Another week of GW News, August 15, 2010

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

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Another week of Climate Instability News

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

August 15, 2010

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It's always nice to start with a smile, however twisted:

• 2010/08/13: uComics: (cartoon - Danziger) Pakistan
• 2010/08/13: ClimateP: (cartoons) Toles' "last rant about the climate" and Tom Tomorrow on conservatives, "Reality: Who needs it!"
• 2010/08/14: HuffPo: Global Weirding: Naming Climate Change Disasters After the Deniers
• 2010/08/14: CCP: Peter H. Gleick: Global Weirding: Naming Climate Change Disasters After the Deniers
• 2010/08/11: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) First Climate Change came for Russia...
• 2010/08/11: Salon: (cartoon - TomTom) They Denied Reality

  And for those who enjoy challenging Poe's Law:

• 2010/08/12: AFTIC: The House of Lords and Christopher Monckton
• 2010/08/11: Onion: Millions Of Barrels Of Oil Safely Reach Port In Major Environmental Catastrophe

  Looking back at the recently completed Bonn meeting:

• 2010/08/11: UNDispatch: Why the Climate Talks in Bonn Ended in Failure
• 2010/08/09: JakartaPost: Bonn climate talks disappointing: RI

  Looking ahead to COP16 and future international climate negotiations:

• 2010/08/13: Guardian(UK): A changed climate on climate change
  Progress in climate change talks remained stalled in Bonn, but there is hope for the upcoming Cancun round
• 2010/08/13: IPSNews: Cancún Conference Holds Out Little Hope in Face of Extreme Weather
• 2010/08/12: EarthTimes: No overall deal likely in Cancun, Mexican climate ambassador says
• 2010/08/10: BizGreen: Secretary-general admits growing UN pessimism over Cancun climate summit
• 2010/08/09: CCurrents: There Is Progress But Focus Is The Key For A Successful Cancun Outcome
• 2010/08/10: DemNow: Bolivian UN Ambassador: Despite Extreme Weather, US and Other Developed Countries Failing to Make Serious Pledges to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• 2010/08/09: Reuters: UN chief says Cancun climate meet may not get deal
  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged on Monday that a key U.N. conference on climate change in Mexico at the end of this year might not produce the definitive agreement the world body is seeking. The admission brings Ban, who ultimately is responsible for global climate change negotiations, in line with the view of many national negotiators and some of his own officials. Attention has focused on the Nov. 29-Dec. 10 meeting in Cancun, Mexico, since a U.N. summit in Copenhagen last December fell short of a legally binding deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
• 2010/08/09: Guardian(UK): UN climate talks are stuck in the mud
  After the shambles of Copenhagen, a crunch political meeting in Cancún, Mexico, looks unlikely to deliver meaningful progress on the environment
• 2010/08/09: EUO: World climate talks 'going backwards,' EU says
  A global climate deal is further away than ever, with discord among nations reaching a new low at talks in Bonn over the last week and with the EU warning that discussions are not so much advancing as going into reverse. "These negotiations have if anything gone backwards," said Connie Hedegaard, the European Union's climate action commissioner, on Friday (6 August) following preparatory UN talks in the German city ahead of a summit in Cancun, Mexico at the end of the year.
• 2010/08/09: China: Climate talks enter 'substantive' phase after Bonn
  The UN climate talks have advanced into the stage of "substantive negotiations" after some progress was made during the just ended session here, said Su Wei, head of the Chinese delegation.

And at Klimaforum10:

• 2010/08/09: CCurrents: Political Platform For Klimaforum10 By Mexico's Grassroots

  The Jet Stream is being fingered as a significant factor in the recent chaotic weather:

• Wiki: Jet stream
• 2010/08/13: Wunderground: Causes of the Russian heat wave and Pakistani floods
• 2010/08/11: DM:80B: Russia's Fires & Pakistan's Floods: The Result of a Stagnant Jet Stream?
• 2010/08/11: NewScientist: Frozen jet stream links Pakistan floods, Russian fires
• 2010/08/10: NewScientist: Frozen jet stream leads to flood, fire and famine

  The Question, asked by Michael and many others, has echoed in the blogosphere and around the world:

• 2010/08/14: NYT: In Weather Chaos, a Case for Global Warming
  The floods battered New England, then Nashville, then Arkansas, then Oklahoma -- and were followed by a deluge in Pakistan that has upended the lives of 20 million people. The summer's heat waves baked the eastern United States, parts of Africa and eastern Asia, and above all Russia, which lost millions of acres of wheat and thousands of lives in a drought worse than any other in the historical record. Seemingly disconnected, these far-flung disasters are reviving the question of whether global warming is causing more weather extremes. The collective answer of the scientific community can be boiled down to a single word: probably.
• 2010/08/14: CCentral: Scientist Explores Links Between Extreme Weather and Climate Change
• 2010/08/15: CCP: Justin Gillis, NYT: In Weather Chaos, a Case for Global Warming
• 2010/08/13: AP: Long, hot summer of fire, floods fits predictions
• 2010/08/14: ClimateSight: The Associated Press Gets it Right
• 2010/08/14: ClimateP: Climate experts agree: Global warming caused unprecedented Russian heat wave
• 2010/08/13: CSW: Are 2010 weather extremes a sign of global climate change? CSW interview on Al Jazeera English TV
• 2010/08/11: WMO: Unprecedented sequence of extreme weather events
• 2010/08/12: CJR: Temperate Coverage of Extreme Weather -- Media put heat, floods in proper climatic context
• 2010/08/13: TP:WR: If Doctors Were Climate Scientists, We'd Be Dead
• 2010/08/13: SkeptiSci: NASA-GISS: July 2010-- What global warming looks like
• 2010/08/13: WtD: Wise Rabbet's quote of the year...
• 2010/08/12: TCoE: So, how hot is it?
• 2010/08/12: WtD: Let's call it for what it is: climate change is here -- welcome to the anthropocene
• 2010/08/12: KSJT: Wired News: Fires and heat in Russia, Floods and heat in Asia. Some see a (tele)connection. Plus: radioactive smoke?
• 2010/08/12: ClimateP: Media wakes up to Hell and High Water: Moscow's 1000-year heat wave and "Pakistan's Katrina"
  BBC, Reuters, USA Today, Time link warming and extreme weather; Trenberth, Stott, and Masters explain the science
• 2010/08/12: NewScientist: Is climate change burning Russia?
• 2010/08/12: Tamino: Red Hot
• 2010/08/12: HotTopic: Fire and rain
• 2010/08/12: UCSUSA: Drought in Russia; Floods in Pakistan and China; High Temps in the U.S. Consistent with Climate Change Projections
• 2010/08/12: TreeHugger: It's Hot Enough to Wake the Media: MSM Links Heat, Extreme Flooding to Climate Change
• 2010/08/11: TP:WR: Climate Experts Agree: Global Warming Caused Russian Heat Wave
• 2010/08/10: PlanetArk: Analysis: Pakistan Floods, Russia Heat Fit Climate Trend
• 2010/08/11: NewKerala: Pak floods, Russia wildfires and China landslides due to global warming: Experts
• 2010/08/09: TerraDaily: Summer of extreme weather fuels debate over warming
• 2010/08/11: Rabble: Connecting local weather and global climate change
• 2010/08/10: DVoice: Manifestations of Runaway Climate Change -- The Spate of Floods and Fires around the Globe
• 2010/08/10: Grist: Does one bad-ass summer prove climate change?
• 2010/08/10: BBC: Climate change 'partly to blame' for sweltering Moscow
• 2010/08/09: Guardian(UK): Climate change: how to play our hand?
  There have always been extremes of weather around the world but evidence suggests human influence is changing the odds
• 2010/08/08: MongaBay: Officials point to Russian drought and Asian deluge as consistent with climate change
• 2010/08/08: WtD: What does it take to change the mind of a climate "sceptic"? Reality...
• 2010/08/08: EnergyBulletin: The end of prevention
  [...]
  What if ... we are not approaching a point that will tip us into a grand ecological catastrophe... What if we are in the middle of that catastrophe and it began some time ago?

The floods and lanslides have been nonstop in China for two months:

• 2010/08/11: UNDispatch: Massive Landslides in China
• 2010/08/13: EarthTimes: At least 60 dead or missing as new floods hit western China
• 2010/08/13: EarthTimes: Dozens dead, missing as new floods hit western China
• 2010/08/13: BBC: Torrential rain has brought landslides to more areas in China, as relief teams in devastated Zhouqu county battle against the bad weather
• 2010/08/13: CBC: New Chinese landslides kill 24 - with 24 missing
• 2010/08/12: EarthTimes: Three missing as new mudslides hit flood-hit China villages
• 2010/08/12: BBC: Rain hampers China landslide rescue effort
  Heavy rain in north-west China is disrupting rescue efforts in Zhouqu county, which was hit by a landslide on Sunday killing more than 1,000 people.
• 2010/08/12: CBC: China flood survivors face more rain -- Overnight deluge triggers more mudslides
• 2010/08/10: PlanetArk: Mudslides Devastate A Town In North West China
• 2010/08/11: EarthTimes: Hope fades for hundreds missing as China mudslide toll hits 1,100
• 2010/08/11: BBC: Fresh rains threaten China landslide rescue effort
  Heavy rain has hit the county in north-western China that was devastated by landslides, as the death toll from Saturday's disaster continues to rise. Officials said the number of people known to have died in Zhouqu, when mud and rocks engulfed buildings, now stood at 1,117, with 627 others missing.
• 2010/08/11: BBC: The number of people confirmed to have died after massive landslides in north-western China has risen to 1,117, with 627 others missing...
• 2010/08/11: CBC: China flood survivors face threat of disease -- Concern turns to lack of sanitation, drinking water
• 2010/08/10: CNN: Man rescued alive but hundreds still missing in China landslide
  Man pulled from rubble 60 hours after landslide tears through Zhouqu Country - Death toll has risen to 702 with 1,042 people still missing in mud several meters deep - Witness said: "There was a noise like thunder and then it came down from the sky. - Rescue efforts hampered by floodwaters that cut through the town
• 2010/08/10: EarthTimes: Death toll hits 700 after China mudslide; 1,000 missing
• 2010/08/10: BBC: China landslide: More than 700 people confirmed dead -- more than 1,000 people still missing
• 2010/08/10: BBC: Clean-up begins in flood-hit Central Europe
  Flood waters that have damaged hundreds of homes in Central Europe are starting to recede, but the authorities remain on high alert. At least 11 people are known to have died in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.
• 2010/08/10: CBC: China floods death toll tops 700
• 2010/08/09: CTV: 1,100 missing in China as flooding continues in Asia
• 2010/08/09: BBC: China landslide death toll jumps
  The death toll from landslides in north-west China has risen to 337, with 1,148 people missing, state-run Xinhua news agency says. The landslides in Zhouqu county, Gansu province, were triggered by torrential rains that hit the area on Saturday.
• 2010/08/09: CBC: Floods, landslides in China leave 1,300 missing
• 2010/08/08: BBC: China has sent thousands of rescue workers [to Zhouqu in Gansu] to help search for survivors of deadly landslides...
• 2010/08/08: Guardian(UK): China landslides leave more than 100 dead -- At least 127 people killed and 2,000 missing...

  The wildfires in Russia are intense:

• 2010/08/15: EarthTimes: Noxious smog from wildfires returns to Moscow
• 2010/08/13: EarthTimes: Fresh fires break out near Russian nuclear site
• 2010/08/12: OpenDem: Russia burns: an update
  Lack of personnel and organizational incompetence have seriously hampered the Russian response to forest fires, writes Greenpeace's Alexei Yaroshenko. Worryingly, fires have reached some Chernobyl-affected regions, and many other villages have been essentially abandoned to their fate.
• 2010/08/12: DerSpiegel: Wildfires in Russia -- Radioactivity Concerns Grow as Blazes Continue
  With fires continuing to blaze across Russia, many are concerned that radioactivity left over from the Chernobyl disaster could be released into the air. The Kremlin, however, has played down the risk.
• 2010/08/12: TerraDaily: Firefighters struggle in vain near [Sarov] Russian nuclear centre
• 2010/08/13: EarthTimes: Fresh blazes near Russian radioactive site
• 2010/08/13: Eureka: Fires around Moscow: A satellite perspective -- University of Leicester team releases startling images of massive smoke clouds
• 2010/08/12: BBC: Moscow 'hiding heatstroke cases' after death rate jumps
  Doctors in Moscow are being told not to diagnose heatstroke as a cause of death after a jump in the mortality rate during the heatwave, Russia media say. Speaking on condition of anonymity, one doctor said the unofficial instruction being passed down was to use diagnoses that "sound less frightening".
• 2010/08/12: DWWSJ: Amazing NASA Images of Russian Heat and Smoke
• 2010/08/12: PlanetArk: Russia Says Fires Burn Chernobyl-Tainted Forests
• 2010/08/12: PlanetArk: Russia's Peatland Fires Seen Burning For Months
• 2010/08/12: MTobis: The Russia Thing
• 2010/08/12: EarthTimes: Medvedev says Russia's fire situation 'still tense'
• 2010/08/12: EarthTimes: Russian official reports headway in containing forest fires
• 2010/08/11: NASA:JPL: NASA Video Shows Global Reach of Pollution from Fires
• 2010/08/12: CBC: Moscow skies clear of smog -- More than 500 fires still burning across western Russia
• 2010/08/11: TCoE: Russia's turn to be the fingertip
• 2010/08/12: ABC(Au): Moscow is breathing a sigh of relief today after winds and rain provided a respite from toxic smog that has shrouded the city
• 2010/08/12: ABC(Au): Wildfires spark Chernobyl fallout fears
  Officials in Russia are reporting progress in fighting bushfires, but there are new fears the fires could spread radiation if they burn through areas near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
• 2010/08/11: PlanetArk: Heat Seen Continuing In European Russia for 10 days
• 2010/08/11: MongaBay: New NASA images reveal devastating impact of Russian fires
• 2010/08/10: EarthTimes: Battle on to stop flames reaching Russian nuclear sites
• 2010/08/11: CCurrents: Russia's Fires Cause "Brown Cloud," May Hit Arctic
• 2010/08/10: CCurrents: Moscow Suffocates As Wildfires Continue Burning
• 2010/08/10: Reuters: Russia's fires cause "brown cloud," may hit Arctic
• 2010/08/11: BBC: Russia combats wildfires in Chernobyl radiation zone
• 2010/08/11: CBC: Radiation fear for Russian wildfire smoke
• 2010/08/09: NASA:EO: Heatwave in Russia
• 2010/08/10: QuarkSoup: The Russian Heat Wave
• 2010/08/11: CSM: Radioactive smoke? Russia wildfires rage near Chernobyl
• 2010/08/10: DemNow: Meterologist [Jeff Masters]: Record Heat Wave in Russia Could Kill Tens of Thousands
• 2010/08/10: Guardian(UK): Pakistan flood toll rises but international aid fails to flow
• 2010/08/10: ABC(Au): Morgues fill as deaths double in sweltering Moscow
  New revelations suggest Moscow's record heatwave and heavy smoke from forest fires may be far deadlier than Russia has admitted so far.
• 2010/08/09: Grist: Moscow deaths double in Russia's 'worst ever' heat
• 2010/08/10: MTobis: Russian Grass Fires
• 2010/08/10: DM:BA: Russia is on fire
• 2010/08/10: EarthTimes: Russian firefighters put out Mayak fire, others blaze on
• 2010/08/10: EarthTimes: Radioactive risk warning as Russian fires out of control
• 2010/08/09: NYT: Amid Heat and Smoke, Deaths Double in Moscow
• 2010/08/09: TerraDaily: Moscow deaths double in Russia's 'worst ever' heat
• 2010/08/10: WtD: A climate tragedy: Russia's death toll likely to exceed 15,000
• 2010/08/09: ClimateP: Russian Meteorological Center: "There was nothing similar to this on the territory of Russia during the last one thousand years in regard to the heat."
• 2010/08/10: ABC(Au): Russian bushfires threaten nuclear plant
  Russian authorities have declared a state of emergency in a city that is home to a major nuclear plant. The say bushfires are now threatening parks and forests in the city of Ozersk.
• 2010/08/08: TerraDaily: Moscow chokes under smog as travellers trapped
• 2010/08/08: TerraDaily: Second Russian nuclear facility threatened by fires
• 2010/08/09: TreeHugger: Moscow's Death Rate Doubles From 1000 Year Heat Wave
• 2010/08/09: Wunderground: Over 15,000 likely dead in Russian heat wave; Asian monsoon floods kill hundreds more
• 2010/08/09: EarthTimes: Deathrate in Moscow doubles due to heat and smog from fires
• 2010/08/08: CBC: Moscow smog forces Canadian Embassy staff to move
• 2010/08/09: CBC: Moscow heat, smoke double death rate -- Wildfires, scorching temperature produce thick smog
• 2010/08/09: Novosti: Deadly Russian heat wave gravest over millennium
  Russia has recently seen the longest unprecedented heat wave for at least one thousand years, the head of the Russian Meteorological Center said on Monday. Wildfires continue to rage across much of the central part of European Russia as the country experiences a heat wave, with temperatures of up to and above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). "We have an 'archive' of abnormal weather situations stretching over a thousand years. It is possible to say there was nothing similar to this on the territory of Russia during the last one thousand years in regard to the heat," Alexander Frolov said.
• 2010/08/09: BBC: Death rate doubles in Moscow as heatwave continues
  Moscow's health chief has confirmed the mortality rate has doubled as a heatwave and wildfire smog continue to grip the Russian capital.

Pakistan's monsoon floods are epic:

• 2010/08/15: EarthTimes: UN chief arrives in Pakistan to see flood devastation
• 2010/08/15: BBC: UN chief Ban Ki-moon urges help for Pakistan flood
  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged the world to speed up aid to Pakistan after devastating floods which the government says have affected 20 million people. Mr Ban is in Pakistan to visit PM Yusuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari, whose handling of the crisis has been widely criticised.
• 2010/08/14: EarthTimes: Pakistani premier says 20 million displaced by floods
• 2010/08/13: EarthTimes: UN chief intends to visit Pakistan's flood victims
• 2010/08/14: BBC: Pakistan's PM Yusuf Raza Gilani says 20 million people have been affected by the country's floods, a much higher estimate than the UN's 14 million
• 2010/08/14: BBC: Floods threaten Pakistan's 'engine of growth'
• 2010/08/14: BBC: In pictures: Pakistan struggles to cope
• 2010/08/14: CBC: Pakistan floods leave 20 million homeless -- Thousands sick from disease
• 2010/08/13: UN: UN racing against time and weather to deliver aid to flood-hit Pakistanis
• 2010/08/13: DerSpiegel: The World from Berlin -- 'Taliban Has Benefited from West's Response in Pakistan'
  The floods in Pakistan are devastating and 6 million people need emergency assistance. But donations from the international community have been slow and insufficient. German commentators wonder why that is and express concern that the Taliban may benefit.
• 2010/08/13: NatureN: Pakistan's floods: is the worst still to come? Nature looks at the causes and consequences of the flooding of the Indus river
• 2010/08/13: TreeHugger: At Least 20% of Pakistan is Underwater (Video)
• 2010/08/13: EarthTimes: Thousands flee as floods threaten major Pakistani city
• 2010/08/12: ENS: Pakistan Superflood Leaves Millions Destitute, Hungry
• 2010/08/13: TP:WR: Helping Pakistan Is In US National Interest
• 2010/08/12: UrukNet: Why is the world unmoved by the plight of Pakistan?
• 2010/08/13: BBC: Pakistan's president has directed that there should be no official celebrations of Independence Day on Saturday as the country tries to cope with devastating floods
• 2010/08/13: CBC: Pakistan's crisis will outlast floods: UN
• 2010/08/12: EUO: EU foreign ministers to upgrade Pakistan effort
• 2010/08/12: UN: Massive scale-up needed in Pakistan flood relief operation, says UN
• 2010/08/12: MTobis: Pakistan Versinkt
• 2010/08/11: TerraDaily: Pakistan issues fresh flood warning, calls for cash
• 2010/08/12: EarthTimes: Official: Worst is not yet over for flood-hit Pakistan
• 2010/08/12: EarthTimes: Shelter hard to find as floods sweep across Pakistan
• 2010/08/12: NYT: New Flood Warnings Raise Fears in Pakistan
• 2010/08/12: TP: One fifth of Pakistan is under water
• 2010/08/12: BBC: Pakistani president visits flood relief camp in Sindh
• 2010/08/12: CBC: Pakistan flood survivors begin Ramadan
• 2010/08/12: CBC: Flood-ravaged Pakistan appeals for help -- Rain threatens further damage to infrastructure, crops
• 2010/08/11: BBC: Desperation as Pakistan flood misery grows
• 2010/08/11: Guardian(UK): Pakistan floods surge as fresh rainfall triggers two more waves of water
• 2010/08/11: UN: UN agencies call for $460 million to assist Pakistani flood victims
• 2010/08/11: CCurrents: Pakistani Floods Affect Millions, But Level Of International Aid Pitiful
• 2010/08/10: CCurrents: Pakistan's Devastating Floods Are President Zardari's Katrina
• 2010/08/09: CCurrents: President Zardari Of Pakistan Is Pelted With Shoes At The UK Rally
• 2010/08/11: BBC: UN launches $459m Pakistan flood appeal
• 2010/08/11: BBC: Devastating flooding in Pakistan has destroyed crops and led to a surge in food prices in the country, the United Nations has warned
• 2010/08/11: CBC: More Pakistan flood aid needed: UN
  The United Nations is calling for $459 million US to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to millions of people affected by devastating floods in Pakistan. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs said "the worst monsoon-related floods in living memory" has affected more than 14 million people, and left between six million and seven million people in need of urgent food aid, clean water and shelter.
• 2010/08/09: DemNow: Fatima Bhutto: Pakistan's Devastating Floods Are President Zardari's Katrina
• 2010/08/10: Reuters: Pakistan floods shows threat from warmer world - scientists
• 2010/08/10: Wunderground: Pakistan's Katrina; 94L could develop in Gulf of Mexico
• 2010/08/09: CDreams: Global Warming: Pakistan Floods, Russia Heat Match Climate Trends
• 2010/08/10: BBC: Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has returned to his flood-stricken country, after a foreign tour which has prompted widespread criticism
• 2010/08/10: CBC: Pakistan flood aid bogged down: UN
• 2010/08/09: Guardian(UK): Pakistan floods: 'We are now in God's hands'
• 2010/08/09: Guardian(UK): Pakistan president targeted by shoe-throwing protester in Birmingham
  Sardar Mohammed Shamin Khan threw shoes at Asif Ali Zardari for continuing his UK visit during Pakistan's flood crisis
• 2010/08/09: Guardian(UK): Bad weather hampers Pakistan flood relief effort
• 2010/08/08: UN: Number of people affected by Pakistan floods climbs to 6 million - UN
• 2010/08/09: TerraDaily: Landslides kill more in flood-hit Pakistan
• 2010/08/09: BBC: Pakistan floods threaten key barrage in southern Sindh
• 2010/08/09: CBC: Pakistanis decry weak flood relief efforts
• 2010/08/08: BBC: Landslides have inundated two villages in northern Pakistan, as heavy rain continues to hamper efforts to help millions affected by flooding
• 2010/08/08: Guardian(UK): Pakistan floods: army steps into breach as anger grows at Zardari

  And on the Bottom Line:

• 2010/08/12: NatureN: Russia counts environmental cost of wildfires -- Without better forest management, country can expect further uncontrolled fires in the future
• 2010/08/11: EarthTimes: Germany begins counting cost as floods recede
• 2010/08/10: BBC: Heatwave and fires to slow Russian economic recovery
  Economists in Russia say they expect the current heatwave and wildfires to cut $15bn (£9bn) from economic output. The figure, which does not include the cost of rebuilding homes, will slow down the country's recovery from the recent global crisis. Hundreds of fires continue to burn in several regions of the country, including around the capital.
• 2010/08/10: BBerg: Russia Heat Wave May Kill 15,000, Shave $15 Billion off GDP
• 2010/08/10: CBC: Russian fires to cost $15B US: report -- Amount would equal 1% of Russian economy
  The hundreds of wildfires that have swept western Russia are expected to cost $15 billion US, or about one per cent of the country's gross domestic product, a Moscow newspaper said Tuesday. The business daily Kommersant also said a rise in grain prices would likely lead to a spike in inflation and stifle growth. The government has yet to release any damage estimates.

Late coverage of that Ecuadorian oil deal:

• 2010/08/09: CCurrents: Ecuador To Leave Oil In Ground

  A week ago, 1 Sky asked a question. So far, I have seen two answers, one straight & one Machiavellian:

• 2010/08/06: 1Sky: An open letter to all people and organizations working to combat global warming
• 2010/08/14: PeakEnergy: Peak oil is the villain governments need?
• 2010/08/11: Guardian(UK): Peak oil is the villain governments need
  Using the threat of a high oil prices is a sell the public will buy into -- unlike intangible arguments over climate change
• 2010/08/13: CCurrents: Global Warming: How Do We Move Forward?
• 2010/08/12: EnergyBulletin: Global Warming: How do we move forward?

  Post CRU theft, controversy & inquiry:

• 2010/08/12: BCLSB: David Hull And The CRU Emails
• 2010/08/11: NatureTGB: Opening up access to climate data
• 2010/08/08: Deltoid: BBC apologizes to University of East Anglia
• 2010/08/08: MTobis: The Beeb Apologises
• 2010/08/08: UEA: BBC apologises to University of East Anglia for "incorrect" remark
  The BBC has apologised for an "incorrect" remark made by John Humphrys that UEA researchers had "distorted the debate about global warming to make the threat seem even more serious than they believed it to be".
• 2010/08/08: BCLSB: BBC Apologises To University Of East Anglia

  Late Comment on the State of the Climate Report:

• 2010/08/10: ClimateP: 10 indicators of a human fingerprint on climate change

  The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

• 2010/08/14: ASI: Sea ice extent update 24: high in the 60's
• 2010/08/13: ArcticSounder: Borehole network confirms, permafrost is thawing worldwide
• 2010/08/13: GreenGrok: Climate Report from 'The Land That Never Melts'
• 2010/08/09: GreenGrok: Echoes of Louisiana Bayou up North
• 2010/08/13: Grist: Giant Greenland iceberg a climate 'warning sign'
• 2010/08/12: NASA:JPL: NASA Releases New Image of Massive Greenland Iceberg
• 2010/08/12: BBC: A Cambridge University researcher will set out on Sunday on a year-long expedition to Greenland to document the threatened Inuit culture
• 2010/08/12: Guardian(UK): Linguist on mission to save Inuit 'fossil language' disappearing with the ice
• 2010/08/11: SpaceDaily: Arctic ice island poses no immediate threat, says discoverer
• 2010/08/11: BBC: Greenland ice island captured in satellite images
  Satellite images released by NASA have captured the scale of the ice island that broke off the Petermann Glacier in northwestern Greenland on 5 August.
• 2010/08/11: Guardian(UK): The break-up of the Petermann Glacier [12 pix]
• 2010/08/11: ASI: Animation 12: year to year
• 2010/08/11: ERabett: Bye bye. . .[Arctic sea ice]
• 2010/08/10: ASI: Animation 11: Canadian Archipelago
• 2010/08/10: KSJT: Daily Mail: "This may well be Global Warming Ground Zero," a dispatch from [Petermann Glacier in] Greenland. It's cracking up.
• 2010/08/09: HotTopic: It breaks [Petermann Glacier]
• 2010/08/09: NatureTGB: Greenland ice sheet yields biggest glacier in decades
• 2010/08/09: CCentral: Greenland Sheds a 'Mega-Berg'
• 2010/08/09: ESA: Greenland glacier gives birth to giant iceberg
• 2010/08/08: ClimateP: Greenland glacier calves the Arctic's largest ice chunk in nearly a half-century

  As for the charismatic megafauna:

• 2010/08/11: GreenGrok: Polar Bears on the Rocks
• 2010/08/10: NYT:CW: Another Symbol of the Arctic's Complex Ecosystem [the Walrus] Finds Itself on Thin Ice
• 2010/08/09: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Alaska Governor Parnell Doesn't Want to Protect Polar Bears, For the Sake of Big Oil

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2010/08/14: TCoE: Speaking of methane...
• 2010/08/13: LoE: Getting to the Bottom of Methane

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2010/08/15: BBC: Russia ban on grain export begins
  Russia has imposed a ban on grain exports until the end of the year, after a severe drought and a spate of wildfires devastated crops.
• 2010/08/13: UNDispatch: As Flood Waters Rise, Food Prices Soar in Pakistan
• 2010/08/12: WFP: Niger Food Drive Reaches Village On The Edge Of Survival
• 2010/08/13: VOA: Russia's Damaged Wheat: a Glimpse of the Future?
• 2010/08/14: CCurrents: The Raid On Food Stamps
• 2010/08/13: CCurrents: 6 Million Pakistanis Need Immediate Aid As 1/3 Of Country Is Submerged
• 2010/08/12: CCurrents: Disasters Could Push Food Prices Up
• 2010/08/14: BBC: Niger hunger 'worse than 2005'
  Niger is now facing the worst hunger crisis in its history, the UN's World Food Programme says, with almost half the population - or 7.3 million people - in desperate need of food.
• 2010/08/13: Guardian(UK): How greed begets hunger
  Crop shortages alone are not behind global food crises. Speculators have been pushing prices up
• 2010/08/13: UN: Timor Leste: UN peacekeepers deliver aid supplies to flood victims
• 2010/08/13: UN: UN agency [UNHCR] distributes emergency supplies as floods strike Chad
• 2010/08/12: Reuters: Analysis: Extreme weather plagues farming, talks flounder
  Global wheat markets reeling from Russian droughts, thousands of cattle killed by heat in Kansas, and countless crop acres wiped out by floods in Pakistan are glimpses of what can be expected as the world struggles to battle climate change. But as concerns mount over extreme weather hitting global food systems this year, governments are no closer to forging a pact to fight climate change.
• 2010/08/12: BWeek: Corn, Soybeans Advance on Concern U.S. Heat Wave Damaged Crops
• 2010/08/12: BrownfieldAgNews: Veteran weather watcher says heat is hurting corn
• 2010/08/11: AlterNet: Bollywood Superstar Aamir Khan Shines the Spotlight on What's Caused an Estimated 150,000 Farmer Suicides in India
• 2010/08/13: HotTopic: Lester Brown: Russian heat hits world grain supplies
• 2010/08/12: EnergyBulletin: Starving Africa's future?
• 2010/08/12: Guardian(UK): Russia, Pakistan and food for thought
• 2010/08/12: USDA: WASDE: World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates
• 2010/08/12: CBC: Wheat prices rise on lower crop estimate -- USDA cuts projection by 2.3%
• 2010/08/12: UN: Madagascar's farms threatened by locust plague, UN agency cautions
• 2010/08/12: NYT:CW: Record Droughts, Floods and Fires Strain Food Markets' Resilience
• 2010/08/12: EarthTimes: UN: Locusts threaten Madagascar crops
• 2010/08/12: CNN: Quarter of Russian crops lost in drought, Medvedev says
  Medvedev says crop losses will eventually affect the prices of flour, meat, and milk - A quarter of the nation's crops have been lost, the Russian president says - Forecasters say virtually no rain is forecast in Russia this month
• 2010/08/12: AllAfrica: WFP: Zimbabwe: Food Security Improves, but 1.68 Billion People Still Need Food Assistance
• 2010/08/12: BBC: Global wheat supply forecast cut
  The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has sharply cut its outlook for world wheat production after revising down its crop forecast for Russia.
• 2010/08/11: CBC: Ukraine mulls wheat export ban -- Follows similar Russian move
• 2010/08/11: PlanetArk: Colombia Coffee Growers Wary Of Rains...
• 2010/08/10: CBC: Bread prices rise with Russian wheat woes
• 2010/08/10: ClimateP: Must-hear podcast: Lester Brown on Rising Temperatures and Rising Food Prices
• 2010/08/10: NatureTGB: Temperature increases damage rice yields
• 2010/08/10: EarthTimes: Zimbabwe food crisis eases, but over million face hunger says UN
• 2010/08/09: Eureka: Hotter nights threaten food security -- rice at risk
• 2010/08/09: SeedDaily: Global warming threatens Asian rice production: study
• 2010/08/10: TreeHugger: Rising Temperatures, Rising Food Prices
• 2010/06/27: Emirates247: Arab food gap crosses $180bn over past decade -- Arab countries are the world's largest farm produce importers
• 2010/08/09: BBC: Rice yields falling under global warming
  Global warming is cutting rice yields in many parts of Asia, according to research, with more declines to come. Yields have fallen by 10-20% over the last 25 years in some locations. The group of mainly US-based scientists studied records from 227 farms in six important rice-producing countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, India and China. This is the latest in a line of studies to suggest that climate change will make it harder to feed the world's growing population by cutting yields.
• 2010/08/09: ABC(Au): Farmers brace for worst locust plague in decades
  The worst locust plague in 30 years is expected to hit regional New South Wales in the coming weeks, and the State Government has begun measures to control the outbreak.
• 2010/08/09: PhysOrg: Higher temperatures to slow Asian rice production
  The world's most important crop for ensuring food security and addressing poverty -- will be thwarted as temperatures increase in rice-growing areas with continued climate change, according to a new study by an international team of scientists.
• 2010/08/09: BBC: Russia reduces grain harvest forecast
  Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned this year's grain harvest - hit by fire and drought - will be worse than previously forecast. The harvest is now expected to be 65 million tonnes, but could be as low as 60 million tonnes, Mr Putin said. The previous forecast had been between 70 and 75 million tonnes. Mr Putin also said that the ban on grain exports could be extended beyond the end of 2010 because of shortages for domestic markets.

That Russian court ruled against saving the Pavlovsk Experimental Station's irreplaceable seed library:

• Wiki: Pavlovsk Experimental Station
• 2010/08/12: DM:80B: "Living Library" of Fruit Plants May Fall to Russian Bulldozers
• 2010/08/12: TreeHugger: Massive Berry Bank in Russia One Step Closer to Demolition
• 2010/08/11: NatureN: Europe's largest berry bank [Pavlovsk Experimental Station] faces closure -- A Russian court ruling favours housing over plant diversity
• 2010/08/11: ScienceInsider: After Court Rejects Appeal, Russian Crop Collection Faces Destruction
• 2010/08/08: Guardian(UK): Pavlovsk seed bank faces destruction
  'Priceless collection' in Russia was never registered so is therefore worthless and does not officially exist, say developers
• 2010/08/09: ABC(Au): Seed bank 'icon' under threat
  The world's first seed bank, home to Europe's largest collection of fruit, berries and seed crops, is facing destruction because of pressure from property developers. The historic Russian seed trust contains more than 5,000 seeds, 90 per cent of which are from crops that it says do not exist anywhere else in the world. Pavlovsk Experiment Station covers hundreds of hectares of land on the edge of the Russian city of St Petersburg.
• 2010/08/07: BBC: Europe's largest collection of crops may be destroyed for houses
  New private homes could replace Europe's largest collection of fruits and berries, if a Russian court rules the land could be sold to property developers. The Pavlovsk experimental station near the Russian city of St Petersburg is the biggest European field seed bank and one of the largest in the world. Thousands of varieties of plants and crops there are found nowhere else. The court hearing is scheduled for 11 August.

The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2010/08/10: China: Call to ban corn-based ethanol production
  China's biggest non-state oil enterprise urged the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to impose a ban on using corn to produce ethanol fuel. Zhao Youshan, chairman of the Oil Flow Commission of the China General Chamber of Commerce, told the Beijing Times that they have submitted a letter to the NDRC in an attempt to ban corn-based ethanol production, because it has pushed up corn prices at home and turned China into a corn-importing country in the first half of this year from previously a corn-exporting country.

Regarding genetic modification of food plants:

• 2010/08/10: AlterNet: The U.S. Ploy to Promote Genetically Engineered Seeds and Pesticides to Poor Mexican Farmers Is Impoverishing Their Communities
• 2010/08/09: KSJT: BBC, NPR, SciAm, etc: The Great Escape -- G.M. Canola busts the joint, goes wild.

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2010/08/12: CCurrents: How Green Revolution Played Havoc With Mexican Agriculture
• 2010/07/16: FTC: Open Data in Agriculture and Why It Matters
• 2010/08/14: Rabble:MR: Open Data in agriculture
• 2010/08/13: ProMedMail: Tan spot, wheat - UK: (Scotland)
• 2010/06/28: Ecologist: Agroecological farming methods being ignored, says UN expert
  Success of agroecology in Brazil, Cuba and Africa should be replicated in place of current support for intensive farming techniques Decision-makers are ignoring low-input agroecological farming methods in favour of major investments in industrial farming techniques and pesticides, says the UN's independent advisor on food.
• 2010/08/14: HotTopic: Farming's future in NZ: adapt or decline
• 2010/08/11: UN: UN launches massive feeding drive for children in drought-stricken Niger
• 2010/08/11: NewInt:TEB: Saving seeds
• 2010/08/10: Guardian(UK): Of feast and famine
  America discards 40% of the food it makes, while a billion in the world go hungry. How can we stop such dire misallocation?
• 2010/08/10: EarthTimes: EU sends a further 20 million dollars to stave off Niger famine
• 2010/08/09: PhysOrg: Switchgrass lessens soil nitrate loss into waterways
  By planting switchgrass and using certain agronomic practices, farmers can significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen and nitrates that leach into the soil, according to Iowa State University research.
• 2010/08/09: Grist: Baltimore seeds city farms as path to sustainability, jobs
• 2010/08/09: Guardian(UK): [Letters] UK aid for the Sahel

  TD5 spun up close to shore in the Caribbean and Dianmu zapped South Korea, then Japan:

• 2010/08/13: Eureka: NASA's TRMM satellite maps flood potential as TD5's remnants keep soaking Louisiana, Mississippi
• 2010/08/12: TerraDaily: Deadly Typhoon Dianmu cuts across Japan
• 2010/08/11: TerraDaily: Typhoon Dianmu kills five in S.Korea
• 2010/08/11: Wunderground: Tropical Depression Five struggling
• 2010/08/11: Eureka: Warnings up for Tropical Depression 5 in the eastern Gulf of Mexico
• 2010/08/11: Eureka: NASA's Aqua Satellite sees Tropical Storm Dianmu enter the Sea of Japan
• 2010/08/11: BBerg: Louisiana Declares Emergency as Gulf Storm [TD5] Builds
• 2010/08/11: PhysOrg: Tropical depression [5] halts drilling at Gulf well
• 2010/08/11: TerraDaily: Typhoon Dianmu leaves three dead, floods homes in S.Korea
• 2010/08/11: Wunderground: Tropical Depression Five a heavy rain threat; the smoke clears in Moscow
• 2010/08/11: EarthTimes: Three dead as typhoon [Dianmu] hits South Korea
• 2010/08/10: DWWSJ: Tropical Storm Forming Off of Florida?

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2010/08/13: AGU: Ocean's Color Affects Hurricane Paths
• 2010/08/10: TerraDaily: NASA will fly drone for hurricane study
• 2010/08/12: Wunderground: A record quiet start to the 2010 Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season
• 2010/08/10: CCP: Jeff Masters: July SSTs in the tropical Atlantic set a new record
• 2010/08/10: Eureka: Inaugural deployment of buoys to measure air and sea interactions in typhoons launched from Taiwan
• 2010/08/10: TGBeaver: Surface Sea Temperatures in the Atlantic Main Development Region [MDR]
• 2010/08/08: TerraDaily: Taiwan remembers 700 killed on typhoon [Morakot] anniversary

  As for the Monsoon:

• 2010/08/12: BBC: Asian monsoon's range of devastation
• 2010/08/11: TreeHugger: Global Warming Increases South Asian Monsoon Downpour Intensity = Increased Risk of Flooding

  The suggestion has been made that the European floods would be more properly called a Monsoon:

• 2010/08/10: PressEurop: Monsoons sweep Europe

  As for GHGs:

• 2010/08/13: NewScientist: Antibacterial socks _may_ boost greenhouse emissions
• 2010/08/13: Reuters: World 2009 CO2 emissions off 1.3 percent: institute
  Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2009 fell 1.3 percent to 31.3 billion tonnes in the first year-on-year decline in this decade, German renewable energy institute IWR said on Friday. The Muenster-based institute, which advises German ministries, cited the global economic crisis and rising investments in renewable energies for the fall in emissions.
• 2010/08/11: Eureka: Texas petrochemical emissions down, but still underestimated, says study

  And in the carbon cycle:

• 2010/08/11: TreeHugger: Ocean's Tiny Carbon "Vacuum Cleaners" [salps] More Important to Carbon Capture Than We Thought

  As for the temperature record:

• 2010/08/12: CCentral: Heat Records Broken in 17 Countries So Far This Year
• 2010/08/14: ClimateP: Yes, global warming has continued since 1998
• 2010/08/14: PhysOrg: Trend continues with second hottest July on record
• 2010/08/13: Tamino: Changes
• 2010/08/12: QuarkSoup: GISS Temperature Anomaly for July
• 2010/08/13: TCoE: The Great Lakes are cookin'
• 2010/08/13: SkeptiSci: Of satellites and temperatures by Ned
• 2010/08/13: NOAANews: Second Warmest July and Warmest Year-to-Date Global Temperature on Record
• 2010/08/13: HamiltonSpectator: Great Lakes turn to 'bath water' -- Warm winter, hot summer usher in record-breaking temperatures
• 2010/08/13: TreeHugger: NASA: Jan-July Hottest on Record, 2010 Shaping Up to be Warmest Year Yet
• 2010/08/12: EarthTimes: NASA: 2010 on track to be hottest year yet
• 2010/08/12: MPR: Lake Superior reaches record temp
  [...]
  On Tuesday, the waters atop Lake Superior reached the highest temperature ever recorded. The lake-wide average surface temperature hit 68.3 degrees. The average for Aug. 10 is just 55 degrees.
• 2010/08/12: DWWSJ: First 7 months of 2010 Were Hottest On Record- NASA
• 2010/08/12: ClimateP: NASA reports hottest January-July on record, says that 2010 is "likely" to be warmest year on record and July is "What Global Warming Looks Like"
• 2010/08/12: Guardian(UK): World feeling the heat as 17 countries experience record temperatures
  2010 sees record highs in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine but also many African, Middle Eastern and Latin American countries
• 2010/08/11: USAToday: Think this summer is hot? Get used to it
• 2010/08/09: ClimateSight: Global Surface Temperature Change
• 2010/08/09: NOAANews: July Hotter and Wetter than Normal in U.S.

  Clouds are one of the major uncertainties in climate. Much research revolves around them:

• 2010/08/11: NOAANews: NOAA Scientists Uncover Oscillating Patterns in Clouds
• 2010/08/11: Eureka: Rain contributes to cycling patterns of clouds -- Researchers demonstrate how honeycomb clouds exhibit self-organization
• 2010/08/11: Eureka: NOAA scientists uncover oscillating patterns in clouds -- Finding has implications for climate change
• 2010/08/10: SciDaily: Send in the Clouds: NASA's CloudSat Sees Clouds' Effect on Climate by Studying Them from Space

  Regarding the solar hypothesis:

• 2010/08/12: UCAR: Extended solar minimum linked to changes in Sun's conveyor belt
• 2010/08/13: BBC: Solar physicists may have discovered why the Sun recently experienced a prolonged period of weak activity
• 2010/08/12: PhysOrg: Extended solar minimum linked to changes in sun's conveyor belt

  Yes we have a Tipping Point sighting:

• 2010/08/11: CCP: Richard Alley: Greenland ice sheet faces 'tipping point in 10 years'
• 2010/08/11: CCurrents: Greenland Ice Sheet Faces 'Tipping Point In 10 Years'
• 2010/08/10: Guardian(UK): Greenland ice sheet faces 'tipping point in 10 years'

  And the State of the Oceans:

• 2010/08/12: Guardian(UK): Jellyfish sting hundreds on Costa Blanca [Spain] beaches
• 2010/08/12: NewsCorp: Jellyfish armada threatens Spanish beaches
• 2010/08/11: NatureN: Oceanography: Dead in the water
  Every summer for the past nine years, water with lethally low concentrations of oxygen has appeared off the Oregon coast. The hypoxia may be a sign of things to come elsewhere, finds Virginia Gewin.
• 2010/08/11: TreeHugger: Thousands of Dead Fish Wash Ashore in Massachusetts As Warm Water Depletes Oxygen (Video)
• 2010/08/10: ClimateShifts: Julie Packard on our oceans

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2010/08/13: ScienceInsider: 'Colorblind' NASA [NPP: NPOESS Preparatory Project] Satellite May Yet See Green Seas
• 2010/08/12: PhysOrg: NASA's FASTSAT Satellite Arrives at Kodiak, Alaska, Launch Complex
  NASA's first microsatellite designed to create a capability that increases opportunities for secondary, scientific and technology payloads, or rideshares, to be flown at lower cost than before has arrived at Kodiak Island, Alaska, to begin final launch preparations.

More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2010/08/13: DaytonDN: Global warming already hitting Ohio, study says
• 2010/08/09: CleanBreak: Russia's problem is our problem
• 2010/08/13: SolveClimate: Eastern U.S. Headed for Many More Extreme Heat Waves with Warming, Study Finds
• 2010/08/13: ABC(Au): A new CSIRO study has found that climate change is driving a widespread number of fish south as the oceans warm
• 2010/08/13: EarthTimes: Global warming gets Australian fish moving
  Climate change is good for some species of sea fish but bad for others, researchers in Australia said Friday. Rising water temperature on the east coast has seen up to a third of inshore species moving south to colonize areas where the seas are less chilly. "The problem is that in southern Tasmania, shallow cold-water species have nowhere to escape warmer conditions in the sea," Peter Last, head of the Australian National Fish Collection, said.
• 2010/08/12: IrishTimes: Where climate change is not theory but life threat [Burkina Faso]
• 2010/08/12: SciDaily: Biodiversity Hot Spots More Vulnerable to Global Warming Than Thought
• 2010/08/11: ClimateP: Unprecedented warming in Lake Tanganyika and its impact on humanity
• 2010/08/10: BBC: Climate change 'will increase heart deaths'
• 2010/08/11: DerSpiegel: Flora for a Hot Climate -- Berlin Eyes Exotic Trees in Response to Warming Weather
  Palm trees in Berlin? Not quite. But the German capital is testing trees from the south as native species show signs of struggling with increasingly warm temperatures. Instead of limes and oaks, the city could soon be filled with Judas trees and Daimyo oaks.
• 2010/08/10: TreeHugger: Tracking the Extinctions and Adaptations Around Us

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2010/08/13: PlanetArk: Analysis: Indonesia Forest Moratorium To Stymie Palm Oil Firms
• 2010/08/13: TreeHugger: Even Logged Rainforest Holds High Biodiversity Levels & Is Worth Protecting: Study
• 2010/08/12: NewScientist: Combination punch could fell rainforests
  By the end of the century, up to 82 per cent of today's tropical forests could be damaged by a combination of climate change and local destruction.
• 2010/08/12: PlanetArk: Indonesia APP Says Audit Shows Deforestation Claim Untrue
• 2010/08/10: Guardian(UK): Amazon pipeline's future may undermine environment
• 2010/08/08: SolveClimate: New Maps Reveal Massive Forest Loss from Mountaintop Coal Mining -- For the first time, users can view the geographic extent of mountaintop removal operations in Appalachia
• 2010/08/09: NatureN: African dust keeps Amazon blooming -- Plumes of dust that cross the Atlantic are richer in nutrients than previously thought
• 2010/08/09: NYT:CW: A Man Who Doesn't Want His Work to Go Up in Smoke

  This week in extreme weather:

• 2010/08/15: HotTopic: On fire inside a snowball
• 2010/08/13: SF Gate: Extreme weather may be signs of climate change
• 2010/08/12: CNN: What's behind the weather chaos?
  Peshawar, Pakistan, saw six times the month average rainfall in only 24 hours - Moscow has experienced hottest temperatures in recorded history - Area of high pressure over Russia forced part of jet stream south to Pakistan - Interaction between jet stream, seasonal monsoon currents could have led to intense rainfall
• 2010/08/11: Sky: Berserk Weather Causes Worldwide Chaos -- the year the weather went berserk
• 2010/08/09: CCurrents: Runaway Climate Change Is Here
• 2010/08/09: Google:AFP: Extreme weather fuels debate over global warming
• 2010/08/09: KSJT: Washington Post, Reuters: Russia roasts (and Asia floods). What's with the weather?
• 2010/08/09: MongaBay: Summer from hell: seventeen nations hit all-time heat records
• 2010/08/09: Guardian(UK): Floods and mudslides on three continents, as drought hits Africa

  With the odd tornado:

• 2010/08/13: CBC: Tornado kills Sask. motorist in N. Dakota
  A tornado touched down in northwest North Dakota on Thursday, tossing a car about 400 metres and killing its 51-year-old Canadian driver. The driver, from St. Brieux, Sask., was travelling on U.S. Highway 52 about 10 kilometres east of Bowbells when the car was tossed into a nearby field, local police said. The four-door sedan came to rest on its roof about 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2010/08/13: QuarkSoup: How Bad Was the Russian Heat Wave?
• 2010/08/13: EarthTimes: Two firefighters killed in Spanish forest fires
• 2010/08/12: EarthTimes: Portuguese battle with forest fires
• 2010/08/13: TulsaWorld: Heat wave continues for Tulsa area
• 2010/08/11: CJOnline: 100-degree streak could continue
• 2010/08/13: BBC: Two firefighters killed tackling forest fires in Spain
• 2010/08/13: CBC: Rain cools Moscow but [500+] wildfires still rage
• 2010/08/12: SlashDot: Can Solar Storms Cause Wildfires?
• 2010/08/12: France24: US heat wave just preview of future: study
• 2010/08/11: BCLocalNews: No money left, but fires still burning
  B.C. is already $4 million over budget for fighting wildfires, with 98 wildfires larger than 10 hectares still burning across the province. Forest Minister Pat Bell said the combination of a record-breaking dry July and dry lighting storms in the Cariboo has created a surge of new fires. "Eight days ago we had about 700 fires in the province," Bell said on Wednesday.
• 2010/08/11: UN: New UN online tool [GFIMS] detects global fire hotspots in real time
• 2010/08/11: TerraDaily: Desperate villagers fight advancing flames near Moscow
• 2010/08/10: TerraDaily: US swelters as heat wave lengthens
• 2010/08/11: EarthTimes: Fires at Russian radioactive sites confirmed
• 2010/08/10: WpgFP: Heat waves continues in southern Manitoba
• 2010/08/09: CBC: B.C. wildfires calmed by cooler weather, rain
• 2010/08/09: ASA: Forest Fires Help Power the Nitrogen Cycle -- Nitrogen-altering bacteria thrive under charcoal deposition

  Corals are dying:

• 2010/08/09: VOA: Human Activities Threaten Coral Reefs

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2010/08/15: SolveClimate: In Pictures: Glaciers Melt Away in Everest Region of Nepal
  Boulders, sand and melt pools have replaced some Himalayan glaciers, while others are virtually extinct, eyewitness observes
• 2010/08/10: PhysOrg: Indonesian ice field [near a mountain called Puncak Jaya] may be gone in a few years, core may contain secrets of Pacific El Nino events

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2010/08/12: PhysOrg: Study to examine rising sea level's impact on estuaries, coastal communities
  A new University of Central Florida study will examine how rising sea level could harm estuaries and coastal communities along the Florida Panhandle and Alabama and Mississippi coasts.
• 2010/08/10: ABC(Au): The Eurobodalla Shire Council has adopted a policy addressing sea level rise on the New South Wales far south coast
• 2010/08/10: TreeHugger: Rising Sea Levels Threaten Drinking Water Supplies for 15 Million [US] East Coast Residents

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2010/08/13: ABC(Au): Heavy rains last month have reduced the percentage of New South Wales under drought to its lowest level in almost a decade
• 2010/08/12: JFleck: River Beat: "We know that it's being drained."
• 2010/08/12: TerraDaily: Terrified trekkers recount flood 'hell' in Indian Himalaya
• 2010/08/12: NYT:GW: Lake Mead's Water Level Plunges as 11-Year Drought Lingers
  Lake Mead, the enormous reservoir of Colorado River water that hydrates Arizona, Nevada, California and northern Mexico, is receding to a level not seen since it was first being filled in the 1930s, stoking existential fears about water supply in the parched Southwest.
• 2010/08/11: EarthTimes: Five Westerners dead, 220 foreigners missing in India floods
• 2010/08/11: EarthTimes: Storms, floods cause havoc in Pakistan, UN appeals for aid
• 2010/08/09: DerSpiegel: Central Europe Under Water -- Heavy Flooding Continues Following Deadly Weekend
  Eleven people died in Central Europe over the weekend after flash floods inundated several towns in Poland, the Czech Republic and eastern Germany. With waters now advancing northwards, the danger has not yet subsided.
• 2010/08/11: BBC: Death toll from flash flooding in India rises to 185
  The death toll in last week's flash floods in the Ladakh region of Indian-administered Kashmir has risen to at least 185, officials have said. Divisional Commissioner Naseema Lanker told the BBC that 28 Indian soldiers were among the 400 people missing.
• 2010/08/09: CNN: 165 dead in India flooding [in the Himalayan town of Leh]
  Search goes on for 400 people missing, according to official Indian media - Local government officials visit area and focus on restoring services - The landslides snapped power lines and flattened villages - Landslides were triggered by a massive rainfall Friday night
• 2010/08/09: PlanetArk: Flash Floods Inundate Central Europe
• 2010/08/08: TerraDaily: 14 dead, thousands evacuated in central Europe floods
• 2010/08/09: EarthTimes: Czech flood death toll rises to four
• 2010/08/09: EarthTimes: Germany remains on high flood alert near Polish, Czech border
• 2010/08/09: EarthTimes: Weekend floods in Czech Republic cause millions in damage
• 2010/08/09: EarthTimes: 500 missing after flash floods in Indian Kashmir
• 2010/08/08: TEC: The Great Floods of Singapore
• 2010/08/09: DLSB: Updates on landslides and floods in Pakistan, China and India
• 2010/08/08: QuarkSoup: Colorado River Water Use
• 2010/08/08: BBC: Flash floods strike central Europe, killing at least 15
  Flash floods brought on by rains in central Europe and the Baltic have killed at least 15, officials say. Rivers overflowed their banks, sending torrents of water through Bogatynia in south-west Poland and Goerlitz in eastern Germany. The Neisse river, on the border with Poland, reached its highest recorded level in Goerlitz. Three Poles, three Germans and five Czechs were killed, while further north in Lithuania four people were killed. Three other Czechs were reported missing after the downpours on Saturday triggered the floods.

Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2010/08/14: TEC: Slowing CO2 emissions cannot end global warming, but removing CO2 from the atmosphere will
• 2010/08/12: Guardian(UK): UK government urged to evaluate biochar potential with trial schemes
• 2010/08/12: SolveClimate: UK Government Urged to Evaluate Biochar Potential with Trial Schemes
  First official report says burying charcoal in the soil has potential to cut greenhouse gases but scientific uncertainties remain
• 2010/08/10: BBC:RB: Delivering biochar's triple win
• 2010/08/10: NewScientist: Green machine: Don't burn plant waste, bury it
• 2010/08/10: PhysOrg: Charcoal takes some heat off global warming

  Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation has somehow seemed chimeric:

• 2010/08/13: Reuters: REDD project design method gets boost from auditors
  U.S. firm says technique passes carbon accounting hurdle - Step could boost development of REDD - Australian firm signs large REDD deal in Indonesia
  A carbon accounting technique aimed at saving tropical forests has passed a key hurdle, strengthening chances it could underpin development of a potential multi-billion dollar market for forest carbon offsets. U.S. firm Terra Global Capital said the method had passed the first of two formal audits the benchmark Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) requires. When fully verified, it could be used in a U.N.-backed carbon-cutting scheme known as reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).
• 2010/08/11: TerraDaily: US converts Brazilian debt into environmental protection

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2010/08/13: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Instantly see average transportation costs, emissions for any location
• 2010/08/11: Grist: The fate of mass transit in an age of deficit hysteria
• 2010/08/09: CalcRisk: Rail Traffic increases 4.1% in July compared to July 2009
• 2010/08/09: EnergyBulletin: Steady state transportation: Closing the door on the dirty oil era
• 2010/08/09: PhiladelphiaInquirer: Cost the highest hurdle for high-speed rail in U.S.

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

• 2010/08/14: PeakEnergy: Gigantic Green Cube Building with a Rooftop Park
• 2010/08/13: NYT:CW: Can 'Green Cement' Make Carbon Capture and Storage Obsolete?
• 2010/08/12: TreeHugger: Existing House Transformed into Eco Home-of-the-Future (Video)
• 2010/08/09: NRDC:SwitchBoard: A Big Step Toward Cleaner Cement

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2010/08/14: TEC: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): The Rodney Dangerfield of mitigation technologies?
• 2010/08/11: BostonGlobe:AP: Yale receives $1.5M US carbon capture project
• 2010/08/10: NYT:GW: OMB Reviewing Regulations on Underground CO2 Storage
• 2010/08/09: NatureTGB: US carbon storage flagship [FutureGen 2.0] revived, but revamped
• 2010/08/09: DM:80B: FutureGen, the Ambitious Clean Coal Project, Gets Overhauled Again

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2010/08/12: WorldChanging: Geoengineering = Futurological Greenwashing
• 2010/08/12: Ecologist: 'Cheap' solar geoengineering plans may have unintended consequences
• 2010/08/09: DM:CCM: Is This The Right Room for a Geoengineering Argument?

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2010/08/09: PressEurop: Better flood prevention required

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2010/08/10: NERC:NORA: 100 million years of Antarctic climate evolution: evidence from fossil plants by J.E. Francis et al.
• 2010/08/12: NERC:NORA: The surface climatology of an ordinary katabatic wind regime in Coats Land, Antarctica by I.A. Renfrew et al.
• 2010/08/12: NERC:NORA: Reconstruction of a Lateglacial (Younger Dryas) mountain ice field in Sutherland, Northwestern Scotland, and its palaeoclimatic implications by Sven Lukas et al.
• 2010/08/12: NERC:NORA: Palaeolimnological evidence of environmental change over the last 400 years in the Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda by Gayle McGlynn et al.
• 2010/08/13: NERC:NORA: Palaeoclimate reconstructions from the Antarctic Peninsula: diatoms as indicators of Holocene environmental change by A.R. Hey et al.
• 2010/08/13: ACP: Atmospheric Brown Clouds in the Himalayas: first two years of continuous observations at the Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (5079 m) by P. Bonasoni et al.
• 2010/08/13: ACP: Measured black carbon deposition on the Sierra Nevada snow pack and implication for snow pack retreat by O. L. Hadley et al.
• 2010/08/13: ACPD: Impact of parametric uncertainties on the present-day climate and on the anthropogenic aerosol effect by U. Lohmann & S. Ferrachat
• 2010/08/11: OSD: Flow and mixing around a glacier tongue by C. L. Stevens et al.
• 2010/08/11: TCD: An energy-conserving model of freezing variably-saturated soil by M. Dall'Amico et al.
• 2010/08/11: TCD: A comparison of basal reflectivity and ice velocity in East Antarctica by R. W. Jacobel et al.
• 2010/08/10: CPD: Earth as diode: monsoon source of the orbital ~100 ka climate cycle by R. Y. Anderson
• 2010/08/11: CPD: Rapid changes in ice core gas records - Part 1: On the accuracy of methane synchronisation of ice cores by P. Köhler
• 2010/08/11: CPD: Rapid changes in ice core gas records - Part 2: Understanding the rapid rise in atmospheric CO2 at the onset of the Bølling/Allerød by P. Köhler et al.
• 2010/08/13: CPD: Warm Nordic Seas delayed glacial inception in Scandinavia by A. Born et al.
• 2010/07/27: CC: Comparison of preparatory signal analysis techniques for consideration in the (post-)Kyoto policy process by Matthias Jonas et al.
• 2010/08/10: ACP: Long term measurements of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ammonia, nitric acid and ozone in Africa using passive samplers by M. Adon et al.
• 2010/08/10: ACP: NO2 photolysis frequencies in street canyons by P. Koepke et al.
• 2010/08/10: ACP: A global modeling study on carbonaceous aerosol microphysical characteristics and radiative effects by S. E. Bauer et al.
• 2010/08/09: ACP: The contribution of marine organics to the air quality of the western United States by B. Gantt et al.
• 2010/08/09: ACP: Sensitivity of a global model to the uptake of N2O5 by tropospheric aerosol by H. L. Macintyre & M. J. Evans
• 2010/08/09: ACP: Single particle characterization of black carbon aerosols at a tropospheric alpine site in Switzerland by D. Liu et al.
• 2010/08/09: ACP: The contribution of anthropogenic aerosols to aerosol light-scattering and CCN activity in the California coastal zone by D. A. Hegg et al.
• 2010/08/09: ACP: Atmospheric transport of persistent semi-volatile organic chemicals to the Arctic and cold condensation in the mid-troposphere - Part 2: 3-D modeling of episodic atmospheric transport by L. Zhang et al.
• 2010/08/09: ACP: Atmospheric transport of persistent semi-volatile organic chemicals to the Arctic and cold condensation in the mid-troposphere - Part 1: 2-D modeling in mean atmosphere by J. Ma
• 2010/08/11: ACPD: Ozone, Carbon monoxide and Nitrogen oxides time series at four Alpine GAW mountain stations in Central Europe by S. Gilge et al.
• 2010/08/11: ACPD: Evidence for the effectiveness of the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer by J. A. Mäder et al.
• 2010/08/11: ACPD: Global analysis of the relation between aerosols and short-lived trace gases by J. P. Veefkind et al.
• 2010/08/11: ACPD: A decadal regional and global trend analysis of the aerosol optical depth using a data-assimilation grade over-water MODIS and Level 2 MISR aerosol products by J. Zhang & J. S. Reid
• 2010/08/10: ACPD: Light-absorbing impurities in Arctic snow by S. J. Doherty et al.
• 2010/08/09: ACPD: Stratocumulus cloud thickening beneath layers of absorbing smoke aerosol by E. M. Wilcox
• 2010/08/10: PNAS: Linkages among climate change, crop yields and Mexico-US cross-border migration by Shuaizhang Feng et al.
• 2010/08/10: PNAS: Hurricane-induced failure of low salinity wetlands by Nick C. Howes et al.
• 2010/07/29: GRL: (ab$) A new climate era in the sub-Arctic: Accelerating climate changes and multiple impacts by Terry V. Callaghan et al.
• 2004/10/05: Nature: (ab$) Human contribution to the European heatwave of 2003 by Peter A. Stott et al.
• 2010/08/07: GRL: (ab$) Impact of the Arctic Ocean Atlantic water layer on Siberian shelf hydrography by Igor A. Dmitrenko et al.
• 2010/08/07: GRL: (ab$) Geochemical and geophysical evidence of methane release over the East Siberian Arctic Shelf by N. Shakhova et al.

  And other significant documents:

• 2010/08/14: NRDC:SwitchBoard: [link to 2.1 meg pdf] Obama CCS Task Force releases its report
• 2010/08/10: PI: [link to 333k pdf] Ontario's Green Energy Plan 2.0 -- Choosing 21st Century Energy Options
• 2010/08/11: NYT:GW: [link to 931k pdf] Report Highlights Split Among Utilities on EPA's 'Transport' Rule for Air Pollution
  U.S. EPA's plan to limit interstate air pollution from power plants would not hurt the reliability of the electric grid despite complaints from coal states, according to a new utility-funded report that highlights the battle lines that have formed within the industry. Utilities will be able to adapt to the agency's proposed "transport" rule, which would seek stiff reductions in sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the eastern United States, according to a report (pdf) released Monday by consulting firm M.J. Bradley & Associates LLC. The report was funded by eight utilities -- Calpine Corp., Constellation Energy, Entergy Corp., Exelon Corp., NextEra Energy, National Grid, PG&E Corp. and the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) -- that together provide electricity to about 20 percent of U.S. customers.
• 2010/08/12: PhysOrg: [link to 1 meg pdf] US greenhouse gas emissions and capture, regionally
  A new report, Agriculture's Role in Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Capture, commissioned by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, examines the evidence for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sequestration in America's major agroecosystems.

As for miscellaneous science:

• 2009/12/02: OpenDem: The mass psychology of climate change - scientists need 'attitude' by Brian Davey
  Summary: The media storm over the hacked CRU e-mails shows that staying above the mud fight is a forlorn hope
• 2010/08/14: MTobis: The mass psychology of climate change - scientists need 'attitude'
• 2010/08/15: Guardian(UK): Climate scientists in race to predict where natural disaster will strike next
  Conference in Boulder will step up world's efforts to establish an early warning system for extreme weather events
• 2010/08/11: NatureTGB: Opening up access to climate data
• 2010/08/10: JEB: How not to compare models to data part eleventy-nine...
• 2010/08/10: CBC: University to bypass expensive database -- Will replace Web of Science with own database
  The University of Prince Edward Island has not renewed its subscription to a database long considered to be crucial to scientific research and is planning to work with other schools to create a new, free database of scientific research. The Web of Science, published by the Institute for Scientific Information, has been the world's leading scientific research database for 30 years. UPEI cancelled its subscription because the cost more than doubled this year, from $15,000 to more than $30,000. Five other universities in Canada have pulled subscriptions for the same reason. "All universities are having hard times fiscally; one of the first things that is often looked at are the library resources," head librarian Mark Leggott told CBC News Monday. "The simple fact of the matter is we shouldn't be paying for this stuff."
• 2010/08/09: NatureTGB: American Geophysical Union: Meeting of the Americas

  Regarding Gavin Schmidt:

• 2010/08/13: CCP: Gavin Schmidt of Real Climate on PBS's "Need to Know"

  A Schneider interview:

• 2010/08/11: DM:SRK: Stephen Schneider on July 8, 2010

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

• 2010/08/13: NewScientist: Kyoto targets are impossible to verify -- because there is no direct way of measuring how much carbon dioxide a country emits

  While at the UN:

• 2010/08/13: PlanetArk: Analysis: India Plant's Carbon Status Denial Upsets Investors
  A U.N. carbon credit scheme's rejection of a huge Indian coal power plant deprives the project of revenue running into hundreds of millions of euros and rings alarm bells for investors developing similar plants. The incident spotlights a controversial U.N. process that allows valuable carbon offsets to be given to highly efficient coal power stations, a step green groups say erodes the spirit of trying to wean developing nations off polluting fossil fuels. In India's western state of Gujarat, Tata Power has completed more than half of its $4.2-billion 4,000-MW plant that will use more efficient supercritical boiler technology to cut carbon emissions and reduce coal consumption. With its project backed by nearly $1 billion in debt financing by the World Bank's IFC finance arm and the Asian Development Bank, Tata had been hoping to earn carbon credits under a U.N. scheme that rewards investments in cleaner energy. But late in July, the panel for the U.N.'s Clean Development Mechanism rejected Tata's application, saying it had not shown CDM revenues were critical to the project's return on equity.
• 2010/08/10: WtD: Labor's failure on climate, Rudd moves on to bigger and better things
• 2010/08/10: UN: Ban saddened by deaths and destruction as floods and landslides hit China
• 2010/08/10: NewKerala: Ban announces panel to tackle sustainability issues
  United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday unveiled a new panel on global sustainability that is tasked with finding ways to lift people out of poverty while tackling climate change and ensuring that economic development is environmentally friendly.
• 2010/08/09: Google:AFP: Ex-Australia PM Rudd joins UN sustainability panel
• 2010/08/10: CBC: UN climate panel includes RIM's Balsillie
  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has launched a new panel on global sustainability that includes Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie. Balsillie, co-CEO of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. of Waterloo, Ont., is one of 21 members on the UN High-level Panel on Global Sustainability that will come up with a new blueprint for sustainable growth.
• 2010/08/09: UN: Ban announces high-level panel to tackle global sustainability issues

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2010/08/11: Reuters: ICE cuts staff at Chicago Climate Exchange: sources
  Market operator Intercontinental Exchange Inc. is laying off staff at newly acquired U.S. environmental bourse the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), industry sources told Reuters, citing a lack of U.S. action on climate change.
• 2010/08/12: Reuters: Analysis - China eyes local carbon trade, CDM priority for now
  Local market mulled but binding U.N. scheme still priority - Details of China plans to depend on fate of CDM, Kyoto - Pilot, piecemeal projects likely over 2011-2015
• 2010/08/12: Guardian(UK): Liberia's inquiry into a carbon offsetting deal is a vital step forward

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2010/08/15: TreeHugger: U.S. Cancels Some of Brazil's Debt in Exchange For Forest Protection
• 2010/08/13: WaPo: Solar plan in China's Inner Mongolia highlights pitfalls for U.S. firms

  The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:

• 2010/08/14: BBC: Police end Vale of Neath climate camp on Roman fort
  South Wales Police have broken up a "climate camp" after complaints that it was on the "very sensitive" site of a Roman fort.

What are the activists up to?

• 2010/08/13: CCurrents: Three Steps Toward A Politics Of Global Warming [McKibben]
• 2010/08/11: Grist: 'Shadow a Senator' climate push draws inspiration from Tea-Party town halls
• 2010/08/10: ABC(Au): Coal seam gas blockade to continue
  Residents and environmentalists say they have no choice but to prevent further coal seam gas exploration on Queensland's Western Downs region. A group of residents and activists are preventing Queensland Gas Company (QGC) employees conducting tests near Tara, north-west of Toowoomba.
• 2010/08/10: SolveClimate: Frustrated Climate Change Activists to Bombard Senators with Protests
  With elections looming, groups are crisscrossing the country to rebuke Republicans and Democrats alike for climate bill failure
• 2010/08/09: ABC(Au): Darling Downs protesters continue blockade
  Residents blockading a coal seam gas (CSG) development on the western Darling Downs in southern Queensland say they are staying put.
• 2010/08/09: ABC(Au): Underground coal gasification 'not without risks'
  A scientist reviewing underground coal gasification (UCG) says the technology offers highly efficient energy production for a relatively low cost. There are three UCG trials underway near Kingaroy, Chinchilla and Dalby on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland. But farmers and environmentalists have called on the Queensland Government to stop the trials after water contamination scares.

Polls! We have polls!

• 2010/08/12: Grist: Americans and Europeans want more regulation of oil companies, poll finds
• 2010/08/11: ClimateP: Stanford poll: The vast majority of Americans know global warming is real
• 2010/08/11: REA: U.S. consumers and fortune 1000 executives skeptical about corporate commitment to go green
• 2010/08/09: CBC: Tourists swayed by anti-oilsands video: poll

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2010/08/14: DVoice: Gaza's Poisoned Water
• 2010/08/12: TerraDaily: China begins moving 330,000 people for [the South-North Water Diversion Project]
• 2010/08/11: EarthTimes: Mekong River in danger of becoming a 'Chinese River,' study warns
  Bangkok - Plans to build hydropower dams on the upper Mekong will turn South-East Asia's longest waterway into a "Chinese river," the regional head of the US-based Stimson Centre warned Wednesday. China has already built four hydropower dams on the upper Mekong River in Yunnan province and plans another four, despite the unknown impact on downstream nations Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. "Unless all six countries get together and work through this issue, the likelihood is this river will become a Chinese river," said Richard Cronin, who heads the South-East programme of the Stimson Centre, a US-based think tank that focuses on global security issues.
• 2010/08/10: EarthTimes: Laos to build 20 new hydropower plants by 2020

  As for SW tools:

• 2010/08/13: SEasterbrook: Apps For Climate Action
• 2010/08/11: SEasterbrook: High level architecture of earth system models
• 2010/08/10: SEasterbrook: Climate models are big, expensive scientific instruments
• 2010/08/09: ASA: Greenhouse Gas Calculator Connects Farming Practices with Carbon Credits -- Web-based tool helps farmers reduce greenhouse gas losses and gain economic advantage

  Among the world's religions:

• 2010/08/14: Google:AFP: Dalai Lama sounds alarm over global warming amid floods

  After making Water a human right, here is something for the global community to consider:

• 2010/08/08: NYT: India Asks, Should Food Be a Right for the Poor?
  Jhabua, India - Inside the drab district hospital, where dogs patter down the corridors, sniffing for food, Ratan Bhuria's children are curled together in the malnutrition ward, hovering at the edge of starvation. His daughter, Nani, is 4 and weighs 20 pounds. His son, Jogdiya, is 2 and weighs only eight. Landless and illiterate, drowned by debt, Mr. Bhuria and his ailing children have staggered into the hospital ward after falling through India's social safety net. They should receive subsidized government food and cooking fuel. They do not. The older children should be enrolled in school and receiving a free daily lunch. They are not. And they are hardly alone: India's eight poorest states have more people in poverty -- an estimated 421 million -- than Africa's 26 poorest nations, one study recently reported. For the governing Indian National Congress Party, which has staked its political fortunes on appealing to the poor, this persistent inability to make government work for people like Mr. Bhuria has set off an ideological debate over a question that once would have been unthinkable in India: Should the country begin to unshackle the poor from the inefficient, decades-old government food distribution system and try something radical, like simply giving out food coupons, or cash? The rethinking is being prodded by a potentially sweeping proposal that has divided the Congress Party. Its president, Sonia Gandhi, is pushing to create a constitutional right to food and expand the existing entitlement so that every Indian family would qualify for a monthly 77-pound bag of grain, sugar and kerosene. Such entitlements have helped the Congress Party win votes, especially in rural areas.

And on the American political front:

• 2010/08/12: TEC: DOE: Strengthening America's Energy Future through Education and Workforce Development
• 2010/08/13: SacBee: British Columbia premier lauds California climate initiatives
  California's leadership role in global climate change initiatives has spurred innovation throughout the western United States and Canada, according to British Columbia's Premier Gordon Campbell
• 2010/08/12: ClimateP: Poison for profit: The forces behind California's Prop 23 are two of its most notorious polluters [Valero & Tesoro]
• 2010/08/12: TEC: Silicon Valley: Prop 23 will kill off the Googles of green tech
• 2010/08/12: TP:WR: Big Oil's Long History Of Compromising National Security For Profit
• 2010/08/11: ClimateP: New York Times makes excuses while Portugal shows U.S. how to move forward
• 2010/08/10: NYT:PK: First They Came For The Climate Scientists
• 2010/08/09: DVoice: How the American Empire Project Trashed a Planet for Profit, While Selling the Public Lies
• 2010/08/09: TEC: Corn Nation
• 2010/08/10: OilChange: Follow the Money [at DirtyEnergyMoney.com]
• 2010/08/09: OilChange: "Trillions" to defend oil supply
• 2010/08/09: AutoBG: Texas oil companies still pushing for Proposition 23 to halt California's emissions reductions
• 2010/08/09: REA: Future Energy - PACE Legislation in Missouri

  The BP disaster still has America by the short hairs:

• 2010/08/14: EarthTimes: Alabama sues BP for damages
• 2010/08/12: BBerg: Gulf of Mexico `Dead Zone' Grows as Spill Impact Is Studied
• 2010/08/12: OilChange: Scientists told to "Shut Up" Over Spill
• 2010/08/11: RawStory: Gulf scientist: Justice Department is gagging me from studying oil spill
• 2010/08/11: GWB: BP Is Hiding Dead Animals to Avoid Fine of $50,000 Per Dead Animal (and the Bad Publicity)
• 2010/08/11: SolveClimate: Louisiana Fishermen Slam Claims that Oil Almost Gone, Seafood Safe
• 2010/08/11: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Our Alice in Wonderland moment in the Gulf oil crisis
• 2010/08/09: DVoice: The Oil Spill Miracle?
• 2010/08/10: DJID: Gulf Coast Fishermen Challenge US Government over Dispersants
• 2010/08/10: TP: DOJ gags scientists studying BP disaster
• 2010/08/11: DVoice: America's Gulf: A Toxic Crime Scene
• 2010/08/10: AlterNet: Is the News Coming From the Gulf Too Good To Be True? Unfortunately, Yes
• 2010/08/10: NatureN: Upbeat oil report questioned -- Researchers see major uncertainties in Deepwater Horizon spill assessment
• 2010/08/10: ProPublica: Scientists Allege Federal Gov't Tried to Muffle Plume Findings
• 2010/08/09: SolveClimate: Tribal Youth Group Rises to Fight Problems Exacerbated by Oil Spill -- With the BP crisis as their impetus, the 'Bayou Healers' aim to publicize environmental concerns and strengthen a weakened tribal identity

  So, how do you figure the 2010 elections will crack up?

• 2010/08/13: TPMDC: Coal-Fired Politics Fuel Kentucky Senate Race
• 2010/08/10: WVGazette: Democrats, Mountain Party Senate candidates oppose cap and trade
• 2010/08/09: TPMLW: Sestak Looks To Keep Green Party Candidate Off The Ballot

  The Inter Agency Task Force report on Carbon Capture and Sequestration was reported variously:

• 2010/08/13: ScienceInsider: Government: Carbon-Friendly Coal Plants 'Viable' in Next 5 years
• 2010/08/12: EPA: Federal Task Force Sends Recommendations to President on Fostering Clean Coal Technology -- Interagency report marks an important step forward on administration priority
• 2010/08/12: SolveClimate: EPA and DOE: 'Clean Coal' Boom Not Possible Without Carbon Pricing
• 2010/08/13: NYT:CW: Federal [Interagency] Task Force Reasserts the Need for a Price on Carbon
• 2010/08/12: EarthTimes: US government panel backs 'clean coal,' but with price on carbon
• 2010/08/12: CSM: Obama panel boosts bid to put greenhouse gas emissions underground

  The Digg scheme still has people teed off:

• 2010/08/11: AlterNet: Right-Wing Digg Scheme Just One Example of Widespread Effort to Censor Progressive Media
• 2010/08/09: SlashDot: Buried By The Brigade At Digg
• 2010/08/05: TPR: The Rigging Of Digg: How A Covert Mob Of Conservatives Hijacked The Web's Top Social News Site

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2010/08/10: NRDC:SwitchBoard: The administration must protect the Arctic Ocean from a Gulf-like oil disaster
• 2010/08/09: TheHill:e2W: Solar industry pleads Obama to help restore loan guarantees
• 2010/08/09: PBS: What Killed Obama's Energy Bill Plans?
• 2010/08/09: SF Gate: Obama acts as clean-tech venture capitalist
  [...]
  Obscured by the epic political battles over health care and financial regulation, Obama has turned the government into the chief financier of a manufacturing base for clean-energy technology. He envisions thriving new industries putting Americans to work churning out green products such as high-performance batteries, electric cars, low-energy lights, super-efficient air conditioners, wind turbines and solar panels. That level of government intervention in a selected business sector adds up to a new American industrial policy - and it's stirring a heated debate among economists and academics.

The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2010/08/12: LA Times: Energy Department official once led company that's now reworking FutureGen
  A top official in the Department of Energy office who oversees the FutureGen clean-coal project is a past president of a company newly chosen to retrofit a western Illinois power plant instead of finishing the original project in Mattoon. Critics of the decision to change FutureGen worry that the official, James F. Wood, could benefit from his past leadership at the company and that he shouldn't have been part of the decision. James F. Wood, who is deputy assistant secretary for clean coal in the Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy, was president of Babcock & Wilcox Company from 1996-2001.
• 2010/08/13: PlanetArk: EPA Proposes Rules On Greenhouse Gas Permits
• 2010/08/13: Grist: The other new EPA rules that could threaten coal plants
• 2010/08/12: ENS: Cement Plants Must Cut Mercury Emissions Under New EPA Rules
• 2010/08/13: PeakEnergy: Flywheel power grid storage project gets DOE loan
• 2010/08/11: NYT:GW: [link to 931k pdf] Report Highlights Split Among Utilities on EPA's 'Transport' Rule for Air Pollution
  U.S. EPA's plan to limit interstate air pollution from power plants would not hurt the reliability of the electric grid despite complaints from coal states, according to a new utility-funded report that highlights the battle lines that have formed within the industry. Utilities will be able to adapt to the agency's proposed "transport" rule, which would seek stiff reductions in sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the eastern United States, according to a report (pdf) released Monday by consulting firm M.J. Bradley & Associates LLC. The report was funded by eight utilities -- Calpine Corp., Constellation Energy, Entergy Corp., Exelon Corp., NextEra Energy, National Grid, PG&E Corp. and the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) -- that together provide electricity to about 20 percent of U.S. customers.
• 2010/08/12: Grist: The two biggest (non-CO2) threats to coal power from the EPA
• 2010/08/10: NYT:GW: OMB Reviewing Regulations on Underground CO2 Storage
• 2010/08/10: ScienceInsider: Chu Restores Top Energy Advisory Panel
• 2010/08/10: NOAANews: NOAA Awards Grant to Investigate Impacts of Land Use and Climate Change on Hypoxia in Green Bay, Lake Michigan
• 2010/08/09: NatureTGB: US carbon storage flagship [FutureGen 2.0] revived, but revamped
• 2010/08/09: DM:80B: FutureGen, the Ambitious Clean Coal Project, Gets Overhauled Again
• 2010/08/08: CDreams: 'Clean Coal' Bottom Feeders: Chu Hands Out $1 Billion in Big Coal Welfare [FutureGen 2.0] ...

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2010/08/14: CCurrents: The Raid On Food Stamps
• 2010/08/13: Grist: Smoggy senators protest EPA plan to save thousands of children's lives
• 2010/08/12: SolveClimate: U.S. Renewables Industry Wary of Gov't Pledges to Restore 'Borrowed' Billions
  After Congress pilfers another $1.5 billion from DOE loan program, fed-up industry groups express outrage and concern
• 2010/08/12: ClimateP: The worst ethical scandal in Congress: Climate change?
• 2010/08/12: ClimateP: End the raids on clean energy funding -- Congress shortchanges our clean energy future
• 2010/08/11: Grist: 'Shadow a Senator' climate push draws inspiration from Tea-Party town halls
• 2010/08/11: Grist: From Big Energy to Congress, the money pipeline never closes
• 2010/08/10: HillHeat: New Green Democrats Are 'Rattling All The Cages' of the Sclerotic Senate
• 2010/08/10: AutoBG: Sen. Voinovich (R-OH) calls for a raise to the gas tax
• 2010/08/09: TP:WR: Markey: Greenland Iceberg Has Created Space 'For Global Warming Deniers To Start Their Own Country'
• 2010/08/09: MTobis: Whitehouse Speaks on Necessity of Scientist-Advocates
• 2010/08/09: SFS: WhySharksMatter interviews Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: Should scientists be advocates?
• 2010/08/08: WiC: Bill McKibben: a wilted Senate on a heating planet

  The future climate bill defines a battleline:

• 2010/08/09: TheHill:e2W: [White House energy adviser Carol] Browner: Energy bill success still possible before end of the year
• 2010/08/08: RegisterGuard: A climate bill autopsy -- Obama is largely responsible for the Senate's failure

  They're still laughing about that clown:

• 2010/08/10: ClimateP: CO GOP candidate Maes worries bike-share program "may not be compatible with our state constitution"...it's part of a UN conspiracy
• 2010/08/10: Grist: Colorado Tea Party candidate struggles to explain U.N.-bicycle conspiracy

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2010/08/12: RawStory: Gore: The United States government as a whole has failed us
  During a conference call with supporters, former Vice President Al Gore declared that the battle to pass significant climate legislation this year "has not been successful and it's pretty much over for this year." "I hope I'm wrong about that, but I want to be realistic because we need to re-double our efforts for the battle that lies ahead," Gore said on the August 10 conference call. "It's not over. It may be over in this session of Congress and who knows how these elections will turn out, but the battle is not over and we simply have no choice but to win this battle."

While in the UK:

• 2010/08/12: SolveClimate: UK Government Urged to Evaluate Biochar Potential with Trial Schemes
  First official report says burying charcoal in the soil has potential to cut greenhouse gases but scientific uncertainties remain
• 2010/08/11: Guardian(UK): Global warming: Our survey of MPs shows worrying apathy
• 2010/08/09: BBC: [UK Energy Secretary] Chris Huhne says new nuclear plants on track for 2018

  And in Europe:

• 2010/08/14: NatureTGB: France catches up as Kyoto crunch time looms
• 2010/08/14: EarthTimes: Row over nuclear power threatens to derail Merkel's 'energy tour'
• 2010/08/12: Yahoo:AFP: Despite efforts, France fails to curb CO2
  France's carbon dioxide emissions have remained constant over the last two decades despite efforts to curb the potent greenhouse gas, a government agency reported Thursday. Between 1990 and 2007 -- the most recent year for which figures are available -- total CO2 emissions increased slightly from 438 million to 439 million tonnes, according to the ministry for sustainable development. While the country has become more energy efficient during that period, the ministry noted in a report, increases in production and consumption have more than offset gains in efficiency.
• 2010/08/12: EUO: EU foreign ministers to upgrade Pakistan effort
  EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton has sent a letter to the bloc's 27 foreign ministers asking to discuss a long term aid plan for Pakistan at an informal meeting next month. The letter envisages a lunchtime debate on the flood-struck Asian country at a so-called "Gymnich" gathering of EU foreign policy heads to be held in Brussels on 11 September. Ms Ashton has also invited aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva, development commissioner Andris Piebalgs and trade commissioner Karel De Gucht to the session to explore a multi-pronged EU effort
• 2010/08/12: PlanetArk: Germany Mulls Tax On Coal For Power Generation: Paper
• 2010/08/10: Guardian(UK): Danish wind farms show sustainable attitude to renewable energy
• 2010/08/10: NYT: Consensus on New Energy Policy Eludes German Leader
  Chancellor Angela Merkel has made combating climate change one of her priorities. But she is having difficulty finding consensus even within her own government on a new energy policy, especially on the most contentious issue: the future of Germany's nuclear plants.
• 2010/08/10: EUO: Russian fires, Pakistan floods pose questions for EU crisis management
• 2010/08/09: NYT: Portugal Gives Itself a Clean-Energy Makeover

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2010/08/15: ABC(Au): Thousands march for climate change action
  Marches are taking place in capital cities around Australia to protest a lack of political action on climate change The annual Walk Against Warming has been held for the past five years...
• 2010/08/13: ABC(Au): Green Loans assessors lodge compo claims
  One hundred people have lodged claims for compensation after they were put out of work by the cancellation of the Federal Government's Green Loans program. Assessors who paid thousands of dollars to be trained for the Government's Household Energy Efficiency scheme later found there was no employment for them when the scheme was scrapped.
• 2010/08/13: PlanetArk: Australia Can Easily Cut CO2 And Keep Growing -Business
• 2010/08/13: PeakEnergy: Australia can easily cut CO2 and keep growing: business
• 2010/08/13: PeakEnergy: How to be fully renewable in 10 years [Zero Carbon Australia]
• 2010/08/13: PeakEnergy: The wind farm that ate the RET [Aus Renewable Energy Target]
• 2010/08/11: PeakEnergy: ABC 7:30 Report: Running on empty
• 2010/08/09: ABC(Au): Shepparton locals rally against climate change -- About 150 people rallied in Shepparton yesterday to take a stand against climate change

  The election campaign jolts along:

• 2010/08/09: ABC(Au):TDU: Climate change almost invisible in the election campaign
• 2010/08/14: ABC(Au): Gillard launches carbon credit scheme for farmers
  [...]
  ...Labor will spend $46 million setting up a scheme that would allow farmers to sell carbon credits that they earn from progressive farming practices. They could attract credits by planting trees, applying fertiliser more efficiently or by planting crops without tilling the soil.
• 2010/08/14: ABC(Au): Small miners cheer Coalition's cash pledge
• 2010/08/14: ABC(Au): Coalition offers A$420m for mining, coal research
• 2010/08/14: Deltoid: Australian politicians overestimate the electorate's skepticism about global warming
• 2010/08/13: Guardian(UK): Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott face photo finish in Australian election
• 2010/08/13: ABC(Au): Labor to launch carbon credit scheme for farmers
• 2010/08/12: ABC(Au): A new survey of Australian politicians shows a clear majority believe climate change is happening, but many appear to be unsure about some of its consequences
• 2010/08/12: ABC(Au): Labor backbencher attacks climate change assembly
  A federal Labor backbencher has criticised Prime Minister Julia Gillard's proposal for a citizens assembly on climate change. At a candidates forum in Castlemaine in Central Victoria, the Member for Bendigo, Steve Gibbons, said he was angry members of caucus were not consulted on the proposal.
• 2010/08/12: ABC(Au): Environmentalists question Abbott's water plan
• 2010/08/11: ClimateShifts: Many coalition politicians have trouble understanding climate change
• 2010/08/11: ABC(Au): Fishing group condemns Greens policy on Coral Sea
• 2010/08/11: JQuiggin: Abbott adrift
• 2010/08/06: NewStatesman: Chasing the consensus chimera
  As Australia's government goes to an election promising consensus-building on climate change, action on the "greatest moral challenge" is again delayed.
• 2010/08/10: ABC(Au): Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she will sign up to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's water plan, despite not having seen it, if the Government is re-elected
• 2010/08/11: ABC(Au): Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will release a $750 million Murray-Darling river plan while campaigning in South Australia today
• 2010/08/11: ABC(Au): Conservation groups have welcomed the Federal Government's announcement that it will ban the importation of illegal timber if re-elected
• 2010/08/10: ABC(Au): The Australian Greens Party wants to ban all commercial fishing and mining exploration in the Coral Sea off the Queensland coast
• 2010/08/10: REA: AU Greens Want More Renewables, Less Coal
• 2010/08/09: ABC(Au): Greens want World Heritage status for Antarctica

  And in New Zealand:

• 2010/08/11: Yahoo:NZPA: Climate change speech hollow, says Labour MP
  A speech made at a Sydney conference today by Climate Change Minister Nick Smith has been criticised by Labour as lacking any substantial plan to deal with environmental, economic and energy issues.

While in China:

• 2010/08/14: CBC: China declares day of mourning for flood victims -- Toll rises to 1,239
• 2010/08/12: PlanetArk: China Says Still No.2 Energy User: Xinhua
• 2010/08/09: NYT: In Crackdown on Energy Use, China to Shut 2,000 Factories
  Earlier this summer, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China promised to use an "iron hand" to improve his country's energy efficiency, and a growing number of businesses are now discovering that it feels like a fist. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology quietly published a list late Sunday of 2,087 steel mills, cement works and other energy-intensive factories required to close by Sept. 30.
• 2010/08/09: Yahoo:AFP: China orders 2,000 firms to shut outdated plants
  The Chinese government has ordered over 2,000 firms in high-polluting and energy-intensive industries to shut down outdated plants in its latest efforts to cut pollution and restructure the economy. A total of 2,087 companies that produce steel, coal, cement, aluminium, glass and other materials have to close their old and obsolete facilities by the end of September, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

And in Russia:

• 2010/08/11: NYT:CW: When the Smoke Clears in Russia, Will Climate Policy Change?
• 2010/08/10: QuarkSoup: How Minds Change (At Least for Awhile)
• 2010/08/08: WtD: What does it take to change the mind of a climate "sceptic"? Reality...

  In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:

• 2010/08/09: CBC: Harper defends Arctic seismic tests

  The rancour between Quebec & Newfoundland has a new focus:

• 2010/08/12: CBC: Williams attacks 'predatory' Quebec over hydro -- N.S. minister says Charest should 'mind his own business'
  Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is accusing the government of Quebec of trying to block two provinces' plans to transmit hydroelectric power. Williams told reporters in St. John's on Thursday he has learned that Quebec filed a written complaint with Prime Minister Stephen Harper about an application by Nova Scotia and Nalcor, Newfoundland and Labrador's Crown-owned energy corporation.

Questions and debate about offshore and Arctic drilling continue:

• 2010/08/13: CBC: Energy firm to search off Newfoundland coast -- Company seeks OK to sink test well at Shoal Point
• 2010/08/12: NatureN: Inuit concerns stall seismic testing -- [Seismic] Research in [Lancaster Strait] Canadian waters halted over fears it could harm wildlife
• 2010/08/11: CBC: Arctic fuel spill fears raised in Pangnirtung -- Not prepared to handle large spill, hamlet official warns
• 2010/08/10: PostMedia: Offshore-drilling watchdogs stacked with industry-friendly appointments
  Most of the individuals appointed by the Harper government to the agencies that oversee offshore-petroleum drilling in Canada are former industry insiders or government officials with no stated experience in environmental issues. The Conservative approach to such appointments doesn't mark a dramatic departure from previous Liberal governments - a review of regulatory agencies shows that their boards had a similar composition before the Tories took power four-and-a-half years ago. But critics say the industry-friendly tilt of these agencies could be problematic under changes made by the Conservatives that hand more authority over environmental assessments to regulators, rather than review panels that often included environmental experts.
• 2010/08/09: PlanetArk: Chevron Wins $101 Million Bid For Canadian Arctic Rights
• 2010/08/08: TerraDaily: Judge stops seismic research
  A judge in Canada Sunday told researchers they can't bombard the arctic waters of Lancaster Sound with sound waves to try to learn what's under the seabed.
• 2010/08/08: CBC: Inuit win injunction on seismic testing -- Judge grants block, citing potential for 'irreparable harm'
  An Inuit group in Nunavut has been granted an injunction to stop seismic testing in Lancaster Sound, near the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage. In a decision handed down Sunday, Judge Susan Cooper issued an order to stop Natural Resources Canada from carrying out seismic tests aimed at mapping the area for potential oil and gas resources. Residents from five communities in the area -- Resolute Bay, Arctic Bay, Grise Fiord, Clyde River and Pond Inlet -- were largely opposed to the plan to send sound blasts through the water, saying the sound could adversely affect whales, polar bears and other marine life in Lancaster Sound and change migration patterns. Resolute Bay is one of five Inuit communities in Nunavut where opposition to the seismic testing plan was widespread.Resolute Bay is one of five Inuit communities in Nunavut where opposition to the seismic testing plan was widespread. The Nunavut government and the federal government had argued against an injunction...
• 2010/08/09: CBC: Harper defends Arctic seismic tests

  Pipelines [Keystone XL and Gateway] are still being debated:

• 2010/08/14: OilDrum: The Enbridge Michigan Pipeline Oil Spill - Some Clues as to What May Have Happened
• 2010/08/12: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Michigan Oil Spill Was Indeed Tar Sands: Enbridge thinks its better if you don't know
• 2010/08/10: PostMedia: Enbridge to begin repairing [Michigan] line -- Company must submit plan before shipments resume
• 2010/08/07: TCSC: Enbridge pipeline: what's in it for us?

  The Greens have delayed their leadership vote:

• 2010/08/11: G&M: Greens delay leadership race
  'Significant risk of a fall election' prompts party to leave Elizabeth May in charge for now The top job in the Green Party isn't up for grabs -- yet. The party will not hold a leadership race at its convention in Toronto later this month. Greens overwhelmingly voted to pass a motion delaying a leadership review until after the next federal election. A leadership race must be held every four years under the party's constitution. Leader Elizabeth May's term ends Aug. 31 and at least one challenger --r etired army officer Sylvie Lemieux -- had stepped forward. But 74 per cent of Greens voted for a motion to put off a leadership review until after the next federal election. Any motion that gets more than 60 per cent support before the convention is considered passed.
• 2010/08/10: PostMedia: It's still not easy being Green in Canada -- The party gathers soon in Toronto to talk policy, but the buzz will be about the need to elect a Green MP
• 2010/08/10: G&M: Green Party leadership race in the balance
  Green Party chief Elizabeth May learns Tuesday whether she gets an early reprieve from an obligation to defend her leadership in a contest this fall. Failing that, she must wait until the party's late August convention to see if fellow Greens agree with a proposal to delay a mandated leadership race until after the next federal election. The party's constitution requires a leadership race every four years. Unless this is changed it will mean Ms. May's 48-month term ends August 31 -- and she must duke it out with challengers this fall to regain the top job. The Greens are holding a party convention August 20 to 22 in Toronto. But pre-convention balloting results are being made public Tuesday, the party says, and these could determine whether a resolution to delay a leadership race succeeds -- or must go to the floor for more debate.

BC is still wrangling over energy:

• 2010/08/10: PostMedia: Largest source of independent power in B.C. goes on the grid -- $663-million Toba run-of-river project outperforms many BC Hydro facilities

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2010/08/15: PostMedia: Walk aims to heal oilsands lands -- 'Once all the resource has been exploited ... we'll still be here,' former chief says
  The stretch of highway between Fort McMurray and Fort MacKay is lined with gaping chasms, lifeless tailings ponds, smokestacks and piles of sulphur. Those features -- signs of open-pit oilsands mining -- are partly why 100 activists held a 13-kilometre "healing walk" near the northern industrial area on Saturday. "Forty years ago, our people hunted, trapped, fished, and picked berries here," said George Poitras, a former chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation. "It's a land that has been totally decimated."
• 2010/08/13: Tyee: How the Tar Sands Threaten Canada's Economic Fate -- A short course in Dutch Disease, deindustrialization and the Bitumen Curse
• 2010/08/13: OSW: "Tell it like it is" oil sands campaign requires facts
• 2010/08/13: CBC: Tarsands regulator accused of letting rules slide
  The Pembina Institute says Imperial Oil is being allowed to break rules about tailings for its new Kearl tarsands plant. Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board gave Imperial Oil conditional approval of its plan to deal with tailings at the plant north of Fort McMurray, which will start operating in 2012.
• 2010/08/12: CBC: Suncor asset sale worth $375M
  Calgary-based Suncor Energy announced Thursday it was selling off another natural gas asset. It said it would sell Alberta land to Direct Energy, a subsidiary of British energy giant Centrica, for $375 million.
• 2010/08/10: G&M: Oil sands toxins growing rapidly -- Volume of arsenic, lead increased 26 per cent in last four years, Environment Canada says
• 2010/08/09: CBC: Tourists swayed by anti-oilsands video: poll
• 2010/08/12: PostMedia: Knocking oilsands bolsters Northern Gateway -- 'Rethink Alberta' campaign dissuades U.S. from buying 'dirty' oil, but makes Enbridge project more imperative [Yaffe]
• 2010/08/09: PostMedia: Controversial oilsands ad could hurt Alberta tourism: survey
  Desire to travel to Alberta plummeted after potential tourists watched a short video depicting jarring images of toxic tailing ponds, oil-covered ducks, and aboriginals worried about their health as result of oilsands activity, a new survey reveals. The controversial Rethink Alberta video, created by coalition of mostly U.S. environmental groups, was shown to nearly 4,000 people in Canada, the United States and Britain as part of an Angus Reid survey. Before watching the video on YouTube, 49 per cent of American respondents and 54 per cent of Britons said they would definitely or probably consider travelling to Alberta destinations such as Calgary, Edmonton or the Rockies for a holiday. After viewing the advertising campaign, however, only about one-quarter of Americans and Britons said they would still consider visiting Alberta.

Ontario has it's Green Energy Act, now comes the implementation:

• 2010/08/13: CleanBreak: Ontario goverment, power authority try to make good on controversial tariff reduction proposed for ground-mount PV solar projects
• 2010/08/10: PI: Green energy upgrade protects Ontarians from rising nuclear costs
• 2010/08/10: PI: [link to 333k pdf] Ontario's Green Energy Plan 2.0 -- Choosing 21st Century Energy Options
• 2010/08/11: TEC: Siemens, Canadian Solar to bring 800 green jobs to Ontario
• 2010/08/11: REA: Canadian Solar Inc. Announcing the Selection of Guelph to Host its Solar Module Manufacturing Facility in Ontario, Canada

  In the Maritimes:

• 2010/08/12: CBC: P.E.I. wind projects just hot air: opposition
  Plans for major renewable energy development under the current P.E.I. government have gone from 500 megawatts, to 130, to 30, to six, charges Opposition leader Jim Bagnall. Energy Minister Richard Brown responded that the 500-megawatt plan is still in place, but it requires waiting for better economic conditions.

In the North:

• 2010/08/10: CBC: Arctic satellite station opens in Inuvik
• 2010/08/09: CBC: Record heat forces northerners to adapt
  Landslides and low water levels in the Northwest Territories in the wake of record-breaking warmth have prompted calls for changes in infrastructure planning. "It's really important that community decision-makers and government decision-makers are prepared to spend a little bit more to make sure that the design [of structures such as buildings and roadways], in terms of preparation for permafrost degradation, is as strong as possible," said Doug Ritchie, a spokesman for the environmental group Ecology North, in the wake of temperature changes that Environment Canada called "unprecedented." In the Northwest Territories this year, spring temperatures were almost six degrees warmer than average, surpassing the previous record set in 1998 by half a degree. Climatologist Dave Phillips said in his 40 years with Environment Canada, he's never seen such a rapid change in temperature.

As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2010/08/09: Reuters: Canada has big geothermal potential, industry says

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

• 2010/08/13: EnergyBulletin: Economists - The high priests of progress
• 2010/08/10: CCurrents: 10 Common Sense Principles For A New Economy by David Korten
• 2010/08/09: CCurrents: A Call For A Democratic Economy

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

• 2010/08/14: PhysOrg: US agency approves 'five-day-after' contraceptive pill
• 2010/08/14: Grist: The GINK videos -- Population contrarian Fred Pearce on 'The Daily Show' [VIDEO]
• 2010/08/09: Grist: The GINK Chronicles -- Elena Kagan's childfree status: The mean take and the green take

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2010/08/12: CSM: Stephen Hawking says humanity is doomed unless it takes to the stars
• 2010/08/11: LFB: Warm, Poison Planet
• 2010/08/08: EnergyBulletin: The end of prevention
  [...]
  What if ... we are not approaching a point that will tip us into a grand ecological catastrophe... What if we are in the middle of that catastrophe and it began some time ago?

As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2010/08/12: CJR: Temperate Coverage of Extreme Weather -- Media put heat, floods in proper climatic context
• 2010/08/13: KSJT: Columbia Journalism Review: Most media do okay with climate change, Russia's blazing summer, Asia super-monsoon rains, Greenland's busted glacier
• 2010/08/12: WtD: Herald Sun Journalist Jill Singer calls for "sceptics" to apologise
• 2010/08/11: ClimateP: Daily Mail: "Global warming is real and deeply worrying"
• 2010/08/10: TP:WR: As World Burns, CNN Skeptic Chad Myers Finally Admits Global Warming 'Is Caused By Man'
• 2010/08/11: ClimateP: New York Times makes excuses while Portugal shows U.S. how to move forward
• 2010/08/09: NYT: Portugal Gives Itself a Clean-Energy Makeover

  Regarding the quality of blogosphere discussion:

• 2010/08/13: MTobis: Kloor Calls Me a Hypocrite

  Here is something for your library:

• 2010/06/15: M&PRB: [Book Review] _Marxism and Ecological Economics: Toward a Red and Green Political Economy_ by Paul Burkett
• 2010/08/11: OilDrum: [Book Review] _Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects_ by Vaclav Smil

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2010/08/11: Yahoo:AP: Texas sues feds over offshore drilling ban
  The Texas attorney general has sued the Obama administration, claiming the current offshore drilling moratorium is "unjustified" and officials did not contact state officials before issuing the ban. Attorney General Greg Abbott filed the 18-page suit in federal court in Houston on Wednesday.
• 2010/08/12: NatureN: Inuit concerns stall seismic testing -- [Seismic] Research in [Lancaster Strait] Canadian waters halted over fears it could harm wildlife
• 2010/08/10: SolveClimate: EPA Says Texas Lawsuit Will Not Thwart Enforcement of 'Tailoring' Rule
  Texas's claim that it doesn't have to comply with the 2011 greenhouse gas rule deadline is unsubstantiated, says agency
• 2010/08/11: SolveClimate: U.S. Energy Department Faces Lawsuit over 'Secret' Nuclear Loan Program
  Environmental group accuses government of 'astonishing level of censorship' in its $8.3 billion Georgia nuclear loan deal
• 2010/08/08: TerraDaily: Judge stops seismic research
  A judge in Canada Sunday told researchers they can't bombard the arctic waters of Lancaster Sound with sound waves to try to learn what's under the seabed.

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

• 2010/08/12: CCurrents: Can We Calculate The True Cost Of Our Dependence On Oil?
• 2010/08/13: AlterNet: Gas Is Really Costing Us About $15 a Gallon
• 2010/08/13: PhysOrg: Blending wind and solar meets peak energy demands
  In parts of Texas and California, a good match between renewable energy production and peak energy demands could be obtained by combining wind power with solar power, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist.
• 2010/08/13: WiC: Mark Engler: paying oil's true cost
• 2010/08/13: BBC: Cornwall Wave Hub cable laying halted
  A multi-million pound project to create a testing platform for wave energy devices in Cornwall has ground to a halt. Engineers have postponed plans to float the copper cable ashore after it sank, raising fears it could become enmeshed on the seabed. The cable, which was 650ft (200m) from land on Thursday evening, will now be rewound onto a ship offshore. Engineers are considering whether to deploy a new flotation device.
• 2010/08/12: EnergyBulletin: Nine challenges of alternative energy
• 2010/08/12: NewScientist: The next best thing to oil [energy]
• 2010/08/12: NYT:CW: Calif. Project Spurs Debate Over a 'Decarbonized' Energy System
• 2010/08/12: IndyWeek: Burning trees stretches the meaning of "renewable"
• 2010/08/12: OilDrum: Embodied Energy: An Alternative Approach to Understanding Urban Energy Use
• 2010/08/12: REA: Atlantis Unveils Largest, Most Powerful Tidal Turbine [AK1000]
• 2010/08/12: BBC: Largest tidal power device unveiled
  A device thought to be the largest tidal energy turbine to be built in the world has been described by its developer as "simple and robust". Atlantis Resources unveiled its AK-1000 at Invergordon ahead of it being shipped to a European Marine Energy Centre test site off Eday, Orkney. Chief executive Tim Cornelius said it was designed to survive in a harsh marine environment. The device stands 22.5m (73ft) tall and weighs 130 tonnes. It has two sets of blades to harness ebb and flood tides and could provide electricity for about 1,000 homes.
• 2010/08/12: TP:WR: Big Oil's Long History Of Compromising National Security For Profit
• 2010/08/11: ClimateP: New York Times makes excuses while Portugal shows U.S. how to move forward
• 2010/08/11: EarthTimes: Energy agency [IEA] sees increased demand for oil
• 2010/08/11: PeakEnergy: Geodynamics' Day Of Reckoning Approaches [geothermal]
• 2010/08/10: NBF: Amory Lovins on Energy in 1976 Versus Today
• 2010/08/09: Reuters: Canada has big geothermal potential, industry says
• 2010/08/09: OilChange: "Trillions" to defend oil supply
• 2010/08/09: OilDrum: New Perspectives on the Energy Return on (Energy) Investment (EROI) of Corn Ethanol: Part 2 of 2
• 2010/08/08: TEC: Power, Defined as Energy Use Per Unit Time, Correlates to Prosperity
• 2010/08/09: TEC: Hydrogen research continues, and that's a good thing

  A study that indicates Solar power cheaper than Nuclear power is notable:

• 2010/08/10: SolveClimate: Study: Solar Power Officially Cheaper Than Nuclear in North Carolina
  Aided by subsidies, some utilities are purchasing commercial-scale solar for up to 30% less than nuclear, Duke University researchers say
• 2010/08/10: REA: Solar and Nuclear Costs -- The Historic Crossover -- Report shows that solar energy is now the better buy

  Matthew Simmons, in memoriam:

• 2010/08/10: EnergyBulletin: Matthew Simmons: a tribute

  Science dropped a special on the Energy Transition (although you would never know it from the title of the introduction):

• 2010/08/13: Science: Introduction: Getting Better To Get Bigger by David Malakoff et al.
• 2010/08/13: Science: Sending African Sunlight to Europe, Special Delivery by Daniel Clery
• 2010/08/13: Science: Do We Have the Energy for the Next Transition? by Richard A. Kerr
• 2010/08/13: Science: Out of Site by Eli Kintisch [anti-wind advocates]
• 2010/08/13: Science: Energy's Tricky Tradeoffs by Adrian Cho

  The Monitor did an energy special as well:

• 2010/08/07: CSM: Green living: This solar home is completely off the grid
• 2010/08/07: CSM: Green living: tapping geothermal energy for a home HVAC system
• 2010/08/07: CSM: Green living: Sustainable design is Big Thunder's big payoff
• 2010/08/07: CSM: Green living: Off the grid families pioneer sustainable energy lifestyles
• 2010/08/09: CSM: Green energy at the grass roots, living off-the-grid of big electric utilities

  Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!

• 2010/08/14: CDreams: The Fight Against Fracking
• 2010/08/10: PRWatch: T-Boone Pickens and the Truth about All that Drilling
• 2010/08/08: Forbes:CH: Can Gas 'Fracking' Pollute Groundwater? Unlikely
• 2010/08/09: Yahoo:Reuters: Pennsylvania broke law on natgas water use: group
  Pennsylvania regulators are illegally allowing natural gas companies to withdraw water from rivers and streams for use in the Marcellus Shale drilling boom, an environmental group claims. The Allegheny Defense Project says the state's Department of Environmental Protection has no legal right to permit drillers, as it does, to take millions of gallons of water from rivers in the western part of the state.
• 2010/08/09: SolveClimate: Shale Gas Booming Globally, Despite Chemical Dangers -- Fracking debate and apparent new caution in the U.S., but the rest of the world is racing toward natural gas
• 2010/08/09: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Wyoming Oil and Gas Commission unanimously supports disclosure of hydraulic fracturing chemicals; industry does not oppose

  The answer my friend...:

• 2010/08/10: Guardian(UK): Danish wind farms show sustainable attitude to renewable energy
  Community buy-in and streamlined bureaucracy allow onshore and offshore windfarms to account for more than a fifth of electricity generated in Denmark

Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2010/08/12: FuturePundit: Polymer Film Boosts Photovoltaic Output
• 2010/08/13: SciAm: "Plug and Play" Solar Panel Kits Offer Homeowners Affordable Alternative Energy Source
  A new company aims to make it possible to install a home solar array yourself
• 2010/08/11: CleanBreak: 1,000 MW of solar module capacity announced in Ontario so far, and here are the players
• 2010/08/13: TEC: Hyundai Solar Coming to Arizona in a Big Way
• 2010/08/13: REA: BIPV Market Gaining Traction
  A panel at Intersolar North America focused on the BIPV market. Here's where it stands today and where it hopes to go.
• 2010/08/12: BBerg: BrightSource, NextEra Win Approvals for California Solar Power Contracts
• 2010/08/12: TreeHugger: Is Solar Too Expensive? Critics Cite Cost Per Unit of CO2 Saved
• 2010/08/12: TEC: Solar power shines on U.S. Manufacturing Council
• 2010/08/12: REA:Sharp and EETN Complete Successful Installation of TVA Region's Largest Solar Power Plant; Dedication Ceremony Draws Business Leaders and Government Officials
• 2010/08/12: REA: Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Capacity Continues Growing Despite Economic Uncertainty
• 2010/08/10: Reuters: Built-in solar struggles with costs, efficiency
• 2010/08/11: TreeHugger: Massive Growth in UK Solar Jobs
• 2010/08/11: TEC: Will rooftop solar go mainstream?
• 2010/08/11: PeakEnergy: SunPower based solar power system completed in the Pilbara
• 2010/08/10: PhysOrg: New technique announced to turn windows into power generators
  An international team of scientists and industrialists is to meet at the University of Leicester to develop of a revolutionary new technique for harnessing green energy. Norwegian company EnSol AS has patented a ground breaking, novel thin film solar cell technology which they seek to develop commercially by 2016. The company is now working with experts in the University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy to develop the revolutionary new type of solar cell material that could be coated as a thin film on, for example, windows in buildings to produce power on a large scale.
• 2010/08/10: TEC: Free Solar Panels to 2.5 Million UK Households
• 2010/08/08: ClimateP: BrightSource to build largest concentrating solar power plant -- Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System (ISEGS) in California's Mojave Desert

  Feed-In-Tariffs are being variously implemented around the world:

• 2010/08/10: REA: NREL Releases Feed-in Tariff Guide
  With over 75 countries, states and provinces around the world with some kind of feed-in tariff, policymakers and researchers in the U.S. are considering the role for the policy in America.

On the coal front:

• 2010/08/14: QuarkSoup: US Coal Production
• 2010/08/11: Grist: Why are American coal plants still so dirty?
• 2010/08/11: Grist: The U.S. power sector: where the power plants are, when they were built, what they pollute
• 2010/08/09: WtD: Old King Coal: on why we will most likely fail to avert serious climate change
• 2010/08/08: SolveClimate: New Maps Reveal Massive Forest Loss from Mountaintop Coal Mining -- For the first time, users can view the geographic extent of mountaintop removal operations in Appalachia
• 2010/08/09: NatureN: Mountain [Top Removal] mining damages streams -- Study shows that stripping mountains for coal has a much greater impact than urban growth

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2010/08/13: PhysOrg: Industrial production of biodiesel feasible within 15 years
• 2010/08/12: PhysOrg: Wide range of plants offer cellulosic biofuel potential, ecological diversity
  When it comes to selecting the right plant source for future cellulosic biofuel production, the solution won't be one-size-fits-all, and it certainly doesn't have to involve food and feed crops.

The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2010/08/12: PhysOrg: Scientists call for a global nuclear renaissance in new study
  Scientists outline a 20-year master plan for the global renaissance of nuclear energy that could see nuclear reactors with replaceable parts, portable mini-reactors, and ship-borne reactors supplying countries with clean energy, in research published today in the journal Science.
• 2010/08/09: CSM: Global warming heats up a nuclear energy renaissance

  Yes we have peak everything:

• 2010/08/12: EnergyBulletin: Peak predictions: mixing water and oil as global resources dwindle
• 2010/08/12: Reuters: Analysis: Rare earth monopoly a boon to Chinese clean tech firms
  In the race to build hybrid cars and wind turbines to feed growing demand for green technology, China has one clear advantage, it holds the world's largest reserves of rare earth metals and dominates global production
• 2010/08/10: IBTimes: Oil reserves are plentiful, says Aramco chief [Khalid A. Al-Falih]
• 2010/08/09: TreeHugger: How Will Small Businesses Survive Peak Oil?

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2010/08/12: TreeHugger: Progress? 302.5 Million Smart Meters Installed by 2015 [worldwide]

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2010/08/13: PlanetArk: Mushroom-Based Packaging Uses 98% Less Energy than Styrofoam

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

• 2010/08/15: PeakEnergy: Iceland: The Next Electric Car Capital?
• 2010/08/14: AutoBG: Chinese truck maker [Jianghuai Auto (aka JAC Motors)] will invest $4.43B to produce 1M electric and hybrid cars
• 2010/08/13: AutoBG: U.S. car buyers want large vehicles, SUVs again thanks to "stabilizing gas prices"
• 2010/08/13: AutoBG: Electric car company BG Automotive Group calls it quits
• 2010/08/11: PeakEnergy: Australia plugs in to electric vehicles
• 2010/08/11: AutoBG: Detroit utility announces plug-in vehicle rates: $40 per month per vehicle
• 2010/08/09: Guardian(UK): Spain's green scheme stalls as only 16 electric cars are sold
  Stated goal of having 2,000 electric vehicles on Spanish roads by the end of year will be unachievable
• 2010/08/10: AutoBG: Boston-Power CEO predicts annual sales of plug-in cars will reach 100,000 in 3-to-5 years

  As for Energy Storage:

• 2010/08/13: SolveClimate: Feds Pour Millions into Innovative Energy Storage Projects in New York
  New solutions using flywheels and lithium-ion batteries land $60 million in loan guarantees to help the electrical grid absorb more renewables
• 2010/08/12: TheEngineer(UK): Oxy-fuel concept sustains electricity grid demand
  Researchers at Leeds University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found a way to manage short-lived draws on the electricity grid with half the fuel usually needed.
• 2010/08/11: Eureka: Energy storage system deals with sudden draws on the grid
  The key idea is to use excess electricity to run a unit producing liquid nitrogen and oxygen -- or 'cryogen'. At times of peak demand, the nitrogen would be boiled -- using heat from the environment and waste heat from the power plant. The hot nitrogen gas would then be used to drive a turbine or engine, generating 'top up' electricity. Meanwhile, the oxygen would be fed to the combustor to mix with the natural gas before it is burned. Burning natural gas in pure oxygen, rather than air, makes the combustion process more efficient and produces less nitrogen oxide. Instead, this 'oxy-fuel' combustion method produces a concentrated stream of carbon dioxide that can be removed easily in solid form as dry ice.
• 2010/08/11: TEC: World's First Utility-Scale Flywheel Power Plant Gets a Boost

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2010/08/11: Reuters: Deutsche Bank spurns U.S. for climate investment
  Alternative energy investment prospects have shriveled in the United States after the U.S. Senate was unable to break a deadlock over tackling global warming, a Deutsche Bank official said.
• 2010/08/09: Guardian(UK): O2 survey shows profit before sustainability
  A new report suggests that sustainability is behind profits in the post-recession priorities of senior business people

Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:

• 2010/08/13: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for August 13...
• 2010/08/12: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for August 12...
• 2010/08/11: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for August 11...
• 2010/08/10: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for August 10...
• 2010/08/09: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for August 9...

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2010/08/14: TPL: Weekend Roundup
• 2010/08/13: Grist: Cars that run on crap, and 9 more green stories to amaze your friends
• 2010/08/12: NRDC:SwitchBoard: India Climate Change and Energy News - Week of August 3, 2010 to August 9, 2010
• 2010/08/09: CSW: Climate Science Watch Weekly Update

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2010/08/15: WtD: Guest post: Lord Monckton, are you a creationist?
• 2010/08/14: MTobis: The Name of the Problem
• 2010/08/14: QuarkSoup: Climate in Wonderland
• 2010/08/14: BBickmore: The Monckton Files: Mmmmmm, Prison Food
• 2010/08/14: IJISH: (Digression) E-mail exchange about Comino Foundation's adoption of climate inactivism [d]
• 2010/08/13: GreenFyre: Lily the Pink
• 2010/08/13: Tamino: Mister Cherry
• 2010/08/13: CBCandy: Good rant: if you ignore climate science, why not all science?
• 2010/08/12: WtD: Herald Sun Journalist Jill Singer calls for "sceptics" to apologise
• 2010/08/11: BSD: Hoisted from the comments: it's the dog that doesn't bark that tells the story
• 2010/08/11: Guardian(UK): Lords distance themselves from climate sceptic Christopher Monckton
  House of Lords steps up efforts to make Christopher Monckton stop claiming he is a member of the upper house
• 2010/08/11: Deltoid: Monckton vs House of Lords
• 2010/08/11: TreeHugger: House of Lords Tells Climate Skeptic Lord Monckton: Stop Pretending You're One of Us
• 2010/08/10: ClimateP: Distorting science while invoking science -- Debating science shouldn't enable antiscience disinformation [by Naomi Oreskes & Erik Conway]
• 2010/08/10: AFTIC: Roy Spencer has another go
• 2010/08/10: TP: Coal Barons At Industry Retreat Plot To Indoctrinate Children About Wonders Of Coal
• 2010/08/09: ERabett: Reopening the poles
• 2010/08/09: Tamino: Mo' Better Monckey Business
• 2010/08/09: ClimateP: Rebutting climate science disinformer talking points in a single line
• 2010/08/08: TPL: Deniersberggate, Molehills and other Denialist Amuse Bouche

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2010/08/15: TSoD: Height of emission of OLR and DLR
• 2010/08/15: SkeptiSci: Newcomers, Start Here
• 2010/08/14: JEB: Once more into the breach
• 2010/08/12: ABC(Au):TDU: No climate change alternatives
• 2010/08/13: CCurrents: Climate Ostriches
• 2010/08/13: RealClimate: The Key to the Secrets of the Troposphere
• 2010/08/12: TCoE: Gas receipt warnings: More green silliness
• 2010/08/11: CSW: Climate Science Watch guide to climate reports
• 2010/08/11: Maribo: Interview with Simple Climate
• 2010/08/10: ClimateShifts: Climate change ignorance unacceptable
• 2010/08/11: TSoD: Darwinian Selection -- "Back Radiation"
• 2010/08/11: SkeptiSci: On Statistical Significance and Confidence by Alden Griffith
• 2010/08/09: Grist: 'Environmentalism' can never address climate change
• 2010/08/09: MTobis: A Moderate Approach to an Extreme Problem
• 2010/08/10: Eureka: Common orchid gives scientists hope in face of climate change
• 2010/08/09: ClimateShifts: Fish evolve to tolerate colder temperature in just three years
• 2010/08/08: Maribo: Climate change education: A blast from the past
• 2010/08/08: Tamino: Urban Wet Island?

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

• Wiki: Jet stream
• BritishColumbia: Climate Change Data Catalogue
• Abogo Transportation Cost
• Peak Generation
• FAO:GFIMS: Global Fire Information Management System
• Dirty Energy Money -- track the flow of oil, gas, and coal money in Congress
• Wiki: Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event
• Wiki: Triassic-Jurassic extinction event
• Wiki: Ordovician-Silurian extinction event
• Wiki: Late Devonian extinction
• Wiki: Permian-Triassic extinction event
• Wiki: Oceanic anoxic events
• Wiki: Extinction event
• Wiki: Permian--Triassic extinction event
• The Global Crop Diversity Trust
• Wiki: Pavlovsk Experimental Station
• AGU: 2010 The Meeting of the Americas -- 8-12 August at Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

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.

"Before we worried if climate change was loading the dice, now we have to start thinking about whether climate change is loading the gun." -Eli Rabbet

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