Another Week of GW News, November 30, 2008

By illconsidered on December 1, 2008.

Sipping from the internet firehose...

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

(skip to bottom)

November 30, 2008

Top Stories:Poznan, Recession Gambits, ICE, Mandate Survey
NW Passage, Greenland Geopolitics, Wilkins, Icebergs Calving, Romm & Revkin, Late Comments
Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
Hurricanes, GHG Stats, Carbon Cycle, Paleoclimate, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Satellites, DSCOVR
Impacts, Forests, Corals, Floods & Droughts
Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
Journals, Misc. Science, Hansen
Kyoto, Kyoto-2, UN
Politics: America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Asia, Canada
Ecological Economics, Unconsuming, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Courts
Energy, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing, Insurance
Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

It's always nice to start with a chuckle:

2008/11/30: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) George, Did You Remember...
2008/11/29: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Christmas card
2008/11/29: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Virgin Suicides
2008/11/30: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) A Visitor from the Future
2008/11/25: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Punishing Success
The UNFCCC Poznan meeting gathered steam this week, starts Monday:
UNFCCC: The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan', 1-12 December 2008
2008/11/30: PhysOrg: Climate change gathers steam, say scientists
2008/11/29: ABC(Au): Australian delegation heads to Poland for climate talks
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says an Australia delegation will arrive in Poland this weekend to begin work on a new global climate deal. About 9,000 people are expected to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference and meeting of parties to the Kyoto Protocol which start in Poznan on Monday.
2008/11/29: EUPol: The EU must lead the way at the upcoming UN climate change talks in Poznan, a senior UN official [UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer] has said
2008/11/29: Xinhuanet: UN climate change conference to be held in Poznan next month
2008/11/29: Reuters: U.N. urges climate cash boost for poorest
2008/11/29: Times(UK): Nations urged to agree new formula for cutting greenhouse gases -- targets would be measured per capita
2008/11/28: TheAge: Nations to seek climate pact amid gloom
2008/11/28: DeSmogBlog: Twitter the Poznan Climate Change Conference - #poznan
2008/11/28: ENN: Poorer nations bear brunt of climate change [Poznan]
2008/11/28: EnvEcon: Not so fast international climate negotiators!
[...] to some extent, international climate negotiators will remain in limbo until Jan. 20, when President-elect Barack Obama enters the White House.
2008/11/27: NYT: Save the Economy, and the Planet [Poznan]
Environment ministers preparing for next week's talks on global warming in Poznan, Poland, have been sounding decidedly downbeat. From Paris to Beijing, the refrain is the same: This is no time to pursue ambitious plans to stop global warming. We can't deal with a financial crisis and reduce emissions at the same time. There is a very different message coming from this country. President-elect Barack Obama is arguing that there is no better time than the present to invest heavily in clean energy technologies. Such investment, he says, would confront the threat of unchecked warming, reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil and help revive the American economy. Call it what you will: a climate policy wrapped inside an energy policy wrapped inside an economic policy. By any name, it is a radical shift from the defeatism and denial that marked President Bush's eight years in office. If Mr. Obama follows through on his commitments, this country will at last provide the global leadership that is essential for addressing the dangers of climate change.
2008/11/27: PhysOrg: Europeans concerned about US climate commitment
2008/11/27: Google:AFP: US ready to climb into hot seat on climate change [Poznan]
2008/11/27: NTI: India wants economic package for tackling climate change
2008/11/26: Google:CP: UN talks chance for Canada to restore climate-change cred: environmentalists
2008/11/27: ChinaDaily: China committed to climate promises
2008/11/27: DeSmogBlog: UNFCCC: World leaders face big expectations, weak support
2008/11/26: Guardian(UK): Economic slump may constrain US climate ambitions, [John] Kerry warns
2008/11/25: EurActiv: UN maps out national positions ahead of climate talks
2008/11/26: NatureCF: Looking forward to Poznan, and beyond
2008/11/26: Xinhuanet: UN chief to attend climate change conference in Poland
2008/11/25: Reuters: Downturn tests resolve at UN climate talks
2008/11/26: EarthTimes: Danish minister: EU must lead on climate change
2008/11/26: EarthTimes: Sweden sees Poznan climate parley as important 'halfway stage'
2008/11/26: EarthTimes: Poorer nations bear brunt of climate change
2008/11/26: WSJ:EnvCap: Stern Truths: Climate Guru Still Hopeful Ahead of Polish Summit
2008/11/25: ENN: [Economic] Downturn tests resolve at U.N. climate talks
The global recession, the bailouts and the green implications are getting a lot of attention:
2008/11/28: Reuters: Rich shelving CO2 cut ambitions as economies slow
2008/11/24: REA: A Stimulus Package for Renewable Energy Would Benefit Economy and Climate, Says German Study
The solution to the world's two biggest crisis -- the economic and the global warming crisis -- is exactly the same: a huge government investment plan in renewable energy will not only help kick start economies, but it will also help fight global warming, according to a report by Deutsche Bank.
2008/11/27: Reuters: Climate fight costs may be three times more [says UN-IEA report]
2008/11/28: Google:AFP: Financial crisis no excuse to slow carbon fight: UN climate chief
2008/11/27: NatureTGB: Credit crunch chills climate change choices
2008/11/27: Reuters: Rich shelving CO2 cut ambitions as economies slow
2008/11/26: ClimateP: Green Recovery 'Round the Globe
2008/11/25: NYT: Slump May Limit Moves on Clean Energy
2008/11/25: Guardian(UK): Financial crisis? That's nothing -- The coming energy crisis is going to dwarf the financial crisis, says the head of Shell: if only he were wrong
2008/11/24: FPIF: Bailouts Dwarf Spending on Climate and Poverty Crises
2008/11/25: Guardian(UK): The planet is now so vandalised that only total energy renewal can save us
It may be too late. But without radical action, we will be the generation that saved the banks and let the biosphere collapse

Another call for an International Court of the Environment:

2008/11/28: Telegraph(UK): Lawyers call for international court for the environment
A former chairman of the Bar Council is calling for an international court for the environment to punish states that fail to protect wildlife and prevent climate change

In the Arctic, the first commercial ship has sailed through the Northwest Passage:

2008/11/28: CBC: 1st commercial ship sails through Northwest Passage
The Canadian Coast Guard has confirmed that in a major first, a commercial ship travelled through the Northwest Passage this fall to deliver supplies to communities in western Nunavut. The MV Camilla DesgagnÃ©s, owned by DesgagnÃ©s Transarctik Inc., transported cargo from Montreal to the hamlets of Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak in September. "We did have a commercial cargo vessel that did the first scheduled run from Montreal, up through the eastern Arctic, through the Northwest Passage to deliver cargo to communities in the west," Brian LeBlanc of the Canadian Coast Guard told CBC News. "That was the first -- that I'm aware of anyway -- commercial cargo delivery from the east through the Northwest Passage."
2008/11/30: BCLSB: Meanwhile, In More Important News [NW Passage ship]
2008/11/29: ClimateP: First commercial ship sails through Northwest Passage: "I didn't see one cube of ice"
2008/11/29: Maribo: Commerical ship uses the Northwest Passage
Greenlanders voted to split from Denmark, changing the geopolitical equation in the Arctic:
2008/11/29: Guardian(UK): Great Danes -- But not if you're a Greenlander. The country prefers to go it alone - with a little help from its fossil fuel deposits
2008/11/26: TreeHugger: Greenlanders See Independence and Natural Riches as the Upside of Climate Change
2008/11/26: NatureN: Greenland gambles on warmer, richer climate -- As melting ice uncovers natural resources, Greenlanders vote to step closer to independence
2008/11/26: CBC: Greenlanders vote for more independence
2008/11/24: Google:AP: Dreaming of oil, Greenland votes on more autonomy
Otherwise in Arctic news:
2008/11/29: Stoat: Another trail of twaddle
2008/11/27: PhysOrg: Two degree rise could spark Greenland ice sheet meltdown: WWF
2008/11/25: CanWest: Fast-melting Arctic ice, Afghan security greatest challenges for Forces: top soldier -- Defence chief Gen. Natynczyk tells it like it is
2008/11/: Atlantic: The transformation of the Arctic - Sea Change [map]
2008/11/24: PhysOrg: How Arctic melting could benefit shippers, oil companies
In the Antarctic, the Wilkins Ice Sheet is fracturing:
2008/11/29: UPI: Antarctic ice shelf shows new rifts
2008/03/25: BAS: Antarctic [Wilkins] ice shelf 'hangs by a thread'
2008/11/29: CNN: New rifts form on Antarctic ice shelf
Scientists have identified new rifts on an Antarctic ice shelf - The Wilkins Ice Shelf is connected to two Antarctic islands - Scientists first spotted rifts in the ice shelf in late February
2008/11/28: ESA: Wilkins Ice Shelf under threat
2008/11/28: ClimaticideChronicles: Final Wilkins Ice-Sheet Breakup Looms
2008/11/28: PhysOrg: Wilkins Ice Shelf under threat
2008/11/28: SciDaily: Antarctica: Wilkins Ice Shelf Under Threat
A theory on how icebergs calve has been posited:
2008/11/28: TreeHugger: How Do Icebergs Form? Scientists Explain in New Study
2008/11/28: NatureTGB: Ice work guys!
2008/11/28: NewScientist: Mystery of iceberg 'birth' solved
2008/11/28: ABC(Au): US scientists crack iceberg mystery
US scientists have figured out how icebergs break off Antarctica and Greenland, a finding that may help predict rising sea levels as the climate warms
2008/11/27: BBC: Clue to break-up of ice shelves -- US researchers have come up with a way to predict the rate at which ice shelves break apart into icebergs
2008/11/27: PhysOrg: Speed matters for ice-shelf breaking
2008/11/27: Eureka: Speed matters for ice-shelf breaking
Note how survey results can be interpreted at will:
2008/11/28: CanWest: Support for climate-change efforts falling -- Fewer people willing to make sacrifices for environment: [international] poll
2008/11/26: NewScientist: Climate change survey gives mandate for action
2008/11/26: BBC: 'World mandate' on climate action
An opinion poll in 11 countries has produced what organisers term a "global mandate" for action on climate change. About half of the respondents wanted governments to play a major role in curbing emissions, but only a quarter said their leaders were doing enough. In developing countries, a majority of people were prepared to make "lifestyle changes" to reduce climate change.

Low Key Plug

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

-het

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

"You might think of a roller coaster riding the (Milankovitch) orbital rails, with Heinrich-Bond bungee jumping off the roller coaster while playing with a Dansgaard-Oeschger yo-yo." -Richard B. Alley [describing global climate over last million years in Two Mile Time Machine]

More like this

Around the Web: Some readings on Climate Change, Canada and COP21

I think this post might signal the birth of a new all-consuming blogging obsession -- climate change in general and specifically how the realities of climate change play out in the Canadian context, especially as it relates to public policy. With the COP21 climate talks coming up in Paris, this…

The Canadian War on Science: Science, the Environment and Public Health in the 2015 Canadian Federal Election

It has begun. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called an election for October 19, 2015, kicking off a marathon 11 week election campaign. The longest campaign since the 1870s, believe it or not. My patient readers may have noticed that over the last few years I've posted quite a bit about…

The Trump War on Science: Daring blindness, Denying climate change, Destroying the EPA and other daily disasters

The last one of these was in mid-June, so we're picking up all the summer stories of scientific mayhem in the Trump era. The last couple of months have seemed especially apocalyptic, with Nazis marching in the streets and nuclear war suddenly not so distant a possibility. But along with those…

Statements on Climate Change from Major Scientific Academies, Societies, and Associations (January 2017 update)

(Updated January 2017 by Dr. Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute) Scientific understanding of the role of humans in influencing and altering the global climate has been evolving for over a century. That understanding is now extremely advanced, combining hundreds of years of observations of many…

Another Week of GW News, November 30, 2008

Sipping from the internet firehose...

November 30, 2008

It's always nice to start with a chuckle:

The UNFCCC Poznan meeting gathered steam this week, starts Monday:

The global recession, the bailouts and the green implications are getting a lot of attention:

Another call for an International Court of the Environment:

In the Arctic, the first commercial ship has sailed through the Northwest Passage:

Greenlanders voted to split from Denmark, changing the geopolitical equation in the Arctic:

Otherwise in Arctic news:

In the Antarctic, the Wilkins Ice Sheet is fracturing:

A theory on how icebergs calve has been posited:

Note how survey results can be interpreted at will:

Romm & Revkin had themselves a little kafuffle:

The end-of-year roundup stories have started already:

A virtual conference in Second Life is coming up next week:

A multidenominational conference on global warming went down in Uppsala Sweden this week:

A critical view of water magic from James:

Late comment on the IEA WEO:

Late comment on the Living Planet Report:

The food crisis is ongoing:

The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

In the hurricane wars, Nisha blew across southern India, but it was quiet in the Atlantic and Pacific:

Meanwhile GHGs are still going up:

And in the carbon cycle:

While in the paleoclimate:

Glaciers are melting:

Sea levels are rising:

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

The campaign to uncover DSCOVR [Deep Space Climate Observatory] rolls on:

More GW impacts are being seen:

And then there are the world's forests:

Corals are dying:

As for disruptions of the hydrological cycle[floods & droughts]:

Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

Consider transportation & GHG production:

While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

As for carbon sequestration:

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

While on the adaptation front:

Meanwhile in the journals:

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

More Hansen:

Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

And on the Kyoto-2 front:

While at the UN:

And on the American political front:

The Bush administration's midnight regulation changes continue to gather opprobrium:

The Bush administration is also lobbying against effective global warming action:

The Obama chatter is nonstop:

The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

While in the UK:

And in Europe:

Meanwhile in Australia:

While in China:

And in Asia:

In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper's government introduced a delusional and malign Financial Update [really an FU] so the opposition parties got together and decided to turf them out of office. Much fun has ensued:

The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:

As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

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

Are you an unconsumer yet?

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

Apocalypso anyone?

As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

Remember framing?

Here is something for your library:

Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

Biofuel bickering abounds:

The nuclear energy controversy continues:

Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

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

The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

"First they say it's not happening;
then they say it's happening, but we aren't doing it;
then they say it's happening & we're doing it, but we can't do anything about it;
then they say it's happening & we're doing it, but it will be good for you;
then they say it's not happening...":