Another Week of GW News, April 29, 2012

By illconsidered on April 30, 2012.

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

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Another week of Climate Disruption News

Another Week in the Ecological Crisis

April 29, 2012

Chuckles, Rio+20, CEM, IPY2012, People & Planet, Pritchard, Durack, Kort
Elgin, IPBES, Maldives, World Bank, Pricing Nature, Cook, Post CRU
Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
Melting Arctic, Grolar Bears, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food Prices, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Aerosols, Paleoclimate
ENSO, Climate Sensitivity, State of the Oceans, Extinctions, Volcanoes, Satellites
Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Disease, Wacky Weather, Phenology
Tornadoes, Heat Wave, Corals, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
Mitigation, REDD, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
Journals, Other Docs, Misc., DIY Sci, Models, Free Sci, Mann, Lovelock, Hansen, Pielke
International Politics: UN, Carbon Trade, Bank Tax, Hormuz, South China Sea
YPF-Repsol, FQD, Security, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz
National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Keystone, War on Women, 2,4-D
Coal for Asia, Agenda 21, Manipulation, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
Britain, Europe, Australia, Margin, MDBP, New Zealand, India, China, Japan, Africa, South America
Canada, Embarassment, Proposal, Black is White, Budget, Streamlining
Pipelines, Foreigners, M312, ISA, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, North
Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Fixes, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts
Energy, Fracking, Oil & Gas, Fossil Fuel Corps, Oil & the Economy, Pipelines, Biofuel
Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Fusion, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
Insurance, Greenwashing, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Is funny. Yes?

2012/04/28: SMcMillan: (cartoon - McMillan) Eyeless But Safe
2012/04/25: uComics: (cartoon - Rall) Profiteering in the Guise of Environmentalism
2012/04/25: TP:JR: (cartoon - McFadden) Learn How To Combat Climate Change Denial
2012/04/24: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) A Big One
Looking ahead to Rio+20:
2012/04/27: CCurrents: Rio+20: Creating Resilient Agriculture
2012/04/27: Grist: Earth Summit 101: A Jedi's primer to the meeting in Rio
2012/04/25: EurActiv: EU plays down expectations for Rio Earth Summit
Europe faces major obstacles in achieving two of its goals at the upcoming sustainable development conference in Rio de Janeiro, a top EU official admitted yesterday (24 April), but will remain an "ambitious partner".
2012/04/25: CCurrents: A Plea For Rio+20: Don't Commodify Nature
The IEA released a report warning about GHG emission levels at the Clean Energy Ministerial meeting in London this week:
Clean Energy Ministerial - Accelerating the Transition to Clean Energy Technologies
2012/04/25: CEM: [link to 3.9 meg pdf] International Energy Agency Releases Report on Status of Clean Energy Technologies
2012/04/26: BBC: Agency plea over climate warning
Leading energy ministers have been told the world is on track for a long-term temperature increase of 6C unless they change their priorities. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on current trends, emissions would double from 2009 to 2050. The deputy director of the IEA, Richard Jones, urged ministers: "Please take our warning seriously." He was speaking at the Clean Energy Ministerial, a forum for 23 major nations.
2012/04/26: PostMedia: Governments need to boost clean energy, agency says -- Subsidies favour fossil fuels
Governments around the world must "level the playing field" to ensure clean energy technologies grow fast enough to prevent dangerous levels of global warming, the International Energy Agency says.
2012/04/25: IEA: IEA urges governments to seize the opportunity to accelerate clean energy deployment
2012/04/24: Guardian(UK): Governments failing to avert catastrophic climate change, IEA urges
Ministers attending clean energy summit in London to be gravely warned about continuing global addiction to fossil fuels
2012/04/24: Guardian(UK): We can have safe, sustainable energy by IEA executive director, Maria van der Hoeven
With renewables we can contain consumption -- and climate warming at 2C -- if the big users act now

The International Polar Year Conference went down in Montral this week. See also:

From Knowledge to Action - IPY2012 MontrÃ©al - 22-27 April, 2012
2012/04/24: WMO: International Polar Year Conference 2012 seeks to translate knowledge to action
2012/04/25: PostMedia: Arctic faces 'significant challenges'
Polar year conference hears that global warming puts survival of some unique species at risk A unique, all-season study of the effects of global warming in the Arctic Ocean shows that climate change is reducing biodiversity and posing "significant challenges to the survival of some of the Arctic's unique marine species."
2012/04/24: PostMedia: Climate change is reducing Arctic Ocean biodiversity: $40-M study
A unique, all-season study of the effects of global warming in the Arctic Ocean shows that climate change is reducing biodiversity and posing "significant challenges to the survival of some of the Arctic's unique marine species." The study also shows that climate change is resulting in the increased distribution through the Arctic food chain of contaminants, such as methylmercury. The $40-million study, which was conducted by 10 scientific teams from 27 countries, spent 2007-2008 studying open water along what are called flaw leads, or breaks in multi-year ice, where they studied how global warming is changing the entire marine ecosystem in the Arctic. "The Arctic Ocean is definitely changing on a whole lot of different fronts," said Prof. David Barber, of the University of Manitoba. The study was released Tuesday at the Polar Year conference in Montreal. The data was gathered aboard the research icebreaker Amundsen in the Amundsen Gulf south of Banks Island in the eastern Beaufort Sea.
2012/04/23: TreeHugger: Thousands of Scientists in 67 Nations Call for No-Fishing Zone in Newly Exposed Arctic
2012/04/23: G&M: Don't be naive on climate change, Norway's former PM cautions Canada
Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway, was keynote speaker on Monday at the International Polar Year conference in Montreal. Dr. Brundtland has headed the World Health Organization and served as a UN climate change envoy.
2012/04/23: RawStory: Scientists call for moratorium on Arctic fishing
2012/04/22: OceansNorth: Arctic Fisheries Letter -- More than 2,000 Scientists Worldwide Urge Protection of Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries
2012/04/23: NatureNB: Scientists call for no-fishing zone in Arctic waters
2012/04/23: PostMedia: Leaders urged to put moratorium on industrial fishing in the Arctic
Such a move would avoid decimating potentially lucrative species such as cod The leaders of the five Arctic coastal states - including Prime Minister Stephen Harper - are being urged by more than 2,000 scientists from around the world to impose a moratorium on industrial fishing in the increasingly accessible waters of the central Arctic Ocean until experts can determine the size and sustainability of the resource. In an open letter signed by 551 Canadian scientists - along with about 1,500 others from 67 countries - the researchers issued an appeal to the governments of Canada, the U.S., Russia, Norway and Denmark to develop an international fisheries accord that would avoid decimating potentially lucrative species such as Arctic cod before enough is known about their populations.
2012/04/22: CBC: Arctic fishing moratorium needed, scientists say -- Loss of permanent sea ice making industrial fishing viable for first time [IPY conf]
A group of more than 2,000 scientists from 67 countries has called for a moratorium on commercial fishing in the Arctic until more research can be completed on waters that were once covered by ice year-round. The scientists said the loss of permanent sea ice has opened up as much as 40 per cent of the Central Arctic Ocean during recent summers, making industrial fishing viable for the first time.

The UK Royal Society People and Planet report got a mixed reception:

2012/04/26: TRS: [links to several pdfs] People and the planet report
2012/04/26: MLynas: The Royal Society gets it wrong on people and the planet
2012/04/27: CCurrents: Humanity Must Stabilize Population, Consumption Or Face 'Downward Vortex' Of 'Ills'
2012/04/26: Guardian(UK): Cut world population and redistribute resources, expert urges
2012/04/26: SciAm:Obs: Royal Society Calls for Redistribution of Wealth and More Birth Control to Save Planet
2012/04/26: TCoE: Doc alert: People and the Planet
2012/04/26: ScienceInsider: U.K.'s Royal Society Finds No 'Silver Bullet' for Population Issues
2012/04/25: BBC: Population and consumption key to future, report says
Over-consumption in rich countries and rapid population growth in the poorest both need to be tackled to put society on a sustainable path, a report says. An expert group convened by the Royal Society spent nearly two years reading evidence and writing their report. Firm recommendations include giving all women access to family planning, moving beyond GDP as the yardstick of economic health and reducing food waste. The report will feed into preparations for the Rio+20 summit in June.

The Pritchard et al. paper on Antarctic ice-sheet melting triggered a wave of interest:

2012/04/25: Nature: (ab$) Antarctic ice-sheet loss driven by basal melting of ice shelves by H. D. Pritchard et al.
2012/04/25: Scripps: Increased Antarctic Ice Loss by Warm Ocean Currents
2012/04/27: TP:JR: Nature: Antarctica Is Melting From Below, Which 'May Already Have Triggered A Period of Unstable Glacier Retreat'
2012/04/27: TP:JR: Nature: Antarctica Is Melting From Below, Which 'May Already Have Triggered A Period of Unstable Glacier Retreat'
2012/04/26: CBC: Antarctic ice melting from below due to warming ocean -- 20 ice shelves being melted by warmer currents, new research says
2012/04/25: CCP: Seth Borenstein, AP: Antarctica's floating ice shelves are melting from beneath due to warmer ocean waters being pushed closer by changing winds
2012/04/26: CSM: Antarctic ice melting from below, reveals [IceSat] satellite
2012/04/26: BBC: Warm ocean driving Antarctic ice loss
Most of the ice being lost from Antarctica is going as a result of warm water eating the fringes of the continent, scientists say. The researchers used a satellite laser to measure the thinning occurring on ice shelves - the floating tongues of ice that jut out from the land. The team's analysis found the shelves' shrinkage could not be attributed simply to warmer air. Rather, it is warm water getting under the floating ice to melt it from below.
2012/04/25: NASA: Warm Ocean Currents Cause Majority of Ice Loss from Antarctica
2012/04/25: Eureka: Warm ocean currents cause majority of ice loss from Antarctica
The Durack et al. paper on ocean salinity triggered some alarm:
2012/04/27: Science: (ab$) Ocean Salinities Reveal Strong Global Water Cycle Intensification During 1950 to 2000 by Paul J. Durack et al.
2012/04/27: ABC(Au): Climate change affecting world's oceans and rainfall: study
2012/04/26: NYT: Study Indicates a Greater Threat of Extreme Weather
2012/04/27: ABC(Au): Climate change speeding up water cycle
Ramping up The greenhouse effect is accelerating the global water cycle almost twice the rate predicted by climate change models, say researchers. Oceanographer Dr Susan Wijffels of the CSIRO and colleagues report their findings today in the journal Science.
2012/04/26: MoJo: Big Changes in Ocean Salinity Intensifying Water Cycle
2012/04/26: NatureNB: Global water cycle is revving up
2012/04/26: SciNews: Oceans' salinity changed over last half-century -- Warmer atmosphere may be to blame for changes in water cycle
2012/04/26: Reuters: Sea change in salinity heralds shift in rainfall
Scientists have detected a clear change in salinity of the world's oceans and have found that the cycle that drives rainfall and evaporation has intensified more than thought because of global warming.

The Kort et al. paper on Arctic methane tickled an old anxiety:

2012/04/22: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Atmospheric observations of Arctic Ocean methane emissions up to 82Â° north by E. A. Kort et al.
2012/04/24: SciNews: Arctic sea emits methane -- Source of climate-warming gas remains uncertain, but might be microbes
2012/04/23: CCurrents: Arctic Methane In Vicious Cycle Of Global Warming
2012/04/23: SciAm: Arctic Ocean Releasing "Significant" Amounts of Methane
2012/04/23: CBC: Arctic Ocean leaking methane, scientists say -- Powerful greenhouse gas could accelerate climate change
2012/04/23: ABC(Au): Arctic Ocean could be source of methane
2012/04/22: NASA:JPL: Study Finds Surprising Arctic Methane Emission Source - the ocean surface, through cracks in Arctic sea ice and areas of partial sea ice cover
2012/04/22: CCP: "Atmospheric observations of Arctic Ocean methane emissions up to 82Â° north," by E. A. Kort et al., Nature Geoscience, 2012; doi:10.1038/ngeo1452
2012/04/22: CCP: NASA's JPL HIPPO study by Eric Kort and co-authors observes increased levels of methane while flying over the Arctic Ocean in 2009 and 2010
2012/04/22: CCP: Arctic Ocean could be significant source of methane according to Nature Geoscience study by Eric Kort and co-authors
There's not much news about it, but Elgin is still a spewin':
2012/04/23: OilDrum: Past and Future at Total's Elgin/Franklin Project
Another step toward IPBES - the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services:
2012/04/23: SciAm: World Governments Establish Biodiversity Panel [IPBES: Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]
Scientists from more than 90 countries will unite to create an IPCC-like body to assess Earth's fragile ecosystems
2012/04/23: NatureN: World governments establish biodiversity panel
Scientists from more than 90 countries will unite to assess ecosystems and natural resources. Governments from more than 90 countries have agreed to establish an independent panel of scientists to assess the very latest research on the state of the planet's fragile ecosystems. The decision, which will create a body akin to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), was made in Panama City this weekend, after years of negotiations. The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) will be responsible for producing international scientific assessments on issues such as ocean acidification and pollination, to help policy-makers to tackle the global loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems.

The Maldives dictatorship persists unchallenged:

2012/04/27: CSM: Maldives, hailed as democracy poster child, turns to Islamist fundamentalism
What's the World Bank up to?
2012/04/23: NewInt: Dirty hands - the World Bank's role in land-grabbing
So, If we put a price on nature, will it deal with externalities and lead to greater conservation
or will it lead to greater exploitation or what?
2012/04/27: TreeHugger: Ecuador's Unique Plan to Forego Oil Extraction to Save Critical Forests (Video)
2012/04/25: CCurrents: A Plea For Rio+20: Don't Commodify Nature
John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:
2012/04/29: SkeptiSci: Richard Alley - We Can Afford Clean Energy by dana1981
2012/04/28: SkeptiSci: Alberta's bitumen sands: "negligible" climate effects, or the "biggest carbon bomb on the planet"? by Andy S
2012/04/27: SkeptiSci: Lessons from Past Predictions: Vinnikov on Arctic Sea Ice by dana1981
2012/04/26: SkeptiSci: ABC documentary demonstrates the how and why of climate denial
2012/04/26: SkeptiSci: Two Centuries of Climate Science: part one - Fourier to Arrhenius, 1820-1930 by John Mason
2012/04/25: SkeptiSci: Levitus et al. Find Global Warming Continues to Heat the Oceans by dana1981
2012/04/24: SkeptiSci: New research from last week 16/2012 by Ari JokimÃ¤ki
2012/04/24: SkeptiSci: Global Warming Causing Heat Fatalities by dana1981
2012/04/23: SkeptiSci: Climate Change Boosts Then Quickly Stunts Plants, Decade-long Study Shows by John Hartz
Post CRU costs:
2012/04/25: BBC: The University of East Anglia spent Â£112,870 on public relations advice in the so-called 'Climategate' affair.
2012/04/24: Guardian(UK): University of East Anglia spent Â£112,870 on 'climategate' PR
University forced to reveal how much it paid the Outside Organisation in wake of hacked emails furore

A note on the Fukushima disaster:

It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.] We'll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
Meanwhile...
It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of new information.
How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
Do they have an agenda?
Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
Do they want to write a good news story?
Do they want to write a bad news story?
Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation has somehow seemed chimeric:

2012/04/27: GEP: REDD and A/R
Consider transportation & GHG production:
2012/04/23: CalcRisk: DOT: Vehicle Miles Driven increased 1.8% in February
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
2012/04/25: TreeHugger: Solar Powered Process Could Finally Make Concrete Greener
2012/04/23: TreeHugger: What's Wrong With This Picture? It's Called "Sustainable" and "Holistic Green Building."
As for carbon sequestration:
2012/04/26: CBC: TransAlta abandons Alberta carbon capture project
2012/04/23: ABC(Au): Carbon storage testing proving positive
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
2012/04/28: GEP: Direct Air Capture (DAC) and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)
While on the adaptation front:
2012/04/23: Eureka: New South Asia network to tackle 'massive' climate adaptation challenge
Knowledge network to inform everything from local climate smart farming to global climate talks Today, recognizing the knowledge gap between the existing evidence of climate change and adaptation on the ground, researchers in Asia launched a novel learning platform to improve agricultural resilience to changing weather patterns, and to reduce emissions footprint. The Climate Smart Agriculture Learning Platform for South Asia, established by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), will improve communication between scientists, government officials, civil society and farmers on best "climate smart" farming policies and practices in a region that is home to one-third of the world's poor and malnourished.

Meanwhile in the journals:

2012/04/25: Nature: (ab$) Antarctic ice-sheet loss driven by basal melting of ice shelves by H. D. Pritchard et al.
2012/04/23: ESDD: Probabilistic projection of sea-level change along the world's coastlines by M. Perrette et al.
2012/04/24: CP: Snow and weather climatic control on snow avalanche occurrence fluctuations over 50 yr in the French Alps by H. Castebrunet et al.
2012/04/24: CP: Masked millennial-scale climate variations in South West Africa during the last glaciation by I. Hessler et al.
2012/04/24: CPD: Modelling snow accumulation on Greenland in Eemian, glacial inception and modern climates in a GCM by H. J. Punge et al.
2012/04/23: CPD: Synoptic climatology and recent climate trends at Lake El'gygytgyn by M. Nolan et al.
2012/04/23: CPD: Analysis of local AWS and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data at Lake El'gygtytgyn, and its implications for maintaining multi-year lake-ice covers by M. Nolan
2012/04/25: NERC:NORA: Long-term consequences for Northern Norway of a hypothetical release from the Kola nuclear power plant by Howard et al.
2012/04/26: NERC:NORA: Emissions and removals of greenhouse gases from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1990-2010 by Amanda M. Thomson et al.
2012/04/26: NERC:NORA: UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, 1990 to 2010: annual report for submission under the Framework Convention on Climate Change by K. Brown et al.
2012/04/27: ACP: Unusually low ozone, HCl, and HNO3 column measurements at Eureka, Canada during winter/spring 2011 by R. Lindenmaier et al.
2012/04/27: ACPD: Trends of particulate matter (PM2.5) and chemical composition at a regional background site in the Western Mediterranean over the last nine years (2002-2010) by M. Cusack et al.
2012/04/26: GMD: Efficient modeling of sun/shade canopy radiation dynamics explicitly accounting for scattering by P. Bodin & O. Franklin
2012/04/25: GMD: Pre-industrial and mid-Pliocene simulations with NorESM-L by Z. S. Zhang et al.
2012/04/27: GMDD: Numerical uncertainty at mesoscale in a Lagrangian model in complex terrain by J. Brioude et al.
2012/04/27: OSD: Toward a multivariate reanalysis of the North Atlantic ocean biogeochemistry during 1998-2006 based on the assimilation of SeaWiFS chlorophyll data by C. Fontana et al.
2012/04/26: TCD: Long-term contributions of Baffin and Bylot Island Glaciers to sea level rise: an integrated approach using airborne and satellite laser altimetry, stereoscopic imagery and satellite gravimetry by A. S. Gardner et al.
2012/03/26: ERL: The link between a global 2Â°C warming threshold and emissions in years 2020, 2050 and beyond by Chris Huntingford et al.
2012/04/27: Science: (ab$) Ocean Salinities Reveal Strong Global Water Cycle Intensification During 1950 to 2000 by Paul J. Durack et al.
2012/04/20: GeoMar:OCM: Mismanagement of the North Sea cod by the Council of the European Union by Rainer Froese & Martin Quaas
2012/04/26: ACP: BVOCs emission in a semi-arid grassland under climate warming and nitrogen deposition by H. J. Wang et al.
2012/04/26: ACP: Variability of black carbon deposition to the East Antarctic Plateau, 1800-2000 AD by M. M. Bisiaux et al.
2012/04/24: ACP: Regional radiative impact of volcanic aerosol from the 2009 eruption of Mt. Redoubt by C. L. Young et al.
2012/04/24: ACP: Impact of the Desert dust on the summer monsoon system over Southwestern North America by C. Zhao et al.
2012/04/25: ACPD: Decadal variations in estimated surface solar radiation over Switzerland since the late 19th century by A. Sanchez-Lorenzo & M. Wild
2012/04/25: ACPD: Antarctic ozone loss in 1989-2010: evidence for ozone recovery? by J. Kuttippurath et al.
2012/04/24: ACPD: Anthropogenic CO2 flux constraints in the Tokyo Bay Area from Lagrangian diffusive backward trajectories and high resolution in situ measurements by I. Pisso et al.
2012/04/24: ACPD: The changing radiative forcing of fires: global model estimates for past, present and future by D. S. Ward et al.
2012/04/25: Nature: (ab$) Extended leaf phenology and the autumn niche in deciduous forest invasions by Jason D. Fridley
2012/04/24: PNAS: (abs) Optimal portfolio design to reduce climate-related conservation uncertainty in the Prairie Pothole Region by Amy W. Ando & Mindy L. Mallory
2012/04/24: PNAS: (ab$) Summer temperature variability and long-term survival among elderly people with chronic disease by Antonella Zanobetti et al.
2012/04/24: PNAS: (abs) Fire-free land use in pre-1492 Amazonian savannas by JosÃ© Iriarte et al.
2012/04/24: PNAS: (abs) Greater focus needed on methane leakage from natural gas infrastructure by RamÃ³n A. Alvarez et al.
2012/04/24: PNAS: (ab$) Antarctic and Southern Ocean influences on Late Pliocene global cooling by Robert McKay et al.
2012/04/24: PNAS: (ab$) Role of the Bering Strait on the hysteresis of the ocean conveyor belt circulation and glacial climate stability by Aixue Hu et al.
2012/04/24: PNAS: (letter$) Improving biodiversity conservation through modern portfolio theory by Jonathan Hoekstra
2012/04/25: Nature: (ab$) Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture by Verena Seufert et al.
2012/04/23: GMD: A subgrid parameterization scheme for precipitation by S. Turner et al.
2012/04/24: GMDD: Modelling mid-Pliocene climate with COSMOS by C. Stepanek & G. Lohmann
2012/04/23: GMDD: Impact of a time-dependent background error covariance matrix on air quality analysis by E. JaumouillÃ© et al.
2012/04/24: OSD: Temporal and spatial distribution of the meiobenthic community in Daya Bay, South China Sea by L. Tang et al.
2012/04/24: TCD: Sensitivity of Greenland Ice Sheet surface mass balance to surface albedo parameterization: a study with a regional climate model by J. H. van Angelen et al.
2012/02/24: CJES: Climate and ground temperature relations at sites across the continuous and discontinuous permafrost zones, northern Canada by Jennifer Throop et al.
2012/04/23: AGWObserver: New research from last week 16/2012
2012/04/22: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Atmospheric observations of Arctic Ocean methane emissions up to 82Â° north by E. A. Kort et al.
And other significant documents:
2012/04/26: TRS: [links to several pdfs] People and the planet report
2012/04/25: CEM: [link to 3.9 meg pdf] International Energy Agency Releases Report on Status of Clean Energy Technologies
As for miscellaneous science:
2012/04/27: NatureNB: Has this research paper been updated? Click here to find out
2012/04/26: ScienceInsider: Spending Panels Back Boosts for NSF, NASA, NIST Programs
2012/04/25: NatureN: Chinese publishers vow to cleanse journals -- Editors swear allegiance to scientific integrity [misc sci]
2012/04/24: CLabBook: Nice climate figures
2012/04/23: CBC: Every plant in the world to be catalogued online
More than 400,000 known species to be included in free web database by 2020
2012/04/22: CCP: "Albedo evolution of seasonal Arctic sea ice," by Donald K. Perovich & Christopher Polashenski, GRL 39 (2012); doi:10.1029/2012GL051432
2012/04/23: Eureka: Research on carbon-consuming life-forms in Antarctica published in JoVE
More DIY science:
2012/04/28: Moyhu: Interactive JS plotter data list
What's new in models?
2012/04/23: ERW: Insight: spectral nudging improves regional typhoon simulations
What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?
eLifeSciences
2012/04/27: NatureNB: 'eLife' journal takes another step forward
The hundred-plus scientists who will be working to shape a new open access journal backed by some of the world's biggest non-governmental research funders have been unveiled. In total, the board of reviewing editors for the eLife journal number 175 and cover biological areas ranging from stem cells to plants to infectious diseases.
2012/04/25: RWER: Harvard University urges faculty members not to publish in or serve paywall journals
2012/04/24: SciAm:GB: Open Science and Access to Medical Research
2012/04/23: UMinnesota: U creates Open Academics textbook catalog to reduce student costs
2012/04/23: MPR: U of M opens up to open source textbooks
2012/04/23: RWER: Elsevier's "licence to print money" is "absurd and unjust".
2012/04/23: ERabett: Harvard Leads the Way
Regarding Mann:
2012/04/28: CChallenge: Michael Mann explains. . . at TheMarkNews.com
2012/04/23: TP:JR: The Danger Of Climate Change Denial by Michael Mann
2012/04/: EGU: Hans Oeschger Medal 2012 - Michael Mann
2012/04/23: RealClimate: Another well-deserved honor: Oeschger medal awarded to Michael Mann
Regarding Lovelock:
2012/04/28: JEB: Lovelock revisited
2012/04/25: Stoat: Junk from von S
2012/04/25: CCurrents: James Lovelock's Climate U-Turn
2012/04/24: TMoS: Lovelock's Curious Turn
2012/04/24: Grist: James Lovelock urges world to pay attention to James Lovelock
2012/04/23: TP:JR: James Lovelock Finally Walks Back His Absurd Doomism, But He Still Doesn't Follow Climate Science
2012/04/23: MSNBC: 'Gaia' scientist James Lovelock: I was 'alarmist' about climate change
British environmental guru James Lovelock, seen on March 17, 2009 in Paris, admits he was "alarmist" about climate change in the past.

Regarding Hansen:

2012/04/27: BBerg: Carbon Price Needed to Halt Warming, NASA Chief [James Hansen] Says
2012/04/22: CCP: James Hansen: Grandparents Oppose Tar Sands
The Pielke fan clubbe, alas:
2012/04/27: Stoat: RP Sr is a tosser
2012/04/23: Tamino: Do the Math
2012/04/22: ERabett: Roger Pielke Jr. Will Be So Sad
While at the UN:
2012/04/26: UN: UN highlights importance of investing in initiatives that support sustainable fishing
2012/04/24: FAO: International media and knowledge centre inaugurated
2012/04/23: UN: Rise in natural resources prices appears to be hurting poor nations -- UN report
And on the carbon trading front:
2012/04/25: RStavins: Low Prices a Problem? Making Sense of Misleading Talk about Cap-and-Trade in Europe and the USA
2012/04/23: CSM: Carbon trading: Why 'good' companies embrace 'bad' credits
The Robin Hood tax, aka the Tobin tax, aka the Bank tax, aka the Financial Transaction tax keeps coming up:
2012/04/25: EUO: [European Central Bank chief Mario] Draghi expresses doubt on financial transaction tax
2012/04/25: EUO: MEPs call for fianancial transactions tax
On the international political front, tensions continue as the USA and Israel lean on Iran:
2012/04/22: CalcuttaNews: Europe loses oil argument to OPEC
OPEC countries have said they will not increase oil supplies to Europe, even though there have been requests for it to do so. OPEC countries have decided that European consumers and producers should be able to cope with the current prices of oil and shortfalls from the boycott of Iranian fuel.

The South China Sea is heating up:

2011/07/19: BBC: Q&A: South China Sea dispute
2012/04/29: ABC(Au): Philippines allows oil and gas exploration in disputed sea
The Philippines has accepted bids from foreign companies to conduct oil and gas explorations in the South China Sea. That's despite China's claims to the area, and an ongoing territorial stand-off with Beijing over the Scarborough shoal.
2012/04/26: AntiWar: Philippines-China Standoff Could Lead to Open Conflict
Washington's imperial policies in the Asia-Pacific region have only exacerbated tensions
2012/04/27: BBC: China approves dock project in disputed Paracel islands
China has decided "in principle" to build a supply dock on an island it disputes with Vietnam in the South China Sea. The province of Hainan is looking to build on what is known as Jinqing in China and Duy Mong in Vietnam in the Paracel islands as part of tourism plans, according to a statement. There have been tensions over both countries' claims to the chain of small islands and reefs.
2012/04/26: GRC: US-Philippine military exercises directed against China
2012/04/26: CSM: Leaning on US, Philippines boldly pushes back on China in sea dispute
2012/04/25: al Jazeera: Without question: US military expansion in the Asia-Pacific
The expansion of the US military into Asia-Pacific is not just about power, but also about profit.
2012/04/24: ABC(Au): Conflicts in the South China Sea getting worse
What are the chances of a full-scale war erupting which could drag in China, the United States, the Philippines and Vietnam?
2012/04/23: ICG: Stirring up the South China Sea (I) -- Asia Report NÂ°223
2012/04/23: BBC: China needs 'consistent policy' on South China Sea
China needs a ''consistent policy'' on the South China Sea if it is to resolve disputes, a new report says. The International Crisis Group said ''conflicting mandates'' and ''lack of co-ordination'' among Chinese agencies had stoked tension in the region. Philippine and Chinese vessels remain locked in a two-week stand-off at a remote shoal which both sides claim. Meanwhile annual joint military exercises between the US and the Philippines are continuing in the area.
2012/04/23: AntiWar: China Criticized as Too 'Assertive,' as US Expands Military in Asia-Pacific
US security deals and ubiquitous naval presence have heightened tensions in the region China's territorial claims in the South China Sea and beyond consist of "conflicting mandates" and "lack of coordination" which has stoked tensions with its neighbors, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group.
2012/04/24: People's Daily: Chinese embassy urges Philippines to stop illegal activities in China's territory
The Chinese Embassy to the Philippines lodged a representation to the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department on the harassment of Chinese fishermen by Philippine Navy in a lagoon in China's Huangyan Island of South China Sea, the embassy said in a statement issued on Wednesday. The Chinese embassy reiterated China's sovereignty over Huangyan Island, and urged the Philippine side to stop immediately their illegal activities and leave the area.

Argentina nationalized YPF, removing the Spanish firm Repsol. Much yelling ensued:

2012/04/27: EUO: Argentina criticises EU's 'unacceptable' behaviour
2012/04/27: CCurrents: Agitating Argentine Oil
2012/04/26: al Jazeera: Argentine senate approves oil nationalisation
President's plan for takeover of country's largest oil company receives wide support in early-morning senate vote.
2012/04/24: BBC: YPF Repsol row: EU warns Argentina over nationalisation
The EU's trade commissioner has warned Argentina that its nationalisation of the oil firm YPF will have long-term consequences and may put off investors. Karel De Gucht said the EU would seek a settlement at the World Trade Organization if necessary. Last week Argentina decided to strip the Spanish firm Repsol of its controlling stake in YPF and took over Repsol's offices, infuriating Madrid.
2012/04/22: AlterNet: Argentina's Oil Grab is Timely Retort to Rampaging Capitalism
The Harper gang are desperately fighting the EU Fuel Quality Directive ruling on tarsands bitumen:
2012/04/24: OilChange: "Bully-Boy Canada" Delays EU Action (Again)
2012/04/23: CBC: Tarsands not a sticking point in EU trade talks -- Danish trade minister says rules of origin 'still being discussed'
Climate Change is a threat multiplier exacerbating existing conflicts in food, energy, water, race, ideology ... etc.:
2012/04/27: CNN: Sudans conflict leaves 37,000 desperate for water, agency says
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
2012/04/26: al Jazeera: Cambodian police shoot anti-logging activist
Chut Wutty, country's most outspoken environmental activist, shot dead by military police in remote forest region.
2012/04/23: DeSmogBlog: Rendell and Ridge: From "Militant" Labelers to Terrorist Enablers
What are the activists up to?
2012/04/27: CSM: A Kenyan woman stands up against a massive dam project
2012/04/25: LA Times: [Forecast the Facts] Activists urge Discovery to acknowledge climate change science
2012/04/23: TP:JR: Wendell Berry's Earth Day Speech: "People Who Own The World Outright For Profit Will Have To Be Stopped"
Polls! We have polls!
2012/04/27: DD: Americans confess 'green guilt' is growing
2012/04/26: YaleDN: Climate change awareness rises
2012/04/27: DeSmogBlog: New Poll: American Voters Very Concerned About Global Warming Pollution, Support Taxing Dirty Energy
2012/04/26: TP:JR: Poll: 75 Percent of Americans Support Regulating CO2 As A Pollutant, 60 Percent Support Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax
2012/04/23: BBC: [UK] Public back wind farm subsidies, survey suggests
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
2012/04/27: SwissInfo: Swiss move in to help quench China's thirst
Swiss industry has launched an effort to assist China in managing its water resources. Water shortages and pollution are a major environmental challenge for Beijing.
2012/04/27: DD: Fees and anger rise in California water war
2012/04/28: JFleck: Should we embrace the Bellagio Fountain?
2012/04/23: UN: UN report: climate change to exacerbate freshwater problems of Pacific Islands
2012/04/23: JFleck: Isenberg: you want more storage? who's gonna pay?
2012/04/23: ABC(Au): Construction resumes on controversial Mekong dam project in Laos
2012/04/23: PlanetArk: Water Bills To Creep Up, Debt Rise As Supplies Shrink
And on the American political front:
2012/04/27: Grist: Colbert mocks group that blames immigrants for climate change
2012/04/27: TreeHugger: Stephen Colbert Bashes Ad that Claims Immigrants Cause Climate Change (Video)
2012/04/23: CER:RRapier: The Hard Truth: Even Liberals are Big Fans of Oil Subsidies
2012/04/27: AlterNet: GOP Suicide: Why Can't Republicans Stop Alienating Women, Young People and Hispanics?
2012/04/27: CCP: Alan Grayson: More Myths That Are Killing Us
2012/04/26: HuffPo: Arizona Tea Party-Backed Bill Gutting Sustainability Efforts Advances
2012/04/26: TP:JR: Your Taxes Will Pay For The Coast Guard To Babysit Shell's Arctic Drilling
2012/04/26: Grist: Stop the nuclear-industry welfare program
2012/04/25: Grist: Top 10 U.S. cities with the worst air pollution
2012/04/25: CSM: US air pollution hits 10-year low, report finds
2012/04/25: DeSmogBlog: American Lung Association Releases 2012 State of the Air Report
2012/04/24: Oregonian: Report says federal crop subsidy and insurance policies hinder fruit and vegetable production
2012/04/24: TP:JR: [Former Michigan Governor] Jennifer Granholm's Rousing Call To Action On Climate: Get Political To 'Allow Your Children To Have A Future'
2012/04/23: NOAANews: Global ocean drifter deployed off of Maui -- Hawaii among six NOAA Earth Day drifter sites
2012/04/24: UCSUSA: Report Finds U.S. Crop Insurance, Credit Programs Harm Fruit and Vegetable Growers; Encourage Commodities for Unhealthy Food
2012/04/23: LA Times:B: California's low-carbon fuel regulations clear small hurdle
California's ability to carry out low-carbon fuel regulations is back on track after a ruling by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Fresno.
2012/04/24: AlterNet: Labor and Environmentalists Must Work Together to Build a Real Green Jobs Agenda
2012/04/23: LA Times: U.S. tariffs on Chinese solar cells fuel debate about green jobs
Some domestic solar manufacturers praised the recent import levy as a victory for job creation, but an analysis of the industry suggests the duty may actually be a job killer.
2012/04/23: Grist: Watch the climate conversation run aground
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
2012/04/27: CCurrents: Trickle-down Gulf Wreck-onomics
2012/04/27: Grist: Ew! Eyeless shrimp and deformed fish now routinely caught in the Gulf
2012/04/26: GRC: BP Oil Spill and the Gulf Ecosystem: "Deformed Seafood". Officials Close Gulf Waters to Shrimping
2012/04/26: EneNews: State officials shut down shrimping in Gulf [of Mexico] amid scientists finding deformities and 'horrifying creatures' -- Media attributes closure to lesions, then retracts
2012/04/25: S&R: Trickle-down Gulf wreck-onomics
2012/04/25: Grist: Ex-BP employee deleted 300 texts about oil spill's true size
2012/04/23: DemNow: Gulf Oil Spill: BP Execs Escape Punishment as Fallout from Disaster Continues to Impact Sea Life
2012/04/24: DeSmogBlog: Justice Department Files First Criminal Charges In BP Oil Disaster Probe
2012/04/24: GLaden: Criminal Charges Filed in BP Oil Spill
2012/04/24: TP:JR: BP Employee Arrested, Charged With 'Intentionally Destroying Evidence' On Response To Gulf Oil Disaster
2012/04/24: PlanetArk: Shrimp Processors Object To BP Oil Spill Pact
2012/04/24: TreeHugger: Finally! First Criminal Charges Filed 2 Years After BP Oil Spill
2012/04/23: EnergyBulletin: Deepwater what?
2012/04/23: OilChange: Sick Fish, Eyeless Shrimps and Dead Dophins
On the 2012 campaign trail:
2012/04/27: WaPo: Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem
2012/04/28: TP:JR: American Enterprise Institute And Brookings Must-Read: 'The Republicans Are The Problem'
2012/04/27: CSM: Ron Paul beat Mitt Romney in 10 states! Kind of.
2012/04/26: CJR: Obama promises climate talk -- But reporters will probably have to keep asking
2012/04/26: RReich: The GOP's Death Wish: Why Republicans Can't Stop Pissing Off Hispanics, Women, and Young People
2012/04/27: PSinclair: Climate in the Campaign. Bring it On.
2012/04/26: TP:JR: Fact Check: Americans For Prosperity Announces $6.1 Million Ad Buy To Push Totally False Green Jobs Claims
2012/04/27: Grist: Clean energy: Still a wedge issue that favors Democrats
2012/04/27: NatureNB: Obama administration issues "Bioeconomy Blueprint"
2012/04/26: ScienceInsider: 'I Have the Utmost Respect for Scientists': Obama
2012/04/25: WaPo: [Editorial] Mr. Obama needs to show he's serious about climate change
2012/04/25: TreeHugger: Obama Says His Re-election Campaign Will Call for Action on Climate Change
2012/04/23: FAIR: Anti-Obama, Pro-Romney Media? Don't Believe the Hype
2012/04/24: AlterNet: Why Is Mitt Romney So Incredibly Weird?
2012/04/25: PSinclair: On the Cover of Rolling Stone -- POTUS talks climate
2012/04/25: ERabett: As Richard Alley was saying
2012/04/25: DeSmogBlog: Dirty Energy Industry Front Groups Launch Misleading PR Blitz Against President Obama
2012/04/25: RS: Ready for the Fight: Rolling Stone Interview with Barack Obama
2012/04/25: TP:JR: Religious Youth To Obama: 'Creation Care Is A Swing Vote For Many Evangelicals'
2012/04/25: TP:JR: Obama Stunner: Climate Change Will Be A Campaign Issue, We Need to Do Much More To Combat It
2012/04/25: SciAm:Obs: What 3 Science Questions Do You Think the Presidential Candidates Need to Answer before November 6th?
2012/04/25: al Jazeera: Romney lays claim to Republican nomination [with 824 of the 1,144 delegates needed]
Mitt Romney outlines upcoming campaign against Barack Obama after comfortably winning clean sweep of five US primaries.
2012/04/23: EconView: Paul Krugman: The Amnesia Candidate -- Will the media let Romney get away with his "amnesia campaign"?
2012/04/22: NYMag: Sugar Daddies -- The old, white, rich men who are buying this election
2012/04/23: TP:JR: Romney Goes Blue Collar, Says of Keystone 'I Will Build That Pipeline If I Have To Do It Myself'
The Keystone XL saga rolls along:
2012/04/24: TheHill:e2W: Reid draws line against Keystone
2012/04/23: FDL: Keystone XL East? Enbridge's Line 9 Tar Sands Pipeline
This week in the War on Women:
2012/04/27: Wonkette: Lady Republicans Willfully Refuse To Recognize Phoniness Of 'War On Women' In VAWA Vote
2012/04/24: AlterNet: How Christian Groups Push Right-Wing Religion With the Help of Your Tax Dollars
2012/04/23: RawStory: Sen. Cornyn (R-Tx): Democrats trying to 'score cheap political points' with violence against women bill [WoW]
2012/04/22: AlterNet: After a Generation of Extremism, Phyllis Schlafly Still a Leading General in the War on Women
Here's a 2-bit prediction. 2,4-D will work until the bugs and bacteria mutate around it, Then...:
2012/04/26: GreenGrok: Food and Environment Smorgasbord
2012/04/26: PlanetArk: Analysis: Dow's New Corn: "Time Bomb" Or Farmers' Dream?
A new biotech corn developed by Dow AgroSciences could answer the prayers of U.S. farmers plagued by a fierce epidemic of super-weeds. Or it could trigger a flood of dangerous chemicals that may make weeds even more resistant and damage other important U.S. crops.
Or, it could do both.
"Enlist," entering the final stages of regulatory approval, has become the latest flashpoint in the debate about the risks and rewards about farm technology. With a deadline to submit public comments on Dow's proposal at the end of this week, more than 5,000 individuals and groups have already weighed in. Dow Agrosciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co, hopes to have the product approved this year and released by the 2013 crop.
The corn itself is not the issue -- rather it is the potent herbicide chemical component 2,4-D that is the center of debate.
2012/04/26: Grist: Meet 2,4-D, a pesticide even conventional vegetable farmers fear [US pol]
2012/04/20: MotleyFool: New Herbicide Could Kill Weeds, Crops, Monsanto
There is some controversy about selling coal to Asia:
2012/04/26: DeSmogBlog: Coal Train to Boardman: EPA Warns of "Significant" Public Health Threats in Northwest Coal Export Proposal
2012/04/25: Oregonian: Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber calls for sweeping review of planned coal exports from Northwest ports
2012/04/24: OPB: As Exports Take Off, Are Feds Lowballing Coal Leases?
2012/04/25: CrossCut: The coal port issue is spreading all over the Northwest
With a new contender, on the Columbia River near Boardman, joining the parade, those concerned about widespread impacts are pushing for a comprehensive EIS process that will sweep lots of towns and politicians into an epic debate.

In case you were wondering how crazy the T-party conspiracy faction is:

2012/04/26: AzCapitolTimes: Bill aimed at stopping United Nations takeover of U.S. advances
The Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday gave initial approval to a bill that some proponents say is aimed at stopping a United Nations conspiracy to take away the rights of American citizens. Critics say the bill is not only based on crackpot "one-world-order" theories, but that it would make valuable state programs illegal and take away the state's authority to manage natural resources. The bill, SB1507, sponsored by Sen. Judy Burges, R-Skull Valley, would make it illegal for any government entity in the state to abide by any tenet or principle of the non-binding United Nations Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, adopted by the international group in 1992. The declaration includes 27 principles, such as promoting sustainable communities, managing natural resources and working toward the eradication of poverty.
2012/04/27: Grist: This crazy bill could eliminate Arizona's ability to do any environmental work
Is this manipulation, or what?
2012/04/24: TP:JR: Use Of Phrase 'Job Killing Regulations' Increases 17,550% In Newspapers Since 2007
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
2012/04/27: FDL: What Foreign Corporations Will Obama Empower to Undermine Environmental Laws Near You?
2012/04/23: TP:JR: President Obama Edits Out Climate Change From His Earth Day 2012 Proclamation
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
2012/04/27: UCSUSA:B: Wrestling with Palm Oil: ALEC's Slippery Argument Against EPA
2012/04/27: Forbes: Inspector General Faults EPA Radiation Monitoring
Twenty percent of the EPA's stationary radiation monitors were out of service last year at the time of the Fukushima nuclear accident, leading the U.S. Office of the Inspector General to conclude that the EPA's Radnet system is "vulnerable" and managed with less urgency and priority than it deserves.
2012/04/27: WaPo: EPA faces crucial climate decision on diesel made from palm oil
2012/04/24: ScienceInsider: EPA Selects New Science Adviser
Lisa Jackson, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announced today that she has picked Glenn Paulson to be her science adviser. Paulson will replace Paul Anastas, who returned to Yale University in February.
2012/04/24: AutoBG: U.S. drivers to save $68 billion in 2030 with new CAFE standards
2012/04/23: UCSUSA: President's Appointments to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Must Be Fully Committed to Nuclear Safety and Security
As for what is going on in Congress:
2012/04/27: TP:JR: Congressional Uncertainty Threatens 12,000-30,000 MW Of Possible Hydropower
2012/04/26: UCSUSA: Senate Agriculture Committee Passes Farm Bill
2012/04/28: AutoBG: Fisker's DOE loan is new right-wing political target of 'wasteful spending'
2012/04/25: TP:JR: Despite Backing Subsidies For Big Oil, Mike Pompeo (R-Koch) Says Wind Energy Doesn't Deserve Financial Support
2012/04/26: TP:JR: Company Would Abandon Ohio Wind Project Without Tax Credit, Losing 200 Jobs In John Boehner's Home State
2012/04/26: ScienceInsider: Fusion Wins Big in House Spending Bill
Fusion research would get a major boost in a Department of Energy (DOE) spending bill approved today by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations. The panel rejected an Obama Administration proposal to cut funding for domestic fusion research in the 2013 fiscal year, which begins 1 October. It would also give more money than requested to an international collaboration building the ITER fusion reactor in France. Fusion's gains, however, mean losses for DOE's environmental and basic energy research programs.
2012/04/24: ScienceInsider: Senate Panel Preserves Energy Science, Boosts ARPA-E
2012/04/23: Grist: Would you like a bad farm bill --- or a terrible one?
What are the lobbyists pushing?
2012/04/24: TreeHugger: Two ALEC Campaigns Exposed: One Kills Renewables, One Boosts Fracking
2012/04/24: DeSmogBlog: ALEC Launches Assault on Renewable Energy Industry
2012/04/24: TP:JR: ALEC Says It Plans To Craft Legislation To Take Down State Renewable Energy Targets
2012/04/23: DeSmogBlog: ALEC's Vision of Pre-Empting EPA Coal Ash Regs Passes the House
2012/04/23: OilChange: Big Oil Donates over $500,000 to Congress in First Quarter of 2012
2012/04/21: NYT: Conservative Nonprofit [ALEC] Acts as a Stealth Business Lobbyist
2012/04/22: CCP: NYTimes: Common Cause blows the whistle on 501(c)(3) ALEC's lobbying activities and payments to Republican congress-critters...
While in the UK:
2012/04/28: BBC: [UK Transport Secretary] Justine Greening suggests moving ancient woods for HS2 [high speed rail]
Anti-HS2 campaigners have dismissed a government plan to move ancient woods as "absolute nonsense".
2012/04/26: Guardian(UK): Jenny Jones is greenest London mayoral candidate, analysis shows
Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth report shows Green party candidate coming first in four out of six environmental categories
2012/04/26: Guardian(UK): UK to give Â£60m to developing countries to build CCS plants
2012/04/26: Guardian(UK): Shell says no to North Sea wind power
2012/04/26: BBC: Renewables can be one of the cheapest forms of energy within years, Prime Minister David Cameron has said
2012/04/26: BBC: Confusion reigns in [UK] green revolution
2012/04/25: Guardian(UK): Energy secretary takes a swipe at George Osborne over green economy
2012/04/25: NatureNB: [Ian Boyd] New chief scientist for UK environment department
2012/04/25: HuffPo(UK): Climate Change: Why the Government Must Meet the Challenge by UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague
2012/04/23: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Shale gas could fracture our renewables policy
2012/04/23: BBC: Public back wind farm subsidies, survey suggests
More Britons than not regard subsidies for wind power development as a good deal, an opinion poll suggests. Commissioned by trade body RenewableUK, the Ipsos-Mori poll found that 43% see the UK subsidy as good value for money against 18% who do not. Another survey has also found a big majority in favour of renewable energy.
2012/04/23: BBC: Renewables 'help jobs and growth'
The renewable energy industry supports 110,000 jobs in the UK and could support 400,000 by 2020, a report says. The Renewable Energy Association (REA) and consultants Innovas conclude that the industry is worth Â£12.5bn per year to the UK economy.

And in Europe:

2012/04/27: EurActiv: Danes ring the alarm over EU energy savings bill
Denmark, the country currently holding the rotating EU Presidency, has hit out at EU countries for defanging the proposed Energy Efficiency Directive, and called for ring-fencing a key article imposing an annual 1.5% energy savings target on power companies. "It's true that the member states have been more eager to water down the [energy efficiency] rates than support them," Martin Lidegaard, the Danish climate minister told EurActiv on the fringes of the London clean energy summit on Wednesday (25 April).
2012/04/26: Europa: Climate change: Commission asks Italy and Malta to comply with EU legislation on fluorinated gases
2012/04/28: Guardian(UK): German far-right extremists tap into green movement for support
2012/04/24: NatureN: Europe loses sight of Earth -- Envisat crisis rekindles row over funding for its successors
2012/04/23: EurActiv: MEPs press Commission on 2020 green master plan
With 60 days left before the Rio sustainable development conference, MEPs have sent a message to the European Commission to produce "without delay" an ambitious environmental agenda for the decade ahead that avoids past failures. The Parliament on Friday (20 April) adopted an 11-page resolution highlighting the shortcomings of the expiring Environmental Action Programme (EAP), including what it says are failures of national governments to slash air pollution and implement other green legislation.
2012/04/23: EurActiv: Oettinger: Energy savings target still possible
The European Commission and the Danish EU presidency said the Energy Efficiency Directive could "realistically" come together in the next couple of months, despite member states' consistent watering down of the proposal.
2012/04/22: al Jazeera: Hollande wins round one in French poll
Socialist challenger sets himself up for a May 6 runoff with Sarkozy as far-right leader Marine Le Pen comes third.

Meanwhile in Australia:

2012/04/27: ABC(Au): Residents rise up over sea level policy
2012/04/27: ABC(Au): Greens urge protection for non-GM farmers
The Greens says Western Australian canola crops need to be protected from contamination as international demand plummets for genetically modified (GM) crops. This week it was revealed CBH is paying up to $45 a tonne less for GM canola than its organic counterpart.
2012/04/27: ABC(Au): Black Saturday arsonist jailed for almost 18 years
A former Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteer has been sentenced to 17 years and nine months in jail for killing 10 people by deliberately lighting a bushfire on Black Saturday. Brendan Sokaluk, 42, was found guilty of 10 counts of arson causing death in the Victorian Supreme Court for deliberately lighting the Churchill fire on February 7, 2009. He will serve a non-parole period of 14 years.
2012/04/26: ABC(Au): Planning minister attacks NSW Farmers
The NSW Planning Minister has slammed the NSW Farmers Association over its attitude to land use, calling it "almost irrelevant." Brad Hazzard has taken aim at the farmers over their opposition to the State Government's Draft Strategic Landuse Plan. The association is seeking limits on where mining companies can and can't go.
2012/04/26: ABC(Au): Lobbyists raise environmental concerns over proposed coal ports
A central Queensland lobby group says new coal ports planned around the mouth of the Fitzroy River near Rockhampton will cause major environmental problems for little economic benefit.
2012/04/24: ABC(Au): [Federal Agriculture Minister Joe] Ludwig announces biochar grants
Five new research projects will share in $2 million of Federal Government funding to investigate the impacts of a type of charcoal in reducing farming carbon emissions. The research will explore biochar, a stable, carbon-rich form of charcoal that could be used for carbon sequestration and to improve soil quality and crop yield.
2012/04/24: ABC(Au): Hopes for carbon trades between Australia and Europe
The Federal Government says a carbon trading network between Europe and Australia could be up and running by the end of this year.
2012/04/24: ABC(Au): Combet predicts Asia-Pacific carbon trading pact
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says Australia's carbon trading system could eventually be linked to those in China and other Asia-Pacific countries in a system which would eliminate "competitive disadvantage" between the region's economies. Mr Combet is in Beijing to speak to officials about how Chinese carbon trading systems will work before heading to South Korea, where legislation is currently before parliament.
2012/04/23: ABC(Au): Councils under pressure to cap landfill emissions
Local governments around Australia are racing to have their landfill sites comply with the new carbon pricing scheme, which begins on July 1.
2012/04/23: ABC(Au): Rates, roads and carbon costs
2012/04/23: ABC(Au): Coal tipped to stain clean energy future
Australia may still be dependent on coal-fired power stations at the end of the decade because of volatility in gas and carbon prices and a lack of infrastructure.
2012/04/23: ABC(Au): Renewables could trump gas under greenhouse targets
2012/04/23: ABC(Au): Australia's Climate Change Minister, Greg Combet, has flagged the possibility of a common carbon trading market in the Asia-Pacific
Julia Gillard's margin for error is getting thinner:
2012/04/29: ABC(Au): Embattled Thomson suspended from Labor party
Julia Gillard has brushed off calls for an early election in the wake of Craig Thomson's decision to move to the crossbench after being suspended from the Labor Party. Speaking to reporters at a lunchtime press conference, Ms Gillard said she had made the decision to suspend Mr Thomson today because "a line had been crossed" and it was the "right thing to do". She also said Speaker Peter Slipper had agreed to extend his exile from the Speaker's chair.
2012/04/26: ABC(Au):TDU: Peter Slipper and the ruinous titillation of innuendo
After a 10 year drought and 2 years of flooding, water usage planning is controversial and difficult:
2012/04/27: ABC(Au): Water ministers at odds on Murray tour
Ministers from South Australia, Victoria and Queensland have toured the Coorong wetlands and lower lakes at the Murray mouth, highlighting their differences about the Murray-Darling Basin draft plan.
2012/04/27: ABC(Au): Australia recovering from drought
Australia will be officially drought-free next week, for the first time in more than a decade, Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig announced.
2012/04/27: ABC(Au): Stoush over policy future as drought ends
Mark Colvin: For a decade it drained the spirit and finances of regional Australia but from Monday the drought will be officially over. Today an added political complication came into the move, when the Federal Government scrapped interest rate subsidies for drought-affected farmers.
2012/04/25: ABC(Au): Irrigator group vows to go ahead with challenge to Water Act
About 500 irrigators in three states have voted overnight to challenge the Commonwealth Water Act in the High Court.
2012/04/25: ABC(Au): Concern over White Cliffs water supply
The Central Darling Shire is looking at ways to back up the water supply at White Cliffs, after the town came close to running out of water.
2012/04/24: ABC(Au): Salinity threatens world-renown Gippsland Lakes
Authorities have failed to fulfil obligations to protect wetlands in Gippsland in south-east Victoria, despite signing an international agreement to do so.
2012/04/23: ABC(Au): Murray-Darling plan 'deceptive and misleading'
A group of scientists has told a Senate inquiry the draft plan for the Murray-Darling Basin is deceptive and misleading. The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists has told the inquiry that the draft plan proposed by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority must be withdrawn, arguing it will not prevent a return to drought The plan was released in November and an extensive public consultation period ended this month. A member of the Wentworth Group, John Williams, has told the inquiry there is not enough information in the draft for Parliament to make an informed decision.

And in New Zealand:

Wiki: Roger Award -- Roger Award For The Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in New Zealand
2012/04/23: HotTopic: Helter smelter: NZ Aluminium Smelters wins the 2011 Roger Award
While in the Indian subcontinent:
2012/04/25: CCurrents: Mega Dams In North-East India: Are They Necessary?
2012/04/24: CCurrents: Koodankulam: PMANE Announces Indefinite Hunger Strike Starting May 1, 2012 by People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy
2012/04/25: al Jazeera: Nuclear energy and democracy
For six months, protesters in Koodankulam, India have physically stopped construction of a nuclear plant.

And in China:

2012/04/27: Eureka: Polluting China for the sake of economic growth
China's economic growth will continue to be energy-intensive and highly polluting for the foreseeable future with emissions and efficiency far below capital growth on the agenda, according to a study published in the International Journal of Global Energy Issues.
2012/04/26: NBF: China Planning two hydro dams that each are twice as large the Three Gorges
2012/04/25: VoxEU: When should China start cutting its emissions? by Carlo Carraro & Emanuele Massetti
In 2006 China became the world's largest carbon dioxide polluter. This column argues that China is not rich enough to start reducing emissions immediately, but it is far too big not to do anything. The question is when and at what rate it is reasonable to call on China to start cutting back.
2012/04/24: Guardian(UK): China may steal a march on Europe in fight against climate change
Long accused of inaction, the country has put plans in place to reverse its record on carbon emissions, argues Rob Elsworth

While in Japan:

2012/04/27: NatureNB: Japan environmental plan includes controversial greenhouse gas target - cutting GHGs to 80% of 1990 levels by 2050
And in Africa:
2012/04/23: TreeHugger: From Fracking to Water Rights: How Foreign Interests Are Cleaning Out Africa
2012/04/23: Guardian(UK): Southern African countries collaborate on plans for climate research centre
And South America:
2012/04/27: PlanetArk: Peru Is Latest Developing Nation To Adopt Climate Change Initiative
2012/04/26: ChicagoTrib: Peru is latest developing nation to adopt climate change initiative
2012/04/24: NatureN: Mexico sets climate targets -- But a plan to ramp up wind power could spark more conflict with indigenous groups
2012/04/23: UCSUSA:B: Mexico Shows the Way on Climate Change
2012/04/22: Guardian(UK): We can save the AwÃ¡ tribe
As the successful survival of other Amazon Indian tribes shows, protecting their way of life rather than imposing that of the west is the best way to keep them intact

In Canada, neocon PM Harper pushes petroleum while doing nothing about climate change:

2012/04/28: CBC: Resource development a rocky road for feds
Government on collision course with environmental groups and First Nations
2012/04/26: PostMedia: Canadian action on Fukushima confused, directionless: report
No one seemed certain which federal department should do what, report says The Canadian government's ability to handle a nuclear disaster is questioned in a report on federal actions during last year's Fukushima crisis. The emergency revealed a confused federal bureaucracy, unsure of which departments were responsible for measures such as informing Canadians about radioactive fallout migrating across the Pacific, says the report by a special review committee established by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. That and other concerns "exposed the lack of clearly defined responsibilities and leadership as it pertains to a nuclear emergency in Canada or a global event," it says of the federal government.
2012/04/23: G&M: Don't be naive on climate change, Norway's former PM cautions Canada
Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway, was keynote speaker on Monday at the International Polar Year conference in Montreal. Dr. Brundtland has headed the World Health Organization and served as a UN climate change envoy.
2012/04/23: PostMedia: Stephen Harper's push for pipelines likely to backfire
Is the Conservative government deliberately trying to manufacture dissent against proposed pipelines to bring Alberta oil to the B.C. coast? It's hard to imagine another explanation for the heavy-handed way Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver are trying to bulldoze opposition to the two proposals now on the table to transport bitumen from Alberta's oilsands to markets offshore.
2012/04/23: ChronicleHerald: Nothing conservative about Harper when it comes to oil
The Harper gang's behaviour at the International Polar Year Conference was an international embarassment:
2012/04/26: PostMedia: Janet Bagnall: Muzzling the scientists won't hide Canada's poor emissions record
Canada has cut an odd figure as host of the International Polar Year conference, which draws to an end today. Hundreds of scientists from around the world are in Montreal to discuss the dramatic changes to the Arctic's biodiversity, energy dynamics and ice melt. Canada, in the form of Stephen Harper's government, was not interested in discussing any of these topics, or in allowing government scientists to talk about them either. While the Arctic melts and methyl mercury contaminates the food chain in the far northern latitudes, the government seemed more interested in resurrecting East Germany's Stasi, assigning minders to Environment Canada scientists. The minders, members of a large and growing federal government "communications" apparat, are to make sure the scientists don't talk to journalists without Ottawa's permission. Environment Minister Peter Kent blandly assured the House of Commons this week that this is "established practice."
2012/04/25: TMoS: Hey Chairman Harper, We're Not North Korea Yet
2012/04/24: PostMedia:B: Kent defends muzzling as "established practice"
2012/04/24: CBC: Federal scientists closely monitored during polar conference -- Environment Canada media relations staff oversee interviews
Media liaison staffers have been sent to an international polar conference in Montreal to shadow Canadian government scientists during interviews, in what critics are calling the latest example of extreme information control by the Harper Conservatives. Hundreds of researchers from around the globe arrived in Montreal this week to attend the International Polar Year Conference, but those scientists working for Environment Canada were also accompanied by so-called "media relations contacts" tasked with monitoring and recording interactions with the press. Ahead of the conference, the Canadian participants were reportedly sent a memo ordering them to have a government liaison present during conversations with reporters. While none of the government scientists would speak on record about their media monitors, one researcher told CBC's Dan Halton off-camera that the strict communications measures were an embarrassment to Canada.
2012/04/23: WpgFP: Another fine snow job from 'open' government
2012/04/22: PostMedia: Critics pan instructions to Environment Canada scientists at Montreal conference
Government media minders are being dispatched to an international polar conference in Montreal to monitor and record what Environment Canada scientists say to reporters. The scientists will present the latest findings on everything from seabirds to Arctic ice and Environment Canada's media office plans to intervene when the media approaches the researchers, Postmedia News has learned. Media instructions, which are being described as a heavy-handed attempt to muzzle and intimidate the scientists, have been sent to the Environment Canada researchers attending the International Polar Year conference that started on Sunday and runs all week. "If you are approached by the media, ask them for their business card and tell them that you will get back to them with a time for (an) interview," the Environment Canada scientists were told by email late last week. "Send a message to your media relations contact and they will organize the interview. They will most probably be with you during the interview to assist and record," says the email obtained by Postmedia News.

A modest proposal - Dear Opposition Leaders - Get it together:

2012/04/28: Rabble: It's time for a National Transit Strategy by NDP MP Olivia Chow
2012/04/23: CCurrents: Climate Change: The Psychological, Political Or Moral Implications That Conventionally Follow
Canadian Green Party leader Elizabeth May, NDP environment critic Megan Leslie and Liberal environmental critic Kirsty Duncan should join together in non-partisan, high road, big picture leadership on climate change. They should ask Canadians: "Is climate change an emergency?" alerting to the best state of the art science, the scale of emission reduction necessary, and what is at stake for our children and grandchildren and our culpability. A report, a website, a series of op-eds and interviews. No need to mention the Conservatives.
2012/04/24: 350orBust: Grassroots Democracy Initiative Organized in Face of Federal Government's Love Affair With Dirty Energy
Step into the Twilight Zone:
2012/04/27: SaskBoy: Conservatives: "first government...that has actually cared about the environment"
The budget implementation bill was introduced this week to no applause:
2012/04/26: CBC: Budget bill contains environment policy overhaul -- Omnibus budget bill makes 'major legislative changes'
The government's budget implementation bill introduced today contains the sweeping changes to environmental reviews that were announced last week as well as other "major legislative changes," according to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
[...]
Here's what the budget bill says when it comes to the changes the government intends to make on the environment file.

* It repeals the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act. The government had previously announced that Canada would pull out of the global agreement on greenhouse gas emissions.
* It contains the changes to a number of pieces of legislation dealing with the environmental assessment process. The bill sets timelines for assessment hearings, allows Ottawa to hand off assessments to the provinces and consolidates the process in three government agencies: the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environment Assessment Agency.
* It gives the federal cabinet the authority to approve new pipeline projects and sets time limits for regulatory reviews. The changes mean if the National Energy Board disapproves of a project, cabinet can force it to reconsider.
* It makes changes to how permits under the Species at Risk Act are authorized.
* It overhauls the Fisheries Act to focus only on major waterways, not every single body of water, something Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced Tuesday.
* It sets out stiffer fines for industry players who break environmental regulations and laws.

Critics aren't happy that such fundamental changes to environment policy are contained in a budget bill and won't get the scrutiny they deserve. "It is an affront to democracy to bury such far-reaching changes to laws Canadians depend upon to help protect our environment in the budget implementation bill in order to avoid public scrutiny," Greenpeace spokesman Keith Stewart said in an email to The Canadian Press.
2012/04/26: PostMedia: Feds deny lobbyists influenced weakening of fisheries protections
The Harper government unveiled a massive omnibus budget implementation bill Thursday that includes Fisheries Act amendments that will strip the term "habitat" from the most crucial section of the law.
2012/04/25: PostMedia: Fisheries Act overhaul likely to reduce regulatory burden on Enbridge pipeline: minister
But Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield rejected allegations that the federal government's plan was a result of corporate pressure The federal government's planned overhaul of the Fisheries Act may reduce the regulatory burden facing companies like Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. to get approval for major projects, Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield acknowledged Tuesday. But Ashfield rejected opposition allegations that the federal government's plan for a "more sensible and practical" Fisheries Act was a result of corporate pressure from the energy and mining sectors.
2012/04/24: PostMedia: Cuts threaten Canada's satellite eye on the Arctic
A majority of Canadians see Arctic sovereignty as the country's top foreign-policy priority, according to a recent poll by Ekos Research for the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs. Yet, Canada's ability to effectively monitor and manage its interests in the Arctic appears to be in jeopardy in the face of funding cuts by the federal government and conflicting spending priorities at the Canadian Space Agency.

Under a smokescreen of fiscal responsibility, the Harper gang streamlining environmental reviews out of existence:

2012/04/26: Rabble: The costs of hiding environmental information
2012/04/24: Straight: David Suzuki: New rules make it easier for Canadian government to harm the environment
Few people would argue against making environmental review processes and regulations more efficient -- as long as they're effective. But changes announced in the recent federal budget don't do that. Instead, they make it easier for the federal government and industry to push through projects that could harm the environment and the economy, and limit the ability of ordinary Canadian citizens to have a say in matters of national importance.
2012/04/24: WCEL: "Directly affected" silences hunters, fishers, landowners ... and environmentalists
2012/04/22: G&M: Ottawa to wrest control of environmental approval process
The national energy regulator will have the power to impose tough conditions on controversial pipeline proposals -- and new powers to enforce them -- even as the federal cabinet takes over final approval of projects like the Northern Gateway pipeline, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver says. The government is poised to introduce legislation as early as this week that will revamp its environmental assessment process and turn over many reviews to the provinces. Among the changes is the move to give the federal cabinet power to overturn any decision by the National Energy Board to reject a project on environmental grounds.

Several pipelines are in play this week:

2012/04/24: TheCanadian: Open Letter to Christy Clark on Enbridge, BC's Sovereignty by Robyn Allan
2012/04/27: CBC: TransCanada looks at possible eastbound pipeline to ship crude
2012/04/26: PostMedia: Vancouver council, park board to formally oppose Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion
Vancouver's majority party on council and park board are formally opposing Kinder Morgan's plan to twin its oil pipeline from Alberta in order to boost exports to Asia. On Tuesday Vision Vancouver said it would introduce two motions next week - one at council and one at park board - arguing that the expansion of the pipeline and the resulting tanker traffic in Vancouver harbour would put the city at unnecessary risk of a spill.
2012/04/23: CBC: Hydrogenics and Enbridge to develop utility-scale energy storage -- Excess hydrogen to be kept in existing natural gas pipelines
Ah, Those interfering foreigners:
2012/04/28: DeSmogBlog: U.S. Republican Koch oil billionaires help fund the Fraser Institute. Why the Fraser Institute?
2012/04/25: TheCanadian: Foreign Radicals Meddling in Canadian Affairs: Oil Billionaire Koch Brothers Raise $500K for Fraser Institute
2012/04/25: VanObs: "Charitable" Fraser Institute accepted $500k in foreign funding from Koch oil billionaires
In four years alone, U.S. Tea Party architects the Koch brothers poured half a million dollars into Canadian right-wing think tank, the Fraser Institute.
2012/04/26: DeSmogBlog: Koch Brothers fund Fraser Institute
A Tory MP tried to reopen the abortion debate:
2012/04/26: MSimon: Stephen Woodworth and the Abortion Debate
2012/04/26: WMTC: m312: it doesn't matter when life begins. that's not the issue
2012/04/25: CBC: Abortion rights debate spurred by MP's motion -- Conservative backbencher urges debate on when human life begins
Abortion rights are at the centre of a debate set for Thursday as MPs consider whether to hold a special committee to look at when human life begins. Stephen Woodworth, a Conservative MP from Kitchener, Ont., introduced a private member's motion calling for the committee. Woodworth says current Canadian law says human life begins when a child has fully emerged from the mother's birth canal, which is based on a 400-year-old definition imported from Britain.

The ISA/PRV virus in BC waters is potentially disastrous:

2012/04/25: AlexandraMorton: Application made to reopen Cohen Commission into the decline of Fraser River salmon
2012/04/24: G&M: Fraser River sockeye may suffer damaged hearts
Could salmon in the Fraser River be dying from damaged hearts? That is a question the Cohen Commission is essentially being asked to consider in an application that seeks to have the hearings reopened so new information on an emerging fish disease can be examined. The federal inquiry into the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River ended evidentiary hearings four months ago and staff are now busy working on the final report, which is due by Sept. 30. But in a letter to the Cohen Commission this week, lawyer Gregory McDade, who represents the Aquaculture Coalition, asked that the hearings be resumed to hear "new information regarding the presence of piscine reovirus (PRV) and heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) in aquaculture salmon in British Columbia."

In BC, the stage is set. Now what will Clark and Dix do?

2012/04/28: Tyee: Visualizing BC's Climate Changed Future -- How to drive home the impacts of a warming province? Stephen Sheppard and his UBC team offer a glimpse
2012/04/28: PEF: Climate change will shape BC in 2035, one way or another
2012/04/21: PostMedia: Carbon Trading: Projects outside trust's criteria but reaping benefits criticized
When the provincial government set the rules for the new carbon-trading economy, they were clear.[They have since become less so. -het]
2012/04/23: PostMedia: B.C.'s sovereignty threatened by aggressive push for Enbridge
Hearings assessing the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project and legislative changes planned in Ottawa compromise the province's sovereignty and threaten its authority to defend British Columbians' interests, warns a letter from Robyn Allan, the former president of ICBC, to Premier Christy Clark and other leading provincial politicians.

Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

2012/04/26: PI: Pembina reacts to announcement that Pioneer Carbon Capture and Storage project will not proceed
2012/04/28: SkeptiSci: Alberta's bitumen sands: "negligible" climate effects, or the "biggest carbon bomb on the planet"? by Andy S
2012/04/26: CBC: TransAlta abandons Alberta carbon capture project
2012/04/26: G&M: Alberta's carbon capture efforts set back
The three major companies involved in a project aimed at reducing Alberta's carbon footprint have dropped out, striking a major blow to the province's efforts to combat fierce international criticism over oil sands emissions. TransAlta Corp. TA-T, along with partners Enbridge Inc. ENB-Tand Capital Power Corp. CPX-T, cancelled their $1.4-billion carbon capture and storage effort Thursday, opting to pay the penalties for emissions rather than cutting them.

Redford won the election. Now what?

2012/04/25: Tyee: Petro State per Usual: Reading Alberta's Election -- Why it's so hard to kick out or reform an oil-fueled government
2012/04/24: BuckDog: And In This Corner .. The REAL Winner Of The Alberta Election ..... BIG OIL!
2012/04/24: CBC: Albertans elect Tory majority government -- PCs lose 5 seats and drop 9 points in popular vote, but hold on for 12th successive majority
Albertans have elected another Progressive Conservative majority government, making Alison Redford the province's first elected female premier. The Tories, led by Redford, were elected in 61 ridings and captured 44 per cent of the popular vote. The Wildrose is elected in 17 and had 34.5 per cent of the vote. The Liberals took five seats, while the NDP claimed four ridings. Voters have elected 11 Tory majorities in a row -- this will be the 12th -- since Peter Lougheed first led his party to power in 1971...
2012/04/23: TStar: Oil industry the big winner in Alberta election
In the North:
2012/04/23: CBC: Geothermal heat viable option for Yellowknife, says firm -- Belgium's Vito Engineering says there is 1.7 megawatts of energy that could be used
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
2012/04/27: EnergyBulletin: The hidden power of coops
2012/04/25: CCP: Tom Schueneman: Redefining prosperity and the fallacy of growth
2012/04/25: BLongstaff: Co-operatives --- the proven alternative to capitalism
2012/04/23: EnergyBulletin: Co-Op Nation: Interview with Gar Alperovitz
2012/04/23: CassandrasLegacy: The story of Rabbit Island
2012/04/23: Grist: A call for a new economics: It's time to redefine success
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
2012/04/24: BobPark: What's New?
1. The mommy war: The great cultural revolution of our age.

Apocalypso anyone?

2012/04/23: AlterNet: Apocalypse Soon: Why Are Christians So Obsessed With the End Times?
So what do we do?
2012/04/26: ERabett: Decoupling
How do the media measure up?
2012/04/27: ABC(Au):TDU: A risky business: the climate change debate
2012/04/28: CJR: NYT Obscures Wal-Mart, EDF Link -- Article overlooks green group's close ties to Walton Family Foundation
2012/04/26: Guardian(UK): TV show giving voice to climate sceptics is skewing evidence, scientists say
2012/04/26: Grist: Why is the Discovery Channel ignoring climate change science?
2012/04/25: LA Times: [Forecast the Facts] Activists urge Discovery to acknowledge climate change science
2012/04/24: KSJT: U. Wisconsin-Madison: Science in the Age of Denial an undeniable success
Here is something for your library:
2012/04/28: TP:JR: [Book Review] _The Crash Course: The Unsustainable Future Of Our Economy, Energy, And Environment_ by Chris Martenson
2012/04/26: CSM: [Book Review] _The Race for What's Left: The Global Scramble for the World's Last Resources_ by Michael T. Klare
2012/04/25: EnergyBulletin: A tide of oil and greed
[Book Review] _Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill_ by Antonia Juhasz

And for your film & video enjoyment:

2012/04/28: PSinclair: First Look: Airborne Wind Turbine Prototype
2012/04/26: ClimateSight: The Day After Tomorrow: A Scientific Critique
2012/04/26: Grist: Creepy video: Enviros HATE AMERICA
2012/04/23: PSinclair: SnowTober. Balmy Winter. Summery March. Earthday Snow. Nothing to See Here...
As for podcasts:
2012/04/28: CBC:Q&Q: (mp3) International Polar Year Revisited & Rise of the Jellies
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
2012/04/27: Grist: We're half-assing the clean-energy transition
2012/04/28: CCurrents: Can Renewable Energy Sustain Consumer Societies?
2012/04/26: EnergyBulletin: Can renewable energy sustain consumer societies?
2012/04/: HamiltonProject: Paying Too Much for Energy? The True Costs of Our Energy Choices by Adam Looney & Michael Greenstone
2012/04/25: WaPo:B: How to calculate the true cost of energy
2012/04/26: TreeHugger: Hydrogen Fuel Cells 101 With Robert Llewellyn
2012/04/25: OilDrum: Flex-Fuel Humans by Tom Murphy
2012/04/25: EnergyBulletin: Flex-Fuel Humans by Tom Murphy
2012/04/25: TCoE: Not talking about the true costs [of energy]
2012/04/24: NatureN: Wind power 'can be cheaper' than photovoltaics, study says -- Some countries could save money by switching from solar to wind
2012/04/24: NBF: Some Existing US Dams just need hydroelectric equipment to start generating 12 Gigawatts of power
2012/04/23: TreeHugger: Geothermal System Taps Sewage Instead of Bedrock
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
2012/04/27: DeSmogBlog: Chesapeake Energy Well Blowout in Wyoming Causes Evacuation, Methane "Roared" For Days
2012/04/26: PlanetArk: Wyoming Neighbors Of Chesapeake Well Leak Evacuate
2012/04/23: TP:JR: Private Water Companies Join Forces With Fracking Interests
On the gas and oil front:
2012/04/27: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
OIL (US$/bbl)
Nymex Crude Future...104.93
Dated Brent Spot.....120.02
WTI Cushing Spot.....104.93
2012/04/26: TP:JR: Tar Sands Production In America Is Closer Than You Think
2012/04/26: TreeHugger: High Gas Prices Having a Different Effect on US Drivers This Time
2012/04/25: DeSmogBlog: 2008 Shell Nigeria Oil Spill 60 Times Larger Than Originally Claimed
2012/04/24: Grist: Oil shale: An environmental disaster waiting to happen?
2012/04/24: EnergyBulletin: An update on global net oil exports: Is it midnight on the Titanic?
2012/04/23: Guardian(UK): Shell Nigeria oil spill '60 times bigger than it claimed'
As the company faces a lawsuit by residents, an assessment by a US oil spill consultancy casts doubt on Shell's estimate of the Nigerian leak
2012/04/22: OilDrum: Tech Talk - Enhancing Production at Berri
In the fossil fuel corps:
2012/04/27: BBC: Total profits hit by weak petrochemicals demand
[...] Net income for the first three months of the year was 3.66bn euros ($4.82bn; Â£3bn), down 7% on a year ago. However, sales rose 11% to 51.17bn euros.
[...] Also on Friday, Italian oil firm ENI reported a 42% rise in first quarter profits to 3.62bn euros.
[...] On Thursday, Royal Dutch Shell announced an 11% rise in profits to $7.66bn (Â£4.74bn) in the first quarter.
US giant Exxon profits fell 11% to $9.5bn after oil production fell 5%.
2012/04/27: TP:JR: Chevron's Quarterly Profit Is Up To $6.5 Billion, Production Is Down, Tax Rate Is Still Lower Than Yours
2012/04/26: TP:JR: Exxon Makes $104 Million In Profit Per Day So Far In 2012, While Americans Are Stuck With A Higher Gas Bill
2012/04/26: TP:JR: Thanks to Higher Oil Prices, Shell First Quarter Profits Rise Over 15 Percent To $7 Billion
2012/04/26: BBC: Shell and Exxon: Differing Q1 fortunes
Royal Dutch Shell has announced a rise in profits as strong demand for energy keeps oil prices high - but rival Exxon saw oil production and profits fall. Shell made $7.66bn (Â£4.74bn) in the first quarter, 11% more than last year. At US giant Exxon, profits fell 11% to Â£9.5bn after oil production fell 5%. Production has been falling partly because some older fields are running short of oil.
2012/04/23: TP:JR: ConocoPhillips Makes $2.9 Billion In Profits, While Its Retiring CEO Receives $8.5 Million Raise
Regarding oil and the economy:
2012/04/27: EarlyWarning: GDP, oil consumption and prices
2012/04/24: EnvEcon: An example of the dangers of an unregulated extractive monopoly
And in pipeline news:
2012/04/24: EurActiv: Nabucco suffers friendly fire from Budapest
The EU-favoured Nabucco natural gas pipeline is "in trouble," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor OrbÃ¡n said in calling for support of its competitor, Russia Gazprom-backed South Steam project.
2012/04/24: BBerg: Nabucco Faces 'Terminal Blow' as Hungary Woos Russia Link
The Nabucco natural-gas pipeline project to ship Caspian fuel to Europe may have been dealt a "terminal blow" as Hungary seeks to attract a rival link planned by OAO Gazprom, Russia's gas export monopoly. Mol Nyrt. (MOL), the country's largest company by market capitalization, is leaving the 7.9 billion-euro ($10.4 billion) Nabucco project, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said yesterday in Brussels.

Biofuel bickering abounds:

2012/04/23: Purdue: Climate change, biofuels mandate would cause corn price spikes
2012/04/23: UFZ: How the Ecological Risks of Extended Bioenergy Production can be Reduced -- Researchers present a modelling tool
The answer my friend...:
2012/04/27: HotTopic: Rebutting myths and misconceptions about wind energy
2012/04/25: SciAm:PI: Windmills Show the Power of Access to Knowledge
2012/04/24: TreeHugger: Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Collaboration Announced Between US, UK
2012/04/23: PlanetArk: Enea Buys 50 Megawatt Wind Farm In North-Western Poland
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
2012/04/27: DerSpiegel: Setting Sun -- Eastern Germany Hit Hard by Decline of Solar
The global solar industry has entered a brutal phase of consolidation and nowhere are the effects as dramatic as in eastern Germany. Several companies have already declared bankruptcy, leaving towns and cities in the region struggling with job losses and tax revenue shortfalls. The future bodes ill.
2012/04/27: Eureka: Folding light: Wrinkles and twists boost power from solar panels
2012/04/25: ABC(Au): China becoming solar energy powerhouse
2012/04/25: Eureka: Researchers develop a path to liquid solar cells that can be printed onto surfaces [gee whiz]
Liquid solar cells are cheaper, more flexible than existing solar options
2012/04/24: BBerg: Solar Silicon Falling 9% Widens Slump That Hit Solyndra
Polysilicon, the raw material used to make most solar panels, is forecast to fall another 9 percent from its lowest in a decade as a supply glut narrows margins throughout the industry. The average spot price of the material will finish this year at about $22.10 a kilogram, according to the median of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The price, which four years ago topped $475, tumbled about 70 percent in the 12 months to $24.27 on April 16, the lowest since at least 2002.
2012/04/24: BBerg: German Solar Demand Surprisingly Resilient, Biggest Builder Says
Demand for solar panels in Germany, the world's largest market for the equipment, may hold up until the third quarter, according to the biggest builder of sun- powered plants. The German government's plans to cut solar subsidies by as much as 29 percent hasn't impacted demand as quickly as expected, Bernhard Beck, chief executive officer of Belectric Solarkraftwerke GmbH, said in an interview.
2012/04/24: TreeHugger: How to Solarize Your Street: Starting a Solar Coop
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
2012/04/27: EurActiv: Nuclear stress tests go over deadline
European states will be given extra time to carry out tests on nuclear plants, to ensure they can withstand natural and man-made disasters, before any laws to improve nuclear safety are proposed, the EU's Energy Commissioner GÃ¼nther Oettinger has said.
2012/04/27: EUO: Nuclear stress tests fail EU scrutiny
Twenty-six years to the day after the Chernobyl disaster, the European Commission has said Europe's nuclear stress test study is lacking in essential data.
2012/04/27: Forbes: Inspector General Faults EPA Radiation Monitoring
2012/04/27: APR: San Onofre seismic study - Press release
2012/04/26: Grist: Stop the nuclear-industry welfare program
2012/04/26: WNN: Construction starts on new Chernobyl cover
Work to assemble the giant arched structure that will protect the ruined Chernobyl unit 4 and enable its dismantling has officially begun on the 26th anniversary of the accident.
2012/04/26: Grist: On 26th anniversary, Chernobyl's crumbling seal gets new cap
2012/04/26: JQuiggin: The Steep Path to a Nuclear Future
2012/04/23: UCSUSA: Report Finds Many Unanswered Questions about Concrete Degradation at Seabrook, New Hampshire, Nuclear Plant
2012/04/23: NTI:GSN: Audit Confirms [US] EPA Radiation Monitors Broken During Fukushima Crisis
Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:
2012/04/23: PPPL: Scientists propose a solution to a critical barrier to producing fusion
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
2012/04/24: UCSUSA:B: Hog Hunting, Vampire Slaying: How to Cut Your Home Electricity Use
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
2012/04/25: AutoBG: General Electric CEO [Jeff Immelt] says electric vehicles will reach 'tipping point'
2012/04/23: NBF: Carbon Fiber Composites could make cars 50% more fuel efficient but the volume must be scaled up 10 to 100 times
As for Energy Storage:
2012/04/26: TreeHugger: GE's Hybrid Train Batteries Will Back Up Solar and Wind Power
2012/04/26: TreeHugger: IBM R&D Working to Give Electric Cars 500 Miles of Range With Lithium-Air Batteries
2012/04/26: AutoBG: Tesla, SolarCity working on solar-powered energy-storage systems
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
2012/04/23: CCP: Insurance Companies Face Increased Risks from Warming, Mounting Claims [Swiss Re, Munich Re]
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
2012/04/25: OilChange: BP or not BP?
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
2012/04/27: TP:JR: April 27 News...
2012/04/26: TP:JR: April 26 News...
2012/04/25: TP:JR: April 25 News...
2012/04/24: TP:JR: April 24 News...
2012/04/23: TP:JR: April 23 News...
Other (weekly) lists:
2012/04/26: BPA: Agriculture News
2012/04/27: EnergyBulletin: ODAC Newsletter
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
2012/04/27: QuarkSoup: Re: Diviner result
2012/04/27: Tamino: Let's do the math!
2012/04/26: Grist: The anatomy of denial: Why truth doesn't always win
2012/04/25: S&R: Serious errors and shortcomings void climate letter by 49 former NASA employees
2012/04/26: DM:BA: More debunking of the ex-NASA 49 climate change deniers
2012/04/25: Wunderground:RR: Rhetoric Again - Cycles
2012/04/25: ERabett: How to Widen the Overton Window After the Dragons Have Left
2012/04/25: PSinclair: Deniers in Denial about Why they Deny
Politely but firmly, in the short vid above, Naomi Oreskes asserts to climate denying Australian politician Nick Minchin, that climate denial is based less on science than it is on fears of what the implications of the science are.
2012/04/24: al Jazeera: Why Americans doubt man-made climate change -- How are climate sceptics impacting the US political debate?
2012/04/23: QuarkSoup: Diviner result and standard theory
2012/04/24: Stoat: You believe your lies and we will believe ours?
2012/04/22: ERabett: Woy is Wong
Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:
2012/04/27: DeSmogBlog: Coal Ash Sites Posing Increasing Dangers To Water Supplies, Public Health
As for climate miscellanea:
2012/04/24: RantaSarahRex: Why I Don't Call Myself a Skeptic - Skepticism isn't something you are. It's something you do
2012/04/28: CCurrents: Is Climate Change An Emergency?
2012/04/27: QuarkSoup: Oreskes' Succinct Summary of the Situation
2012/04/27: ERabett:BSD: Skinny people dieting to reduce human biomass
2012/04/25: TP:JR: Four-Time Chapter 11 Champ Donald Trump: 'Monstrous' Wind Turbines Will Make Scotland 'Go Broke'
2012/04/25: BBC: Donald Trump says he was 'lured' into building Â£1bn golf resort
Tycoon Donald Trump has said he was "lured" into building a Â£1bn golf resort in Scotland with assurances that a nearby wind farm would not go ahead. The US businessman is strongly opposing plans for an offshore development near his golf course in Aberdeenshire.
2012/04/24: S&R: Donald Trump threatens Scotland; Scotland yawns
2012/04/25: CCP: Mark Boslough: Climate Change Is Based Only on Fact
2012/04/24: HotTopic: Down by the seaside
2012/04/23: ERabett: The Uncertainty Monster Swallows the Sky Dragon
2012/04/23: BBerg: Forecast Calls for Climate-Smart Business (Part 2): Paul Douglas
2012/04/22: Grist: Scientists to world leaders: You broke it, you own it
2012/04/20: AlterNet: One Family's Unconventional Solution to Save Water
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
DEFRA(UK): NAEI: National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory
Land Matrix - an online public database of large-scale land deals
eLifeSciences
LANL: COSIM: Climate, Ocean and Sea Ice Modeling
NASA:GSFC: ICESat & ICESat-2
Clean Energy Ministerial - Accelerating the Transition to Clean Energy Technologies
UNEP: Climate and Clean Air Coalition
New Zealand Climate Change Centre (NZCCC) Conference - May 10-11, 2012
The Plant List - A working list for all plant species
Wiki: Roger Award -- Roger Award For The Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in New Zealand
SORCE: Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment
Zvon.org guide to Fourth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Wiki: SpÃ¶rer Minimum
Wiki: Maunder Minimum
Wiki: Dalton Minimum

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.

-het

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

I notice moyhu has set up a monster index to old AWoGWN on AFTIC.

"Watching the President serve up the tired narrative that speculators have driven the price of oil should dissuade optimists from thinking the US public is ready to face up to reality." -Gregor Macdonald

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April 29, 2012

Is funny. Yes?

Looking ahead to Rio+20:

The IEA released a report warning about GHG emission levels at the Clean Energy Ministerial meeting in London this week:

The International Polar Year Conference went down in Montral this week. See also:

The UK Royal Society People and Planet report got a mixed reception:

The Pritchard et al. paper on Antarctic ice-sheet melting triggered a wave of interest:

The Durack et al. paper on ocean salinity triggered some alarm:

The Kort et al. paper on Arctic methane tickled an old anxiety:

There's not much news about it, but Elgin is still a spewin':

Another step toward IPBES - the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services:

The Maldives dictatorship persists unchallenged:

What's the World Bank up to?

So, If we put a price on nature, will it deal with externalities and lead to greater conservationor will it lead to greater exploitation or what?

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

Post CRU costs:

A note on theFukushima disaster:

Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

Post Fukushima, nuclear policies are in flux around the world:

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

As for the charismatic megafauna:

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

While in Antarctica. See also:

The food crisis is ongoing:

The state of the world's fisheries is a concern:

Food Prices are still problematic:

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

And how are we going to feed 9 billion, 10 billion, 15 billion?

Another quiet week in the hurricane wars:

As for GHGs:

And the temperature record:

Aerosols are making their presence felt:

While in the paleoclimate:

While on the ENSO front:

Regarding Climate Sensitivity:

And the State of the Oceans:

What's new on the extinction front?

What's up with volcanoes this week?

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

More GW impacts are being seen:

And then there are the world's forests:

Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:

Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

Changes in natural cycles are showing up:

On the tornado front:

As for heatwaves and wild fires:

Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

Glaciers are melting:

Sea levels are rising:

As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

First, stop subsidizing fossil fuelsSecond, put a price on carbonAnd elsewhere on the mitigation front:

Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation has somehow seemed chimeric:

Consider transportation & GHG production:

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

As for carbon sequestration:

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

While on the adaptation front:

Meanwhile in the journals:

And other significant documents:

As for miscellaneous science:

More DIY science:

What's new in models?

What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

Regarding Mann:

Regarding Lovelock:

Regarding Hansen:

The Pielke fan clubbe, alas:

While at the UN:

And on the carbon trading front:

The Robin Hood tax, aka the Tobin tax, aka the Bank tax, aka the Financial Transaction tax keeps coming up:

On the international political front, tensions continue as the USA and Israel lean on Iran:

The South China Sea is heating up:

Argentina nationalized YPF, removing the Spanish firm Repsol. Much yelling ensued:

The Harper gang are desperately fighting the EU Fuel Quality Directive ruling on tarsands bitumen:

So, If we put a price on nature, will it deal with externalities and lead to greater conservation
or will it lead to greater exploitation or what?

A note on the Fukushima disaster:

First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
Second, put a price on carbon
And elsewhere on the mitigation front: