Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
Another week of Climate Instability News
Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is notWisdom
January 23, 2011
- Chuckles, COP16, WFES, Why?, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Australia
- Bottom Line, UEF, Thermodynamics, Cook, Post CRU, Late Comments
- Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Agro-chem Corps, Food Prices, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Feedbacks, Aerosols, Paleoclimate
- Climate Sensitivity, State of the Oceans, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Desertification, Phenology
- Corals, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, DIY Science, Models, Tol, Easterbrook
- UN, Carbon Trade, Wind Made, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- International Politics: Rare Earths, Energy Race, Summit, Security, Law & Activism, H2O Biz
- National Politics: America, BP Disaster, BOEMRE Split, Coal, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
- Britain, Europe, Australia, Murray-Darling, India, China
- Canada, Post G20, Pipelines, Ethics, AECL, Post Igor, Weyburn, Idaho Roads
- BC, Tar Sands, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts, Betting
- Energy, Fracking, Wind, Solar, FITs, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Geez, Storage
- Business, Insurance, Greenwashing, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
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- 2011/01/21: SeattlePI: (cartoon - Horsey) Running on empty ...
- 2011/01/21: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Figures
- 2011/01/19: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Pulling Up the Ladder
- 2011/01/22: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Mismanaged Expectations
- 2011/01/18: ERabett: The Climate is Infernal
Looking back at Copenhagen, Cancun, Rio:
- 2011/01/21: JKB: The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference by Daniel Fielding
The World Future Energy Summit went down in Abu Dhabi this week:
- 2011/01/18: TEC: Day two: World Future Energy Summit
- 2011/01/19: Guardian(UK): Top 10 small-scale renewable energy innovators
- 2011/01/19: ClimateP: Live from Masdar: Flower in the Desert
- 2011/01/18: ENN: Masdar World Future Energy Summit
- 2011/01/17: TEC: Day one: World Future Energy Summit
- 2011/01/17: TEC: Looking forward to the World Future Energy Summit [in Abu Dhabi]
What's behind the Southern Hemisphere floods?
- 2011/01/16: ClimateP: Masters on Brazilian floods: Brazil's deadliest natural disaster in history -- The role of near-record sea surface temperatures
- 2011/01/16: CCP: The courage of ABC[US] News to get the truth out: Raging waters in Australia and Brazil product of global warming. Scientists: climate change no longer a theory, it's happening
- 2011/01/18: WtD: Of maps and coincidences: how floods are devastating the Southern Hemisphere
- 2011/01/15: EarthTimes: [Stefan Rahmstorf interview] Global warming explains flooding, says German scientist
Floods in Sri Lanka:
- 2011/01/19: UN: Sri Lanka: UN, partners to launch $51 million flash appeal for flood victims
- 2011/01/19: Wunderground: Another flooding mega-disaster: Sri Lanka recovers from extreme flooding
- 2011/01/19: CBC: UN seeks $51M for Sri Lanka flood recovery -- Floods kill 43, leave four missing
- 2011/01/17: BBC: Sri Lanka flood victims vent fury
Victims of flooding in Sri Lanka have besieged a government office in the east of the country, accusing officials of holding back relief supplies. - 2011/01/17: CBC: Sri Lankans seek flood aid -- Floods kill 40, force hundreds of thousands out of their homes
Floods in Brazil:
- 2011/01/19: TerraDaily: Residents moved from risk areas in Brazil disaster zone
- 2011/01/19: CNN: Rescue of man buried alive for 16 hours in Brazil mudslide captured on film
- 2011/01/19: CNN: As flood waters ebb in Brazil, death toll keeps rising
The death toll in Rio de Janeiro state has climbed to 741 - "I think there may be five times what we found until now," official says - Forecasters predict rain for the next several days in areas already submerged - 2011/01/19: ABC(Au): Brazil flood deaths top 700
- 2011/01/18: CNN: Families search for missing as death toll rises in Brazilian floods
The death toll in Rio de Janeiro state has climbed to 665 - Bodies are strewn among fallen boulders and abandoned belongings there - A government minister says "environmental irresponsibility" caused the tragedy - The city of Nova Friburgo is the hardest hit, with 312 deaths reported - 2011/01/17 TerraDaily: Brazil flood death toll keeps climbing [640]
- 2011/01/17: PlanetArk: Brazil Rains Kill More Than 600 As Epidemic Feared
- 2011/01/17: CNN: Death toll in Brazil flooding continues rising
Forecasters say more flooding and landslides could hit Sao Paulo state - At least 655 deaths are reported in Rio de Janeiro state - Officials warn of the risk of waterborne diseases - Troops arrive to help rescue those who are trapped - 2011/01/17: CBC: Brazil mudslide victims aided by soldiers -- Hundreds die, thousands left homeless
- 2011/01/17: BBC: Brazil landslides: Disease fears amid rescue operation
Fears of an outbreak of disease are growing in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro five days after rains triggered calamitous mudslides. - 2011/01/23: CNN: Australian treasurer [Wayne Swan]: economic toll from flooding 'will be enormous'
Swan: More than 3.1 million people have been affected by recent floods - He says Australia's coal exports are likely to be "one of the biggest casualties" - Treasurer: The government will be investing billions of dollars to help Queensland - 2011/01/23: ABC(Au): Centrelink to take on flood fraudsters
The Federal Government has set up a taskforce to investigate fraudulent flood claims after reports that some Queenslanders have been dishonestly claiming special assistance payments. - 2011/01/22: ABC(Au): Bligh slings mud in flood clean-up
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has joined the thousands of volunteers out today cleaning up Brisbane and Ipswich. The Premier donned a pair of gumboots and joined members of her running group in a working bee at an apartment complex in the inner-city suburb of West End. - 2011/01/23: ABC(Au): Inland sea set to swamp more towns
Emergency services are advising more communities in Victoria's north-west to start evacuating ahead of a massive moving inland sea. The SES has issued an emergency alert for communities downstream of Kerang East including Milnes Bridge, Meade, Benjaroop and Red Hill. The Victorian Premier, Ted Baillieu, says a sea of water is flowing into the state's north-west. - 2011/01/23: ABC(Au): Farms wiped out as floods move through Victoria
- 2011/01/23: ABC(Au): More natural disasters on Australia's radar
An expert says Australia will see a higher incidence of extreme weather events like the flooding in Queensland. Global Change Professor Peter Grace from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) says greenhouse gases and global warning are contributing factors, whether people want to accept it or not. - 2011/01/23: BBC: Australia floods: 'Inland sea' moves across Victoria
A giant inland sea of floodwater, 55 miles (90km) long, will spread across the Australian state of Victoria over the next 10 days, officials say. Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan said the floods would rank as one of the most costly natural disasters in the country's history. - 2011/01/22: WtD: Massive "inland sea" threatens Victorian towns; $2bn hit to economy; 75 towns impacted
- 2011/01/20: ABC(Au):TDU: Emptying Queensland's flooded mines
- 2011/01/19: Gregor: Water in the Hole: Postcard From Australia
- 2011/01/21: BBC: Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard has raised the prospect of a one-off tax to help pay for the devastation wrought by severe flooding
- 2011/01/21: NewsCorp: Report reveals flooding's massive impact on farms and mining
The devastation from recent floods will cost the Australian agricultural sector $500-600 million, while coal exports will take a $2-2.5 billion hit in 2010-11, according to a new report. 'The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences says coal exports could fall by 15 million tonnes between December 2010 and March 2011 as a result of the floods. The figures are, however, just an initial estimate of the impact of the recent floods in Queensland, NSW and Victoria. The impact of the floods on fruit and vegetables, cotton, grain sorghum and winter crops has been significant, according to the report out today. But the loss of livestock relative to the size of the national herd and flock has not been as great so far, with the main impact associated with disruptions to transport and other infrastructure support. - 2011/01/20: ABC(Au): Sunshine Coast flooding interrupts recovery efforts
- 2011/01/20: ABC(Au): More storms ahead for flood-ravaged Queensland
- 2011/01/14: ToowoombaChronicle: Bull sharks seen in flooded streets
- 2011/01/18: TerraDaily: Costs mount in savage Australia floods
- 2011/01/19: ENS: Flood Crisis Hits Three Australian States, 30 Dead
- 2011/01/19: BBC: Australia floods: Victoria town residents told to flee
People in the south-eastern Australian town of Kerang have been told to leave their homes, as rising river levels threatened another community in the worst flood crisis in decades. More than 1,000 Kerang residents have moved to a nearby evacuation centre, as the Loddon River continues to swell. - 2011/01/18: ABC(Au): Flood fears remain in Victoria's north-west
As floodwaters ease in Horsham, residents of Warracknabeal in Victoria's north-west are bracing for what is predicted to be the largest flood to ever strike the town. - 2011/01/19: ABC(Au): The SES says engineers have given the flood levee protecting the northern Victorian town of Kerang the all-clear
- 2011/01/19: ABC(Au): Kerang evacuating as levees compromised
Thousands of people are evacuating Kerang in northern Victoria as engineers race to reinforce the flooded town's main protection levee. - 2011/01/18: WSWS: "The powers-that-be left us for dead" -- Australia: Grantham flood survivor threatened with arrest
- 2011/01/19: WtD: Victorian floods: State Emergency Service says "get out" [of Kerang]; worst floods in state's history; at least one death
- 2011/01/18: CNN: Flooding spreads to southern Australia
Residents are urged to evacuate Kerang as the levee is compromised - Helicopters are delivering bread, milk and medicine to rural areas in Victoria - Forecasters say more flooding is possible there as rain falls into swollen rivers - At least 20 people have been killed by floods in Queensland state - 2011/01/18: Guardian(UK): Floodwaters inundate south-east Australia -- Thousands flee homes as floods ravage Victoria state...
- 2011/01/17: TerraDaily: Australia towns face once-in-200-year flood
- 2011/01/18: BBC: Australia floods split Victoria town of Horsham in two
Floodwaters in Australia's state of Victoria have split the town of Horsham in two, as the body of a young boy was found in another flood-hit town, Shepparton. - 2011/01/18: CBC: Australian floods spread to Victoria state -- More than a dozen communities still at risk, Red Cross says
- 2011/01/17: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Assigning blame for Queensland floods
- 2011/01/15: Guardian(UK): Australian floods: Why were we so surprised? by Germaine Greer
Meteorologists warned Australians six months ago to prepare for a soaking. And nobody did a thing ... - 2011/01/17: BBC: Queensland's soggy soils revealed
- 2011/01/17: PlanetArk: Australia Floods Sweep South, Trail Of Disaster Grows
- 2011/01/17: CNN: Police: Flood toll climbs in Australia as search continues for missing
The Queensland premier says an investigation will look at the state's dams - Police say 12 people are missing in the northeastern state - "We have homes and lives torn apart," Premier Anna Bligh told reporters - 2011/01/17: ABC(Au): Billions lost by coal industry from floods -- The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) says the state's flood crisis has cost the sector about $2.3 billion in lost sales
- 2011/01/17: ABC(Au): Coal industry not responsible for floods: Robertson
The Queensland Government says it is not good science to link the Queensland floods to the coal mining industry. Australian Greens leader Bob Brown says revenue from the Federal Government's proposed mining tax should go to the flood appeal because the industry is a major contributor to global warming. Queensland's Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson says Senator Brown's comments do not help. - 2011/01/17: BBC: Australia floods: Queensland launches inquiry
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has announced an inquiry into flooding that has devastated swathes of the Australian state. Ms Bligh said that the inquiry would look at issues including the operation of dams and would serve as an investment in the state's future. Treasurer Wayne Swan has warned the floods could be the costliest natural disaster in Australia's history. - 2011/01/17: ABC(Au): Brisbane floods: before and after
And on the Bottom Line:
- 2011/01/23: CNN: Australian treasurer [Wayne Swan]: economic toll from flooding 'will be enormous'
Swan: More than 3.1 million people have been affected by recent floods - He says Australia's coal exports are likely to be "one of the biggest casualties" - Treasurer: The government will be investing billions of dollars to help Queensland - 2011/01/21: BNC: The cost of ending global warming -- a calculation
- 2011/01/19: ERabett: Discount Rates Hole
A mistaken study by the Universal Ecological Fund kicked off a lot of noise:
- 2011/01/19: SLeahy: Report: +2.4C by 2020 leaves Billions Hungry? Scary but Untrue. Inside Story of Good Intentions Gone Wrong (and how the media fell for it)
- 2011/01/21: SkeptiSci: A Case Study in Climate Science Integrity
- 2011/01/20: KSJT: Uh oh -- Another case of a science flub skating right past media 'experts', and it's about climate change
- 2011/01/20: RealClimate: Getting things right
- 2011/01/19: CCP: Scientific American goes off the rails AGAIN! and publishes obscure meta-report from equally obscure Argentinian source -- has everyone noticed how SciAm is hardly scientific anymore?
- 2011/01/19: CCP: Peter Gleick: A Brief Lesson in the Integrity of Science: Climate Scientists Challenge Bad Science, No Matter the Source
- 2011/01/19: CCP: Climate change article had 'significant error, author refused to correct it on the advice of leading expert
- 2011/01/19: CCP: Example of The Guardian getting the headline completely WRONG!
- 2011/01/19: PhysOrg: [UEF] Climate change study had 'significant error': experts (Update)
- 2011/01/19: PostMedia: Climate change more harm than help for food
20% price increase by decade's end. Hunger-related deaths in children under 5 could double in next 10 years, report says
Climate change could cause food prices to rise by 20 per cent by the end of the decade, and even lead to some popular items disappearing from grocery store shelves, says a new report. The study, released by the U.S.-based Universal Ecological Fund, predicts -if nothing is done to arrest or adapt to climate change -global shifts in agriculture and demand will result in an increase of up to 10 per cent in Canadian production of wheat, corn and soybeans. The report also predicts that climate change will have more negative than positive impacts. - 2011/01/19: CTV: EurekAlert withdraws [Universal Ecological Fund] climate change paper
About the greenhouse effect, the laws of thermodynamics, etc:
- 2011/01/23: TSoD: Understanding Atmospheric Radiation and the "Greenhouse" Effect -- Part Two
- 2011/01/16: ERabett: Well damn it all, it's the Callendar Effect after all
John Cook and friends continue their counterpoint articles:
- 2011/01/18: SkeptiSci: Zvon.org guide to Skeptic Arguments at Skeptical Science
- 2011/01/17: ABC(Au): OK global warming, this time it's personal! by John Cook
Climate change is making a better boxer of Mother Nature. She landed a few good punches last week. - 2011/01/21: MediaMatters: Conservatives Refuse To Close The Door On Bogus "Climategate"
Late coverage of bird deaths:
- 2011/01/20: CSM: Bye Bye Blackbird: USDA acknowledges a hand in one mass bird death
One in a series of mysterious mass bird deaths in the past month was the product of a USDA avicide program, which began as operation Bye Bye Blackbird in the 1960s. - 2011/01/21: IBTimes: Greenland Ice Sheets Melt At Record Rate In 2010
- 2011/01/16: GEB: 2011 starts with lowest Arctic sea ice extent on record
- 2011/01/21: SciDaily: New Melt Record for Greenland Ice Sheet; 'Exceptional' Season Stretched Up to 50 Days Longer Than Average
- 2011/01/21: IOP:ERL: The role of albedo and accumulation in the 2010 melting record in Greenland by M Tedesco et al.
- 2011/01/22: CCP: Jason Box: Record setting 2010 Greenland temperatures and long term trends
- 2011/01/21: CCP: Marco Tedesco: Greenland ice melt sets a record -- and could set the stage for sea level rise
- 2011/01/21: CCP: 2010 Greenland Record over the Greenland Ice Sheet
- 2011/01/21: CCP: Marco Tedesco: New Melt Record for Greenland Ice Sheet
- 2011/01/21: CCP: Temperatures way way above normal in northeastern Canada; Hudson Bay still not frozen over
- 2011/01/21: HotTopic: 2010 Greenland ice sheet melt sets new record, 2011 starts warm
- 2011/01/21: Eureka: New melt record for Greenland ice sheet -- CCNY's Marco Tedesco says 'exceptional' season stretched up to 50 days longer than average
- 2011/01/19: SciDaily: Arctic Sea-Ice Controls the Release of Mercury
- 2011/01/18: DeSmogBlog: Arctic Sea Ice Still at Lowest Extent Ever
- 2011/01/16: CC&G: Arctic Update
As for charismatic megafauna:
- 2011/01/22: ProMedMail: Undiagnosed die-off, seal - Canada (02): (NL)
- 2011/01/18: KSJT: Anchorage Daily News: Alaska's far-north eskimos talk of suing feds over polar bear protection
- 2011/01/17: CBC: Hundreds of dead seals in Labrador
People on the north coast of Labrador say scores of dead seals have been washing ashore since early December. A conservation officer with the area's Inuit government estimated late last week that hundreds of adult and young seals have died in the area between Hopedale and Makkovik this winter. - 2011/01/21: CBC: Baffinland shareholders oppose joint bid
- 2011/01/20: PlanetArk: Russia's Rosneft Says BP Will Book Arctic Reserves
- 2011/01/19: TEC: BP Signs Offshore Oil Drilling Deal in World's Environmental Bastion, the Arctic Ocean
- 2011/01/19: Guardian(UK): BP defends Russian oil deal
- 2011/01/18: Reuters: Analysis: BP and Russia Arctic foray necessary but costly
BP and Russia have little choice but to look to the Arctic for future oil, but remoteness, year-round ice and sub-zero temperatures mean the cost of drilling could far outstrip initial estimates. - 2011/01/19: PlanetArk: Analysis: Arctic [Baffin] Iron Mine Raises Concerns Over Ship Traffic
- 2011/01/19: PlanetArk: Green Group Urges Caution On BP, Rosneft Drilling
- 2011/01/18: DeSmogBlog: "The silver lining to Arctic global warming" - Seriously?
- 2011/01/18: Guardian(UK): US embassy cables: BP in Russia for long haul, US told
- 2011/01/18: Guardian(UK): US embassy cables: Modernising Russia's oil sector
- 2011/01/18: OilChange: Bolshoi Petroleum is "environmental villain number one"
- 2011/01/17: EurActiv: Environmentalists blast UK-Russia 'Bolshoi Petroleum' deal
- 2011/01/17: NatureTGB: BP in $8bn Russian Arctic deal
- 2011/01/17: CBC: Baffinland board supports bid
The directors of Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. Monday endorsed a joint takeover bid for the company by ArcelorMittal and a private equity fund that values the company at about $590 million. ArcelorMittal and Nunavut Iron Ore Acquisition had been in a takeover fight for Baffinland, but called a truce Friday with a joint bid. - 2011/01/17: PhysOrg: New findings on why Antarctic ice sheets melt
Research from Victoria University has revealed new findings on why Antarctic ice sheets have melted in the past, as well as how future melting may affect sea levels. - 2011/01/23: Independent(UK): World is 'one poor harvest' from chaos, new book warns
- 2011/01/20: WFP: Niger: Good Harvest, Malnutrition Still High
- 2011/01/20: FAO: Niger: good harvest, malnutrition still high -- FAO/WFP call for more assistance to avoid another food crisis
- 2011/01/22: Grist: Welcome to the food deserts of rural America
- 2011/01/22: GulfNews: Tropical storms hit production of rice in Philippines -- Manila may have to import to avoid shortage
- 2011/01/20: ZeroHedge: Food Inflation Comes To America: General Mills, Kraft And Kellogg Hike Prices On Selected Food Products
- 2011/01/20: UN: Millions in Niger need help to avoid another food crisis, warn UN agencies
- 2011/01/20: ClimateP: Washington Post, Lester Brown explain how extreme weather, climate change drive record food prices
- 2011/01/13: C&C: Can We Feed 9 Billion People?
- 2011/01/18: ZeroHedge: African Food Riots Spread To Persian Gulf As Oman Is Next; Adverse Implications For Oil Prices?
- 2011/01/15: Telegraph(UK): Unilever chief [Paul Polman] warns over global crisis in food output
The chief executive of one of the world's largest food producers is to warn that the global crisis in food production is reaching "dangerous territory" with prices soaring and demand outstripping supply. - 2011/01/18: SolveClimate: On the Frontlines of a Warming World, 925 Million Undernourished People
Because of global warming and trends in population, dramatic movements in the food economy are likely here to stay - 2011/01/18: TreeHugger: Population Growth, Climate Change Degrade African Soil, Threaten Millions With Starvation: Worldwatch
- 2011/01/15: Asia Times: No hunger at the Fed
On the agro-chem front:
- 2011/01/19: CBC: Cargill to sell Mosaic stake in $24B move -- Potash assets could be in play as takeover target
- 2011/01/19: BBC: Cargill to split off Mosaic fertiliser business
US agricultural giant Cargill is to spin off its Mosaic fertiliser business to stakeholders, in a deal worth $24bn. It opens the way to a possible takeover bid for Mosaic, which operates in the same area as Canada's Potash, which BHP Billiton failed to buy last year. The deal will help keep Cargill - one of the 10 biggest US companies by revenues - in private family ownership. - FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
- 2011/01/21: CCurrents: Rising Food Prices And The Importance Of Fundamental Change
- 2011/01/20: SeedDaily: Rising food prices spell trouble for Arabs
- 2011/01/21: G&M: The G20's next project: Solve global crisis of unstable food prices
- 2011/01/19: CSM: Spike in world food prices: It's more than bad weather
- 2011/01/17: S&R: Food prices, Tunisia and what's next
So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?
- 2011/01/13: IPSNews: In Corrupt Global Food System, Farmland Is the New Gold
Famine-hollowed farmers watch trucks loaded with grain grown on their ancestral lands heading for the nearest port, destined to fill richer bellies in foreign lands. This scene has become all too common since the 2008 food crisis. - 2011/01/18: Thehill:e2W: Senate Democrat calls for vanquishing 'Frankenfish'
An Alaska Democrat said Tuesday that one of his top legislative priorities in 2011 is vanquishing a little-known creature he calls "Frankenfish." "Frankenfish," according to Sen. Mark Begich, are genetically altered salmon. And the senator says they threaten Alaska's salmon-fishing industry. - 2011/01/19: CCurrents: Killer Technologies Will Not Increase Our Food Production
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2011/01/21: MUNews: Dow AgriSciences, MU Researcher Develop a Way to Control "Superweed"
- 2011/01/21: Eureka: New Anglo-Swiss research questions impact of GM wheat on insects
An Anglo-Swiss research project has found that the impact of disease-resistant genetically-modified wheat plants on insects may be negligible. - 2011/01/21: Eureka: Aquatic food web tied to land -- Some fish are made out of maple leaves
- 2011/01/19: UN: Afghanistan: UN and Government map out common food aid strategy
- 2011/01/18: Eureka: Can sweet corn be grown using less atrazine?
- 2011/01/18: EurActiv: France seeks revamped FAO to ease food upheavals
Tropical cyclones Wilma and Anthony formed in the Western Pacific this week, otherwise it was quiet:
- 2011/01/23: ABC(Au): Tropical cyclone forms off Queensland coast
A cyclone has developed off the far north Queensland coast but is unlikely to threaten the state. Tropical Cyclone Anthony is a category one system, about 315 kilometres north-east of Cairns. - 2011/01/22: AmesTrib: Research: Methane gas underestimated in climate change
- 2011/01/22: DeSmogBlog: Exxon Emission Projections: Up, Up and Away
- 2011/01/20: OilChange: CO2 emissions to rise by 25% in 20 years, says Big Oil
- 2011/01/19: Guardian(UK): ExxonMobil warns carbon emissions will rise by 25% in 20 years
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2011/01/20: SolveClimate: Science Advancing on Methane's Behavior in Carbon Cycle
- 2011/01/17: MongaBay: Amount of carbon absorbed by ecosystems each year is grossly overstated, says new study
As for the temperature record:
- 2011/01/22: DeSmogBlog: Canadian Hotspot Hits 21°C (37.8°F) Above Normal
- 2011/01/20: WMO: 2010 equals record for world's warmest year
- 2011/01/21: Tamino: Phil Jones was Wrong
- 2011/01/21: MGS: Wrestling with data
- 2011/01/21: PlanetArk: New Climate Data Shows Warming World: WMO
- 2011/01/20: Grist: 2010 warmest ever year, says [WMO] U.N. weather agency
- 2011/01/20: TerraDaily: 2010 warmest ever year, says [WMO] UN weather agency
- 2011/01/21: TreeHugger: The Story Behind the Warmest Decade in History
- 2011/01/20: Guardian(UK): Met Office: 2010 was second warmest year on record
- 2011/01/20: UN: Record-setting 2010 highlights global warming trend, says UN weather agency
- 2011/01/20: KSJT: Minor media reaction as UN agrees. 2010 at top of hot-year list
- 2011/01/20: ClimateP: World Meteorological Organization: 2010 equals record for world's hottest year and the "data confirm the Earth's significant long-term warming trend."
- 2011/01/21: ABC(Au): The UN's World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has confirmed 2010 was the warmest year on record, verifying a "significant" long-term trend of global warming
- 2011/01/20: PlanetArk: 2010 Was Second Hottest Year On Record, [CRU] Data Shows
- 2011/01/20: EarthTimes: UN [WMO]: 2010 ties record for warmest year, Arctic ice in decline
- 2011/01/20: SciDaily: 2010 Ties Record for World's Warmest Year: World Meteorological Organization
- 2011/01/20: BBC: 2010 hits global temperature high
2010 was the warmest year since global temperature records began in 1850 - although margins of uncertainty make it a statistical tie with 1998 and 2005. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) concludes 2010 was 0.53C warmer than the average for the period 1961-90 - a period commonly used as a baseline. The 10 warmest years have all occurred since 1998, it notes. - 2011/01/20: Tamino: How Fast is Earth Warming?
- 2011/01/19: moyhu: Hadcrut is in - final temperature summary for 2010
- 2011/01/19: MongaBay: NASA images reveal consistent climate warming among different temperature records
- 2011/01/18: CCP: December 2010 Temperature Anomalies from the National Climatic Data Center
- 2011/01/18: moyhu: On "Mannian" Smoothing
- 2011/01/18: Wunderground: Globe cools slightly in December 2010: 11th - 17th warmest on record
Yes we have feedbacks:
- 2011/01/22: MillerMcCune: Nature's Cooling Albedo Disappearing faster Than Thought
The loss of sea ice is a concern for more than polar bears, as the loss of reflectivity it represents means the planet may warm even faster. - 2011/01/19: CCP: M. G. Flanner, K. M. Shell, M. Barlage, D. K. Perovich & M. A. Tschudi, Nature Geosci. (January 2011), Radiative forcing and albedo feedback from the Northern Hemisphere cryosphere between 1979 and 2008
- 2011/01/18: Eureka: Shrinking snow and ice cover intensify global warming
- 2011/01/18: OPB: OSU Researcher Finds Melting Arctic Ice Contributing More To Global Warming
- 2011/01/18: CSM: Global warming: Impact of receding snow and ice surprises scientists
- 2011/01/18: KSJT: Reuters, LATimes, not much more: Feedback from warming arctic much bigger (ie even worse) than oft-maligned models said
- 2011/01/18: Eureka: Loss of reflectivity in the Arctic doubles estimate of climate models
- 2011/01/16: Reuters: Thaw of Earth's icy sunshade may stoke warming
Shrinking ice and snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is reflecting ever less sunshine back into space in a previously underestimated mechanism that could add to global warming, a study showed. - 2011/01/19: PhysOrg: Small, mighty and mysterious: Researcher IDs atmospheric aerosols
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2011/01/20: GreenGrok: Our Climate Future: Looking Back to See Ahead
- 2011/01/19: CCP: "Paleoclimate Implications for Human-Made Climate Change" by James E. Hansen and Makiko Sato
- 2011/01/17: EarthTimes: History may hold the key to future climate change consequences [Kiehl]
Regarding Climate Sensitivity:
- 2011/01/19: SEasterbrook: The different meanings of "Climate Sensitivity"
- 2011/01/18: SMandia: Clearing Up the Confusion about Climate Sensitivity
- 2011/01/18: CCP: Scott Mandia: Clearing Up the Confusion about Climate Sensitivity
And the State of the Oceans:
- 2011/01/21: PhysOrg: Marine 'dead zones' tracked by new web-based map
New research by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, identifies more than 530 low-oxygen "dead zones" and an additional 228 sites worldwide exhibiting signs of marine "eutrophication." Eutrophication occurs when water bodies are over-fertilized by nutrients that are washed into surface waters from farms and urban areas. - 2011/01/19: NatureTGB: Nautilus Minerals pushes on in the deep-sea minefield
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2011/01/20: ENS: New Earth-observing Satellite [Glory] to Address Climate Uncertainties
- 2011/01/20: Eureka: NASA prepares to launch next Earth-observing satellite mission [Glory]
- 2011/01/20: NatureTGB: NASA wins right to investigate scientists
- 2011/01/20: NatureN: NASA goes for Glory -- Mission to monitor solar energy and aerosols set to join 'A-Train' of climate satellites [Feb 23, 2011]
- 2011/01/20: NOAANews: NOAA Satellites Aid in the Rescue of 295 People in 2010
- 2011/01/19: NW: US Supreme Court says NASA background security checks do not go too far
Background security checks are reasonable and long-standing in public and private service, Supreme Court rules - 2011/01/17: BBC: Queensland's soggy soils revealed
The extent to which Queensland's soils became saturated with water as the Australian state was deluged with rain is evident in new satellite imagery. The maps were made by Europe's SMOS spacecraft, which carries a novel instrument capable of seeing the moisture held in the ground. - 2011/01/17: CCP: The Glory climate satellite will join the A-Team (Aqua, CloudSat, Calipso and Aura) in February [23rd] 2011
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2011/01/21: KSJT: LATimes, NPR, BBC, etc: Nobody told the plants to move uphill as climate changes. Rain trumps warming?
- 2011/01/20: CCP: Figure 4.4 from Chapter 4 of Working Group (WG) II of the IPCC AR4 report illustrates some of the risks to various ecosystems in a warmer world
- 2011/01/20: Eureka: UC Davis study shows plants moved downhill, not up, in warming world -- Increased precipitation is the key, authors say
- 2011/01/17: Reuters: Scandinavian sea may get too warm for cod
Climate change could make a sea in southern Scandinavia too warm for Atlantic cod and rising water temperatures may be stunting the growth of young fish, a study showed on Monday. - 2011/01/17: ABC(Au): Global warming prompts extinctions in tropics
JCU Professor William Laurance says the study suggests that some species will become extinct if temperatures increase by one to two degrees Celsius. He says many tropical species can only survive in a very narrow range of temperatures. - 2011/01/17: EarthTimes: Global Warming Could Put an End to North Sea Cod
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2011/01/22: BBC: Survey finds opposition to privatisation of forests
- 2011/01/20: MongaBay: How Genghis Kahn cooled the planet
- 2011/01/20: Eureka: War, plague no match for deforestation in driving CO2 buildup
Desertification looms as a threat:
- 2011/01/23: SolveClimate: China's Great Disappearing Lake -- Desertification and a shrinking lake threaten northern China's wetlands and grasslands
Changes in natural cycles are showing up:
- 2011/01/23: Guardian(UK): Natural signs that show spring comes earlier
Scientists warn of danger to Britain's birds and fish as the ancient timetable of plant and animal life unravels - 2011/01/19: CBC: Bird patterns shifting with climate: birder
Corals are dying:
- 2011/01/21: SciNews: Corals moving north -- As oceans warm, reefs off Japan shift to higher latitudes
- 2011/01/21: NatureN: Coral marches to the poles -- Reefs may simply move house when the oceans heat up
- 2011/01/20: ClimateShifts: Bleaching risk increases as warm seas continue
- 2011/01/20: NatureCF: Corals show complex response to climate change
- 2011/01/18: NatureN: Queensland floods hit Great Barrier Reef -- Corals threatened by huge volume of polluted fresh water pulsing into World Heritage Site
Glaciers are melting:
- 2011/01/19: HotTopic: Peruvian glacier melt challenges US security
- 2011/01/16: WaPo: Glacier melt in Peru becomes more than a climate issue
Sea levels are rising:
- 2011/01/21: TreeHugger: Multi-Meter Sea Level Rise by 2100 Certain With Business As Usual Emissions: James Hansen
- 2011/01/20: ClimateP: Must-read Hansen and Sato paper: We are at a climate tipping point that, once crossed, enables multi-meter sea level rise this century
- 2011/01/19: BVerheggen: Sea level versus temperature
- 2011/01/19: Grist: California city is the first, but not the last, to flee rising sea levels
- 2011/01/18: BVerheggen: Past, current and future sea level rise
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2011/01/22: SciDaily: Persistent Drought to Linger Across Southern United States
- 2011/01/22: BBC: South African flood deaths rise to 70
- 2011/01/21: UN: Heavy rainfall triggers flood alert in southern Africa - UN
- 2011/01/18: GreenGrok: Statistically Speaking: Tut, Tut, Looks Like ... 2010 Was an Exceptional Year for Rainfall
- 2011/01/21: Wunderground: 2011: Year of the flood
- 2011/01/20: NOAANews: Persistent Drought to Linger Across Southern United States
- 2011/01/18: CCentral: Running Toward Empty?: Part Two
- 2011/01/18: CCentral: Running Toward Empty?
It may not be too much of an exaggeration to say that for many people in the drought-plagued West, the status of mountain snowpack is as eagerly awaited as the stats from college sports matches. - 2011/01/19: ABC(Au): China urged to boost drought relief
Local authorities are urging China's central government to boost relief efforts amid a severe drought affecting several parts of the country. Over the past year, parts of China have seen precipitation levels fall by as much as 90 per cent, with some of the worst affected provinces including Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Jiangsu. Millions of people in China are facing a shortage of drinking water, as low rainfall and higher than average temperatures threaten millions of hectares of crop land. Li Yan, a climate change campaigner with Greenpeace China, has told Radio Australia that drought-affected farmers are facing the possibility of being forced back into poverty. - 2011/01/18: JFleck: The Colorado Big Picture
- 2011/01/19: EarthTimes: No respite from rains, death toll rises to 57 in Philippines
- 2011/01/18: EarthTimes: Flooding in southern Africa claims over 50 lives
- 2011/01/18: CBC: Philippines storm death toll at 56 [19 missing, since late December]
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2011/01/18: GEP: CIA Believes 450ppm Target Unrealistic
- 2011/01/21: CaliforniaWatch: 'Scrubbed' plant emissions could combat ocean acidity
When it comes to the climate, a California researcher may have just killed two birds with one stone -- in an eco-friendly kind of way. Greg Rau, a scientist at UC Santa Cruz and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has found that seawater and calcium can be used to remove carbon dioxide from gas-fired plant emissions. But even better, he found that when that mixture is combined with limestone and pumped back into the ocean, the mix can reduce ocean acidification -- benefiting marine life and habitat. - 2011/01/16: VoxEU: Thinking through the climate change challenge [Open letter]
In October 2010, a group of leading thinkers on environmental policy met at the Sustainable Consumption Institute at the University of Manchester for a conference in honour of Nobel Laureate Tom Schelling. This column presents a 10-point guideline for climate change policy co-authored by 26 attendees that focuses on designing policies that are credible, easily monitored, and easily enforced. - 2011/01/21: PhysOrg: A new material to cut weight of ships by 30 percent and save on fuel consumption, CO2 emissions
- 2011/01/20: BBC: UK car production rose 27.1% in 2010, says SMMT
UK car production rose sharply in 2010, with carmakers manufacturing 1.27 million cars, a rise of 27.1% on the previous year, figures show. In the month of December, car production was up 10.6% from a year ago to 94,325, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). - 2011/01/19: CBC: Greener B.C. research ship to use fuel cells -- Refitted ship to launch in late 2011
- 2011/01/19: TStar: Diesel or electric, trains are the better way
- 2011/01/19: DerSpiegel: Makeover for Deutsche Bahn -- German Government Plans Radical Railroad Reform
In the wake of winter-related chaos on Germany's railroad system, Transportation Minister Peter Ramsauer is planning far-reaching reforms to the national railway operator Deutsche Bahn. More money will be made available for infrastructure investment, and a long-planned privatization of the company looks likely to be watered down. - 2011/01/18: PlanetArk: Analysis: Refiners Threaten Anti-Pollution Efforts In Shipping
- 2011/01/18: TreeHugger: Graph Shows Influence of Gasoline Price on Miles Driven in the U.S.
- 2011/01/18: BBC: 'Road train' technology trials get rolling
Technology that links vehicles into "road trains" that can travel as a semi-autonomous convoy has undergone its first real world tests. - 2011/01/17: UN: Global tourism posts strong recovery in 2010, says UN agency
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2011/01/22: TreeHugger: Fed Ex Makes Major Move Towards Sustainability: All New Buildings Will Be LEED Certified
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2011/01/22: Statesman: Carbon capture a myth or possibility? Coal-burning utilities helping UT researchers in quest for cleaner coal
- 2011/01/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: California's Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) Review Panel releases its recommendations
- 2011/01/03: LLNL: Speeding up Mother Nature's very own CO2 mitigation process
- 2011/01/18: NatureN: Low-cost carbon-capture project sparks interest -- Consortium to determine whether price reductions seen in China can be applied abroad
- 2010/12/15: CEO: EU billions to keep burning fossil fuels - the battle to secure EU funding for carbon capture and storage
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2011/01/16: GEB: Global Warming Action Plan
- 2011/01/21: GEP: Geoengineering to Enhance Security
While on the adaptation front:
- 2011/01/17: FuturePundit: USGS California ARkstorm Disaster Scenario
- 2011/01/18: Grist: Time to ruggedize: We should talk more about preparing for climate change
- 2011/01/19: CSM: California superstorm could destroy up to a quarter of homes in the state
- 2011/01/18: AlterNet: California's 'Big One' Could Be Massive 'Superstorm' That Floods State: Scientists [ARkStorm]
- 2011/01/16: TCoE: The ARkStorm Scenario
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2011/01/21: ACP: The VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study Regional Experiment (VOCALS-REx): goals, platforms, and field operations by R. Wood et al.
- 2011/01/21: ACPD: An important fingerprint of wildfires on the European aerosol load by F. Barnaba et al.
- 2011/01/21: ACPD: The Smithsonian solar constant data revisited: no evidence for cosmic-ray induced aerosol formation in terrestrial insolation data by G. Feulner
- 2011/01/21: ACPD: Tropical cooling in the case of stratospheric sudden warming in January 2009: focus on the tropical tropopause layer by K. Yoshida & K. Yamazaki
- 2011/01/21: ACPD: Impacts of future climate change and effects of biogenic emissions on surface ozone and particulate matter concentrations in US by Y. F. Lam et al.
- 2011/01/20: OS: Salinity-induced mixed and barrier layers in the southwestern tropical Atlantic Ocean off the northeast of Brazil by M. Araujo et al.
- 2011/01/19: OS: Metrological traceability of oceanographic salinity measurement results by S. Seitz et al.
- 2011/01/21: OSD: Multifractal analysis of oceanic chlorophyll maps remotely sensed from space by L. de Montera et al.
- 2011/01/19: TC: Parameterization for subgrid-scale motion of ice-shelf calving fronts by T. Albrecht et al.
- 2011/01/20: TCD: Monitoring spatial and temporal variations of surface albedo on Saint Sorlin Glacier (French Alps) using terrestrial photography by M. Dumont et al.
- 2011/01/19: TCD: Modeling the thermal dynamics of the active layer at two contrasting permafrost sites by J. Weismüller et al.
- 2011/01/19: TCD: Getting around Antarctica: new high-resolution mappings of the grounded and freely-floating boundaries of the Antarctic ice sheet created for the International Polar Year by R. Bindschadler et al.
- 2011/01/21: CPD: Past environmental and climatic changes during the last 7200 cal yrs BP in Adamawa Plateau (Northern-Cameroun) based on fossil diatoms and sedimentary 13C isotopic records from Lake Mbalang by V. F. Nguetsop et al.
- 2011/01/18: CPD: The early Eocene equable climate problem revisited by M. Huber & R. Caballero
- 2011/01/17: CPD: Implications of the permanent El Niño teleconnection "blueprint" for past global and North American hydroclimatology by A. Goldner et al.
- 2011/01/17: CPD: A millennial multi-proxy reconstruction of summer PDSI for Southern South America by Ã. Boucher et al.
- 2011/01/04: GRL: (ab$) Multi-decadal variability of sudden stratospheric warmings in an AOGCM by S. Schimanke et al.
- 2011/01/19: ACP: An analysis of the collection 5 MODIS over-ocean aerosol optical depth product for its implication in aerosol assimilation by Y. Shi et al.
- 2011/01/20: ACP: Attribution of observed changes in stratospheric ozone and temperature by N. P. Gillett et al.
- 2011/01/18: ACP: A very high-resolution (1 kmÃ1 km) global fossil fuel CO2 emission inventory derived using a point source database and satellite observations of nighttime lights by T. Oda & S. Maksyutov
- 2011/01/17: ACP: Transport of dust particles from the Bodélé region to the monsoon layer -- AMMA case study of the 9-14 June 2006 period by S. Crumeyrolle et al.
- 2011/01/17: ACP: Californian forest fire plumes over Southwestern British Columbia: lidar, sunphotometry, and mountaintop chemistry observations by I. McKendry et al.
- 2011/01/17: ACP: Influence of convection and aerosol pollution on ice cloud particle effective radius by J. H. Jiang et al.
- 2011/01/17: ACP: Using measurements for evaluation of black carbon modeling by S. Gilardoni et al.
- 2011/01/20: ACPD: Decreases in elemental carbon and fine particle mass in the United States by D. M. Murphy et al.
- 2011/01/19: ACPD: Effect of the summer monsoon on aerosols at two measurement stations in Northern India - Part 2: Physical and optical properties by A.-P. Hyvärinen et al.
- 2011/01/19: ACPD: Effect of the summer monsoon on aerosols at two measurement stations in Northern India - Part 1: PM and BC concentrations by A.-P. Hyvärinen et al.
- 2011/01/19: ACPD: Simulated enhancement of ENSO-related rainfall variability due to Australian dust by L. D. Rotstayn et al.
- 2011/01/19: ACPD: Absorbing aerosol in the troposphere of the Western Arctic during the 2008 ARCTAS/ARCPAC airborne field campaigns by C. S. Mc Naughton et al.
- 2011/01/18: ACPD: Mesosphere-to-stratosphere descent of odd nitrogen in February-March 2009 after sudden stratospheric warming by S.-M. Salmi et al.
- 2011/01/17: ACPD: Aerosol particle number size distributions and particulate light absorption at the ZOTTO tall tower (Siberia), 2006-2009 by J. Heintzenberg et al.
- 2011/01/17: ACPD: Role of sea surface temperature responses in simulation of the climatic effect of mineral dust aerosol by X. Yue et al.
- 2011/01/17: ACPD: A spectral method for retrieving cloud optical thickness and effective radius from surface-based transmittance measurements by P. J. McBride et al.
- 2011/01/18: PNAS: (ab$) Saccharides enhance iron bioavailability to Southern Ocean phytoplankton by Christel S. Hassler et al.
- 2011/01/18: PNAS: (ab$) Long-term effects of a trophic cascade in a large lake ecosystem by Bonnie K. Ellis et al.
- 2011/01/18: PNAS: (ab$) A scaling theory for the size distribution of emitted dust aerosols suggests climate models underestimate the size of the global dust cycle by Jasper F. Kok
- 2011/01/18: PNAS: (ab$) Nutrient regime shift in the western North Atlantic indicated by compound-specific N15 of deep-sea gorgonian corals by Owen A. Sherwood et al.
- 2011/01/19: NatureChem: (ab$) Carbon oxidation state as a metric for describing the chemistry of atmospheric organic aerosol by Jesse H. Kroll et al.
- 2010/12/30: EP(via doi): (ab$) Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part II: Reliability, system and transmission costs, and policies by Mark Z. Jacobson & Mark A. Delucchi
- 2010/12/30: EP(via doi): (ab$) Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part I: Technologies, energy resources, quantities and areas of infrastructure, and materials by Mark Z. Jacobson & Mark A. Delucchi
- 2011/01/16: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Radiative forcing and albedo feedback from the Northern Hemisphere cryosphere between 1979 and 2008 by M. G. Flanner et al.
- 2011/01/17: OS: Influence of cross-shelf water transport on nutrients and phytoplankton in the East China Sea: a model study by L. Zhao & X. Guo
- 2011/01/18: TCD: Petermann Glacier, North Greenland: massive calving in 2010 and the past half century by O. M. Johannessen et al.
- 2011/01/18: NatureCF: Our pick of the recent literature
- 2011/01/17: AGWObserver: New research from last week 2/2011
- 2011/01/16: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Retreat of the East Antarctic ice sheet during the last glacial termination by Andrew Mackintosh et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2011/01/: ED: [link to 1.4 meg pdf] Faces of Transformation: Jobs, economic renewal and cleaner air from Year One of Ontario's Green Energy Act
- 2011/01/19: TCoE: [link to 590k pdf] Doc alert: Paleoclimate Implications for Human-Made Climate Change [by James E. Hansen & Makiko Sato]
- 2010/12/07: CEO: [link to 263k pdf] Concealing their sources - who funds Europe's climate change deniers?
- 2011/01/: Tyndall Centre: [2.5 meg pdf] Shale gas: a provisional assessment of climate change and environmental impacts by Dr. Ruth Wood et al.
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2011/01/21: RealClimate: 2010 updates to model-data comparisons
- 2011/01/19: BBC: Climate scientists targeted for fraud
Fraudsters are targeting climate scientists with fake conferences in a bid to make cash and obtain details. Scientists are sent e-mail invitations and directed to a fake conference website - often written using language taken from real scientific meetings. Typically they are told their travel costs will be refunded - but they have to pay first to reserve a hotel room. London appears to be their venue of choice, with some invitations imitating the names of top hotels. - 2011/01/19: PhysOrg: Strong scientific peer review leads to better science and policy formation
- 2011/01/19: JEB: Better late...our (non-)uniform prior paper in the January Climatic Change
- 2011/01/18: JEB: Nature goes open access -- Not really, of course. But in what seems like an abrupt u-turn...
- 2011/01/17: PhysOrg: 3D model of the ionosphere F-region developed by NRL scientists
The first global simulation study of equatorial spread F (ESF) bubble evolution using a comprehensive 3D ionosphere model, SAMI3, has been demonstrated. The model self-consistently solves for the neutral wind driven dynamo electric field and the gravity driven electric field associated with plasma bubbles. - 2011/01/21: CC&G: Volcanic Solar Dimming, ENSO and Temperature Anomalies
- 2011/01/16: CC&G: Climate Charts, Data and RClimate Scripts
What's new in models?:
- 2011/01/20: SEasterbrook: Open Source Communities and Climate Models
- 2011/01/18: Guardian(UK): How much can we really trust climate models to tell us about the future?
- 2011/01/18: Yale360: Can We Trust Climate Models? Increasingly, the Answer is 'Yes'
Forecasting what the Earth's climate might look like a century from now has long presented a huge challenge to climate scientists. But better understanding of the climate system, improved observations of the current climate, and rapidly improving computing power are slowly leading to more reliable methods. - 2011/01/17: ERabett: Richard Tol
Regarding Don Easterbrook:
- 2011/01/18: MGS: Was Easterbrook talking science?
- 2011/01/17: HotTopic: Easterbrook adrift: WWU geology dept issues statement on climate change
While at the UN:
- 2011/01/17: PhysOrg: Ban Ki-moon urges clean energy revolution
- 2011/01/17: UN: Ban calls for global revolution to ensure clean energy for all
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2011/01/21: Reuters: EU bans disputed carbon offsets from May 2013
The European Commission will ban the most common type of carbon offsets, mostly from China and India, for use in the EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) from the start of May 2013, it said on Friday - 2011/01/17: NYT:CW: Proliferation of Emissions Offsets Threatens to Depress Europe's Carbon Trading
- 2011/01/17: Guardian(UK): Europe must ban flawed carbon credits
Millions of pollution permits in Europe's emissions trading scheme do very little for the environment. A vote on Friday could change that - 2011/01/21: Guardian(UK): Traders condemn EU's 'Mickey Mouse' carbon market after botched trading statement
- 2011/01/21: EurActiv: Great carbon theft may have netted 28m euros of permits
- 2011/01/21: EUO: States ban certain offset credits from EU's emission trading system
EU member states have elected to ban the use of certain emission offset credits from the bloc's emissions trading system (ETS), currently embroiled in a separate controversy over cyber-theft. The vote on Friday (21 January) means that companies will be prevented from using the emission offsets - generated through projects that destroy certain powerful greenhouse gases linked to the refrigeration industry - from 1 May 2013. EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard, who proposed the ban last November, welcomed the decision by the EU Climate Change Committee of relevant member state experts. - 2011/01/21: NatureTGB: Carbon heist derails emissions trading
- 2011/01/20: Reuters: Analysis: EU carbon theft knocks dream of global market
The discovery of widespread theft in European Union emissions trading this week may push the distant dream of a global carbon market to fight climate change even further from reality. - 2011/01/20: TerraDaily: EU disarray makes it easy for carbon credits hackers
- 2011/01/20: ENS: Hackers Force Halt to Most European Carbon Emissions Trading
- 2011/01/21: OilChange: A 30 Million Euro Joke
- 2011/01/20: EurActiv: EU locks carbon market after security breach
The European Union locked all accounts in its carbon market on Wednesday (19 January) after a security breach, seeking to protect the battered reputation of the EU's main weapon against climate change. The European Commission suspended much of its Emissions Trading Scheme, the hub of a 92-billion-euro global market, following the suspected theft of about seven million euros of emissions permits from the Czech Republic's carbon registry. This theft and a hacking attack on the Austrian registry on 10 January follows a raft of scandals to hit the market in the past two years, including VAT fraud, a phishing scam and the re-sale of used carbon credits. - 2011/01/20: EUO: Attacks force closure of EU's emissions trading system
A series of cyber-attacks on national registries where carbon permits are stored has forced the closure of the EU's emissions trading system (ETS) for at least a week. The European Commission posted the announcement on its website on Wednesday (19 January) after Czech Republic-based firm Blackstone Global Ventures said about 6.8 million euros of carbon allowances appeared to have disappeared. Thefts on electronic registries in Austria, Greece, Poland and Estonia have also been reported in recent days. "Incidents over the last weeks have underlined the urgent need" for enhanced security measures, the commission said while announcing the closure of the bloc's ETS system until at least the 26 January. - 2011/01/20: Reuters: Czech carbon registry closed indefinitely
The Czech carbon registry will remain closed for an indefinite period of time after data of account holders was manipulated and EU allowances vanished, the official who runs the registry said on Thursday. - 2011/01/20: CPositive: Brussels suspends EU carbon transactions
- 2011/01/20: PhysOrg: Hackers steal 2 million tonnes of EU carbon credits
Hackers stole two million tonnes of polluting rights in a five-day raid this week on the European Union's carbon emissions trading system, an EU source said on Thursday - 2011/01/20: Reuters: EU carbon market to reopen step by step after theft
- 2011/01/20: EarthTimes: EU temporarily shuts emissions trading system; member states blamed
- 2011/01/20: BBC: EU investigating carbon trading thefts
All carbon trading in Europe has been halted as the European Commission looks into thefts of emissions permits. The Czech carbon registry said 7m euros (£5.9m, $9.4m) of permits had seemingly been stolen by hackers on Wednesday. It followed a similar security breach in Austria on Tuesday, and prompted five countries to suspend their registries before the entire system was shut down. A Commission spokesman did not rule out the possibility of deliberate sabotage. - 2011/01/18: Reuters: Austrian emissions registry shut due to hacking
The Austrian emissions trading registry has been closed until further notice due to a hacker attack on January 10, it said on its website - 2011/01/20: PSinclair: Look for the Wind-Made Label
- 2011/01/19: Grist: Windmade is the next Fair Trade, gets backers like LEGO
The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:
- 2011/01/18: EnergyBulletin: TEQs Tradable energy quotas: A policy framework for peak oil and climate change
In international politics, rare earths are still a concern:
- 2011/01/20: FuturePundit: Toyota And Aisin Avoiding Rare Earth Elements
- 2011/01/20: NYT: China Seizes Rare Earth Mine Areas
- 2011/01/20: TechRev: New Magnets Could Solve Our Rare-Earth Problems -- Researchers are working on composites that would make strong magnets that need less of the hard-to-get ingredients
- 2011/01/19: Reuters: China 2010 rare earth exports slip, value rockets
- 2011/01/18: MWatch: China strengthens rare-earth regulation -- Government designates 11 mining blocks as 'planning regions'
- 2011/01/17: PhysOrg: Toyota developing alternative electric motor
Toyota Motor Corp., maker of the popular Prius hybrid car, is developing a new type of electric motor to cut its dependence on rare earth metals and lower costs, a company spokesman said Monday. - 2011/01/22: Rabble:SL: Why is the U.S. losing the clean energy race to China? Blame the climate cranks
- 2011/01/21: DM:CCM: Of China, Solar, and Sputnik
- 2011/01/21: AutoBG: Did China really overtake U.S as world's largest energy consumer? Looks like it
- 2011/01/19: Grist: We can't beat China at cleantech as long as GOP keeps kissing fossil-fuel ass
- 2011/01/17: Grist: Sputnik moment: Historic meeting between U.S. and China may spur a clean energy race
Obama and Jintao had a summit in DC this week. Climate wasn't publically mentioned:
- 2011/01/19: BBC: Summit misses the 'C-word'
Some fascinating threads on energy and climate change are swirling around the heads of Presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao as the two leaders convene in Washington DC. The "C-word" isn't being mentioned in despatches at all - but the E-word is... - 2011/01/17: TheHill:e2W: Energy lands prime spot on Obama-Hu agenda, official says
U.S.-China cooperation on energy -- which has been strained of late -- will be a major topic of discussion when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Washington this week, a top Energy Department official said. - 2011/01/20: NatureTGB: US, China advance science and energy agreements
- 2011/01/19: ScienceInsider: Joint U.S.-China Energy Research Takes Shape
As for GW, energy & water security:
- 2011/01/20: CSW: Republican deficit demagogue threatens to de-fund CIA climate monitoring and analysis
- 2011/01/19: CSW: The national security frame: a path forward for climate change communication?
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
- 2011/01/22: LA Times: Police spying on eco-activists causes some soul searching in Britain
Mark Kennedy spent seven years spying for Scotland Yard on militant environmentalists, but he left disillusioned. Some question such police activity in a state where citizens are already under almost constant surveillance in public. - 2011/01/17: Guardian(UK): Eco-terrorism: the non-existent threat we spend millions policing
Spying on environmental activists serves no one's interests except for big corporations. Let's end this insult to democracy - 2011/01/19: BBC: Scotland Yard has admitted giving MPs inaccurate information by denying "covert officers" were deployed at London's G20 protests in April 2009
- 2011/01/18: Guardian(UK): Last Ratcliffe-on-Soar climate protesters walk free
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
- 2011/01/22: IPSNews: Europe Begins to Run Short of Water
Half of the Czech Republic's population could face water shortages because of climate change, a top climate change expert has warned. - 2011/01/22: JFleck: Desal economics -- a question
- 2011/01/19: EnergyBulletin: Desalination: Unlocking lessons from yesterday's solution (part 1)
- 2011/01/19: Grist: Beware the water cowboys
- 2011/01/18: PlanetArk: Drinking Water In Vietnam Has Excessive Arsenic
- 2011/01/11: Slate: A Glass of Seawater. Hold the Salt -- How eco-friendly is desalination?
And on the American political front:
- 2011/01/22: BDC: Fracking bill faces industry opposition
The oil and gas industry, state regulators and landowners lined up against a bill that would require companies to say what chemicals they are pumping thousands of feet into the ground in order to extract fossil fuels and give neighbors advanced notice of when they plan to do so. Hydraulic fracturing -- or "fracking" -- has become controversial in recent years as some landowners report that their groundwater has been contaminated near oil and gas wells, and there is a growing push amongst some regulators and environmentalists for companies to disclose what chemicals they are using. But those opposed to Sen. Bob Hawks' Senate Bill 86 testified that hydraulic fracturing is safe and that the bill would saddle energy companies with delays that could cost Montana jobs and royalties. - 2011/01/22: DeSmogBlog: Common Cause Asks DOJ to Investigate Possible Conflict of Interest With Scalia and Thomas
- 2011/01/21: HuffPo: The Conversation We Should Be Having
- 2011/01/21: SolveClimate: New Mexico's About-Face on GHGs Not Expected to Hinder Regional Action
Mass firings, a controversial 90-day rule freeze, and appointment of a climate skeptic have made the new GOP governor [Susana Martinez] a lightning rod of controversy - 2011/01/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: California's Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) Review Panel releases its recommendations
- 2011/01/21: TexasTrib: Texas OKs New Wind Power Transmission Lines
- 2011/01/19: Grist: Climate denier GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain encourages you not to 'snuff your seed'
- 2011/01/19: Grist: Federal solar tax credits rule out half of Americans
- 2011/01/20: DeSmogBlog: Coal Money And Violent Rhetoric Hold Appalachia Captive to Dirty Energy
- 2011/01/19: ClimateP: Clean energy jobs soaring in California
- 2011/01/19: OilDrum: How To Create A Million Clean Energy Jobs
- 2011/01/18: NYT:GW: EPA, Calif. Defend Waiver for State's Tailpipe Standards
- 2011/01/18: ClimateP: Krugman: The Economist opposed attempts to improve public sanitation in the 19th century
- 2011/01/15: Asia Times: No hunger at the Fed
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
- 2011/01/21: NYT: No Sign They Get It
The final report from the presidential commission investigating the gulf oil spill rightly warns that government regulation alone can't prevent another such disaster. The blowout reflected industrywide weaknesses, not just BP's, it said. And what is needed is a "fundamental transformation" of industry practices putting a far higher premium on safety. - 2011/01/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: After Gulf Spill Report, Time for Balanced Talk about Standards that Keep Us Safe
- 2011/01/21: TreeHugger: Toxic Oil Spill Chemicals Showing Up In Gulf Coast Residents' Blood
- 2011/01/18: PhysOrg: Have we changed our ways after the BP oil spill? Not really
As a result of the Deepwater spill, the DOI has reconfigured the MMS:
- 2011/01/19: Grist: Obama admin creates new agencies for oil oversight
[...]
Renamed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE) last June after the oil spill, the MMS will now be split into three agencies. The first branch, whose launch was announced in October, is responsible for collecting taxes from mineral and oil exploitation. It's called the Office of Natural Resources Revenue. Salazar said the other agencies were the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management -- handling permits and environmental studies -- and the Bureau of Safety and Environment Enforcement -- responsible for enforcing safety and environmental regulations. - 2011/01/20: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Salazar's Efforts to Reorganize the MMS Must Go Further
- 2011/01/19: WaPo: Interior Dept. unveils two agencies to oversee offshore drilling, safety
Wrangling over coal continues:
- 2011/01/21: MoJo: How to Rack Up 557 Safety Violations and Not Get Shut Down -- Why Massey Energy and other serial mine-safety offenders have been getting off easy
- 2011/01/21: CCP: West Virginia mountain-top removal coal mining equals job removal, job killer, bad health, polluted streams
- 2011/01/20: DeSmogBlog: Coal Money And Violent Rhetoric Hold Appalachia Captive to Dirty Energy
- 2011/01/19: DeSmogBlog: Arch Coal Ignored Low-Cost Alternative Coal Mine Design In Order To Save 55 Cents a Ton
- 2011/01/17: WVGazette: Spruce Mine could have reduced impacts, report says
Arch Coal Inc. could have cut the stream damage from its proposed Spruce Mine in half without significantly increasing coal-production costs, according to a previously secret engineering report prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. - 2011/01/18: WVGazette:CT: Spruce Mine Veto: Engineering study shows Arch Coal could have greatly reduced impacts at little cost
- 2011/01/18: HuffPo: 55 Cents: The Cost of Big Coal Hubris, Disgraced West Virginian Pols and Betrayed Coalfield Residents
It doesn't get any clearer than this: Despite posting over $700 million in earnings for 2010, the second highest in company history, Arch Coal reportedly refused to consider paying an extra 55 cents a ton for coal in order to meet proper EPA and Clean Water Act standards for a controversial mountaintop removal operation in West Virginia. - 2011/01/18: CCP: 55 Cents: The Cost of Big Coal Hubris, Disgraced West Virginian Pols and Betrayed Coalfield Residents
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
- 2011/01/22: TreeHugger: GE's Jeffrey Immelt, Green Energy Proponent, Becomes Obama Advisor
- 2011/01/20: TheHill:e2W: Enviros call on Obama to defend climate rules in State of the Union
- 2011/01/21: ClimateP: NPR's Steve Inskeep, Politifact's Bill Adair mock Obama's pledge to fight global warming extinctions
- 2011/01/21: ClimateP: Letter to the President: "The nation's biggest polluters and some members of Congress have launched an unprecedented attack on the Clean Air Act"
- 2011/01/18: Guardian(UK): Obama orders review of environmental, health and safety regulations
- 2011/01/18: ClimateP: Obama: The benefits of health, safety and environment regulations "exceed their costs by billions of dollars." [WSJ oped]
- 2011/01/18: Grist: In his Wall Street Journal op-ed, Obama moves to the right on regulation
- 2011/01/17: CSW: On the White House Scientific Integrity guidelines - Part 4: Sources, Documents, Further Information
- 2011/01/17: CSW: On the White House Scientific Integrity guidelines - Part 3: OMB as a Force for Secrecy
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2011/01/22: RRapier: EPA Expands E15 Decree
- 2011/01/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: EPA continues to move down risky E15 path
- 2011/01/18: TheHill:e2W: EPA 'confident' Obama reg policy won't affect new climate rules
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is "confident" it will not have to alter current or pending environmental regulations, including upcoming climate rules, as part of the new regulatory review framework President Obama outlined Tuesday. - 2011/01/18: NRDC:SwitchBoard: EPA Enforces the Clean Water Act, Predictable Attacks on Agency Authority Follow
- 2011/01/19: NatureTGB: Coal mining companies fight back against [MTR] permit veto
- 2011/01/18: DeSmogBlog: West Virginia Politicians Vow To Fight Dirty On Coal, While EPA Enforces Laws To Protect Appalachian Residents
- 2011/01/17: ClimateP: $#*! My Texas AG Says: "It is almost the height of insanity of bureaucracy to have the EPA regulating something that is emitted by all living things."
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2011/01/21: ENS: House Republicans Would Slash Ten Environmental Programs
- 2011/01/21: ClimateP: Republican Study Committee proposes unilateral disarmament to China in innovation, clean energy
- 2011/01/21: WtD: There will be no US Congressional investigation into "Climategate": or how global warming sceptics got duped
- 2011/01/20: TheHill:e2W: Rockefeller 'supportive' of Manchin's [MTR] mining permit effort
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is backing Senate colleague Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) effort to curb EPA's power to block coal-mining projects. - 2011/01/21: Grist: 10 GOP presidential contenders, 10 different ways to screw the climate
- 2011/01/20: Grist: The Voldemort budget plan -- House Republicans seek cuts to Energy Star, weatherization, advanced energy research, puppies
- 2011/01/20: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Upton's Upside Down Agenda
- 2011/01/21: ScienceInsider: Four Freshmen Grab Leadership Posts on House Science Committee
- 2011/01/20: CSW: House Republican group proposes to kill U.S. funding for the IPCC -- and a great deal more
- 2011/01/21: ERabett: Department of catching up on Eli's reading
- 2011/01/20: TEC: Congress to Push Back on Fed, State Climate Regulations -- Upton's Upside Down Agenda
- 2011/01/21: BCLSB: GOP War On Science Has Officially Been Declared
- 2011/01/20: McClatchyDC: With health care 'repealed,' GOP turns to climate change
- 2011/01/20: BBickmore: Sound Off on Senator Buttars
- 2011/01/20: NRDC:SwitchBoard: GOP plots polluter strategy with energy lobbyists
- 2011/01/20: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Upton's Plan is a Pain at the Pump
- 2011/01/20: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Latest Dirty Air Deeds...
- 2011/01/20: CSW: Republican deficit demagogue threatens to de-fund CIA climate monitoring and analysis
- 2011/01/19: TheHill:e2W: House Energy panel to take aim at Obama climate change regulations
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) plans to take dead aim at the Environmental Protection Agency's climate change regulations this year, according to a document obtained by The Hill laying out the panel's 2011 agenda. - 2011/01/20: DeSmogBlog: Is The Energy Industry Writing Policy Again?
- 2011/01/18: Thehill:e2W: Senate Democrat calls for vanquishing 'Frankenfish'
- 2011/01/19: BBickmore: Orrin Hatch on Marc Morano's IPCC Dissenters
- 2011/01/19: ClimateP: Darrell Issa (R-CA) slams 'failed' GOP energy policy
- 2011/01/19: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Sen. Scott Brown: Stand Up for Clean Air, Not Polluters
- 2011/01/19: CCurrents: House Rhetoricians v. Santa's Reindeers
- 2011/01/18: BBickmore: Orrin Hatch's Response
- 2011/01/17: DP: Senators target Cuccinelli's UVa probe
- 2011/01/17: CCP: "Dear [Senator] Joe Manchin (D-WV), Arch Coal Has A Plan, And It Is Not You" (from Appalachian Voices)
While in the UK:
- 2011/01/22: BBC: Survey finds opposition to privatisation of forests
A majority of the public opposes plans to sell some of England's forests, a survey suggests. Three-quarters of the 2,000 polled by YouGov for the 38 Degrees pressure group said they were against the plans. Ministers want to transfer power from the Forestry Commission, which owns 18% of woodlands, to the private sector, saying this will boost public control. A public consultation begins next week and a bill to enable the sale is due to go before the House of Lords. - 2011/01/21: DeSmogBlog: Britain Ignores Tyndall Centre Report Urging Shale Gas Moratorium At Its Own Peril
- 2011/01/21: EnergyBulletin: If Britain starts fuel rationing, could US be next?
- 2011/01/18: FT:ES: British lawmakers propose energy rationing
A group of MPs have suggested that the UK should introduce a system of energy rationing to deal with what they view as impending energy and climate crises. Under the proposed system, a set number of tradeable energy quotas (TEQs) would be issued and used to purchase energy, whether through fuel or electricity. The amount of energy being used would essentially be capped, and anyone wishing to use more than their personal allowance would have to pay a market rate for that. - 2011/01/19: SolveClimate: [Tyndall Centre] Report Questions Role of Shale Gas as Bridge to Low Carbon Future
- 2011/01/19: ScienceInsider: U.K. Scientists: Budget Threatens Facilities
- 2011/01/16: BBC: Tyndall Centre calls for UK shale gas moratorium
And in Europe:
- 2011/01/20: EurActiv: EU hunkers down for crunch energy summit
Europe's lagging energy efficiency standards are emerging as a key issue ahead of a February meeting of EU heads of state, EurActiv has learned. - 2011/01/20: PlanetArk: EU Delays Tackling Air Pollution To 2012 Or Later
- 2011/01/19: EurActiv: German minister calls for power grid expansion
- 2011/01/18: EarthTimes: EU states should pool details of energy deals, draft says
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2011/01/21: ABC(Au): Major project status has been revoked for a proposed wind farm at Sellicks Hill, just south of Adelaide.
The project was approved in 2003 and was to have 20 wind turbines each 100 metres high. South Australian Planning Minister Paul Holloway says there have been delays for seven years and it is no longer appropriate to grant further extension of the development approval. - 2011/01/20: ABC(Au): New levees, dams could protect towns: Bligh
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says she wants small towns to be better protected from flooding in the future. - 2011/01/20: TreeHugger: Australia Gives BP Deepwater Oil Exploration Approval, As US Revamps Offshore Drilling Oversight
- 2011/01/19: ABC(Au): Katter rubbishes Greens' call for flood tax
The Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter, says the Greens' link between the floods and coal mining is ridiculous. - 2011/01/19: PlanetArk: Australia Government Weighs Levy For Flood Damage: Report
- 2011/01/19: ABC(Au): Queensland on alert for more wild weather
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says the state is on alert for more extreme weather in coming months. She says severe weather patterns are expected across the state as the wet season rolls on. - 2011/01/18: ABC(Au): Queensland coal gas decision postponed by floods
The State Government has delayed a decision on the future of an underground coal gasification (UCG) plant at Kingaroy, north of Toowoomba in southern Queensland, due to the floods - 2011/01/18: PeakEnergy: BP given permit to drill for oil off South Australia
- 2011/01/18: Reuters: Wage and inflation risks loom after Australia floods
- 2011/01/17: CBC: BP wins first offshore Australia permits -- Government warns it wants higher safety standards than used in Gulf of Mexico
The issues of water conservation, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, etc. remain lively during the floods:
- 2011/01/21: ABC(Au): The Independent MP Tony Windsor said the Murray Darling Basin Authority is fast losing credibility
- 2011/01/18: ABC(Au): Drought water policy 'unsuited' to flooding
The Murray-Darling Association thinks state powers to restrict water used by irrigators should be able to be overruled by the Basin Authority. Association general secretary Ray Najar has appeared at a Federal Parliamentary inquiry at Murray Bridge into future water use in the Basin. - 2011/01/18: ABC(Au): Goulburn Murray Water is urging its irrigation customers to be patient as it deals with moving massive volumes of floodwater through the system
- 2011/01/18: ABC(Au): Farmers have reacted angrily to a suggestion that meters be installed on their dams to charge them for water use
- 2011/01/17: ABC(Au): Murray-Darling Basin hearings get underway
The Parliamentary Inquiry into the impact of the Murray Darling Basin Plan will begin hearings in South Australia today. Its Chairman, New England MP Tony Windsor, says more than 500 submissions have been received so far and he expects more. - 2011/01/18: ABC(Au): Broken Hill's reservoirs both full for first time in 18 years
- 2011/01/17: ABC(Au): South West farmers will vie for additional water allocations at an auction after the South West endured its driest year on record
- 2011/01/17: ABC(Au): The South Australian Opposition says it is time to get rid of a temporary bund at the Lower Lakes to allow floodwaters heading down the Murray to flush out Lake Albert
- 2011/01/17: ABC(Au): The chairman of a federal inquiry into the Murray-Darling Basin plan [Independent MP Tony Windsor] says states must be prepared to compromise to secure the river system's long-term future
While in the Indian subcontinent:
- 2011/01/21: CCurrents: Putting India's Food Security At Stake
- 2011/01/19: BBC: Indian PM reshuffles cabinet amid rising food prices
- 2011/01/18: BBC: India plans Asian tidal power first -- The Indian state of Gujurat is planning to host Asia's first commercial-scale tidal power station
And in China:
- 2011/01/19: TEC: China waves caution flag on pace of nuclear new build
- 2011/01/19: ABC(Au): China urged to boost drought relief
- 2011/01/19: EarthTimes: China, world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter introduces more pollution controls
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2011/01/17: CBC: Canadian Polar Commission seeks stronger role
The G20 controversy lingers:
- 2011/01/22: APOV: Can You Tell Me Where My Country Lies?
- 2011/01/21: MediaCoop: Byron Sonne: behind bars since the G20 Summit
- 2011/01/22: DVoice: Canadian Police Repression of Leftists
- 2011/01/21: CBC: G20 officer: 'This ain't Canada right now'
A police oversight body is probing the comments of a police officer who was caught on YouTube telling a man who refused to be searched during the G20 summit, "This ain't Canada right now." The video shows a verbal confrontation between Paul Figueiras and York Regional Police officers working summit duty in downtown Toronto, about a block from the security perimeter. One officer tells Figueiras that police need to search his backpack, but he refuses. "You haven't opened up your bag, so take off," the officer says to the man. When the man refers to being in Canada, the officer replies: "This ain't Canada right now." - 2011/01/21: OrwellsBastard: Now that the tribal display is over ...
- 2011/01/20: TStar: G20 officer: 'This ain't Canada right now'
A G20 incident caught on video that shows a York Regional Police officer telling a protester he is no longer in Canada and has no civil rights is under investigation. - 2011/01/21: CBC: Enbridge confirms Chinese investment in [Northern Gateway] pipeline
Shares in Calgary-based Enbridge rose Friday, a day after it disclosed that state-owned Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner, is an investor in its proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project. - 2011/01/17: SolveClimate: Clinton Ties to [Keystone XL] Pipeline Lobbyist Obscured by Questionable FOIA Denial -- FOIA expert says the State Department lacks sufficient grounds for denying the request
Regarding the Tories ethical oil PR campaign:
- 2011/01/19: WpgFP: 'Ethical oil' claim misleads -- There's nothing ethical about Canada's "ethical oil."
- 2011/01/18: TreeHugger: Critics Respond To Canadian Government's Shilling of Tar Sands as "Ethical Oil"
- 2011/01/17: KChapman: Peter Kent Steps In It Over Oil Sands & It Will Stick to Him
- 2011/01/17: DeSmogBlog: Why We Need to Stop Calling Tar Sands Oil "Ethical Oil"
- 2011/01/17: HillTimes: Kent talked up 'ethical oil' sands a week before his official department briefing
Environmentalists say there's little doubt Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave him his marching orders to begin selling the image of 'ethical oil' to the U.S. and beyond. - 2011/01/20: CBC: Bruce Power CEO [Duncan Hawthorne]: Move ahead with reactor
The CEO of Bruce Power says the federal government and the province of Ontario should be able to reconcile their differences and make Canada's nuclear power agency more attractive for sale. - 2011/01/19: CBC: AECL reactor orders blocked by Ottawa: McGuinty -- Premier says Ontario still wants to buy 2 nuclear power plants
- 2011/01/17: TEC: Government rejects bargain basement bids by Bruce Power and SNC-Lavalin Group
- 2011/01/17: PostMedia: Feds blame Ontario as AECL sale unravels
- 2011/01/17: OSun: Feds killing Ontario nuclear industry: critics
Ottawa's handling of negotiations to sell Atomic Energy Canada Limited is threatening jobs and frustrating Ontario's multi-billion dollar plan to refurbish its nuclear plants and purchase two new reactors, stakeholders say. "The Tories are so eager to privatize AECL they don't care if they destroy the whole industry," said Michael Ivanco, vice-president of the Society of Professional Engineers and Associates, which represents 1,200 AECL engineers and other technical experts. Ivanco, along with the Ontario government and the Organization of CANDU Industries (OCI) -- a lobby group that represents 160 Canadian companies -- expressed their frustration Monday with the lack of support the industry has been getting from the feds. - 2011/01/21: CBC: Hundreds of Igor claims still under review -- Provincial claim deadline gone, but flexible
Newfoundland and Labrador officials are still sorting through claims to cover damage from Hurricane Igor. The province has made decisions on about half of the 2,000 claims that were filed after Hurricane Igor slammed eastern Newfoundland on Sept. 21. Friday Jan. 14 was the deadline to apply for government aid but provincial officials said Thursday that late applications might be accepted, depending on the circumstances. Officials believe the storm caused $100 million in damage to homes, roads and communities. - 2011/01/20: SciAm: Experts Criticize Evidence Used to Diagnose a Suspected Leak at One of the World's Largest CO2 Storage Sites
Citing a lack of information, scientists argue a consultant's conclusion that Saskatchewan's Weyburn oil field is leaking greenhouse gas is unfounded - 2011/01/21: TreeHugger: Scientists Disagree Over Canadian Carbon Sequestration Project Leak
- 2011/01/19: DeSmogBlog: [PTRC] Researchers Say "No Evidence" of Weyburn CO2 Leak
- 2011/01/19: Tyee: More Fizz to Saskatchewan Carbon Storage Controversy
Group overseeing project says it will refute study saying CO2 is bubbling back to surface. - 2011/01/17: CBC: Sask. CO2 storage probed over alleged leak
An independent group will investigate claims from a Saskatchewan couple that gas from a carbon dioxide capture operation is leaking at their farm. The International Performance Assessment Centre for Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide, also known as IPAC, is putting together a team to examine the Weyburn carbon capture and storage project. That's where energy giant Cenovus injects CO2 into the ground to enhance oil recovery and fight climate change. Cameron and Jane Kerr, who own nearby land, released a report last week that claims to link high concentrations of carbon dioxide in their soil to the injected gas. - 2011/01/17: Idaho:ITD: Director Ness accepts hearing officer recommendation to issue permits on U.S. 12
Idaho Transportation Department Director Brian W. Ness accepted the recommendations of a hearing officer and will allow ConocoPhillips to ship four oversized loads on U.S. 12 beginning Monday. The ruling concludes five months of court and administrative hearings on whether to allow the shipments. - 2011/01/19: PostMedia: Smart-meter plan's costs covered by savings: Hydro
BC Hydro is proceeding on the premise that its $930-million plan to install so-called smart electricity meters for its 1.5 million customers will pay for itself through cost savings and not a rate increase, according to its business plan. BC Hydro released its business case for implementing the promised smart-meter program Tuesday, which estimates cost savings will pay for the meters, then generate $520 million for the utility by 2033. Smart meters will be installed for all customers by the end of 2012 and savings are expected to come from the elimination of manual meter reading, reduction in electricity theft and more efficient usage. Automating meter reading, for instance, is expected to save $222 million over the period of the business case. And Hydro calculates that it will be able to save an additional $732 million from detecting the theft of electricity. - 2011/01/20: Economist: Canada's tar sands - Muck and brass
Rising oil prices and falling production costs favour the extraction of oil from Alberta's tar sands. But environmental objections are fierce - 2011/01/20: ClimateP: Tar sands investor BP says their projected future of unlimited carbon pollution "is a wake-up call, not something any of us would like to see happening."
- 2011/01/18: CCP: Oil Change International estimates that ConocoPhilliips has derived 71% of its liquids reserves from Canada's tar sands over the past 5 years (ExxonMobil (51%), Shell (34%), Total (26%), Chevron (7%))
- 2011/01/17: Tyee: Why Six Petro Giants Are Obsessed with Oil Sands
Boxed out of most global oil plays, ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, ConocoPhillips and Chevron see their fates tied to Alberta crude. - 2011/01/18: CBC: Major flooding expected on Red River
The likelihood of significant Red River flooding has risen once again in North Dakota and Minnesota, the National Weather Service said Tuesday in its latest outlook. - 2011/01/18: WpgFP: Likelihood of significant Red River flooding rises in N. Dakota, Minnesota
Ontario has it's Green Energy Act, now comes the implementation:
- 2011/01/: ED: [link to 1.4 meg pdf] Faces of Transformation: Jobs, economic renewal and cleaner air from Year One of Ontario's Green Energy Act
While in la Belle Province:
- 2011/01/21: CBC: Shale gas ban mulled by Quebec
In the Maritimes:
- 2011/01/19: CBC: [Informal] Shale gas exploration meeting planned [in New Brunswick]
The New Brunswick government is holding a public meeting over the controversial issue of shale gas exploration in southern New Brunswick. The contentious issue of shale gas development, through a process known in the industry as hydraulic fracturing, has drawn protests and calls for tougher rules. Natural Resources Minister Bruce Northrup and Environment Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney announced the informal public session on Tuesday. - 2011/01/17: CBC: Shoreline flooding will only get worse: scientist
Flooding along from storm surges on the P.E.I. shoreline is going to become more common and get more expensive, says Jeff Ollerhead, dean of science at Mount Allison University. - 2011/01/22: CCurrents: What If We Stopped Fighting For Preservation And Fought Economic Growth Instead?
- 2011/01/22: CCurrents: The Last Industrial Civilization
- 2011/01/21: CCurrents: The Interactive Ecological Predicament
- 2011/01/22: AlterNet: Vision: The Future Is Becoming More Clear -- Abandon Sprawl, Intensify Use of High Speed Rail and Return to Urban Life, Like the US Was in the '20s
- 2011/01/09: DailyKos: Neo-feudalism and neo-nihilism
- 2011/01/18: CCurrents: Wealth Is No Protection Against Future Dangers - Part II
- 2010/12/15: CCurrents: Wealth Is No Protection Against Future Dangers - Part 1
- 2011/01/17: CCurrents: Protect The Commons
- 2011/01/19: DVoice: Downsize or Modify? A Conversation with Noam Chomsky
- 2011/01/18: RWER: Debate: Should GNP growth no longer be a goal in advanced economies? -- Phase 2
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2011/01/22: Independent(UK): 2.4 billion extra people, no more land: how will we feed the world in 2050?
- 2011/01/21: CCurrents: Population Redux
- 2011/01/21: CCurrents: One Planet, Too Many People?
- 2011/01/21: BBC:RB: H for 'human': The missing climate link?
- 2011/01/21: EnergyBulletin: Population: one planet, too many people? (report)
- 2011/01/18: EarthTimes: Too Many People? Engineers to the rescue! By 2050, our cities will be so overcrowded that food production will have to double, as will our energy infrastructure; demand for water, meanwhile, is expected to rise by 30% by 2030. That's according to a report recently published by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) entitled Population: One Planet, Too Many People? which calls on governments to take action now on the way we manage our resources and handle human development.
- 2011/01/20: EnergyBulletin: The onset of catabolic collapse
- 2011/01/18: MTobis: World Doomed; No Action Required
- 2011/01/19: CCurrents: Not Yet Time To Give Up Hope: Noam Chomsky
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
- 2011/01/19: GreenGrok: Fox News Warns of Accelerating 'Global Warming'
- 2011/01/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: An Open Challenge to the Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal
- 2011/01/21: DeSmogBlog: CanadaFreePress Grovels in Apology to Weaver
- 2011/01/19: CCP: Scientific American goes off the rails AGAIN! and publishes obscure meta-report from equally obscure Argentinian source -- has everyone noticed how SciAm is hardly scientific anymore?
- 2011/01/19: CCP: Example of The Guardian getting the headline completely WRONG!
- 2011/01/18: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science 56: "Global Warming is dead"
Here is something for your library:
- 2011/01/19: ClimateSight: The Unofficial Climate Change Book Awards
- 2011/01/19: ClimateP: [Book Plug] _The Inquisition of Climate Science_ by James Powell
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2011/01/22: PSinclair: Climate Fueled Floods Cause Food, Energy Prices to Soar
- 2011/01/21: ClimateShifts: "Climate Change Impacts on Ocean Ecosystems" session at the NCSE meeting
- 2011/01/21: SkeptiSci: The Climate Show #5: Green roofs and Brisbane floods
- 2011/01/21: HotTopic: The Climate Show #5: on a hot wet green roof
- 2011/01/20: HotTopic: Why dealing with climate change is difficult (spinach tarts and ice cream)
- 2011/01/19: PSinclair: Climate Voices: From Taiwan to Canada
- 2011/01/19: Grist: What is a 'normal' climate? Definitions are changing [video]
- 2011/01/19: TreeHugger: Fox News Goes Fact Free on EPA Authority, Drilling (Video)
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2011/01/23: MSN(Ph): Climate change: Dogs of law are off the leash
- 2011/01/22: DeSmogBlog: Common Cause Asks DOJ to Investigate Possible Conflict of Interest With Scalia and Thomas
- 2011/01/20: PoliticsRespun: If Nature Has Rights, Climate Change Has A New Consequence
- 2011/01/20: NatureTGB: NASA wins right to investigate scientists
- 2011/01/19: ENS: Judge Sides With Coal Industry Against EPA Clean Water Standards
- 2011/01/19: NW: US Supreme Court says NASA background security checks do not go too far
Background security checks are reasonable and long-standing in public and private service, Supreme Court rules - 2011/01/18: NYT: Judge Allows Mountaintop-Removal Lawsuit to Proceed
Mining companies can proceed with their challenge to U.S. EPA's new policies on mountaintop-removal coal mining, a federal judge has ruled in a preliminary decision that says EPA may have exceeded its legal authority. It appears EPA changed the permitting process for coal mines without following the usual procedural steps, says the ruling (pdf), which was issued Friday by Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The National Mining Association (NMA) appears likely to prevail on that point if the case goes forward, Walton wrote. But he concluded the plaintiffs have not proved that the agency's actions have caused them harm, so the agency will be allowed to continue for the time being with its crackdown on water quality issues related to the controversial practice. A decision that EPA failed to follow procedural rules would be a significant rebuke to the Obama administration, which has maintained that the projects violate the Clean Water Act. - 2011/01/19: TreeHugger: National Mining Association Lawsuit Against EPA Action on Mountaintop Removal Mining Can Proceed
- 2011/01/18: CCP: Climate change lawsuits. Claimants look to courts to recoup losses
Among the non-members of Gamblers Anonymous:
- 2011/01/18: ClimateP: How many major scientific misstatements does Joe Bastardi have to make before In-Accuweather fires him as their chief long-range forecaster?
As expected, he rejects my bet. He says that if he's wrong, he'll be "driven from the field." - 2011/01/17: ClimateP: I accept Joe Bastardi's wager on global warming -- and I also challenge him to one on Arctic sea ice
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
- 2011/01/23: OilDrum: Tech Talk - Venezuelan natural gas production
- 2011/01/19: BP: Emerging Economies to Lead Energy Growth to 2030 and Renewables to Out-Grow Oil, Says BP Analysis
- 2011/01/21: TEC: Fueling the World's Growth [BP Energy Outlook 2030]
- 2011/01/17: RRapier: Who, How, and Why: $140 Oil and $5 Gas
- 2011/01/22: CCurrents: If Britain Starts Fuel Rationing, Could US Be Next?
- 2011/01/18: FT:ES: British lawmakers propose energy rationing
A group of MPs have suggested that the UK should introduce a system of energy rationing to deal with what they view as impending energy and climate crises. Under the proposed system, a set number of tradeable energy quotas (TEQs) would be issued and used to purchase energy, whether through fuel or electricity. The amount of energy being used would essentially be capped, and anyone wishing to use more than their personal allowance would have to pay a market rate for that. - 2011/01/21: EarthTimes: Nepal blames low rainfall for rolling power cuts
- 2011/01/21: OilDrum: Renewables Won't Keep the Lights On
- 2011/01/18: PoliticsRespun: How Do We Move From Dirty Energy to Clean Energy?
- 2011/01/19: GTM: BP: Renewables Grow Faster than Fossil, But Stay in Minority -- It's the energy outlook for 2030
- 2011/01/20: Yale360: Green Energy's Big Challenge: The Daunting Task of Scaling Up
To shift the global economy from fossil fuels to renewable energy will require the construction of wind, solar, nuclear, and other installations on a vast scale, significantly altering the face of the planet. Can these new forms of energy approach the scale needed to meet the world's energy demands? - 2011/01/19: NBF: BP has an energy projection to 2030 and a Stanford delusion for 2030 [Jacoboson]
- 2011/01/19: PhysOrg: Study claims 100 percent renewable energy possible by 2030
- 2011/01/19: TCoE: Doc pre-alert: The [Exxon] Outlook for Energy: A View to 2030
- 2011/01/19: PhysOrg: India aims for Asia's biggest tidal power plant
- 2011/01/18: ENS: Western Watersheds Project Sues to Stop Solar Power Towers
- 2011/01/18: EconBrowser: How much are gasoline prices weighing on consumers?
- 2011/01/18: CCP: Oil Change International estimates that ConocoPhilliips has derived 71% of its liquids reserves from Canada's tar sands over the past 5 years (ExxonMobil (51%), Shell (34%), Total (26%), Chevron (7%))
- 2011/01/18: TreeHugger: Jargon Watch: "Drive-by Energy Audit"
- 2011/01/18: EarthTimes: Household sewage as a vast energy resource
- 2011/01/18: Eureka: Breakthrough in converting heat waste to electricity -- Automotive, chemical, brick and glass industries could benefit from scientific discovery
- 2011/01/18: PeakEnergy: Floating tidal power plant opened in Norway
- 2011/01/16: SeekingAlpha: Global Oil Production Update
For oil production data-heads the EIA's decision to terminate the International Petroleum Monthly has produced a small tremor. Yes, the data supposedly will be available each month through one of EIA's databrowsers. However, these embedded browsers are actually not as user-friendly as the EIA might assume. For chart-makers like myself, we need Excel files. And many of us hope (and assume) there will be an extractable Excel file for global crude oil production data once the transition is made. For now, EIA has just produced its last IPM (December 2010) which updates data through October of 2010. - 2011/01/18: CBC: IEA raises oil demand forecast [to 89.1 mb/day, up from 87.7 million in 2010]
- 2011/01/17: CBC: Alaska pipeline resumes flow -- Oil was once again flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline Monday
- 2011/01/17: PhysOrg: Ban Ki-moon urges clean energy revolution
- 2011/01/17: SolveClimate: Clinton Ties to [Keystone XL] Pipeline Lobbyist Obscured by Questionable FOIA Denial -- FOIA expert says the State Department lacks sufficient grounds for denying the request
- 2011/01/17: OilChange: Reserves Replacement Ratio: past its sell-by date?
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2011/01/21: MSN: Shareholder groups press gas drillers on fracking
- 2011/01/22: BDC: Fracking bill faces industry opposition
- 2011/01/21: CBC: Shale gas ban mulled by Quebec
- 2011/01/21: DeSmogBlog: Britain Ignores Tyndall Centre Report Urging Shale Gas Moratorium At Its Own Peril
- 2011/01/19: OilChange: Opponents to Fracking Disclosure Take Big Money From Industry
- 2011/01/19: CBC: [Informal] Shale gas exploration meeting planned [in New Brunswick]
- 2011/01/19: SolveClimate: [Tyndall Centre] Report Questions Role of Shale Gas as Bridge to Low Carbon Future
- 2011/01/18: EurActiv: Protests spread over first European shale gas well
While the EU is looking at ways to diversify its energy supply, a new report has called for a moratorium on shale gas operations in the UK, just a month before mining company Cuadrilla hopes to launch its first "flare". A paper by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research warns that further research on the environmental impacts of the drilling procedure is needed before a green light is given to any projects. But the UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change has accepted assurances from Cuadrilla that their operation in the Bowland shale, just four miles from Blackpool, Lancashire, will cause no environmental damage. - 2011/01/17: Guardian(UK): Warning over UK shale gas projects
Co-op report comes as mining company Cuadrillo Resources prepares to begin more drilling at a find near Blackpool, Lancashire, which it says is the first true shale gas find in Europe - 2011/01/: Tyndall Centre: [2.5 meg pdf] Shale gas: a provisional assessment of climate change and environmental impacts by Dr. Ruth Wood et al.
- 2011/01/16: NRDC:SwitchBoard: More reports of human health symptoms linked to natural gas operations
- 2011/01/16: BBC: Tyndall Centre calls for UK shale gas moratorium
The UK government should put a moratorium on shale gas operations until the environmental implications are fully understood, a report says. The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research report comes amid reports a firm has found reserves in Lancashire. In the US, officials are investigating claims that shale gas drilling has polluted water supplies. - 2011/01/20: EarthTimes: Britain leads as EU offshore wind power has record year, study says
- 2011/01/20: Eureka: Study yields better turbine spacing for large wind farms
- 2011/01/20: REA: Offshore Wind Booming in Europe
- 2011/01/18: KP: BPA won't pay negative prices to get wind power producers to curtail [during overgeneration events]
- 2011/01/18: PSinclair: Graph of the Day -- Cost of [Wind] Energy and Cumulative Domestic Capacity
- 2011/01/17: REA:The Wind Industry Blows Steadily Over to Asia
The 90's was the decade of German dominance in wind. The 2000's saw the emergence of America as a leader in installations. And as the new decade unfolds, the balance of power is shifting to China. - 2011/01/20: TEC: The Impact of PV Solar on Peak Electric Demands
- 2011/01/20: Eureka: Insect eyes inspire improved solar cells -- Anti-reflective film based on moth eyes increases efficiency of photovoltaics
- 2011/01/19: REA:Are Solar Renewable Energy Credits [SRECs] the Future of U.S. Solar Policy?
SREC-based solar programs are increasingly popular. As pioneering states get more experience, many are wondering if SREC-only structures will win out, or if a hybrid approach will be the best solution - 2011/01/19: Eureka: New [cerium oxide] reactor paves the way for efficiently producing fuel from sunlight
- 2011/01/18: PlanetArk: Conservation Group Sues To Stop California Solar Plant
- 2011/01/17: Yahoo:Reuters: Conservation group sues to stop California [Brightsource Energy's 370-megawatt Ivanpah] solar plant
Feed-In-Tariffs are being variously implemented around the world:
- 2011/01/20: REA: Uganda Launches Sophisticated Feed-in Tariff Program
- 2011/01/21: REA: German Government Warns of Deeper FIT Cuts
- 2011/01/20: PhysOrg: Germany to cut solar subsidies to households
Germany plans to slash subsidies paid to households generating electricity with their own solar panels by up to 15 percent, and six months earlier than planned, the government said Thursday. - 2011/01/20: TEC: Feed in tariffs friend or foe?
- 2011/01/19: EarthTimes: German solar power producers agree to subsidy cuts
- 2011/01/18: ClimateP: CLEAN Contracts: Making clean local electricity accessible now with feed-in-tariffs
- 2011/01/17: REA: Turkey Adopts Limited Feed [feed-in tariff policy] Law
On the coal front:
- 2011/01/21: CCP: West Virginia mountain-top removal coal mining equals job removal, job killer, bad health, polluted streams
- 2011/01/20: DeSmogBlog: Coal Money And Violent Rhetoric Hold Appalachia Captive to Dirty Energy
- 2011/01/19: DeSmogBlog: Arch Coal Ignored Low-Cost Alternative Coal Mine Design In Order To Save 55 Cents a Ton
- 2011/01/19: OilChange: Nat King Coal - Nathaniel Rothschild
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2011/01/22: NBF: Joule Unlimited Claims to have engineered cyanobacterium that will produce biofuel equal to $30 barrel oil
- 2011/01/21: Reuters: Biofuel jatropha falls from wonder-crop pedestal
Jatropha, a biofuel-producing plant once touted as a wonder-crop, is turning out to be much less dependable than first thought, both environmentalists and industry players say. - 2011/01/22: CleanBreak: Joule is cool, but not alone in quest for sunlight-to-fuel "game-changer"
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2011/01/20: TEC: Small Modular Reactors Sail into Headwinds at Savannah River
- 2011/01/20: WNN: Deep sea fission [underwater reactor]
- 2011/01/18: NBF: Uranium from Seawater and current flow in the Ocean
- 2011/01/18: TEC: Overcoming Mythology - Real Analysis Regarding Carbon Intensity of Uranium Fuel Cycle
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2011/01/20: TreeHugger: Could Inefficiency Save Us From Peak Oil?
- 2011/01/19: TreeHugger: Does Peak Oil Mean an End to Economic Growth? Richard Heinberg (Video)
- 2011/01/19: FCNP: The Peak Oil Crisis: It's Not Adding Up!
[...]
The official bottom line is that IEA's conservative estimate says the world will be consuming 89.1 million b/d this year, while currently producing 88.1. - 2011/01/18: CCurrents: Peak Prices Or Production Peak? Ominous Signs For Oil At The Start Of 2011
- 2011/01/18: RWER: Chart of the week: Peak oil in 2005? Global average annunal crude oil production 2001 - 2010
- 2011/01/17: OilDrum: No peak oil yet? The limits of the Hubbert model
- 2011/01/16: EnergyBulletin: A dramatic shift in the peak oil discussion: "You don't have to take my word for it"
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2011/01/19: LA Times:M&C: California switches off 100-watt bulb for new incandescents
- 2011/01/18: TreeHugger: GE Contest Seeks Best Ideas for Home Energy Efficiency & Using Renewable Electricity
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2011/01/21: WaPo: Can U.S. automakers build a small car in this country? GM thinks so.
- 2011/01/21: TreeHugger: Mitsubishi Getting Serious About Electrification, Will Launch 8 New Models in Next 5 Years
- 2011/01/21: AutoBG: EnerTrac hub motors Catavolt into electric motorcycle racing big time
- 2011/01/19: AutoBG: Electric car pages on Wikipedia in danger of disappearing
- 2011/01/18: USAToday: 2011's most fuel-efficient cars? Not just hybrids, electrics
- 2011/01/17: ClimateP: Our cup runneth over with plug-in hybrids
This week in the Gee Whiz File:
- 2011/01/20: PhysOrg: Italian scientists claim to have demonstrated cold fusion (w/ Video)
- 2011/01/17: NBF: Brief Description of the Calorimetry in the Rossi Experiment at U. Bologna, January 14, 2011 by Jed Rothwell
As for Energy Storage:
- 2011/01/18: NBF: Fiber Supercapacitors Made of Nanowire-Fiber Hybrid Structures for Wearable/Flexible Energy Storage
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2011/01/18: CleanBreak: Despite lack of climate legislation, businesses are embracing green energy and cleantech
- 2011/01/20: Guardian(UK): Captains of industry must change their investment priorities
- 2011/01/20: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Business must show green leadership
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
- 2011/01/20: PlanetArk: Climate Change Growing Risk For Insurers: Industry
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
- 2011/01/21: GreenGrok: Water 'Advocates' Advocate for Water Pollution
- 2011/01/21: Grist: Monsanto's latest farmwashing ad campaign debuts
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
- 2011/01/22: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for January 22...
- 2011/01/21: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for January 21...
- 2011/01/20: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for January 20...
- 2011/01/19: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for January 19...
- 2011/01/18: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for January 18...
- 2011/01/17: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for January 17...
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2011/01/23: Stoat: Suggestions for coding standards
- 2011/01/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Climate, Energy and Environment News from Latin America: 1.17 - 1.21.2011
- 2011/01/21: IJISH: Mindless Link Propagation
- 2011/01/20: Grist: A walk through the week's climate news -- The Climate Post: Hu Jintao's visit prompts soul searching in U.S. energy and climate circles
- 2011/01/18: IJISH: Mindless Link Propagation...
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2011/01/23: HotTopic: Bob Carter: untroubled by hobgoblins
- 2011/01/22: Deltoid: Andrew Bolt can get fooled again
- 2011/01/21: Guardian(UK): Let's debate the environmental issues and drop the death threats
While anti-environmentalists scramble for examples of greens' murderous tendencies, their own are regularly displayed - 2011/01/21: CCP: Canada Free Press apologizes to Dr. Andrew Weaver over Timothy Ball's libelous article and retracts article
- 2011/01/21: BCLSB: Tim Ball De-Balled! The Canadian Free Press issues a grovelling apology to UVIC Climate Scientist Andrew Weaver
- 2011/01/21: DeSmogBlog: CanadaFreePress Grovels in Apology to Weaver
- 2011/01/20: Nation: Confronting the Climate Cranks
- 2011/01/21: HuffPo: Kochs Invade Canada
- 2011/01/20: IdiotTracker: The myth of the denialist public
- 2011/01/20: Guardian(UK): Global Warming Policy Foundation donor funding levels revealed
- 2011/01/20: SMandia: A Meteorologist Falls for the Sunspot Argument and Fails to See the Light
- 2011/01/20: D-HW: There's no consensus . . . on the ozone hole?
- 2011/01/19: BSD: Global coolers not fessing up, and a SECOND not-wrong (?) Roger Pielke Jr. post
- 2011/01/20: DeepClimate: Another "climategate" whopper from McIntyre
- 2011/01/20: Deltoid: Steve McIntyre caught quote mining again
- 2011/01/19: ClassM: No good deed goes unpunished in the Twitterverse
- 2011/01/19: IJISH: How not to reason backwards, as shown by Watts Up With That
- 2011/01/19: GreenFyre: Global Warming Panic Explained
- 2011/01/18: CSW: Revelle Medal winner Pieter Tans on the climate disinformation campaign
- 2011/01/18: CCP: Why Won't Climate Denialists Stop Attacking This Man?
- 2011/01/18: TCoE: Time to Mann Up, people
- 2011/01/18: PlanetArk: Analysis: Refiners Threaten Anti-Pollution Efforts In Shipping
- 2010/12/07: CEO: [link to 263k pdf] Concealing their sources - who funds Europe's climate change deniers?
- 2011/01/17: JKB: Funding of the European climate sceptics
- 2011/01/17: IJISH: Kent Clizbe e-mail exchange summary, and yes, he quite probably _was_ a CIA agent, but...
- 2011/01/17: WtD: Andrew Bolt's "Hockey Schtick": Australia's most prominent denier inadvertently posts proof of climate change
- 2011/01/16: TPL: Denialist Chum: Curry Style
- 2011/01/17: CCP: Bill Koch: The Dirty Money Behind Cape Wind Opposition
- 2011/01/16: SkeptiSci: Not a cite for Soare eyes
- 2011/01/22: PlanetJ: Monckton Myth: Global Sea Ice
- 2011/01/22: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #6: Global Sea Ice by James Wight
- 2011/01/21: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #5: Dangerous Warming by dana1981
- 2011/01/19: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #4: Climate Sensitivity
- 2011/01/18: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #3: Linear Warming by dana1981
- 2011/01/17: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #2: Temperature records, trends and El Nino by Robert Way
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2011/01/23: HotTopic: McEwan on climate: at war with ourselves
- 2011/01/21: MTobis: Cheering me up
- 2011/01/20: MTobis: Fuller tries to cheer me up
- 2011/01/21: ClimateShifts: Why was it so cold in Europe and North America if climate change is meant to be real?
- 2011/01/21: SciDaily: Stratospheric Warmings: Meteorologists Identify Cause of Cold and Warm Periods During Winter
- 2011/01/21: EnergyBulletin: Art, activism, and permaculture
- 2011/01/21: Guardian(UK): Climate change: Does a small temperature rise actually matter?
- 2011/01/20: GreenFyre: Climate change, getting our boots on ...
- 2011/01/21: SkeptiSci: Spanish translation of The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism
- 2011/01/21: TreeHugger: Why It's a Good Sign We're All Arguing About Climate Change
- 2011/01/20: ERabett: With Both a Whimper and a Bang
- 2011/01/20: Heiko: The problem with "consensus"
- 2011/01/20: PhysOrg: Recycling everything the key to saving the planet: book
- 2011/01/20: ERabett: What Jeff Harvey reads
- 2011/01/20: SkeptiSci: Infographic on where global warming is going
- 2011/01/20: WtD: You know climate change is real when the CEO of Shell states "the clock is ticking" and we need to "take action now"
- 2011/01/19: DeSmogBlog: South Headed South On Environmental Issues
- 2011/01/19: Tamino: MLE [Maximum Likelihood Estimation]
- 2011/01/18: EnergyBulletin: Fictitious "facts" spur students to liquidate the planet
- 2011/01/18: TSoD: The Cool Skin of the Ocean
- 2011/01/18: ClimateP: New Scientist: Redouble your efforts, climate scientists
- 2011/01/17: Reuters: Natsource cuts staff on climate pact delay
Natsource cut staff in 2010 on uncertain climate policy - Natsource Japan decides to close business - 2011/01/17: Deltoid: The great FUND die off
- 2011/01/17: BNC: Livestock and Climate Change -- Status update by Geoff Russell
- 2011/01/16: NBF: Elemental Abundance in the Earth's Crust
- 2011/01/17: NBF: China discovers more coal, oil, uranium and lithium
- 2011/01/16: ERabett: Eli joins the Trend Wars
- 2011/01/16: MTobis: Shewonk's Abstraction and Another Michael's pillar
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- WMO: Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW)
- WMO: Atmospheric Research and Environment Programme (AREP)
- Meltfactor
- WRI: Interactive Map of Eutrophication & Hypoxia
- ED: Environmental Defence
- SELC: Southern Environmental Law Center
- Geoengineering Politics
- CEO: Corporate Europe Observatory - Exposing the power of corporate lobbying in the EU
- Wiki: Callendar effect
- Google Groups - geoengineering
- USANPN: USA National Phenology Network
- EJ: Earthjustice: Environmental Law: Because the Earth Needs a Good Lawyer
- EnviroMedia Greenwashing Index
- Wiki: Flow Battery
- EPI: Eco-Economy Indicators: Trends to Track
- Wiki: Rossby wave
Is funny. Yes?
Floods in Australia:
Post CRU theft, controversy & inquiry:
The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
While in Antarctica:
The food crisis is ongoing:
Food prices are high and rising:
Regarding the genetic modification of food:
As for GHGs:
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
As for transportation & GHG production:
More DIY science:
Regarding Richard Tol:
Whether the thieves were politically or financially motivated, the result is the same:
There is now a _Wind Made_ label:
The energy race between China and the USA is on, or is it?
The battle over the Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipelines rages on:
The AECL non-sale story has picked up a federal-provincial conflict angle:
Post Igor saga:
As might have been expected, industry experts are downplaying the Weyburn CO2 leak story:
Remember that kafuffle about shipping huge equipment on Idahoan roads?:
With Campbell and James both out, BC politics is even more spindizzy than usual:
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
In Manitoba, flood worries are rising:
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
Apocalypso anyone?
The answer my friend...:
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
Low Key Plug
My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.
<regards>
P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.
"The green revolution has won a temporary success in man's war against hunger and deprivation; it has given man a breathing space. If fully implemented, the revolution can provide sufficient food for sustenance during the next three decades. But the frightening power of human reproduction must also be curbed; otherwise the success of the green revolution will be ephemeral only." -Norman Borlaug
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