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Another Week of Climate Disruption News

Information overload is pattern recognition

January 18, 2009

• Top Stories:Gwynne Dyer, WWI on Emissions, Plant Methane, Google Emissions, Coal Sludge, Aerosols, Magnetic Fields
• Melting Arctic, Arctic Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
• Journals, Misc. Science, Hansen
• Kyoto-2, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics:International, Security, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Japan, Asia, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Betting
• Energy, Slamming IEA, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing
• Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

It's always nice to start with a chuckle:

• 2009/01/15: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Bird-strike
• 2009/01/14: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Obama Inauguration
• 2009/01/13: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Property-Owning Democracy
• 2009/01/12: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Job Vacancy
• 2009/01/12: ClimateP: (cartoon - Toles) Toles on Bush climate legacy

  Gwynne Dyer is talking about his book _Climate Wars_ on CBC:Ideas. [MP3s are available for 4 weeks]:

• 2009/01/14: CBC:Ideas: Climate Wars, Part 1 - Gwynne Dyer
• 2009/01/14: CBC:Ideas podcasts - Climate Wars

  Worldwatch Institute released a report about emissions:

• 2009/01/15: Guardian(UK): Emission impossible
  Negative carbon footprints are our only hope, says the Worldwatch Institute -- and sets out a 10-step roadmap to achieving this lofty goal. Can you think of any other ways?
• 2009/01/14: NatureTGB: Radical emissions cuts needed, says Worldwatch Institute
• 2009/01/13: Reuters: Halt all carbon emissions by 2050, says Worldwatch
• 2009/01/14: BBC: World 'needs radical cuts' on CO2
  More carbon dioxide needs to be absorbed than emitted by 2050 in order to prevent catastrophic climate change. That is the conclusion of a report by the Worldwatch Institute which urges bigger cuts in greenhouse emissions. The authors say that even a rise in temperatures of 2 degrees C poses unacceptable risks to natural systems. But they add that it is still possible to arrest and manage climate change with renewable technologies and more efficient ways of living.

A followup on that study asserting plants release methane:

• 2009/01/15: KSJT: BBC, etc: Yes indeed, plants do respire methane. But this just in: they do NOT make it.
• 2009/01/14: PhysOrg: Plant life not a villain in methane emissions debate
• 2009/01/14: SciNow: Methane Emissions? Don't Blame Plants
• 2009/01/14: NatureN: Study fails to catch plants making methane -- Greenhouse gas emitted from plants might just be passing through
• 2009/01/14: BBC: Challenge to plant methane link
  The recent finding that plants could be a major source of the atmosphere's methane is challenged by new research. A 2006 study suggested plants could account for almost half of the global production of the greenhouse gas. But a UK-based team now reports that under normal conditions, plants just convey methane from the soil to the air without actually producing it.

About that Google emissions story:

• 2009/01/14: PhysOrg: Google's CO2 Emissions: Some Puff, Lies & Good Old Fashion Hype
• 2009/01/13: ClimateP: Harvard physicist says "never mind" on Google energy use
• 2009/01/13: ClimateP: Ignore the media hype and keep Googling -- The energy impact of web searches is very LOW
• 2009/01/13: GristMill: Grams be damned -- Do the emissions from a single Google search matter?

  The coal sludge stories just keep on leaking:

• 2009/01/14: KSJT: Times Magazine: Perspectives on a cold winter, and a coal plant's ash deluge
• 2009/01/14: CNN: TVA ordered to clean up coal-fired plants
  Judge rules TVA must clean up emissions from plants in Tennessee, Alabama - Neighboring North Carolina sued over pollution from the coal-burning plants - TVA says it's analyzing the ruling, is committed to improving air quality - TVA in the news recently because of December sludge spill from coal-powered plant
• 2009/01/14: NEN: Hiding in plain sight
• 2009/01/13: GristMill: Expected values and Normal Accidents -- TVA could have planned for a normal accident such as the coal ash spill in Kingston, Tenn.
• 2009/01/12: GristMill: Coal ash crisis management -- What's it going to take to enact proactive energy and environmental policy?

  A couple of reports on aerosols:

• 2009/01/17: PhysOrg: Report calls aerosol research key to improving climate predictions
  Scientists need a more detailed understanding of how human-produced atmospheric particles, called aerosols, affect climate in order to produce better predictions of Earth's future climate, according to a NASA-led report issued by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program on Friday.
• 2009/01/16: Eureka: Report calls aerosol research key to improving climate predictions
• 2008/11/13: UNEP: Wide Spread and Complex Climatic Changes Outlined in New UNEP Project Atmospheric Brown Cloud Report
  Cities Across Asia Get Dimmer: Impacts on Glaciers, Agriculture and the Monsoon Get Clearer
• 2009/01/15: MGS: Asian Brown Cloud

  Here's another one of those studies I would like to see replicated:

• 2009/01/12: Yahoo: The earth's magnetic field impacts climate: Danish study

  The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

• 2009/01/17: FergusB: Greenland Ice Sheet; how much of a problem?
• 2009/01/17: CanWest: Arctic warming 'highly unusual,' U.S.[GS] report says
• 2009/01/16: USGS: Arctic Heats Up More than Other Places
• 2009/01/14: CM@C: Arctic Sea Ice Retreat: When Will the Arctic Ocean be Ice-Free During Summer?
• 2009/01/15: Stoat: Arctic Sea Ice Retreat: When Will the Arctic Ocean be Ice-Free During Summer?
• 2009/01/15: Wunderground: Averaging together antarctic and arctic sea ice hides an important truth
• 2009/01/13: NatureCF: Rapid retreat of Greenland's outlet glaciers may be temporary
• 2009/01/12: BBerg: Greenland's Rapid Glacier Retreat May Stall, Scientists Say
• 2009/01/11: TerraDaily: Massive Greenland meltdown? Not so fast, say scientists
• 2009/01/12: Wunderground: Top climate story of 2008: Arctic sea ice loss

  As for the geopolitics of the Arctic resources:

• 2009/01/17: WWF: Norwegians join push to ban oil exploration from fragile Arctic coasts
• 2009/01/16: PhysOrg: Arctic heats up more than other places
• 2009/01/16: SciDaily: Arctic Heats Up More Than Other Places: High Sea Level Rise Predicted
• 2009/01/16: CanWest: PM, Obama could easily settle feud over Arctic
  Stephen Harper and Barack Obama could do their countries a favour by resolving an escalating dispute over Canadian Arctic sovereignty with a wink and a handshake.
• 2009/01/15: NatureCF: US stakes claims in melting Arctic
• 2009/01/15: Guardian(UK): Bush urges US to stake claim to Arctic territory in last-gasp energy grab
  Departing US president grasps at resources beyond Alaska -- but scientists warn the move could accelerate global warming
• 2009/01/12: CanWest: Bush asserts U.S. sea power over Arctic straits
• 2009/01/14: FAS:SN: Bush Directive on Arctic Policy Stresses U.S. Sovereignty
• 2009/01/13: CBC: Arctic sovereignty not threatened by U.S. or European policies: [Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence] Cannon
• 2009/01/14: G&M: Harper plays down threat to Arctic sovereignty
  PM's response to U.S. policy in Far North disappoints NWT Premier, who says Canada must actively protect resource-rich area
• 2009/01/14: CanWest: Bold response required to U.S. arctic claim: premier [of the Northwest Territories, Floyd Roland] -- 'Empty rhetoric will not secure our sovereignty'
• 2009/01/13: DotEarth: In Parting Move, Bush Sets Arctic Priorities
• 2009/01/12: CBC: Bush signs new Arctic policy, outlining U.S. intentions in the North
  A new United States policy on the Arctic is a powerful challenge for Canadians to establish their control over the area before the Americans do it for them, says a leading academic. "This is a very clear message to the world that the Americans are saying to the world, 'We're back,' when it comes to Arctic security," said Rob Huebert of the University of Calgary. American President George W. Bush signed the new Arctic policy -- the first such document in the U.S. since 1994 -- on Friday and released it late Monday afternoon.
• 2009/01/13: TStar: New policy emphasizes U.S. interests in Northwest Passage
• 2009/01/13: CanWest: Bush asserts U.S. sea power over Arctic straits
  In his final days in power, President George W. Bush asserted U.S. military "sea power" over the oil-rich Arctic on Monday, in another forceful rebuttal of Canada's claims of sovereignty over the Northwest Passage. The White House formally released the text of a sweeping new directive on the Arctic, two years in the making, just eight days before Barack Obama is to be sworn in as the 44th U.S. president. Key elements of Bush's policy challenge the ambitious Arctic sovereignty agenda put forth by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that includes bolstering Canada's military presence and fostering economic and social development. The Bush directive reiterates that the Northwest Passage is an international waterway - a rebuttal of Canada's claim of sovereignty over what is emerging as a major global shipping route because of the shrinking polar ice cap - and it highlights the boundary dispute in the resource-rich Beaufort Sea.
• 2009/01/12: G&M: Does the Northwest Passage still matter? The shrinking Arctic icecap may soon ease Canada's sovereignty problem

  While in Antarctica:

• 2009/01/17: SMH: Seeing Heard [Island] is believing in global warming
  The pace of change is heating up in Australia's barometer of polar global warming. The latest bulletin from Heard Island in the Southern Ocean says temperatures are up, rapid retreat of glaciers continues unabated, and a peninsula has been split by the sea to create a new island.

The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2009/01/13: FAO: "Food should be a national security issue" -- Interview with M. Chipeta on the food crisis in Eastern Africa
• 2009/01/09: FAO:GIEWS: Food Security Situation Update: Kenya
• 2009/01/16: UN: UN-backed high-level meeting plans to reverse alarming climb in the number of hungry
• 2009/01/16: UN: Tens of thousands face food shortage in Burundi due to drought -- UN aid agency [WFP]
• 2009/01/16: BBC: The price of rice could rise sharply, causing another shortage of the staple grain, the International Rice Research Institute has warned
• 2009/01/16: CBC: Kenya appeals for $406M in urgent food aid
  Kenya's president declared the country's food crisis a national disaster Friday and asked international donors to contribute $406 million US toward emergency food aid. However, Germany's ambassador urged the Kenyan government to tackle corruption in its agricultural sector, saying "somebody out there is taking advantage of the famine to enrich themselves." Nearly a third of Kenya's 34 million people face food shortages because of crop failures after drought last year.
• 2009/01/13: UN: Food aid convoy, traversing Sahara, will soon reach refugees in Chad -- UN agency [WFP]
• 2009/01/13: BBerg: Food Production Chaos Looms in Africa as Soil Quality Worsens
• 2009/01/12: TreeHugger: Half of World Population Could Face Food Shortages by 2100: Another Dire Global Warming Effect

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2009/01/14: Eureka: Nations that sow food crops for biofuels may reap less than previously thought

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2009/01/14: CTB: Peak Phosphorus - Commence Urine Recyling on Space Station Earth
• 2009/01/16: GristMill: Food security and global warming: Monsanto versus organic -- Organic farming beats genetically engineered corn as response to rising global temperatures
• 2009/01/16: GristMill: Choice nuggets -- Interesting food articles from around the web
• 2009/01/08: SciAm: Croplands May Wither as Global Warming Worsens
  Climate models predict that the hottest seasons on record will become the norm by the end of the century--an outcome that bodes ill for feeding the world
• 2009/01/15: PhysOrg: Prairie soil organic matter shown to be resilient under intensive agriculture
• 2009/01/15: EnergyBulletin: Phosphorus matters: soil erosion & contamination
• 2009/01/13: BBC: New soil map for African farmers -- The first detailed digital soil map of sub-Saharan Africa is to be created
• 2009/01/13: Eureka: New digital map of Africa's depleted soils to offer insights critical for boosting food production
• 2009/01/12: ASA: Preventing Soil Erosion in Continuous Corn
  With the rising use of residue from corn crops in producing cellulosic ethanol, new methods of tillage and careful application of fertilizer are needed to prevent soil erosion.

In the hurricane wars, Charlotte zapped Northern Australia and Indonesia, but otherwise it has been quiet:

• 2009/01/12: CBC: More than 250 feared dead after cyclone [Charlotte] sinks Indonesian ferry

  As for GHGs:

• 2009/01/17: JFleck: A New Climate Change Mitigation Strategy -- Nothin' like a good economic collapse to rein in GHGs...
• 2009/01/15: GristMill: Convenient facts about an inconvenient truth, part 2 -- A detailed look at building, industry, transportation, and land-use greenhouse-gas emissions
• 2009/01/13: GristMill: Convenient facts about an inconvenient truth, part 1 -- Slicing and dicing global greenhouse gas data
• 2009/01/13: Tamino: CO2 Acceleration
  [...] In short, there's no doubt whatever that not only is atmospheric CO2 concentration growing, the growth rate itself is also growing. The rate of increase of CO2 since 2000 is about 2.1 ppm/yr, and the long-term growth rate of the growth rate is about 0.025 ppm/yr/yr.

And in the carbon cycle:

• 2009/01/16: NewScientist: Fish 'an ally' against climate change
• 2009/01/16: TerraDaily: Understanding The Sources Of Rising Carbon Dioxide
• 2009/01/15: CBC: Fish feces reduce ocean CO2 levels: study
• 2009/01/15: NatureN: Fish are crucial in oceanic carbon cycle -- Chemistry models need to incorporate new discovery
• 2009/01/15: Eureka: UBC researcher gives first-ever estimate of worldwide fish biomass and impact on climate change
• 2009/01/15: Eureka: Fish guts explain marine carbon cycle mystery -- 3 - 15 per cent of marine calcium carbonate is in fact produced by fish
• 2009/01/13: PhysOrg: Impact of sea-level rise on atmospheric CO2 concentrations
• 2009/01/12: DeSmogBlog: Time to Pull Over
• 2009/01/12: Stoat: Sea absorbing less CO2, scientists discover?
• 2009/01/12: Telegraph(UK): Climate change fears spiral as warmer seas 'absorbing less carbon dioxide'
• 2009/01/12: OilChange: Sea Absorbs Less CO2 Due to Climate Change
• 2009/01/12: Guardian(UK): Sea absorbing less CO2, scientists discover

  As for the temperature record:

• 2009/01/18: PhysOrg: Last year ranked in top 10 for heat
• 2009/01/15: Tamino: What if...?
• 2009/01/14: NOAANews: 2008 Global Temperature Ties as Eight Warmest on Record
• 2009/01/13: NASA:GISS: GISS Surface Temperature Analysis -- Global Temperature Trends: 2008 Annual Summation
• 2009/01/14: ClimateP: NASA: "Likely that a new global temperature record will be set within the next 1-2 years"
• 2009/01/12: QuarkSoup: UAH December 2008 temperature anomaly

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2009/01/13: Eureka: Great Lakes water level sensitive to climate change -- Early Holocene dry climate caused lakes to become disconnected

  While on the el Niño/la Niña [ENSO] front:

• 2009/01/09: TerraDaily: UN agency blames La Nina for Europe's shivers

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2009/01/16: Reuters: Tibetan glacial shrink to cut water supply by 2050
• 2009/01/15: TreeHugger: Watch the Impact of Global Warming: "Tibetan Plateau in Peril"

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2009/01/18: BaltimoreExaminer: Maryland's coastal protection laws addressing rising sea level
• 2009/01/16: EPA: [links to pdf sections] Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region
  Report highlights:
  * Rising water levels are already an important factor in submerging low-lying lands, eroding beaches, converting wetlands to open water, and exacerbating coastal flooding. All of these effects will be increased if the rate of sea-level rise accelerates in the future.
  * Most coastal wetlands in the mid-Atlantic would be lost if sea level rises one meter in the next century. Even a 50-cm rise would threaten most wetlands along the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay.
  * Possible responses to sea level rise include seawalls, bulkheads, and other shoreline armoring; elevating buildings and land surfaces (including beaches and wetlands); and allowing shorelines to change and moving structures out of harm's way. Those three approaches have very different environmental and social impacts.
  * Preparing now can reduce the eventual environmental and economic impacts of sea level rise.
  * Some governmental and nongovernmental organizations are already starting to prepare for sea level rise.
• 2009/01/14: ABC(Au): Seas to rise at varying rates: expert
  Sea levels will rise at widely varying rates around the world because of a quirk of the earth's gravity linked to global warming, a leading glaciologist says. "Everyone thinks sea level rises the same around the world," David Vaughan, of the British Antarctic Survey, told Reuters at the Rothera Base on the Antarctic Peninsula. "But it doesn't," he said.

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2009/01/18: WFIE: New satellite to monitor global warming [Japan's Go-Sat]
• 2009/01/17: ABC(Au): Environment department to extend vegetation mapping trial
  The Northern Territory Environment Department says it is extending a trial using satellite imagery to map vegetation in arid areas. Biodiversity scientist Ben Sparrow says the data collected from field work at Owen Springs has resulted in more accurate and wider scale mapping than was previously possible.
• 2009/01/15: SciDaily: [NASA's] Orbiting Carbon Observatory Will Help Track Sources Of Rising Carbon Dioxide

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2009/01/17: NewScientist: Climate change to stifle developing nations' growth
• 2009/01/16: PhysOrg: Slight changes in climate may trigger abrupt ecosystem responses
• 2009/01/16: SciDaily: Global Warming Linked To European Viral Epidemic
  An epidemic of the viral disease nephropathia epidemica (NE) has been linked to increases in the vole population caused by hotter summers, milder winters and increased seedcrop production by broadleaf trees. New research links outbreaks of this rodent-borne disease to known effects of global warming.
• 2009/01/16: USGS: Slight Changes in Climate May Trigger Abrupt Ecosystem Responses
• 2009/01/12: Eureka: Dirty snow causes early runoff in Cascades, Rockies -- Part of the changing climate, earlier spring snowmelt could affect hydropower generation, agriculture

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2009/01/13: MongaBay: What is the greatest threat to rainforests: habitat destruction or climate change?
• 2009/01/12: Eureka: New technology needed to monitor rain forest 'tsunami' [of human impact]

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2009/01/18: Guardian(UK): Storms leave 40,000 [Irish] homes without power
• 2009/01/16: Wunderground: Ice and fire: extremes grip North America
• 2009/01/15: EarthTimes: One dead, hundreds injured in freezing rain and ice in Serbia
• 2009/01/13: TerraDaily: Tropical Thailand declares emergency as cold hits
• 2009/01/14: EarthTimes: Three people dead in storm surge in southern Philippines
• 2009/01/13: ChicagoTrib: What global warming? U.S., Europe feel big chill -- But climate change shows no end in sight, scientists say
• 2009/01/10: TerraDaily: Dozens dead in Romanian cold snap: report
• 2009/01/12: CBC: Fiji storms strand villagers, tourists

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2009/01/17: ABC(Au): Heatwave sees increased water consumption
  This week's hot temperatures has seen an increase in water consumption in the nation's capital. Canberra residents have exceeded the Stage 3 water usage target by over 40 megalitres per day.
• 2009/01/16: PhysOrg: Texas drought worsens, cattle dying
• 2009/01/14: EarthTimes: Seven dead, three missing in flood-stricken Fiji
• 2009/01/14: ENN: In California, Hot and Dry Conditions Stir Drought Concerns
• 2009/01/13: UN: UN stands ready to assist after severe floods inundate Fiji
• 2009/01/13: EarthTimes: Heavy rain hits flood-stricken Fiji again
• 2009/01/13: SMH: Fiji floods kill eight, strand thousands

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2009/01/18: UGANews: Scientist hopes terra preta will slow climate change -- UGA involved in study of ancient farming practice

  As for transportation & GHG production:

• 2009/01/15: Reuters: Transport can help propel world to greener future
• 2009/01/15: Reuters: Transport can help propel world to greener future: UN
• 2009/01/15: ePM: Must read article on need to invest in rail
• 2009/01/14: TWM: Back on Tracks -- A nineteenth-century technology could be the solution to our twenty-first-century problems
• 2009/01/14: GristMill: Game changer -- Upgrade freight rail: Save 12 percent of oil, 4 percent of emissions, and jumpstart renewable grid
• 2009/01/13: Guardian(UK): Spain's high-speed trains win over fed-up flyers

  While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

• 2009/01/16: EurActiv: Cities seek better energy efficiency of buildings
• 2009/01/15: PhysOrg: Concordia University integrates combination of solar heat and power technology into its' new building
• 2009/01/12: PeakEnergy: Passive Solar Design Techniques

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2009/01/15: SciDaily: Could Ice-like Cages [hydrates] Be Used To Trap Carbon Dioxide Underground?
• 2009/01/15: SMH: Carbon capture put to the test in NSW
  NSW is about to find out whether it will be able to capture greenhouse gas emissions from its coal-fired power stations and store them underground. Drilling began on Monday to see if the rock 800 metres under the Central Coast can handle having thousands of tonnes of liquefied carbon dioxide pumped into it each week.
• 2009/01/12: Kentucky: Work begins on W. Ky. carbon storage project
  The Kentucky Geological Survey has started work on a carbon-storage project in Western Kentucky. The drilling pad has been constructed at the Hancock County site and the road up to the pad has been built, said Dave Williams, a principal investigator for the project. The Kentucky Geological Survey will inject carbon dioxide into an 8,000-foot-deep well to study the potential of storing carbon dioxide in the earth.
• 2009/01/12: NBF: CO2 capture from the Air for Fuel or Storage

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2009/01/18: PeakEnergy: Ocean fertilisation plan near Antarctica hits trouble
• 2009/01/16: JEB: Nutty professors cure global warming with flower power
• 2009/01/08: GJE: German Geo-engineers Show Iron Will to Defy Global UN Moratorium
• 2009/01/15: BBC: Farmers could help curb rising global temperatures by selecting crop varieties that reflect solar energy back into space, researchers say
• 2009/01/15: Guardian(UK): Could new varieties of wheat and barley save the planet from climate change?
• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): Paint it white
• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): Paint for victory: new weapon in climate war is brilliant white roofs
• 2009/01/15: NatureN: Crops that cool -- Could shinier farmland help combat global warming?
• 2009/01/15: NatureCF: Leaf albedo engineering
• 2009/01/15: NewScientist: A high-albedo diet will chill the planet
• 2009/01/15: Eureka: Cooling the planet with crops
  By carefully selecting which varieties of food crops to cultivate, much of Europe and North America could be cooled by up to 1 degree Celsius during the summer growing season, say researchers from the University of Bristol, UK
• 2009/01/14: NatureN: Ocean fertilization experiment suspended -- German science ministry demands environmental assessment before nutrient dumping can begin
• 2009/01/14: NatureCF: Storm over planned ocean fertilization experiment (updated)
• 2009/01/14: TerraDaily: Climate: Germany blasts geo-engineering scheme in Atlantic
• 2009/01/12: Stoat: Iron fertilisation
• 2009/01/12: NatureCF: Storm over planned ocean fertilization experiment

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2009/01/15: CPD: A reconstruction of Atlantic Central African biomes and forest succession stages derived from modern pollen data and plant functional types by J. Lebamba et al.
• 2009/01/14: CPD: Late Glacial and Holocene changes in vegetation cover and climate in southern Siberia derived from a 15 kyr long pollen record from Lake Kotokel by P. E. Tarasov et al.
• 2009/01/16: ACP: Open ocean DMS air/sea fluxes over the eastern South Pacific Ocean by C. A. Marandino et al.
• 2009/01/17: ACPD: Antarctic stratospheric warming since 1979 by Y. Hu & Q. Fu
• 2009/01/16: ACPD: mpact of climate change on photochemical air pollution in southern California by D. E. Millstein & R. A. Harley
• 2009/01/16: ACPD: Exploring the differences in cloud properties observed by the Terra and Aqua MODIS sensors by N. Meskhidze et al.
• 2009/01/15: ACPD: Quantifying transport into the Arctic lowermost stratosphere by A. Werner et al.
• 2009/01/15: ACPD: Chinese SO2 pollution over Europe -- Part 1: Airborne trace gas measurements and source identification by particle dispersion model simulations by V. Fiedler et al.
• 2009/01/14: ACPD: Aerosol indirect forcing in a global model with particle nucleation by M. Wang & J. E. Penner
• 2009/01/14: ACPD: An extreme CO pollution event over Indonesia measured by the MOPITT instrument by F. Nichitiu et al.
• 2009/01/14: ACPD: The impact of tropical recirculation on polar composition by S. E. Strahan et al.
• 2009/01/12: ACPD: Variability and trends in stratospheric NO2 in Antarctic summer, and implications for the Brewer-Dobson circulation by P. A. Cook & H. K. Roscoe

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

• 2009/01/13: WHOI: Study links swings in North Atlantic Oscillation variability to climate warming
• 2009/01/11: Oregonian: Northwest researchers say 'dirty snow effect' magnifies early snowmelt

  More Hansen:

• 2009/01/18: Guardian(UK): President 'has four years to save Earth' [Hansen] US must take the lead to avert eco-disaster
• 2009/01/18: Guardian(UK): 'We have only four years left to act on climate change - America has to lead'
  Jim Hansen is the 'grandfather of climate change' and one of the world's leading climatologists. In this rare interview in New York, he explains why President Obama's administration is the last chance to avoid flooded cities, species extinction and climate catastrophe
• 2009/01/15: NatureCF: Outspoken climate scientist gets props
• 2009/01/14: ClimateP: American Meteorological Society gives James Hansen its top honor
• 2009/01/14: DotEarth: Weather Mavens [AMS] Honor Climate Maven [James E. Hansen]
• 2009/01/14: DeSmogBlog: American Meteorological Society gives top honors to Dr. James E. Hansen
• 2009/01/12: ENN: NASA climate expert [James Hansen] makes personal appeal to Obama

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto-2 front:

• 2009/01/14: StraightGoods: Updating the Kyoto Accord -- Poor could benefit from trading carbon credits
• 2009/01/14: Reuters: Obama to give extra push to climate talks: U.N. official [UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer]
• 2009/01/15: EUParliament: Top EU official calls for global consensus on climate change

  While at the UN:

• 2009/01/15: DerSpiegel: UN Climate Secretariat Complains about German Office
  A climate protection treaty meant to succeed Kyoto will be negotiated at a summit in Copenhagen this December. But the UN says it's having serious trouble preparing for the event -- because the body has outgrown the office space provided to its Bonn headquarters by the German government.

And on the carbon trading front:

• 2009/01/14: CarbonFin: Paulson backs carbon price signals
  Sending price signals to the private sector is critical to encourage development of new technology that will curb carbon emissions, said outgoing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson -- a position in contrast to that of the Bush administration.
• 2009/01/15: Reuters: Depressed carbon prices to have ripple effects

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2009/01/17: CanWest: Exxon CEO's endorsement should prompt politicians to take a fresh look at the idea -- New life for carbon tax
• 2009/01/12: TStar: Americans seeing the light on 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:

• 2009/01/16: NEN: Spew must stop & action is coming, be it cap-and-trade or tax
• 2009/01/12: WorldChanging: Getting the Architecture Right: The Economic Implications of Cap and Trade Policy
  This isn't just about carbon ... it turns out that cap and trade could be the largest economic redistribution program the US has ever seen.

Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2009/01/13: NewScientist: Comment: Climate aid is tantamount to bribery

  As for GW & security:

• 2009/01/14: DeSmogBlog: Secret 2007 Aussie Defence report warns of climate conflict

  And on the American political front:

• 2009/01/17: AutoBG: Michigan Governor approves incentives for battery makers
• 2009/01/15: Reuters: Economic stimulus bill pushes renewable energy
  The $825 billion economic stimulus package unveiled by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday contains billions of dollars in tax breaks for renewable energy and spending for energy efficiency and transmission.
• 2009/01/15: GristMill: News flash: Wall Street-oriented Treasury secretary [Paulson] subverts climate policy -- Time for new thinking -- and new blood? -- in the White House economics team
• 2009/01/16: CSW: The US National Assessment of climate change impacts is now available on DVD, free of charge
• 2009/01/16: OilChange: Waxman Fires First Salvo on Climate
• 2009/01/16: TP:WonkRoom: Van Jones To Congress: 'We Can Build A Green Economy Dr. King Would Be Proud Of'
• 2009/01/15: GristMill: 'Be prepared for a battle' -- Waxman calls for climate bill by May, despite grumbling from Energy Committee members
• 2009/01/14: GristMill: Blago's symbolic parting gift to Big Coal -- Illinois leg. and gov. hoodwinked by 'clean coal'; will Obama be as susceptible?
• 2009/01/15: BBerg: Waxman Vows to Pass Carbon Cap as Republicans Promise 'Battle'
• 2009/01/15: WSJ:EnvCap: Hill Heat: Climate Proposals Stoke Tempers in House Committee
• 2009/01/14: GristMill: Sour Krauthammer -- Conservative touts gas tax as cure to all ills, alternative to other climate/energy policies
• 2009/01/14: GristMill: How Bush 'changed the debate' -- Paulson brags on his delayer boss
• 2009/01/14: HillHeat: Harlan Watson Moves to House
• 2009/01/14: USCCSP: [links to pdf sections] Second Public Review Draft of the Unified Synthesis Product Global Climate Change in the United States
• 2009/01/14: CSW: New and much improved "Unified Synthesis Report" is open for a second round of public comment
• 2009/01/09: KansasCity: Sebelius offers energy proposals
• 2009/01/14: NYT: Some [US] States in a Pinch May Raise Gasoline Tax
• 2009/01/13: ClimateP: Is 450 ppm politically possible? Part 8: The U.S. needs a tougher 2020 GHG emissions target
• 2009/01/12: TreeHugger: 76% of Federal Renewable Energy Support Went to Ethanol in 2007
• 2009/01/11: GristMill: Partly to mostly sunny -- Florida PSC [Public Service Commission] votes to establish a state renewable portfolio standard

  USCAP [US Climate Action Partnership] released a report to Congress:

• 2009/01/15: C411: Companies and Environmental Groups Announce Blueprint for Climate Legislation
• 2009/01/15: HillHeat: U.S. Climate Action Partnership Presents Outdated Climate Plan
• 2009/01/15: TP:WonkRoom: U.S. Climate Action Partnership: Give Polluters Money To Continue Polluting
• 2009/01/15: ClimateP: NRDC and EDF endorse the weak, coal-friendly, rip-offset-heavy USCAP climate plan
• 2009/01/15: GristMill: Bustin' a USCAP -- Business/enviro alliance unveils climate plan, attracts critics
• 2009/01/15: TreeHugger: US Climate Action Partnership Releases Climate Change Strategy Report for Legislators
• 2009/01/15: WSJ:EnvCap: Under Fire: [USCAP] Corporate Climate Plan Pleases No One
• 2009/01/15: WSJ:EnvCap: Big Cut: U.S. Companies [USCAP] Give Washington Their Climate-Policy Wish List
• 2009/01/15: WaPo: Coalition [USCAP] Agrees on Emissions Cuts -- Businesses, Environmentalists Set Plans on Climate Change
• 2009/01/14: BBerg: Greenhouse-Gas Limits Touted by [USCAP: Climate Action Partnership] Industry to Congress

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

• 2009/01/16: CBC: Bush administration calls for increased U.S. offshore drilling
• 2009/01/12: WhiteHouse: National Security Presidential Directive and Homeland Security Presidential Directive
  [...] Purpose - A. This directive establishes the policy of the United States with respect to the Arctic region and directs related implementation actions.
• 2009/01/13: CrossCut: Bush gets in a few last whacks at Northwest forests

  While in the "don't let the door hit you on the way out" department:

• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): The worst of times: Bush's environmental legacy examined
  With four days to go until president-elect Barack Obama takes is inaugurated, history is documenting George Bush's environmental record at home and abroad. Bush's departure from the White House will not be lamented by anyone who cares about the environment -- or science
• 2009/01/16: WarmingLaw: The End of an Era
  All good things come to an end. And bad things, too. Today I wrote Bush-appointed EPA Administrator Steve Johnson's name on a caption for the last time...
• 2009/01/12: TP:WonkRoom: Bush's Final Press Conference Ignores Legacy Of Planetary Destruction

  The Obama chatter is nonstop. How many are waiting for a miracle?

• 2009/01/17: ClimateP: Obama's amazing speech at wind-turbine-parts maker
• 2009/01/16: GristMill: Say it ain't so, Amtrak Joe -- Did the Obama team ax funding for mass transit in the stimulus bill?
• 2009/01/16: EnergyBulletin: The Real New Deal -- Post Carbon's proposal for the Obama Administration's response to economic, environmental, and energy challenges
• 2009/01/16: ClimateP: IPCC chief challenges Obama to further cut U.S. emission targets
• 2009/01/16: ClimateP: Should Obama push a climate bill in 2009 or 2010? Part I, Does a serious bill need action from China?
• 2009/01/16: GristMill: He knows which way the wind blows -- Obama visits Ohio plant that manufactures parts for wind turbines
• 2009/01/16: AutoBG: Obama to revisit states' rights on carbon emissions
• 2009/01/15: EnergyBulletin: Obama's plan: clean energy will help drive a recovery
• 2009/01/15: Ph&Ph: Rush Holt on Energy Policy, Barack Obama and John Holdren
• 2009/01/15: NatureCF: Climate policy under Obama: advice, and some results
• 2009/01/15: ClimateP: Details of Obama's green stimulus plan released
• 2009/01/14: QuarkSoup: Obama and Climate Change and Financial Reality
• 2009/01/12: ClimateP: An Anti-Regulation Regulatory Czar -- Obama's first unforced environmental error?
• 2009/01/12: ClimateP: Note to Obama, Congress on green stimulus: No to phony clean coal credits, yes to refundable renewable tax credits, Part 1
• 2009/01/12: BBerg: Obama Plans to Add Energy Credits to Stimulus, Lawmakers Say
• 2009/01/12: GristMill: Centrist cabinet, progressive president? What happened to the big win for progressives, the environment, and organic food?

  Obama's appointments have been in Congressional Confirmation Hearings all week giving rise to much comment:

• 2009/01/14: WaPo: Transcript: The Post's Lois Romano Interviews Carol Browner
• 2009/01/17: CSW: Replace Michael Griffin with a reality-based NASA leader who puts Earth Science first
• 2009/01/17: GristMill: The same coal story -- What Obama's green team has to say about coal
• 2009/01/16: CSpin: Obama's Science Team
• 2009/01/16: ClimateP: Unleashing the Geeks
• 2009/01/14: GristMill: CEQ for yourself -- Sutley promises to be 'voice for the environment' in Obama White House
  Nancy Sutley, President-elect Obama's pick to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality, faced tough questions from several senators...
• 2009/01/14: GristMill: A new Lisa on life -- Obama's EPA nominee promises to embrace science and act on climate issues
• 2009/01/14: Freep: Obama EPA pick [Lisa Jackson] aims to revisit California car rules
• 2009/01/15: SF Gate: EPA nominee [Lisa Jackson] to reconsider California waiver
• 2009/01/15: WaPo: Energy 'Czarina' [Carol M. Browner] Has List of Bush Policies to Undo
• 2009/01/14: CBC: Science, law will trump politics at EPA: Obama nominee
• 2009/01/14: GreenGrok: New Climate Team in the House - New Bill on the Way?
• 2009/01/14: NatureTGB: [Lisa] Jackson: Guided by science
• 2009/01/14: NatureTGB: The Wonderful Wizard of Ag [Tom Vilsack]
• 2009/01/14: ClimateP: Clinton warns climate change is an "unambiguous security threat" that could spark worldwide conflicts, Kerry embraces 350 ppm
• 2009/01/14: IndiaTimes: 'India need to be part of climate change agreement'
  The US Secretary of State-designate, Hillary Clinton, has said countries including India must be made part of any agreement on climate change and announced that the Obama Administration would appoint a Climate Change Envoy for the purpose. "As we move toward Copenhagen and attempt to craft a climate change agreement, all the major nations must be part of it. You know, China, India, Russia, and others, they have to be part of whatever agreement we put forth," Clinton said during the course of her nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday.
• 2009/01/14: WaPo: At Hearing, Chu Tempers Comments on Gas Tax, Coal
• 2009/01/14: CSW: Sen. Whitehouse to EPA nominee Lisa Jackson: "Get a good IG" and watch out for OMB "bullyboys"
• 2009/01/13: Yahoo: Obama to lead fight against climate change: Clinton
• 2009/01/13: TP:WonkRoom: In Confirmation Hearing, Steven Chu Opposes 'Hard Moratorium' On Coal And Nuclear Power
• 2009/01/12: UNDispatch: Carol Browner, Card Carrying Environmentalist
• 2009/01/13: NatureTGB: Steve Chu faces the Senate
• 2009/01/13: ClimateP: Chu: "On our current path, we run the risk of dramatic, disruptive changes to our climate system in the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren"
• 2009/01/13: DotEarth: Chu Confirmation Update: Answering for Past Statements
• 2009/01/13: GristMill: Here's looking at Chu, kid -- Senators prod DOE pick Chu for his thoughts on various energy sources
• 2009/01/13: GristMill: A foreign affair -- Kerry and Clinton note action on climate change as key diplomatic concern
• 2009/01/12: GristMill: Chu lookin' at me? Steven Chu's stances on key energy issues: a primer for his confirmation hearing
• 2009/01/13: CSW: Our questions for EPA Administrator nominee Lisa Jackson at her Senate confirmation hearing
• 2009/01/13: Reuters: Obama energy pick [Steven Chu] says will fight global warming
• 2009/01/13: WSJ:EnvCap: Steven Chu: On Energy Policy, Science Meets Politics
• 2009/01/13: WSJ:EnvCap: Steven Chu: Okay, Coal's Just a 'Pretty Bad Dream'
• 2009/01/12: CSW: Our questions for Energy Secretary nominee Steven Chu at his Senate confirmation hearing

  While in the UK:

• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): Labour and the Tories: who is greenest?
• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): Lagging behind on energy efficiency -- Britain needs strong political leadership to kickstart a national debate on this key area of climate change mitigation
• 2009/01/15: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Leaders line up on climate change
• 2009/01/12: FarmersGuardian: Wind farm plans scrapped as economic crisis takes its toll
  An ambitious scheme which aimed to establish the UK's first rural sector power company has been closed after the economic crisis threw the plans into disarray. Established by Aberdeenshire farmer Maitland Mackie, the Wingen scheme intended to raise £10 million from donors in the rural sector to start Europe's largest energy company, with the profits channelled back into the rural economy. But following a review last week, Mr Mackie has closed the scheme as potential investors found their savings hit by the economic downturn, while the group's advisors doubted it would be able to raise enough money from banks to build enough turbines.

The Brown government has approved the 3rd Heathrow runway to widespread outrage:

• 2009/01/15: Guardian(UK): Heathrow third runway gets go-ahead
• 2009/01/18: Guardian(UK): Fury at airport lobby links to No 10
  MPs suggest go-ahead for a third runway is down to influence of former Labour officials now working for BAA
• 2009/01/18: Guardian(UK): Heathrow: a failure of courage and imagination
• 2009/01/17: Guardian(UK): Hoon and Emma Thompson exchange flak over flights
• 2009/01/17: Guardian(UK): This craven airport decision hands Cameron a green halo
  Here was a test of both courage and political nous. Brown has flunked it, and given the Tories an undeserved boost
• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): Heathrow expansion -- Concrete and calamity
• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): Runway 3 will be a shrine to Labour's congenital frailty
• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): The [Heathrow] key questions -- Economics, pollution, jobs and noise ... how the arguments stack up
• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Arguments take shape over a third Heathrow runway
• 2009/01/15: OilChange: UK Credibility on Climate Crumbles as Heathrow Expands
• 2009/01/15: BBC: Can a bigger Heathrow be green?
  The government's decision to expand Heathrow has provoked fury from green groups, climate scientists, local MPs, local people and opposition parties.
• 2009/01/15: CBC: U.K. approves construction of 3rd runway at Heathrow
• 2009/01/15: SMH: Activists buy land in heart of runway
  London: And the award for best stalling tactic goes to -- a coalition of environmentalists, scientists and actors - including the two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson - determined to scupper plans by the British Government to build a new runway for Heathrow airport.
• 2009/01/14: Guardian(UK): What about jobs at Heathrow?
• 2009/01/13: Guardian(UK): Heathrow has lost the plot
  Land sold to Greenpeace and friends could stop the airport's expansion plans. Want to get your name on the title deeds?
• 2009/01/13: Guardian(UK): Heathrow expansion: How to protest
  While thousands are trying to buy up land earmarked for a third Heathrow runway, there are plenty of other avenues of citizen action open to those who want to protest against BAA
• 2009/01/13: Guardian(UK): Thousands rush to buy land in path of Heathrow expansion
• 2009/01/14: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Heathrow plan runs into local turbulence
• 2009/01/14: Guardian(UK): A runway for jobs? It's time aviation's bluff was called
  I would flatten rare toads for growth - but for all the airline lobby's cant, there is no wider economic case for expanding Heathrow [Simon Jenkins]
• 2009/01/14: Guardian(UK): Third runway [Labour] rebels hear from the whips
• 2009/01/13: OilChange: Buy an "Airplot" and Help Save the Climate.. [Heathrow row]
• 2009/01/13: BBC: Battle lines drawn over Heathrow
  [...] If ministers say yes to the plan for a third runway and sixth terminal, there will follow a decade of argument. The two sides will fight it out in the courts, during public inquiries, and throughout construction of the runway.
• 2009/01/13: BBC: Protesters buy up Heathrow land -- Land earmarked for the construction of Heathrow's third runway has been bought by anti-expansion protesters
• 2009/01/12: Guardian(UK): The aviation industry will keep bluffing -- Arguments such as greener technology may seem plausible, but airport expansion will still increase carbon emissions
• 2009/01/12: Guardian(UK): How I became an eco-warrior by Rebecca Frayn
  Yes, we all need to play our part in reducing carbon emissions. But the government must lead by example
• 2009/01/13: Guardian(UK): Celebrities buy Heathrow land to delay third runway
• 2009/01/13: Guardian(UK): This is indeed a class war, and the campaign against the Aga starts here
  Climate change allows the richest on earth to trash the lives of the poorest, no matter how Furedi's cult spins it
• 2009/01/12: Guardian(UK): Labour rebels opposed to third runway give backing to new airport in Thames estuary
• 2009/01/12: Guardian(UK): Go-ahead for development will intensify debate on air quality and noise pollution
  The widely expected approval of a third runway at Heathrow this week will not end the heated debate over the environmental consequences of expanding Britain's biggest airport

The Cameron Conservatives have released a new energy plan:

• 2009/01/17: PeakEnergy: UK Tories plan 'energy revolution'
• 2009/01/17: Guardian(UK): Tory £6,500 'green saving' for each home
  Cameron unveils energy efficiency proposals -- Electric cars and tidal power in party's vision
• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): Powering ahead: How the Tories have stolen a march on Labour with new energy policy
• 2009/01/16: BBC: Tories plan 'energy revolution'
  Street plug-points for electric cars, smart meters, and energy efficiency loans for homes are among Tory plans for an "energy revolution", to "decarbonise" the UK. David Cameron launched plans he said would lower carbon emissions, create jobs and reduce oil and gas imports. He said a £1bn upgrade for the national grid would encourage people to generate their own power and boost renewables.
• 2009/01/16: Guardian(UK): [UK Conservative leader, David] Cameron: we will build £1bn 'smart grid' to green Britain -- Tories unveil low carbon plan as Heathrow decision causes outcry

  And in Europe:

• 2009/01/17: AutoBG: Germany gives bonus to old car scrappers, prepares CO2-based road tax
• 2009/01/13: Guardian(UK): As Europe fiddles, US may take lead on climate change
• 2009/01/12: Yale360: As Europe Fiddles, U.S. May Take Lead on Climate Change

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2009/01/16: ABC(Au): More Coalition discord over climate change policy
  There have been more public disagreements between members of the Federal Coalition about how they should respond to the Government's climate change policies. Earlier this week Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce labelled the Government's emissions trading scheme as rubbish and questioned the causes of climate change. It put the Nationals at odds with their coalition partner, with the Liberals' Christopher Pyne calling for a more progressive approach to environmental issues.
• 2009/01/16: ABC(Au): Natural gas industry urges compulsory usage targets
  The main companies which distribute natural gas around the country are calling on the Federal Government to set a target for natural gas use, to help Australia burn less coal.
• 2009/01/16: ABC(Au): Wildlife Service 'omitting crucial fire info'
  The New South Wales Environment Department has been accused of not offering enough information about eight bushfires burning in national parks around the state.
• 2009/01/15: ABC(Au): Climate change expert Warwick McKibbin has criticised the Government's proposed emissions trading scheme as flawed, and says much bigger carbon cuts are needed
• 2009/01/15: ABC(Au): Pastoralists, Indigenous communities to suffer most from climate change: WWF
• 2009/01/15: ABC(Au): 'No monetary incentive' for NT's alternative energy users
  An alternative energy company in Darwin says it is appalled by the rate [14.4 cents/kwh] paid to Territorians feeding surplus energy back to the electricity grid.
• 2009/01/15: ABC(Au): Carbon storage search underway -- The New South Wales Government has begun searching across the state to try and find sites suitable for carbon storage.
• 2009/01/14: ABC(Au): No split on emissions scheme: Turnbull
  Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull has played down suggestions of a rift in the Coalition over climate change.
• 2009/01/14: ABC(Au): Queensland Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg has backed Federal Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce, who is opposed to an emissions trading scheme
• 2009/01/14: ABC(Au): Joyce on the attack over emissions trading
  Nationals Senate Leader Barnaby Joyce says Australians' lives will be "turned upside down" by the introduction of an emissions trading scheme
• 2009/01/13: ABC(Au): South-east New South Wales farmers are being offered Federal Government funding to adapt to climate change
• 2009/01/14: ABC(Au): Conservationists arrested in East Gippsland
  [...] The protesters say they are likely to re-group and target other operations in the region. They are accusing the State Government of breaking an election promise to protect old growth forests in East Gippsland.
• 2009/01/13: ABC(Au): Aborigines to feel climate shift most: [Medical Journal of Australia] report
• 2009/01/13: SMH: Climate will hit indigenous Australians hardest: report
• 2009/01/12: ABC(Au): A Climate Group new report shows there has been a rise in greenhouse gas emissions in Victoria and Queensland over the past year, but a drop in New South Wales
• 2009/01/12: PeakEnergy: NSW bucks national trend for greenhouse gas emissions
• 2009/01/12: SMH: NSW bucks national trend for gas emissions
  The amount of greenhouse gases pumped out by energy generation and transport fell in NSW last year, bucking the national trend.

As for China:

• 2009/01/13: EGovMon: New report identifies hard landing for China, collapse in asset prices, gaps in global governance and climate change as key risk
• 2009/01/13: NEN: Can China go California efficient?

  And in Japan:

• 2009/01/15: TerraDaily: Transport ministers plot climate action in Japan
  Twenty-two nations met Thursday in Japan to find ways to curb global warming from transport, which causes nearly one-quarter of carbon emissions but has partly evaded strict regulation

And elsewhere in Asia:

• 2009/01/16: BBC: Nepal turns back on hydropower
  Just when switching over to clean energy to fight climate change has become a global mantra, water-rich Nepal appears to be heading in the opposite direction, changing from renewable to dirty energy
• 2009/01/15: NatureCF: Bangladesh's battle with climate change
• 2009/01/14: JakartaPost: Minister rebuts criticism of climate plan
  State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said Tuesday that the government was working harder to realize the national action plan, designed to mitigate the impacts of climate change. The minister made the statement in response to a report from the Society Forum for Climate Change (CSF), which declared that the national action plan had become a "dead document"
• 2009/01/11: APP: [Pakistani] Govt to offer incentives for promotion of clean energy: [President Asif Ali] Zardari

  In Canada, it will be instructive to see climate change denier and Kyoto obstructer Harper gyrate as he adjusts to Obama:

• 2009/01/16: CanWest: PM, Obama could easily settle feud over Arctic
  Stephen Harper and Barack Obama could do their countries a favour by resolving an escalating dispute over Canadian Arctic sovereignty with a wink and a handshake.
• 2009/01/15: ScottsDiatribe: Followers, not leaders
  In the Toronto Star today, we have an article on how Harper and his Conservative government are probably going to be dragged kicking and screaming by Obama's new administration into actually having a credible climate change fighting plan on the environment
• 2009/01/15: TStar: Tories feel the heat over climate -- Ottawa must harmonize environmental plan with one proposed by Obama administration
• 2009/01/14: Canoe: Stakes are high for oilsands
  Alberta's oilsands will once again come under a global microscope when new U.S. President Barack Obama visits Canada after his inauguration. Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday said the oilsands will be on the agenda when he meets with Obama on his first foreign trip as U.S. president. That will provide the ideal opportunity to clear the air about the massive deposits in northern Alberta which are expected to be one of the largest global sources of oil production growth in the next decade. Obama's advisers have expressed reservations about the high carbon footprint of oilsands production.

Oh Great! Now Harper is going to study the problem:

• 2009/01/13: DeSmogBlog: Canada to study economic impact of climate change
• 2009/01/13: CanWest: Ottawa to probe climate change cost
  The Harper government is planning to take a detailed look at the economic effects of a changing climate in Canada...

A conference on the polar bear went down in Winnipeg this week:

• 2009/01/14: CanWest: Secrecy surrounds Winnipeg round table about polar bears
  The poster species for climate change will be in the spotlight Friday at a Winnipeg gathering of government officials, researchers and Inuit groups to discuss the future of the polar bear. But the potentially heated gathering will happen behind closed doors, with media barred from attending and the official list of speakers under wraps. Environment Minister Jim Prentice set up the gathering to hash out protection plans for the polar bear, whose numbers in Canada are placed at between 12,000 and 15,000 by the World Conservation Union. It's estimated that declines in the sea ice needed for bears to hunt could cause populations in the Arctic to drop by two thirds by 2050. Of Canada's 13 bear sub-populations, "eight of them are either declining, depleted, or showing all the ecological signs of stress," said WWF-Canada director of species conservation Peter Ewins, who will speak at the round table.
• 2009/01/17: UPI: No consensus at Canadian polar bear summit
• 2009/01/16: CTV: Science clashes with Inuit tradition at [one-day] polar bear summit
• 2009/01/17: G&M: No common ground at first polar bear summit
  Inuit leaders defend right to hunt giant mammals and accuse environmental groups of using climate-change agenda to interfere
• 2009/01/16: CBC: 'We all have a vested interest' in polar bear future: Prentice to summit
• 2009/01/17: ChronicleHerald: Science, Inuit tradition clash over polar bears
• 2009/01/15: CBC: Polar bear protection to be focus of national round table

  Elizabeth May has written a book:

• 2009/01/18: CanWest: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May puts politics aside in book on climate change
  It's possible that Elizabeth May has nothing but good intentions in mind with her plans to give Prime Minister Stephen Harper a copy of her new book. But the fact that May is leader of the Green Party of Canada and the book is called Global Warming for Dummies could make it an uncomfortable gesture, not to mention one fraught with political implications. May, the author, makes no apologies.

In Ontario, the McGuinty government has made a gesture toward the electric car:

• 2009/01/16: CleanBreak: Is Ontario serious about Better Place?
• 2009/01/17: AfterGutenberg: Better Place, Ontario, eh?
• 2009/01/15: BCLSB: Ontario Moves To Create Electric Car Infrastructure
• 2009/01/15: AutoBG: Better Place goes Canadian with Ontario electric car partnership
• 2009/01/15: CBC: Grand plan for electric cars takes shape in Ontario

  In BC, they're wrangling over energy:

• 2009/01/15: G&M: BC Hydro changes tune over green energy cutbacks
  Utility cites difficulty forecasting in last month's heavily criticized move to seek drastic reduction in clean power projects
• 2009/01/14: CanWest: Green energy will help restore self-sufficiency [in BC]

  The Pembina Institute produced a report on Alberta energy policy:

• 2009/01/14: CBC: Alberta could go 'pale green' or even 'green' within 20 years: [Pembina Institute] report
• 2009/01/14: Pembina: [link to 4.3 meg pdf] Greening the Grid: Powering Alberta's Future with Renewable Energy
• 2009/01/14: DaveBerta: Greening the grid within 20 years -- Can Alberta clean up its energy production?

  The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:

• 2009/01/15: PRWatch: Industry Promotes Oilsands, but Who Believes Them?
• 2009/01/17: ChronicleHerald: U.S. and Canada must handle oil sands with kid gloves
• 2009/01/15: TreeHugger: TarSands Industry Readying Public Relations Campaign
• 2009/01/15: Economist: A sticky ending for the tar sands -- A boom based on extracting oil from tar sands turns bad
• 2009/01/14: OilChange: Canadian Begins Tar Sands Charm Offensive to Obama
• 2009/01/13: TDL: Steve Gets All Environmental On the Tar Sands
• 2009/01/12: CBC: Arson blamed as former tarsands executive's home destroyed
  The fire that destroyed a home of a former tarsands company executive on Saturday night was caused by Molotov cocktails, Edmonton police said Monday. A witness reported seeing four youths running from the area at the time the fire broke out, police said. Nobody was in the home owned by former Syncrude president Jim Carter, who retired in 2007.

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

• 2009/01/15: ClimateP: Voodoo Economists, Part 3.5: Richard Tol says wildly optimistic MIT/NBER study, beloved of deniers, is "way too pessimistic"
• 2009/01/13: ClimateP: Voodoo Economists, Part 3: MIT and NBER (and Tol and Nordhaus) -- the right wing deniers love your work. Ask yourself "why?"
• 2009/01/13: DeSmogBlog: Joseph Romm Slams Clueless Economists' Climate Views
• 2009/01/12: BBC: Can 'green greed' save the planet?
  For anyone with a flake of concern for the health of the planet these are equally scary and exciting times. The fear is that the environment will get trampled in the rush to reboot the old-style exploitative economy, but there is hope in the opportunity to build something different.
• 2009/01/12: D&S: Climate Economics in Four Easy Pieces -- Conventional cost-benefit models cannot inform our decisions about how to address the threat of climate change.
• 2009/01/11: ClimateP: Voodoo economists, Part 2: Robert Mendelsohn says global warming is "a good thing for Canada."
• 2009/01/11: GristMill: Climate economics in five easy pages -- Required reading for novice climate economists

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

• 2007/10/: PChefurka: World Energy and Population Trends to 2100
• 2009/01/16: ChinaDaily: Women 'keen' to have more than 1 kid
  Most Chinese women would like to have more than one child, a survey by the National Family Planning Commission Thursday has said. [...] Despite people's desire to have more children, the commission said China will achieve its goal to keep its population within 1.36 billion by the end of next year. Li Bin, minister of the commission, said authorities are likely to stick to their family planning policies.

Apocalypso anyone?

• 2009/01/16: MongaBay: Symposium tackles big question: how many species will survive our generation
• 2009/01/15: OpEdNews: Surviving in the Tough Times Ahead
• 2009/01/14: Oregonian: Climate change: The last, final problem by David Appell
• 2009/01/13: PeakEnergy: The Medea Hypothesis: Earth's appetite for destruction

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2009/01/15: DeSmogBlog: Canwest News Service cuts full-time Environment beat reporter position
• 2009/01/13: CJR: Environmental S.W.A.T. Team -- New York Times's new 'pod' gathers talent from multiple beats
  On Thursday, The New York Times will launch a new, crack environmental reporting unit that will pull in eight specialized reporters from the Science, National, Metro, Foreign, and Business desks in a bid for richer, more prominent coverage.
• 2009/01/14: GristMill: The story of the century -- New York Times creates dedicated environmental reporting team
• 2009/01/14: RealClimate: CNN is spun right round, baby, right round
• 2009/01/13: TreeHugger: British Journalists Take On Skeptics, Liars and Incandescent Bulbs
• 2009/01/12: RealClimate: Communicating the Science of Climate Change

  The betting meme rolls on:

• 2009/01/15: Stoat: Arctic Sea Ice Retreat: When Will the Arctic Ocean be Ice-Free During Summer?

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2009/01/16: BBerg: Oil Demand Set for 2-Year Drop on Recession, IEA Says
• 2009/01/17: CanWest: Yes, there is life after oil
• 2009/01/17: ShanghaiDaily: Wake up - tech can't solve energy crisis
• 2009/01/17: TreeHugger: Turkey Needs Wind, Solar for Energy Security, Expert Says
• 2009/01/15: EnvFin: US renewables sector can meet Obama challenge -- analysts
• 2009/01/15: Yahoo: US petroleum demand in 2008 was lowest in 5 years; production down too
• 2009/01/15: GreenBiz: Growth in Energy Use Could Drop 22 Percent by 2030 Under Right Conditions: Report
• 2009/01/15: RigZone: Why We'll See $200 Oil Soon
• 2009/01/16: WSJ:EnvCap: Army Green: Why the Pentagon's Energy Plans Matter
• 2009/01/16: BBC: Oil demand to fall again in 2009
  Global oil demand is due to fall for the second year in succession in 2009, the first consecutive annual declines in 26 years, a report has predicted. Demand will decline this year by an average 940,000 barrels per day to 85.3 million, a 0.6% fall from 2008, said the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA, which represents the main oil consuming nations, said the expected fall was due to the global slowdown.
• 2009/01/16: GEA: Crude Situation
• 2009/01/15: FTimes: Gap between WTI and Brent raises questions
  The global oil market was thrown into disarray on Thursday as the spread between the world's most important oil pricing benchmark, Nymex West Texas Intermediate, and other international reference prices, including North Sea Brent, ballooned to record levels. Costanza Jacazio, an oil analyst at Barclays Capital in New York, said the WTI price system was now in disrepute. "WTI has become about as useful as a chocolate oven-glove," said Ms Jacazio. "It has for the moment lost any claim to be a meaningful indicator of broader market conditions."
• 2009/01/15: GristMill: Poison is dose-dependent -- Even renewable energy should be used and produced efficiently
• 2009/01/15: QuarkSoup: Worldwide Energy Consumption
• 2009/01/15: TIM: Analysis: There'll be no more cheap energy
• 2009/01/14: NewScientist: Top 7 alternative energies listed
• 2009/01/13: Reuters: EIA again cuts 2009 US gas supply growth estimates
• 2009/01/13: NYT: Geothermal Future
• 2009/01/14: PeakEnergy: A Geothermal Future
• 2009/01/14: CBC: Ukraine refuses to ship Russian gas to Europe
• 2009/01/13: NewScientist: Bug enzyme generates fuel from water
• 2009/01/13: PhysOrg: Low temperature fuel cells: New clean, energy efficient technology to power cars and mobiles
• 2009/01/13: TreeHugger: Balanced Score Card For Alternative Transportation Energy Sources Ranks Wind-Electric First; Ethanol In Last Place
• 2009/01/13: BBerg: Pemex Oil Production Drops 6.5% on Cantarell Field
• 2009/01/10: MM: The "Cheap Oil Era" is Ending Soon...
• 2009/01/12: BRitholtz: What 60 Minutes Missed on Oil Speculation
• 2009/01/13: VoxEU: Oil shocks redux by Alan S. Blinder & Jeremy Rudd
  Why didn't the most recent run-up in oil prices have dramatic effects as in the 1970s? Here one of the world's leading macroeconomists surveys a variety of explanations: i) developed countries are now less energy-intensive, ii) wages are more flexible, iii) the US auto industry is relatively smaller, iv) monetary policy now targets core inflation, and recent shocks were to industrial demand, not oil supply.
• 2009/01/13: NYT: Gulf Oil States Seeking a Lead in Clean Energy
• 2009/01/13: NakedCapitalism: Will Gulf States Beat the US in the Green Energy Push?
• 2009/01/12: WSJ:EnvCap: Oil Prices: Despite OPEC Cuts, Dismal Demand Keeps Pushing Prices Down
• 2009/01/12: CBC: Oil back under $40 US a barrel
• 2009/01/12: CBC: Yukon Energy cranks up search for geothermal heat source
• 2009/01/12: G&M: Detroit Three change gears to go green -- Electric, hybrid vehicles at the fore as reeling auto companies overhaul business models, gird for gloomy future
• 2009/01/12: Guardian(UK): Our friends electric -- Toyota unveils a lightweight battery-powered commuter car

  Energy Watch Group has called IEA on downplaying renewables:

• 2009/01/14: PRWatch: Influential Energy Agency Blows off Wind Power
• 2009/01/13: PeakEnergy: International Energy Agency 'blocking global switch to renewables'
• 2009/01/12: NatureCF: IEA responds to attacks
• 2009/01/12: GristMill: EWG PWNS IEA FTW -- International energy group criticized for congenital ignorance and pessimism about renewables

  Note how misleading this headline is. Fossil fuels provide ~75% of our energy. He meant new energy till 2030:

• 2009/01/12: NewKerala: Fossil fuels will supply a third of energy till 2030: Pachauri
  Painting a gloomy picture of adverse climate change affecting countries across the globe, a leading energy expert has said that more than one-third of world energy demand would continue to be met by fossil fuels like coal till 2030. "World energy demand would increase by 45 percent between now and 2030. More than one-third of this would be met by coal, sending global temperatures soaring," director general of The Energy and Resources Institute, R.K. Pachauri said here Monday.

The answer my friend...:

• 2009/01/15: EnvFin: China blasts through wind energy target
  China more than doubled its wind power capacity in 2008, installing 4.66GW of additional capacity and passing the government's 10GW target two years ahead of schedule.
• 2009/01/16: TreeHugger: 'Energy Super Ring' of Offshore Wind Farms Could Mean Europe's Energy Independence
• 2009/01/16: PeakEnergy: Dutch Plan Massive North Sea Wind Farm to Power Europe
• 2009/01/12: BizWeek: A Chill Blows Through Wind Power
  The financial crisis has hit the wind power industry hard as credit has dried up. Will government spending provide the needed stimulus?
• 2009/01/13: BBC: 'V-wing' turbine gets study cash -- An unusual design of wind turbine with a pair of giant vertical wings could one day be generating electricity for the UK Grid
• 2009/01/12: NewScientist: Invention: Tree-hugging wind turbine
• 2009/01/12: GristMill: Big is beautiful when it comes to wind turbines -- Small solar needs long-distance transmission as much as big wind

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2009/01/14: CNN: U.S. solar panel makers prefer overseas
  Tax credits for makers of renewable energy products could revive the U.S. industrial sector. But most find other countries more attractive.
• 2009/01/14: Google:AP: As fed steps up, states step back on solar funding
• 2009/01/14: NYT:GreenInc: Solar Manufacturing: Not So Sunny -- Solar manufacturers, who once couldn't keep up with demand, are now searching for customers
• 2009/01/15: NEN: Solar -- getting big & facing challenges
• 2009/01/14: TreeHugger: The Dark Side of Solar Panels
• 2009/01/12: TreeHugger: Solar Thermal Power + New Direct Current Electric Grid Could Make US Renewable Energy World Leader
• 2009/01/12: OilDrum: Ambitious Solar Plans in France

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2009/01/16: ClimateP: Clean coal (cough, cough) is cool, just like Joe Camel
• 2009/01/16: SteelGuru: Indian coal imports growing at 17% annually
• 2009/01/15: EnergyTrib: Crunching the Data: The Ten Most Coal-Reliant Countries

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2009/01/15: GJE: Bursting The New "Green" Bubble: Letter challenges unrealistic promises from an unsustainable industry [agrofuels]
• 2009/01/17: IR^2: Renewable Diesel Primer
• 2009/01/16: SciDaily: New Method Accelerates Stability Testing Of Soy-based Biofuel
• 2009/01/15: MSU: Biofuel carbon footprint not as big as feared, Michigan State University research says
• 2009/01/15: TreeHugger: Global Biofuel Crop Yields Often Severely Overestimated, New Research Finds
• 2009/01/14: PhysOrg: Ethanol profitability calculator developed by Iowa State University researcher [David Peters]
• 2009/01/13: CapTimes: Study: Nations that sow food crops for biofuel may reap less than expected
• 2009/01/13: OU: "Green" Gasoline on the Horizon
• 2009/01/13: TreeHugger: 20,000 Gallon Per Year Cellulosic Ethanol Pilot Project Opens in South Dakota
• 2009/01/13: Eureka: New NIST method accelerates stability testing of soy-based biofuel
• 2009/01/13: OilDrum: The Effect of Natural Gradients on the Net Energy Profits from Corn Ethanol
• 2009/01/12: SF Gate: Big harvest, weak demand bring down crop prices
• 2009/01/12: TreeHugger: 76% of Federal Renewable Energy Support Went to Ethanol in 2007

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2009/01/15: PhysOrg: Japan eyes restarting controversial 'dream nuclear reactor'

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2009/01/15: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: renovating suburbia
• 2009/01/12: Forbes:BizWire: Energy CFOs Are Split on World's Peak Petroleum Production Rate, According to BDO Seidman, LLP...
• 2009/01/13: ClimateP: Half of oil & gas CFOs say we are peaking

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2009/01/13: CBC: Renters not sold on smart meters
  The Ontario government's energy-saving plan to install so-called smart meters in every home by 2010 is in full swing, but landlords and tenants are already arguing over the cost of electricity. The meters record energy consumption hour by hour, sending consumers' electricity provider through special technology. That compares to the older meters -- read manually -- that measure total electricity used over an entire billing period.

And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2009/01/16: TreeHugger: Half of Americans Already Making Energy Efficiency Improvements, Few Get Out of Their Cars: New Survey Finds
• 2009/01/16: SciDaily: Americans Eager To Reduce Their Energy Use
• 2009/01/16: OLJ: Saving the economy, one furnace at a time
• 2009/01/14: PhysOrg: Survey: Americans eager to reduce their energy use
• 2009/01/13: PhysOrg: Smart Lighting: New LED Drops the 'Droop'

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

• 2009/01/14: EastBatExpress: Who's Killing the Plug-In Hybrid?
  The same state agency [CARB] that drove the electric car off a cliff is now poised to wreck a new Berkeley company that triples the gas mileage of a Toyota Prius.
• 2009/01/16: GristMill: Green Light: Electric shock -- Automakers parade EVs in Detroit, Ontario Betters itself, and more green auto news
• 2009/01/16: GristMill: Who's killing the plug-in hybrid?
• 2009/01/12: IR^2: Detroit Gearing Up for Electric Cars
• 2009/01/14: IR^2: Nobody Wants Small Cars
• 2009/01/15: CNN: Getting real: The high cost of electric cars
• 2009/01/13: TechRev: Toyota to Deliver Plug-In Hybrids -- The new Prius is designed so that its battery pack can be swapped out for a plug-in lithium-ion battery
• 2009/01/15: PeakEnergy: Toyota to Deliver Plug-In Hybrids -- New Prius battery pack can be swapped out for a plug-in lithium-ion battery
• 2009/01/15: AutoBG: Toyota plans production hydrogen car by 2015
• 2009/01/15: AutoBG: Michigan man creates electric Bug, hopes to commercialize
• 2009/01/15: CTV: StatsCan reports [7%] drop in November auto sales
• 2009/01/14: ClimateP: Everything you could want to know about the plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle announcements at the Detroit auto show
• 2009/01/14: DotEarth: Selling Fuel-Sipping Cars Despite $2 Gas
• 2009/01/12: FuturePundit: Lithium Batteries For Cars Still Pretty Heavy
• 2009/01/14: AutoBG: Toyota to sell [lithium ion] batteries to other automakers
• 2009/01/13: NPR: Chinese Electric Car [BYD-F3DM] Jolts The Competition
• 2009/01/14: CBC: First of new large hybrid trucks showcased in Moncton
  The face of the large trucking industry may be changing after [U.S.-based] Peterbilt Motors rolled out one of the first hybrid models in Moncton.
• 2009/01/13: G&M: Plunging gas prices zap sales for new fleet of electric vehicles
• 2009/01/11: DotEarth: Will Consumers Kill the Electric Car?
• 2009/01/11: Yahoo: 48 mpg is nice, but hybrids don't add up right now
• 2009/01/12: AutoBG: Detroit 2009: GM to build world's largest battery lab

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2009/01/15: EnvFin: Triodos Bank [in UK] bucks trend with lending expansion
• 2009/01/15: EnvFin: Clean energy investment limps over $150bn in 2008 -- Grew by 4.4%
• 2009/01/16: WorldChanging: Climate Change Adaptation: From Big Taboo to Business Opportunity

  Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

• 2009/01/16: TreeHugger: Biofuels Cannot Be Called Sustainable in UK Advert: Board Upholds George Monbiot's Complaint
• 2009/01/15: Guardian(UK): Greenwash: Tesco and its bizarre carbon accountancy -- 'Carbon intensity' is the new gambit for companies trying to spruce up their green images
• 2009/01/14: Guardian(UK): The airlines' green flights of fancy
  EasyJet wants to make its fleet environmentally friendly: so why was their chief executive the toughest I've interviewed so far? [George Monbiot]

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2009/01/17: JQuiggin: Windschuttles and weathercocks
• 2009/01/16: MTobis: Theory of Everything
• 2009/01/15: GristMill: [Dessler] Roy Spencer: Inhofe 650 is bogus! Marc Morano agrees that only experts in climate feedbacks can make judgments on climate
• 2009/01/15: ERabett: Statistical Denial
• 2009/01/16: Deltoid: Sixth-degree polynomial fits, just say no
• 2009/01/16: DeSmogBlog: Leaked Clean Coal Strategy Memo to Peabody Energy
• 2009/01/16: DeSmogBlog: Coal lobby PR firm memo boasts about manipulating Democrats and Republicans
• 2009/01/15: NatureCF: Ackerman: Odd-couple match for Lomborg?
• 2009/01/15: ClimateP: Something else for the deniers to deny: The ocean is absorbing less carbon dioxide
• 2009/01/14: GristMill: Global warming, ice age, whatevs -- Lou Dobbs works to make CNN viewers less informed
• 2009/01/15: Stoat: The world is no warmer than it was 30 years ago?
• 2009/01/15: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science 32
• 2009/01/14: Maribo: Analysis of increase in "skeptical" climate stories
• 2009/01/15: DeSmogBlog: A troubling trend in Global Warming Denial on the internet
• 2009/01/14: TP:WonkRoom: Inhofe And Fox News Anchor Bumble Through 'Socialist Czar' Talking Points
• 2009/01/08: ThingsBreak: Lomborg and Playing the Long Game
• 2009/01/14: BSD: Mashey on Lomborg, and virtual Mashey
• 2009/01/14: ERabett: Read on the checkout line
• 2009/01/14: DeSmogBlog: Does Sterling Burnett actually believe what he says about global warming?
• 2009/01/14: ThinkP: Inhofe: Browner Is A Secret Socialist Who Belongs To A Scary Group Called The Center for American Progress
• 2009/01/13: CleanBreak: Clean coal: up there with aliens, mermaids and bigfoot
• 2009/01/13: ClimateP: Anti-science website on verge of being named Best Science Blog
• 2009/01/13: DeSmogBlog: Climate denier blog site to be crowned "Best Science Blog"
• 2009/01/12: TP:WonkRoom: Right-Wing Global Warming Denier Machine Screams: 'Czar' Browner Is A 'Socialist'!
• 2009/01/12: ClimateP: Coal industry front group touts benefits of strong emissions regulations
• 2009/01/12: TreeHugger: Two Thirds of Oil Industry Execs Think We Should Have Limits on Carbon Emissions

  We have a new entry in the unofficial stick-n-stones call-a-name contest -- Denier-Industrial-Complex Kooks (DICKs), which joins such fine entries as septics, greenhouse mafia, permanently uninformed, carbon lobby, denialist, fossil fools, climate contrarian, biostitutes, the Slick 60 Climate Change Denial Gang, delusionists, climate cranks, bellignorant, delusionosphere, denyosphere and Warmocaust Collusionists:

• 2009/01/13: ClimateP: Denier-Industrial-Complex Kooks (DICKs) scream: 'Czar' Browner is a 'socialist'!

  Oh yes, there's an ice age coming:

• 2009/01/11: JFleck: Those Wacky Russians
• 2009/01/11: TDD: Conservatives for PRAVDA
• 2009/01/12: Deltoid: Remember when right-wingers didn't trust Pravda?
• 2009/01/12: BCLSB: Pravda: Earth On Brink Of Ice Age
• 2009/01/12: DeSmogBlog: Drudge and Pravda: State-Owned Media Aligning Coverage

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

• AFTIC: [H2T2aCS] How to Talk to a Climate Sceptic
• 2009/01/13: AFTIC: [H2T2aCS] Am I a hypocrite?

  Then there was the miscellaneous news and commentary:

• 2009/01/17: JFleck: Quantifying and Thinking About Climate Risk
• 2009/01/18: ERabett: Foreign Policy on Climate Change
• 2009/01/16: NOAANews: Scientific Assessment Presents Best Practices for Characterizing, Communicating and Incorporating Scientific Uncertainty in Climate Decision Making
• 2009/01/15: Greenfyre: Sherlock Holmes and case of the climate bandwagon
• 2009/01/15: DeSmogBlog: Is it Global Warming or Climate Change?
• 2009/01/15: GreenGrok: Is Bubble Bursting for Climate in Near Term?
• 2009/01/14: BBC: Cheap fuel threatens emission cuts
• 2009/01/14: Guardian(UK): Eco-Gladiators take on climate change with a new low-carb show
• 2009/01/14: KSJT: Nat'l Geographic News, Telegraph: How snowball Earth unfroze (hint: greenhouse)
• 2009/01/13: ENS: State of the World 2009: Time to Cool the Planet Running Out
• 2009/01/14: MTobis: Carrying the Reminders of Every Glove that Laid Him Down
• 2009/01/14: CCurrents: Good And Bad Climate News
• 2009/01/14: CanWest: Environment's most wanted targeted by new website -- 'We are the cop on the beat,' EPA says
• 2009/01/13: NatureTGB: Stanford launches $100m energy institute
• 2009/01/12: Yahoo: Stanford launches $100M energy research institute
• 2009/01/13: AFTIC: Not time to quit after all
• 2009/01/13: Maribo: Protection in the tropics, conquest in the Arctic?
• 2009/01/11: Stoat: Don't believe a word of it, guv (part 2)
• 2009/01/12: MTobis: Meanwhile back at the ranch

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

• GJE: Global Justice Ecology
• CM@C: Climate Matters @ Columbia
• ScienceNOW
• California Cars Initiative for Plug-In Hybrids
• The Green Belt Movement International
• EPA: Fugitives
• TDD: The Daily Doubter
• KQED: ClimateWatch
• JISAO: The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)
• MetOffice(UK): [5] Climate change myths
• DOE: World Coal Production, 1995-2004
• Ecocene
• EnvFinance: Environmental Finance - Emissions Trading | Socially Responsible Investment | Weather Derivatives | Renewable Energy
• Global Footprint Network
• AfterGutenberg
• WaterCrunch
• Zone5
• UNL: US Drought Monitor
• UKCIP: The UK Climate Impacts Programme

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.

"President-elect Obama's goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 falls short of the response needed by world leaders to meet the challenge of reducing emissions to levels that will actually spare us the worst effects of climate change." -Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, IPCC chairman

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