Another week of GW News, February 20, 2011

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

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Another week of Climate Instability News

Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is notWisdom

February 20, 2011

• Chuckles, COP17+, G20, Min & Pall, Schaefer, Epstein, Dirty Trick, Sri Lanka & Pakistan
• Bottom Line, Subsidies, Cook, Cablegate
• Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Methane, Geopolitics
• Food Crisis, Food Prices, Food Riot?, Food vs. Biofuel, GMOs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Ozone, Paleoclimate
• ENSO, Solar, State of the Oceans, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Extreme Weather, Corals, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
• Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, Google, Ehrlich, Curry, O'Donnell
• UN, Carbon Trade, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• International Politics: Energy Race, Security, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, WH Budget, GOP Budget, Montana, Veto, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Murray-Darling, China
• Canada, Pipelines, BC, Tar Sands, Sask, Manitoba, Ontario, Maritimes, North
• Ecological Economics, Children, IPAT, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts, Courts, Betting
• Energy, Fracking, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid
• Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage, Oil & Gas, Pipelines
• Business, Insurance, Greenwashing, FAQs, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

More in the black humour vein:

• 2011/02/17: CleanBreak: (cartoon - TomTom) America: A Brief Parable
• 2011/02/19: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 8
• 2011/02/19: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 7
• 2011/02/19: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 6
• 2011/02/19: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 5
• 2011/02/19: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 4
• 2011/02/16: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 3
• 2011/02/16: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Transition 2
• 2011/02/16: uComics: (cartoon - Rall) But it's cold

  And for those who enjoy challenging Poe's Law:

• 2011/02/18: JQuiggin: The Onion meets Poe's Law -- Crooked Timber
• 2011/02/18: JFleck: On Evil Genius and Melting Icecaps

  Looking ahead to COP17 and future international climate negotiations:

• 2011/02/18: PlanetArk: Analysis: Governments To Debate Kyoto Climate Dilemma

  The G20 met this weekend:

• 2011/02/17: BBC: G20 meeting urged to act on food price inflation
  The G20 begins a two-day meeting on Friday against a background of rising food and commodity prices. Finance ministers and central bankers from 20 of the world's biggest developed and developing nations will gather in Paris.

There was a fair amount of chatter about the Min and Pall papers on rain and GW:

• 2011/02/16: Nature: [Letter$] Human contribution to more-intense precipitation extremes by Seung-Ki Min et al.
• 2011/02/16: Nature: [Letter$] Anthropogenic greenhouse gas contribution to flood risk in England and Wales in autumn 2000 by Pardeep Pall et al.
• 2011/02/17: CCP: Pardeep Pall et al., Nature, Anthropogenic greenhouse gas contribution to flood risk in England and Wales in autumn 2000
• 2011/02/17: CCP: S.-K. Min, X. Zhang, F. W. Zwiers & G. C. Hegerl, Nature 470 (2011), Human contribution to more-intense precipitation extremes
• 2011/02/20: CCP: U.K. storm of 2000 blamed on climate change
• 2011/02/16: USAToday: Study: Climate change linked to extreme rain
• 2011/02/17: ClassM: Who will stop/start the rain?
• 2011/02/16: Google:AP: Scientists connect global warming to extreme rain
• 2011/02/17: KSJT: Lots of Ink: Global warming not just raising temps --- stats suggest rain and flood marker too
• 2011/02/17: ABC(Au): Study links extreme weather to climate change
  Two independent studies suggest greenhouse gas emissions are linked to more frequent heavy rainfall.
• 2011/02/17: Grist: Yes, we caused Snowpocalypse, says new study
• 2011/02/17: EarthTimes: Studies link heavy rains, floods to global warming
• 2011/02/16: CSM: Extreme rain and snow events linked to global warming, study finds
• 2011/02/17: TMoS: It's Not Just Hot Air Any Longer. Man Causes Floods.
• 2011/02/16: BBC: Climate change raises flood risk, researchers say
  Greenhouse gas emissions are making extreme rainfall events more common, scientists say - and in the UK, have increased the risk of flooding. Two research groups present their findings in the journal Nature. Using real-world data and computer models, one team says it has proven the link between greenhouse emissions and the observed increase in extreme rains in the Northern Hemisphere. The other says greenhouse warming made the UK floods of 2000 more likely. That autumn saw the highest rains in England and Wales since records began in 1766.
• 2011/02/17: CCP: Greenhouse gases led to increase in deluges according to new study by Francis Zwiers and co-authors in Nature
• 2011/02/16: ClimateP: Two seminal Nature papers join growing body of evidence that human emissions fuel extreme weather, flooding that harm humans and the environment
• 2011/02/16: Guardian(UK): The floods of 2000: Was climate change to blame? [12 pix]
• 2011/02/16: Guardian(UK): Climate change doubled likelihood of devastating UK floods of 2000
• 2011/02/16: Guardian(UK): Climate change and extreme flooding linked by new evidence
  Two studies suggest for the first time a clear link between global warming and extreme precipitation
• 2011/02/16: CBC: Flooding linked to global warming: studies -- Studies weaken argument that climate change is a 'victimless crime': researcher
• 2011/02/16: NatureN: Increased flood risk linked to global warming -- Likelihood of extreme rainfall may have been doubled by rising greenhouse-gas levels
• 2011/02/16: SciNow: Rising Temperatures Bringing Bigger Floods

  A paper by Kevin Schaefer quantifying permafrost feedback raised a few hackles:

• 2011/02/15: WOL:Tellus B: (ab$) Amount and timing of permafrost carbon release in response to climate warming by Kevin Schaefer et al.
• 2011/02/16: NSIDC: Thawing permafrost will accelerate global warming in decades to come, says new study
• 2011/02/16: RawStory: Thawing permafrost may speed global warming: study
  Global warming could cause up to 60 percent of the world's permafrost to thaw by 2200 and release huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere that would further speed up climate change, a study released Wednesday warned.
• 2011/02/17: ClimateP: NSIDC bombshell: Thawing permafrost feedback will turn Arctic from carbon sink to source in the 2020s, releasing 100 billion tons of carbon by 2100
• 2011/02/16: UColorado: Thawing permafrost likely will accelerate global warming in coming decades, says study

  Some startling figures on the costs of coal's externalities have come out of the Epstein paper:

• 2011/02/18: WOL:EER: (ab$) Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal by Paul R. Epstein et al.
• 2011/02/18: TreeHugger: The Devastating Cost of Coal: Interview with Dr. Paul Epstein (Video)
• 2011/02/17: HuffPo: Coal Costs U.S. $500 Billion Per Year: Study
• 2011/02/17: PlanetArk: Coal's Hidden Costs Top $345 Billion In U.S: Study
• 2011/02/17: Corrente: The negative externalities of coal
• 2011/02/16: ClimateP: Life-cycle study: Accounting for total harm from coal would add "close to 17.8¢/kWh of electricity generated"
• 2011/02/16: Grist: What is coal's true cost?
• 2011/02/16: TreeHugger: Coal Costs US Public Up to $500 Billion Annually: Harvard Study
• 2011/02/16: DeSmogBlog: The True Cost Of Coal - Up To A Half Trillion Dollars Per Year
• 2011/02/16: GP: Coal impacts cost public up to a half trillion dollars annually
  Harvard Medical School researcher estimates that the impacts of coal cost the public a third to over half a trillion dollars annually.

An action by Anonymous revealed the widespread adoption of persona software designed to manage opinion, while lobbyists and corporations spied and and ran dirty trick campaigns:

• 2011/02/19: NakedCapitalism: WashingtonsBlog: You Know Those Obnoxious Posters Who Almost Seem Like Alter Egos Of The Same Person? They Actually Might Be...
• 2011/02/19: CCP: The HB Gary Email That Should Concern Us All
• 2011/02/19: SlashDot: Air Force Wants Hundreds of Fake Online Identities
• 2011/02/18: RawStory: Revealed: Air Force ordered software to manage army of fake virtual people
• 2011/02/15: ClimateP: The Chamber of Commerce's anti-union lawyers solicited "abhorrent" privacy invasions
• 2011/02/15: WaPo: Hacked e-mails reveal plans for dirty-tricks campaign against U.S. Chamber foes
  A feud between a security contracting firm and a group of guerrilla computer hackers has spilled over onto K Street, as stolen e-mails reveal plans for a dirty-tricks-style campaign against critics of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
• 2011/02/14: Guardian(UK): Revealed: how energy firms spy on environmental activists
  Leaked documents show how three large British companies have been paying private security firm to monitor activists
• 2011/02/15: PressEurop: Companies spy on environmentalists
• 2011/02/15: CCP: Revealed: how energy firms spy on environmental activists

  In Sri Lanka and Pakistan:

• 2011/02/18: EarthTimes: UN: 6,600 still displaced by Sri Lanka floods
• 2011/02/17: CCP: Devastating 2010 Pakistan floods highlight difficulties in sounding alarm
• 2011/02/15: KSJT: Wash. Post, SciDev.net : A flood forecast for Pakistan that might have been...

  And on the Bottom Line:

• 2011/02/17: PlanetArk: Investments Worth Trillions At Risk From Climate Change: Study
• 2011/02/16: Grist: Inaction on climate change is risky business

  Subsidies, tax exemptions, loan guarantees & grants weave a difficult to penetrate web:

• 2011/02/15: DeSmogBlog: Top EIA Energy Trends Watcher: No Definitive Count on Dirty Energy Welfare

  John Cook and friends continue their counterpoint articles:

• 2011/02/20: SkeptiSci: Link to skeptic rebuttals with short URLs
• 2011/02/20: SkeptiSci: Skeptic arguments about cigarette smoke - sound familiar? by mactheknife
• 2011/02/19: SkeptiSci: A Swift Kick in the Ice by Rob Honeycutt
• 2011/02/18: SkeptiSci: Deep ocean warming solves the sea level puzzle by Ari Jokimäki
• 2011/02/18: SkeptiSci: The Dai After Tomorrow by Daniel Bailey
• 2011/02/17: SkeptiSci: The Climate Show Episode 7: Cryosphere special
• 2011/02/15: SkeptiSci: German translation of The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism
• 2011/02/14: SkeptiSci: I want to earn my future, not inherit it by David Robertson

  Late Comment on Cablegate:

• 2011/02/10: AlterNet: Are We Headed For Massive Oil Price Spikes? Leaked Cables Claim Saudi Oil Reserves Grossly Overstated

  The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

• 2011/02/17: NatureN: Submarines to do science under the ice -- Classified missions will gather vital research data in the Arctic
• 2011/02/17: PostMedia: Explorers set out for first spin across North Pole
  Third leg of expedition to circumnavigate Arctic Ocean will create 'unique bridge'; 7,000-km Russia-to-Canada journey Eight explorers, including two Canadians, are setting out this week from Russia on the first expedition to drive across the North Pole en route to Canada. The 7,000-kilometre journey across the Arctic Ocean is the third leg in the Moscowbased Polar Ring Expedition, whose goal is to pay tribute to generations of Arctic explorers by forging a new route as a "unique bridge" between northern nations.

As for the (charismatic) megafauna:

• 2011/02/18: KSJT: Yale e360: A deeper look at the new Arctic bestiary. Killer whales and white tailed deer

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2011/02/18: CBC: The methane monster under Arctic ice

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2011/02/18: BBC: TNK-BP pondering role in BP-Rosneft Arctic oil deal
  Anglo-Russian oil joint venture TNK-BP is pondering a possible role in its UK parent's Arctic exploration deal with state-owned Rosneft.
• 2011/02/18: CBC: ArcelorMittal to complete Baffinland takeover
• 2011/02/15: ChronicleHerald: Canada to join Arctic climate change study [Arctic Change Assessment] -- Melting ice sparks concern among northern countries
• 2011/02/14: CBC: International Arctic climate study to start
  Canada and its Arctic allies will launch a major study this spring to help northern nations cope with the irreversible effects of climate change. The speedy melting of polar ice is the driving force behind the Arctic Council's decision to announce the wide-ranging study. The project, called the Arctic Change Assessment, will be disclosed when Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and his seven counterparts meet this May in Greenland.
• 2011/02/14: PlanetArk: U.S. Icebreakers Can't Handle Alaska Oil Spills: Official

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2011/02/16: ABC(Au): Global food crisis tipped to worsen this year
• 2011/02/19: ABC(Au): Fewer big fish in the sea
• 2011/02/18: EarthTimes: Too few fish in the sea? Scientists report decline in large fish
• 2011/02/17: TreeHugger: Is the World One Poor Harvest Away From Chaos?
• 2011/02/17: CSM: Can US farmers beat the heat?
• 2011/02/16: TMoS: Will Famine Be The Global Warming Trigger?
• 2011/02/17: BBC: China drought threatens wheat crops
• 2011/02/16: CNN: World Bank: Chronic hunger to affect 1 billion
  The number of chronically hungry people is approaching 1 billion - That level last seen during the 2007-08 food crisis, driven by rising commodity prices - Zoellick: Food prices have pushed 44 million into extreme poverty - "The trends toward the 1 billion are worrisome ... global food prices are at dangerous levels"
• 2011/02/14: CCurrents: The Future Of Food (1 of 2)
• 2011/02/15: BBerg: Climate Change to Cause `Massive' Food Disruptions, Olam Says
  Global food supplies will face "massive disruptions" from climate change, Olam International Ltd. predicted, as Agrocorp International Pte. said corn will gain to a record, stoking food inflation and increasing hunger.
  "The fact is that climate around the world is changing and that will cause massive disruptions," Sunny Verghese, chief executive officer at Olam, among the world's three biggest suppliers of rice and cotton, said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. "We're friendly to wheat, corn and soybeans and bearish on rice."
  Shrinking global food supplies helped push the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization's World Food Price Index to a record for a second month in January. As food becomes less available and more expensive, "hoarding becomes widespread," Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist at FAO, said Feb. 9, predicting prices of wheat and other grains are more likely to rise than decline in the next six months.
  Corn futures surged 90 percent in the past year, while wheat jumped 80 percent and soybeans advanced 49 percent as the worst drought in at least half a century in Russia, flooding in Australia, excessive rainfall in Canada, and drier conditions in parts of Europe slashed harvests.
• 2011/02/15: ClimateP: S. Korean President: "There is an increasing likelihood of a food crisis globally due to climate change."
  UN's Figueres explains: "If the community of nations is unable to fully stabilize climate change, it will threaten where we can live, where and how we grow food and where we can find water."
• 2011/02/15: Grist: The world is one poor harvest away from chaos by Lester Brown
• 2011/02/14: EnergyBulletin: The future of food (1 of 2)

  Food Prices are still rising:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2011/02/15: WFP: Rising Food Prices: 10 Questions Answered
  Food prices are grabbing headlines again. The latest figures show that prices have surpassed the peaks reached at the height of the high food price crisis in 2008. For now, the world is not experiencing a repeat of that crisis. But concerns remain because prices are expected to remain high for several months.
• 2011/02/18: EnergyBulletin: With oil and food costs rising, it looks like 2008 all over again
• 2011/02/17: GG&G: Coping with High and Volatile Food Prices
• 2011/02/: WorldBank: Food Price Watch Report - February 2011
• 2011/02/16: UN: UN agency on 'red alert' as soaring food prices threaten millions of world's poorest
• 2011/02/16: PeakEnergy: Unscrambling the food price spike
• 2011/02/16: CSM: Rising world food prices may soon hit Africa hard, but could be a future boon
• 2011/02/15: CBC: Food prices at 'dangerous' levels: World Bank -- Inflation could lead to political instability, report says
• 2011/02/15: BBC: Food prices at dangerous levels, says World Bank
  The World Bank says food prices are at "dangerous levels" and have pushed 44 million more people into poverty since last June. According to the latest edition of its Food Price Watch, prices rose by 15% in the four months between October 2010 and January this year. Food price inflation is felt disproportionately by the poor, who spend over half their income on food.

Regarding the role of hunger in the wave of third world revolutions:

• 2011/02/15: CSM: West Africa Rising: Could rising food prices spark Egypt-style revolt in Africa?
  Soaring food prices -- such as wheat, which has hit a 2-1/2-year high -- could feed political tumult in Africa, despite earlier proclamations that an Egypt-style revolt would not spread to sub-Saharan Africa.
• 2011/02/15: EnergyBulletin: Peak oil, climate change, political turmoil: the lesson from Egypt

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2011/02/17: FAO: Reducing poverty by growing fuel and food -- New FAO study shows integrated food and energy crops work for poor farmers
• 2011/02/17: UN: Integrating food and energy crops can help reduce poverty, new UN study finds
• 2011/02/15: PlanetArk: Analysis: In Food Vs Fuel Debate, U.S. Resolute On Ethanol
• 2011/02/15: PeakEnergy: Corn For Ethanol -- Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has approved a biotech corn variety that was engineered solely for producing fuel ethanol

  Regarding the genetic modification of food:

• 2011/02/15: ABC(Au): GM bananas push stems from cyclone losses
  A group supporting genetically-modified (GM) food says the loss of much of Queensland's banana crop in Cyclone Yasi points to an example of how GM foods could improve food security in Australia. The Producers Forum will meet in Adelaide later this week to discuss issues including an introduction of GM canola to South Australia.

And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2011/02/18: DerSpiegel: Germany's Chicken Wars -- The Controversial Practices of Poultry Mega-Factories
  Industrialized chicken farming has become a booming business in Germany, delivering hundreds of millions of birds a year to customers around the world. But the methods they use are controversial -- and opposition is growing.
• 2011/02/18: AlterNet: America's Food Sweatshops and the Workers of Color Who Feed Us
• 2011/02/18: UN: UN food experts call for increased agricultural investment to offset soaring prices
• 2011/02/18: TreeHugger: Racial Injustice in Food Production: Is the Income Gap an Accident?
• 2011/02/18: Eureka: Multiple approaches necessary to tackle world's food problems
• 2011/02/17: TreeHugger: Dumpster Diver Arrested & Handcuffed for Taking Food From Trash
• 2011/02/17: BBC: Peruvian potatoes head to frozen 'doomsday vault'
  Farmers in Peru are sending 1,500 varieties of potatoes to a "doomsday vault" in the Arctic Circle in order to safeguard the tubers' future.
• 2011/02/14: ERW: World's freshwaters contain too much phosphorous
  New policies are needed to decrease the overuse of phosphorous, and allocate the element where it is most needed, according to researchers who have analysed levels in freshwater across the globe. While it's essential for plant growth and agriculture, an excess of phosphorous in water causes eutrophication, which makes water non-potable, leads to blooms of cyanobacteria that are toxic to humans and livestock, depletes oxygen and kills fish.
• 2011/02/14: Eureka: World phosphorous use crosses critical threshold
  Recalculating the global use of phosphorous, a fertilizer linchpin of modern agriculture, a team of researchers warns that the world's stocks may soon be in short supply and that overuse in the industrialized world has become a leading cause of the pollution of lakes, rivers and streams.

Bingiza bothered Mozambique, Carlos soaked Darwin. Dianne troubled WA and Atu spun out past the Solomons:

• 2011/02/19: CCP: Jeff Masters: Over the past four days, Tropical Cyclone Carlos has dumped a remarkable 26.87" (682.6 mm) of rain on Darwin...
• 2011/02/20: CCP: How Carlos went 'feral' over Darwin
• 2011/02/18: ABC(Au): The Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce says businesses have lost at least $15 million during the days they have had to close because of Cyclone Carlos
• 2011/02/17: Eureka: NASA sees heavy rains in Tropical Storm Bingiza, possibly headed for second landfall
• 2011/02/17: Eureka: NASA infrared satellite data see an intensifying Tropical Storm Dianne
• 2011/02/17: Eureka: NASA sees former Tropical Storm Carlos still a soaker in the Northern Territory
• 2011/02/17: ABC(Au): 'Blue alert' issued for Cyclone Dianne
  A 'blue alert' has been issued for people in or near Exmouth and Coral Bay as Tropical Cyclone Dianne hovers off the North West coast. The category 1 system is currently 385 kilometres north west of Exmouth and is almost stationary. A blue alert is the lowest level of cyclone alerts and means people must prepare for dangerous weather.
• 2011/02/17: ABC(Au): Wild weather to pummel WA
  A cyclone warning is in place for coastal West Australian communities and authorities say the next 24 hours will be crucial as three weather systems bear down on the state.
• 2011/02/17: EarthTimes: Darwin skirts damage from Australia's latest cyclone
• 2011/02/16: al Jazeera: New cyclone threatens Australia
  Carlos dumps record amount of rain, eclipsing Yasi that flooded Queensland two weeks ago.
• 2011/02/16: ClimateP: Cyclone Carlos dumps record amount of rain on Darwin [339.6mm [13 inches] in 24 hours]
• 2011/02/16: EarthTimes: Darwin braces for Australia's latest cyclone [Carlos]
• 2011/02/16: Eureka: NASA sees tropical cyclone double-trouble for Australia [99S & 97S ==> Tropical Storm Carlos & Tropical Storm Dianne]
• 2011/02/16: Eureka: NASA satellite sees Tropical Storm Bingiza hugging the western Madagascar coastline
• 2011/02/15: Eureka: NASA Satellite sees two 'tropical fists' threatening Australia [99S & 97S]
• 2011/02/15: Eureka: NASA Satellite catches a tropical cyclone forming near Darwin, Australia [99S]
• 2011/02/15: Eureka: NASA Satellite sees most of Cyclone Bingiza's rainfall over Mozambique Channel

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2011/02/16: CBC: Post-Katrina housing woes linger in New Orleans -- Thousands of hurricane-damaged buildings vacant, decaying
• 2011/02/15: ABC(Au): GM bananas push stems from cyclone losses
• 2011/02/14: ABC(Au): Large storms more likely in future, experts say
  While Queenslanders deal with a summer of natural disasters, climate scientists are warning that Australia faces a future of more frequent extreme weather events. The Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry is scrutinising the preparation and response to the 2011 floods, but planners are already looking ahead to minimise the loss of the past. According to new modelling, Australia can expect 25 per cent more rain than was seen in the Queensland floods by the end of this century, as well as larger, more frequent storms.
• 2011/02/14: ABC(Au): Cyclone debris poses 'serious threat' to marine life
• 2011/02/14: Wunderground: Category 3 Bingiza hits Madagascar
• 2011/02/14: Eureka: NASA satellites see Cyclone Bingiza move across northern Madagascar

  As for GHGs:

• 2011/02/19: APSmith: Synopsis of the CO2 problem
• 2011/02/17: TCoE: Doc feedback alert: EPA greenhouse gas report
• 2011/02/: EPA: [many pdf links] Draft Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2009
• 2011/02/16: EarthTimes: US greenhouse gas emissions at lowest levels since 1995
• 2011/02/16: NYT: [US] Emissions Fell [6%] in 2009, Showing Impact Of Recession
• 2011/02/16: NatureTGB: Companies named and shamed on carbon emissions
• 2011/02/16: EIO: UK's 100 largest companies ranked by carbon emissions & disclosure levels
• 2011/02/14: PNL: Worldwide sulfur emissions rose between 2000-2005, after decade of decline
  Shipping, China top emissions growth in new analysis of 150 years of emissions

As for the temperature record:

• 2011/02/19: QuarkSoup: Hadley Says....
• 2011/02/18: CCP: New Zealand bakes in hottest February temperatures on record
• 2011/02/18: Wunderground: January global temperatures 11th - 17th warmest on record
• 2011/02/15: TWTB: Tropical tropospheric temperature, instrumental and proxy trends
• 2011/02/15: NOAANews: January 2011 Ranked 17th Warmest on Record
• 2011/02/13: MTobis: Lake Champlain

  The ozone layer is linked to climate change:

• 2011/02/16: NOAANews: Study: Ozone Layer's Future Linked Strongly to Changes in Climate

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2011/02/16: SciNow: Ancient 'Seaweed' Rewrites History
• 2011/02/16: Eureka: Oldest fossils of large seaweeds, possible animals tell story about oxygen in an ancient ocean

  While on the ENSO front:

• 2011/02/15: Wunderground: La Niña weaker; may be gone by summer

  Regarding the solar hypothesis:

• 2011/02/17: APOD: X-Class Flare
• 2011/02/16: BBC: Sun unleashes huge solar flare towards Earth
• 2011/02/17: BBC: Solar flare eruptions set to reach Earth
  Scientists around the world will be watching closely as three eruptions from the Sun reach the Earth over Thursday and Friday. These "coronal mass ejections" will slam into the Earth's magnetic shield. The waves of charged solar particles are the result of three solar flares directed at Earth in recent days, including the most powerful since 2006. The biggest flares can disrupt technology, including power grids, communications systems and satellites. The northern lights (Aurora Borealis) may also be visible further south than is normally the case - including from northern parts of the UK.

And the State of the Oceans:

• 2011/02/17: UN: UN agency sounds alarm over impact of fertilizer and plastic pollution on oceans

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2011/02/18: BBC: Europe is to press ahead with its Earthcare space laser mission, despite a 30% rise in its probable final cost. [Launch 2016+]
• 2011/02/16: ScienceInsider: Proposed Rise for Oceans' Agency Budget as Satellite Costs Mount

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2011/02/19: TreeHugger: Minnesota Moose Population Crash Possibly Correlated With Climate Change
• 2011/02/20: PostMedia: Warming could spur toxic algae in seas
  Global warming could spur the growth of toxic algae and bacteria in the world's seas and lakes, with an impact that could be felt in 10 years, U.S. scientists said Saturday. Studies have shown that shifts brought about by climate change make ocean and freshwater environments more susceptible to toxic algae blooms and allow harmful microbes and bacteria to proliferate, according to researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
• 2011/02/19: BVerheggen: Biodiversity, extinction and climate change
• 2011/02/19: NOAANews: Climate Projections Show Human Health Impacts Possible Within 30 Years
• 2011/02/19: Eureka: Climate projections show human health impacts possible within 30 years -- New studies demonstrate potential increases in waterborne toxins and microbes
• 2011/02/17: ClimateSight: Extinction and Climate
• 2011/02/18: NatureCF: AAAS 2011: Ill effects of climate on ocean fisheries
• 2011/02/16: UMich: Global warming may reroute evolution
• 2011/02/16: Eureka: World's largest lake [Baikal] sheds light on ecosystem responses to climate variability
• 2011/02/16: BCLSB: Global Warming Comes To Canada [Lake Champlain]
• 2011/02/15: BBC: Harsh winters threaten barn owls
  Bird experts say the number of barn owl deaths has risen three fold as a result of harsh winters.
• 2011/02/14: Guardian(UK): Warming Arctic brings invasion of southern species
• 2011/02/12: Reuters: Climate change keenly felt in Alaska's national parks

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2011/02/19: TCoE: The forest flip
• 2011/02/18: BBC: Tropical forests 're-shaped' by climate changes

  This week in extreme weather:

• 2011/02/17: RealClimate: Going to extremes
• 2011/02/17: Wunderground: -28° to 72° [F] in 6 days: a wild ride in Oklahoma
• 2011/02/16: PSinclair: Former Skeptic, Weather Channel's Ostro Reviews this Wild Winter
• 2011/02/15: CCP: Stu Ostro: Lessons learned from winter of 2010-2011
• 2011/02/14: BBC: South Korea chaos after 'heaviest' snowfall
  The heaviest snowfall in more than a century on South Korea's east coast is causing widespread chaos. Hundreds of houses have collapsed under the weight of the snow. One newspaper described it as a snow bomb.

Corals are dying:

• 2011/02/17: ClimateShifts: New study finds growth of corals on the Belize Barrier Reef is slowing
• 2011/02/17: ClimateShifts: Climate Change Will Lead to the Extinction of Coral Reef Fish
• 2011/02/15: CoralCOE: Extinction predictor 'will help protect coral reefs'
• 2011/02/14: CoralCOE: Acid oceans demand greater reef care
  The more humanity acidifies and warms the world's oceans with carbon emissions, the harder we will have to work to save our coral reefs.

Glaciers are melting:

• 2011/02/16: TWTB: Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet decay update
• 2011/02/16: SkeptiSci: A basic overview of melting ice around the globe by James Wight

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2011/02/18: AGWObserver: Deep ocean warming solves the sea level puzzle
• 2011/02/18: PlanetArk: Rising Seas Threaten 180 U.S. Cities By 2100: Study
• 2011/02/17: CCP: Rising seas threaten 180 U.S. cities by 2100
• 2011/02/15: UArizona: Rising Seas Will Affect Major U.S. Coastal Cities by 2100
• 2011/02/16: HotTopic: Here comes the flood
• 2011/02/14: Eureka: Rising seas will affect major US coastal cities by 2100

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2011/02/18: ABC(Au): Flood evacuation centre opens in Carnarvon -- A relocation centre has opened in Carnarvon as residents prepare for the second flood in two months
• 2011/02/18: ABC(Au): More flooding in the northern Goldfields
• 2011/02/17: NOAANews: (jpg) North Central U.S. Spring Flood Risk Map
• 2011/02/18: NOAANews: Another Spring of Major Flooding Likely in North Central U.S.
• 2011/02/17: BBC: China drought threatens wheat crops
  The Chinese government has said the country's worst drought in decades is likely to continue, putting the winter wheat harvest at risk. The Ministry of Agriculture said the drought had worsened in some wheat-growing regions despite snowfalls. Large swathes of China have had almost no rain since October, affecting millions of hectares of crops and leaving many short of drinking water. Analysts say crop shortages in China could affect prices around the world.

Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2011/02/17: SciNow: Want to Fight Global Warming? Don't Just Focus on CO2
• 2011/02/15: FAO: Assessing agriculture's potential to mitigate global warming
  Norway and Germany support FAO's work to fill data gaps on greenhouse gas emissions, create planning tools The governments of Norway and Germany have committed a combined total of $5 million in support of an FAO programme to improve global information on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and more accurately assess farming's potential to mitigate global warming. The improved data acquired by FAO's Mitigation of Climate change in Agriculture (MICCA) programme will be made available via an online global knowledge base that will not only profile greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture but will also identify best opportunities for mitigating global warming through improved farming practices.
• 2011/02/15: UN: UN agency creates tool to mitigate agriculture's contribution to global warming [mitig]
  The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has initiated a programme to improve global information on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and accurately assess farming's potential to mitigate global warming. The improved data acquired by the FAO Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture (MICCA) programme, which will receive $5 million in funding from Germany and Norway, will be made available via an online global knowledge base that will profile greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and identify best opportunities for mitigating global warming through improved farming practices.

Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2011/02/11: AlterNet: Vision: Rail Renaissance -- We May Be About to Take a Huge Step Toward Reviving Train Travel
• 2011/02/15: Grist: How buses and ferries and light rail have made it cool to live in New Jersey [video]
• 2011/02/14: CBC: December new vehicle sales decline 4.8%
  The number of new vehicles sold in December declined 4.8 per cent to 128,210, ending two months of relatively stable sales. Statistics Canada reports sales of both passenger cars and trucks fell, with weaker truck sales accounting for most of the overall decline.
• 2011/02/11: AlterNet: Surprise: Big Old New York City Is the Cutting Edge for Urban Transportation and a Vision for a Sustainable Future

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

• 2011/02/18: CSM: Brazil's floods force urban planning rethink
• 2011/02/17: USAToday: Passive houses aggressively reduce energy
• 2011/02/17: TreeHugger: The Trombe Wall: Low Tech Solar Design Makes A Comeback [building]
• 2011/02/16: SEasterbrook: Zero Carbon Buildings

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2011/02/16: DerSpiegel: Pumping Gas Underground -- Greenpeace Blasts Berlin for Secrecy on Carbon Storage
  Carbon capture and sequestration technology sounds great. But where would the CO2 be stored? Greenpeace has accused the German government of keeping potential sites secret and says the public has been misled.
• 2011/02/15: KlimaZwiebel: Germany's way towards a low carbon future

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2011/02/15: ERW: Geoengineering research must go forward
  One of America's top scientists says that we must research geoengineering solutions to climate change. Ralph Cicerone, president of the US National Academy of Sciences, described geoengineering -- the intentional modification of the climate -- as "now on the table", when he addressed science writers at the New Horizons in Science meeting in New Haven, Connecticut.

Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2011/02/16: GMD: A new dust cycle model with dynamic vegetation: LPJ-dust version 1.0 by S. Shannon & D. J. Lunt
• 2011/02/18: CPD: Rare Earth Elements from an ice core in the Atlantic sector of Antarctica indicate a dust provenance change at the end of the last deglaciation by A. Wegner et al.
• 2011/02/16: CPD: The key role of topography in altering North Atlantic atmospheric circulation during the last glacial period by F. S. R. Pausata et al.
• 2011/02/16: CPD: Temperature variability at Dürres Maar, Germany during the migration period and at high medieval times, inferred from stable carbon isotopes of Sphagnum cellulose by R. Moschen et al.
• 2011/02/10: IOP:SS&T: Compact GdBa2Cu3O7__ coated conductor cables for electric power transmission and magnet applications by D C van der Laan et al.
• 2011/02/18: WOL:EER: (ab$) Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal by Paul R. Epstein et al.
• 2011/02/15: WOL:Tellus B: (ab$) Amount and timing of permafrost carbon release in response to climate warming by Kevin Schaefer et al.
• 2011/02/17: ACP: A sensitivity study on the effects of particle chemistry, asphericity and size on the mass extinction efficiency of mineral dust in the earth's atmosphere: from the near to thermal IR by R. A. Hansell Jr. et al.
• 2011/02/16: ACP: Quantifying immediate radiative forcing by black carbon and organic matter with the Specific Forcing Pulse by T. C. Bond et al.
• 2011/02/16: ACP: Oxygen isotopic signature of CO2 from combustion processes by M. Schumacher et al.
• 2011/02/16: ACP: Emulating atmosphere-ocean and carbon cycle models with a simpler model, MAGICC6 - Part 2: Applications by M. Meinshausen et al.
• 2011/02/16: ACP: Emulating coupled atmosphere-ocean and carbon cycle models with a simpler model, MAGICC6 - Part 1: Model description and calibration by M. Meinshausen et al.
• 2011/02/16: ACP: Effects of absorbing aerosols in cloudy skies: a satellite study over the Atlantic Ocean by K. Peters et al.
• 2011/02/15: ACP: Production, growth and properties of ultrafine atmospheric aerosol particles in an urban environment by I. Salma et al.
• 2011/02/15: ACP: The Chemistry of Atmosphere-Forest Exchange (CAFE) Model - Part 2: Application to BEARPEX-2007 observations by G. M. Wolfe et al.
• 2011/02/14: ACP: Global satellite analysis of the relation between aerosols and short-lived trace gases by J. P. Veefkind et al.
• 2011/02/17: ACPD: Global modelling of H2 mixing ratios and isotopic compositions with the TM5 model by G. Pieterse et al.
• 2011/02/17: ACPD: Quantifying the magnitude of a missing hydroxyl radical source in a tropical rainforest by L. K. Whalley et al.
• 2011/02/16: ACPD: Effect of primary organic sea spray emissions on cloud condensation nuclei concentrations by D. M. Westervelt et al.
• 2011/02/16: ACPD: Aerosol mass spectrometer constraint on the global secondary organic aerosol budget by D. V. Spracklen et al.
• 2011/02/16: ACPD: Relationship between cloud radiative forcing, cloud fraction and cloud albedo, and new surface-based approach for determining cloud albedo by Y. Liu et al.
• 2011/02/14: ACPD: Carbon balance of South Asia constrained by passenger aircraft CO2 measurements by P. K. Patra et al.
• 2011/02/15: PNAS: (ab$) Agronomic phosphorus imbalances across the world's croplands by Graham K. MacDonald et al.
• 2011/02/15: PNAS: (abs) Physical and economic consequences of climate change in Europe by Juan-Carlos Ciscar et al.
• 2011/02/16: Nature: [Letter$] Human contribution to more-intense precipitation extremes by Seung-Ki Min et al.
• 2011/02/16: Nature: [Letter$] Anthropogenic greenhouse gas contribution to flood risk in England and Wales in autumn 2000 by Pardeep Pall et al.
• 2011/02/14: OS: Measurements of bubble size spectra within leads in the Arctic summer pack ice by S. J. Norris et al.
• 2011/02/14: TCD: Comparison of direct and geodetic mass balances on an annual time scale by A. Fischer et al.
• 2011/02/14: AGWObserver: New research from last week 6/2011

  And other significant documents:

• 2011/02/17: FAO: [link to 1.92 meg pdf] Making Integrated Food-Energy Systems Work for People and Climate
• 2011/02/: EPA: [many pdf links] Draft Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2009

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2011/02/19: RealClimate: How easy it is to get fooled
• 2011/02/19: ERabett: Developing -- So Eli has been looking for a couple of weeks at a paper by Georg Feulner...
• 2011/02/15: Eureka: University of Miami scientists find new way to estimate global rainfall and track ocean pollution
• 2011/02/13: RealClimate: From blog to Science

  Introducing the Google Science Communication Fellows:

• 2011/02/15: GB: Making sense of science: introducing the Google Science Communication Fellows
• 2011/02/18: MTobis: Google Science Communication Fellows

  Regarding Erhlich:

• 2011/02/14: CCurrents: Paul Erhlich Interview- Humanity On A Tightrope

  Regarding Lisbon, Curry etc:

• 2011/02/17: BSD: Modding what Gavin Schmidt said about the science-policy interface
• 2011/02/16: Stoat: Just a teensy tiny bit more Curry. But not much.
• 2011/02/14: ClimateP: Richard Muller, Charles Koch, Judith Curry and the implosion of the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Study -- How to kill a potentially not-bad idea in 5 easy steps

  Regarding O'Donnell:

• 2011/02/20: moyhu: Ryan's code - testing
• 2011/02/19: TPL: On Diamonds, Honour and High School Fairy Tales
• 2011/02/17: moyhu: Ryan's code - S09 with more PCs
• 2011/02/15: ERabett: Staked Goat Stews
  Ryan O'Donnell is becoming increasingly defensive as the storm about his unethical behavior grows.
• 2011/02/15: TPL: Two Minutes of Denialist Chumming
• 2011/02/14: moyhu: Ryan's code
• 2011/02/13: ERabett: Great Minds Agree

  While at the UN:

• 2011/02/18: UN: Kenya kicks off UN-backed effort to reduce vehicle emissions across East Africa
• 2011/02/18: PlanetArk: U.N. Biodiversity Panel [IPBES] Could Guide On Trade, Farms
• 2011/02/15: UN: Ban urges global 'revolution' based on sustainable development and equality
  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for a "revolution" in how the world defines prosperity and relates to nature, based on the twin pillars of a sustainable development that breaks with the profligacy of the past and an equality that embraces empowerment for all.
• 2011/02/15: UN: UN official urges Latin American nations to capitalize on Cancún climate accords

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2011/02/15: PlanetArk: U.N. Panel Eyes Ways To Expand And Speed Carbon Offsets
• 2011/02/14: EarthTimes: Spain to rejoin EU emission trading scheme this week

  The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, cap and trade, cap and dividend, tradable energy quotas and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

• 2011/02/14: EarthTimes: Obama gives up on cap-and-trade to curb climate change

  The energy race between China and the USA is on, or is it?

• 2011/02/20: Independent(UK): US science chief [John Holdren] warns: 'China will eat our lunch'
  Soviet Sputnik satellite launch in 1957 threatened American pre-eminence. Now Beijing poses a similar danger, says Obama adviser
• 2011/02/18: Grist: China to blow the doors off Obama's namby-pamby electric car program

  As for GW, energy & water security:

• 2011/02/19: BBC:RB: War and peace: Making sense of climate conflict

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

• 2011/02/18: ABC(Au): Arrests in forest protest -- Police have arrested two anti-logging protesters at the Picton Valley in the state's south, ending a demonstration there
• 2011/02/17: TreeHugger: Dumpster Diver Arrested & Handcuffed for Taking Food From Trash
• 2011/02/17: TreeHugger: Live Blogging: Detained by Police at Greenpeace Anti-Coal Protest

  What are the activists up to?

• 2011/02/18: ABC(Au): Protesters back in the forest
  Conservationists are again protesting in Tasmania's forests, calling for an immediate moratorium in high conservation value forests.
• 2011/02/18: TreeHugger: The Greenpeace Coal Plant Protest and the Next Wave of Climate Activism
• 2011/02/17: CCP: Greenpeace: activists have scaled the Bridgeport Harbor Generating Station coal elevator and unfurled a huge banner reading "Shut it Down: Quit Coal"

  Polls! We have polls!

• 2011/02/18: Grist: The American people really, really support clean energy
• 2011/02/17: USAToday: Poll: Americans OK with newer light bulbs
• 2011/02/16: Grist: New poll: the public trusts EPA, loves the Clean Air Act, and wants Congress to butt out

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2011/02/20: Guardian(UK): What does the Arab world do when its water runs out?
  Water usage in north Africa and the Middle East is unsustainable and shortages are likely to lead to further instability -- unless governments take action to solve the impending crisis
• 2011/02/19: Guardian(UK): 'Water poverty' to rise in the UK as scarcity pushes up bills
• 2011/02/13: JFleck: Running out of Water
  A new Stockholm Environmental Institute analysis of water supply and demand in the Southwestern United States suggests we're screwed.

And on the American political front:

• 2011/02/20: CCP: "My Polluted Kentucky Home" by Silas House, who joined 19 other Kentuckians in a sit-in at the office of Gov. Steve Beshear, to protest mountain removal top coal mining
• 2011/02/20: ClimateP: Oil reduction as a transportation policy
• 2011/02/19: DailyKos: JP Morgan Rakes in Profits from U. S. Food Stamp Program
• 2011/02/19: Grist: The GINK Videos -- Hey, enviros, greens, climate hawks -- we all need to stand up for Planned Parenthood
• 2011/02/18: NatureTGB: An elementary energy problem
• 2011/02/18: PlanetArk: Special Report: The California Carbon Rush
• 2011/02/18: Grist: Republican governors just love saying no to rail
• 2011/02/18: AutoBG: Florida Governor Rick Scott tries to kill high speed rail, Senator Nelson attempting CPR
• 2011/02/18: NakedCapitalism: Why Liberals Are Lame
• 2011/02/16: Grist: The Recovery Act: the most important energy bill in American history
• 2011/02/16: TCoE: The worst form of cherry picking
• 2011/02/16: CCP: Mark Hertsgaard: Climate change -- GOP Galileo moment
• 2011/02/16: AlterNet: The South Dakota Bill That Could Legitimize Murder of Abortion Providers
• 2011/02/15: MoJo: South Dakota Moves To Legalize Killing Abortion Providers
  A bill under consideration in the Mount Rushmore State would make preventing harm to a fetus a "justifiable homicide" in many cases.
• 2011/02/15: CCP: Don Shelby: Picking science that fits politics: Minnesota state Rep. Mike Beard on climate change
• 2011/02/15: ClimateP: Calling out the climate cranks: Galileo moment for GOP
• 2011/02/15: Grist: The U.S. government is an insurance conglomerate and it should insure against climate change too
• 2011/02/14: ClimateP: Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow want to destroy tomorrow for their fellow collegians

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2011/02/19: HuffPo: Gulf Oil Spill Update: Scientist Finds Gulf Bottom Still Oily, Dead
• 2011/02/19: SciNow: Methane From Oil Spill Migrating Undigested?
• 2011/02/19: SciNow: A Post Mortem on the Gulf Oil Spill
• 2011/02/19: NOAANews: Federal Natural Resource Trustees Announce Next Step in BP Deepwater Horizon Spill Gulf Restoration Process
• 2011/02/15: NatureN: Gulf research cash still in limbo -- Scientists are frustrated by slow progress in the roll-out of funds to investigate the aftermath of Deepwater Horizon
• 2011/02/13: NatureTGB: Deepwater Horizon blowout released half a million tonnes of hydrocarbon gases
• 2011/02/13: PSinclair: Cleanup Over? "Football field" of submerged oil found in Florida

  The White House presented their budget proposal this week:

• 2011/02/15: NatureN: Obama resists research cuts -- Increases for science and technology in the 2012 US budget prioritize innovation over reductions in the national deficit
• 2011/02/15: ScienceInsider: [WH Budget] EPA Research Would Be Cut -- But Not As Much as Other Programs
• 2011/02/15: SciNews: 2012 [WH] budget offers pain and gain for R&D -- Healthy increases proposed for most federal research agencies
• 2011/02/14: Eureka: Science investments in Obama's 2012 budget request endorsed by Earth and space scientists
• 2011/02/15: AutoBG: Obama's 2012 budget gives clean diesel and fuel cell funding the boot, electric vehicles a boost
• 2011/02/14: QuarkSoup: Obama's NSF Request
• 2011/02/14: Guardian(UK): Barack Obama 2012 budget provides $8bn for clean energy
  The White House is asking Congress to repeal oil, natural gas and coal subsidies to pay for clean energy initiatives
• 2011/02/14: PSinclair: Graphs of the Day: Energy R and D in the Federal Budget
• 2011/02/14: ClimateP: Obama, Chu try to slash the multi-miracle hydrogen program once again
• 2011/02/14: Grist: My obligatory grumpy budget post -- Budget posturing is a game, and the left is losing
• 2011/02/14: NatureTGB: First look: 2012 US budget
• 2011/02/14: ScienceInsider: [WH Budget] Climate Science, Asteroid Detection Big Winners in NASA Budget
• 2011/02/14: ScienceInsider: [WH Budget] Energy Budget Slashes Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Research
• 2011/02/14: ScienceInsider: [WH Budget] NSF Budget Would Grow by 13%, Adding Science and Education Programs
• 2011/02/14: DM:CV: Science Budget: the White House Proposal

  Then the GOP ruled House started slashing and battle was joined:

  The House has been in budget mode this week:
• 2011/02/17: AlterNet: Republicans Are Using the Budget to Wage a Massive Assault on the Environment and Roll Back Crucial Protections
• 2011/02/19: NatureTGB: US House passes spending cuts
• 2011/02/19: ScienceInsider: Scientists Criticize House Vote to Bar Climate Panel Funds
• 2011/02/19: TreeHugger: Citing A Better 'Environment' For Business, House GOP Goes After the Environment
• 2011/02/16: HillHeat: Climate, Energy, and Environmental Amendments Offered On The Continuing Resolution (HR 1)
• 2011/02/19: CCP: Republicans Side with Big Oil, Reject $53 Billion in Taxpayer Savings
• 2011/02/19: NatureTGB: NIH spared, EPA skewered as House passes budget bill
• 2011/02/18: NatureTGB: Climate research under fire at US science budget hearing
• 2011/02/19: CSW: House votes 244-179 to kill U.S. funding of IPCC
• 2011/02/18: CSW: Amendments to kill U.S. funding for IPCC proposed for House 2011 appropriations bill
• 2011/02/19: DM:CCM: House of Representatives Votes to Defund IPCC
• 2011/02/18: UCSUSA: House Majority [GOP] Launches Attack on Science, Public Health, and the Environment
• 2011/02/18: ClimateP: The GOP decides accurate weather forecasting and hurricane tracking are luxuries America can't afford
  Republicans try to defund NOAA's satellite program -- just as climate change is making the weather much more extreme.
• 2011/02/17: ClimateP: The Republican plan to abolish the EPA, ending the four-decade bipartisan consensus to ensure healthy air and water for our kids
• 2011/02/18: Grist: GOP would rather shut down the government than protect your air and water
• 2011/02/17: Grist: Mike Pompeo (R-Koch) gets to work slashing EPA funding
• 2011/02/18: NatureTGB: Climate research under fire at US science budget hearing
• 2011/02/18: TreeHugger: Amendments to GOP Budget Bill Seek to Prevent Coal Ash Regulation as Hazardous Waste, PCB Cleanup, and More
• 2011/02/17: Grist: Let's keep the 'clean' in the Clean Air Act by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Washington)
• 2011/02/16: ScienceInsider: DOE's Chu Says Proposed House Cuts Could Trigger Brain Drain
• 2011/02/17: AlterNet: Right-Wing Republicans Are on the Verge of Voting to Defund Planned Parenthood
• 2011/02/16: ClimateP: GOP budget amendments would ruin our health, economy, and livable climate
• 2011/02/15: NatureTGB: US budget battle takes shape
• 2011/02/15: ScienceInsider: Energy Science: Obama's Darling, Congress's Target
• 2011/02/14: Grist: House Republican budget cuts would strangle innovation
• 2011/02/14: ScienceInsider: House Spending Panel Makes Deep Cuts to Research
• 2011/02/13: DM:CV: Bloodbath for Science [from the GOP led House Appropriations Committee]
• 2011/02/14: TreeHugger: GOP Moves to Slash 29% of EPA's Funding
• 2011/02/14: OilChange: Republicans Wield the Knife
• 2011/02/14: EconView: Paul Krugman: Eat the Future -- How can Republicans keep their promise to cut spending without cutting programs that voters want to keep?

  Montana is legislating globalwarming away:

• 2011/02/17: HuffPo: Montana Considers Repealing Reality in the Interest of Economic Development
• 2011/02/19: MTobis: Montana to Repeal Global Warming
• 2011/02/19: CCP: Montana Rep. Joe Read: Global Warming Good for the Economy
• 2011/02/19: HotTopic: Montana and a singular madness (wishin' and hopin')
• 2011/02/17: CCP: Peter H. Gleick: Montana considers repealing reality in the interest of economic development
• 2011/02/17: ClimateP: Interview with legislator [State Rep. Joe Read (R-MT)] who introduced bill to declare global warming "natural" and "beneficial to the welfare and business climate of Montana"

  So, do you think Obama will have the gzumpah to veto the GOP budget? Or will it die in the Senate?

• 2011/02/17: ClimateP: Obama will veto flawed continuing resolution
• 2011/02/15: TPMM: Obama Threatens To Veto House GOP's Spending Bill

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2011/02/18: TreeHugger: How Obama Can Use Executive Powers to Address Climate Change (Video)
• 2011/02/14: CSW: Will Obama stand up under pressure on EPA regulation of greenhouse gases?
• 2011/02/15: ScienceInsider: Will Obama's SunShot Initiative See the Light of Day?
• 2011/02/14: EarthTimes: Obama gives up on cap-and-trade to curb climate change

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2011/02/18: BBC: John Holdren relishing Congress climate opportunity
  The US president's chief science adviser says the nation's current efforts to tackle climate change are insufficient in the long-term.
• 2011/02/18: ScienceInsider: War and Peace Over Holdren's Climate Testimony
• 2011/02/17: AutoBG: 15 groups unite to try and stop the EPA from funding nationwide E15
• 2011/02/09: ProPublica: EPA Wants to Look at Full Lifecycle of Fracking in New Study
• 2011/02/14: PlanetArk: USDA Deregulates Corn Amylase Used For Ethanol
• 2011/02/14: PlanetArk: U.S. Must Move Past Yucca Dump For Nuke Waste: Chu
• 2011/02/14: ScienceInsider: In Budget Drought, USDA Aims to Fertilize Competitive Grants
• 2011/02/14: NOAANews: NOAA Names New Director of National Severe Storms Laboratory
• 2011/02/14: ClimateP: EPA white paper spells out the health and employment costs of the Republican Dirty Air Act

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2011/02/18: Grist: Jeff Bingaman retiring; Senate to get even dumber on clean energy
• 2011/02/17: TreeHugger: Don't Worry About Peak Resources, God Will Provide and Fix, Says GOP Rep
• 2011/02/15: QuarkSoup: Mark Haartsgard Confronts James Inhofe

  While in the UK:

• 2011/02/18: PlanetArk: UK forest Sale Plan Scrapped After Outcry
• 2011/02/17: BBC: Forest sale axed: Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman says "I am sorry, we got this one wrong"
  Controversial plans to sell 40,000 acres of state-owned woodland in England have been abandoned.
• 2011/02/16: Guardian(UK): UK's shifting population placing environment under intense strain
• 2011/02/16: BBC: Windfarms to bring communities average £20,000 a year
  Local communities in England that agree to site an onshore windfarm will receive payment backed by the government, under new plans. Renewable UK, the renewable energy trade association, has launched a "wind energy industry guarantee" that will average £20,000 per year per project.
• 2011/02/16: BBC: Sellafield cautioned over radioactive leak
  Sellafield managers have been issued with a formal caution over a leak of radioactive liquid which went unnoticed for 14 months.
• 2011/02/13: Guardian(UK): 'Bonfire of the quangos' threatens climate change committee
• 2011/02/14: Guardian(UK): Carbon Trust funding cut by 40%
  Cuts to the government's low-carbon agency will cancel grants to biofuel projects and cause dozens of redundancies
• 2011/02/14: Guardian(UK): Should we worry about Carbon Trust and Energy Saving Trust cuts?

  And in Europe:

• 2011/02/18: Guardian(UK): Tough action on climate change is 'cost-effective', EU report shows
• 2011/02/16: AutoBG: EU votes in favor of CO2 limits on light commercial vehicles
• 2011/02/16: EUO: Commission concedes EU's emission target is too small
• 2011/02/16: PlanetArk: EU Energy Plan Could Cut CO2 By A Quarter: Draft
• 2011/02/16: EarthTimes: EU hits Poland with double warning over failure to protect waters
• 2011/02/15: Guardian(UK): Connie Hedegaard insists tougher carbon targets will boost European economy
  EU climate commissioner says there is 'debate' -- but no row -- over raising the carbon targets to a 30% cut by 2020
• 2011/02/15: EarthTimes: European Parliament backs watered-down limits on van emissions
• 2011/02/14: EarthTimes: Poland eyes Russian nuclear energy purchase

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2011/02/20: CCP: Australian businesses are urging the government to move slowly in trying to cut carbon. But when does transitional assistance become needless corporate welfare?
• 2011/02/18: ABC(Au): Sydney University researchers are on the Monaro in the New South Wales south east as part of a project exploring carbon in soil
• 2011/02/18: ABC(Au): Carbon price deal is months away
  The Federal Government has indicated that it will be months before a deal on carbon pricing is reached.
• 2011/02/17: ABC(Au): New [LNG] fuel plant to cut emissions
• 2011/02/16: WtD: Liberal Party War on Science: Cory Bernardi joins deniers in attacking BoM
• 2011/02/15: ABC(Au): Ballarat could become 'wind farm hub'
  A Ballarat environment group is calling for greater training and industry incentives to encourage the growth of the wind farm industry. The group, Ballarat Renewable Energy And Zero Emissions, has made a submission to a Senate inquiry into the economic impacts of wind farms.
• 2011/02/15: ABC(Au): New South Wales Fair Trading inspectors will be visiting homes in Port Macquarie during the next couple of weeks to check solar installations
• 2011/02/15: PlanetArk: Support For Australian Government Tumbles After Disasters
• 2011/02/14: PlanetArk: Australia Plans Carbon Tax From 2012: Report

  After a 10 year drought and recent massive flooding, water usage planning is controversial and difficult:

• 2011/02/18: ABC(Au): Government alters Murray-Darling buyback plan
  The Federal Government has responded to concerns from irrigators and announced changes to its Murray-Darling Basin water buybacks scheme.
• 2011/02/15: ABC(Au): River Murray set to peak at Berri
• 2011/02/14: JQuiggin: 75 per cent

  While in China:

• 2011/02/17: PlanetArk: China To Shake Up Rare Earth Industry
• 2011/02/16: TreeHugger: China's Water Plight: Confronting Water Scarcity and Energy Demand in the World's Largest Country

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

• 2011/02/15: CBC: Oil companies defend using coast guard ship [Amundsen] -- Oil industry money covers 1/3 of budget for Arctic research consortium
• 2011/02/19: WpgFP: Elizabeth May optimistic Greens can win first seat in next election
• 2011/02/14: G&M: British envoy to set new tone in climate change talks with Canada
  Britain's new envoy to Canada, Andrew Pocock, is signalling something of a reset in relations on the thorny issue of climate change. His predecessor, Anthony Cary, was tasked by Britain's former Labour government with conducting a public diplomacy campaign on climate change, but sometimes ticked off the Conservative government in Ottawa with his calls for Canada to do more. Now Mr. Pocock, who formally took over last Thursday, is striving to set a different tone on the issue that "sheds more light than heat."

The battle over the Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipelines rages on:

• 2011/02/19: DeSmogBlog: New Report: Keystone XL Pipeline Is Not Safe
• 2011/02/16: PI:B: Dangerous goods: new report highlights risks of shipping raw oilsands
• 2011/02/16: NYT:GW: Watchdog Groups Urge Stronger U.S. Standards for Oil Sands Pipelines
  The thick, sticky type of oil carried from Canada to the United States in several high-profile pipelines also brings a higher risk of leaks and ruptures that demand stronger government safety standards, green groups and pipeline watchdogs argue today in a new report.
• 2011/02/17: PostMedia: Enbridge [Northern Gateway] pipeline project faces more opposition -- Another first nations group rejects proposal
  Enbridge Inc.'s proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline hit renewed waves of opposition this week. Another group of first nations communities has publicly vowed to reject the financial benefits package Enbridge devised to encourage their participation in the project and the introduction of another privatemembers is making its way through Parliament seeking to ban oil tanker traffic off British Columbia's north coast. On Tuesday night, a group of communities under the name Yinka Dene Alliance told Enbridge officials at a community meeting in Prince George that they "categorically reject" a financial benefits package offered by the company over their environmental concerns about the project. "There is no amount of money that would get us involved," Geraldine Thomas-Flurer, coordinator of the alliance, which represents five firstnation communities along the pipeline's route in the central interior of B.C.
• 2011/02/15: CBC: TransCanada revises Keystone XL date -- Company hikes cost estimate by $1B
  [Keystone XL would run 3,200 kilometres from Hardisty, Alta., to Port Arthur, Texas, on the Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.] Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. said Tuesday that approval of its controversial Keystone XL crude pipeline expansion will take longer than expected. The energy company also raised its estimate for the project's cost by $1 billion. It said it now expects U.S. authorities to approve the project in the last six months of 2011.

With Campbell and James both out, BC politics is even more spindizzy than usual:

• 2011/02/16: PostMedia: Horgan's platform in NDP leadership bid includes expanding carbon tax

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2011/02/17: PlanetArk: Alberta Backs C$5 Billion Oil Sands Refinery Plan
• 2011/02/16: CBC: Alberta negotiates $5B bitumen deal
  The Alberta government has agreed to supply bitumen to a new high-tech refinery northeast of Edmonton as part of an effort to keep oilsands-processing jobs and investment in the province. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (TSX:CNQ) and North West Upgrading Inc. expect to complete the first 50,000 barrel-per-day phase of the refinery in 2014. The Alberta government will provide 37,500 barrels of bitumen per day that it collects as Crown royalties, in lieu of cash.
• 2011/02/14: DeSmogBlog: The Facts Are In, The Tar Sands Are Dirty, But Industry Spin Campaign Continues

  In Saskatchewan the question is Potash Royalties...

• 2011/02/18: BuckDog: The Chair Of The School Of Policy At The University Of Calgary Says Premier Brad Wall's Potash Royalty Structure is 'Just Wrong'
• 2011/02/18: BuckDog: Brad Wall Says 'NO' To Potash Royalty Review ... And The Ripoff Is Worse Than You Know
• 2011/02/16: BuckDog: A Potash Royalty Review Could Become An Ugly Mess For Premier Brad Wall
• 2011/02/15: BuckDog: Brad Wall's Saskatchewan Party Administration Is Literally GIVING Our Potash Reserve Away

  In Manitoba, people have flooding on their minds:

• 2011/02/17: CBC: Military barriers drafted for Manitoba flood fight

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

• 2011/02/19: CleanBreak: Ontario is more than smart meters: at the smart grid core, we thrive
• 2011/02/18: CBC: Tribunal hears health concerns over wind energy
  Opponents of wind energy in Ontario took another step this week, as a provincial tribunal heard arguments over the impact of wind turbines on human health. Ontario's Environmental Review Tribunal was in Chatham, Ont., to hear a challenge over a licence given to energy giant Suncor to build an eight-turbine wind power project in Chatham-Kent.
• 2011/02/17: CleanBreak: Is Canadian Wind Energy Association turning its back on offshore wind?
• 2011/02/16: CleanBreak: Offshore wind decision not about health concerns, despite anti-wind noise
  It's about politics. It's about votes. It may be about a lack of need for the power, or a true concern about lakebed impacts. But one thing for certain is that the Ontario government's misguided decision to halt all offshore wind development until further study is not about unfounded concerns over the health impacts on people...
• 2011/02/16: CleanBreak: Time for Ontario to widen peak/off-leak rate gap in TOU pricing
• 2011/02/17: TreeHugger: Quotes Of The Day: Critics Of Ontario's Cancellation Of Offshore Wind Speak Out

  In the Maritimes:

• 2011/02/16: PostMedia: Windmills freeze under heavy ice -- $200M wind farm fails in damp cold
  A $200-million wind farm in northern New Brunswick is frozen solid, cutting off a potential supply of renewable energy for NB Power. The 25-kilometre stretch of wind turbines, located 70 kilometres northwest of Bathurst, N.B. has been completely shut down for several weeks due to heavy ice covering the blades. GDF SUEZ Energy, the company that owns and operates the site, is working to return the windmills to working order, a spokeswoman says.

In the North:

• 2011/02/17: PostMedia: Arctic communities choking on sky-high food prices

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

• 2011/02/13: CCurrents: What Is True Sustainability?
• 2011/02/15: EnergyBulletin: Earth's Limits: Why Growth Won't Return
• 2011/02/15: TreeHugger: Population Growth and Ecological Footprint - It's About Equity, Environment & Preventing Collapse

  What do we tell the children?

• 2011/02/14: TreeHugger: How Should We Talk About Climate Change With Our Kids?
• 2011/02/13: ClimateP: That awkward conversation (about the climate)

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

• 2011/02/19: Grist: The GINK Videos -- Hey, enviros, greens, climate hawks -- we all need to stand up for Planned Parenthood
• 2011/02/17: AlterNet: Right-Wing Republicans Are on the Verge of Voting to Defund Planned Parenthood
• 2011/02/16: AlterNet: The South Dakota Bill That Could Legitimize Murder of Abortion Providers
• 2011/02/15: MoJo: South Dakota Moves To Legalize Killing Abortion Providers
  A bill under consideration in the Mount Rushmore State would make preventing harm to a fetus a "justifiable homicide" in many cases.
• 2011/02/14: NBF: Population limits of the earth and the solar system factoring in improved technology
• 2011/02/02: C&C: Biology's Bomb: Graphing 'Explosive' Population Growth in Cold War Textbooks

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2011/02/19: JQuiggin: Oz Fail#3
• 2011/02/17: RRapier: The Media's Role in the Range Fuels Fiasco
• 2011/02/18: Deltoid: Don't believe anything you read in the Daily Mail
• 2011/02/16: SMandia: Forbes Magazine: Wrong is Right
• 2011/02/15: CCP: Chicago Tribune publishes errors of fact by Heartland Institute...

  Here is something for your library:

• 2011/02/15: SkeptiSci: [Book Review] _The Global Carbon Cycle_ by David Archer

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2011/02/20: PSinclair: "Meet the Skeptics": Monckton Fails to Stop BBC Close-up
• 2011/02/19: PSinclair: Climate Science in a Nutshell: The evidence for Climate Change
• 2011/02/18: DerSpiegel: Oil Giant Gets a Shelling -- David Versus Goliath Off the Irish Coast
  The documentary "The Pipe," shown during the Berlinale film festival, tells the story of residents in a remote Irish coastal community who took on the oil giant Shell, and their own government. Spiegel Online spoke to the director about the residents' David and Goliath struggle.
• 2011/02/18: PSinclair: Potholer on Monckton Bunkum
• 2011/02/15: GreenGrok: 'Carbon Nation' Seeks to Change the Conversation
• 2011/02/18: PSinclair: Climate Science in a Nutshell: Weather vs Climate
• 2011/02/16: CCP: Mark Hertsgaard: Generation Hot Takes on Climate Cranks and Senator Inhofe
• 2011/02/13: PSinclair: Cleanup Over? "Football field" of submerged oil found in Florida

  As for podcasts:

• 2011/02/19: SciNow: Podcast: Will There Be Fish by 2050?
• 2011/02/18: ASI: The Climate Show Cryosphere Special
• 2011/02/17: HotTopic: The Climate Show #7: Box and Boxsters -- the cryosphere special
• 2011/02/14: SkeptiSci: The Climate Show: Episode 6 and their own website

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent, a special "What, me accept reponsibility?" issue:

• 2011/02/18: CSM: In Ecuador's landmark $9 billion judgment against Chevron, all sides unhappy
• 2011/02/18: PlanetArk: Sting "Ringleader" Re-Enters Chevron-Ecuador Case
• 2011/02/17: PlanetArk: Chevron, Locals Prepare Ecuador Pollution Appeals
• 2011/02/17: Grist: Chevron to Ecuador: What's 'apologize'?
• 2011/02/16: PlanetArk: Ecuador Farmers Say Chevron Award Too Small
• 2011/02/16: DM:80B: Chevron Ordered to Pay Billions for Amazon Pollution...but Will It Pay?
• 2011/02/15: DemNow: Ecuadorian Court Orders Chevron to Pay $17 Billion for Oil Pollution in Amazon
• 2011/02/15: AlterNet: Chevron Is Trying to Slither Away from a Massive 8$ Billion Judgement for Cancer Deaths, Illnesses and Destruction
• 2011/02/16: Independent(UK): Chevron's dirty fight in Ecuador
  The giant oil corporation has been fined $8.6bn for an environmental disaster that has been called 'the Amazon's Chernobyl'. But guess what? It may end up paying nothing
• 2011/02/16: Independent(UK): Ecuador: finally, the polluter is commanded to pay
  This ruling could be a sign that poorer countries are no longer prepared to be a dumping ground
• 2011/02/15: CCP: Los Angeles Times: Chevron ordered to pay $8 billion by Ecuador court
• 2011/02/15: ABC(Au): A court in Ecuador's Amazon has told Chevron to pay $8.6 billion in environmental damages, but the US oil company vowed to fight on in a lawsuit seen as a global test case
• 2011/02/15: EarthTimes: Ecuadorian court slaps Chevron with record fine for polluting rainforest
• 2011/02/15: OilChange: Chevron Guilty
• 2011/02/15: BBC: Amazon pollution: Chevron hits back in row with Ecuador
  US oil giant Chevron says it will appeal against an $8.6bn (£5.3bn) fine imposed by Ecuador judges, carrying on a long-running row over pollution.
• 2011/02/14: PlanetArk: Chevron Notches Key Win In Ecuador Pollution Fight
  International arbitrators ordered Ecuador to suspend enforcement of any judgment against Chevron Corp in its marathon rainforest pollution case, representing another important win for the U.S. oil company. The order, dated February 9 and posted on Chevron's website, came a day after a New York judge issued a temporary restraining order against the Ecuadorean plaintiffs to stop them going outside the United States to seek enforcement of any court ruling against the company. The move to the arbitration tribunal in The Hague, made in September 2009 shortly after the appointment of Chevron General Counsel Hewitt Pate, was a key part of the company's containment strategy for litigation seeking billions of dollars in damages.
• 2011/02/14: BBC: Chevron fined for Amazon pollution by Ecuador court
  A court in Ecuador has fined US oil giant Chevron a reported $8bn (£5bn) for polluting a large part of the country's Amazon region. The oil firm Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was accused of dumping billions of gallons of toxic materials into unlined pits and Amazon rivers. Campaigners say crops were damaged and farm animals killed, and that local cancer rates increased. Condemning the ruling as fraudulent, Chevron said it would appeal.
• 2011/02/14: AmazonWatch: Statement on Ecuador Court Ruling Against Chevron -- Evidence Prevails Over Oil Giant's Intimidation Tactics
• 2011/02/14: TreeHugger: After Almost 20 Years of Legal Battles, Chevron Fined $8 Billion for Amazon Pollution
• 2011/02/14: DeSmogBlog: Chevron Guilty of Amazon Rainforest Destruction, Judge Issues $8 Billion Fine

  Among the non-members of Gamblers Anonymous:

• 2011/02/19: BSD: Climate betting update for 2010

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

• 2011/02/19: RWER: Graph of the week: World's Liquid Fuels Supply
• 2011/02/14: Shell: Shell future energy scenarios: 'zone of uncertainty' ahead
  Shell today published Signals and Signposts -- a report into future energy scenarios which offers a deeper understanding of global developments and the world's energy supply, use and needs. They help us to make crucial choices in uncertain times as we grapple with tough energy and environmental issues.
• 2011/02/15: FuturePundit: Shell Sees Intensified Economic Cycles Due To Oil
• 2011/02/19: Eureka: Mimicking photosynthesis path to solar-derived hydrogen fuel
• 2011/02/18: Grist: Alternative energy plants aren't just smart, they're good-looking
• 2011/02/17: UCDavis: Magma power for geothermal energy?
• 2011/02/18: OilDrum: Don't count on natural gas to solve US energy problems
• 2011/02/18: PeakEnergy: Graph of the Day: The Cost of Production Of Oil
• 2011/02/14: CleanBreak: Shell: "World is entering an era of volatile transitions and intensified economic cycles"
• 2011/02/16: ClassM: Can we build it? Yes we can!
• 2011/02/16: PlanetArk: Lower Wind And Solar Prices To Usher Speedier Adoption
• 2011/02/16: Grist: Knowing what you spend on energy can cut usage by more than half
• 2011/02/15: PeakEnergy: Signals and Signposts: The world is heading for an oil drought, says Shell
• 2011/02/14: BNC: Gas aplenty, but UAE opts for nuclear --- a lesson to be learned?

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

• 2011/02/16: ProPublica: Questions for Congress and Hollywood About Fracking
• 2011/02/17: DeSmogBlog: 'Energy In Depth' Was Created By Major Oil and Gas Companies According to Industry Memo
• 2011/02/17: OilChange: Oil Industry front group attacks fracking critics
• 2011/02/09: ProPublica: EPA Wants to Look at Full Lifecycle of Fracking in New Study
• 2011/02/10: ProPublica: John Hanger, PA's Former Environmental Chief, Talks About Challenges of Keeping Gas Drilling Safe

  The answer my friend...:

• 2011/02/17: ABC(Au): Wind farms now supply 20pc of SA power
  A 37-turbine wind farm will be officially opened in the mid-north today by South Australian Premier Mike Rann. The Premier says wind farms now provide 20 per cent of SA's power requirements. Ally Fricker from the Stop Industrial Turbines group says locals still have concerns about possible effects on their health.
• 2011/02/16: BBC: Windfarms to bring communities average £20,000 a year
  Local communities in England that agree to site an onshore windfarm will receive payment backed by the government, under new plans. Renewable UK, the renewable energy trade association, has launched a "wind energy industry guarantee" that will average £20,000 per year per project.
• 2011/02/14: PeakEnergy: Wind turbine prices fall to their lowest in recent years

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2011/02/19: NBF: Stratosolar for concentrated solar power that is 15 times lower cost
• 2011/02/17: Oregonian: Solar thin-film maker [SoloPower Inc.] says it will stay 10 years in Wilsonville
• 2011/02/17: NBF: Concentrated solar power at half the cost of thin film solar
• 2011/02/15: PlanetArk: Global Solar Power Growth Doubled In 2010: Study
• 2011/02/15: PSinclair: Graph of the Day: Cost of Solar Cells
• 2011/02/15: PeakEnergy: Solar PV Increases by 16 GW in 2010
• 2011/02/14: NBF: Spray on Solar Panels using CIGS nanocrystals

  On the coal front:

• 2011/02/20: HotTopic: Lignite: dirty brown forbidden fruit
• 2011/02/18: TreeHugger: The Devastating Cost of Coal: Interview with Dr. Paul Epstein (Video)
• 2011/02/18: TreeHugger: The Nightmare of Coal-Powered Bureaucracy (Video)
• 2011/02/17: HuffPo: Coal Costs U.S. $500 Billion Per Year: Study
• 2011/02/18: TreeHugger: Coal Plant Shutdown a Long-Awaited Step in the Right Direction
• 2011/02/17: OPB: Northwest's Largest Coal-Fired Power Plant [Centralia] In Political Cross Hairs
• 2011/02/15: STimes: Effort to end use of coal in Centralia plant earlier
• 2011/02/16: AlterNet: Vision: Fight for a World Without Coal
• 2011/02/14: AutoBG: Massive shutdown of U.S. coal plants expected within 5 to 8 years
• 2011/02/14: NYT: In Northwest, a Clash Over a Coal Operation

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2011/02/18: AutoBG: Brazil's Petrobas to invest $3.5B to double biofuel output
• 2011/02/14: RRapier: Butanol Q&A With Cobalt Technologies CEO Rick Wilson
• 2011/02/17: NBF: Joule Unlimited claims 5-50 times more fuel per acre than other biofuel processes
• 2011/02/17: Eureka: Turning forests into fuel: New report outlines promise and limits of biomass energy in the Northeast
• 2011/02/16: UIllinois: A billion tons of biomass a viable goal, but at high price, new research shows
• 2011/02/16: Eureka: The race to bring biofuels to the pump
• 2011/02/15: KSJT: Bloomberg: Altered switchgrass has less lignin, makes more ethanol ... plus, it's cheaper

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2011/02/17: DerSpiegel: Inside the Atomic Industry -- In Germany, Nuclear Power 'Has Been Demonized'
  Volker Sattel spent years researching his documentary on nuclear power, 'Under Control,' which premiered at the Berlinale film festival this week. He gained unprecedented access to plants and employees, even filming over an open reactor. Sattel argues the debate in Germany has become overheated.
• 2011/02/18: BNC: Safeguarding the nuclear fuel cycle by Dr. William Hannum
• 2011/02/18: PeakEnergy: Nuclear power's great leap forward
• 2011/02/17: ScienceInsider: U.K. Start-Up Aims to Cash in on Small Fusion Reactor
• 2011/02/17: NBF: Cameco Uranium to 2015
• 2011/02/16: Guardian(UK): China enters race to develop nuclear energy from thorium
• 2011/02/16: BBC: Sellafield cautioned over radioactive leak
  Sellafield managers have been issued with a formal caution over a leak of radioactive liquid which went unnoticed for 14 months.

Yes we have peak everything:

• 2011/02/17: FCNP: The Peak Oil Crisis: The 3rd Transition
• 2011/02/17: SEasterbrook: Peak Oil: Are we in for a bumpy ride?
• 2011/02/17: TreeHugger: Best Reading for Understanding Peak Water
• 2011/02/17: TreeHugger: Don't Worry About Peak Resources, God Will Provide and Fix, Says GOP Rep
• 2011/02/16: TreeHugger: Exxon, Shell Both Essentially Admit Peak Oil Is Upon Us - Or Will Be Soon
• 2011/02/16: PeakEnergy: Cornucopia or Malthusia - a reply to John Tierney
• 2011/02/15: EnergyBulletin: The coming misery that Big Oil discusses behind closed doors
• 2011/02/16: OilChange: Exxon is Running Out of Oil
• 2011/02/14: CCurrents: Spreading The Wealth In A Post-Oil World
• 2011/02/14: PeakEnergy: 12 reasons why I remain optimistic

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2011/02/17: Eureka: Compact high-temperature superconducting cables demonstrated at NIST
• 2011/02/15: SGN: The evolution of Silver Spring Networks (and what it means to the rest of us)

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2011/02/17: Grist: Another bogus report tries to discredit energy efficiency
• 2011/02/17: NatureN: Experts tangle over energy-efficiency 'rebound' effect -- Report suggests that efficiency gains could be overwhelmed by rising demand
• 2011/02/16: ClimateP: Debunking the Jevons Paradox: Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded
• 2011/02/15: ClimateP: Rebound effect: The Breakthrough Institute's attack on clean energy backfires
  Top energy experts debunk their false assertions and misleading statements about energy efficiency

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

• 2011/02/18: AutoBG: Electric vehicle in need of a tow? Flatbeds may be the way to go
• 2011/02/18: CBC: Chinese auto sales hit monthly record [1.5 million in January] -- Sales growth expected to slow as incentive program ends
  Factory sales of Chinese passenger cars rose 16.8 per cent in January from the same month a year earlier, an industry group reported Friday.
• 2011/02/18: AutoBG: Study: Worldwide sales of electric vehicles could hit 30M by 2050
• 2011/02/14: PeakEnergy: The fast lane to the adoption of electric cars

  As for Energy Storage:

• 2011/02/17: AutoBG: Toyota develops high discharge capacity Li-O2/CO2 battery
• 2011/02/15: Grist: California to green its grid with energy storage

  In the gas and oil biz:

• 2011/02/19: BBerg: OPEC Oil Exports Fall 2% as Saudi Shipments Decline
• 2011/02/20: OilDrum: Tech Talk - the second tier states
• 2011/02/18: EnergyBulletin: Brent-WTI spread
• 2011/02/16: ClimateP: Least surprising headline of the day: "Exxon Struggles To Find New Oil"

  Pipelines:

• 2011/02/19: DeSmogBlog: New Report: Keystone XL Pipeline Is Not Safe
• 2011/02/16: PI:B: Dangerous goods: new report highlights risks of shipping raw oilsands
• 2011/02/16: NYT:GW: Watchdog Groups Urge Stronger U.S. Standards for Oil Sands Pipelines
  The thick, sticky type of oil carried from Canada to the United States in several high-profile pipelines also brings a higher risk of leaks and ruptures that demand stronger government safety standards, green groups and pipeline watchdogs argue today in a new report.
• 2011/02/14: ProPublica: Regulators Warn that Trans-Alaska Pipeline Poses Safety Risk
• 2011/02/14: PlanetArk: Government Sees Major Safety Issues On Alaska Oil Line

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2011/02/18: TreeHugger: Massive Ethical Business Strategy Revealed by Cooperative Giant [UK-based Co-operative Group]
• 2011/02/17: TreeHugger: Campbell Soup Announces 9.8MW Solar Power Purchase Agreement [PPA] for Ohio Factory

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2011/02/18: CCP: Insurers face consequences of global warming...
• 2011/02/17: BBerg: Munich Re Says Natural Disasters in Germany Tripled Since 1970 on Climate
• 2011/02/16: CCP: TWC: 2010 Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters

  Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

• 2011/02/17: Grist: Company gives lumps of coal to children

  Who's fielding the FAQs?

• 2011/02/18: Guardian(UK): What is geo-engineering?
• 2011/02/16: Guardian(UK): What is the economic cost of climate change?
• 2011/02/15: Guardian(UK): What is the Stern review?

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

• 2011/02/18: ClimateP: Climate and energy news for February 18...
• 2011/02/17: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for February 17...
• 2011/02/16: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for February 16...
• 2011/02/15: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for February 15...
• 2011/02/14: ClimateP: Energy news: China profits from solar policy as Europe backpedals; 10 million solar roof law could get boost from DOE program

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2011/02/19: RBroberg: Climate Blog and News Recap
• 2011/02/18: IJISH: Mindless Link Propagation...lolwut edition
• 2011/02/17: Grist: The Climate Post: Obama's new budget would make Big Oil pay for clean energy

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2011/02/19: QuarkSoup: The True Believers
• 2011/02/20: PSinclair: "Meet the Skeptics": Monckton Fails to Stop BBC Close-up
• 2011/02/19: Wired: Clive Thompson on How More Info Leads to Less Knowledge
• 2011/02/19: Deltoid: Was Johnny Ball really victimized by environmentalists?
• 2011/02/19: EmpireBurlesque: Politics 101: The Sleep of Reason
• 2011/02/18: PSinclair: Potholer on Monckton Bunkum
• 2011/02/18: Deltoid: The war on the Bureau of Meteorology
• 2011/02/16: ERabett: I did not have unethical relations with that journal -- aMs. Climate
• 2011/02/16: BBickmore: The Monckton Files: Monckton a Moderate Contrarian?
• 2011/02/16: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #13: The Magical IPCC by dana1981
• 2011/02/16: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #12: Arctic Temperature Changes by Robert Way
• 2011/02/14: SkeptiSci: Monckton Myth #11: Carbon Pricing Costs vs. Benefits by dana1981
• 2011/02/14: AlterNet: Help Us Name and Shame the Climate Cranks Sabotaging Our Environment
• 2011/02/14: Guardian(UK): The need for caution when 'calling out the climate cranks'
• 2011/02/14: QuarkSoup: Koch Brothers Sponsoring PBS's Nova
• 2011/02/14: ClimateP: Heritage's David Kreutzer argues dirty air creates jobs
• 2011/02/14: WtD: The denial machine keeps on cranking: guest post from Citizen's Challenge
• 2011/02/14: HotTopic: Institutional lemmings

  And among the extreme techno-optimists:

• 2011/02/19: Grist: Futurist Ray Kurzweil isn't worried about climate change

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2011/02/19: NatGeo: Enter the Anthropocene -- Age of Man
  It's a new name for a new geologic epoch -- one defined by our own massive impact on the planet. That mark will endure in the geologic record long after our cities have crumbled.
• 2011/02/19: Tamino: My Hero(ine)
• 2011/02/16: PI:B: Coming face to face with climate change
• 2011/02/16: YaleCMF: 'Rapid Response Team' Pairs Scientists and Media
• 2011/02/18: GreenGrok: Climate Change Messaging for 'Generation Hot'
• 2011/02/14: GreenGrok: On Global Warming, Cultural Cognition, and Messaging
• 2011/02/17: MTobis: Uncertainty Writ Large
• 2011/02/17: PeakEnergy: George Monbiot vs Stewart Brand
• 2011/02/15: Eureka: If greenhouse gas emissions stopped now, Earth still would likely get warmer
• 2011/02/15: CCurrents: Climate: Putting People Over Money
• 2011/02/15: HotTopic: Lessons from a drowning continent: no time like the present to invest in our future
• 2011/02/14: PlanetArk: Analysis: Investors Get Picky In Rare Earth Race
  Rare earth stocks were the darlings of 2010. Now investors are casting a far more discerning eye over the sector, betting that only a handful of companies will survive in the race to supply the world with the high-tech metals of the future.
• 2011/02/13: TPL: When Science Becomes Politics by Other Means

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

• Wiki: Climate change feedback
• NWS:AHPS: Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service
• NWS: North Central U.S. Spring Flood Risk
• SGN: Smart Grid News
• Goldschmidt 2011 -- August 14-19, 2011 in Prague, Czech Republic
• UN: United Nations Environment Programme -- Ozone Secretariat -- Scientific Assessment Panel
• FAO: Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture (MICCA) Project
• DOE:EERE: SunShot Initiative
• Amazon Watch
• NOAANews Archive
• NOAA:AGGI: The NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index
• UNEP: Climate Neutral Network
• NOAA: Climate Prediction Center - Expert Assessments
• JISAO: The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)
• Wiki: Ecological economics
• FAO: GIEWS - Global Information and Early Warning System

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.

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

"Mother Nature doesn't do bailouts. One day, Mother Nature shows up and blows out your knee caps." -Denis Hayes

• Global Warming Links
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