Another week of GW News, September 1, 2008

Sipping from the internet firehose...

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• Top Stories:Accra Conference, Bihar Floods, Methane Burp?, Permafrost
• Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Arctic Geopolitics, Grumbine, World Bank
• Food Crisis, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Paleoclimate, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Corals, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science, Hansen
• Politics:, International, Carbon Trade, Security, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, Au-ETS, Japan, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Media, Courts
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• Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Laugh. I dare ya:

• 2008/08/31: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) Life would be a lot easier if...

  The UNFCCC conference wrapped up in Ghana this week:

• 2008/08/28: Reuters: Rich or poor? New faultline in U.N. climate talks
• 2008/08/29: NatureTGB: Climate talks wind up and move on
• 2008/08/29: TreeHugger: US, China, Wealthy Nations Should Bear the Costs of Reducing Carbon Emissions: Stockholm Environment Institute
• 2008/08/28: EurActiv: Modest progress at Africa climate meeting
  160-nation talks on climate change wrapped up in Ghana on Wednesday (27 August) with the United Nations proclaiming that the slow pace of negotiations is "picking up". Delegates want forest protection to be part of a greenhouse gas reduction deal but said sectoral industry agreements should remain voluntary.
  Delegates did not agree to any specific framework on forest protection, nor were any new funds committed to tackling the destruction of rainforests and other key ecosystems credited with storing CO2...
• 2008/08/27: UN: Accra talks bode well for future climate change negotiations -- UN official
• 2008/08/27: EkoList: Greenpeace urges governments to speed up climate negotiations
• 2008/08/28: Xinhuanet: UN climate change body chief [UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer] highlights progress in Accra talks
• 2008/08/27: Reuters: Ghana climate talks advance on saving forests
• 2008/08/27: Yahoo: UN climate talks make headway on emission limits
• 2008/08/26: Reuters: UN climate talks advance on forests, industry
• 2008/08/26: Xinhuanet: Experts: Africa benefits little from UN climate CMD projects
• 2008/08/25: AllAfrica:PA: Can the Fight Against Climate Change Be Won?
• 2008/08/26: C411: Update from Ghana: Creative Ways to Engage Developing Countries
• 2008/08/25: MyJoy: Accra Climate Change talks and matters arising
• 2008/08/25: LiveMint: India opposes proposal on emission cuts
  Japan has proposed international emission reduction targets for energy-consuming industries under its so-called "sectoral approach"

A major monsoon disaster is unfolding in India:

• 2008/08/31: CNN: Indian flood victims face food shortages
  Indian flood victims now face food shortages - 450,000 families displaced after dam in Nepal broke on August 18 2.7 million people in 1,600 villages might have been affected - Agencies scramble to help, but damaged infrastructure hampers efforts
• 2008/08/30: DailyIndia: Floods and exodus continue in Bihar
• 2008/08/31: DailyIndia: Floods maroon more areas in eastern India
• 2008/08/31: DailyIndia: Bihar floods: Kosi breaches Jankinagar canal in Purnia
• 2008/08/31: BBC: New flood relief efforts in Bihar -- Rescue efforts increase in Bihar, India, where 2.5m people have been displaced by flooding and at least 70 people have died.
• 2008/08/31: SMH: 2000 feared dead as river floods
  Up to 2000 people are feared dead in floods after a river changed course, submerging hundreds of villages in northern India. Amid claims the Indian Government is playing down the scale of the tragedy, the official death toll in India's impoverished Bihar state is just 65. But aid agencies claim that thousands are missing. The Kosi river breached its banks 11 days ago on the border with Nepal, flowing through a channel 120 kilometres east of its natural route.
• 2008/08/30: BBC: Capsize in India floods kills 20
  At least 20 people have been killed after a boat capsized while carrying dozens of refugees from flooding in the Indian state of Bihar, say police. More than 70 people have now died in the floods and hundreds of thousands are stranded without food or water.
• 2008/08/30: Guardian(UK): India: Up to 2,000 feared dead in Bihar floods
• 2008/08/29: Guardian(UK): 2,000 feared dead in India flood -- Indian government accused of playing down Bihar flooding with an official death toll of 65
• 2008/08/29: DailyIndia: Rescue and relief operations intensified in flood ravaged Bihar
  Rescue and relief operations have been intensified in flood ravaged Bihar as millions await evacuation from the region.
• 2008/08/28: DailyIndia: Floodwater enters new areas in Bihar, mass evacuation underway
• 2008/08/29: BBC: Floating hope -- Rescuing survivors as India river changes course
• 2008/08/29: BBC: India flood evacuations continue
  In the northern Indian state of Bihar, thousands more people are being evacuated to higher grounds to escape the rising flood waters. Angry villagers in the worst-affected district, Madhepura, said they had no idea where to take shelter. At least 55 people have died and 2.5m are displaced after the Kosi river breached its banks, changing course. The flooding began 11 days ago in neighbouring Nepal leaving tens of thousands of people homeless there.
• 2008/08/28: Guardian(UK): Indian monsoon floods leave a million homeless
• 2008/08/29: Guardian(UK): 1m displaced by floods in northern India - 'National calamity' after Kosi bursts banks, says PM
• 2008/08/28: CNN: Desperation prevails in Indian flood
  Flood conditions in northeastern Indian state expected to worsen - Those who can afford to seek higher ground do so; the poor cannot - Floodwaters continue to rise as hopes continue to sink - "I have had everything robbed from me," one flood victim laments
• 2008/08/28: UN: UNICEF rushes aid in wake of destructive floods in north-eastern India
• 2008/08/28: BBC: Indian PM says flood 'a calamity'
  Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says floods in the northern state of Bihar are a "national calamity". He has visited areas where 55 people have died and some two million are displaced after the Kosi river breached its banks, changing course. The prime minister has announced an aid package worth $230m. But aid agencies say many of the victims are being moved to temporary shelters which lack basic amenities and are at risk from disease. Accompanied by the president of the governing Congress Party Sonia Gandhi, the prime minister flew over the flood-affected area by helicopter to get a first-hand view of the devastation. At least two million people have had to move out of their homes after the government ordered them to evacuate because of the rising waters.
• 2008/08/28: CBC: More than 2 million affected by monsoon flooding in India
• 2008/08/27: DailyIndia: Floods displace thousands in people in Bihar
• 2008/08/27: Novosti: Death toll in north India's Bihar flood reaches 55
• 2008/08/27: ABC(Au): India's swollen 'river of sorrow' affects 2 million
• 2008/08/27: TerraDaily: One million trapped as Indian river shifts course
• 2008/08/26: CNN: Flood rages through 1,000 Indian villages
  UNICEF says 33 killed after Kosi River burst its banks in northeast India - More than 1,000 villages unaccustomed to high water affected - India says more than 2 million displaced; air force dropping relief supplies - Floods are hitting places normally not deluged during the monsoon season
• 2008/08/24: TerraDaily: Two million hit by Indian monsoon, toll reaches 800
• 2008/08/25: ChinaDaily: 1 million cut off by monsoon floods in India
• 2008/08/25: BBC: Flood devastation in Bihar state
  Over a million people have been affected by floods in three districts of the northern Indian state of Bihar, officials say

The methane burp is back with a report of seabed gas leaking in the Siberian Arctic ocean:

• 2008/08/26: OTF: Methane Trigger for Geo & Bio Engineering
• 2008/08/30: Google:AFP: Methane gas oozing up from Siberian seabed: Swedish researcher
• 2008/08/30: PhysOrg: Methane gas oozing up from Siberian seabed: Swedish researcher
• 2008/08/30: TheLocal(Se): Swedish researchers confirm Siberian seabead methane leak
  Swedish researchers working on an international mission have confirmed that methane, a potent greenhouse gas, has started to leak from the permafrost under the Siberian seabed, Dagens Nyheter reported on Saturday. "The permafrost now has small holes. We have found elevated levels of methane above the water surface and even more in the water just below. It is obvious that the source is the seabed," Ãrjan Gustafsson, the Swedish leader of the International Siberian Shelf Study, told the newspaper.

As for the permafrost:

• 2008/08/29: NatureCF: Permafrost study breaks ground
• 2008/08/26: TreeHugger: 60% More Greenhouse Gases Trapped in Permafrost Than Previously Thought
• 2008/08/26: People's Daily: Global warming time bomb trapped in Arctic soil: study
• 2008/08/24: TerraDaily: Global warming time bomb trapped in Arctic soil: study
• 2008/08/24: Yahoo: Global warming time bomb trapped in Arctic soil: study
• 2008/08/24: PhysOrg: Global warming time bomb trapped in Arctic soil: study
  Climate change could release unexpectedly huge stores of carbon dioxide from Arctic soils, which would in turn fuel a vicious circle of global warming, a new study warned Sunday. And according to one commentary on the research, current models of climate change have not taken this extra source of greenhouse gas into account.

The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

• 2008/08/27: WaPo: Scientists Report Further Shrinking of Arctic Ice -- Area Is Close To All-Time Low
• 2008/08/25: CSpin: Known unknowns on ice
• 2008/08/30: CDreams:AFP: North Pole Ice Cap Melting Faster Than Ever
• 2008/08/29: TerraDaily: Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Second Lowest Level On Record
• 2008/08/28: ABC(Au): North Pole ice cap 'melting faster than ever'
• 2008/08/28: ESA: Arctic ice on the verge of another all-time low
• 2008/08/28: ENN: Arctic ice on the verge of another all-time low
• 2008/08/28: DerSpiegel: A Navigable Arctic - Northeast and Northwest Passages Both Free of Ice
  For the first time ever, both the Northwest and the Northeast Passages are free of ice. Shipping companies have been waiting for this moment for years, but they will have to wait a little while longer before they can make use of the Arctic shortcut.
• 2008/08/28: NYT: As Arctic Sea Ice Melts, Experts Expect New Low
• 2008/08/28: STimes: Low level of Arctic sea ice indicates a "tipping point"
• 2008/08/28: BBC: Arctic ice 'is at tipping point'
  Arctic sea ice has shrunk to the second smallest extent since satellite records began, US scientists have revealed. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) says that the ice-covered area has fallen below its 2005 level, which was the second lowest on record. Melting has occurred earlier in the year than usual, meaning that the iced area could become even smaller than last September, the lowest recorded.
• 2008/08/27: Novosti: Arctic sea ice reaches second lowest level on record
• 2008/08/27: CNN: Arctic ice at second-lowest level ever
  Satellite measurements show sea ice in Arctic Ocean at second lowest level - Ice down to 2.03 million square miles, National Snow and Ice Data Center says - Lowest point on record is 1.65 million square miles, set last September - Record may fall in next three weeks of melt season, scientists say
• 2008/08/27: PhysOrg: Arctic sea ice drops to 2nd lowest level on record
• 2008/08/27: TreeHugger: Arctic Climate Tipping Point Happening Now! Sea Ice in Its "Death Spiral" Scientist Claims
• 2008/08/27: Yahoo: Arctic sea ice melts to second worst on record
• 2008/08/27: CBC: Arctic sea ice drops to 2nd lowest level on record
• 2008/08/26: ClimateP: NSIDC: Arctic shortcuts open up; decline pace steady
• 2008/08/26: CanWest: Scientists sound new warning as Arctic ice shrinks more

  While elsewhere in the Arctic:

• 2008/08/29: DCN: Rising temperatures damage infrastructure in Arctic communities
• 2008/08/30: BBC: Swimmer [Lewis Pugh] aims to kayak to North Pole
  Long-distance swimmer Lewis Pugh plans to kayak 1200km (745 miles) to the North Pole to raise awareness of how global warming has melted the ice sheet
• 2008/08/29: WaPo: Sea-Ice Melt Imperils Walruses, and Economy Based on Them [Alaska]
• 2008/08/28: CSM: Alaska: Climate-change frontier - Melting glaciers, drier wetlands, warmer winters in Alaska, where global warming is felt most keenly
• 2008/08/29: CBC: Briton to kayak from Norway to North Pole
  A British environmental activist will launch his kayak Saturday from Svalbard, Norway, bound for the North Pole. Lewis Gordon Pugh, 38, said he's undertaking the Herculean task of paddling 1,200 kilometres to draw the world's attention to the rapid loss of sea ice in the Arctic
• 2008/08/27: ERabett: A new toy for the Arctic tourist and a very scary thought

  Polar bears put in an appearance:

• 2008/08/28: TerraDaily: Canada asks Inuit, others for input on safeguarding polar bears
• 2008/08/28: Yahoo: Canada wants more study on polar bear protection
• 2008/08/28: Yahoo: Industry groups file lawsuit over polar bear rule
• 2008/08/26: SciDaily: Polar Bears Found Swimming [50] Miles From Alaskan Coast

  The Canadian minority neocon PM Harper is primping for an election so there has been a lot of Arctic sovereignty posturing from him:

• 2008/08/30: NatPo: EU urged to become [A]rctic guardian
  Just days after Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, unveiled his government's vision of the Arctic as a potential resource bonanza, a report commissioned by Europe's Nordic countries is urging the European Union to become the region's environmental guardian and to emphasize polar protection over exploitation. The report is a sign that economic and environmental interests are colliding in the Arctic
• 2008/08/29: TStar: Staking Canada's Arctic claims
• 2008/08/28: BBC: Canadian PM presses Arctic claim
  All large ships entering the Northwest Passage and other Arctic waterways must register with the Canadian Coast Guard first, Canada's PM says. Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement during a three-day visit to the Arctic to bolster Canadian sovereignty claims. Canada's claim over the area, which has rich reserves of oil and gas, is disputed by many countries. The US in particular insists the passage is an international waterway.
• 2008/08/27: Google:AP: Canada to map resources in Arctic for development
• 2008/08/28: NatPo: Tougher rules for arctic ships a hard sell: PM -- Countries likely to object to notification rules, Harper admits
• 2008/08/27: ABCiTO: Harper's Arctic promises melt faster than the ice cap
• 2008/08/26: CBC: Maps of Canada's Arctic will boost sovereignty: Harper
• 2008/08/27: CBC: Harper talks tough on Arctic enforcement
  It will become mandatory for all large ships sailing into the Northwest Passage and Canada's other Arctic waterways to report to the Canadian Coast Guard, Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised Wednesday. Harper said he also wants to toughen environmental regulations in Arctic seas by expanding the range of the country's anti-pollution legislation.
• 2008/08/27: G&M: Arctic patrol area expanded
  Tuktoyaktuk - Canada is expanding by half a million square kilometres the amount of Arctic ocean it will consider Canadian territory for the purpose of policing pollution violations and will make it mandatory for all ships entering its polar waters to report their presence.
• 2008/08/26: PhysOrg: Canada to map Arctic's vast resources
• 2008/08/26: BBerg: [Harper] Arctic Cabinet Meeting Risks New Cold War for Oil
• 2008/08/26: G&M: Ottawa boosts mapping program for Arctic resources
• 2008/08/24: CTV: Russia's Arctic activities cause 'concern': [Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister David] Emerson
• 2008/08/25: CTV: Canadian Forces carry out Arctic training exercises
• 2008/08/25: CanWest: We must be present in the Arctic to reinforce our claim to it
  If Canadians had been told even five years ago that we should be out patrolling our Arctic coastlines, showing the flag because of concerns over other countries' territorial claims to a transformed, suddenly accessible North Pole sea bed, most of us would have laughed. But the once-ice-locked area is melting so rapidly that a number of other northern states, including the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway, are showing interest in parts of the Arctic we have long considered to be ours. As the scramble for the Arctic - specifically the oil and gas reserves that lie beneath its floor - gets well and truly under way, Canada cannot confine its claims of sovereignty to the occasional press release.

Rob Grumbine continues his education project:

• 2008/08/28: MGS: Evaluating a climate trend
• 2008/08/27: MGS: What is climate - 2
• 2008/08/26: MGS: Discussion vs. Debate
• 2008/08/25: MGS: Testing Ideas 2

  The World Bank is finding it difficult to change it's stripes:

• 2008/08/28: PRWatch: Mixed Signals at the World Bank - increasing its financing of fossil-fuel projects worldwide

  The food crisis remains a top story:

• 2008/08/29: AllAfrica: Nation: Zimbabweans Hit By Famine
• 2008/08/20: S&S: Let them Eat Rats
• 2008/08/26: PeakEnergy: Let Them Eat Rats

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

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
• 2008/08/26: NatGeo: Our Good Earth -- The future rests on the soil beneath our feet
• 2008/08/26: EnergyBulletin: Peak phosphorus: Quoted reserves vs. production history
• 2008/08/25: PhysOrg: Researchers develop drought-tolerant corn
• 2008/08/25: Eureka: TVA fertilizer technology used worldwide -- but few new products since 1970s -- $41 million in TVA research returned $57 billion to the world; IFDC officials call for new generation of fertilizer research
• 2008/08/24: AC: Tackling the global fertilizer crisis
  Worldwide fertilizer crisis is getting worse, with no sign of dramatic resolution to this crisis or downwards trend of the price of fertilizer

It was a little startling to look at the NHC site Thursday morning and see 2 named storms and 3 tropical depressions strung across the Atlantic from the Caribbean to Africa.
Starting with Fay & Julio:

• 2008/08/25: CNN: Remnants of Fay soak the Southeast
  Forecasters warn of possible tornadoes from Louisiana to Georgia - Rain could bring drought-relief to parched southern states - Warnings for flash floods, severe thunderstorms posted
• 2008/08/24: Wunderground: Fay slowly winding down; Caribbean disturbance 94L slowly winding up
• 2008/08/24: TerraDaily: Tropical storm Julio nears Mexican resorts in Baja
• 2008/08/24: AP: Fla. homes evacuated as waters rise in wake of Fay

  We all wait to see what havoc Gustav will wreak...:

• 2008/08/31: CNN: Warm Gulf waters expected to refuel Gustav
  Hurricane warnings issued for parts of Gulf Coast - Gustav loses steam as it leaves Cuba Mandatory evacuations set to begin 8 a.m. Sunday in New Orleans - Thousands evacuating Gulf Coast on buses, trains, planes
• 2008/08/31: CNN: More than 75% of Gulf oil on lockdown
  As Gustav churns in the Gulf, oil companies evacuate rigs cutting off much of the Gulf's oil and gas production.
• 2008/08/31: Wunderground: A weakened Gustav still presents a grave danger to New Orleans
• 2008/08/31: PeakEnergy: Evacuating New Orleans
• 2008/08/31: BBC: New Orleans residents flee storm
  New Orleans residents have been fleeing in their thousands after the city's mayor ordered an evacuation ahead of Hurricane Gustav's expected landfall. Roads out of the Louisiana port have been crammed with traffic and authorities have been helping those unable to leave by their own means. Gustav, set to hit the US Gulf Coast on Monday, was described by Mayor Ray Nagin as "the storm of the century". It comes three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
• 2008/08/31: BBC: Fears over damage to US oil rigs
  With Hurricane Gustav on course to hit the US Gulf of Mexico coast, the damage it does to the region's oil facilities could be a "worse case scenario"
• 2008/08/31: AFP: After blasting Cuba, Hurricane Gustav aims at US
• 2008/08/31: ABC(US): Powerful Gustav Heads for US After Hitting Cuba -- Powerful Hurricane Gustav aims for US Gulf coast after socking Cuba; New Orleans evacuates
• 2008/08/31: ABC(US): New Orleans Orders Mandatory Evacuation -- New Orleans residents ordered to get out as Hurricane Gustav nears monster status
• 2008/08/30: CalcRisk: Gustav takes aim at N'awlins, oil prices
• 2008/08/31: BBC: New Orleans told to flee Gustav
  The mayor of New Orleans [Ray Nagin] has issued a mandatory evacuation order for the entire city, as Hurricane Gustav bears down on the US Gulf Coast
• 2008/08/30: Guardian(UK): Hurricane Gustav hits Cuba - Major category 4 storm on track to hit US Gulf coast three years after Hurricane Katrina
• 2008/08/31: Guardian(UK): New Orleans braced for chaos as hurricane looms
• 2008/08/30: CNN: Hurricane Gustav reaches Category 4 as it nears Cuba
  Gustav's western eye reaches Cuban Isle of Youth with winds near 145 mph - About 10,000 Cubans flee to mainland, some in vintage cars, horse-drawn carriages - Storm expected to hit Gulf Coast on Monday or Tuesday - Coastal Mississippi and New Orleans residents getting out
• 2008/08/30: CNN: Gustav prompts talk of altering RNC agenda
  Hurricane Gustav intensifies as it heads toward the Gulf Coast - Sen. John McCain suggests hurricane may affect the Republican convention - GOP source says convention may turn into a massive telethon - Bush declared state of emergency Saturday for Gulf states
• 2008/08/30: CNN: Gulf Coast residents flee 'extremely dangerous' Gustav
  Hurricane watch issued from southeastern Texas to Alabama-Florida border - Thousands evacuating Gulf Coast on buses, trains - Gustav's winds were nearly 150 mph as it gets ready to slam Cuba - Hurricane center calls Gustav "extremely dangerous"
• 2008/08/29: UN: Hurricane Gustav strikes children the hardest, warns UN agency
• 2008/08/30: PhysOrg: Gustav becomes 'dangerous' as it bears down on Cuba
• 2008/08/30: ERabett: Worry -- Hurricane Gustav has already torn up many islands in the Caribbean...
• 2008/08/30: Wunderground: Time to leave New Orleans
• 2008/08/30: Wunderground: Gustav deepens explosively into a Category 3 hurricane
• 2008/08/30: Wunderground: Gustav rips through Cuba at Category 4 strength
• 2008/08/29: ThinkP: On Third Anniversary Of Katrina, Officials Aren't Confident New Orleans' Levees Can 'Handle' Gustav
• 2008/08/30: CBC: Gustav strengthens to Category 4 hurricane
• 2008/08/30: CBC: Hurricane Gustav lashes Cayman Islands
• 2008/08/30: AFP: 'Extremely dangerous' hurricane Gustav hits Cuba
• 2008/08/30: Yahoo: New Orleans gets ready as Gustav strengthens
• 2008/08/30: BBC: Powerful Gustav heads to Caymans
  Hurricane Gustav is moving towards the Cayman Islands as it continues to threaten Cuba and the US Gulf Coast. The storm has already killed at least 71 people as it passed through the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.
• 2008/08/30: Guardian(UK): Energy: Oil and gas prices rise as operators prepare for a battering from Gustav
• 2008/08/29: CNN: Gustav becomes hurricane after blasting Jamaica
  Gustav becomes hurricane with a projected path toward Gulf Coast - Storm may threaten more than 1 million people in greater New Orleans - Gustav expected to be Category 3 status by Saturday - Tropical Storm Hanna forms in Atlantic; it is eighth named storm of the season
• 2008/08/29: KSJT: Editor & Publisher: As hurricane spins up, Times-Picayune will be ready
• 2008/08/29: DotEarth: Double Hurricane Threat for Gulf Coast?
• 2008/08/29: PhysOrg: Gustav headed for current that fuels big storms
  The difference between a monster and a wimp for Gulf of Mexico hurricanes often comes down to a small patch of warm deep water that's easy to miss. It's called the Loop Current, and hurricane trackers say Gustav is headed right for it, reminiscent of Katrina.
• 2008/08/29: CSW: On third anniversary of Katrina, concerns about preparedness for Hurricane Gustav
• 2008/08/29: BCLSB: God Must Be Way Past Pissed [cyclones]
• 2008/08/28: TerraDaily: Tropical Storm Gustav shifts position, could miss New Orleans
• 2008/08/28: TerraDaily: Death toll climbs as Gustav barrels through Caribbean
• 2008/08/29: Wunderground: Gustav clears Jamaica, grows significantly in size
• 2008/08/29: Wunderground: Time to leave New Orleans
• 2008/08/29: SciDaily: Katrina And Rita Provide Glimpse Of What Could Happen To Offshore Drilling If Gustav Hits Gulf
• 2008/08/29: WSJ:EnvCap: Political Storm: How Will Gustav Pound U.S. Energy Debate?
• 2008/08/29: NYT: Oil Producers Prepare for Storm in the Gulf - evacuating hundreds of workers from rigs and production platforms
• 2008/08/29: CBC: Gustav approaches Caymans as Cuba and U.S. Gulf Coast prepare
• 2008/08/29: AFP: Deadly Gustav lashes Jamaica, eyes Cuba, US
• 2008/08/28: CNN: Gustav hits Jamaica; Haiti says 51 dead
  Tropical Storm Gustav's center reaches Jamaica's eastern tip - Haiti raises its death toll from storm to 51 - Tropical Storm Hanna forms in Atlantic; it's eighth named storm of the season - Gustav's winds near 70 mph; hurricane status expected Friday
• 2008/08/27: UN: Haiti: UN helps provide relief after deadly tropical storm [Gustav] batters region
• 2008/08/27: TerraDaily: Deadly Gustav churns toward Cuba, Gulf of Mexico
• 2008/08/27: TerraDaily: 13 dead as Gustav lashes Haiti, Dominican Republic
• 2008/08/28: Wunderground: Gustav and Hanna--and many more to come
• 2008/08/28: Wunderground: Gustav pounds Jamaica
• 2008/08/28: BBC: Tropical Storm Gustav has strengthened towards renewed hurricane force as it approaches Jamaica, where residents have boarded up homes in preparation
• 2008/08/28: BBC: Hurricane fears raise oil prices -- The cost of crude rises for a fourth straight day on fears that Tropical Storm Gustav may disrupt oil production
• 2008/08/28: CBC: Gustav to become 'powerful hurricane': forecasters
• 2008/08/28: AFP: Deadly Gustav hurtles toward Jamaica
• 2008/08/27: DotEarth: Gustav Could Hit Gulf Coast Labor Day
• 2008/08/27: Wunderground: Gustav kills 5 in Haiti, continues to dump heavy rains
• 2008/08/27: Wunderground: Gustav pulls away from Hispaniola after killing at least 22
• 2008/08/27: CBC: Gustav creeps toward Cuba as death toll rises
• 2008/08/27: AFP: Deadly Gustav churns toward Cuba, Gulf of Mexico
• 2008/08/27: Reuters: New Orleans considers evacuation as Gustav looms
• 2008/08/26: BBC: Hurricane Gustav roars into Haiti -- Hurricane Gustav has made landfall over Haiti, bringing heavy rains and winds of 140 km/h (90mph)
• 2008/08/26: CNN: Gustav strikes southwest Haiti, cancels flights
  Gustav causes flight cancellations between the United States and Haiti, Belize - Forecasters say Gustav could dump up to 20 inches of rain in some areas - Gustav could become Category 3 storm, with winds of at least 111 mph - Hurricane warnings, watches issued in Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica
• 2008/08/26: PhysOrg: Hurricane Gustav slams Haiti, aims at Cuba
• 2008/08/26: Wunderground: Intensifying Gustav bears down on Haiti [Cat 1]
• 2008/08/26: Wunderground: Gustav hits Haiti and weakens
• 2008/08/26: Yahoo: Hurricane Gustav aims for U.S. Gulf oil facilities
• 2008/08/26: WSJ:EnvCap: Storm Surge: Hurricane Gustav Drives Up Oil Prices
• 2008/08/25: CBC: Dominican Republic, Haiti under hurricane warnings
• 2008/08/26: CBC: Hurricane Gustav strikes Haiti
• 2008/08/26: Reuters: Hurricane Gustav hits Haiti and takes aim at Gulf
• 2008/08/25: Wunderground: Tropical Storm Gustav forms
• 2008/08/25: Wunderground: Dangerous Caribbean disturbance 94L: deja vu?
• 2008/08/25: Wunderground: A strengthening Gustav takes aim at Haiti

  Elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2008/08/30: WSWS: Three years since Hurricane Katrina
• 2008/08/29: Pravda: Hurricane hunters fly 72-million-dollar [C-130] plane into Gustav's center
• 2008/08/29: ClimateP: The Storm of the Century (so far) [Katrina]
• 2008/08/28: AP: New Katrina death tally: Half of victims 75 and up
• 2008/08/28: PhysOrg: New Katrina death tally: Half of victims 75 and up
• 2008/08/27: ZMag: Three Years After Katrina -- While Republicans and Democrats Gather and Celebrate, A City Still Searches for Recovery
• 2008/08/28: Eureka: Saving lives through smarter hurricane evacuations -- MIT student's software seen aiding emergency officials' decision-making
• 2008/08/25: CCurrents: Katrina Pain Index -- New Orleans Three Years Later
• 2008/08/26: EnvEcon: 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Tally: 3

  As for GHGs:

• 2008/08/27: WaPo: Power-Sector Emissions Of China To Top U.S.
• 2008/08/29: NewScientist: 'Unbreakable' greenhouse gas [CFCs] meets its doom at last
• 2008/08/27: SeattlePI: Global Warming: Soot-covered gold [GHGs]
• 2008/08/27: WaPo: Power-Sector Emissions Of China To Top U.S.
• 2008/08/27: DerSpiegel: Meat's contribution to global warming - 'The Cow Is a Climate Bomb'

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2008/08/28: Yahoo: Carbon clues to when Greenland was a green land
• 2008/08/28: SciDaily: Why Is Greenland Covered In Ice? Changes In Carbon Dioxide Levels Explain Transition
• 2008/08/27: PhysOrg: Why is Greenland covered in ice?
• 2008/08/27: SciDaily: Hot And Cold: Circulation Of Atmosphere Affected Mediterranean Climate During Last Ice Age [19-23 kya]
• 2008/08/27: Eureka: Why is Greenland covered in ice?
  Only changes in carbon dioxide levels are able to explain the transition from the mostly ice-free Greenland of three million years ago, to the ice-covered Greenland of today There have been many reports in the media about the effects of global warming on the Greenland ice-sheet, but there is still great uncertainty as to why there is an ice-sheet there at all. Reporting today (28 August) in the journal Nature, scientists at the University of Bristol and the University of Leeds show that only changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide are able to explain the transition from the mostly ice-free Greenland of three million years ago, to the ice-covered Greenland of today. Understanding why the ice formed on Greenland three million years ago will help understand the possible response of the ice sheet to future climate change.

Glaciers are melting:

• 2008/08/20: TriStateObs: Bering Glacier Melting Faster Than Scientists Thought
• 2008/08/27: NewScientist: When glaciers disappear, the bugs move in

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2008/08/27: WaPo: Report: Climate Shift Could Profoundly Alter Maryland Shore
• 2008/08/27: PeakEnergy: Redrawing The Coastline Of West Africa
• 2008/08/26: Pravda: Ocean turns southern coast of Ghana into Atlantis

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2008/08/27: SciDaily: Taking Earth's Temperature Via Satellite

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2008/08/26: SF Gate: Krill rebound - key link in ocean food chain
  After three lean years, the ocean off California's coast this summer is suddenly rich in nutrients, and creatures - from microscopic krill to humpback whales - are thriving anew. But whether this abundance will continue in coming seasons or is merely a bright blip in an otherwise discouraging picture year-after-year can't be predicted, say scientists monitoring the sea's productivity. The cycles of life in the Earth's warming climate are changing.
• 2008/08/26: IndexResearch: On The Road To Extinction
• 2008/08/27: KSJT: SF Chronicle: Hey, warming or no warming, the sea off California is cold again & that's good
• 2008/08/27: KSJT: SciDev.net: Brazil's farmer face huge challenge if climate follows the forecast warming
• 2008/08/26: Guardian(UK): Whales losing blubber, claims controversial Japanese study
• 2008/08/26: PhysOrg: Alpine lakes beginning to show effects of climate change
• 2008/08/25: UN: UN warns of impact of climate change on South Asia

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2008/08/31: PhysOrg: Amazon deforestation on the rise
  Amazon deforestation jumped 69 percent in the past 12 months - the first such increase in three years - as rising demand for soy and cattle pushes farmers and ranchers to raze trees, officials said Saturday
• 2008/08/30: CBC: Amazon deforestation increases by 69% in last 12 months
• 2008/08/27: WorldChanging: Seeing Climate Change Through the Trees
• 2008/08/28: MongaBay: Palm oil producers in Indonesia reject moratorium on forest destruction
  Palm oil companies operating in Indonesia have rejected a proposed moratorium on clearing forests and peatlands for oil palm plantations, reports the Jakarta Post. The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) -- a group with 250 palm oil producers -- said that a ban on converting natural ecosystem for oil palm estates would hurt the economy, increasing unemployment and poverty.
• 2008/08/26: Guardian(UK): We can't stop climate change in a deforesting world
• 2008/08/25: TreeHugger: Submerged Forests to be Harvested in Ghana, Touted As Way to Slow Tropical Deforestation

  Corals are dying:

• 2008/08/27: PLoS One: Climate Warming, Marine Protected Areas and the Ocean-Scale Integrity of Coral Reef Ecosystems by Nicholas A. J. Graham et al.
• 2008/08/27: SciDaily: Researching Impact Of Global Warming On Corals

  We have heatwaves and wild fires:

  As for wild fires:
• 2008/08/27: CSM: As wildfires spread, so does the red ink -- US and state officials start to boost firefighting budgets and weigh other reforms

  As for hydrological cycle disruption:

• 2008/08/31: BBC: 'Big Dry' turns farms into deserts -- Australian farmers helpless against drought
• 2008/08/29: Pravda: Heavy rains hit Japan, one killed
• 2008/08/28: PhysOrg: Fay leaves behind lots of water for Florida lake [Okeechobee]
  Tropical Storm Fay brought some good news to the state's parched Everglades and its liquid heart, Lake Okeechobee - lots and lots of water. The lake, a backup drinking water source for 5 million people, rose more than 2 feet in a single week. That's about 288 billion gallons, equivalent to about 84 days worth of water...
• 2008/08/27: Xinhuanet: Rains in Panama leave 800 homeless
• 2008/08/25: TerraDaily: Drought stricken, Iran buys US wheat for first time in 27 years
• 2008/08/26: NakedCapitalism: Policy Object Lesson: Australia's Water Woes
• 2008/08/24: AbqJournal: Research: Southwest Is Drier Already
• 2008/08/25: CBC: Interlake farmers struggle with high water

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2008/08/27: NatureTGB: Coral protection zones don't work
• 2008/08/27: NewScientist: No-take zones offer no boost for bleached reefs

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2008/08/29: Times(UK): Zoom airline collapses and halts all flights
  [...] More than two dozen airlines around the world have been forced into bankruptcy this year because of rising oil prices and the economic slowdown in North America and Europe.

While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

• 2008/08/28: NYT: Carbon Footprint: Saving at Home

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2008/08/28: KSJT: San Diego Union-Tribune: Fixing CO2 with synthetic biofuels, buried timber, and other ideas
• 2008/08/25: GristMill: Energy at the crossroads -- Carbon sequestration is a GM solution; we need a Honda solution
• 2008/08/25: SciDaily: [Norway] Researching Most Promising Carbon Dioxide Capture Technologies

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2008/08/28: BSD: Unilateral geoengineering against the global interest

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2008/08/29: NatureCF: It's conservation -- but not as we know it

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2008/08/29: ACP: Airborne dust distributions over the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding areas derived from the first year of CALIPSO lidar observations by Z. Liu et al.
• 2008/08/25: CPD: Modelling Maastrichtian climate: investigating the role of geography, atmospheric CO2 and vegetation by S. J. Hunter et al.
• 2008/08/26: TC: Benchmark experiments for higher-order and full-Stokes ice sheet models (ISMIP-HOM) by F. Pattyn et al.
• 2008/08/14: GRL: (ab$) Winter "weekend effect" in southern Europe and its connections with periodicities in atmospheric dynamics by A. Sanchez-Lorenzo et al.
• 2008/08/27: ACP: Twelve years of global observations of formaldehyde in the troposphere using GOME and SCIAMACHY sensors by I. De Smedt et al.
• 2008/08/27: ACP: Aerosol direct radiative effect in the Po Valley region derived from AERONET measurements by M. Clerici & F. Mélin
• 2008/08/27: ACP: Effects of dust storms on microwave radiation based on satellite observation and model simulation over the Taklamakan desert by J. Ge et al.
• 2008/08/27: ACPD: Large-scale planetary disturbances in stratospheric temperature at high-latitudes in the Southern Summer Hemisphere by M. G. Shepherd & T. Tsuda
• 2008/08/25: ACPD: Properties of aerosols and their wet deposition in the arctic spring during ASTAR2004 at Ny-Alesund, Svalbard by S. Yamagata et al.
• 2008/08/27: PLoS One: Climate Warming, Marine Protected Areas and the Ocean-Scale Integrity of Coral Reef Ecosystems by Nicholas A. J. Graham et al.
• 2008/08/26: PNAS: Ice cores record significant 1940s Antarctic warmth related to tropical climate variability by David P. Schneider & Eric J. Steig
• 2008/08/26: PNAS: Ecological changes in Miocene mammalian record show impact of prolonged climatic forcing by Catherine Badgley et al.
• 2008/08/26: PNAS: Coal burning leaves toxic heavy metal legacy in the Arctic by Joseph R. McConnell & Ross Edwards

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

• 2008/08/28: SciDaily: Cluster Watches Earth's Leaky Atmosphere
• 2008/08/27: NewScientist: How viruses short-circuit the deep sea food chain
• 2008/08/27: PhysOrg: Viruses are hidden drivers of ocean's nutrient cycle
  Scientists on Wednesday said they had discovered deep-sea viruses to be an unexpectedly potent driver of the so-called carbon cycle that sustains oceanic life and helps dampen global warming

More Hansen:

• 2008/08/27: ClimateP: Right for 27 years: 1981 Hansen study finds warming trend that could raise sea levels

  On the international political front:

• 2008/08/27: Xinhuanet: World Bank says developing nations need $170 bln to mitigate climate change
• 2008/08/25: SF Gate: Why doesn't U.S. join Law of the Sea treaty?

  And the carbon trading front:

• 2008/08/29: WorldChanging: How Europe Does It [EU ETS]
• 2008/08/26: BBerg: UN Carbon Trade `Expensive and Slow,' World Bank Says
• 2008/08/27: NEN: The economics of emissions offsets trading

  As for GW & security:

• 2008/08/26: TerraDaily: Climate Change Could Be Impetus For Wars, Other Conflicts
• 2008/08/25: ABC(Au): Analyst [Gwynne Dyer] warns of looming global climate wars
  The prospect of global wars driven by climate change is not something often discussed publicly by our political leaders. But according to one of America's top military analysts, governments in the US and UK are already being briefed by their own military strategists about how to prepare for a world of mass famine, floods of refugees and even nuclear conflicts over resources.

On the American political front:

• 2008/08/29: GristMill: Voters' Voices: Virginia II -- Talking with voters in central Virginia about the environment and the election
• 2008/08/28: ClimateP: Brookings [Institution] joins the realists: 7 Years to Climate Midnight
• 2008/08/28: ClimateP: Pickens in a pickle: He embraces progressive policies but not progressive politicians
• 2008/08/27: ENN: Utility fees sought for environmental research center [California]
• 2008/08/26: ClimateP: The New Energy Economy and Green Jobs
• 2008/08/26: TreeHugger: Quote of the Day: What's So Funny About Wind Power?
• 2008/08/25: DeSmogBlog: Capitol Hill candidates urging inaction on global warming
• 2008/08/26: Eureka: DOE official cites need for major breakthroughs to cope with climate change
• 2008/08/26: ESA: Ecological Society of America Criticizes Bush Administration's Overhaul of the Endangered Species Act
• 2008/08/26: NEN: Utah wants new energy, new attitude
• 2008/08/26: WSJ:EnvCap: Going Nuclear: Will Dems Support Nukes To Fight Climate Change?
• 2008/08/24: NatureCF: US climate report comes under fire
• 2008/08/25: CSW: Climate science advice to next administration is good start, broader focus needed for preparedness

  The Republicans are struggling to react to Gustav:

• 2008/08/29: FauxNews: Gustav Threatens GOP Convention Plans
  [...] Karl Rove, a former adviser to President Bush, [...] "The Republicans can't seem to get a break when it comes to August and when it comes to the weather," said Rove...
• 2008/08/29: ClimateP: Rove On Hurricanes In August: "The Republicans Can't Seem To Get A Break"
• 2008/08/29: GristMill: RNC possibly delayed by Tropical Storm Gustav? Natural disasters, evacuated oil rigs might cause a PR disaster for the GOP
• 2008/08/29: WaPo: GOP Considers Delaying Convention -- Tropical Storm Gustav Is Forecast to Hit U.S. Next Week as Hurricane
• 2008/08/28: ThinkP: Hagee Ministries: 'No Comment' on Tropical Storm Gustav
• 2008/08/27: ClimateP: Major hurricane tracks to New Orleans on eve of Republican Convention?
• 2008/08/27: ThinkP: Huckabee jokes that Republicans have 'called in Pat Robertson to pray' Hurricane Gustav 'off the coast.'

  One hears a lot about the campaigns, not much about their climate & energy policies:

• 2008/08/29: SciDebate2008: Barack Obama's answers to the top 14 science questions facing America
• 2008/08/30: ClimateP: George Will nails the difference between conservatives and progressives [2008]
• 2008/08/29: ClimateP: McCain VP Palin is a global-warming-denying, polar-bear-dissing, Pat Buchanan acolyte
• 2008/08/30: HillHeat: Gov. Sarah Palin Questions Anthropogenic Climate Change and Evolution
• 2008/08/30: CSW: Alaska Gov. Palin appears to deny global warming is due to human activity
• 2008/08/29: ENS: Democratic Nominee Obama Vows to Defeat Climate Change
• 2008/08/28: ClimateP: Obama convention speech on energy
• 2008/08/29: GristMill: Palin around -- The eco-rundown on Alaska guv Sarah Palin, John McCain's veep pick
• 2008/08/29: CSW: Did Gov. Palin misrepresent views of Alaska scientists on threat to polar bear?
• 2008/08/29: CSW: Gov. Sarah Palin on polar bears, climate change, and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
• 2008/08/29: WSJ:EnvCap: Obama's Green Dream: Would His Renewable-Energy Plan Make a Difference?
• 2008/08/29: WSJ:EnvCap: Palin Drone: McCain's VP Pick Even More Bullish on Drilling
• 2008/08/29: AutoBG: Taking an in-depth look at the Obama energy proposals including a VC fund
• 2008/08/29: TP:WonkRoom: Sarah Palin: A Champion For Big Oil
• 2008/08/29: ThinkP: [Governor Sarah] Palin (R-AK) denies global warming is man-made
• 2008/08/26: ClimateP: Should you freak out at the lack of air time for climate change in Denver -- or Minneapolis?
• 2008/08/27: TreeHugger: John McCain on Amtrak
• 2008/08/26: DeSmogBlog: Clean Coal propaganda at the Democratic Convention
• 2008/08/26: Reuters: New US president seen struggling on climate
• 2008/08/26: WSJ:EnvCap: Obama's Climate: Candidate Says He'd Push Hard to Curb Carbon
• 2008/08/26: ThinkP: McCain's GOP platform contains 'caveats about the uncertainty' of climate science
• 2008/08/24: ClimateP: Why Biden is such an important pick for those who care about the climate
• 2008/08/25: NGE: You ain't seen nothing yet [US energy]

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2008/08/29: Reuters: Gore hailed, warns against McCain, climate change
• 2008/08/28: ClimateP: Gore warns about McCain policies: "Hey, I believe in recycling, but that's ridiculous"

  While in the UK:

• 2008/08/28: EnvFin: UK government to measure carbon in supply chain
• 2008/08/30: Guardian(UK): Johnson unveils secret weapon in war on climate change - the roof garden
• 2008/08/29: Guardian(UK): Mayor's global warming plan aims to cool London -- Urban greening, flood risk management and cooler buildings are part of the mayor's strategy to cope with climate change
• 2008/08/29: Guardian(UK): The mayor must act on global warming
  I welcome today's strategy on coping with climate change, but it's time Boris Johnson backed up his amusing words with action
• 2008/08/29: Guardian(UK): London's defences against climate change to tackle heat and rain
• 2008/08/29: KSJT: The Telegraph: UK Minister says [f]irst off, we need energy. Second comes climate protection
• 2008/08/29: PlanetArk: E.ON to Appeal Over Scottish Wind Farm Rejection
• 2008/08/25: ENN: Environment agency warns [UK] government over climate change damage

  And in Europe:

• 2008/08/28: Forbes:Reuters: EU lawmakers urge caution on bloc's carbon curbs
• 2008/08/28: NewScientist: EU lawmakers get cold feet over CO2 curbs
• 2008/08/25: DerSpiegel: German Business Attacks Ministry's Plan for Green Tax System
  German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel wants to cut taxes for green consumer products and environmentally-friendly corporate investments in a tax overhaul aimed at cutting CO2 emissions. But Germany's business lobby is against the plan.
• 2008/08/26: EurActiv: Study: Carmakers still way off EU climate targets
• 2008/08/26: EUO: German cars lead CO2 reductions league
• 2008/08/26: PhysOrg: Carmakers falling short on EU emissions targets: report
• 2008/08/25: SwissInfo: End of the road for large cars?
  Polluting, gas-guzzling cars will be banned from Swiss roads if voters approve a proposal by the youth section of the Green Party. The Young Greens have collected enough signatures to call a nationwide vote on their initiative launched under the name: "For more people-friendly vehicles".

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2008/08/29: PeakEnergy: The Jaded Greenie's Translation Service [Aus pol]
• 2008/08/31: SMH: Money is no object in battle to save planet
  A major survey of Australians' views on climate change has found an overwhelming majority think it is happening and they're prepared to pay to address it. The study by University of Technology Sydney found Australians wanted to see cuts in the nation's greenhouse gas emissions irrespective of the actions of other countries. Researchers quizzed 768 people, who were chosen randomly but with a method to ensure the sample was reflective of the Australian population. The key findings include that 83.7 per cent believed global warming was occurring and, of those, 84.9 per cent said Australia should proceed with an emissions trading scheme (ETS) regardless of the international response. "The bottom line from this study is that Australians think now is the time to adopt a climate change program that has some real teeth," visiting economics professor at UTS Richard Carson said. "They believe that climate change will cause serious problems in Australia and elsewhere in the world, and they understand there will be sizeable cost going along with it."
• 2008/08/29: ABC(Au): MP wants carbon emission labelling
• 2008/08/29: ABC(Au): Palerang Council to develop climate change policy
• 2008/08/29: SMH: Greens flexing Senate muscles
  The Greens will drive a hard bargain on all subsidies given to the fossil fuel industry before agreeing to pass legislation that would end Woodside Petroleum's tax exemption on condensate, a light crude oil extracted from North-West Shelf gas. The Coalition has vowed to block the budget measure removing the exemption, worth $2.5 billion during the next four years, leaving the Government dependent on the votes of the five Greens Senators plus Nick Xenophon and Steve Fielding.
• 2008/08/28: ABC(Au): The Greens say the Rudd Government hasn't kept its election promise to rule out a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory
• 2008/08/27: ABC(Au): The Senate has passed a motion to set up an urgent inquiry aimed at replenishing the Murray River system's lower reaches
• 2008/08/27: ABC(Au): Greens appeal for Murray inquiry support
• 2008/08/26: OilChange: Oz Bans Shale-Oil Mine
• 2008/08/25: SMH: Means test didn't cut solar panel demand
• 2008/08/25: PeakEnergy: No Shale Oil Development In Queensland

  The Rudd Labour government is wrestling with the details of its emissions trading scheme [Au-ETS]:

• 2008/08/29: ABC(Au): Carbon emitters air concerns over trading scheme
  Some of Australia's largest greenhouse gas emitters have aired their views on the proposed emissions trading scheme in meetings with Federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson today. Miners and energy generators are concerned the move to put a price on carbon will have a dramatic effect on their businesses
• 2008/08/29: ABC(Au): Greens pressure Ferguson to reveal business emissions plan
  The Greens are demanding to know what plan Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson is putting to business groups about emissions trading.
• 2008/08/29: ABC(Au): Emissions trading scheme compo in the spotlight
  Federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson is today meeting some of Australia's biggest greenhouse gas emitters to discuss compensation under the proposed emissions trading scheme.
• 2008/08/28: ABC(Au): Govt to talk emissions with big players
  Some of Australia's largest energy and mining companies are venturing to Canberra today to raise their concerns about the Federal Government's emissions trading scheme
• 2008/08/28: ABC(Au): Business Council denies seeking 'free ride' on climate change
• 2008/08/28: ABC(Au): Business Council denies emissions trade delaying tactics
  The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has defended itself against claims it is trying to slow down the introduction of an emissions trading scheme.
• 2008/08/27: ABC(Au): Power generators fear carbon permit cost
  Latrobe Valley power generators are concerned they will be unable to pay the prices being suggested for carbon permits under the Federal Government's proposed carbon trading scheme.
• 2008/08/27: ABC(Au): Emission cuts: showing the world it can be done
• 2008/08/27: SMH: Plea for unity to cut emissions
  Big business has urged the Federal Government and Opposition to work together on the emissions trading scheme, warning it is too big an economic change to be used as a political football. The head of the Business Council of Australia, Greig Gailey, will tonight also warn the Government that the scheme could lose it votes unless people are properly compensated for the anticipated rises in the cost of power. "Uncertainty is the great enemy of investment," Mr Gailey said. "The impact of the [emissions trading system] is just too great for us to be at the mercy of party politics. We ask both parties to forswear opposition for opposition's sake." The council last week released modelling predicting dire consequences for industry if the Government went ahead with the emissions trading system in its existing design.
• 2008/08/26: ABC(Au): Where is the big picture? [Aus pol]
  The Business Council of Australia recently released a controversial report on the Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. The report advocates addressing climate change while in the same breadth proposes to rip the guts out of the Government's emissions trading scheme...

While in Japan:

• 2008/08/29: TreeHugger: Japan to Spend $4 Billion Next Year to Reduce Carbon Emissions: Develop Clean Energy Solutions, Electric Vehicles, Carbon Capture & Storage
• 2008/08/27: AutoBG: Is Japan ready for the EV revolution? Sure looks like it

  In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, thumped around the Arctic making pronouncements apparently in preparation for an October election. [See also: Arctic above]:

• 2008/08/30: Dominion: The Conservative message on the North? Militarize it.
• 2008/08/27: TStar: Harper predicts minority
  [...] Harper announced that Canada is proposing to extend its territorial waters in the Arctic to 200 nautical miles to both assert its sovereignty over shipping and to enforce anti-pollution rules.
• 2008/08/29: CanWest: Dion failed to protect polar bears, Tories say
  The polar bear has been tossed into the choppy waters of Canadian electoral politics, with Environment Minister John Baird accusing Liberal Leader Stephane Dion of a "failure of leadership" in protecting the Arctic icon when he was environment minister.

The Liberal Green Shift carbon tax plan is still getting press:

• 2008/08/27: CanWest: Green Shift can benefit Alberta -- Rather than siphoning money out of the province, Liberals' proposed carbon tax may result in Alberta receiving revenue transfers
• 2008/08/29: G&M: Liberal MPs seek changes to Green Shift plan
  Only one week before they expect to be plunged into a federal election campaign, some Liberal MPs are still hoping to make "adjustments" to the centrepiece of their party's platform -- the risky proposal to impose a carbon tax. They want Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to massage the so-called Green Shift to make it more palatable to farmers, truckers, rural residents and others who stand to be hardest hit by a tax on fossil fuels and who have not yet been appeased by the promise of offsetting income tax cuts and tax benefits. Having spent the summer consulting with Canadians about the Green Shift, Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter said Mr. Dion and his MPs must now decide how to respond to some of the concerns that have been raised.

The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:

• 2008/08/29: CBC: Greenpeace says Syncrude is trying to 'cripple' it with lawsuit -- Oilsands company seeks $120,000 in damages plus legal costs after July protest
  A lawsuit brought by Syncrude Canada is an attempt to burden Greenpeace Canada financially and silence other critics of the oilsands, the environmental group says. The lawsuit comes more than a month after Greenpeace staged a protest at Syncrude's oilsands plant near Fort McMurray in northern Alberta. Activists unfurled two banners at the same tailing pond where 500 ducks died last April. In a news release from Edmonton, Greenpeace spokesman Mike Hudema said the lawsuit -- which seeks an injunction against the group and $120,000 in damages, plus legal costs -- "is designed to financially cripple a non-profit organization and intimidate critics of the tar sands. "Syncrude does not want a lantern hung on the world's dirtiest oil project."
• 2008/08/27: TStar: Canada to sell Obama, McCain on tar sands -- Denver session today begins campaign to scrub 'dirty oil' label
• 2008/08/25: PeakEnergy: Buffett, Gates, mutant fish frame oil sands debate
• 2008/08/25: CBC: Oil, gas firms step up lobbying effort aimed at Tory government
  The Canadian corporate giants dominating Alberta oilsands extraction and refining lobbied the federal government intensively this summer, federal records show. The campaign began shortly after Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion unveiled his plan for $15 billion worth of new taxes on carbon emissions and continued through July.

As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2008/08/25: CBC: Quebec town lands solar-panel plant
  Norwegian solar company Renewable Energy Corp. plans to spend at least $1.2 billion US and employ 300 people to build a silicon materials plant for solar panels in Bécancour, Que. Premier Jean Charest is to participate in a news conference Monday to formally announce that Hydro-Québec, the province's energy utility, will provide the Norwegian company with a 20-year agreement to purchase electricity at a "competitive industrial rate." The cheap energy supply was key to the location of the plant, because the production of polysilicon is energy intensive. Norway's REC said it preferred using non-carbon based renewable energy to limit the environmental impact of producing solar cells and panels; most of Quebec's electricity is generated by water power. Construction is expected to start in 2010, with production being available two years later.

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

• 2008/08/30: GristMill: SFN: A slow food preamble -- Wendell Berry's statement of facts
• 2008/08/29: GristMill: Slow Food Nation: Revolutionary diet -- Slow foodies unveil declaration of sustainability
• 2008/08/25: MR: The Myth of the Tragedy of the Commons
• 2008/08/29: PeakEnergy: The myth of the tragedy of the commons
• 2008/08/27: CCurrents: Slow Food Nation To Release Healthy Food And Agriculture Declaration

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

• 2008/08/27: KSJT: Chicago Tribune: Save planet, have fewer kids (and maybe we OWE China some carbon credits)
• 2008/08/27: ChicagoTrib: Scientists: Save the planet -- have fewer kids -- As rising populations strain a warming planet, a British journal [BMJ] suggests having smaller families
• 2008/08/26: AccraMail: Energy and overpopulation: Man's biggest challenges

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2008/08/26: CJR: Public Opinion and Climate: Part I -- Have the media failed to help people "get" it?
• 2008/08/27: CJR: Public Opinion and Climate: Part II -- Where's the consensus, and where does it end?

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2008/08/28: EnvFin: States sue EPA over refinery GHGs
• 2008/08/28: NEN: States sue EPA for oil refinery emissions
• 2008/08/26: NYT: E.P.A. Sued by 12 States to Regulate Oil Refineries
• 2008/08/26: SeattlePI: State joins suit filed against the EPA

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

• 2008/08/31: PeakEnergy: The Summer Of Shale [North America natural gas]
• 2008/08/31: SMH: Wind turbines have farmers spinning out -- Rural communities are splintering over plans to build dozens of wind turbines in southern NSW
• 2008/08/28: EnvFin: Profits and revenues soar [150%] at Babcock & Brown Wind
• 2008/08/20: MIT: MIT engineers work toward cell-sized batteries -- Microbatteries could power tomorrow's miniature devices
• 2008/08/29: NYT: High & Low Finance - Sense and Reality on Energy
• 2008/08/27: MongaBay: Biofuels 200 times more expensive than forest conservation for global warming mitigation
• 2008/08/28: TreeHugger: Rooftop Turbines vs. Offshore Wind Farms
• 2008/08/28: BBC: Czech power firm CEZ is to build what it says will be Europe's largest onshore wind farm, in a £1.1bn-euro (£598m) project
• 2008/08/27: NakedCapitalism: EIA Revises Down June Oil Demand by "Stunning" Amount
• 2008/08/27: DotEarth: If You Love Wind...[you've got to at least like transmission]
• 2008/08/26: GWWatch: Aussie solar generation -- where are you?
• 2008/08/27: TreeHugger: Romanian Windfarm Takes "Europe's Largest" Title Away From Scotland
• 2008/08/27: DeSmogBlog: Clean Energy Hits US Gridlock
• 2008/08/27: WSJ:EnvCap: Storm Surge: Gustav Fears Send Oil Price Up
• 2008/08/27: WSJ:EnvCap: Pay Me: Will Congress Extend Wind, Solar Tax Breaks?
• 2008/08/27: NYT: Wind Energy Bumps Into Power Grid's Limits
• 2008/08/27: BBC: The price of oil climbed on Wednesday as Tropical Storm Gustav headed towards the Gulf of Mexico - home to many offshore energy installations
• 2008/08/27: Yahoo: Oil moving higher as Gustav spins toward Gulf
• 2008/08/26: Guardian(UK): Reaping the windfall
  The current system of energy supply, with massive profits made by energy companies, is unsustainable. But there is a fairer way
• 2008/08/26: NEN: Arabian desert solar: Better than Russian gas via Georgia
• 2008/08/25: USAToday: Wind, solar projects race to finish before tax credit expires
• 2008/08/25: PhysOrg: Catalyst for water oxidation adopted from plants: a means for energy-efficient production of hydrogen?
• 2008/08/25: Atmoz: Reducing U.S. Oil Imports by More than 90%
• 2008/08/25: TreeHugger: Pickens Plan a "Herculean effort that simply may not be achievable": Vaclav Smil
• 2008/08/25: Eureka: Future for clean energy lies in 'big bang' of evolution -- Bacteria hold keys for our future
  Amid mounting agreement that future clean, "carbon-neutral", energy will rely on efficient conversion of the sun's light energy into fuels and electric power, attention is focusing on one of the most ancient groups of organism, the cyanobacteria. Dramatic progress has been made over the last decade understanding the fundamental reaction of photosynthesis that evolved in cyanobacteria 3.7 billion years ago...
• 2008/08/25: Eureka: Why wind turbines can mean death for bats
• 2008/08/25: NEN: [North Carolina] Utilities build sun (as a start)
• 2008/08/25: CBC: Pressure drop causing wind turbine bat deaths, say Calgary researchers

  The UN issued a report on fossil fuel subsidies:

• 2008/08/29: NEN: A [UN] word about energy subsidies
• 2008/08/26: UN: Slashing fossil fuel subsidies could curb greenhouse gas emissions -- UN
• 2008/08/27: Google:AP: UN urges phasing out of energy subsidies
• 2008/08/27: Xinhuanet: UN: Cutting fossil fuel subsidies could reduce greenhouse gas emission
• 2008/08/27: TreeHugger: U.N. Study: Scrapping Fuel Subsidies Can Help Fight Global Warming and Boost World Economy
• 2008/08/26: Reuters: Scrapping [fossil] fuel subsidies can help climate-UN study

  As for the impacts of high energy costs:

• 2008/08/27: Reuters: US heating oil dealers clamp down on unpaid bills

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2008/08/28: TreeHugger: Solar Thermal Really Heats Up in Nevada: BrightSource Plans 1200 MW Facilty Outside Las Vegas
• 2008/08/28: TreeHugger: Nanosolar Raises $300 Million, Plans to Further Accelerate Production
• 2008/08/28: NEN: More silicon, more sun, all over the world
• 2008/08/26: TreeHugger: 250 Megawatt Integrated Solar Power Facility Planned for West Bengal, India
• 2008/08/25: SciDaily: Converting Sunlight To Cheaper Energy [OrganicPV]

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2008/08/29: DotEarth: The Enduring Allure of 'Clean Coal'
• 2008/08/29: DeSmogBlog: NY Time's Andy Revkin on the 'Allure of Clean Coal'
• 2008/08/26: DeSmogBlog: Clean Coal swag at Democratic Convention eliciting cynical repsonse
• 2008/08/26: Reuters: Russia coal exporters told to prioritise domestic supply
• 2008/08/25: CPI:PTB: Big Coal's Big-Time Lobby
• 2008/08/24: GristMill: The (renewable) electron economy, part 7 -- A choice of primary energies: clean coal takes the bronze

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2008/08/27: AutoBG: Ethanol being blamed for small engine failures
• 2008/08/25: WorldChanging: Roundtable Reviews International Biofuel Standard

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2008/08/27: EnergyDaily: South Korea to build 10 more nuclear plants by 2030
• 2008/08/25: GristMill: The (renewable) electron economy, part 8 -- A choice of primary energies: nuclear power takes the silver

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2008/08/25: LRB: Past Its Peak - Unlike the oil 'shocks' of the 1970s, the current energy crisis is almost certain to be long-lasting [Michael Klare]

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2008/08/28: GristMill: Decoupling details -- Kansas conversations on utilities and efficiency
• 2008/08/28: TreeHugger: The Archdruid Nails It: Energy Conservation, Not Efficiency, Is Key

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

• 2008/08/31: WaPo: Want a Better Way to Power Your Car? It's a Breeze
• 2008/08/30: AutoBG: Toyota notices electric car bandwagon, jumps on
• 2008/08/29: AutoBG: Financial Times confirms Tesla to supply batteries for [Daimler's] electric Smart
• 2008/08/28: TreeHugger: Crossing Canada on an Electric Bike Using Only $10 of Electricity
• 2008/08/28: AutoBG: BMW has biggest reduction in CO2 of any major automaker
• 2008/08/27: PostCarbon: GM Pines for Electric Car
• 2008/08/27: AutoBG: Hey automaker! How's your CO2 quota for the week?
• 2008/08/27: AutoBG: Marauding electric scooter gang goes on college campus rampage [cars]
• 2008/08/25: ABC(Au): Hit the gas: Hydrogen [fuel cell] cars cross USA

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2008/08/28: EnvFin: Hedging weather risk 'boosts global economy' -- study
• 2008/08/28: NYT: Xcel to Disclose Global Warming Risks
  One of the country's largest builders of coal-fired power plants will give investors detailed warnings about the risks that global warming poses to its business under a deal with New York's attorney general. The agreement Wednesday between the attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, and the company, Xcel Energy of Minneapolis, is the first of its kind in the country. It could open a broad new front in efforts by environmental groups to pressure the energy industry into reducing emissions of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Until now, advocates have largely relied on shareholder resolutions as a way of pushing the companies to reduce their carbon dioxide output and invest more aggressively in renewable energy sources like wind or solar power. That effort has picked up pace, according to Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups, with dozens of shareholder resolutions filed during the 2008 financial reporting season. "This really takes it another step, by making it a settlement agreement that should have an impact across the industry," said Dan Bakal, the director of electric power programs at Ceres.
• 2008/08/28: OilChange: A New Precedent to Tackle Climate Change
  One of the America's largest builders of coal-fired power plants [Xcel Energy of Minneapolis] has been forced to now give investors detailed warnings about the risks that climate change poses to its business.

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2008/08/29: Guardian(UK): Economics is not a value-free science
  Bjorn Lomborg reduces everything to numbers. But by putting a price on the priceless, we risk losing it
• 2008/08/28: DeSmogBlog: Warning: online scammer hypes fake global warming conference
• 2008/08/28: Deltoid: About that Arctic sea ice ...
• 2008/08/27: KSJT: The Register, a correction, and a blogger's retort: The truth on the melting of the Arctic
• 2008/08/25: PNT: More economists weigh in on The Lomborg
• 2008/08/25: PNT: A challenge to economists [Lomborg]
• 2008/08/25: DeSmogBlog: Arctic Ice melt media misinformation retracted
• 2008/08/25: ClimateP: A new Olympic record for retraction of a denier talking point
• 2008/08/25: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science XVIII

  Then there was yer generic news and commentary:

• 2008/08/30: FergusB: Renewable energy and climate change; pluck, phlegm and spunk
• 2008/08/29: RealClimate: Friday round-up...a few pieces that have caught our eye this week
• 2008/08/29: Reuters: Climate fight hit by global slowdown
• 2008/08/28: WaPo: 7 Years to Climate Midnight
  The world may have only seven years to start reducing the annual buildup in greenhouse gas emissions that otherwise threatens global catastrophe within several decades. That means that between Inauguration Day in January 2009 and 2015, either John McCain or Barack Obama will face the most momentous political challenge of all time.
• 2008/08/28: NewScientist: The weekends are more rainy -- and it may be our fault
• 2008/08/29: SciAlert: Climate code red - the case for emergency action
• 2008/08/27: ClimateP: Must have PPT #1: The narrow temperature window that gave us modern human civilization
• 2008/08/27: SantaFeReporter: Feel The Heat -- Behind the headlines, scientists warn that climate change is already hitting New Mexico
• 2008/08/27: CSM: The greatest failure of thought in human history -- To solve climate change, we must overcome "systems blindness."
• 2008/08/24: MTobis: An Idea for Breaking the Carbon Logjam
• 2008/08/25: Guardian(UK): Can a dose of recession solve climate change?
  Subverting the growth-at-all-costs model is appealing but not politically feasible

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

• Clean Break [Note Change of Address]
• AMSR-E: Daily Updated AMSR-E Sea Ice Maps
• EAB: Environmental Action Blog
• Carbon Trade Watch
• DeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science
• The Great Warming
• Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
• Climate Prediction Net
• BBC Climate Change Experiment
• Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center
• GFDL: Mike Winton (homepage)
• GoS: Grains of Sand - Observations from a strange planet
• SciAct: The Scientific Activist: Reporting from the Crossroads of Science and Politics
• Earth Future - Climate & Energy
• ScienceBlog

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.

P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.

"And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East." -Barack Obama, Denver, Aug 28,2008

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