendly carbon scheme
- 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Small business warned of emissions scheme impact [by Australian Institute of Management chief executive, Susan Heron]
- 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Farmers reassured about emissions trading
- 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): [Climate Change Minister Penny]Wong flags continual consultation on emissions scheme
The Federal Government says businesses and the community will be given every opportunity to comment on its emissions trading scheme before it is finalised. Submissions on the Federal Government's discussion paper will close in September, but economic modelling from Treasury about the appropriate cap for emissions will not be released until October. However, the Federal Opposition says the Government should extend the submissions deadline so the modelling can be taken into account before the draft legislation and white paper are released at the end of the year. - 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Green paper will affect agriculture: Farmers Federation
Victoria's peak farm body says farmers will still be affected by Australia's proposed emissions trading scheme, even though agriculture will be exempted for seven years. - 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): Woodside warns Govt: emissions trading threatens gas industry
Western Australia's biggest gas supplier, Woodside, says a proposed carbon emissions trading scheme could put Australia's multi-billion dollar LNG industry in jeopardy. - 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Emissions trading legislation can't be rushed: Opposition
- 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Coal may get no free permits, industry giant says
- 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): [Guy] Pearse warns of 'greenhouse mafia' influence
A speechwriter for the former government says Labor's Green Paper on climate change shows Australia's big polluters are still influencing policy. Guy Pearse first documented his account of greenhouse policy under the Howard government in his recently published book, High and Dry, drawing on experiences as a speechwriter for then environment minister Robert Hill. He coined the term "greenhouse mafia" as a catch-all phrase to describe the country's biggest polluters. He says they basically ran policy under the old regime and he is now saying that the Labor Government has shown in its Green Paper that they're still influencing policy now. - 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Gas industry 'would be paralysed' by carbon trading
An oil and gas industry body says applying an emissions trading scheme to Australian liquid natural gas producers would paralyse the industry. The Australian Petroleum and Exploration Association says the LNG industry is set to grow in the Territory, producing gas for the Asia Pacific region. But chief executive Belinda Robinson says it could not compete with foreign producers if an emissions trading scheme is introduced. - 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Govt welcomes support for industry on emissions plan
Victoria's Environment Minister, Gavin Jennings, says the climate change action fund, announced in the green paper will help exposed businesses make the transition to carbon reduction. - 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Emissions scheme 'puts $3b investments on hold'
The Australian Aluminium Council says $3 billion of investments are on hold as the Federal Government pushes ahead with its carbon scheme. - 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Queensland industry wants help to deliver emissions trading scheme
- 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Carbon trading won't hurt interest rates: [Federal Treasurer Wayne] Swan
- 2008/07/16: NaH: Drifting into incoherence [Aus Green Paper]
- 2008/07/17: GWWatch: Green Paper is cautious politics
- 2008/07/16: TerraDaily: Australia to set up carbon trading scheme by 2010
- 2008/07/17: SMH: Slow burn: Rudd eases carbon pain
- 2008/07/17: SMH: Pragmatism wins in the trade-off
To many, yesterday's green paper will be construed as another example of the Rudd Government talking tough but taking the path of least resistance. Like the federal budget, the emissions trading scheme promised misery but in reality avoids hitting anybody hard. It takes the middle path of trying to please everybody while satisfying nobody completely. - 2008/07/17: SMH: Model not strong enough, say scientists
Scientists and environmentalists attacked the Government's plan, saying it was unlikely to reduce greenhouse pollution to levels that would prevent dangerous climate change. - 2008/07/17: SMH: For the sake of our children [Aus ETS]
- 2008/07/17: SMH: Short on detail, but industry breathes easy
- 2008/07/17: SMH: Softly softly start threatens to undercut our Kyoto promises
The big question left dangling in Penny Wong's green paper for a carbon pollution reduction scheme is just how much greenhouse gas will it cut? After months of intense lobbying by industry, the Iemma Government and her Labor colleagues spooked by rising petrol prices, Senator Wong's scheme now reflects more politics than climate science. - 2008/07/17: SMH: Getting it right on a carbon scheme
The Rudd Government's Green Paper on carbon trading uses adjectives like "smoother", "gradual", and "measured" to describe the scheme's implementation because cutting Australia's emissions by 60 per cent in four decades is going to produce profound structural change, and, inevitably, political repercussions. - 2008/07/17: SMH: No need to panic as Dr Wong administers CPR [carbon pollution reduction]
- 2008/07/16: BBerg: Australian Emissions Plan to Compensate Households
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): [Western Australian Premier Alan] Carpenter voices concern for exporters over emissions scheme
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): [South Australian Premier Mike] Rann welcomes emissions compo for families, business
- 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Carbon trading 'could force miners offshore'
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Rudd stands by fuel excise cut
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has defended his decision to shield motorists from petrol price hikes under an emissions trading scheme. - 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Emissions trading scheme slugs consumers: [Federal Opposition leader Brendan] Nelson
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Polluters rewarded under carbon trading scheme: environment group
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Mixed reaction to emissions trading scheme
Green groups are applauding the inclusion of transport in the Federal Government's emissions trading scheme, but the renewable energy sector claims the coal industry is being favoured over alternatives. - 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): [Climate Change Minister Penny] Wong unveils trading scheme details
The Federal Government has conceded tough economic reform will be needed to implement its preferred structure of an emissions trading scheme but says it is committed to returning all the funds raised to help families and businesses adjust to its drastic restructure of the country's economy. Today's Green Paper outlines the Government's vision of what it now calls a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, which it says represents a whole of economy approach and Australia's international response to climate change. - 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Caution needed with carbon trading uptake: MP
The federal Member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey, says jumping into an emissions trading scheme without the rest of the world could damage Australia's export industries. - 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Big business needs emissions trading compensation: AIG
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Battlers should be compensated under emissions trading: ACTU
- 2008/07/16: SMH: Cost of emissions to be cushioned
The Federal Government will soften the political impact of an emissions trading scheme by ensuring it does not increase the price of petrol. In a frank acknowledgement of the political dangers, the Government will include transport fuels in its scheme but reduce the excise on petrol to offset any resulting price rise. - 2008/07/15: ABC(Au): Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has denied reports that the Treasury Department has advised against a $5 billion scheme for carbon capture and storage
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Thinking through our move to a low-carbon economy
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Power generators fear carbon scheme could cost billions
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Drivers spared emissions trade price pain
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Give emissions trade revenue back to hard-up: Origin
One of Australia's biggest power retailers, Origin Energy, says revenue raised through an emissions trading scheme must be funnelled towards households struggling with higher power bills. The Federal Government will today outline options for an emissions trading scheme in a green paper. The paper is a response to Professor Ross Garnaut's initial climate change report. - 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Govt urged to throw caution to the wind on emissions trading
The Greens have stepped up calls for decisive action on climate change, as the Federal Government prepares to unveil its plans for an emissions trading scheme. The Government will today release its discussion paper on a cap and trade model with a 2010 start. The paper will outline how the system will work, how households will be compensated, which sectors will be protected, and which are likely to suffer. It will also shed light on how permits will be allocated. Greens Senator Christine Milne says she will not accept a cautious approach. - 2008/07/15: ABC(Au): The Federal Government has dismissed warnings by a prominent American economist [Jeffrey Sachs] that a carbon trading scheme will be an administrative mess
Al Gore gave a speech on energy which is liable to be seen as a turning point:
- 2008/07/17: EnergyBulletin: A generational challenge to repower America by Al Gore
- 2008/07/18: PeakEnergy: Al Gore's Speech
- 2008/07/17: ClimateP: Gore Speech [full text]
- 2008/07/17: DotEarth: The (Annotated) Gore Energy Speech
- 2008/07/17: Guardian(UK): Gore calls for end of using fossil fuels for electricity in US by 2018
- 2008/07/19: GristMill: Gore at Netroots Nation? UPDATE: Gore at Netroots Nation!
- 2008/07/18: GristMill: Late to the party, but made the last call - Bloggers weigh Gore's plan in advance of 'Meet the Press'
- 2008/07/19: Maribo: Over the moon for Gore?
- 2008/07/19: ThinkP: Live Blogging: Al Gore To Appear This Morning At Netroots Nation Convention
- 2008/07/18: AS: Gore Read My Mind - Green Energy in 10 Years, or Bust
- 2008/07/18: Time: Gore's Bold, Unrealistic Plan to Save the Planet
- 2008/07/18: Guardian(UK): Money talks on climate change
Al Gore's call for carbon-free electricity changes the terms of the global warming debate by focusing on investment - 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): Gore urges Americans to make total shift to renewables
- 2008/07/18: GristMill: Goracle on Meet the Press - Questions for Gore's energy plan?
- 2008/07/17: GristMill: Mr. Gore, how do you feel about 90 percent? Blogosphere responds reservedly to Gore's call for 100 percent renewable electricity in 10
- 2008/07/17: DeSmogBlog: Gore Nails Problem; Posits Solution
- 2008/07/18: ENN: U.S. Environmentalists Finally Have a Leader [Gore]
- 2008/07/18: C411: Reactions to Gore's Speech on Energy
- 2008/07/18: OilDrum: Gore sets goal of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2020
- 2008/07/17: WSJ:EnvCap: Gore's Goal: Former V.P. Lays Down a Green Gauntlet
- 2008/07/18: NYT: Gore Urges Change to Dodge an Energy Crisis
- 2008/07/17: CBC: Gore calls on U.S. to drop fossil fuels by 2018
- 2008/07/18: BBC: Gore challenges US to ditch oil
The Nobel laureate and former US vice president, Al Gore, has urged Americans to abandon electricity generated by fossil fuels within a decade. Mr Gore compared the scale of the challenge to that of putting a man on the moon in the 1960s. He said it did not make sense that the US was borrowing money from China to burn oil from the Middle East which then contributed to climate change. - 2008/07/17: CNN: Energy crisis threatens U.S. survival, Gore says
Renewable energy can bring equivalent of $1 a gallon gas, Gore says - Al Gore calls for electrical grid to be off carbon-based energy in 10 years - Gore has pushed for policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - Former vice president won Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for advocacy - 2008/07/17: NatureTGB: Gore throws down the carbon gauntlet
- 2008/07/17: ClimateP: Gore calls for 100% renewable power in 10 years
- 2008/07/17: PhysOrg: Gore sets energy goal for next president to heed
- 2008/07/17: inel: A Generational Challenge to Repower America - Gore speech Washington DC 17 July 2008
- 2008/07/17: HillHeat: Gore's Audacious Goal: Clean-Energy Grid In Ten Years
- 2008/07/17: TreeHugger: "A Generational Challenge to Repower America": Al Gore's Energy & Climate 'Moon Shot' Speech
- 2008/07/17: WSJ:EnvCap: More Gore: Ex-VP To Pitch Energy Revolution Today
- 2008/07/17: BostonGlobe: Gore sets energy goal for next president to heed
- 2008/07/17: TP:WonkRoom: Gore's Audacious Goal: Carbon-Free Grid In Ten Years
- 2008/07/17: Google:AP: Gore sets 'moon shot' goal on climate change - produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun and other Earth-friendly energy sources within 10 years
- 2008/07/17: AP: Gore sets 'moon shot' goal on climate change
Just as John F. Kennedy set his sights on the moon, Al Gore is challenging the nation to produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun and other Earth-friendly energy sources within 10 years, an audacious goal he hopes the next president will embrace. - 2008/07/18: Stoat: Sea ice: I'm in Nature again
- 2008/07/16: ARCUS: Sea Ice Outlook - Based on June Data
- 2008/07/17: DotEarth: Ice Update and Unfiltered U.S. Climate Report
- 2008/07/17: Tamino: Arctic Ice Update
- 2008/07/15: NOAANews: Unmanned Aircraft to Get Bird's Eye View of Shrinking Greenland Ice Sheet
- 2008/07/15: ABC(Au): Arctic research team evacuates as ice floe [NP35] melts
- 2008/07/15: ERabett: The NW Passage Prize
- 2008/07/14: DotEarth: Greenland Losing Ice, With or Without Lubrication
- 2008/07/14: PhysOrg: Russian researchers 'rescued from melting ice floe'
And the political posturing:
- 2008/07/18: StockHouse: Growing risk of a shooting war over [Arctic] energy
- 2008/07/18: TStar: Russia gears up to develop vast oil reserves
President Dmitry Medvedev signed a law today enabling the Kremlin to handpick companies to develop the vast oil reserves believed to be located in the Russian Arctic. - 2008/07/15: Guardian(UK): Russian warships to patrol Arctic
- 2008/07/14: NatureTGB: All your [Arctic] base are belong to ocean
- 2008/07/14: CanWest: Russian navy boosts combat presence in Arctic
- 2008/07/14: TStar: Arctic surveillance system tested - Canadian research team heading for remote island to try out high-tech detectors in Northwest Passage
- 2008/07/10: Yale360: The Arctic Resource Rush is On
- 2008/07/14: CBC: Northwest Passage surveillance tested by Canadian scientists
The OECD released a report on biofuels:
- 2008/07/16: OECD: Biofuel policies in OECD countries costly and ineffective, says report
- 2008/07/16: EnergyDaily: OECD issues report critical of biofuels, favours moratorium
- 2008/07/16: TreeHugger: Lowering Energy Consumption Better Than Biofuels for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, OECD Report Finds
Earth Hour won an award down under:
- 2008/07/20: SMH: Earth Hour wins top environmental award
- 2008/07/19: ABC(Au): Earth Hour organisers take top environment [Gold Banksia] award
I suspect we will hear a lot about this:
- 2008/07/18: SciDaily: Sun Could Cause 15% To 20% Of Effects Of Climate Change, Researcher Says
Global warming is mainly caused by greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities; however, current climatic variations may be affected "around 15% or 20%" by solar activity, according to Manuel Vázquez, a researcher from the Canary Islands' Astrophysics Institute (IAC) who spoke at the Sun and Climate Change conference, organised as part of the El Escorial summer courses by Madrid's Complutense University. - 2008/07/16: MTobis: Avoiding the Clathrate Echo
- 2008/07/06: SBSun: Geologist sees [permafrost] methane `doomsday'
I tend to ignore the religioso idiocies, the same way I ignore royal families, but I couldn't pass up this headline:
- 2008/07/15: GWWatch: Pell: AGW Science Is Papal Bull
Late comment on the G8 meetings:
- 2008/07/16: Asia Times: G-8 darkens climate hopes
- 2008/07/16: TreeHugger: The G8 Summit: Cutting Through the Spin
- 2008/07/15: WorldChanging: Breaking the Climate Deadlock, the G8's 50 by 50 Plan and Copenhagen [2009]
Late comment on the aerosol & smog kafuffle:
- 2008/07/16: PeakEnergy: Aerosols and Global Warming
Late coverage of Wilkins:
- 2008/07/13: CCurrents: Antarctic [Wilkins] Ice Shelf Collapse 'Imminent'
The food crisis remains a top story:
- 2008/07/18: UN: Concerted global action needed for food and energy crises -- Assembly President
- 2008/07/18: Asia Times: Japan ducks rice-crisis solution
- 2008/07/18: AFP: UN chief [Ban Ki-moon] calls for sharp hike in world farm output
- 2008/07/11: Independent(UK): Australia faces food crisis as rivers reach new low
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
- 2008/07/18: BBC: United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has warned against investing too heavily in growing crops for biofuels at the expense of food production
- 2008/07/18: BBC: UN warns on biofuel crop reliance
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has warned against investing too heavily in growing crops for biofuels at the expense of food production. Mr Ban was speaking at a meeting of the UN's General Assembly called to discuss the global food and energy crisis. He believes a wholesale shift in government resources towards farming is vital to prevent millions more from suffering malnutrition. - 2008/07/16: WorldChanging: Corn v. Crude -- Why are corn and oil prices rising in tandem?
- 2008/07/14: ChicagoTrib: It's not a choice between food and fuel -- we'll need more of both
- 2008/07/14: Guardian(UK): Higher food prices are here to stay - As the world's need for grain soars, America's misguided attempt to wean itself off oil is exacerbating the food crisis
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2008/07/19: AngryBear: Farmer Suicides in India: Seeds are Big Business
- 2008/07/19: ThePost(Pk): Agri sector faces acute shortage of water
- 2008/07/18: PhysOrg: Tiny bug [Asian citrus psyllid] threatens California citrus industry
- 2008/07/18: TreeHugger: Ethanol And Construction Materials Made From Crop Residue Pose Fundamental Risks To Agriculture
- 2008/07/17: GristMill: Top of the crops - USDA scientist: Some crop residues may be too valuable for biofuels
- 2008/07/15: PhysOrg: Crop Residue May Be Too Valuable to Harvest for Biofuels
In the rush to develop renewable fuels from plants, converting crop residues into cellulosic ethanol would seem to be a slam dunk. However, that might not be such a good idea for farmers growing crops without irrigation in regions receiving less than 25 inches of precipitation annually, says Ann Kennedy, a USDA-Agricultural Research Service soil scientist and adjunct professor of crop and soil sciences at Washington State University. - 2008/07/15: FarmingUK: Farming industry reeling as key input costs double
Suddenly we have a handful of cyclones: Cristobal, Fausto, Elida, Bertha & Kalmaegi:
- 2008/07/20: CNN: Cristobal moves parallel to North Carolina coast
Tropical Storm Cristobal "very close" to North Carolina coast - Storm expected to dump 3 to 5 inches of rain along coast - Cristobal evolved Saturday from a tropical depression on Friday - 2008/07/20: AP: Tropical Storm Cristobal rumbles off the Carolinas
- 2008/07/19: CNN: Tropical storm strengthens near Carolinas
Tropical Storm Cristobal likely to dump up to 5 inches of rain - Tropical storm warning issued from South Carolina to North Carolina-Virginia border - Hurricane Bertha refuses to die in North Atlantic - 2008/07/19: Wunderground: Carolina tropical depression strengthening, Caribbean disturbance disorganized
- 2008/07/19: Wunderground: Tropical Depression 3 forms near South Carolina
- 2008/07/19: DailyIndia: The death toll on Taiwan from Typhoon Kalmaegi has been raised to 16, officials said Saturday
- 2008/07/17: TerraDaily: Taiwan braces for Typhoon Kalmaegi
- 2008/07/18: Wunderground: Four areas of interest to watch in the Atlantic
- 2008/07/18: CBC: Deadly tropical storm Kalmaegi sweeps through Taiwan
- 2008/07/16: TerraDaily: Storm Kalmaegi bears down on eastern Taiwan
- 2008/07/17: DailyIndia: Tropical Storm Bertha in open Atlantic
- 2008/07/16: Wunderground: Bertha turns to the east, Invest 94L still there
- 2008/07/15: Wunderground: Bertha moves away from Bermuda, eyes still on Invest 94L
- 2008/07/15: DailyIndia: Bermuda tidies up after Bertha's brush
- 2008/07/14: CBC: Bermuda lifts hurricane watch
- 2008/07/13: TerraDaily: Hurricane Bertha weakens to tropical storm near Bermuda
- 2008/07/14: Wunderground: Bertha approaches Bermuda, Invest 94L likely to develop
- 2008/07/13: Wunderground: New disturbance 94L a threat to the Lesser Antilles
Elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2008/07/18: TerraDaily: Hurricane Hunters Fly First Storm Of 2008 Season
- 2008/07/18: CBC: UN cuts relief flights to Burma, worrying aid groups
- 2008/07/13: CCurrents: Burma After Nargis : Devastated, Depressed And Dejected
- 2008/07/16: ThinkP: Conservatives Peddle Hurricane-Spill Lie For Entire Month
- 2008/07/14: People's Daily: Study: hurricane season longer, big storms sooner
Meanwhile on the GHG front:
- 2008/07/15: ENN: Who owns these greenhouse gas emissions? [Scope 1, Scope 2, & Scope 3]
As for the temperature record:
- 2008/07/17: Atmoz: A Small 'Problem' with GisTemp
- 2008/07/16: QuarkSoup: Hadley June temperature
- 2008/07/16: Yahoo: Global Warming: Top 10, Again
- 2008/07/16: NOAANews: Eighth Warmest June on Record for Globe
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2008/07/19: FuturePundit: Underwater Volcanic Eruption Caused Mass Extinction?
- 2008/07/18: NewScientist: Missing fossils could warn of extreme climate to come [PETM]
- 2008/07/17: PhysOrg: Professor talks about latest in Younger Dryas work in Science article
- 2008/07/16: PhysOrg: Death in the deep: Volcanoes blamed for mass extinction [paleo 93 mya]
- 2008/07/16: NatureN: Caribbean volcanoes implicated in Cretaceous killing spree - Osmium isotopes prove origins of mass-extinction event
- 2008/07/14: TerraDaily: Greenland Ice Cores Shows Drastic Climate Change [11,500 ya] Near End Of Ice Age [22 degrees F in just 50 years]
And on the ENSO front:
- 2008/07/16: KSJT: Orange County Register: La Niña is kaput for now. Maybe SoCal will get some rain next season
As for sea levels:
- 2008/07/15: OTF: Melting Icecaps and the Global Ocean
- 2008/07/15: QuarkSoup: Global sea level
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2008/07/17: Eureka: Digital cameras, remote satellites measure crop water demand
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): More icebergs scouring Antarctic seabed: study
- 2008/07/17: Eureka: Iceberg scour affects biodiversity
- 2008/07/16: TreeHugger: Global Warming Changes to Snowmelt Patterns in Western US Could Have Larger Impact Than Previously Thought
- 2008/07/15: USAToday: Pine beetle threat grows in the West
- 2008/07/15: Guardian(UK): Climate change: Warming may cause increase in kidney stone cases, say US scientists
- 2008/07/15: NatureTGB: Kidney stones: an inconvenient truth
- 2008/07/15: NOAANews: NOAA and Louisiana Scientists Predict Largest Gulf of Mexico "Dead Zone" on Record This Summer - Mississippi River Flooding is Major Contributor to Size of this Year's Dead Zone
- 2008/07/15: NewScientist: US floods to create record 'dead zone'
- 2008/07/15: PhysOrg: Study: Future snowmelt in West [US] twice as early as expected; threatens ecosystems and water reserves
- 2008/07/15: Purdue: Study: Future snowmelt in West twice as early as expected; threatens ecosystems and water reserves
- 2008/07/15: CBC: Global warming could cause rise in kidney stones: study
- 2008/07/15: Guardian(UK): Global warning: Melting ice threatens Arctic foxes
- 2008/07/14: NewScientist: Climate pain ahead for folk in the 'kidney stone belt'
- 2008/07/14: Eureka: More kidney stone disease projected due to global warming, predicts UT Southwestern researchers
Global warming is likely to increase the proportion of the population affected by kidney stones by expanding the higher-risk region known as the "kidney-stone belt" into neighboring states, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and UT Dallas have found. Dehydration is one of the risk factors linked to kidney-stone disease, and the paper suggests global warming will exacerbate this effect. The researchers predict that by 2050, higher temperatures will cause an additional 1.6 million to 2.2 million kidney-stone cases, representing up to a 30 percent growth in some areas. - 2008/07/14: ETimes: California curse? After fires come the mudslides
Then there are the world's forests:
- 2008/07/14: FuturePundit: Report Sees Big Losses In Forest Land [RRI]
- 2008/07/17: TerraDaily: Mitigating Climate Change By Improving Forest Management In The Tropics
- 2008/07/16: TerraDaily: U.N. to do global deforestation survey
- 2008/07/16: WorldChanging: Ontario to Protect Northern Boreal Forest
- 2008/07/17: SciDaily: Mitigating Climate Change By Improving Forest Management In The Tropics
- 2008/07/14: DeSmogBlog: Boreal Forest twice the size of England to be protected [Ontario]
- 2008/07/15: Eureka: Scattered nature of Wisconsin's woodlands could complicate forests' response to climate change
- 2008/07/14: Guardian(UK): Forest funding 'could put billions in wrong hands' [RRI]
- 2008/07/14: KSJT: Brit Press: With land short, biofuel barons and other farmers sure to fell much of world's tropical forests
- 2008/07/14: PhysOrg: Scattered nature of Wisconsin's woodlands could complicate forests' response to climate change
- 2008/07/14: Eureka: New report: Greatest value of forests is sustainable water supply
- 2008/07/14: Eureka: New studies predict record land grab as demand soars for new sources of food, energy and wood fiber
Without strong land rights, vulnerable forest communities face greater poverty, violent conflict and few benefits from carbon sales - 2008/07/14: TreeHugger: Biofuels, Food, Population Growth to Put Increasing Pressure on Forests
- 2008/07/14: AFP: World forests 'threatened by food, fuel demands'
- 2008/07/13: BBC: Forests to fall for food and fuel
Demand for land to grow food, fuel crops and wood is set to outstrip supply, leading to the probable destruction of forests, a report warns. The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) says only half of the extra land needed by 2030 is available without eating into tropical forested areas. A companion report documents poor progress in reforming land ownership and governance in developing countries. - 2008/07/15: Maribo: Coral reefs: The fierce urgency of now
Yes we have no wacky weather, except:
- 2008/07/13: TerraDaily: Two die and 300 are evacuated in northern Italy storms: report
- 2008/07/14: ENN: Natural Disasters Becoming More Frequent
As for wild fires:
- 2008/07/17: CSM: California burns through its firefighting funds. Homeowner fees ahead?
- 2008/07/16: SciDaily: California Wildfires As Seen From Remotely Piloted Aircraft
- 2008/07/15: NatureTGB: NASA turns firefighter - California is battling its more than 300 wildfires with a little help from NASA.
- 2008/07/14: Eureka: NASA responds to California wildfire emergency imaging request
- 2008/07/14: SciDaily: Projected California Warming Promises Cycle Of More Heat Waves, Energy Use For Next Century
And speaking of floods & droughts:
- 2008/07/20: ABC(Au): Report reaffirms Murray-Darling crisis
- 2008/07/20: AFP: Drought threatens drinking water for a million Australians
- 2008/07/18: CCurrents: Drought And Israeli Policy Threaten West Bank Water Security
- 2008/07/18: UN: Insecurity and drought leave millions of Somalis in dire need of aid -- UN
- 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): Lake Bonney [low] levels cause boating risks
- 2008/07/17: ENN: Afghanistan: 1.5 million "severely" hit by drought - minister
- 2008/07/16: Yahoo: Homes can't use "smelly" water [in drought-stricken Cyprus]
- 2008/07/15: BBC: Diary: Colorado River drought
The south-western US is suffering its eighth consecutive year of drought. There are concerns that the Colorado River, which has sustained life in the area for thousands of years, can no longer meet the needs of the tens of millions of people living in major cities like Las Vegas and Los Angeles - 2008/07/18: EUO: Aviation industry attacks EU emissions plan that effects airlines worldwide
- 2008/07/18: CSM: Fuel costs strain U.S. mass transit, too -- With ridership up, L.A.'s Metro raises fares and pushes for new tax revenue.
- 2008/07/18: DailyIndia: Fuel costs squeezing U.S. mass transit
- 2008/07/09: EPI: Redesigning urban transport
- 2008/07/15: OilDrum: Multiple Birds -- One Silver BB: A synergistic set of solutions to multiple issues focused on Electrified Railroads
- 2008/07/16: CBC: Delta Air loses $1B US in Q2
- 2008/07/16: LA Land: It's worse out there, chapter two
- 2008/07/14: GristMill: Oil gone wild - Transportation sector lies at the root of U.S. energy problem
While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:
- 2008/07/19: TreeHugger: California Introduces Statewide Green Building Code
- 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): California adopts 'green' building code
- 2008/07/18: WSJ:EnvCap: California Scheming: Greening the World One Building at a Time
- 2008/07/17: PhysOrg: California adopts new 'green' building code
- 2008/07/16: GristMill: Ferrocementally speaking, green building just got easier - RoofKrete makes thin flexible ferrocement that is also vapor barrier
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): Commercial carbon capture a decade away: Loy Yang executive
The chief executive of Loy Yang Power, Ian Nethercote, says carbon capture and storage on a commercial scale is at least a decade away from reality. Mr Nethercote says the pilot program at Loy Yang has proven that carbon capture will work. But he says turning that technology into a viable system will take a number of years. - 2008/07/16: KSJT: Wires, NYTimes, Louisville Courier-Journal, etc: EPA starts rule-making for CO2 sequestration by coal-fired power plants
- 2008/07/15: GristMill: The hole truth - EPA proposes new regulations for injecting carbon into the ground
- 2008/07/16: EnergyDaily: Coal-Generated CO2 Captured In Australia
- 2008/07/16: ENN: Norway says wins EU green light for carbon capture
- 2008/07/16: ENN: [EPA] Plan to bury climate-warming carbon unveiled
- 2008/07/16: NYT: Rule Drafted for Carbon Trapping
- 2008/07/15: SF Gate: EPA unveils first rules on carbon dioxide storage
- 2008/07/15: KSJT: Seattle Times, CBC, etc: Making sequestration sound simple, oceanic basalt version
- 2008/07/15: TreeHugger: Could a Century's Worth of Carbon Emissions Be Stored Under the Juan de Fuca Plate?
- 2008/07/15: DailyIndia: EPA proposes CO2 containment rule
- 2008/07/14: Guardian(UK): Ocean floor could store century of US carbon emissions
- 2008/07/14: CBC: Undersea volcanic rock could house greenhouse gases, scientists say
- 2008/07/14: Eureka: Undersea volcanic rocks offer vast repository for greenhouse gas [storage], says study
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2008/07/16: CSM: Can we engineer a cooler earth? As CO2 mitigation efforts lag, some explore sun-blocking, cloud-forming technologies, and more.
While on the adaptation front:
- 2008/07/18: KSJT: Wires, some dailies, specialty outlets: Too hot for a species? Maybe time to give it a lift to a cooler clime
- 2008/07/18: NewScientist: Threatened species 'need help' finding cooler homes
- 2008/07/17: MongaBay: Moving species may be only way to save them from climate change
- 2008/07/17: Eureka: Measures to help species cope with climate change?
- 2008/07/17: Eureka: Global warming experts recommend drastic measures to save species
- 2008/07/15: TerraDaily: CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship Launched
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2008/07/17: ACP: Enhancement of N2O during the October-November 2003 solar proton events by B. Funke et al.
- 2008/07/17: ACP: Influence of Giant CCN [Cloud Condensation Nuclei] on warm rain processes in the ECHAM5 GCM by R. Posselt & U. Lohmann
- 2008/07/18: ACPD: Water vapor transport in the lower mesosphere of the subtropics: a trajectory analysis by T. Flury et al.
- 2008/07/17: ACPD: Atmospheric tracers during the 2003-2004 stratospheric warming event and impact of ozone intrusions in the troposphere by Y. Liu et al.
- 2008/07/16: TC: Analytical solutions for the surface response to small amplitude perturbations in boundary data in the shallow-ice-stream approximation by G. H. Gudmundsson
- 2008/07/16: TCD: The emergence of surface-based Arctic amplification by M. C. Serreze et al.
- 2008/07/14: TCD: Applicability of the Shallow Ice Approximation inferred from model inter-comparison using various glacier geometries by M. Schäfer et al.
- 2008/07/15: ACP: Source-receptor relationships between East Asian sulfur dioxide emissions and Northern Hemisphere sulfate concentrations by J. Liu et al.
- 2008/07/15: ACPD: Global simulations of aerosol processing in clouds by C. Hoose et al.
- 2008/07/15: ACPD: Methane plume over South Asia during the monsoon season: satellite observation and model simulation by X. Xiong et al.
- 2008/07/15: ACPD: Classification of Northern Hemisphere stratospheric ozone and water vapor profiles by meteorological regime by M. B. Follette et al.
- 2008/07/15: ACPD: Nadir measurements of the Earth's atmosphere with the ACE FTS: first results by W. F. J. Evans et al.
- 2008/07/14: ACPD: Cosmic rays, CCN and clouds -- a reassessment using MODIS data by J. E. Kristjánsson et al.
- 2008/06/24: GRL: (ab$) Response of the global ocean to Greenland and Antarctic ice melting by D. Stammer
- 2008/07/15: PNAS: Climate-related increase in the prevalence of urolithiasis in the United States by Tom H. Brikowski et al.
[from Abstract] An unanticipated result of global warming is the likely northward expansion of the present-day southeastern U.S. kidney stone "belt." The fraction of the U.S. population living in high-risk zones for nephrolithiasis will grow from 40% in 2000 to 56% by 2050, and to 70% by 2095. - 2008/07/15: PNAS: Continental diatom biodiversity in stream benthos declines as more nutrients become limiting by Sophia I. Passy
PNAS did a special feature on Ecosystem Services:
- 2008/07/15: PNAS: Accounting for ecosystem services as a way to understand the requirements for sustainable development by Karl-Göran Mäler et al.
- 2008/07/15: PNAS: Global mapping of ecosystem services and conservation priorities by R. Naidoo et al.
- 2008/07/15: PNAS: Navigating the transition to ecosystem-based management of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia by Per Olsson et al.
- 2008/07/15: PNAS: An operational model for mainstreaming ecosystem services for implementation by Richard M. Cowling et al.
- 2008/07/15: PNAS: Ecological and socioeconomic effects of China's policies for ecosystem services by Jianguo Liu et al.
- 2008/07/15: PNAS: Designing payments for ecosystem services: Lessons from previous experience with incentive-based mechanisms by B. Kelsey Jack et al.
- 2008/07/15: PNAS: Efficiency of incentives to jointly increase carbon sequestration and species conservation on a landscape by Erik Nelson et al.
Before we get into politics, there was some science done:
- 2008/07/20: PhysOrg: Scientists to discuss climate risk posed by wetlands destruction
- 2008/07/20: SciDaily: Sharpest Measurement Of Ice Crystals In Clouds Ever Will Help In Climate Modeling
- 2008/07/20: AFP: Scientists to discuss climate risk posed by wetlands destruction
- 2008/07/18: Eureka: Saharan dust storms sustain life in Atlantic Ocean
- 2008/07/16: ADN: Glacier history lesson - Clues to past climates and hints of future are hidden in the ice
- 2008/07/16: McClatchyDC: Scientists study effects of global warming on arctic lakes
- 2008/07/15: NatureCF: Nobelists talk energy [on the island of Lindau]
- 2008/07/14: TreeHugger: Cargo Ships Emit Twice as Much Soot as Previously Thought: NOAA Study
Meanwhile at the UN:
- 2008/07/16: GhanaianChronicle: Ghana to host Convention on Climate Change [Aug 2008]
- 2008/07/14: UN: Climate change expert named Goodwill Ambassador for UN industrial agency
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has named Rajendra K. Pachauri, the head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as one of its Goodwill Ambassadors - 2008/07/17: DerSpiegel: The EU's Carbon Trading Scheme - Killing Jobs to Save the Climate
- Gov(Au): Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme - Green Paper
- 2008/07/15: BBerg: Japan to Buy Emission Allowances From Ukraine; Seeks Czech Deal
- 2008/07/14: Telegraph(UK): Carbon credit market hit by UN crackdown
- 2008/07/14: ABC(Au): Technology key to convincing China on emissions trading: economist [Sachs]
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:
- 2008/07/16: CSM: Why cap and trade could backfire - Credits remove stigma -- and may increase pollution
As for GW, Energy & Security:
- 2008/07/13: AN: The Militarization of Energy Security II
And on the American political front:
- 2008/07/14: SB: Former U.S. Officials Call for an Earth Systems Science Agency
- 2008/07/18: SF Gate: Here's oil in your eye - Bush lifts drilling ban, oil execs leer, nation cringes, Obama sighs
- 2008/07/17: GristMill: Voters' Voices: New Hampshire - Talking with voters in Nashua about the environment and the election
- 2008/07/17: ThinkP: Rove: 'This Administration Put More Into Alternative Energy Research Than Any Administration in History'
- 2008/07/17: TP:WonkRoom: Deconstructing George
- 2008/07/17: HuffPo: The Free Green Energy Age (Part 5)
Did you know that we will, over the next year, send to foreign oil producers around $700 billion to pay our annual oil bill, while we invest less than $1 billion on renewable energy research? - 2008/07/17: GristMill: A New England auction - Can the West match the Northeast? [RGGI vs WCI]
- 2008/07/17: Yahoo: White House threatens to veto oil drilling legislation
- 2008/07/17: Guardian(UK): Development: US fails to measure up on 'human index' [US pol]
- 2008/07/16: ClimateP: What Will Their Grandchildren Think?
- 2008/07/15: ThinkP: Boehner falsely claims there's no 'wildlife' in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
- 2008/07/15: EconView: "Drain America First"
Jeff Frankel says Republican proposals to increase oil extraction within our borders are at odds with both environmental and energy security goals... - 2008/07/15: WaPo: Heedless Rush to Oil Shale
- 2008/07/14: ClimateP: Hog Heaven, Part 1
"With modest exceptions,our federal energy policy is really a large trough arranged by the hogs for their convenience." -Amory Lovins - 2008/07/15: ClimateP: Hog Heaven, Part 2
- 2008/07/15: TreeHugger: Admit it: Jimmy Carter Was Right
- 2008/07/15: WSJ:EnvCap: Washington Whammy: With $4 Gas, Should Congress Make Stronger CAFE?
- 2008/07/14: SeattlePI: Environment: A record of soot
How far can an administration go in destroying its country's environment, harming the citizens to which it is (in theory) beholden and dooming the future not only of its own people, but spreading the harm across the world? We won't know for sure until President Bush leaves office, but his record, and that of his administration, borders on criminal. - 2008/07/15: TP:WonkRoom: Hawaii Representative Crafting 'Environmentally Responsible' Plan That Would Endanger His State [US pol]
- 2008/07/14: ClimateP: The Bridge to Nowhere
- 2008/07/13: GristMill: Hill heap - A weekly roundup of greenish news from the capitol
- 2008/07/13: Tamino: Governator!
- 2008/07/13: TerraDaily: Schwarzenegger slams Bush administration on global warming
- 2008/07/14: ENN: Bush climate action now? "Bogus": Schwarzenegger
- 2008/07/14: Yahoo: Bush climate action now? "Bogus": Schwarzenegger
- 2008/07/14: MWT: Pickens' plan should spark energy debate
- 2008/07/14: NEN: Utility sees the future, buys new energy [Michigan pol]
- 2008/07/13: ThinkP: Schwarzenegger Confirms Link Between Global Warming And Wildfires, Hits Bush For Not Believing The Science
- 2008/07/14: CSM: Energy-addicted U.S. can learn a lot from Europe - We still chill buildings as if they're housing penguins
G.W. Bush has lifted the presidential ban on offshore oil drilling. Congress has to lift its ban before drilling can proceed. The lobbying has begun:
- 2008/07/15: OilChange: Bush Lifts US Oil Exploration Ban
- 2008/07/15: SF Gate: The Drilling Delusion
What do you call an energy idea that will take years to show results, endanger the outdoors and serve mainly to divert the country's anger at $4-plus pump prices? You'd call it offshore drilling, one of the crowning delusions of the White House. President Bush, whose energy policy amounts to drill, dig and burn, lifted a presidential ban on offshore drilling put in place by his father in 1990. It won't be a green light to new exploration because a congressional ban remains in place. So what is it, then? It's a gimmick, a largely symbolic act that gives the appearance of action where none exists. - 2008/07/14: ThinkP: Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass): Bush's new WMD = 'Wells of mass deception.'
- 2008/07/14: Guardian(UK): Bush lifts presidential ban on offshore oil drilling
- 2008/07/14: NatureTGB: There will be oil [Bush & offshore drilling]
- 2008/07/14: ClimateP: Offshore drilling raises oil prices
- 2008/07/14: ThinkP: Bush lifts his father's ban on offshore oil drilling
- 2008/07/14: WSJ:EnvCap: Drill Pickle: What Will Lifting the Offshore Ban Mean?
Notably by Newt:
- 2008/07/17: DotEarth: Who's Backing Gingrich's 'Drill Here' Push?
- 2008/07/16: ERabett: Who paid for that?
- 2008/07/15: ClimateP: Note to media: Newt Gingrich is an eco-fraud
- 2008/07/15: GristMill: Nothing Newt under the sun - Gingrich's 'grassroots' drilling campaign is funded by Big Oil, report says
- 2008/07/15: WSJ:EnvCap: Drill Team: Oil Patch Helps Fund Gingrich's Pro-Drilling Campaign
The EPA released a report: Analyses and Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems:
- 2008/07/17: EPA: [link to 4 meg pdf] Analyses and Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems
- 2008/07/17: CSW: Media coverage of EPA release of climate change health effects assessment
- 2008/07/17: CSW: EPA releases report identifying harmful effects of climate change on human health
- 2008/07/17: Yahoo: Climate change puts U.S. way of life at risk: EPA
- 2008/07/17: Yahoo: [EPA] Warming health report: Poor, elderly to hurt most
- 2008/07/18: WaPo: Warming Is Major Threat To Humans, EPA Warns
- 2008/07/18: ENN: Climate change puts U.S. way of life at risk: EPA
- 2008/07/18: CanWest: EPA report lists risks of climate change - Health, U.S. way of life threatened
- 2008/07/18: LA Times: EPA finds global warming a health threat
- 2008/07/17: PhysOrg: EPA releases report on climate change and health
- 2008/07/17: GristMill: Climate change: still bad - Report from EPA and U.S. Climate Change Science Program highlights risks of warming world
- 2008/07/17: Eureka: EPA releases report on climate change and health [Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems]
- 2008/07/15: GristMill: Come health or high water - EPA scientists spell out dangers of climate change while EPA chief delays action
- 2008/07/15: PhysOrg: EPA experts detail global warming's health risks
While in other EPA news:
- 2008/07/16: CarbonFinance: EPA kicks GHG rulemaking to Congress
- 2008/07/18: DotEarth: More on Why White House Blocked CO2 Curbs
- 2008/07/16: BoomanTrib: Global Warming is Not a Problem! [GWB & EPA deep 6]
- 2008/07/15: Telegraph(UK): White House buries climate change deaths report
- 2008/07/14: Platts: True to form, Bush administration still refuses to regulate greenhouse gases
- 2008/07/16: NYT: A Major Setback for Clean Air
- 2008/07/14: NatureCF: EPA trashes its own report
In case anyone doubted the Bush administration's resolve on climate policy during these last lame-duck months, they've just used the thump of a 500-page EPA report hitting the bin to hammer it home - 2008/07/14: SeattlePI: Global warming risks to humans detailed - White House ignored EPA report
- 2008/07/14: NatureCF: EPA trashes its own report
- 2008/07/14: C411: EPA Chief Stops Action on Global Warming - For Now
- 2008/07/14: ENN: US Court Slaps Down Pollution Law [CAIR]
A group of elder statemen released some energy recommendations:
- 2008/07/16: inel: Securing America's Energy Future recommends 13 energy principles
- 2008/07/17: ClimateP: A bunch of bland old guys offer a bunch of bland old solutions
- 2008/07/17: GristMill: The center can't hold - A collection of Venerable Old White Guys weighs in on the energy challenge
- 2008/07/15: SeattlePI: Energy tsunami coming, ex-policymakers warn
A bipartisan group of 27 elder statesmen is sending an open letter to both presidential candidates and every member of Congress saying the country faces "a long-term energy crisis" that threatens the security and prosperity of future generations if swift action isn't taken. - 2008/07/19: AutoBG: John McCain flip-flops on state level CO2 regulation
- 2008/07/18: ThinkP: McCain: Oil Rigs 'Very Successfully' Survived the Impact of Hurricanes
- 2008/07/17: USAToday: Obama shifts stance on environmental issues
- 2008/07/17: Guardian(UK): Both candidates talk the talk on green issues but who can deliver?
- 2008/07/16: KSJT: Col. Journ. Rev: The candidates, energy, the press...
The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:
- 2008/07/15: JSO: Mad about gas prices? Get over Gore already
- 2008/07/17: DotEarth: The (Annotated) Gore Energy Speech
While in the UK:
- 2008/07/18: Guardian(UK): Nuclear power failure
Gordon Brown says the UK is at the forefront of a global 'nuclear renaissance'. But despite all the rhetoric, the real picture is grim - 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): Britain admits it will miss 2010 CO2 target
- 2008/07/17: BBC: Whitehall bid to cut IT emissions
The government hopes to be the first in the world to make its computer system "carbon neutral". The Cabinet Office hopes measures like switching off computers at night and making sure servers do not stand idle will save 117,500 tonnes of carbon. Computer systems generate up to 20% of all carbon produced by government. - 2008/07/17: Guardian(UK): Many Tory MPs still sceptical on climate change
David Cameron has failed to convince many of his MPs that man-made global warming is a serious problem, according to a poll that finds widespread sceptisicm across parliament about the issue. A third of Tory MPs who responded to the survey questioned the existence of climate change and its link to human activity. Two-thirds said tackling climate change should not be a priority for local councils. - 2008/07/16: BBC: Severn tidal 'fence' idea floated - Plans for an alternative tidal energy project to a £15bn Severn barrage have been put forward by opponents
- 2008/07/15: Guardian(UK): The low-carbon road out of poverty
The government's current transport policy fosters oil dependence and exacerbates problems for the poorest households - 2008/07/15: ENN: UK government lambasted over own carbon emissions
- 2008/07/14: ABC(Au): UK government lambasted over own carbon emissions
- 2008/07/14: Guardian(UK): [UK] Government lagging on CO2 curbs, say MPs
- 2008/07/14: Guardian(UK): Brown calls for eight new nuclear plants - New stations to be part of 'nuclear renaissance'
And in Europe:
- 2008/07/17: TreeHugger: Danish Climate Goal 2009: World's Biggest Fleet Of Electric Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars
- 2008/07/15: ENN: EU executive to tackle eco impact of consumerism
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2008/07/20: PeakEnergy: Queensland's Phosphate and Coal Billions
- 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): Tasmanian Government keen for greener energy
- 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): Senator visits potential 'solar suburbs'
The Greens Senator Scott Ludlum say Karratha in Western Australia's north-west would be an ideal site for a new generation of 'solar suburbs'. - 2008/07/18: JQuiggin: The litterbug argument
- 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): Tasmanians ready to start climate change at home: expert [Phillipa Watson]
- 2008/07/17: ABC(Au): An options paper, with the option to save our future?
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): [Tasmanian] Climate change strategy ready for release
- 2008/07/15: ABC(Au): Climate change concerns for North Queensland tourism
- 2008/07/15: ABC(Au): Gladstone emissions monitoring inadequate: ANU academic [Associate Professor Thomas Fruance]
- 2008/07/15: Australian: Govt considers Australia's first new coal port in 25 years
- 2008/07/15: PeakEnergy: A New Coal Port For Queensland
- 2008/07/14: ABC(Au): Govt encouraged to welcome 'climate change refugees'
Some of the most dramatic effects of climate change are being experienced in the Pacific, where small nations such as Kiribati and Tuvalu are slowly sinking as seas begin to rise. - 2008/07/14: ABC(Au): SA farmers worried on emissions trading
- 2008/07/14: ABC(Au): Australia lagging in energy efficiency: report
- 2008/07/14: ABC(Au): Freight emissions set to double by 2020: report
- 2008/07/14: GWWatch: ASX [Australian Securities Exchange] preparing to trade carbon
While in Asia:
- 2008/07/16: BBC: Climate builds bridges across Asia
Amidst growing criticism from industrialised countries for not committing to greenhouse gas reduction targets, India has indicated it would initiate regional efforts to deal with climate change - 2008/07/18: WaPo: Tokyo's Cantankerous Boss [Shintaro Ishihara] Takes On Global Warming [Japan]
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2008/07/14: CBC: Harper uses Calgary Stampede to attack Liberal green plan
- 2008/07/14: CanWest: Harper ridicules Dion proposal as 'green shaft'
Climate was a leading topic at the provincial Premiers' annual meeting:
- 2008/07/17: TStar: A picnic feeling but big issues on table - Climate change rift immediately apparent
Despite talk of working together, the annual premiers' conference opened with rival camps in the climate change debate digging in their heels. In a way, the annual summertime gathering of provincial and territorial leaders known as the Council of the Federation has a lot in common with a company picnic. - 2008/07/20: TStar: Premiers punt back to Harper
The chummy news conference that wrapped up the annual premiers' meeting Friday could not disguise an inescapable reality: There will be no real progress on climate change without leadership from the federal government. - 2008/07/20: JCherniak: The premiers unite?
- 2008/07/18: CBC: 20% increase in energy efficiency in 12 years, premiers pledge
- 2008/07/18: G&M: Premiers seize climate-change initiative
- 2008/07/19: CanEast: N.B. still thinking about carbon tax -- N.S. and P.E.I. split on idea as Rodney MacDonald calls Dion's plan a 'tax on people'
- 2008/07/19: CanWest: Lower the temperature in climate change debate
- 2008/07/18: G&M: Not so fast on cap-and-trade, energy-rich provinces [Alberta & Saskatchewan] say
- 2008/07/17: CanWest: Premiers clash over emissions plan - Prairie leaders willing to 'fight' against any climate program that threatens oil riches
- 2008/07/16: CanWest: Climate change issue splits provinces - Council of the Federation begins meeting today
- 2008/07/14: CanWest: It's time Canada's premiers had a little talk about power - An east-west electricity corridor would suit the needs of a number of provinces
Dion is campaigning, but the Green Shift drew little comment this week:
- 2008/07/18: CanEast: Dion confident he can sell carbon tax to Canadians - Liberal leader brings Green Shift plan to New Brunswick
Ontario is joining the Western Climate Initiative:
- 2008/07/18: CanWest: Ontario to sign cap-and-trade climate plan [WCI] - McGuinty pans Alberta plan to invest in carbon capture, storage
- 2008/07/18: G&M: Ontario to join Western Climate Initiative
- 2008/07/14: TStar: Forest plan unveiled - Ontario will protect a huge swath of its northern boreal forest in an effort to fight climate change...
BC's various climate strategies remain topical:
- 2008/07/17: CanWest: B.C. sets goal for solar panels: 100,000 roofs by 2020
- 2008/07/14: Tyee: Climate Plan Bets on Price of Oil -- BC's model built on complex variables.
- 2008/07/15: Tyee: Can BC Make Solar Bloom? Ontario pays far more to small generators who tap the sun.
- 2008/07/16: CBC: B.C. tops Suzuki green rankings as oil-rich provinces bring up the rear
- 2008/07/16: CanWest: Ralph Klein blows off B.C.'s new carbon tax
- 2008/07/15: CanWest: A Campbell smokescreen obscures targets for greenhouse gas emissions
- 2008/07/14: CanWest: Invest in public transit now [NDP plan] More buses, SkyTrain cars to give commuters options
In Alberta, the tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:
- 2008/07/20: CanWest: Alberta bound for energy battle - Energy riches, environmental record make province a target
- 2008/07/15: TreeHugger: Alberta Oil & Gas Collateral Damage: She Can Light Her Water on Fire
- 2008/07/18: NatPo: Alberta tackles climate change by Alberta Premier, Ed Stelmach
- 2008/07/16: CanWest: Alberta pipeline firm announces $7-billion project - TransCanada's Keystone expansion will move 530,000 barrels of Alberta crude daily to [a Texas refinery on the] Gulf of Mexico
And Wall in Saskatchewan is spinning:
- 2008/07/19: SeanInSask: Brad Wall, Cap and Trade, Disingenuous Intentions
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2008/07/16: Guardian(UK): Human consumption: Flying in the face of logic
Forty years after dropping his Population Bomb into the environment debate, Paul Ehrlich is still railing at man's destructiveness - 2008/07/14: CSM: 'Birth dearth' worries pale in comparison to overpopulation [Paul Ehrlich]
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2008/07/15: WorldChanging: The Apocalypse Makes Us Dumb
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
- 2008/07/15: GristMill: NF3 panic unjustified, not as bad as Drudge report says - Plasma TVs and solar cells not so bad after all
- 2008/07/14: Deltoid: Flat Screen TVs and global warming [NF3]
Here is something for your library:
- 2008/07/19: QuarkSoup: [Book Mention] _Dire Predictions: Understanding Global Warming_ by Michael Mann & Lee R. Kump
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2008/07/15: ClimateP: Wall-E is an eco-dystopian gem -- an anti-consumption movie (from Disney!)
- 2008/07/15: Deltoid: Sizzle
- 2008/07/15: Intersection:CCM: Sizzle, The Funniest Global Warming Movie Ever Made
- 2008/07/15: Intersection:SRK: Sizzle: Snap, Crackle, HOT!
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
- 2008/07/20: PeakEnergy: Australia Has Decade of Oil Left at Current Production Rates
- 2008/07/19: NYT: Texas Approves a $4.93 Billion Wind-Power Project
- 2008/07/18: GristMill: Connecting the dots - A simple regulatory fix to the coming power crisis
- 2008/07/18: HuffPo: Global Heating: Why We Must Shift to Carbon-Free Fuel (Part I)
- 2008/07/19: Hindu: Energy scenario bleak as country faces sharp decline in [hydro-] power generation
- 2008/07/18: NatureTGB: Bubble fusion saga -- Taleyarkhan misconduct verdict in
- 2008/07/18: ABC(Au): Britain gets first taste of big tidal power
- 2008/07/18: PhysOrg: Purdue panel finds misconduct by [tabletop] fusion scientist [Rusi Taleyarkhan]
- 2008/07/18: SciDaily: Researchers Generate Hydrogen Without The Carbon Footprint [using water, solar energy & nanotube diodes]
- 2008/07/18: NEN: Motley Fool likes wind
- 2008/07/18: PeakEnergy: First Commercial Tidal Power Generation In The UK
- 2008/07/17: GristMill: The economics of power plant construction - A brief primer on variable vs. fixed costs
- 2008/07/16: GristMill: Nice gigawatt if you can get it - Low-carbon energy solutions in India may depend on Tata
- 2008/07/17: NEN: New energy venture investment hits new high
- 2008/07/17: PeakEnergy: China on the brink of an electricity shortfall?
- 2008/07/16: ABC(Au): Algae a possible saviour in climate change fight
- 2008/07/16: GristMill: No relief in sight - The current oil shock
- 2008/07/16: Yahoo: Oil tumbles again; prices fall over $10 in 2 days
- 2008/07/16: NEN: Fight for American wind in South Dakota
- 2008/07/16: PeakEnergy: The Next Bubble And The Long Boom [alternative energy]
- 2008/07/16: PeakEnergy: The Power Of Maps
- 2008/07/16: SacBee: Oil shale dream needs a dose of pragmatism
- 2008/07/15: DeSmogBlog: Expense vs Environment: The Energy Dilemma
- 2008/07/15: Eureka: Researchers generate hydrogen without the carbon footprint [water, solar energy and nanotube diodes]
- 2008/07/14: DotEarth: What Will Drive the Energy 'Innovation Revolution'?
- 2008/07/14: GristMill: Scenarios for a low carbon, no-nuke future - Renewables and efficiency would provide more GDP than fossil fuels
- 2008/07/13: PetroWorld: World Oil Markets In Chaos -- No Solutions In Sight
As for the impacts of high energy costs:
- 2008/07/18: BBerg: U.S. Fuel Use Declined in 1st Half 2008, API Says
U.S. fuel consumption fell 3 percent in the first half of 2008, the biggest decline for the period in 17 years, as high prices and a slowing economy curbed demand, an oil industry report today showed. Deliveries of petroleum products declined to an average 20.08 million barrels a day through June, American Petroleum Institute said in a monthly report. Gasoline deliveries fell 1.7 percent, the first ``significant'' decline in 17 years. - 2008/07/17: EnergyBulletin: Demand bifurcation point
The future of the global economy will, in my opinion, turn more on this question than any other: Will demand destruction hit India and China, or will their oil consumption continue to rise? - 2008/07/13: NakedCapitalism: Oil Collateral Damage: $100 Billion of Aircraft Orders at Risk
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2008/07/18: SciDaily: Promising New Method To Fabricate Ultra-thin Silicon Solar Cells Developed
- 2008/07/18: NEN: High tech sector likes solar
- 2008/07/17: PortlandTrib: Shadow falls on sun power - PacificCorp's petition darkens outlook for Oregon's nascent solar industry
- 2008/07/16: NEN: Florida utility to build state's first solar power plants
- 2008/07/16: SF Gate: Solar industry's challenge is to lower cost - The solar power industry - in California and worldwide - is growing fast. Now, it needs to focus on price.
- 2008/07/15: UN: Solar energy viable option for Timor-Leste, says UN
- 2008/07/15: PhysOrg: Solar cooling becomes a new air-conditioning system
- 2008/07/15: TreeHugger: Spanish Solar Firm to Suspend Two U.S. Projects if Investment Tax Credits Are Not Extended
- 2008/07/15: PeakEnergy: Solar thermal power just got hotter with linear Fresnel technology
- 2008/07/15: SF Gate: State [California] rebates lead more people to go solar
The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:
- 2008/07/18: ClimateP: The Desolation of Coal [C2L]
- 2008/07/17: GristMill: You say that like it's a bad thing - Minnesota utility plans wind farm over coal reserves
- 2008/07/15: DeSmogBlog: Kentucky coal to liquid plan means more dirty fuel is on the way
- 2008/07/15: ClimateP: Study: If you want smarter kids, shut coal plants
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2008/07/: MR: The Political Economy and Ecology of Biofuels
- 2008/07/17: ClimateP: Are biofuels a core climate solution?
- 2008/07/17: TreeHugger: Biogas Plant in Eastern Germany Will Be the World's Largest
- 2008/07/17: OilChange: Biofuels: The $11 Billion Folly
- 2008/07/16: OPB: NW Biofuels Industry Getting Help In A Pinch
- 2008/07/15: NPR: High Corn Prices Cast Shadow Over Ethanol Plants
- 2008/07/16: Guardian(UK): The energy debate needs to be rational - not shrill soundbites - There are good and bad biofuels, so a moratorium could make climate change worse
- 2008/07/14: WSJ:EnvCap: Ethanol: The [US-Brazil] Battle Continues
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2008/07/18: AlterNet: Don't Drink the Nuclear Kool-Aid
- 2008/07/18: SeattlePI: Nuclear power no solution to climate change
- 2008/07/17: PeakEnergy: Faith Based Nuclear Waste Storage [Hanford]
- 2008/07/17: Guardian(UK): All aboard the nuclear power superjet. Just don't ask about the landing strip
Climate change and the oil crisis are being used to project atomic energy as a green panacea. In fact it is a reckless gamble - 2008/07/15: PRWatch: Nuking the Media
- 2008/07/14: NewScientist: Contaminated US site [Hanford] faces 'catastrophic' nuclear leak
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2008/07/16: FCNP: The Peak Oil Crisis: The Blackouts Spread
Of the 266 distinct nations or entities on the world today, nearly 100 are now reporting continuing energy shortages, mostly in the form of inadequate electricity supply, but in a growing number of cases, shortages of liquid fuels and natural gas. - 2008/07/15: TCulture: Matt Simmons and the Five Psychological Stage of Grief
- 2008/07/15: SA: What If the Pain Isn't Temporary?
Most of the people I know are convinced that the current high fuel and food prices are temporary. "Surely the bubble will burst soon," they say. "It won't be long before we can resume living the way we were before," they proclaim. "A new president will fix things," they believe. They continue spending and living as they have before, making no changes, certain that things will get back to the way they were. - 2008/07/18: TreeHugger: Forbes Magazine on the Fifth Fuel [efficiency]
- 2008/07/15: SciDaily: Freeing Light Shines Promise On Energy-efficient Lighting
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2008/07/20: AutoBG: Top Volkswagen researcher says no electric car explosion
- 2008/07/18: KSJT: McClatchy, Guardian, Science News: NAS study bullish on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Just think green -- as in long, green dollars
- 2008/07/18: SciDaily: Hydrogen Vehicles Coming Soon? Two Million Could Be On Roads By 2020 [says NRC]
- 2008/07/18: AutoBG: NRC study says 25 million H2 cars could be on the road by 2030
- 2008/07/17: PhysOrg: Hydrogen vehicles making impressive progress toward commercialization [says report from the National Research Council]
- 2008/07/17: TreeHugger: Electric Cars Signal How Auto Companies Can Make a Profitable Transition to a New Economy
- 2008/07/17: CBC: Electric cars now allowed on some Quebec roads
- 2008/07/17: SMH: In the age of high petrol prices, a reality check on hybrids
- 2008/07/16: AutoBG: Elon Musk on PHEV's, battery technology and solar cells
- 2008/07/16: AutoBG: American Electric Power says grid ready for PHEVs
- 2008/07/14: AutoBG: Chrysler electric vehicle still 3 to 5 years away
- 2008/07/12: TeslaMotorsBlog: Update on Production and Delivery of Cars to Customers
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2008/07/17: EnvFin: Exelon plans $10bn spend to cut carbon emissions
- 2008/07/16: SciDaily: Corporations Can Profit From Being Environmentally Friendly
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
- 2008/07/17: PRWatch: Edelman Gets Called Out for Greenwashing
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
- 2008/07/18: Guardian(UK): After the flood - Without comprehensive homeowners insurance, Hurricane Katrina and other flood victims are left footing the bill
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2008/07/19: JEB: "Watchdog finds documentary was unfair to scientists but did not mislead viewers" [GGWS]
- 2008/07/19: Guardian(UK): Channel 4 to be censured over controversial climate film - Watchdog finds documentary was unfair to scientists but did not mislead viewers
- 2008/07/18: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science XV
- 2008/07/16: ClimateP: Sorry deniers: Eighth warmest June on record means Great Ice Age of 2008 is STILL over
- 2008/07/14: IJI: Towards a genealogy of climate conspiracy theories
- 2008/07/16: DeSmogBlog: National Post Cancels Climate Change (Very Temporarily)
- 2008/07/15: DeSmogBlog: Climate Change: It's a Conspiracy!!!
- 2008/07/15: Guardian(UK): Greens are the enemies of liberty
- 2008/07/14: GristMill: Strategy 101 for greenhouse-gas deniers - Using doubt to compete with a scientific body of fact
- 2008/07/14: Tamino: Dalton Gang
An article by a prominent denier was published by the APS to much derision:
- 2008/07/20: ClimateP: Irony-gate: Viscount Monckton, a British peer, says his paper was peer-reviewed by a scientist
- 2008/07/19: Deltoid: Monckton's triple counting
- 2008/07/19: DeSmogBlog: Junk Science: Steve M'Lie Sticks to His Script
- 2008/07/19: ScruffyDan: Did the American Physical Society really reverse its position on climate change?
- 2008/07/18: BobPark: What's New? #1) Good Lord! Global warming deniers vandalize APS
- 2008/07/19: P&P: Global Warming Opponents Have Gone Bonkers! - Follow-Up
- 2008/07/19: ClimateP: American Physical Society stomps on Monckton disinformation...
- 2008/07/19: BCLSB: APS: Monckton's Paper Stamped JUNK SCIENCE
- 2008/07/18: DeSmogBlog: JunkScience Lies: APS Offers Respectful Correction
- 2008/07/19: IR^2: The Consensus on Global Warming Weakens
- 2008/07/18: P&P: Global Warming Opponents Have Gone Bonkers!
- 2008/07/18: ClimateP: [APS] Physicists forced to reaffirm that human-caused global warming is "incontrovertible"
- 2008/07/18: GristMill: [Dessler] The newest denialist talking point - Physicists [APS] reaffirm that human-induced GHGs affect the atmosphere
- 2008/07/18: BCLSB: APS Recants: Global Warming Back On
- 2008/07/18: QuarkSoup: No longer a Consensus?
- 2008/07/17: MTobis: My Point of View in a Nutshell
If tribal cultures could consider the seventh generation, we with our much greater power should be considering the seventieth. The thirty year horizon that economists and politicians consider very long range is just a blink in the geological history of our planet. Now that we dominate surface processes of the earth we have taken over the responsibility for its sustenance. - 2008/07/19: GristMill: 'The most important public policy issue we will face in this generation' - [Lawrence] Lessig and Netroots folks on climate change
- 2008/07/14: CSW: "Beyond the Phony 'Debate': Government Science and the Climate Crisis"
- 2008/07/19: PhysOrg: Hundreds of baby penguins found dead in Brazil
- 2008/07/18: NOAANews: NOAA Hosts Educators Climate Change Conference Event Features Presentations by Sally Ride, Susan Solomon
- 2008/07/17: GristMill: [Dessler] Climate change and the null hypothesis
- 2008/07/17: BCLSB: The Rhetoric Is Different, The Solutions Are Not [Nordhaus and Shellenberger]
- 2008/07/16: DeSmogBlog: Something Strange is Happening at the Coldest, Driest Place on Earth
- 2008/07/17: CanWest: Nordhaus & Shellenberger . The price of carbon
Reducing emissions in Canada, however laudable, is irrelevant to fighting climate change unless doing so results in creating clean technologies to help power the developing world - 2008/07/11: EP: [link to mp3] Modeling Planetary Dynamics - Dennis Meadows interview
- 2008/07/16: NatureCF: How to tell a climate story
- 2008/07/16: C411: The Moral Imperative of Global Warming for Religion
- 2008/07/16: TreeHugger: Time for Plan B: Cutting Carbon Emissions 80 Percent by 2020
- 2008/07/14: OTF: The Big Picture: Collapse, Transcendence, or Muddling Through
- 2008/07/14: ClimateP: The Debate of the Decade Revisited -- Avoiding the Technology Trap
- 2008/07/15: WorldChanging: Imagine What Comes After Green
- 2008/07/14: GristMill: Climate change no gangsta's paradise for this rapper - Coolio to educate students about global warming
- 2008/07/14: TreeHugger: UN Report: The Future Could be Swell... But We're Blowing It
- 2008/07/14: OilChange: Airlines Spin Anti Oil-Speculation Website
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- Rights and Resources Initiative
- FPT: Free Public Transit
- StephenSchneider: Climate Change
- NOAA: Real-time, global, sea surface temperature (RTG_SST) analysis
- NOAA: Gulf Stream Finder Project
- New Scientist
- Science Daily
- Eureka Alert
- CDIAC CO2 Info Analysis Centre
- Real Climate
- Wikipedia: Global warming
- WGMS: World Glacier Monitoring Service
- BAS: The British Antarctic Survey
It's always nice to start with a chuckle:
The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:
The Damoclean sword put in an appearance:
Corals are dying:
As for transportation & GHG production:
And on the carbon trading front:
One hears a lot about the campaigns, not much about their climate & energy policies:
While in Japan:
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
Then there was the usual news and commentary:
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.
<regards>
P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.
"A major fight is brewing -- it may be called war. On the one side, we find the short-term financial interests of the fossil fuel industry. On the other side: young people and other beings who will inherit the planet. It seems to be an uneven fight. The fossil fuel industry is launching a disinformation campaign and they have powerful influence in capitals around the world. Young people seem pretty puny in comparison to industry moguls. Animals are not much help (don't talk, don't vote). The battle may start with local and regional skirmishes, one coal plant or other issue at a time, but it will need to build rapidly -- we are running out of time."
-James Hansen, Yankee Ticket Prices and Fossil Fuels, 10 April 2008
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