Another Week of GW News, February 8, 2009

Sipping from the internet firehose...

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Another week of Climate Disruption News

Sipping from the internet firehose...

February 8, 2009

• Top Stories:Australian Firestorm, Indian Ocean Dipole, Chinese Drought Emergency
• Melting Arctic, Arctic Geopolitics, Fishing Ban, Antarctica, Grumbine, National Teachin, Dyer, Late Comments
• Food Crisis, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Ozone, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Corals, Wacky Weather, Tornadoes, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation: Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science, Tobis, Hansen, Pielke
• Kyoto, Kyoto-2, UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics:International, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Canada
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Media, Tobis, Books, Courts
• Energy, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing
• Carbon Lobby, Outrage, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

• 2009/02/01: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Fox Trot (?)
• 2009/02/02: Intersection:SRK: (cartoon - Ohman) Goodbye W. Science
• 2009/02/06: SeattlePI: (cartoon - Horsey) If Global Warming Were Caused By Aliens...
• 2009/02/08: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) Our Herd
• 2009/02/08: uComics: (cartoon - Trudeau) On the car lot
• 2009/02/07: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Burning Man
• 2009/02/07: N3xus6: (cartoon - ?) Rod

  I had been going to leave the Australian wildfires in the Impacts section, but it has now escalated to a major story:

• 2009/02/09: SMH: Daring tractor dash
• 2009/02/09: SMH: Rudd activates federal disaster plan to help victims
• 2009/02/08: SMH: 'It's like a war zone up here'
• 2009/02/08: CNN: Scores killed in raging Australia bushfires
  Authorities hope mild weather will help the scores of firefighters - Bushfires are fueled by high temperatures and strong winds - In New South Wales, firefighters have battled at least 35 fires since Friday
• 2009/02/08: EarthTimes: '84 dead' - and fears for more as fires grip Australia
• 2009/02/08: EarthTimes: '76 dead' - and fears for more as fires grip Australia
• 2009/02/08: EarthTimes: China creates rain, diverts water to ease drought
• 2009/02/08: EarthTimes: Forest fires turn deadly in Australia
• 2009/02/07: SMH: (Photo Gallery) Bushfires rage in Victoria
• 2009/02/08: ABC(Au): Wiped out: Town destroyed by killer fires
  The township of Marysville in central Victoria has been almost completely destroyed by bushfires and there are grave fears for the town of Kinglake, where at least 12 people are known to have died.
• 2009/02/08: ABC(Au): Bushfire tragedy: In their own words
• 2009/02/08: ABC(Au): Australia's worst bushfire disaster
  The death toll from horrific bushfires across Victoria this weekend has reached 84, surpassing the number of people who perished in the 1983 Ash Wednesday blazes. More than 700 homes have been lost in what is being described as 'Hell on Earth', and it is feared the death toll will pass 100. [...] Twenty-six fires continue to burn across Victoria; 12 of those are out of control.
• 2009/02/07: CBC: Wildfires raze Australian town; death toll climbs to 49
• 2009/02/08: BBC: Scores die in Australia inferno
  The death toll from bush fires in southern Australia has reached at least 84, the worst in the country's history. Thousands of firefighters, aided by the army, are battling several major fires, and the number of dead is expected to rise as fires are put out. Arsonists responsible for lighting the fires could be charged with murder, police have said. Entire towns have been destroyed in the fires, fanned by extremely high temperatures and unpredictable winds. Temperatures are dropping now, but officials fear they will not be able to get the fires under control until there is substantial rain.

• Note BBC's noxious habit of reusing URLs...

• 2009/02/08: BBC: Australia fires rage with 35 dead
  Australian emergency crews are stepping up their efforts to tackle wildfires that have ripped through the state of Victoria, killing 35 people. About 30,000 firefighters are battling several major fires, and the number of confirmed dead is continuing to rise. Victoria Premier John Brumby said he had accepted an offer from the federal government to send in the army. Entire towns have been destroyed in the fires, fanned by soaring temperatures and unpredictable winds. Forecasters are predicting more extremely hot weather in the region - which has seen record temperatures of 47C (117F) in recent days.
• 2009/02/08: SMH: Many may be trapped in homes
  Fourteen people are confirmed dead but as many as 40 are feared to have died as bushfires swept across Victoria yesterday and continued to burn through the night. Police, who last night could only begin going into the blackened ruins of towns and communities, said six people were killed in a single vehicle in Kinglake. But they acknowledged they had little idea of how many could be buried inside their ruined homes, or burned as they tried to escape, and that the death toll could go much higher.
• 2009/02/08: SMH: God help them ... towns in flames
• 2009/02/08: SMH: It's all smoke and ire as authorities blast NSW arsonists
• 2009/02/08: Guardian(UK): Dozens die as Australia's wildfires rage
  With at least 35 dead, and fears that the toll could rise further, firefighters are battling walls of flame in the country's worst bush fires for decades
• 2009/02/07: CNN: Raging Australia wildfires kill at least 25
  14 bodies found in separate locations in Victoria, southeast Australia - Bushfires are fueled by high temperatures and strong winds - Strong winds continue to push smoke from bush into Greater Sydney - In New South Wales, firefighters battle at least 35 fires since Friday
• 2009/02/07: ACA: It's raining, but not on the bushfires yet
• 2009/02/08: TheAge: Victoria under siege as fires rage across state
• 2009/02/08: ABC(Au): 25 confirmed dead in Victorian fires
  Twenty-five people are confirmed dead in Victoria's bushfires and the toll is expected to rise as into the 40s today as firefighters continue to battle the devastating blazes which have ripped through the state's country areas.
• 2009/02/07: EarthTimes: Forest fires in Australia claim lives
• 2009/02/07: EarthTimes: Homes lost to fire and flood in Australia
• 2009/02/07: EarthTimes: Australians brace for forest firestorms
• 2009/02/07: HuffPo: Death toll in Australian fires rises to 25
• 2009/02/07: Telegraph(UK): More than 40 feared dead in Australia's 'worst ever' bushfires
  Australia has suffered one of its most devastating days of bushfires in living memory after blazes sweeping across the south-eastern state of Victoria killed at least 14 people.
• 2009/02/08: SMH: God help them -- towns in flames
  The residents of Kinglake had little warning before a wall of flames swept through their Victorian township yesterday. Shocked resident Peter Mitchell said last night, "There was was no time to do anything it came through in minutes. "The whole township is pretty much on fire," Mr Mitchell explained on ABC Radio. "There'll be a massive loss of houses. There'll be a lot of us homeless. "All those who have made it into town will be fine. The others will be sheltering and working on their fire plans, God help them."
• 2009/02/07: CBC: Wildfires kill at least 14 in Australia
• 2009/02/08: ABC(Au): 'Absolute devastation': Victoria gutted by deadly bushfires
  Victoria is braced for a day of mourning, with the death toll from the state's rampant bushfires expected to pass 40. The number of houses destroyed is also expected to climb.
• 2009/02/07: BBC: Australian bush fires turn deadly -- At least 14 people have been killed by wildfires in southern Australia, the deadliest in the country for decades
• 2009/02/07: TheAge: City swelters, records tumble in heat
  Melbourne's all-time weather record has been broken and the city is sweltering under the twin effects of high temperatures and hot north-west winds. The city hit 46.4 degrees at 3.04pm - the hottest day since the Bureau of Meteorology started keeping records 150 years ago. The previous record was 45.6, set on January 13, 1939 - a day otherwise known as Black Friday.
• 2009/02/07: JRE: "Black Saturday" doesn't have much of a ring to it, does it?

  The Australian drought owes more to the Indian Ocean Dipole than the ENSO cycle asserts a new study:

• 2009/02/05: ABC(Au): Indian Ocean driving Australia's big dry: study
  Australia's severe drought is being driven by temperature fluctuations in the Indian Ocean, scientists have found.
• 2009/02/05: SMH: Indian Ocean is drought culprit
  The main cause of our droughts and flooding rains has been traced to the waters of the Indian Ocean, according to a new report from the University of NSW which could overturn decades of weather research. The study shows that the cycle of El Nino and La Nina events, which have long been thought to play a major role in south-east Australia's weather patterns, are in fact less important than the Indian Ocean. It is likely to have major implications for predicting rainfall in the Murray-Darling region - still in the grip of the most severe drought on record - by giving farmers tip-offs about rainfall increases six months in advance. The current Indian Ocean warming pattern is unprecedented and probably related to climate change, researchers say. The report found that a phenomenon known as the Indian Ocean dipole plays a dominant role in determining temperature and rainfall in south-east Australia.

China has declared a drought emergency:

• 2009/02/06: PeakEnergy: China declares an emergency amid worst drought in 50 years
• 2009/02/05: EarthTimes: China declares emergency in drought regions
• 2009/02/04: Guardian(UK): Drought threatens Chinese wheat crop -- Low rainfall in the north has put nearly half of the country's harvest at risk
• 2009/02/05: Times(UK): China declares an emergency amid worst drought in 50 years
• 2009/02/05: BBC: China declares drought emergency
  China has declared an emergency in eight northern and central drought-hit regions, where nearly four million people are suffering water shortages. Nearly half of China's winter crop - some 10m hectares (24m acres) of wheat and rape seed - are also under threat.
• 2009/02/05: CBC: China calls state of emergency amid severe drought
  A serious drought in at least eight Chinese provinces is threatening large crop-growing areas and has left nearly four million people without proper drinking water, the government said Thursday. The Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters posted a notice on its website calling it a drought "rarely seen in history," while the government declared a state of emergency. President Hu Jintao had called on provincial officials to fight the drought and ensure that there is a summer grain harvest, the notice said.
• 2009/02/07: TreeHugger: China Issues "Red Alert" Drought Emergency As Jobless Factory Workers Head Back To The Land
• 2009/02/05: CMA: Meteorological drought has spread to 12 provinces [of China]

  The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:

• 2009/02/04: Reuters: Arctic storms seen worsening; threat to oil, ships
• 2009/02/02: Guardian(UK): Arctic in danger: Pen Hadow heads for North Pole to establish the facts
  The British polar explorer and author explains how his latest expedition to the North Pole can be followed on Google Earth
• 2009/02/01: WiredSci: Melting Arctic Prompts Calls for 'National Park' on Ice
• 2009/02/05: ERabett: Dive Dive Dive -- The Arctic Sea ice cover has reached historic lows for winter
• 2009/02/06: CanWest: Volatile Arctic weather to hurt economy: study
  A dark cloud may be forming -- literally -- over Prime Minister Stephen Harper's vision of an ice-free, oil-rich Beaufort Sea helping drive Canada's economy in the 21st century. A new European study showing how Arctic weather patterns will be transformed if polar sea ice continues its recent record meltdown concludes that the Beaufort -- a traditionally ice-choked section of the Arctic Ocean north of the Yukon-Alaska border -- will become a "hot spot" for violent storms that could have "dire consequences" for the ships and oil rigs expected to become common in an unfrozen Arctic.
• 2009/02/05: SciDaily: More Extreme Weather In The Arctic Regions

  As for the geopolitics of the Arctic resources:

• 2009/02/04: ChronicleHerald: Arctic rules needed, U.S. agency says
  A U.S. federal agency has joined calls for governments around the world to move past national concerns and work together to protect the increasingly busy Arctic. A new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration points out there are few international rules protecting northern ecosystems.

US regulators have banned commercial fishing in Arctic waters:

• 2009/02/06: WaPo: Commercial Fishing Is Barred in Parts of Arctic
• 2009/02/05: Reuters: U.S. panel urges ban on fishing in warming Arctic
• 2009/02/05: STimes: Global warming spurs commercial fishing moratorium in U.S. Arctic
• 2009/02/05: DotEarth: Protecting Fish Ahead of the 'Big Melt'
• 2009/02/06: Guardian(UK): US regulators vote to ban commercial fishing in Arctic waters
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: Arctic freeze -- The pristine U.S. Arctic has been protected from industrial fishing
• 2009/02/06: ADN: Council outlaws Arctic fisheries -- Regulators: Not enough known about seas for commercial catches.
  Federal fishery regulators Thursday approved an unprecedented plan to ban U.S. commercial fishing in the Arctic Ocean. The Anchorage-based North Pacific Fishery Management Council spent two years developing the Arctic plan in response to climate change and the rapid retreat of sea ice in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas along Alaska's northern coast.

While in Antarctica:

• 2009/02/06: NatureTGB: Antarctic ice's American inundation amplification
• 2009/02/05: ClimateP: West Antarctic ice sheet collapse even more catastrophic for U.S. coasts
• 2009/02/06: ABC(Au): Antarctic shelf collapse could tilt Earth's axis: researchers
• 2009/02/06: TreeHugger: 25% Higher Sea Level Rises Than Predicted if West Antarctic Ice Sheet Melts
• 2009/02/06: ENN: Collapse Of Antarctic Ice Sheet Would Likely Put Washington, D.C. Largely Underwater
• 2009/02/05: NewScientist: Antarctic bulge could flood Washington DC
• 2009/02/05: PhysOrg: Global warming threatens Antarctic sea life
• 2009/02/05: RealClimate: Antarctic warming is robust

  Rob Grumbine continues his education project:

• 2009/02/02: MGS: Start of Numerical Weather Prediction

  There was a National Teachin on climate in the USA this week:

• 2009/02/06: GristMill: Class act -- Universities hold national teach-in on climate change

  Grab a copy of Gwynne Dyer's _Climate Wars_ radio shows while they are still up:

• 2009/02/06: AFTIC: CBC Radio: Climate Wars (for the iPod)

  I did my best to ignore this puffery, but it was everywhere:

• 2009/02/05: NewScientist: Giant snake fossil hints at a hotter future

  Late comment on Solomon et al.:

• 2009/02/02: ClimateP: Irreversible does not mean unstoppable: "Why show me this, if I am past all hope?"
• 2009/02/01: RealClimate: Irreversible Does Not Mean Unstoppable

  Late comment on IRENA:

• 2009/02/02: Yahoo: 75 Countries Launch Clean Energy Agency [IRENA]

  Late comment on WGMS:

• 2009/02/03: Tamino: Glacier Mass Balance

  Late comment on the WEF:

• 2009/02/03: CanberraTimes: Climate change repair bill: 'A$72 trillion'
• 2009/02/01: SwissInfo: WEF concludes on a sombre note
  The World Economic Forum's 2009 annual meeting has concluded in the Swiss resort of Davos with no plan to stem or reverse the global financial meltdown

Late comment on the WSF:

• 2009/02/02: SwissInfo: Alternative Davos ends to mixed reviews
  The Swiss delegation at the World Social Forum (WSF) anti-globalisation meeting in Belém, Brazil, has pointed to both highs and lows at the event.

Late comment on McKinsey:

• 2009/02/02: NEN: How to get to the new energy economy (and how not to)

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2009/02/06: FAO: FAO/WFP crop and food security assessment mission to Southern Sudan
• 2009/02/04: FAO: 44 percent of winter wheat areas in China under extreme drought conditions
• 2009/02/04: AlterNet: Hunger in the U.S.: A Problem as American as Apple Pie

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2009/02/04: UN: Only sustainable farming will help meet growing food demand, says UN expert
• 2009/02/04: GristMill: The crop-diversity crisis -- By naming the root cause behind food crises, we stand a chance at solving them
• 2009/02/03: BBC: Liberian crop pest mystery solved
  A mystery pest which has devoured crops and contaminated water in Liberia and Guinea has finally been identified. The insects, thought to be armyworms, are in fact the caterpillars of the moth Achaea catocaloides, says the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. Cornering the culprit will allow the government to select the best pesticide to tackle the outbreak - the worst seen in Liberia since 1970. More than 20,000 people have so far had to evacuate their homes. As well as devouring coffee, cocoa and plantain crops, the invaders have polluted drinking water sources with their faeces.
• 2009/02/03: EarthTimes: Liberia caterpillar swarm riddle
  Mystery on Tuesday surrounded the swarm of caterpillars in Liberia which have devastated crops and prompted an official state of emergency, after officials admitted they could not identify them.
• 2009/02/02: BBC: Riddle of Liberian insect plague
  A devastating plague of caterpillars ravaging part of West Africa is not armyworms, as previously believed, but an unidentified species, experts say
• 2009/02/04: FAO: New hope in Liberia pest outbreak?
• 2009/02/07: SciDaily: Preparing For Climate Change: Analyzing Genome Of Heat And Drought Resistant Cereal Plant

  Gael & Freddy blew around in the South Indian ocean, otherwise it was quiet:

• 2009/02/03: RigZone: Fourth Cyclone Brews Off West Australian Oil Region

  As for GHGs:

• 2009/02/02: Guardian(UK): Supermarkets fingered for refrigeration greenhouse gases -- A chilling wake-up call has been issued about the global warming potential of hydrofluorocarbons

  As for the temperature record:

• 2009/02/04: Wunderground: Is the globe cooling?
• 2009/02/02: NewScientist: Europe to feel the heat of climate change
• 2009/02/05: QuarkSoup: January RSS temperature anomaly

  The ozone layer is still under threat:

• 2009/02/04: Eureka: Global warming may delay recovery of stratospheric ozone

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2009/02/02: NatureTGB: Tropical turtle's Arctic travels
• 2009/02/07: NewScientist: 1709: The year that Europe froze

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

• 2009/02/05: NOAA:CPC: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion
  Synopsis: La Niña is expected to continue into Northern Hemisphere Spring 2009
• 2009/02/05: NOAANews: NOAA Unveils New Alert System for La Niña and El Niño -- La Niña Likely to Continue into Spring
• 2009/02/05: KSJT: Reuters: La Niña to finally fade by spring? (too late for us on the southleft coast)

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2009/02/06: Tamino: More on Glacier Mass Balance
• 2009/02/04: TerraDaily: Shrinking [Qinghai-Tibet plateau] glaciers worry Chinese

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2009/02/02: Yahoo: Rising sea salinates Ganges - expert
• 2009/02/05: ClimateP: Rising sea salinates India's Ganges
• 2009/02/05: PhysOrg: Sea level rise could be worse than anticipated
• 2009/02/05: UToronto: Geophysicists predict amplification of sea-level rise in North America following collapse of West Antarctic Ice Sheet
• 2009/02/05: Eureka: Sea level rise could be worse than anticipated
• 2009/02/05: CBC: North America at greater risk from Antarctic ice sheet melt: study
  The rising of sea levels as a result of the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet might hit coastal regions in Canada, the U.S. and the southern Indian Ocean harder than other regions of the world, according to a new study. The Antarctic ice sheet is enormous, with a volume of water about 100 times that of the Great Lakes combined and a height that reaches 1,800 metres above sea level. Its collapse is one of more dire potential consequences of rising global temperatures, though scientists look at it as a long-term problem, one that might take centuries or even milleniums to occur. It's important enough, however, that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's included it in their most recent assessment, predicting the collapse of the ice sheet would lead annual sea levels to rise about five metres.
• 2009/02/06: DeSmogBlog: California Drownin'

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2009/02/06: NOAANews: NOAA's New Polar-Orbiting Satellite [NOAA-19] is Launched
• 2009/02/06: PhysOrg: Satellites Capture Sea Surface Heights Around the World

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2009/02/03: DeSmogBlog: Killing Nemo
• 2009/02/03: NatureCF: Ocean acidification disorients fish, riles up scientists
• 2009/02/02: CBC: Rising CO2 levels acidifying oceans, threatening sea life
• 2009/02/03: Guardian(UK): Clownfish lost at sea due to rising carbon dioxide levels
• 2009/02/02: Guardian(UK): Climate change might be altering waters along US west coast
  Scientists believe climate change is the cause of stronger winds that drive upwelling of nutrient-rich deep ocean waters
• 2009/02/02: KSJT: NYTimes, a few others: Monaco Declaration fingers global warming's also-evil twin. Ocean acidification
• 2009/02/02: NewScientist: Acid oceans no laughing matter for clownfish
• 2009/02/02: PhysOrg: Climate change may be stoking stronger winds, altered oceans
• 2009/02/06: AP: Study: Climate change may reshuffle western weeds
• 2009/02/05: Eureka: Researchers examine role of climate change in disease spread
• 2009/02/08: JQuiggin: Fire and flood

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2009/02/04: TreeHugger: Rainforests In Some Regions Are Re-growing Rapidly: Should We Worry Anymore About Deforestation?
• 2009/02/03: Herald(UK): Forestry law change 'will help' global warming fight
• 2009/02/03: Star(My): Snags in the plan -- Plans to fight global warming through reforestation has raised concerns among forest-dependent communities.
• 2009/02/02: KSJT: NYTimes follows, sums up: The debate over regrown vs. old-growth rainforest
• 2009/02/05: CTB: Review of Forestry Carbon Standards 2008

  Corals are dying:

• 2009/02/02: LBL: What's Killing the Coral Reefs? Berkeley Lab-developed DNA array sheds light on coral disease
• 2009/02/07: PhysOrg: Transplanted coral growing fast in lagoon off Okinawa coast

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2009/02/03: Wunderground: Major snowstorm paralyzes London
• 2009/02/02: Yahoo: National death toll hits 55 in ice storm, 24 in KY
• 2009/02/02: CBC: Worst snowstorm in 18 years shuts down British capital
• 2009/02/02: Times(UK): Heaviest snow in 20 years brings large parts of Britain to a halt
• 2009/02/06: BBC: Heavy snow has brought a fifth day of chaos to the UK, with severe weather warnings issued to much of the country
• 2009/02/06: CBC: Britain still reeling from heavy snowfall -- 200 rescued after being trapped in cars overnight
• 2009/02/05: EarthTimes: Thick Saharan dust-cloud blankets Athens

  Spain got zapped by a tornado:

• 2009/02/02: EarthTimes: Tornado injures 25 in southern Spain

  We have heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2009/02/06: ClimateP: How hot is Australia? Only the koala know for sure.
• 2009/02/06: EarthTimes: Australians warned of a scorcher
• 2009/02/08: ABC(Au): Wildlife still feeling effects of heatwave
• 2009/02/07: Google:AFP: Floods, wildfires hit Australia

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

• 2009/02/05: ABC(Au): Murray river bank collapse blamed on drought
• 2009/02/05: ABC(Au): Drought fear: 'Walk across the Murray'
  Locals say the water level is likely to drop so low that people will be able to walk to an island at the mouth of the Murray soon.
• 2009/02/04: EarthTimes: Floods hit Australia's north-east corner
• 2009/02/03: Reuters: Drought in Australia food bowl continues
• 2009/02/04: SF Gate: Bone-dry Bolinas - barometer for state?
• 2009/01/27: BBC: Argentina declares drought crisis -- Argentina has declared an agricultural emergency as it confronts one of the worst droughts in decades.
• 2009/02/03: BBerg: Corn Rises as Argentina Drought Damages Crops; Soybeans Advance
• 2009/02/02: BBC: Water - another global 'crisis'?
  If you look at the numbers, it is hard to see how many East African communities made it through the long drought of 2005 and 2006.
• 2009/02/01: Yahoo: Water Plays Surprising Role in Climate Change
• 2009/02/01: NewScientist: Drought warning as the tropics expand
• 2009/02/02: ChinaDaily: Relief work enhanced as drought expands in North China
• 2009/02/06: UN: Hundreds of millions in South Asia face growing water stress, UN report warns
• 2009/02/05: TerraDaily: Thousands isolated by Brunei floods: newspaper
• 2009/02/05: NOAANews: NOAA Says Prepare for Major Spring Flooding on Red River
• 2009/02/04: TerraDaily: 'Wicked' warming dries Australian rivers to historic lows: report
• 2009/02/04: TerraDaily: Australian floods wash crocodiles into streets
• 2009/02/02: BBC: Parched Perth embarks on water rescue [via desalination]
• 2009/02/05: BBC: The Solomon Islands has declared a national disaster after heavy rain and flooding killed at least nine people

  On the mitigation front, consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2009/02/03: GristMill: The potential of high-speed rail -- Restructuring the U.S. transport system
• 2009/02/04: TreeHugger: Realizing The Potential of High-Speed Rail: For Climate Protection; Business Productivity; and Security
• 2009/02/04: TP:WonkRoom: Reversing The 'Transit Paradox'...rising transit demand that is being met with service cuts
• 2009/02/03: TreeHugger: Quote of the Day: Ryan Avent on Anti-Rail Bias in the Stimulus Bill
• 2009/02/02: GEA: Railroad Traffic Plunges
• 2009/02/08: BCLSB: Will An Economic Collapse Save Gaia, Part Whatever

  While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:

• 2009/02/03: GristMill: Command and control -- Let's not pretend the government isn't encouraging suburbs
• 2009/02/02: DetNews: Home insulation plan would aid economy
• 2009/02/06: OilDrum: Passive Solar Design Overview - Part 4: Controls
• 2009/02/07: SMH: Six-star energy rating proposed for homes

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2009/02/05: ERabett: Carbon capture

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2009/02/04: NatureCF: Could we count on air capture? [Pielke alert]
• 2009/02/03: TreeHugger: Does Geoengineering Need a Dose of Geo-Ethics?
• 2009/02/02: TreeHugger: 7 Geoengineering Solutions That Promise To Save Humans from Climate Change
• 2009/02/01: Eureka: Removing some cloud seeds of doubt
  A team of researchers at Monash University has released a new analysis of precipitation records from the long-term cloud seeding operation in Tasmania that shows a promising increase in rainfall during periods of seeding.

And on the adaptation front:

• 2009/01/22: PeakOilBlues: I Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Transition Was In: Part I.

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2009/02/04: ACP: Global temperature estimates in the troposphere and stratosphere: a validation study of COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3 measurements by P. Kishore et al.
• 2009/02/02: ACP: On the diagnosis of climate sensitivity using observations of fluctuations by D. B. Kirk-Davidoff
• 2009/02/02: ACP: Methane plume over south Asia during the monsoon season: satellite observation and model simulation by X. Xiong et al.
• 2009/02/03: PNAS: Anthropogenic enhancement of Egypt's Mediterranean fishery by Autumn J. Oczkowski et al.
• 2009/02/03: PNAS: Environmental change and economic development in coastal Peru between 5,800 and 3,600 years ago by Daniel H. Sandweiss et al.
• 2009/02/03: PNAS: Cellulosic ethanol production from AFEX-treated corn stover using Saccharomyces cerevisiae 424A(LNH-ST) by Ming W. Lau & Bruce E. Dale
• 2009/01/27: PNAS: Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions by Susan Solomon et al.
• 2009/02/06: Science: (ab$) The Sea-Level Fingerprint of West Antarctic Collapse by Jerry X. Mitrovica et al.
• 2009/02/04: TC: The emergence of surface-based Arctic amplification by M. C. Serreze et al.
• 2009/02/03: TC: Antarctic summer sea ice concentration and extent: comparison of ODEN 2006 ship observations, satellite passive microwave and NIC sea ice charts by B. Ozsoy-Cicek et al.
• 2009/02/05: TCD: Estimating basal properties of glaciers from surface measurements: a non-linear Bayesian inversion approach by M. J. Raymond & G. H. Gudmundsson
• 2009/02/02: TCD: Frost flower chemical signature in winter snow on Vestfonna ice cap (Nordaustlandet, Svalbard) by E. Beaudon & J. Moore
• 2009/02/03: PNAS: Evidence for large methane releases to the atmosphere from deep-sea gas-hydrate dissociation during the last glacial episode by Thibault de Garidel-Thoron et al.

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

• 2009/02/03: Eureka: China monsoon rainfall prediction and Pacific surface-subsurface sea temperature anomalies
• 2009/02/06: DotEarth: Richard Alley's Orbital and Climate Dance
• 2009/02/06: CommonTragedies: Kyoto and climate-friendly patents [sci]
• 2009/02/08: RealClimate: On replication

  Michael Tobis wonders why we can't all play nice...:

• 2009/02/05: MTobis: RC metasnark

  More Hansen:

• 2009/02/04: NatureTGB: Hansen Hearts Heathrow Haters
• 2009/02/03: ClimateP: Hansen: "Tell Barack Obama About Coal River Mountain"
• 2009/02/04: GristMill: So sorry -- James Hanson apologizes to U.K. environmentalists
• 2009/02/03: ColumbusDispatch: Scientist sees big picture as Earth warms
  [...] [James] Hansen does not deny that planes flying through the stratosphere contribute to global warming; he just insists on a sense of proportion. He does not think that devoting the energies of the British environmental movement to preventing a third runway at Heathrow is a productive use of its time. "Coal is 80 percent of the planet's problems," he said in an interview with The Observer of London. "You have to keep your eye on the ball and not waste your efforts. The No. 1 enemy is coal and we should not forget that."
• 2009/02/01: Guardian(UK): Climate expert snubs Heathrow protesters -- Campaigners are told coal power is the priority danger, not more runways
• 2009/02/03: inel: Global vs national priorities and Hansen on Heathrow

  And the Pielke Fan Clubbe put in an appearance:

• 2009/02/03: AFTIC: Update on Prometheus on Hansen Again (Again)
• 2009/02/03: AFTIC: Pielke Jr: How low can he go?
• 2009/02/04: ThingsBreak: To answer Coby: Much, much lower
• 2009/02/03: JFleck: What Did Hansen Predict, and When Did He Predict It? [PFC]
• 2009/02/03: Deltoid: Pielke Jr vs drafts
• 2009/02/05: Stoat: Flailing
• 2009/02/08: JEB: Hansen's El Nino forecast reprised
• 2009/02/07: PFC: Roger shows paleontologists are no better than climatologists

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

• 2009/02/05: Yahoo: Turkish parliament approves Kyoto protocol
• 2009/02/07: TreeHugger: Turkey Finally Gets on Board With Kyoto

  And on the Kyoto-2 front:

• 2009/02/03: BizGreen: China lowers expectations of Copenhagen deal
• 2009/02/05: Time: Hazy Forecast for Climate Summit
• 2009/02/04: BBerg: U.S. May Not Match Europe's Pledge on Carbon Cuts, De Boer Says

  While at the UN:

• 2009/02/02: Reuters: Resist industry pressure to dilute green reform: U.N.
• 2009/02/05: Reuters: UN chief says domestic politics undermine climate fight
• 2009/02/05: Google:AP: Climate change must be tackled to avert upheaval: UN chief
• 2009/02/05: UN: World cannot afford to ignore climate change, Ban says at New Delhi summit
• 2009/02/05: BBC: UN chief in India climate warning
  UN chief Ban Ki-moon has warned a climate change conference in India that failure to tackle the issue will lead to global economic upheaval. He appealed to nations to reach agreement on carbon emission cuts. Mr Ban is attending the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit which, organisers say will press for cuts in carbon emissions.

And on the carbon trading front:

• 2009/02/06: GristMill: Avoid strong secondary carbon markets -- Carbon pricing needs to supplement, not undermine, other means of cutting emissions

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2009/02/03: PeakEnergy: The Economist On Carbon Taxes
• 2009/02/01: BSD: Conservative carbon-tax convert con job

  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:

• 2009/02/03: GristMill: Worst idea evah? Why a cap without the trade is the worst of all worlds
• 2009/02/03: AfterGutenberg: The Cap and Trade Gambit
• 2009/02/02: GristMill: Carbon tax vs. carbon trade transparency issue -- Yes, carbon taxes are more transparent than trade system
• 2009/02/05: GristMill: Who owns the sky? Peter Barnes chats about cap-and-dividend
• 2009/02/06: Guardian(UK): The argument for cap and trade
• 2009/02/06: EnvEcon: Rob Stavins joins the fray
• 2009/02/01: Guardian(UK): Scrap carbon trading
  This flawed system has failed to cut emissions. It's time to tackle the broader economic system that led to the climate crisis

Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2009/02/06: ENN: Climate issues emerging as new focus for U.S. and China
• 2009/02/05: Guardian(UK): 'Strong arm' tactics to get India to agree to strict emissions cuts criticised
  China and India signal opposition to binding limits on emissions as UN secretary general says developing world 'must do more'
• 2009/02/05: CommonTragedies: Climate policy in China and the U.S.
• 2009/02/05: Hindu: India, China must cap growth of greenhouse gas emissions
  It is "feasible" and "indeed essential" that developing countries such as India and China come up with proposals to limit growth of greenhouse gas emissions if finances from industrialised countries are available, said UN climate chief Yvo de Boer, a point of view that will raise the hackles of the Indian establishment. Whether developing countries put a number to this limit or not "is going to be a critical part of the debate" in the run-up to the next summit of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen this December, he said here. Worried about climate change that is already affecting farm output, creating water scarcity, worsening the frequency and severity of droughts, floods and storms and raising the sea level, most governments around the world see the Copenhagen summit as the deadline by which a global treaty to combat climate change must be negotiated as the current phase of the Kyoto Protocol runs out in 2012.
• 2009/02/05: NYT: Experts in U.S. and China See a Chance for Cooperation Against Climate Change
• 2009/02/05: Google:AFP: EU envoy says China won't skate on climate

  And on the American political front:

• 2009/02/04: GristMill: You will respect my Climate Protection Authority! A proposal to integrate international and domestic climate policy development [US pol]
• 2009/02/04: ClimateP: Another One Bites the Dust... [coal plant]
• 2009/02/03: ClimateP: Deniers are still mostly duping only GOP voters, but what do you expect from a party that wants to be more like Sarah Palin?
• 2009/02/03: GristMill: Food reform, meet climate change -- True agricultural policy reform may require climate reform first
• 2009/02/02: TP:WonkRoom: Progress In Montana: Utility Scraps Coal Plant For Low-Carbon Power
• 2009/02/02: ClimateP: Podesta Cautions Industry: Obama 'Intends To Fulfill' His 'Promise Of Energy Transformation'
• 2009/02/02: CSW: 262 organizations call on Obama and Congress to restore strong whistleblower rights
• 2009/02/02: CSW: Washington Post, once a beacon for whistleblowers, now attacks whistleblower protections
• 2009/02/05: UNDispatch: Reconciling Domestic Politics and Global Climate Change
• 2009/02/06: AutoBG: Survey Says: Americans still interested in fuel efficiency
• 2009/02/05: BSD: Back to the FutureGen
• 2009/02/05: NEN: What the President can do, what Congress will do & Hansen's recommendations
• 2009/02/07: GristMill: Fighting the devil down in Georgia -- Georgia legislator introduces bill that would restrict coal-fired power plants
• 2009/02/07: GristMill: Lead by example' -- Biden says U.S. is ready to reengage on climate change

  The Obama DOI cancelled the Utah oil & natural gas leases:

• 2009/02/06: OilChange: Controversial Oil Leases Cancelled in Utah
• 2009/02/05: DemNow: Utah Student Who Thwarted Auction of Utah Wilderness Hails Cancellation of Bush Admin Selloff
• 2009/02/05: TreeHugger: Controversial Oil & Natural Gas Leases on Utah Public Land Cancelled by Department of Interior
• 2009/02/05: LA Times: Salazar cancels Bush-era energy leases in Utah
  The Interior secretary voids the December sale of 77 environmentally sensitive parcels to oil and gas companies.
• 2009/02/04: McClatchyDC: Obama reverses Bush course on oil, gas leases in Utah

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2009/02/03: ClimateP: Champion of transit, climate initiatives picked for HUD post
• 2009/02/04: TreeHugger: It's a Long Road to Copenhagen: Here's What Obama Needs to Do So That The US Leads the World on Climate Change
• 2009/02/03: Guardian(UK): What Obama must do on the road to Copenhagen
• 2009/02/03: ClimateP: What Obama and DOE need to do to ensure the green stimulus funds are well spent
• 2009/02/02: ClimateP: Obama's second unforced error: Ungreen Sen. Gregg for Commerce but no Dem replacement
• 2009/02/01: ClimateP: Can Obama stop the nuclear bomb in the Senate stimulus plan (Part 1)?
• 2009/02/02: WarmingLaw: Part IV: Skirting the Issue -- Obama may be able to implement cap-and-trade under the Clean Air Act - but should he?
• 2009/02/01: WarmingLaw: Part III: Shift in Power -- The Clean Air Act is President Obama's key to triggering cap-and-trade
• 2009/02/01: WarmingLaw: Part II: Green Laboratories of Democracy -- President Obama should clear the way for state innovation on climate policy
• 2009/01/30: WarmingLaw: Part I: President Obama's Roadmap to Cap-and-Trade -- The New Administration holds the incentives to a strong federal climate bill.
• 2009/02/01: TP:WonkRoom: Podesta Cautions Industry: Obama 'Intends To Fulfill' His 'Promise Of Energy Transformation'
• 2009/02/06: NYT: Obama Orders New Rules to Raise Energy Efficiency
• 2009/02/05: NatureTGB: Obama visits DOE, talks to Congress
• 2009/02/05: ClimateP: Contest: On what day will Obama sign a climate bill?
• 2009/02/05: TP:WonkRoom: Obama Asks: 'Are These Folks Serious?'
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: Notable quotable -- Obama talks tough on the need for investment
• 2009/01/30: EDF: "Delay Is No Longer an Option" -- Global warming's toll is real, and growing, as President Obama recognizes
• 2009/02/05: McClatchyDC: Obama wants to speed energy-efficient equipment for households
• 2009/02/06: AlterNet: Why Obama's Plan to Help Renewable Energy May Backfire and Aid Big Coal

  The first actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2009/02/04: GristMill: The coming legal fight -- CO2 and the Clean Air Act
• 2009/02/04: EarthTimes: Energy secretary: California farms may vanish as temperatures rise
• 2009/02/04: LA Times: California farms, vineyards in peril from warming, U.S. energy secretary warns
  "I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," says Nobel winner Steven Chu. 'We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California,' Steven Chu says. He sees education as a means to combat threat.
• 2009/02/04: DeSmogBlog: Food for Thought? Chu on it!
• 2009/02/02: HillHeat: Can Carol Browner Help Obama Achieve His 'Promise of Energy Transformation'?
• 2009/02/02: GristMill: Advancing climate justice -- EPA Administrator Jackson's first public appearance
• 2009/02/02: PRWatch: Obama's Climate Change Negotiator [Todd Stern] Comes with PR Pedigree
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: Vilsack sets the table -- It's official: Nutrition will play a big role in reform at the USDA
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: Emitting defeat -- EPA to drop Bush's controversial mercury emissions policies and begin new rulemaking process
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: More to Vilsack than meets the eye? WaPo on the new USDA chief
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: Catching a waiver -- US EPA opens public comment period on California emissions waiver
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: Nice NOAA'n you! Obama taps marine scientist [Jane Lubchenco] to lead key climate agency
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: She's with Sussman -- EPA chief picks Center for American Progress fellow Bob Sussman as climate adviser
• 2009/02/06: NEN: Say goodbye to California -- Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu
• 2009/02/05: TP:WonkRoom: David Axelrod: Climate Legislation Is 'Long Overdue'
• 2009/02/05: KSJT: LA Times, NY Times: New Sec'y of Energy talks climate change
• 2009/02/04: ClimateP: Stephen Chu on climate change: "Wake up," America, "we're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California," Part 2
• 2009/02/05: CSW: Energy Sec. Steven Chu: Viability of California cities and farms threatened by climate disruption
• 2009/02/04: TP:WonkRoom: Secretary Chu On Global Boiling: 'Wake Up'
• 2009/02/04: Guardian(UK): Obama's energy secretary outlines dire climate change scenario
• 2009/02/05: OilChange: "I'm hoping that the American people will wake up"

  While in Congress:

• 2009/02/04: WaPo: Democrats Pen Principles for Climate-Change Bills -- Senate Panel Sets Goal of Creating Cap-and-Trade System
• 2009/02/03: GristMill: Pandora's Boxer -- Will Barbara Boxer back a big increase in highway funding in the stimulus bill?
• 2009/02/03: Guardian(UK): Democrats set December deadline for draft law on capping US emissions
• 2009/02/03: ClimateP: Sen. Boxer makes clear U.S. won't pass a climate bill this year
• 2009/02/02: GristMill: Back to the FutureGen -- Stimulus dollars could go to reviving 'clean coal' pilot project
• 2009/01/30: HillHeat: Senate Appropriators Add $50 Billion Nuclear Spending to Recovery Plan
• 2009/02/03: CSW: Our views on Senate Environment Committee's "Principles for Global Warming Legislation"
• 2009/01/31: HillHeat: Obama Recovery Plan Invests in Smart Grid, Encourages Decoupling
• 2009/02/03: DeSmogBlog: Senator Boxer: Climate Change bill a no-go in 2009
• 2009/02/01: AfterGutenberg: Ah, that bright green glow radiating from Senate chambers can mean only one thing
• 2009/02/03: OLJ: A $50 Billion nuke power bomb is dropping toward Obama's stimulus package
• 2009/02/02: GristMill: Question for cap-and-trade supporters -- How awful does a bill have to get to lose your support?
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: Prospects for climate/energy action, I -- The players: House and Senate
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: File under: we're doomed -- Senate hones in on crucial need for country: more cars
• 2009/02/05: GristMill: Taking green from green -- Senate centrists eye cuts to green items in stimulus bill
• 2009/02/06: TP:WonkRoom: The Nelson-Collins War On Green Jobs
• 2009/02/05: GristMill: An up-Hilda battle -- Senate panel to (finally) vote on Solis confirmation
• 2009/02/04: GristMill: R-E-S ... P-E-C-T -- Bipartisan duo introduce renewable-electricity-standard bill in House
• 2009/02/05: CSW: House Natural Resources Committee charts course that includes preparedness for climate impacts
• 2009/02/05: DemNow: Should Economic Stimulus Bill Include Billions for Nuclear Power?
• 2009/02/07: GristMill: How green is your stimulus? Greenpeace assesses the carbon footprint of Obama's stimulus plan
• 2009/02/06: Maribo: Cuts to research funding
• 2009/02/07: TreeHugger: Environment America Seeks to Stop Rep. John Boehner from Cutting 180,000 Green Jobs
• 2009/02/06: IR^2: The Green in the Stimulus Package
• 2009/02/07: AngryBear: Pick your Pork: Semi-Final Edition (Senate Stimulus Bill) -- a list of what got cut from the Senate bill

  Who cut public transit from the stimulus bill and why?

• 2009/02/04: GristMill: The Transit Authority: A looming crisis -- Transit budget cuts are disasters in the making
• 2009/01/27: TheTakeaway: White House role in slashing stimulus bill transit funding questioned
• 2009/02/03: TPP: Disaster in the SenateMurray Amendment Fails; Boxer-Inhofe Amendment May Move $50 Billion to Highways Only; $5 Billion for General Transportation May be Converted to Highways Only; New Tax Relief for Car Consumption After today's dramatic failure of the Murray/Feinstein amendment, which would have given $25 billion more to transportation projects in general and $5 billion more for transit specifically, I didn't think matters could get much worse, but they've gone terribly wrong in almost every way possible.
• 2009/02/03: TreeHugger: Quote of the Day: Ryan Avent on Anti-Rail Bias in the Stimulus Bill

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2009/02/04: BBerg: Clean-Coal Debate Pits Al Gore's Group Against Obama, Peabody
• 2009/02/04: OilChange: Its Gore Versus Obama Over Coal
• 2009/02/03: NEN: Gore calls for cap-and-trade while players play the market
• 2009/02/05: GristMill: Ready, Set, Gore! Former veep to rally climate change activists

  While in the UK:

• 2009/02/04: Independent(UK): UK cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5% [says DECC]
• 2009/02/03: Guardian(UK): Campaigners question sums behind falling UK emissions
  Official figures show a 1.7% decline in greenhouse gas emissions in the UK in 2007 but campaigners accuse government of 'creative accounting'
• 2009/02/03: Guardian(UK): Trial produces encouraging results for backers of personal carbon budgets
• 2009/02/03: Guardian(UK): Personal carbon budgets possible by 2020, says head of RSA study
  Everyone in the UK could have their own carbon budget by 2020, says the head of the most comprehensive trial of the idea.
• 2009/02/03: Guardian(UK): London low emission zone plan stalled
• 2009/02/02: BBC: 'Green' gas could help heat homes
  Gas from waste could heat almost half the homes in the UK, according to a new report from National Grid.
• 2009/02/05: Guardian(UK): Cutting the carbon: Labour's failure contains lessons all parties must heed
• 2009/02/04: Guardian(UK): Government falls short of carbon dioxide target
• 2009/02/08: BBC: Call for rural energy guarantee
  More must be done to help Scottish communities benefit from energy efficiency measures, Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell has said. He said energy companies and the UK Government must increase spending on such measures.
• 2009/02/04: CarbonFinance: UK quietly launches offsetting code
  The UK government had a soft launch of its voluntary offsetting code last week, amid complaints from market participants that it will undermine the voluntary carbon market. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has begun inviting applications for its Quality Assurance Scheme for Carbon Offsetting, a voluntary code for offset providers designed to help businesses and individuals understand offsetting and ensure that the 'carbon calculators' used by providers are accurate. Firms signed up to the standard can apply to use a kitemark to prove that their products comply. But the government's decision to only include Kyoto Protocol-compliant credits and EU allowances as valid offsets has sparked controversy, with the International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA) warning that this move will undermine the development of the voluntary market.

And in Europe:

• 2009/02/06: EurActiv: Poland chooses nuclear to ease coal dependence
• 2009/02/05: Guardian(UK): Sweden scraps ban on nuclear power with plan to replace 10 reactors
• 2009/02/05: EUO: EU wind sector blown off course by crisis
• 2009/02/07: PeakEnergy: Swedish Resolve Melts Down
• 2009/02/06: DerSpiegel: What Sweden's Nuclear About-Face Means for Germany

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2009/02/04: PeakEnergy: Climate emergency or a crisis of democracy?
• 2009/02/03: HeraldSun: Go green, PM Kevin Rudd says of red alert
  Millions of homes will get free ceiling insulation and dozens of infrastructure projects will be rolled out in the latest economic rescue package. Families could shave about $200 a year off energy bills in the insulation scheme, to be revealed on Tuesday as part of Kevin Rudd's plan to try to stave off a recession.
• 2009/02/04: ABC(Au): Residents join climate change protest
  Broken Hill residents joined more than 2,000 people at Parliament House in Canberra yesterday to protest against water and climate change policies. Protesters had red banners and T-shirts to signify the climate emergency and were addressed by Greens' Senator Bob Brown. The secretary of the Darling River Action Group, Barney Stevens, says greenhouse gases should be cut by more than 15 per cent to reduce climate change.
• 2009/02/03: ABC(Au): The Tasmanian Government has given $100,000 to help fund a project that will asses the risks posed to the state's infrastructure by climate change
• 2009/02/03: ABC(Au): WAFF questions climate change research efforts
  The Western Australian Farmers Federation (WAFF) says not enough research has been done to prepare primary industries for climate change.
• 2009/02/02: Reuters: Australia carbon scheme needs re-think: analyst
• 2009/02/03: SMH: Blow for energy proposal
  The state's [NSW] first industrial biomass energy plant is under a cloud after major electricity companies have decided not to recognise it as an accredited supplier of renewable power. A woodchip mill near Eden plans to build a biomass plant on site, burning waste wood to create electricity both to run the mill and supply the local power grid. Opponents argue that burning wood to create power is no cleaner than burning coal, and more inefficient.
• 2009/02/02: ClimateP: "Australia faces collapse as climate change kicks in": Are the Southwest and California next?
• 2009/02/02: ABC(Au): Electricity suppliers say consumers should be expected to pay the full cost of power under the Federal Government's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• 2009/02/02: ABC(Au): Homeowners seek help over rising waters -- Residents from coastal areas in the Clarence municipality in southern Tasmania have raised concerns about the impact of sea level rise
• 2009/02/02: DeSmogBlog: Australia Government Blames Deadly Heat Wave on Climate Change
• 2009/02/02: SMH: Coalition pays lip service to reducing emissions
  For two days last week, the federal Nationals met in Melbourne to thrash out their strategy for the year ahead. As the Victorian capital sweltered in oppressive heat and remained devoid of rain, climate change occupied a fair bit of the meeting's agenda. The Nationals, who last year adopted the nebulous policy of doing nothing until the rest of the world acts, reaffirmed their in-principle opposition to Labor's emissions trading scheme. It was decided to take a final position once the legislation was produced, either later this month or early March. Fat chance.
• 2009/02/02: PeakEnergy: Getting Australia moving on solar feed in tariffs!
• 2009/02/02: OilChange: Oz: "Heatwave shows climate scientists are right", says Minister
• 2009/02/07: ABC(Au): Agforce welcomes climate change inquiry
  Rural lobby group Agforce says a Federal Government inquiry into how farmers can adapt to the challenges of climate change is a step in the right direction.
• 2009/02/05: ABC(Au): Insulation handouts 'won't reduce emissions'
  Destined for 2 million homes: The Government will fund insulation as part of its stimulus packkage (www.flickr.com: Giles Douglas) The Australia Institute policy research centre says the Government's initiative to fund insulation for more than 2 million homes will not reduce Australia's carbon emissions. The Government says the scheme will help households save energy and cut carbon emissions by up to 49 million tonnes by 2020. But the Australia Institute's executive director Richard Denniss says the Government's carbon pollution reduction scheme will just reallocate those emissions. "The way the Emissions Trading Scheme is designed, every kilogram of emissions saved by a household frees up an extra permit for a big polluter," he said. "So while it's true this scheme will help reduce households' use of energy, it won't reduce Australia's emissions at all.
• 2009/02/07: SMH: Six-star energy rating proposed for homes
• 2009/02/08: SMH: Energy savings that hit home [Garrett]
• 2009/02/05: EnvFin: Australian government and states clash on insulation

  And in China:

• 2009/02/02: Xinhuanet: Wen: China gives top priority to meeting challenge of climate change
• 2009/01/31: BBC: Sharp rise in China birth defects
  A senior family planning official in China has noted an alarming rise in the number of babies with birth defects, a Chinese media report says. Jiang Fan, from China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, said environmental pollution was the cause of the problem.
• 2009/02/06: ClimateP: Chinese birth defects "up sharply," worst drought in 50 years: Chinese premier says bring it on
• 2009/02/05: Xinhuanet: China's power glut to continue as consumption growth falls to 8-year-low
  China will see a continuous power glut in 2009 as the global economic downturn forces factories to scale back output and electricity consumption, according to a report released by the China Electricity Council (CEC) on Wednesday
• 2009/02/07: CBC: China accelerates payment of grain subsidies amid severe drought

  In Canada, the Commissioner of the Environment reported that the Tory government's environment programs are largely ineffective:

• 2009/02/04: OAG:GC: 2008 December Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
• 2009/02/06: OttawaSun: This will leave you breathless -- Federal government's plan to save the planet from global warming little more than hot airA damning report from Canada's environmental watchdog has confirmed everyone's worst suspicions that much of the federal government's plan to save the planet from global warming is hot air. Stephen Harper's administration has allocated billions of taxpayers' dollars for environmental initiatives promising to reduce Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions by 80 megatonnes, or more than 10% nationally. But as Environment commissioner Scott Vaughan notes in his failing-grade report card released yesterday, the feds "conducted almost no analysis to support that figure, and did not perform key types of analysis. "The little analysis it did undertake is based on flawed assumptions." The result is taxpayers' money is disappearing into thin air for environmental programs guaranteed to leave you breathless.
• 2009/02/05: Maribo: Auditor General questions Canada's climate policy
• 2009/02/05: CBC: Feds can't prove their costly green programs work: commissioner -- Gaps in reporting, accountability: report
  The federal government is spending billions to curb greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution, but is largely unable to show the measures work, Canada's environment commissioner warns.
• 2009/02/05: CTV: Ottawa can't track the green, commissioner says
  The federal government can't say for sure whether billions of dollars being spent on green programs are actually protecting health, habitat or air quality, says the environment commissioner. Scott Vaughan's first report to the Commons bluntly concludes that Ottawa too often "does not know the impact of its efforts."
• 2009/02/05: G&M: Ottawa failing on climate, watchdog says
  When the Conservative government walked away from Canada's Kyoto Protocol targets, it argued its less ambitious plan was more credible and based on "real, measurable and verifiable results." Scott Vaughan, Canada's new Commissioner of the Environment, says the government has failed on all three fronts. Adjectives such as weak, poor, negligible and disappointing pepper the scathing review of two central and costly pillars of the Conservative climate-change plan. As a division of the Auditor-General's office, the commissioner examined two of the marquee programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Harper government's Turning the Corner plan.
• 2009/02/06: G&M: How climate-change money went down the policy drain
  During the 2006 campaign, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper stood in front of a bus in Vancouver for one of those photo-ops that television networks find irresistible. There, he announced a policy to combat climate change: a tax credit for those with public transit passes. More people riding public transit would mean fewer people using cars, which, in turn, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he declared. It was a farcical policy, not to put too fine a point on the matter. It was estimated that about 95 to 97 per cent of those receiving the new subsidy were riding public transit anyway. There would be no major shift from cars to buses. The money would, quite literally, go down the policy drain, which is of course exactly what happened. As a climate-change policy, it was among the least effective policies imaginable.

And the Environment Minister is still embarassing himself:

• 2009/02/02: CBC: Clunker removal plan bound to fail, says auto analyst
  A federally funded program to encourage Canadians to scrap their older polluting cars is a "wet noodle," says one automotive analyst. On Friday, Environment Minister Jim Prentice urged Canadians to take advantage of the new national Vehicle Scrappage Program being delivered by the Clean Air Foundation, with support from Ottawa. The program -- touted as a way to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions -- offers incentives such as discounts on public transit passes, bicycles, memberships in car-sharing programs, or $300 cash. "What a wet noodle this turned out to be," said auto consultant Dennis DesRosiers. "Explain to me why a consumer with an asset worth at least a couple thousand dollars if not a lot more would turn it in for 300 bucks?" DesRosiers said that in Germany, a similar campaign offers up to $4,500 for vehicles nine years and older.

Late commment on the Tory budget:

• 2009/02/07: CBC: Lack of science funding risks brain drain, CMAJ editorial warns
  Federal budget cut money for research councils, made no new invetsment in key areas Without more investment in science and technology, "Canada's future will start looking perilously like Russia's present -- a country that has vast resources but outmoded technology," warns a Canadian Medical Association Journal editorial on the 2009 federal budget.

Ontario is struggling with a new energy policy:

• 2009/02/05: CleanBreak: Task force: spend $1.6 billion on Ontario smart grid over five years
• 2009/02/07: CTV: McGuinty sees big opportunities in green economy
  Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty outlined his proposed Green Energy Act Saturday, which he says will remove barriers to renewable energy projects and keep the province in line with the United Sates if it implements a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions.

The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands remains:

• 2009/02/02: TreeHugger: 'Integrity of Creation' Being Sacrificed for Economic Gain in Alberta Tar Sands: Canadian Bishop
• 2009/02/06: USO: Suncor oil sands production up [to 251,000 bpd in January]
• 2009/02/06: Yahoo: High cancer rates confirmed near oil sands
• 2009/02/07: CBC: Fort Chip cancer rates higher than expected: report
  The number of cancer cases in Fort Chipewyan is higher than expected, according to a report from Alberta Health Services released Friday.
• 2009/02/07: CanWest: Cancer rates higher near oil sands -- Alberta community studied. There's no cause for alarm but more monitoring needed, health agency says

  Otherwise in Alberta:

• 2009/02/06: TPB: [Alberta NDP leader, Brian] Mason suggests Obama-like conditions for oil patch bailout -- Premier Ed Stelmach announced his government is planning a bailout for the suffering energy sector
• 2009/02/06: Reuters: Oil patch skeptical of Alberta's incentive plan

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

• 2009/02/06: ClimateP: Voodoo economics reporting, Part 6: The NYT magazine doesn't understand renewables, efficiency, energy prices or green jobs
• 2009/02/05: ERabett: On Economics
• 2009/02/05: TheEcologist: Is it time to change 20th century economic paradigms?

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

• 2009/02/03: GreenGrok: Paul Ehrlich on Overpopulation
• 2009/02/02: BBC: Population: The elephant in the room
  Uncontrolled population growth threatens to undermine efforts to save the planet, warns John Feeney. In this week's Green Room, he calls on the environmental movement to stop running scared of this controversial topic.
• 2009/02/01: Times(UK): Two children should be limit, says green guru
  Couples who have more than two children are being "irresponsible" by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the government's green adviser has warned. Jonathon Porritt, who chairs the government's Sustainable Development Commission, says curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must be at the heart of policies to fight global warming. He says political leaders and green campaigners should stop dodging the issue of environmental harm caused by an expanding population. A report by the commission, to be published next month, will say that governments must reduce population growth through better family planning.
• 2009/02/01: IR^2: Too Many People?

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2009/02/02: GreenGrok: Memo to CNN.com: You Got It Wrong
• 2009/02/01: CSW: CNN's Lou Dobbs manufactures global warming controversy in junk journalism interview
• 2009/02/06: GristMill: Peeing on infernos -- Dueling NPR stories illustrate surreal disconnect around climate discussion
• 2009/02/05: TreeHugger: Katie Couric Dissess Energy-Saving Weatherization As Embarrassing

  Michael Tobis is pondering how to communicate science effectively:

• 2009/02/08: MTobis: What this blog is about
• 2009/02/07: MTobis: Sans entertainment, nobody cares about jellyfish swarms

  Here is something for your library:

• 2009/02/04: GristMill: [Book Review] _Forecast: The Consequences of Climate Change, from the Amazon to the Arctic, from Darfur to Napa Valley_ by Stephan Faris

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2009/02/06: WarmingLaw: Obama Administration Settles Seven-Year Old Global Warming Lawsuit This Morning
  Friends of the Earth (FOE) reports this morning that Obama administration has settled a seven-year-old lawsuit filed against two federal agencies that are responsible for financing and insuring overseas development projects. The plaintiffs FOE, Greenpeace, and several U.S. cities, accused the agencies of violating the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) by chronically failing to consider the global warming impacts of their projects. The new administration agreed to consider global warming impacts in their decision making process.
• 2009/02/05: PRNewsWire: Environmental Integrity Project and Sierra Club Sue EPA for Failing to Properly Regulate Air Pollution From Nitric Acid Plants -- Case Could Prompt EPA to Start Regulating Greenhouse Gases
• 2009/02/05: WarmingLaw: Oral Arguments in Sunflower v. Sebelius Today
• 2009/02/04: KansasCity: EPA suit claims Westar Energy violated Clean Air Act

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

• 2009/02/04: NYT: Dark Days for Green Energy
  Wind and solar power have been growing at a blistering pace in recent years, and that growth seemed likely to accelerate under the green-minded Obama administration. But because of the credit crisis and the broader economic downturn, the opposite is happening: installation of wind and solar power is plummeting. Factories building parts for these industries have announced a wave of layoffs in recent weeks, and trade groups are projecting 30 to 50 percent declines this year in installation of new equipment, barring more help from the government. Prices for turbines and solar panels, which soared when the boom began a few years ago, are falling. Communities that were patting themselves on the back just last year for attracting a wind or solar plant are now coping with cutbacks.
• 2009/01/20: TBAS: The limits of energy storage technology
• 2009/02/03: BBerg: BP Posts First Loss in Seven Years, Sees Weak Demand
• 2009/02/02: TreeHugger: Oil Demand in U.S. Sinks to 2003 Level According to American Petroleum Institute
• 2009/02/06: NewScientist: Carbon catalyst could herald cut-price fuel cells
• 2009/02/06: NewScientist: Why sustainable power is unsustainable
  Renewable energy needs to become a lot more renewable -- a theme that emerged at the Financial Times Energy Conference in London this week. Although scientists are agreed that we must cut carbon emissions from transport and electricity generation to prevent the globe's climate becoming hotter, and more unpredictable, the most advanced "renewable" technologies are too often based upon non-renewable resources, attendees heard.
• 2009/02/06: CleanTech: Europe's Ricardo claims breakthrough in ethanol engine efficiency
• 2009/02/06: PeakEnergy: A buoyant future in wave power
• 2009/02/06: PeakEnergy: Time to toll the warning bells on oil production
• 2009/02/05: NatureN: Make methane while the sun shines -- Nanotubes help turn carbon dioxide and water into natural gas
• 2009/02/05: PhysOrg: Inner workings of photosynthesis revealed by powerful new laser technique
• 2009/02/05: GristMill: X-actly what we need -- Super-battery idea wins X Prize competition for next green invention
• 2009/02/05: GristMill: Replacing power with intelligence -- Energy density is not an immutable requirement
• 2009/02/05: BWeek: Exxon: Juggernaut or Dinosaur?
• 2009/02/05: TechRev: Graphene for the Green Grid -- Ultracapacitors that store more could help the grid run smoothly.
• 2009/02/05: PeakEnergy: Lockheed Martin to Build Wave Farm
• 2009/02/05: PeakEnergy: Graphene Ultracapacitors for the Green Grid
• 2009/02/07: IR^2: Big Oil Buys Big Ethanol
• 2009/02/07: BBC: Photosynthesis viewed in a flash
  A new method of examining the inner workings of plants has shed light on how they harvest the Sun's energy.

The answer my friend...:

• 2009/02/03: EurActiv: Norway voices bold ambitions for offshore wind
• 2009/02/03: ClimateP: U.S. becomes global wind leader. Here's how to stay that way
• 2009/02/03: PhysOrg: Wind energy gathers steam, US biggest market: survey
• 2009/02/03: PeakEnergy: Global Wind Power Capacity Now 120.8 GW, 28.8% Growth in 2008
• 2009/02/02: TreeHugger: Global Wind Power Capacity Now 120.8 GW, 28.8% Growth in 2008
• 2009/02/02: EarthTimes: Wind fastest growing energy source in Europe
• 2009/02/05: WSJ:EnvCap: Thar She Blows: Wind Forecasting and Clean Energy's Future

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2009/02/06: PhysOrg: Unprecedented growth seen for solar energy
  The head of the federal government's effort to promote solar technology told about 200 industry leaders yesterday that expanding the industry to the level needed by 2030 will require unprecedented levels of growth. "To go from the 1 gigawatt of generation capacity that we have now [in the United States] to the 170 to 200 gigawatts called for by 2030 amounts to a 26 percent compounded annual growth rate over the next 20 years," John Lushetsky explained. "That's a higher sustained growth rate than any industry has ever been asked to do before." Mr. Lushetsky is program manager of the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technology Program for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
• 2009/02/06: TreeHugger: Innovative Solar Power Feed-In Tariff Program Approved in Gainesville, Fla.
• 2009/02/07: PeakEnergy: Ausra's [solar thermal company] Prospects Dimming

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2009/02/04: GreenGrok: Clean Coal's Dirty Secret - When 'Clean' Isn't Clean
• 2009/02/04: TP:WonkRoom: America Realizes: 'Coal Makes No Sense In This Day And Age'
• 2009/02/03: HillHeat: Montana Utility Scraps Coal Plant For Low-Carbon Power
• 2009/02/02: ClimateP: Air Force drops plans to build liquid coal plant
• 2009/02/05: ClimateP: Planned coal plants dropping like flies
• 2009/02/04: GristMill: Dirty coal in, dirty coal out -- 'Coal makes no sense in this day and age'

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2009/02/03: CNN: ADM ethanol production sinks 21%
• 2009/02/03: FGRN(De): Electricity from straw -- Researchers have developed the first-ever biogas plant to run purely on waste instead of edible raw materials...
• 2009/02/06: AutoBG: University of Minnesota: Ethanol no better than gas
• 2009/02/07: TreeHugger: New Study Finds Corn-based Ethanol More Harmful Than Oil-based Gasoline
• 2009/02/02: Guardian(UK): Biofuels more harmful to humans than petrol and diesel, warn scientists
• 2009/02/05: StatesmanJournal: Industry worries as California takes lead in setting bio-fuel rules
• 2009/02/04: BioEnergyBiz: Further failures in US ethanol sector

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2009/02/04: ClimateP: An introduction to nuclear power
• 2009/02/02: ClimateP: Nuclear [legal] meltdown in Finland
• 2009/01/05: WN: World Nuclear Power Reactors 2007-09 and Uranium Requirements
• 2009/02/02: NBF: Wind, Nuclear Power in 2008 -- Global wind energy capacity grew by 28.8% last year...
• 2009/02/06: TreeHugger: Sweden Says No to Nuclear Negativity
• 2009/01/26: SciAm: How long will the world's uranium supplies last?
• 2009/02/05: BBC: The Swedish government plans to overturn a nearly 30-year-old decision to phase out nuclear power and lift a ban on building new reactors
• 2009/02/06: Times(UK): Sweden to swap green plan for nuclear plants
• 2009/02/05: PhysOrg: Sweden reverses decision to phase out nuclear power
• 2009/02/05: WSJ:EnvCap: Sweden Goes Nuclear, Aims to Build New Reactors
• 2009/02/07: DVoice: Nuclear Power Can't Be a Solution to Global Warming Precisely because of Global Warming

  Yes we have a peak everything:

• 2009/02/03: WSJ:EnvCap: Peak Lithium: Will Supply Fears Drive Alternative Batteries?
• 2009/02/01: EnergyBulletin: Peak oil and the global economy
• 2009/02/08: OilDrum: The Spike and the Peak

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2009/02/03: GristMill: Transmission lies -- Against the so-called 'need' for new long-distance, high-voltage transmission lines
• 2009/02/03: Yahoo: Electric grid struggles to meet US ambitions
• 2009/02/02: WSJ:EnvCap: Smart Grid Goes Mainstream With General Electric Super Bowl Ad
• 2009/02/05: EarthTimes: Less than ten years for Baltic link says Swedish foreign minister
• 2009/02/07: PeakEnergy: Smart Grids In Malta, Ontario And Beyond

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2009/02/05: GristMill: One man's hybrid is another's pork -- Announcing energy efficiency order, Obama goes on stimulus attack
• 2009/02/05: Eureka: New biomass charcoal heater: A 'new era' of efficiency and sustainability

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

• 2009/02/04: NEN: The electric vehicle, the grid & the economy [V2G]
• 2009/02/03: EconBrwoser: January auto sales -- Dreadful as 2008 was for the U.S. automakers, 2009 is starting out even worse.
• 2009/02/03: CalcRisk: GM sales fall 48.9%, Toyota Off 32%
• 2009/02/03: CalcRisk: Ford sales fall 42.1% in January
• 2009/02/03: GEA: Downward Spiral In Autos: GM 49%, Ford 40%, Toyota 32%
• 2009/02/04: Guardian(UK): Detroit carmakers' sales plummet to 26-year low
• 2009/02/02: ClimateP: Does anyone think battery swap out is useful or even needed for electric vehicles?
• 2009/02/03: BBC: Ford monthly sales plunge by 42%
  Ford's US sales plunged 42% in January, as the woes facing the country's beleaguered "Big Three" carmakers show no signs of improving.
  The company said it sold 90,596 vehicles in its home market last month, down from 156,391 a year earlier.
• 2009/02/02: CNN: Plotting the long road to one million electric cars
  Electric vehicle association: U.S. must coordinate policy, technological advances - The EDTA on Tuesday is expected to release a set of policy recommendations - President Obama hopes to put 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on the road by 2015 - EDTA members include carmakers, battery companies and electric utilities
• 2009/02/02: AutoBG: EEStor and GM up a tree, t-a-l-k-i-n-g? [w/VIDEO]
• 2009/02/06: RNL: It's nice to drive electric
• 2009/02/06: BBC: Toyota triples year loss forecast [to 450bn yen]
• 2009/02/05: Guardian(UK): First the luxury electric sports car, now the battery-powered motorbike
• 2009/02/05: VoxEU: After the auto bailout by Johannes Van Biesebroeck
  This column proposes ending six policies that hamper the US automotive industry. It suggests replacing discretionary environmental policies with a CO2 tax, addressing legacy costs, ending the distinction between right-to-work and other states, levelling the investment subsidy playing field, resolving uncertainty surrounding the future powertrain, and allowing direct sales to the public.
• 2009/02/06: CBC: Toyota predicts 1st annual loss since 1950, reports big Q3 loss

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2009/02/02: G&M: Climate change strategy now a key survival pillar

  Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

• 2009/02/05: Guardian(UK): Greenwash: Dirty claims on clean coal
  The Scottish government is talking up the world's dirtiest fossil fuel as clean in its push to revive its coal industry
• 2009/02/05: PRWatch: Front Group Spokesman [PMoore] Gets a Pass on Democracy Now! [re nukes]

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2009/02/03: ERabett: Another damn alarmist [Marohasy]
• 2009/02/04: BCLSB: While Anthony Watts Blithers
• 2009/02/04: DeSmogBlog: US taxpayers on the hook for Senator Inhofe's conspiracy theories
• 2009/02/03: Guardian(UK): Booker's work of clanger-dropping fiction
  The Daily Telegraph columnist's misrepresentation of climate change is worthy of a prize for fiction
• 2009/02/02: Maribo: Skepticism about corals and rising CO2
• 2009/02/02: BCLSB: Why Tim Ball Is Crazy
• 2009/02/06: BCLSB: Theon Strikes Back
• 2009/02/06: DeSmogBlog: Lindzen's Thermostat Theory Swallowed by Giant Snake
• 2009/02/05: DeSmogBlog: About the Western Business Roundtable (WBR)
• 2009/02/05: GristMill: The Hawthorn Group is the enemy of the human race -- Memo outlines history and success of 'clean coal' propaganda campaign
• 2009/02/05: BCLSB: Hansen Strikes Back: More On John S. Theon
• 2009/02/06: Guardian(UK): Pure rubbish: Christopher Booker prize
• 2009/02/06: Guardian(UK): Pure rubbish: Christopher Booker Prize 2009
  Post your nominations here for who you think should win the Christopher Booker Prize for climate change clap-trap
• 2009/02/07: ClimateP: Guess who's trashing "green jobs?"

  Wanna get outraged?

• 2009/02/08: LA Times: Chevron seeks reimbursement from villagers who sued over 1998 shooting
  The oil giant is seeking nearly $500,000 in legal costs from the Nigerian villagers who unsuccessfully sued over a shooting at an offshore platform that left two protesters dead and two wounded.

Then there was the miscellaneous news and commentary:

• 2009/02/04: CCurrents: It Is Now Or Never
• 2009/02/03: Telegraph(UK): Snow is consistent with global warming, say scientists
• 2009/02/02: Guardian(UK): 94 months and counting
  Measuring economic growth -- as the current crisis proves -- is no way to rate the health of the planet
• 2009/02/05: GristMill: 'Clean coal' non-debate produces fake rift among lefties!
• 2009/02/06: BBC: Climate history 'helps conserve' -- Understanding a region's climatic history can help locate areas rich in species, scientists say.
• 2009/02/06: Guardian(UK): Green growth -- An effective and efficient response to global warming could also help to revive the world economy
• 2009/02/05: AAAFD: Screw 'Em
• 2009/02/04: Guardian(UK): Bailing out the planet
  'Green paper gold' could provide a much-needed fiscal stimulus while protecting the planet from climate change

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

• Green Herring [blog) -- An environmentalist responds to red herrings tossed out by denialists
• JPrall: Most-Cited Authors on Climate Science
• Ocean Acidification
• National Teach In
• UW:Steig: Antarctic temperature reconstructions from Steig et al. (2009)
• ABC(Au): Bushfire Emergency
• RStavins: An Economic View of the Environment
• UMelbourne: Weather observations from the roof of McCoy Building School of Earth Sciences, updated every minute
• Free Public Transit
• CDLib: Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UCB
• CCR: Corporate Climate Response
• Sierra Legal -- Canada's independent legal champion for a healthy environment
• EcoGeek - Technology for the Environment
• Maribo [Dr. Simon Donner]
• NOAA: Weekly Palmer Drought Indices
• Wiki: Indian Ocean Dipole

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.

"The erroneous belief that stabilizing emissions would quickly stabilize the climate supports wait-and-see policies, but violates basic laws of physics." -Dr. John Sterman

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