Another Week of GW News, October 26, 2008

Sipping from the internet firehose...

(skip to bottom)

October 26, 2008

• Top Stories:Bailout, Green Solutions, WWF, EU Airlines & GHGs, 40 Major Cities, Francophonie
• Melting Arctic, NF3, Speth, Monbiot, Late Comments
• Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, The Temperature Record, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, Sea Levels, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Sequestration, Geoengineering
• Journals, Misc. Science, Spencer, Hansen
• Kyoto, Kyoto-2, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics: America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
• Energy, High Cost Impacts, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing, Insurance
• Carbon Lobby, H2T2aCS, The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Live and direct from the laugh, it's funny, damnit department:

• 2008/10/25: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Doors of Perception
• 2008/10/24: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) A host of golden anachronisms
• 2008/10/23: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Life as we know it
• 2008/10/20: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Frog in a blender

  The credit crunch, the bailout and the energy - climate struggle implications:

• 2008/10/25: EarthTimes: Asian, European leaders target new climate change goals
• 2008/10/25: CD: A Greenish Approach to the Financial Crisis -- Or: I Learned Everything I Know About Economics From the Kyoto Accord
• 2008/10/23: NatureCF: From greed to green?
• 2008/10/22: Reuters: "New Deal" needed for climate change
• 2008/10/21: Yahoo: Finance, climate crises two sides of same coin: experts
• 2008/10/21: Reuters: Crunch may put price tag on environment
  The worst financial crisis since the 1930s may be a chance to put price tags on nature in a radical economic rethink to protect everything from coral reefs to rainforests, environmental experts say.
• 2008/10/20: Independent(UK): Don't kill the planet in the name of saving the economy
• 2008/10/21: KSJT: Lots of Ink from All Angles: Cheap gas, tight credit, recession fear, and what about living the green life?
• 2008/10/21: Guardian(UK): Amid the rubble of global finance, a blueprint for Bretton Woods II
  A one-off summit limited to market regulation will not cut it. Durable reform must also tackle climate change and world poverty
• 2008/10/20: EconBrowser: Bailouts for commodity speculators -- If automakers are lining up at the trough, why not Big Agra?
• 2008/10/20: CanberraTimes: US to host global crisis summit

  Various people have seized upon the crash as an opportunity to push green solutions:

• 2008/10/21: BBC: Low-carbon economy is not a luxury
  The low-carbon economy is an integral part of economic recovery, not a luxurious extra, says Elliot Morley, president of GLOBE International. In this week's Green Room, he sets out the reasons why the current financial crisis offers a unique opportunity for us to clean up our act.
• 2008/10/23: GulfTimes: Age of green economics by Ban Ki-moon
  Amid the pressures of the global financial crisis, some ask how we can afford to tackle climate change. The better question is: how can we afford not to? Put aside the familiar arguments -- that the science is clear, that climate change represents an indisputable existential threat to the planet, and that every day we do not act the problem grows worse. Instead, let us make the case purely on bread-and-butter economics. At a time when the global economy is sputtering, we need growth. At a time when unemployment in many nations is rising, we need new jobs. At a time when poverty threatens to overtake hundreds of millions of people, especially in the least developed parts of the world, we need the promise of prosperity. This possibility is at our fingertips. Economists at the UN call for a Green New Deal -- a deliberate echo of the energising vision of US president Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression of the 1930's.
• 2008/10/23: Guardian(UK): Green routes to growth -- Recession is the time to build a low-carbon future with the investment vital for economy and planet
• 2008/10/24: GristMill: Two crises with one stone -- Solving the financial crisis by averting the climate crisis
• 2008/10/24: STimes: Solving the financial crisis by averting the climate crisis
• 2008/10/23: ClimateP: Nicholas Stern: Recession is the time to build a low-carbon future
• 2008/10/22: Guardian(UK): UN: Rebuild global economy through green investment

  The WWF released a report to the effect that climate change is worse than expected:

• 2008/10/23: DeSmogBlog: Nature Puts IPCC in the Rearview Mirror
• 2008/10/22: SciCentric: The heat is on - climate change gathers pace faster than scientists expected
• 2008/10/20: CNN: Climate changing 'faster, stronger, sooner'
  World Wildlife Fund report says climate change is happening faster than predicted - Dr Tina Tin: "Arctic sea ice melting much faster than everybody had been expecting" - IPCC Vice Chair: "climate change is already having a greater impact than predicted"
• 2008/10/20: EUO: Climate change outracing EU targets, WWF warns
• 2008/10/20: ENN: Klimate change outracing EU targets, WWF warns
• 2008/10/20: Telegraph(UK): Climate change is 'faster and more extreme' than feared
• 2008/10/20: OilChange: Climate Change Happening Faster, Stronger, Sooner

  The EU decision to regulate airline CO2 will kick off a major fight:

• 2008/10/24: PhysOrg: New EU CO2 caps anger airlines
• 2008/10/24: Yahoo: New EU CO2 caps anger airlines
  The European Union on Friday imposed tougher pollution limits on airlines from 2012, angering the air industry and the United States, whose carriers will be included. From January 2012, all airlines operating in or out of the European Union will have to limit carbon dioxide emissions to 97 percent of 2005 levels. From 2013, that figure will dip to 95 percent.

In Japan, a leaders of 40 of the world's major cities had a climate change meeting:

• 2008/10/24: ABC(Au): World's major cities pledge action on climate change
  Leaders of 40 of the world's major cities pledged action to fight climate change, taking measures ranging from promoting solar energy to tracking genetically modified food.
• 2008/10/22: Google:AFP: Tokyo leader [Shintaro Ishihara] berates countries on climate change

  The conference of French-speaking nations in QC pledged to cut GHGs 50% by 2050:

• 2008/10/20: ABC(Au): French-speaking nations pledge help in greenhouse cuts [50% by 2050]
• 2008/10/19: CBC: Canada to help poorer nations fight climate change
  Canada will give $100 million to developing countries to fight climate change, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Sunday. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the three-day Francophonie summit in Quebec City, Harper said developed countries such as Canada are in a position to help poorer nations.

The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

• 2008/10/26: Times(UK): Arctic is melting even in winter -- The polar icecap is retreating and thinning at a record rate
• 2008/10/24: TerraDaily: Research Around The North Pole
• 2008/10/23: DeSmogBlog: Frightening Arctic Study Shows Leading Edge of Global Warming
• 2008/10/23: FergusB: Sea ice recovery, allegedly
• 2008/10/22: ClimateP: Greenland ice loss soars: Bad for you, great for bottled water biz
• 2008/10/19: LA Times: Migrating Alaskan pollock are creating the potential for a new dispute with Russia
• 2008/10/20: KSJT: LA Times: Fish migrating north could pit US, Russian fishing fleets in contested waters
• 2008/10/20: PhysOrg: Research around the North Pole
  The German research vessel Polarstern has returned today to Bremerhaven from the Arctic Sea. It has cruised as the first research vessel ever both the Northeast and the Northwest Passages and thereby circled the North Pole.

Breathless reports on the hazards of NF3 are neatly skewered by David:

• 2008/10/23: QuarkSoup: The Nitrogen Trifluoride Scare
• 2008/10/26: SMH: Load of hot air: TVs and old trees pose threat to climate [NF3 & CH4]
• 2008/10/24: TreeHugger: Levels of Super Potent Greenhouse Gas NF3 Four Times Higher than Previously Thought
• 2008/10/24: NatureN: Potent greenhouse gas overlooked -- Rising levels of nitrogen trifluoride, used to make plasma TVs, have been found in the atmosphere.
• 2008/10/24: KSJT: Reuters, USA Today, etc: A scarce greenhouse gas not quite so scarce - and it is far more potent than CO2
• 2008/10/24: ABC(Au): Greenhouse gas [NF3] 4 times more than thought: study
• 2008/10/24: NewScientist: Flatscreen TVs [NF3] turn up the heat on climate
• 2008/10/23: Eureka: Potent greenhouse gas [NF3] more prevalent in atmosphere than previously assumed
• 2008/10/23: ThinkP: NASA: Dangerous greenhouse gas [NF3] more common than previously thought

  James Gustave Speth makes an observation and asks a pointed question:

• 2008/10/20: Yale360: Environmental Failure: A Case for a New Green Politics
• 2008/10/21: Guardian(UK): Environmental failure: a case for a new green politics -- A spectre is haunting American environmentalism, says James Gustave Speth, the spectre of failure.
  The US environmental movement is failing -- by any measure, the state of the earth has never been more dire. What's needed, a leading environmentalist writes, is a new, inclusive green politics that challenges basic assumptions about consumerism and unlimited growth. All of us who have been part of the environmental movement in the United States must now face up to a deeply troubling paradox: Our environmental organizations have grown in strength and sophistication, but the environment has continued to go downhill, to the point that the prospect of a ruined planet is now very real. How could this have happened?
• 2008/10/20: TreeHugger: We Need a New Green Politics! James Gustave Speth on The Change Needed in the Environmental Movement

  George Monbiot calls for long range thinking:

• 2008/10/21: Guardian(UK): If an hour is a long time in politics, we must start thinking in centuries
  From banking to the climate, the wreckage of short-termism is stark, and the need for a 100-year committee is plain

Late coverage of the Forum for the Future report:

• 2008/10/21: GristMill: So what, so what, so what's the scenario? New report offers five different pictures of life in 2030

  The food crisis remains a top story:

• 2008/10/23: NakedCapitalism: UK: Consumers Cut Spending on Food
• 2008/10/23: BBC: Zimbabwe starves as despair grows
  This year's harvest in Zimbabwe has been the worst in the country's modern history. In Mashonaland West province, some people are trying to survive by eating wild fruit and digging for roots "If we don't get help now, most of us are going to die. Nearly everyone here is starving" -Mashonaland West villager
• 2008/10/21: TerraDaily: Syrian grain output strangled by drought

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2008/10/24: Guardian(UK):Reuters: Ethanol no longer seen as big driver of food price [by Global Insight economist, Stewart Ramsey]

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

• 2008/10/25: G&M: What does oil have to do with the price of bread? A lot
• 2008/10/24: TerraDaily: Fertilizers: A Growing Threat To Sea Life
• 2008/10/23: TreeHugger: Is Organic Farming Good For Africa or Not?
• 2008/10/23: BBC: Soil health 'threatens farming'
  Some areas of England may not be fit for productive agriculture in future because of deteriorating soil quality, a new report warns. The Royal Agricultural Society of England is worried that too much is being asked of the land in places.
• 2008/10/22: Independent(UK): Organic farming 'could feed Africa' -- Traditional practices increase yield by 128 per cent in east Africa, says UN
• 2008/10/22: VoxEU: Thought for food: Rising food prices, poverty, and safety nets in developing countries by Nora Lustig
  Sharp increases in world food prices over the last few years have impoverished millions. This column outlines the inadequacy of many countries' safety nets and proposes means by which the international community might help poor consumers cope with rising food prices.
• 2008/10/20: EnvEcon: Why aren't food prices falling?
• 2008/10/20: TreeHugger: Carbon Neutral Olive Oil: Italian Farm Will Cut Its Carbon Emissions 100% in One Year

  It has been mercifully quiet in the hurricane wars:

• 2008/10/25: UN: Haiti: UN fund to step up support for hurricane survivors
• 2008/10/24: Wunderground: Tropical Atlantic quiets down
• 2008/10/23: BBC: Haiti storm damage 'eye-popping'
  Haiti is at a "tipping point" after being ravaged in recent weeks by a series of tropical storms, World Bank President Robert Zoellik has warned
• 2008/10/21: USAToday: Data show U.S. riding out worst storms on record
  More frequent and powerful hurricanes from the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico since the mid-1990s have created one of the most dangerous and costliest storm eras in recorded history, a USA TODAY analysis of weather data shows. Since 1995, there have been 207 named storms in the Atlantic basin, which includes the Gulf of Mexico -- a 68% increase from the previous 13 years, according to statistics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Of those storms, 111 were hurricanes, a 75% increase over the previous period.
• 2008/10/21: UN: Top UN humanitarian official to visit hurricane-battered Haiti

  Cyclones bury carbon at sea:

• 2008/10/20: NatureCF: Cyclones' carbon capturing
• 2008/10/20: KSJT: Reuters, Telegraph, New Scientist etc: Big cyclones wash some (and just some) carbon into the deep sea
• 2008/10/20: NewScientist: Typhoons bury vast amounts of carbon dioxide at sea

  As for GHGs:

• 2008/10/24: ClimateP: Interactive Map: CO2 emissions by state per capita
• 2008/10/23: DeSmogBlog: Want to know the carbon emissions for your Mac?
• 2008/10/22: NewScientist: China warns of huge rise in emissions
  China is famously reticent with its greenhouse gas emissions data. But a new report penned by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences says China's greenhouse gas pollution could more than double in two decades.
• 2008/10/22: IOL(Za): Report warns of greenhouse gas leap
  China's greenhouse gas pollution could double or more in two decades says a new Chinese state think-tank study that casts stark light on the industrial giant's role in stoking global warming.
• 2008/10/20: ClimateP: Are Europe's greenhouse gas cuts real?

  And the temperature record:

• 2008/10/20: QuarkSoup: Hadley's September Anomaly
• 2008/10/19: Tamino: Volcanic Lull ...what caused the global warming in the early 20th century?

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2008/10/23: NewScientist: When did the Earth turn green?
• 2008/10/22: Eureka: Earlier global warming produced a whole new form of life -- Researchers discover 'giant' magnetofossils from microorganisms that thrived 55 million years ago
• 2008/10/20: PhysOrg: Less ice in the Arctic Ocean 6000-7000 years ago
• 2008/10/21: MUNews: MU Scientist Uses Tracer to Predict Ancient Ocean Circulation -- Ancient water findings can be used to predict future changes during greenhouse conditions
• 2008/10/21: TerraDaily: 34 Million-Yr GHG Model: Earth Is CO2 Sensitive
• 2008/10/21: TerraDaily: Arctic Soil Reveals Climate Change Clues
• 2008/10/20: PhysOrg: Scientist Uses Tracer to Predict Ancient [65 mya] Ocean Circulation
• 2008/10/20: SciDaily: Less Ice In Arctic Ocean 6000-7000 Years Ago
• 2008/10/19: MGS: Discussion: A role for atmospheric CO2 in preindustrial climate forcing
• 2008/10/20: OilDrum: Agriculture: Unsustainable Resource Depletion Began 10,000 Years Ago

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2008/10/25: ENN: Climate change may drown cities

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2008/10/26: BBC: UK ambitions in space 'at risk'
  One of Europe's flagship space projects looks as though it is going to proceed with the UK continuing to be a bit-part player, scientists and engineers fear. The Kopernikus programme is dedicated to acquiring and collating satellite data on the health of the planet.
• 2008/10/24: PhysOrg: GOCE [Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer] satellite launch delayed until 2009
• 2008/10/22: NatureN: Cash row threatens Earth-monitoring system -- Europe's flagship Kopernikus mission [scheduled for launch in 2012] faces potential delays
• 2008/10/20: ESA: ESA leads the way to map boreal forest

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2008/10/26: SciDaily: Seabass And Chips: Harnessing Science To Predict Ocean Climate Change
• 2008/10/24: Maribo: "Ocean deoxygenation" -- Our friend Caspar Henderson has been searching for a good short phrase...
• 2008/10/24: PhysOrg: Climate Change Seeps into the Sea
  Good news has turned out to be bad. The ocean has helped slow global warming by absorbing much of the excess heat and heat-trapping carbon dioxide that has been going into the atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution. All that extra carbon dioxide, however, has been a bitter pill for the ocean to swallow. It's changing the chemistry of seawater, making it more acidic and otherwise inhospitable, threatening many important marine organisms.
• 2008/10/24: PhysOrg: Oceans may provide clues to future rainfall
  Using data from the Atlantic Ocean and Met Office climate model simulations, the study reveals increasing salinity in the sub-tropical zone -- an indication of less rainfall and increased evaporation. This mirrors decreased rainfall over land areas in the same latitudes identified in previous research in 2007, attributing this to human activity.
• 2008/10/23: ABC(Au): Global warming will increase climate crime risk: report -- A new report from the Strategic Policy Institute says climate change could lead to an increase in crime
• 2008/10/23: MontereyHerald: Some epidemics linked to climate change
• 2008/10/22: ClimateP: Drink at your own risk: Global warming, disease, and our water
• 2008/10/22: AFTIC: The other carbon dioxide problem
• 2008/10/22: TreeHugger: Report: Global Warming Disproportionately Affects African Americans, Low-Income Communities
• 2008/10/21: NewScientist: Climate change is driving increase in tiger attacks
• 2008/10/21: HelmholtzCER: Impacts of climate change on lakes
• 2008/10/21: SpringerSBM: Fertilizers -- a growing threat to sea life
  New study on landscape around Chesapeake Bay says imbalance in nitrogen cycle is damaging water quality and fish populations
• 2008/10/20: ABC(Au): Conservationist warns of Mad Max scenario
  The president of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums says the type of barren landscapes shown in Australia's famous Mad Max movies could become a common reality because of global warming. Professor Gordon McGregor Reid was speaking in Adelaide where more than 300 zoo and conservation leaders have gathered for the association's international conference. Professor McGregor Reid, who is also the chief executive of Chester Zoo in Northern England, says zoos around the world must work together to prevent an apocalyptic scenario from occurring.
• 2008/10/20: PhysOrg: Climate Change, Acid Rain [in moderation] Could Be Good for Forests

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2008/10/21: Guardian(UK): UK's ancient woodland being lost 'faster than Amazon'
• 2008/10/23: CSM: Value a forest, cool a planet -- The true economic worth of trees isn't recognized. That has to change -- and quickly.
• 2008/10/22: TerraDaily: Carbon project brings sustainable hope to remote tract of Amazon
• 2008/10/20: EUO: Brussels proposes EU anti-deforestation fund

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2008/10/23: BBC: Freak weather strikes Australia

  As for hydrological cycle disruption [floods & droughts]:

• 2008/10/26: SMH: Divine intervention
  In the parched agricultural heartland of rural California, desperate farmers call on the mysterious powers of "water witches" to search out underground wells to keep their crops alive...
• 2008/10/26: Guardian(UK): 58 die in flash floods [sweeping through southern Yemen]
• 2008/10/25: CNN: Yemen floods leave 58 dead, 20,000 without shelter
  Most of the dead were in Hadramout, one of the worst-affected provinces - The flooding follows several days of rain in the Middle Eastern country - Government promised to send tents as emergency shelter - President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered formation of emergency committee
• 2008/10/25: BBC: Dozens killed by floods in Yemen -- At least 48 people have been killed or are missing in Yemen, following torrential rains
• 2008/10/25: BBC: Several hundred people taking part in a run in the Lake District near Keswick have been stranded by flooding and torrential rain
• 2008/10/24: CNN: Paper: Governor says at least a dozen dead in Yemen flooding
  Roughly 22,000 people have fled Hadramout, Yemen, governor tells newspaper - Governor says schools can accommodate only 10 percent of the evacuees - Yemeni government is planning a crisis meeting on Saturday - Saba, the Yemen News Agency, says 48 people were reported killed or missing
• 2008/10/23: EarthTimes: Heavy rain leaves 23 dead in Honduras
• 2008/10/23: JFleck: Don't Call It "Drought"
• 2008/10/22: TerraDaily: Storm leaves 250,000 homeless in Central America
• 2008/10/23: Wunderground: Major flooding disaster continues in Central America
• 2008/10/22: Wunderground: Flooding eases in hard-hit Central America
• 2008/10/22: Australian: The drying up of hope ...the past 12 years of drought have been the worst on record for much of southern Australia...
• 2008/10/21: UN: Floods in northern Kenya uproot nearly 14,000 people, UN reports
• 2008/10/21: EarthTimes: Malaysian floods force more than 750 out of homes
• 2008/10/21: Wunderground: Heavy rains from 91L kill 11 in Honduras
• 2008/10/20: EarthTimes: Flash floods claim at least 11 lives in central Vietnam

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2008/10/23: NatureCF: Pre-empting climate change extinctions
• 2008/10/20: PhysOrg: Current mass extinction spurs major study of which plants to save
• 2008/10/21: Eureka: Current mass extinction spurs major study of which plants to save
  The Earth is in the midst of the sixth mass extinction of both plants and animals, with nearly 50 percent of all species disappearing, scientists say. Because of the current crisis, biologists at UC Santa Barbara are working day and night to determine which species must be saved.
• 2008/10/20: ABC(Au): Zoos vow to protect animals from climate change
  A meeting of some of the world's leading conservation experts has resolved to make zoos a key part of saving the world's animals from climate change.
• 2008/10/20: ABC(Au): Cattle diet key to cutting methane emissions

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2008/10/26: TreeHugger: 70% of All U.S. Drivers Change Habits for 2008
• 2008/10/24: WSJ:RTE: U.S. Driving Miles Down 5.6% in Record Decline
• 2008/10/24: CalcRisk: DOT: U.S. Vehicles Miles Driven Off Sharply in August
• 2008/10/23: BBC: Airlines hit economic turbulence
  US Airways and Air France-KLM have both suffered sharp share falls due to the current economic slowdown. American airline US Airways shares fell as much as 14% after it unveiled losses of $865m (£537m) for the third quarter of the year. Meanwhile, European airline Air France-KLM's shares closed at their lowest level in over three years, down 12.3% at 11.87 euros. It predicted zero growth for 2009 and 2010 and said traffic would fall.
• 2008/10/12: Independent(UK): End of our affair with air travel?

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2008/10/22: LM: Shell Goes for Carbon Sequestration
• 2008/10/23: PhysOrg: Idle Farmlands Could Become Profitable Carbon Storage Banks
• 2008/10/20: McClatchyDC: World agency [IEA] urges storing carbon emissions underground
• 2008/10/21: PhysOrg: Energy agency [IEA] urges more investment in carbon-capture projects to reduce pollution
• 2008/10/21: GristMill: G'AO! Government report criticizes U.S. plans for carbon dioxide burial
• 2008/10/20: DotEarth: Tough Climate for Capping, Capturing CO2
• 2008/10/20: GristMill: UCS on CCS

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2008/10/20: SciAm: Geoengineering: How to Cool Earth--At a Price
  Global warming has become such an overriding emergency that some climate experts are willing to consider schemes for partly shielding the planet from the sun's rays. But no such scheme is a magic bullet
• 2008/10/20: SciAm: The Hidden Dangers of Geoengineering -- Geoengineering is a seductive idea. Maybe too seductive
• 2008/10/20: NewScientist: Moving the Earth: a planetary survival guide, part 2
• 2008/10/20: NewScientist: Moving the Earth: a planetary survival guide, part 1
• 2008/10/15: AlbedoAustralia: Increase Albedo
• 2008/10/20: NewScientist: Invention: Hurricane pacifier [smoke]

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2008/10/24: ACP: Long-term observation of mass-independent oxygen isotope anomaly in stratospheric CO2 by S. Kawagucci et al.
• 2008/10/23: ACPD: Contribution of atmospheric processes affecting the dynamics of air pollution in south-western Europe during a typical summertime photochemical episode by M. Gonçalves et al.
• 2008/10/23: ACPD: Vertical advection and nocturnal deposition of ozone over a boreal pine forest by Ã. Rannik et al.
• 2008/10/24: GRL: (ab$) Recent and future changes of the Arctic sea-ice cover by Lars H. Smedsrud et al.
• 2008/10/21: CP: Anticyclonic atmospheric circulation as an analogue for the warm and dry mid-Holocene summer climate in central Scandinavia by K. Antonsson et al.
• 2008/10/21: CPD: Were last glacial climate events simultaneous between Greenland and western Europe? by M. Blaauw et al.
• 2008/10/21: ACPD: Update on emissions and environmental impacts from the international fleet of ships. The contribution from major ship types and ports by S. B. Dalsøren et al.
• 2008/10/21: ACPD: The impact of traffic emissions on atmospheric ozone and OH: results from QUANTIFY by P. Hoor et al.
• 2008/10/21: PNAS: Populations of migratory bird species that did not show a phenological response to climate change are declining by Anders Pape Møller et al.
• 2008/10/21: PNAS: Measuring the effectiveness of protected area networks in reducing deforestation by Kwaw S. Andam et al.
• 2008/10/21: PNAS: Equatorial convergence of India and early Cenozoic climate trends by Dennis V. Kent & Giovanni Muttoni
• 2008/10/21: PNAS: Why Earth became so hot 50 million years ago and why it then cooled by E. Irving
• 2008/10/22: GRL: (ab$) Mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet from 1958 to 2007 by E. Rignot et al.
• 2008/10/22: VoxEU: Thought for food: Rising food prices, poverty, and safety nets in developing countries by Nora Lustig
  Sharp increases in world food prices over the last few years have impoverished millions. This column outlines the inadequacy of many countries' safety nets and proposes means by which the international community might help poor consumers cope with rising food prices.

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

• 2008/10/23: BBC: Study probes clouds' climate role
  An international team of scientists is hoping to shed light on how clouds over the Pacific Ocean are affecting global climate and weather systems
• 2008/10/22: NatureCF: AGU Chapman conference: water vapor and climate
• 2008/10/21: RealClimate: Field notes from a Nature Conservancy meeting

  Ah, the Spencer saga:

• 2008/10/21: Tamino: RSS and UAH

  Joe is feeling his oats:

• 2008/10/23: ClimateP: James Hansen, our top climate scientist, misunderstands climate politics and policy

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

• 2008/10/24: SwissInfo: Swiss set to reach goals on greenhouse gas
  Five years after ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, officials said on Friday that Switzerland was on track to meet target levels for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. By 2012 the country will have reduced its net emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and synthetic gasses by eight per cent compared with 1990 levels -- a goal set when the treaty was ratified in 2003

And on the Kyoto-2 front:

• 2008/10/24: Xinhuanet: Danish PM says 5 elements needed for new global climate change agreement
  Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said here on Thursday that five crucial elements would be needed for a new climate change agreement expected to be reached at the Copenhagen conference next year.
  1. a long-term vision for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent in 2050 from the 1990 baseline
  2. all industrialized countries will have to commit to an ambitious medium-term goal
  3. all countries should encourage and support innovation and disseminate low carbon technology to sustain economic development
  4. address the special needs of the most vulnerable developing countries
  5. generate necessary finance to sustain both dissemination of green technology and adaptation efforts
  "As host of COP15, our task is to balance these five elements in a global deal in Copenhagen."
• 2008/10/24: PlanetArk: Poland Eyes Alliance With China In UN Climate Talks
• 2008/10/23: Xinhuanet: China, Denmark call for global efforts to tackle climate change
• 2008/10/22: Guardian(UK): EU presses China and India to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
  European environment ministers urge developing countries to cut emissions by 15-30% under post-Kyoto climate change deal
• 2008/10/20: EurActiv: Brussels pushing for forests in global climate deal

  While at the UN:

• 2008/10/23: IPSNews: 'Media Must Find a Way for the Message' [IPCC vice-chairman Mohan Munasinghe interview]
  While there is clear evidence of growing global warming, "the political will to address it is still lacking," says Mohan Munasinghe, co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize as vice-chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
• 2008/10/24: ENN: IPCC Chair [R.K. Pachauri]: Severity Under-reported
  The chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said the news media are not sufficiently addressing the severity of climate change at a meeting of U.S. environmental journalists earlier this week. R.K. Pachauri, head of the 2,500-member IPCC, said that unless policies are enacted soon to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the global perils from shifting weather patterns and sea level rise will become worse in the coming years.
• 2008/10/24: SMH: It's not too late to save planet, says UN climate chief [IPCC head, Dr Rajendra Pachauri]
• 2008/10/22: GristMill: TEEB? Oh. -- Massive U.N. study attempts to do for biodiversity what IPCC did for climate
• 2008/10/22: BostonGlobe: UN chief calls global warming 'defining issue' -- Ban Ki-moon said the world cannot afford to delay taking action on climate change.
  Calling global warming "the defining issue of our time," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged immediate international action to counteract the "imminent threat" of climate change. In a wide-ranging speech this afternoon at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Ban said it was crucial to ratify an international treaty on greenhouse-gas emissions before the Kyoto Accord expires in 2012. Climate change "is no longer theory, it has become a fact," he told an audience of several hundred. "We cannot afford to delay any action."
• 2008/10/21: UN: Top global businesses gather for UN 'Caring for Climate' initiative

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2008/10/22: ECurrent: World Bank finds future demand in global CDM market
• 2008/10/22: Maribo: Market meltdowns and the drawbacks of trading carbon
• 2008/10/21: NYT: Europe's Leadership in Carbon Control at Risk in Credit Crisis
• 2008/10/21: IHT: Japan to introduce voluntary carbon market

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2008/10/21: EnvEcon: A revenue neutral, equitable carbon tax

  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:

• 2008/10/23: CanWest: Cap-trade or carbon tax alone not adequate: Study
  Canadian politicians overstate the differences between carbon taxes and cap-and-trade programs as tools to reduce greenhouse gases, a new report suggests. A study prepared by the Pembina Institute, an energy think thank, on behalf of the TD Financial Group suggests neither approach will effectively cut emissions on its own. Furthermore, the two systems have more in common than politicians in the recent election campaign would admit.
• 2008/10/20: ClimateP: Question from WSJ blog: Are Bogus Carbon Offsets Really That Bad?
• 2008/10/20: ClimateP: CCX [Chicago Climate Exchange] sells rip-offsets: "It seemed a little suspicious that we could get money for doing nothing"
• 2008/10/20: BSD: Note to Chicago Climate Exchange: your product quality IS a business concern
• 2008/10/20: WSJ:EnvCap: Selling Hot Air: Are Bogus Carbon Offsets Really That Bad?

  And on the American political front:

• 2008/10/25: ClimateP: Even conservative San Diego Union knows climate change is killing Western forests
• 2008/10/24: ThinkP: After Greenwashing His Climate Record, Sen. Sununu Reveals His True 'Drill Here' Mentality To Glenn Beck
• 2008/10/23: PortlandTrib: [Oregon] State sets new greenhouse gas emission rules
  Oregon's Environmental Quality Commission voted Thursday, Oct. 23, to adopt new rules on the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.
• 2008/10/24: GristMill: An offer you can refuse -- Kentucky Republican McConnell calls himself the 'Godfather of Green' in reelection bid [greenwash]
• 2008/10/24: DeSmogBlog: [US] States Touting Climate Action Dividends
• 2008/10/22: WarmingLaw: Why the Solution to Climate Change May Be Way Simpler Than We Think
• 2008/10/23: TreeHugger: 12,100 Megawatts of Geothermal Power by 2025: Department of Interior Opens Up Lands For Leasing
• 2008/10/22: GristMill: An irresistible force meets an immovable Mass v. EPA -- Regulating CO2 via the EPA would be a hugely significant move for the next president
• 2008/10/21: GristMill: Waxman blocks Johnson -- Oversight chair warns Bush administration against attempting to weaken the Clean Air Act
• 2008/10/22: WarmingLaw: On Its Way Out, the Bush Administration is Still Trying to Weaken the Clean Air Act
• 2008/10/22: HillHeat: Study: California's Green Economy Has Created 1.5 Million Jobs, $45 Billion
• 2008/10/22: UMD: Greenhouse Gas Auction Revenues Can Help Cut Md. Electric Use Significantly, Says Study
• 2008/10/22: WorldChanging: California's not dreaming about action on climate change
• 2008/10/21: GristMill: Grid pro quo -- Green infrastructure spending is a win x 4
• 2008/10/21: TreeHugger: Hawaii to Ban New Coal Plants, Expand Renewable Energy Usage to 70% by 2030
• 2008/10/20: GristMill: It's still 1976 in California (in electricity use) -- Study: California's green economy has created 1.5 million jobs, $45 billion
• 2008/10/20: DeSmogBlog: Europe Leads - North America Dawdles
• 2008/10/21: ENN: California Maps a Plan to Slow Down Global Warming
• 2008/10/20: EnergyBulletin: Quantifying Overextension -- America's "Predicament"
• 2008/10/20: NOAANews: NOAA and NSF Commission National Study of Ocean Acidification
• 2008/10/20: KSJT: Wash. Post: The candor index among US gov't science agencies [UCSUSA survey]
• 2008/10/20: ClimateP: Green policies in California created 1.5 million jobs
• 2008/10/20: Times(UK): Environment will wither whoever win US election
• 2008/10/20: AutoBG: GM, 10 states push for more ethanol access
• 2008/10/20: NYT: Green Policies in California Generated Jobs, Study Finds
• 2008/10/19: CSW: New study of media policies finds some federal agencies stifle scientists' contact with reporters
• 2008/10/20: BCLSB: Cap And Trade In NY Times [RGGI]

  Maryland police put a bunch of activists on a DHS terrorist list to great outcry:

• 2008/10/25: DeSmogBlog: Forget Bin Laden! Now it's Al Queda in Annapolis!
• 2008/10/25: TP:WonkRoom: I Was A Global Warming Terrorist
• 2008/10/24: GristMill: A terror-ble mistake? Maryland State Police wrongly list climate activists as 'terrorists'
• 2008/10/24: TreeHugger: Climate Change Activists Are Terrorists! At Least That's What the Maryland State Police Thought
• 2008/10/23: ClimateP: Maryland climate campaigners on terrorist list
• 2008/10/23: DotEarth: Climate Campaigners Were on Terrorist List

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

• 2008/10/24: ClimateP: Palin In 2012: Backed by Big Oil?
• 2008/10/24: NewScientist: Palin fails to keep beluga whales off endangered list
• 2008/10/24: GristMill: The candidates on transit -- Spokesfolk from the presidential campaigns talk transit in Our Nation's Capital
• 2008/10/24: GristMill: Correct sir! Obama muses on the connection between energy/climate and our other problems
• 2008/10/23: GristMill: Global warming is an important issue for undecided voters
• 2008/10/23: ChronicleHerald: Post-Kyoto clock ticking for new president
• 2008/10/21: ClimateP: The climate time clock: A presidential action plan
• 2008/10/22: GristMill: Myopiacs -- Short-term cost assessment skews the CW on carbon regulations
• 2008/10/21: GristMill: Auctions
• 2008/10/22: ThinkP: 'Energy Expert' Palin Can't Name Any Man-Made Causes Of Global Warming
• 2008/10/21: GristMill: The odd lies of Sarah Palin
• 2008/10/19: DeSmogBlog: Round 3 of the Debates: Who Wants Energy Independence More?
• 2008/10/20: TP:WonkRoom: 'Carbon Ultimatum' Is Just Respect For The Law
• 2008/10/20: Guardian(UK): Obama or McCain: who would make the White House greener?
• 2008/10/20: Guardian(UK): Obama or McCain: environmental voting records in Congress
• 2008/10/20: NatureTGB: Beluga whales versus Sara Palin
• 2008/10/20: KSJT: MSNBC, Physics Today: More on the US candidates and science policy
• 2008/10/20: GristMill: 'May have anti-American views' -- Minn. Rep. Bachmann lists climate policy as among her 'concerns' about Barack Obama
• 2008/10/20: GristMill: A defense of Obama's dirty-energy rhetoric, part the third -- Obama's pushing a clean energy agenda with swing-voter-pleasing rhetoric
• 2008/10/20: WarmingLaw: Campaign Advisor: Obama Would Regulate Greenhouse Gases Under the Clean Air Act
• 2008/10/20: NEN: Could greenhouse gas emissions decide the presidential race?

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2008/10/24: GristMill: Gore power to you -- Al Gore stumps for climate action at Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire fundraiser
• 2008/10/23: ENN: Citing global warming, Gore renews call to cut use of oil
• 2008/10/23: Yahoo: Al Gore delivers environmental message at Harvard

  While in the UK:

• 2008/10/24: BBC: 'Drastic' reforms on energy urged
  "Urgent and drastic" policy and system changes are needed if the UK is to meet EU targets on renewable energy, a House of Lords committee has said. Producing 15% of energy from renewable sources by 2020 is "an enormous challenge", the EU committee stressed. It said planning law must be reformed to allow ministers to overrule local opposition to projects like wind farms. It also called for more consideration of other technologies, including hydro-electric power.
• 2008/10/24: Guardian(UK): Climate change targets deal could include aviation and shipping emissions
• 2008/10/24: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Economic landscape for the future
• 2008/10/23: BBC: MPs rebelling over climate bill
  The government is fighting to head off a backbench rebellion over its plans to exclude aviation and shipping from the UK's greenhouse gas targets. They are being left out because there is no system for sharing responsibility for international emissions. Fifty-six Labour MPs are demanding the sectors be included, enough to defeat Gordon Brown when the Climate Change Bill goes to a Commons' vote next week. Campaigners say it is "unfair" to give the sectors "special treatment". Friends of the Earth said a climate change law which left out emissions from planes and ships was like "a drink-driving law that doesn't count whisky".

And in Europe:

• 2008/10/22: Google:AP: Financial crisis divides EU on greenhouse gas cuts
• 2008/10/22: EurActiv: French phase-in plans for car CO2 opposed
• 2008/10/22: TreeHugger: Incandescent Light Bulb Banned by European Union
• 2008/10/22: NatureTGB: EU green plans face tough road ahead
• 2008/10/21: EurActiv: Divided EU wants poor countries to join climate pledge
• 2008/10/21: EUO: Rocky path ahead for EU green legislation
• 2008/10/20: PhysOrg: France: turmoil must not hurt climate change bill
  France and Germany urged smaller European Union economies not to use the world financial meltdown as an excuse to gut legislation that aims to combat global warming with deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
• 2008/10/20: IHT: In tough times, some in EU try to backpedal on climate pledge
• 2008/10/20: BBC: Tough talks on EU climate plans
  EU environment ministers are meeting in Luxembourg amid pressure to revise EU plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions because of the cost to industry. EU leaders aim to finalise an EU climate change package by December, but Italy and Poland are among a group of countries voicing doubts about it. A UN climate summit is to take place in Poznan, Poland, in early December, adding to the pressure on EU ministers. The EU aims to cut CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. But Italy's Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo, quoted by the AFP news agency on Monday, said "the package as it stands right now is not suitable... significant changes are needed".
• 2008/10/20: PlanetArk: EU Must Not Backslide On Climate - UN Official
• 2008/10/20: Yahoo: Italy seeks significant changes to EU climate plan
• 2008/10/20: EuroNews: EU climate package too much for Italy
• 2008/10/20: EuroNews: Italy denies isolation in Europe on climate change
• 2008/10/20: CarbonPositive: EU moves on deforestation goals
• 2008/10/20: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Black cloud over EU climate change deal

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2008/10/25: ABC(Au): Nationals reject emissions trading scheme
  The National Party has backed a policy to reject an emissions trading scheme until the rest of the world implements one. The policy will put Nationals MPs at odds with their Coalition colleagues, who support an emissions trading scheme starting in 2011 or 2012. The Federal Government plans to introduce an emissions trading scheme in 2010, regardless of what other countries are doing.
• 2008/10/23: Google:AFP: Australia plans electric vehicle network
• 2008/10/23: IOL(Za): Australia plans electric vehicle network
  A United States firm on Thursday unveiled plans to build a massive $667-million (about R7,6-billion) charging network to power electric cars in Australia as it seeks cleaner and cheaper options to petrol.
• 2008/10/23: ABC(Au): Climate change model must be reassessed: Opposition
  The Federal Opposition says the Government's climate change modelling is meaningless because it fails to factor in the global economic crisis.
• 2008/10/22: ABC(Au): Outback Qld urged to start climate change preparation
  Communities and industries in north-west Queensland and the Gulf of Carpentaria are being urged to start preparing for the effects of climate change. The North West Climate Change Alliance will meet in Mount Isa today, to discuss issues including environmental changes and increases in energy costs.
• 2008/10/23: ABC(Au): Support for climate change policy slumps: survey
• 2008/10/21: ABC(Au): More than 40 of Australia's top scientists are urging the Federal Government not to let the world financial crisis stop urgent action on climate change.
• 2008/10/21: ABC(Au): Climate change forum hears hotter weather predictions
  A climate change forum in Wagga Wagga has heard predictions for hotter, drier conditions in the Riverina-Murray region by 2050. The Department of Environment and Climate Change is holding forums state-wide to help communities prepare for climate change.
• 2008/10/21: ABC(Au): Include farming in carbon trading scheme: Greening Australia
• 2008/10/21: ABC(Au): Climate change out of the spotlight: Costello
  Former federal treasurer Peter Costello says the Government's proposed carbon trading scheme could be threatened by the changing economic situation. The Federal Government has promised to begin implementing an emissions trading scheme for Australia by 2010. But speaking to the American Club in Sydney last night, Mr Costello said climate change was no longer the sole economic threat.
• 2008/10/20: ABC(Au): Foreign companies to cash in on carbon compo: ACF
  An analysis of the Federal Government's carbon reduction scheme has found that billions of dollars will be pocketed by foreign-owned companies. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) says company returns have shown that almost $3 billion compensation would go to large carbon emitters in the first year of the scheme. The ACF's Tony Mohr says taxpayer funds will go to many of Australia's richest companies.

And in China:

• 2008/10/24: Guardian(UK): Big Chinese companies join climate group

  In Canada, it's been quiet since the election:

• 2008/10/20: Tyee: Is Carbon Tax Political Poison? Dion and Campbell might have just sold it badly: pollster.
• 2008/10/23: CanWest: Cap-trade or carbon tax alone not adequate: Study
  Canadian politicians overstate the differences between carbon taxes and cap-and-trade programs as tools to reduce greenhouse gases, a new report suggests. A study prepared by the Pembina Institute, an energy think thank, on behalf of the TD Financial Group suggests neither approach will effectively cut emissions on its own. Furthermore, the two systems have more in common than politicians in the recent election campaign would admit.
• 2008/10/24: NatPo: Debate over energy plans 'exaggerated' -- Little difference between carbon tax, cap-and-trade programs: [Pembina Institute] report
• 2008/10/23: Straight: Change blowing in the wind
  Prime Minister Stephen Harper used the carbon tax as a cudgel to beat the political life out of Stéphane Dion in order to win reelection. Following the Liberal leader's ignominious resignation on October 20, an industrial lobbyist for this country's wind-power industry suggested Dion's rejected tax-shift proposal was the right direction in which to be blowing. "I think we will see federal and provincial governments that will put prices on carbon in the near future," Joyce McLean, chair of the Canadian Wind Energy Association's board of directors, told delegates the same day at CanWEA's 24th annual conference and trade show at Canada Place. "That's clearly a vote for wind and the resulting reduction in greenhouse gases that will help save our climate."
• 2008/10/21: TBSource: Suzuki says 'there shouldn't be a Green Party'
  Canada's foremost environmentalist says there's no need for the country's political landscape to include the Green Party. David Suzuki on Tuesday via teleconference told a gathering of Lakehead University students that as long as there's a Green Party the environment will be tossed around like a hot potato with no real action being completed. "There shouldn't be a Green Party," he said, matter-of-factly and unexpectedly. An outspoken supporter of outgoing Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's much maligned Green Shift carbon tax proposal, Suzuki suggested having a party solely focused on sustainability and the environment will not make the impact most supporters are hoping for. Suzuki praised Green Party Leader Elizabeth May for getting into the national television debates during the recent election campaign, but suggested her platform is one better served if adopted by more mainstream parties.
• 2008/10/22: G&M: When all's said and done, the carbon tax is toast
• 2008/10/21: BBC: The leader of Canada's main opposition Liberal Party, Stephane Dion, has announced he is to resign after last week's election defeat

  A lawsuit aimed at making the federal government enforce the law has been dismissed:

• 2008/10/22: TreeHugger: Kyoto Protocol Lawsuit Dismissed: Canada Gets to Keep Dragging Feet on Climate Change Action
• 2008/10/21: BCLSB: Kyoto Lawsuit Against Harper Government Fails
• 2008/10/21: Yahoo: Lawsuit against Canada over Kyoto accord dismissed
• 2008/10/21: ChronicleHerald: Kyoto compliance bid quashed -- Not up to court to evaluate Ottawa's climate change plan, judge rules

  Wrangling over the BC climate plan continues:

• 2008/10/23: CBC: Carbon offset program a sham, says B.C. MLA
  [...] Michael Sather, the NDP MLA for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, said the program is a sham because, in some areas, the operators are cutting down mature red alder trees to make way for the ones they are planting.

The tar sands are being impacted by the global recession:

• 2008/10/25: G&M: Oil sands projects slashed as credit crisis hits Alberta
• 2008/10/24: WSJ:EnvCap: Quick Sand: Credit Crunch and Falling Oil Hit Tar-Sands Projects
• 2008/10/24: CanWest: Oilsands plans scaled back -- Partners may delay $10-billion upgrader near Edmonton
  Alberta's oilsands expansion plans took a multibillion-dollar blow Thursday with news that Suncor will cut spending on capital projects and that a proposed upgrader northeast of Edmonton likely won't proceed. Citing "turbulent times," Petro-Canada and partner UTS Energy Corp. said Thursday they may defer their $10-billion-plus upgrader near Gibbons to cut costs at the Fort Hills project.
• 2008/10/20: IPSNews: Biggest Customer Has Second Thoughts
  As Canada's tar sands extraction expands full steam ahead, a perfect storm of internal and external opposition could derail some of the voracious growth at the world's largest energy project. [...] Canada is the largest foreign exporter of oil to the United States, with Alberta's tar sands sending roughly 500,000 barrels to the U.S. every day. Losing access to the U.S. market would significantly affect expansion plans. And Canadian oil industry lobbyists are concerned about section 526 of the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 which bars U.S. federal agencies such as the military and the postal service from buying synthetic or unconventional fuels if they create more greenhouse gases emissions than conventional fuels.

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

• 2008/10/22: EnergyBulletin: Earth as a magic pudding

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

• 2008/10/23: NWV: What World Religions and Leaders Won't Talk About [too many people]
• 2008/10/21: ClimateP: Population growth and climate: The EU-15 vs. the U.S.

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2008/10/26: Times(UK): Humans 'drive biggest mass extinction since dinosaurs'
• 2008/10/21: GristMill: New Scientist on how our economy is killing the earth
• 2008/10/21: SciDaily: Earth In Midst Of Sixth Mass Extinction: 50% Of All Species Disappearing
  The Earth is in the midst of the sixth mass extinction of both plants and animals, with nearly 50 percent of all species disappearing, scientists say

As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2008/10/24: ClimateP: NBC News ignores climate change, blows the bark beetle story
• 2008/10/24: GristMill: Just read your lines -- More on the media's quest to manufacture a clean-energy backlash
• 2008/10/21: ClimateP: Global recession? Must be time for the media's alternative-energy backlash
• 2008/10/19: ClimateP: Washington Post editors join the ranks of the climate confused

  Here is something for your library:

• 2008/10/21: ClimateP: Netroots Victory: _The Green Collar Economy_ [by Van Jones] is a NYT Bestseller
• 2008/10/21: CTV: [Book Excerpt] _Tar Sands_ by Andrew Nikiforuk

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2008/10/22: CNN: Eco-horror films shocking us into action
  New wave of eco-documentaries exposing perils of climate change - Growing audience for informative and constructive films on environment - Humans vs. nature a common theme in disaster and horror films
• 2008/10/24: AutoBG: Who Killed The Electric Car? team builds a website for new Revenge [of the Electric Car] film
• 2008/10/21: MTobis: Heat
• 2008/10/20: GristMill: A hot new PBS special -- Frontline documentary 'Heat' looks at the politics of global warming

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2008/10/24: WarmingLaw: Update on the California Preemption Case: Automakers Appeal to the Ninth Circuit

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

• 2008/10/26: OilDrum: Oil Prices - A Little More of the Story
• 2008/10/26: PeakEnergy: Good Vibrations: The Windbelt
• 2008/10/22: FPIF: Big Oil's Last Stand
• 2008/10/15: EPI: New Energy Economy Emerging in the United States
• 2008/10/24: TreeHugger: No More Excuses for US, China: Google Funds Clean Energy Study
• 2008/10/24: TreeHugger: 900 Megawatts of Biomass Power to Be Built by UK's Drax Group
• 2008/10/24: NEN: Wind can (beat the economy)
  The wind power industry continues to affirm the fact about New Energy the Old Energy world is just beginning to come to terms with: Wind Power is not small and green, it is big and clean and it is cost effective and mainstream.
• 2008/10/24: CBC: Oil tumbles under $64 a barrel, OPEC cuts output
• 2008/10/24: NakedCapitalism: OPEC to Cut November Production by 1.5 Million Barrels
• 2008/10/23: NEN: Big news in UK offshore wind
• 2008/10/23: SF Gate: U.S. wind energy capacity up 1,400 megawatts
• 2008/10/22: TreeHugger: Rule Britannia: UK is Now World's #1 Offshore Wind Power Producer
• 2008/10/22: OilDrum: Why are oil (and gasoline) prices so low?
• 2008/10/22: NEN: What Canadian wind needs
• 2008/10/22: PeakEnergy: Australian Renewable Energy Atlas Launched
• 2008/10/22: PeakEnergy: Low Temperature Geothermal Power From Oil Wells
• 2008/10/22: NakedCapitalism: Oil Falls as Demand Worries Outweigh Prospects of OPEC Cut
• 2008/10/22: SMH: Wanted: wind farm bladerunners
• 2008/10/21: TreeHugger: 2.4 Gigawatts More Wind Power Being Developed in Inner Mongolia
• 2008/10/21: OilDrum: Making the case for wind, again
• 2008/10/21: G&M: Russia, Iran, Qatar agree to form [Gas-OPEC] "big gas troika"
• 2008/10/20: MWire: Diesel Fuel Rationing in Western Canada: Who Would Have Thought It Possible
• 2008/10/21: EnvEcon: Falling demand for renewable energy
• 2008/10/21: PeakEnergy: Shell Pulls Out Of Last UK Wind Farm
• 2008/10/21: PeakEnergy: Making the case for wind power
• 2008/10/22: PeakEnergy: Tidal Power in Nova Scotia
• 2008/10/21: WSJ:EnvCap: Financial Fallout: Why Renewable Energy Has the Blues
• 2008/10/20: WSJ:EnvCap: Clean Energy Meltdown: Now GE's Bailing
• 2008/10/20: SeattlePI: Clean energy fulfills realistic future
• 2008/10/19: Guardian(UK): UK wind farm plans on brink of failure
• 2008/10/21: NEN: Big solar from earth orbit [SPS]

  As for the impacts of high energy costs:

• 2008/10/23: CattleNet: Heating Oil Distributors Fear Tough Winter Amid Credit Freeze

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2008/10/24: TreeHugger: Ausra Opens First US Solar Thermal Power Plant in Bakersfield, California
• 2008/10/24: TreeHugger: LG Switches Plasma Panel Plant to Photovoltaic Production
• 2008/10/24: PeakEnergy: SkyFuel's Solar Thermal Power
• 2008/10/23: PhysOrg: Magic solar milestone reached: UNSW claims 25 percent solar cell efficiency title
• 2008/10/22: SMH: Invest in solar power to stop prices going through the roof
• 2008/10/21: PhysOrg: LG Electronics to Invest in Solar Cell Production Line
• 2008/10/20: GristMill: Cheap in eight years better than expensive in 10 years, some enviros say -- Solar industry aims for grid parity in eight years

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2008/10/26: GristMill: Dynegee-whiz -- Massive coal utility agrees to disclose carbon risk
• 2008/10/23: DotEarth: Appalachian Coal to Power India?
• 2008/10/23: DVice: SHIFT: 'Clean' coal is a fraud
• 2008/10/22: TP:WonkRoom: Sierra Club: Coal Is Not The Answer
• 2008/10/21: GristMill: Enemy of the human race: Paper tiger edition -- Coal's position in the energy market is more precarious than is generally acknowledged
• 2008/10/21: BizStd: Thermal plants face coal shortage
  More than 60 per cent of India's coal-based power plants are running with less than a week's consumption of coal, threatening to affect power availability at a time when India's peak deficit is hovering at around 15 per cent
• 2008/10/21: TP:WonkRoom: ACCCE's $40 Million 'Clean Coal' Lie

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2008/10/22: NineMSN: Political pressure keeps ethanol cash flowing
• 2008/10/24: IPSNews: Biofuels Boom and Bust
  The Kenyan government has hailed bio-diesel as an innovation that combines green politics with poverty reduction. But recent drops in biofuel prices have caused concern about the sustainability of alternative fuel production.
• 2008/10/23: GristMill: The misadventure capitalist -- Khosla's letter to Science backfires [biofuel]
• 2008/10/22: KSJT: LATimes: Palm oil growers plowing near, and probably in, a park where thousands of organgutans hold out
• 2008/10/22: TreeHugger: $92 Million Algae Biofuels Deal Signed Between GreenFuel Technologies & Aurantia
• 2008/10/22: TreeHugger: 15% of Iowa's Carbon Emissions Come From Ethanol Plants, More Than Belching Cattle
• 2008/10/22: CleanTech: Ethanol gets hosed
  Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin say not enough people are considering whether they have the necessary water resources to meet the needs of new biofuel technologies.
• 2008/10/21: TreeHugger: 36 Gallons of Water Per Mile: Corn Ethanol Uses More Water Than Any Other Biofuel
• 2008/10/20: SciDaily: Alternative Energy: New Sugarcanes To Deliver One-Two Energy Punch

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2008/10/24: KSJT: NYTimes: US utilities applying for 34 new reactors, industry investing heavily in hardware already
• 2008/10/24: DotEarth: Nuclear Rebirth: From Rhetoric to Reality?
• 2008/10/24: NYT: Nuclear Power May Be in Early Stages of a Revival
  After three decades without starting a single new plant, the American nuclear power industry is getting ready to build again. [...] according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 21 companies say they will seek permission to build 34 power plants, from New York to Texas
• 2008/10/22: TP:WonkRoom: Lying About Energy Security, NAM Wants Virginia To Risk Flood Of Nuclear Waste
• 2008/10/21: NewScientist: Do we need to go nuclear to stay green?

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2008/10/25: CanWest: Don't believe in climate change? You still need a carbon tax [PO]
• 2008/10/23: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: In the eye of the storm
• 2008/10/21: NZHerald: Engineers warn of imminent oil shock
  Engineers are warning politicians that the lull in oil prices will be short-lived, and New Zealand is headed for sustained job losses unless it boosts energy efficiency efforts

Then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2008/10/22: GristMill: State the case -- ACEEE was doing state-level efficiency studies before state-level efficiency studies were cool
• 2008/10/22: PeakEnergy: Building With Buckypaper
• 2008/10/21: NEN: Big money, lots of jobs in new energy, efficiency - report
• 2008/10/20: People's Daily: China to launch nationwide survey of energy conservation measures

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

• 2008/10/25: CalcRisk: Cliff Diving: Volvo truck sales [in Europe] plunge 99.7%
• 2008/10/23: TreeHugger: Hybrid Buses a Bust in Toronto
• 2008/10/23: TreeHugger: GM Volt Plug-In Hybrid to use Batteries by LG Chem
• 2008/10/23: AutoBG: Daimler SMART sales skyrocket in Canada
• 2008/10/20: CNN: Charging stations for electric cars growing in number
  Public charging stations for electric cars are sparse around the country - Most electric car owners charge at home while sleeping - More public charging stations are popping up in states like California, Oregon
• 2008/10/22: TreeHugger: 2009 Fuel Economy Guide: Toyota Prius First, Lamborghini Murciélago Last

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2008/10/25: Guardian(UK): Supermarkets come in from cold as part of low carbon revolution -- Rising energy prices and green campaigns persuade firms to open ecostores
• 2008/10/20: IndiaTimes: Climate change leads to $300 bn business

  Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

• 2008/10/23: Guardian(UK): The great green swindle
  As consumers become more eco-conscious, companies will go to ever greater lengths to present themselves as environmentally friendly. Some make exaggerated or absurd claims, others resort to downright lies. Fred Pearce, whose new weekly Greenwash column launches on the Guardian website today, reports on a sinister trend - and appeals to readers to help stamp it out
• 2008/10/23: TreeHugger: The Guardian Takes on Greenwashing

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2008/10/21: BBC: Insurance market Lloyd's of London has said it estimates the damage caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike will cost it £1.3bn ($2.34bn) in claims

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2008/10/25: BCLSB: Deniapalooza II Coming To New York City
• 2008/10/21: PRWatch: Cherry-Picking Skeptic [Lomborg]
• 2008/10/23: DeSmogBlog: Eco-bunk Exposed
• 2008/10/23: DeSmogBlog: Fraser Institute Presents a Barrel Full of Problems
• 2008/10/22: Stoat: Turkish Delight
• 2008/10/22: Yahoo: Spain's ex-prime minister [Aznar] blasts 'new religion' of climate change
• 2008/10/22: JQuiggin: Meltdown continues at the Oz
• 2008/10/21: ERabett: No No Nierenberg
• 2008/10/22: Deltoid: Monckton has a gold Nobel prize pin
• 2008/10/19: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science XXII
• 2008/10/20: QuarkSoup: Marc Morano -- disputes the validity of climate models, except when they're in his favor

  Coby updated his How to Talk to a Climate Sceptic series:

• AFTIC: [H2T2aCS] How to Talk to a Climate Sceptic
• 2008/10/21: AFTIC: [H2T2aCS] What is the evidence that CO2 is causing global warming?
• 2008/10/20: AFTIC: [H2T2aCS] Global warming comes from within

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2008/10/01: NewScientist:SSS: Do we need a 'Gaian dictator' to save the world?
• 2008/10/20: CSM: Five great green TED talks
• 2008/10/22: GristMill: Kids and climate change -- A talk that's tougher than 'the birds and the bees' -- "how to tell a six-year-old where all the birds and bees have gone"
• 2008/10/20: SolveClimate: Clean Air Jump-Start
• 2008/10/23: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Climate change plan should start at home
• 2008/10/22: NatureCF: In search of the best climate graphics
• 2008/10/22: ClimateP: An introduction to the core climate solutions
• 2008/10/20: CCurrents: Planet Eaters: Chain Reaction, Black Holes, Climate Change And Existentialist Philosophy
• 2008/10/22: Guardian(UK): Faith in the future
  Tough talk is not enough, says Andy Atkins, Friends of the Earth's new director. We need to act fast to save vital natural resources

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

• NCAR: VAMOS Variability of the American Monsoon System
• NCAR: VOCALS Project -- VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study
• Science Centric
• USPIRG: U.S. Public Interest Research Group - Global Warming
• Pembina: Ecological Fiscal Reform (EFR)
• Fire Ecology
• Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast [Draft of a textbook by David Archer]
• The Yes Men
• JIW: Jim Inhot Water
• Argo [world ocean temperature and salinity collection project]
• U.S Climate Emergency Council
• CCNB: Conservation Council of New Brunswick
• UNL: Drought Monitor
• BOM: The South Pacific Sea Level & Climate Monitoring Project
• Climate Progress
• Logical Science - Defending the scientific consensus from vested interests
• Climate Choices - Global Warming and Climate Change in California
• LE: Lomborg Errors
• CDP: Carbon Disclosure Project

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.

"If we don't get help now, most of us are going to die. Nearly everyone here is starving" -Mashonaland West villager, Zimbabwe

• Global Warming Links
• Global Warming News Archive
• Energy
• Energy News
• Environmental Issues
• ---
• H.E. Taylor (homepage)