Another Week of GW News, February 10, 2013

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

Information Overload is Pattern Recognition

February 10, 2013

• Chuckles, Survival, Lai Pei-yuan, Nickel, Transition, Uranium, Belief
• Bottom Line, Subsidies, GFIs, Thermodynamics, Cook
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
• Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food Prices, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, Weather Machine, Notable Weather, Weather Oddity, New Weather
• GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Climate Sensitivity
• Biosphere, Extinctions, Bees & CCD, Overshoot, Proxies, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Wildfires
• Corals, Acidification, Glaciers, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Sequestration, Geoengineering
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, DIY Science, Models, Free Science
• International Politics: UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Hormuz, South China Sea
• Rare Earths, Solar Spats, Misc., Security, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz
• National Politics: Britain, Europe, Australia, Election, MDBP, India, China, Japan, Asia, South America
• America, BP Disaster, Post Sandy, Keystone, Birth Control, Coal Exports, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
• Canada, Idle No More, Vaughn, Liberals, Northern Gateway, East-West
• Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Sask, Manitoba, Ontario
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
• Energy, Transitions, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, The Corps, Pipelines, Independence, Peak Oil, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Fusion, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
• Business, Insurance, FAQs, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

 

It's always nice to start with a chuckle:

• 2013/02/09: uComics: (cartoon - Danziger) Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet...
• 2013/02/09: TP:JR: (cartoon - ?) Bad for Biz
• 2013/02/09: RealEcon: (cartoons - various) Saturday toons
• 2013/02/05: SeppoNet: (cartoon - Seppo) Risky Arctic oil rush
  

  A notable story of survival in the Australian floods:

• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): "We're bloody glad to see you" - a story of flood survival
  Lucy Connolly spent five hours clinging to a tree in floodwaters.
• 
  

  Heartwarming and heroic:

   

• 2013/02/10: ABC(Au): King of the Trees safeguarding Taiwan's forests
  With his blue stetson and thick grey jacket, Lai Pei-yuan looks like a modern-day cowboy, but rather than raising cattle, he grows trees. The 57-year-old Taiwanese entrepreneur made his fortune in transportation and property, but his real mission in life is to reinstate at least some of the forests that once covered most of the island. "It was just a simple idea I had," said Mr Lai from a hillside near his native Taichung city in central Taiwan. "If I was to safeguard Taiwan, I would have to plant trees." For the past three decades, Mr Lai has bought and planted thousands of trees every year, often with his own hands.
• 
  

  This nickel catalysis could be a big thing for carbon capture:

   

• 2013/02/05: RSC:CS&T: (ab$) Nickel nanoparticles catalyse reversible hydration of carbon dioxide for mineralization carbon capture and storage by Gaurav A. Bhaduri & Lidija Seiller
• 2013/02/05: BBC: Sea urchin nickel 'trick' could be key to capturing carbon
  Researchers say that the natural ability of sea urchins to absorb CO2 could be a model for an effective carbon capture and storage system. Newcastle University scientists discovered by chance that urchins use the metal nickel to turn carbon dioxide into shell. They say the technique can be harnessed to turn emissions from power plants into the harmless calcium carbonate.
• 2013/02/05: NewcastleU: Could the humble sea urchin hold the key to carbon capture?
• 2013/02/04: NBF: An economical way to convert carbon dioxide into calcium carbonate
• 2013/02/05: TP:JR: Can Sea Urchins Show Scientists How To Capture Carbon Affordably?
  

  A significant price point has been reached in Australia. Expect to see more of this:

• 2013/02/10: TP:JR: In Australia, Wind Power Is Already Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels, And Solar Is Right Behind
• 2013/02/07: BNEF: Renewable energy now cheaper than new fossil fuels in Australia
• 2013/02/07: Grist: Renewables cheaper than coal in Australia -- a preview of things to come
• 2013/02/07: LoE: Newsflash: Renewables are cheaper
• 2013/02/06: CCP: In Australia renewables now cheaper than coal and gas
  

  This should be good for a scream or three:

• 2013/01/23: Forbes: Energy's Latest Battleground: Fracking For Uranium
  

  The psychology of the uninformed and fickle plays well in certain quarters:

• 2013/02/07: GLaden: "Belief" in Climate Change, The Weather, and Political Party
• 2013/02/07: BBC: Are public attitudes to climate change as fickle as the weather?
• 2013/02/05: CBC: Climate change worries rise and fall with temperature: UBC study
  

  And on the Bottom Line:

• 2013/02/09: TP:JR: National Journal Warns The Economic Price Of Climate Change Is Already Here, And Growing
• 2013/02/08: Grist: Attention investors: Climate policy could knock off half the value of fossil fuel companies
• 2013/02/07: NatJo: The Scary Truth About How Much Climate Change is Costing You
  While policymakers fiddle, the threat of economic harm posed by rising sea levels, devastating storms, and drought is growing every day.
• 2013/02/03: RTCC: Climate ambition could slash value of big oil firms
  Oil and gas multinationals could lose up to 60% of their market value if the world cuts its carbon emissions to limit climate change, according to the world's second-largest bank.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/02/08: TGCW: Fossil fuel subsidies "are public enemy number one"
  Fossil fuel subsidies amount to little more than an incentive to pollute and as such are "public enemy number one to sustainable development" Fatih Birol, Chief Economist at the International Energy Agency said at the European Wind Energy Association's (EWEA) recent annual conference. Birol added that subsidies for fossil fuels-which amounted to half a trillion US dollars worldwide in 2011-keep oil and gas artificially cheap and made it hard for clean alternatives, like wind, to compete.
• 2013/02/08: PostMedia: Oil and gas industry seeks billion-dollar tax break to lure LNG plants
  The Canadian oil and gas industry is asking Ottawa for subsidies that could be worth $2 billion in tax savings to encourage the development of liquefied natural gas plants in British Columbia.
• 2013/02/07: CCP: Welfare Queens Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, and ConocoPhilips receive $10 to $52 billion per year in subsidies
  

  What are the global financial institutions up to?

• 2013/02/08: CCurrents: World Bank Unmoved on Own Auditor's Criticism of Forest Policy
• 2013/02/05: TP:JR: IMF Chief: 'Unless We Take Action On Climate Change, Future Generations Will Be Roasted, Toasted, Fried And Grilled'
  

  Delving into the laws of thermodynamics this week:

• 2013/02/07: TSoD: CERES, AIRS, Outgoing Longwave Radiation & El Nino
  

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2013/02/10: SkS: 16 years - Update and Frequently Asked Questions by Kevin C
• 2013/02/09: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #6 by John Hartz
• 2013/02/08: SkS: Introducing the History of Climate Change Science by rockytom
• 2013/02/08: SkS: An Updated Look at What Keystone XL and Alberta Tar Sands Mean for the Climate by dana1981
• 2013/02/07: SkS: The Great Disconnect: the human disease of which climate change is but one symptom by John Mason
• 2013/02/06: SkS: A Climate Sensitivity Tail by dana1981
• 2013/02/05: SkS: For Psychology Research, Climate Denial is the Gift that Keeps on Giving by Stephan Lewandowsky, John Cook
• 2013/02/05: SkS: Icy contenders weigh in by Jason Box
• 2013/02/04: SkS: New Slideshow on Myth Debunking for Educators and Science Communicators by Ullrich Ecker
• 2013/02/04: SkS: Dueling Scientists in The Oregonian, Settled by Nuccitelli et al. (2012) by dana1981
  

  A note on theFukushima 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 propagated 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?

•  

  Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

   

• 2013/02/: Springer:JR&NC: (ab$) Should we measure plutonium concentrations in marine sediments near Fukushima? by R. Periáñez et al.
• 2013/01/23: PLoS One: Distribution of Artificial Radionuclides in Abandoned Cattle in the Evacuation Zone of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant by Tomokazu Fukuda et al.
• 2013/01/23: NIH: Distribution of Artificial Radionuclides in Abandoned Cattle in the Evacuation Zone of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant by Tomokazu Fukuda et al.
• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): TEPCO lied to Fukushima meltdown investigators
  In a further blow to its already battered credibility, the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has been caught out blatantly misleading investigators appointed by the Japanese parliament to probe the meltdowns. An audio recording heard by AM reveals that a TEPCO official gave false testimony in an apparent bid to stop an investigation being carried out inside the shattered reactor one building.
• 2013/02/08: RT: Fukushima survivors to file class action lawsuit against Japanese govt, plant operator
• 2013/02/08: Asahi: Prometheus Trap (6): SDF poised for dangerous mission into Fukushima
• 2013/02/06: Asahi: Prometheus Trap (5): Tears from an old Japan hand at the State Department
• 2013/02/04: Asahi: Prometheus Trap (4): U.S. official sought 'heroic sacrifice' from Japan
• 2013/02/08: Asahi: TEPCO accident causes new problem at Fukushima
  The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has admitted dislodging broken equipment weighing 1.5 tons and sending it falling further into a pool where fragile nuclear fuel rods lie.
• 2013/02/07: Kyodo: TEPCO 'blocked' nuclear accident investigation: panel member
• 2013/02/07: EneNews: Video: Japan expert reveals "serious obstruction" at Fukushima -- Investigation blocked into whether Reactor 1 was damaged by quake, not tsunami
• 2013/02/06: EneNews: Study: Radioactive silver found inside all 47 cows tested from Fukushima evacuation zone
• 2013/02/06: EneNews: Photos: 'Protection' to be installed over No. 3 fuel pool at Fukushima - Concern over more debris falling in
• 2013/02/05: CNN: The woman [Barbara Judge] powering Japan's nuclear hopes post-Fukushima
• 2013/02/04: EneNews: NHK: Fukushima spent fuel to go in "pool built above ground" (photo)
• 2013/02/04: PSinclair: Trailer: "A2 - Children of Fukushima"
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Nuclear [Safety Commission] boss [Haruki Madarame] questioned over Fukushima disaster
• 2013/02/04: Mainichi: Prosecutors seize testimony of former Fukushima nuclear plant chief
  Prosecutors investigating responsibility for the Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster have seized testimony from the plant's former chief, who cannot currently be questioned due to poor health. Prosecutors obtained records documented by a government disaster investigation team, apparently judging them necessary in deciding whether they can form a criminal case against the former chief, Masao Yoshida. Normally, disaster investigations are performed on the basis that they won't be used to lay blame on the parties involved.
• 2013/02/03: EneNews: French Nuclear Experts: Did corium pierce steel liners of Fukushima reactors? How deep did it erode concrete? (video)
• 2013/02/04: EneNews: Video: 'Most important' source of radioactive releases into Pacific at Fukushima is Reactor 2
  

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

• 2013/02/07: UCSUSA: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Should Reject Lawmakers' Call for Watering Down, Slowing Down Post-Fukushima Safety Upgrades
• 2013/02/06: NatureN: Quake fears rise at Japan's reactors
  Commissioners say that geological faults make some reactors too dangerous to restart.
• 2013/02/05: TheConversation: Japan can't afford to leave nuclear power switched off
  

  The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

• 2013/02/10: Dosbat: PIOMAS Volume-Thickness Breakdowns
• 2013/02/08: ASI: PIOMAS February 2013
• 2013/02/07: ArcticNews: Arctic Sea ice Volume and Greenland Melt Update
• 2013/02/07: Dosbat: January 2013 Status
• 2013/02/06: Dosbat: Open Water Formation Efficiency Part 1.
• 2013/02/06: ASI: CT SIA anomaly above zero
• 2013/02/05: NSIDC:GT: An intense Greenland melt season: 2012 in review
• 2013/02/05: SF Gate: Stanford Arctic thawing detection tool
• 2013/02/04: DeSmogBlog: The Baffling Response to Arctic Climate Change
  

  As for the charismatic megafauna:

• 2013/02/04: Eureka: Polar bear researchers urge governments to act now and save the species
  

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2013/02/04: CCP: NOAA monitoring of Arctic methane and CO2 halted by budget cuts
• 2013/02/04: ArcticNews: Overview of IASI methane levels
  

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2013/02/07: RTCC: Arctic ministers urge swift climate action to protect region
  Environment Ministers from states bordering the Arctic have called for urgent action on short lived climate pollutants (SLCP) such as methane, HFCs and black carbon soot.
• 2013/02/07: ICN: Arctic Ice Unleashing Scramble to Exploit Oil and Gas Deposits
• 2013/02/04: BBC: Concerns raised over 'useless' Arctic oil spill plan
  Environmental campaigners say that a draft plan to respond to an oil spill in the Arctic ocean is inadequate and vague. The proposal has been in preparation for two years as oil companies look to increase exploration in the region. Greenpeace says it fails to get to grip with the risks of an accident in an extremely sensitive location. Ministers from the eight nation Arctic Council are due to discuss the plan at a meeting in Sweden tomorrow.
• 2013/02/05: CPW: Greenpeace: Leaked Arctic Council Oil Spill Response Agreement 'Vague and Inadequate'
• 2013/02/05: CBC: Greenpeace slams Arctic Council's oil spill response plan
  

  While in Antarctica:

• 2013/02/07: SciNow: First Evidence of Life Under Antarctic Ice
• 2013/02/07: NatureNB: Antarctic researchers find life in subglacial lake
• 2013/02/06: Eureka: Shimmering water reveals cold volcanic vent in Antarctic waters
• 2013/02/06: BBC: Britain's new Halley research station in the Antarctic goes into full operation this month
• 2013/02/04: MODIS: Iceberg C19C in the South Atlantic Ocean
  

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2013/02/09: CCP: USDA: Climate Change and Agriculture in the United States: Effects and Adaptation
• 2013/02/08: TreeHugger: How is Climate Change Impacting the World's Food Supply?
• 2013/02/08: BPA: Water and Food Waste Video...
• 2013/02/07: BBerg: U.S. Soy Supply at 48-Year Low as Brazil Ships Held: Commodities
• 2013/02/07: Yale360: Probing Impact of Warming On the World's Food Supply
  One of the few potential advantages attributed to soaring carbon dioxide levels has been enhanced crop growth. But in an interview with Yale Environment 360, botanist Stephen Long talks about his research showing why rising temperatures and an increase in agricultural pests may offset any future productivity gains.
• 2013/02/07: CCentral: Climate Change Set to Batter U.S. Agriculture, Forests
• 2013/02/07: ABC(Au): Climate change threatens food security
• 2013/02/07: RTCC: Climate change promises tough future for US farmers
• 2013/02/07: PSinclair: USDA: Warming Will Devastate Agriculture
• 2013/02/06: RT: Man trampled as hundreds of desperate Greeks scuffle for food (photos)
• 2013/02/06: UN: Access improving in Mali but the Sahel still at risk for food insecurity -- UN relief official
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Kiribati to buy Fiji land amid rising sea levels
  Kiribati has confirmed plans to buy land in Fiji to ensure food security for the island's population against the effects of climate change. President Anote Tong says the 6,000 acres of land in Fiji's Vanua Levu will be used to plant food crops, not to relocate Kiribati residents.
• 2013/02/05: ProMedMail: Schmallenberg virus - Europe (13): epidemiology
• 2013/02/05: ABC(Au): Grazier endures outback extremes
  A south-west Queensland grazier says conditions on his property have gone from one extreme to another within a year. This time last year graziers along the Warrego River were managing floodwaters on their properties around Charleville and Cunnamulla, and the floods were a blessing. However, grazier Rob Bardon from Valetta Station says they have had very little rain since and it means producers are off-loading stock and still worried about fires.
• 2013/02/04: ProMedMail: Leaf rust, coffee - Guatemala: emergency
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Hot, dry summer reduces wine grape yields
  Victorian grape growers in the Grampians region say they've lost 10 to 20 per cent of yields to hot, dry weather.
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): 'Catastrophic' loss of citrus trees at Gayndah
  A citrus grower in one of the hardest-hit Queensland flood zones says some farmers have lost thousands of trees because of the extreme weather.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/02/07: EurActiv: MEPs cast vote to restore EU fish stocks
  The European Parliament on Wednesday (6 February) overwhelmingly backed reform to end decades of over-fishing and restore EU sea stocks to healthy levels by 2020.
• 2013/02/07: EUO: MEPs back end to fish discard 'madness'
• 2013/02/06: NatureNB: European Parliament backs major fisheries reform
• 2013/02/06: al Jazeera: EU parliament pushes fishing-policy reform
  Drastic change seeks end to decades of overfishing that has vastly depleted the continent's fish stocks.
• 2013/02/04: EurActiv: Iceland lowers mackerel quota to appease EU
  Iceland has lowered its mackerel quota in a move that could ease the risk of the European Union barring Icelandic fishermen from its ports.
• 2013/02/04: EnvEcon: A Common Tragedy
• 2013/02/07: ProMedMail: Infectious salmon anemia - Norway: OIE
• 2013/02/06: BBC: Euro MPs back large-scale fishing reform to save stocks
  

  Food Prices are still problematic:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2013/02/07: FAO: FAO Food Price Index remains unchanged in January
  World cereal production falls in 2012 but prospects are favourable for 2013
• 2013/02/07: UN: No change in global food prices after months of decline, UN agency says
  

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2013/02/05: BPA: Corn Export Market Share has Changed Rapidly Since the U.S. Ethanol Mandate
• 2013/02/04: Resilience: Food or ethanol? Why farmers shouldn't give in to monocrops
  

  So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

• 2013/02/07: TMoS: When The Rich Eat the Poor
  

  Regarding the genetic modification of food:

• 2013/02/06: Eureka: Benefits of Bt corn go beyond rootworm resistance
• 2013/02/06: GMWatch: Poland becomes eighth EU country to ban Monsanto maize
• 2013/02/06: MoJo: Nearly Half of All US Farms Now Have Superweeds
  Roundup-resistant weeds colonized 60 million US acres in 2012 -- up 50 percent from the year before.
• 2013/02/04: MLynas: Professor Nina Fedoroff, Chair of the AAAS board -- Q&A on GMOs
  

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

• 2013/02/08: FAO: Irish President voices support for fight against hunger
  In a meeting with Graziano da Silva the President praises FAO's development work on the ground and its efforts to become more efficient
• 2013/02/06: Eureka: Preserving biodiversity can be compatible with intensive agriculture
• 2013/02/05: UN: Agroforestry crucial to ensure food security of millions, says UN agency [FAO]
• 2013/02/05: FAO: New policies needed to promote agroforestry - Neglected sector is crucial to livelihoods and food security of millions
  

  A relatively quiet week after Felleng faded. There is one unreported storm south of Bora Bora in the Pacific:

• 2013/02/05: NASA: NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP Satellite Sees a Fading Felleng
• 2013/02/04: Eureka: NASA sees the falling of Cyclone Felleng
  

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): Cyclone takes heavy toll on turtle rookery
  Scientists say ex-tropical cyclone Oswald has killed thousands of turtle eggs and hatchlings at one of Queensland's biggest rookeries. The Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage says gale-force winds and high tides have destroyed turtle nests at Mon Repos, near Bundaberg. An estimated 46,000 eggs have been destroyed.
• 2013/02/06: WMO: [link to 3.2 meg pdf] Typhoon Committee considers impact of climate change
• 2013/02/05: PSinclair: Superstorm Sandy -- Template for Future Storms?
• 2013/02/02: MODIS: Tropical Cyclone Oswald (11P) over Australia [on Jan 22]
  

  What's new in the Weather Machine?

• 2013/02/03: RTCC: Ozone hole affecting Antarctic's ability to absorb carbon dioxide
  The Antarctic ozone hole has changed how the seas around the Antarctic mix, scientists say, threatening their ability to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide and potentially speeding up global warming. The discovery is important because the Antarctic accounts for about 40% of the total carbon absorbed by the world's seas.
• 
  

  This week in notable weather:

   

• 2013/02/10: CNN: Northeast digs out after deadly blizzard; Midwest to get next storm
  Airports in Boston and Connecticut are expected to resume flights Sunday - About 400,000 power customers remain without electricity - At least nine people are killed, including 14-year-old Boston boy - The next major winter storm is expected to strike between Colorado and Minnesota
• 2013/02/10: BBC: Snowstorm Nemo: North-eastern US and Canada dig out
• 2013/02/10: CBC: Atlantic Canada braces for 2nd day of winter storm
• 2013/02/10: WtD: Snow? Climate change and blizzards -- yes, there is a connection
• 2013/02/09: BBC: Blizzard paralyses north-east US and Atlantic Canada
• 2013/02/09: CSM: Blizzard 2013 storm prep sharpened by experience in Katrina and Sandy
• 2013/02/09: al Jazeera: US Northeast battered by major snow storm
  More than 650,000 homes and businesses are without power as snow blankets several Northeastern states.
• 2013/02/09: Wunderground: Snow measured in feet, not inches: historic Nor'easter pounds New England
• 2013/02/09: CBC: Massive snowstorm pounds U.S. Northeast -- More than 650,000 without power, up to metre of snow expected in Boston
• 2013/02/09: CBC: Storm surge floods coastal Nova Scotia
• 2013/02/09: CBC: Blizzard bearing down on Atlantic Canada -- Over 5,000 homes without power
  There are power outages and dozens of flight cancellations today in Atlantic Canada, which is in the path of a major snowstorm.
• 2013/02/08: Guardian(UK): Northeastern US under state of emergency as blizzard moves in - as it happened
• 2013/02/08: W&C: The Blizzard of 2013 is on our Doorstep...
• 2013/02/08: Wunderground: Snows begin in Northeast U.S. as historic Nor'easter strengthens
• 2013/02/08: PSinclair: "New England Will Be Closed" - Blizzard of '13 Update
• 2013/02/08: CBC: Storm hitting southern Ontario causes closures and accidents
  Weather warnings stretch across Eastern Canada from Sarnia, Ont., to Cape Breton
• 2013/02/08: al Jazeera: Northeastern US braces for blizzards
  A major winter storm moving across the northeast USA and eastern Canada has the potential for record breaking snowfall
• 2013/02/07: al Jazeera: Severe weather slams India and Pakistan
  Heavy rain has triggered flooding, and elsewhere deep snow has brought life to a standstill.
• 2013/02/07: Wunderground: Historic Nor'easter poised to slam Boston and the Northeast U.S.
• 2013/02/07: CSM: Winter storm Nemo: 2 feet or more of snow possible
• 2013/02/04: CBC: Atlantic Canada storm causes travel woes, school closures -- Many commuters face slushy roads, high winds
• 2013/02/05: IOTD: Von Karman Vortices off Chile
  

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2013/02/10: Eureka: Is there gigantic jet event in middle latitude region in mainland China?
  

  Rossby Waves? Blocking Patterns? Arctic Oscillation? What is the Arctic melt doing to our weather?

• 2013/02/09: SimpleC: Altered pressure patterns bring Eurasia intense iciness
  

  Meanwhile on the GHG front:

• 2013/02/08: TP:JR: Boosted By Methane Releases, Oil And Gas Sector Is Number Two in Global Warming Pollution
• 2013/02/07: TP:JR: Carbon Pollution Data Put Power Plants Front And Center
• 2013/02/04: PSinclair: Revolution in Progress: US Emissions at Lowest Since 1994
• 2013/02/04: ICN: For U.S. and China, World's Biggest Climate Polluters, It's Still Business as Usual
• 2013/02/04: CSM: Carbon emissions in US drop to lowest level since 1994
  

  As for the temperature record:

• 2013/02/08: CLB: Updated comparison of simulations and observations
• 2013/01/31: SMH: Giant heatwave delivers hottest January on record
  

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2013/02/08: BBC: Dinosaur extinction: Scientists estimate 'most accurate' date
  Scientists believe they have determined the most precise date yet for the extinction of dinosaurs. Researchers from Glasgow University were part of an international team that has been investigating the demise of the dinosaur. By using dating techniques on rock and ash samples, they established the creatures died out about 66,038,000 years ago - give or take 11,000 years. That date appears to coincide with the impact of a comet or asteroid.
• 2013/02/07: CSM: What killed the dinosaurs? New evidence strengthens asteroid hypothesis
• 2013/02/06: Eureka: Volcano location could be greenhouse-icehouse keyStudy: Episodic purging of 'carbonate capacitor' drives long-term climate cycle
  A new Rice University-led study finds the real estate mantra "location, location, location" may also explain one of Earth's enduring climate mysteries. The study suggests that Earth's repeated flip-flopping between greenhouse and icehouse states over the past 500 million years may have been driven by the episodic flare-up of volcanoes at key locations where enormous amounts of carbon dioxide are poised for release into the atmosphere.
  "We found that Earth's continents serve as enormous 'carbonate capacitors,'" said Rice's Cin-Ty Lee, the lead author of the study in this month's GeoSphere. "Continents store massive amounts of carbon dioxide in sedimentary carbonates like limestone and marble, and it appears that these reservoirs are tapped from time to time by volcanoes, which release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere."
• 
  

  And on the ENSO front:

   

• 2013/02/07: NOAA:NCEP: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion
  Synopsis: ENSO-neutral is favored through Northern Hemisphere spring 2013.
• 2013/02/07: NOAANews: NOAA research finds new way to identify which El Niño events will have biggest impact on U.S. winter weather
  

  Regarding Climate Sensitivity:

• 2013/02/06: LoE: Climate sensitivity is now irrelevant
• 2013/02/06: SkS: A Climate Sensitivity Tail by dana1981
  

  What's new in Biodiversity?

• 2013/02/06: CBC: Bio-diversity safeguards against natural disaster, study finds
  Losing species can cause real economic harm, ability to preserve original growth
• 2013/02/07: TheConversation: Is an ethic of biodiversity enough?
• 2013/02/06: Eureka: Biodiversity helps protect nature against human impacts: Study
  

  What's new on the extinction front?

• 2013/02/07: TheConversation: Australian endangered species: Rain Crayfish
• 2013/02/06: TreeHugger: 11,000: Number of Gabon Elephants Killed In Less Than 10 years
• 2013/02/06: BBC: Poaching boom sees thousands of elephants killed in Gabon
  More than 11,000 elephants have been killed by ivory poachers in Gabon since 2004 according to new research.
• 2013/02/06: CSM: Threatened by global warming, wolverines could be listed as endangered
• 2013/02/06: Eureka: 11,000 elephants slaughtered in national park [Gabon's Minkebe Park]
  The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today that a national park, once home to Africa's largest forest elephant population, has lost a staggering 11,100 individuals due to poaching for the ivory trade.
• 2013/02/05: SciAm:EC: Was Palm Oil to Blame for the Poisoning of 14 Pygmy Elephants?
• 2013/02/05: BBC: India and Nepal begin Royal Bengal tiger census
• 2013/02/05: al Jazeera: Nepal counts endangered tigers
  Census under way for Royal Bengal tigers to help plan strategy to double their number by 2022.
• 2013/02/04: USheffield: Low rainfall and extreme temperatures doubles risk of baby elephant deaths
  Extremes of temperature and rainfall are affecting the survival of elephants working in timber camps in Myanmar and can double the risk of death in calves aged up to five, new research from the University of Sheffield has found.
• 
  

  The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant worry:

   

• 2013/02/05: ProMedMail: Colony collapse disorder, apis - USA: (CA) 2012, susp -- Massive honey bee die-off in Montecito
• 2013/02/05: TreeHugger: 3 Widely Used Pesticides Banned in EU Due to Unacceptable Danger to Bees
  

  Intimations of Overshoot:

• 2013/02/09: Guardian(UK): David Miliband to head global fight to prevent eco-disaster in oceans
  As leader of a campaign being unveiled this week, the ex-foreign secretary says exploitation of the seas has led us to a crisis point
• 
  

  What's new in proxies?

   

• 2013/02/08: SciNow: Saving the Past in Dying Trees
  

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2013/02/08: CoB: NASA Set To Launch Water-Monitoring Satellite
  The eighth Landsat satellite launches on Monday. It will measure water quality and quantity.
• 2013/02/06: NatureN: Landsat 8 to the rescue -- NASA prepares to launch satellite that will continue historic record of global change
• 2013/02/04: Wunderground: QuikSCAT replacement funded; NWS fires former NHC director Proenza
  

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2013/02/06: DD: Warm weather forces changes ahead of Iditarod race - 'With global warming, it's hard to deny that there are some big changes going on right now'
• 2013/02/05: NatureN: Climate adaptation: Survival of the flexible
  Many tropical species never experience extreme heat or cold. That may doom them in a warming world.
• 2013/02/04: Eureka: Climate change impacts to US coasts threaten public health, safety and economy - NOAA, USGS report
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Maybe climate change is closer than we think
• 2013/02/05: CRP: The Facts: How Climate Change is Affecting America
  

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2013/02/10: ABC(Au): King of the Trees safeguarding Taiwan's forests
• 2013/02/08: TheConversation:Major forestry company stops Indonesian deforestation
• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): Mining leases excluded from Tarkine heritage area
  Tasmania's Tarkine region will be given heritage protection but vast forest areas will not be included as they are deemed to have been downgraded by mining.
• 2013/02/07: TreeHugger: DNA Fingerprinting Used to Fight Illegal Logging
• 2013/02/07: BBC: China 'smuggles' Mozambique timber - EIA
  Nearly half of the timber exported from Mozambique to China is illegal, a pressure group has said.
• 2013/02/06: Eureka: Lungs of the planet reveal their true sensitivity to global warming
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Asia Pulp and Paper says it will stop logging virgin rainforest
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Study considers forestry industry's long-term future
• 2013/02/05: DD: Rate of tree die-off in Amazon higher than previous estimates...
  

  Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

• 2013/02/04: DD: Kiribati to buy land in Fiji before rising sea levels swallow the island nation - 'Relocating the whole country is our last option'
  

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2013/02/10: ABC(Au): Victorian blazes keep residents on alert
  Residents in Victoria remain on alert as two large bushfires continue to burn in Gippsland and the state's north-east.
• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): Hotham Heights on bushfire alert
  Victoria's Country Fire Authority (CFA) says a large, out-of-control fire is advancing on the Hotham Heights area in the state's alpine region. An emergency warning that was released just after 9:00pm (AEDT) said the fire was expected to affect the area within the next two hours. However, that warning was downgraded to a watch-and-act alert soon after.
• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): Conservation projects lost in the Yass fires
• 2013/02/07: ABC(Au): Crews battle fires on high danger day
  Residents in the Derwent Valley in Tasmania's south are being warned fire conditions are expected to worsen today as crews battle an out-of-control blaze.
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Cars, outbuildings destroyed by Tas bushfire
  Authorities have issued a watch and act alert as a bushfire bears down on properties in Tasmania's Derwent Valley, north-west of Hobart. The Tasmanian Fire Service has downgraded the fire's status from an emergency warning, but it says homeowners need to brace for worsening conditions tomorrow. The fire, which broke out on Glen Dhu Road shortly before 2:00pm (AEDT), has now crossed more than 300 hectares of dense, hilly bushland and is threatening properties.
• 2013/02/05: DD: Australia braces for days of high fire risk - 'The lack of rain has completely dried most areas of grassland and bush across Victoria'
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Crews battle out of control fire in Boddington
  

  Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

• 2013/02/04: TheConversation: Australia coy in report on heritage status of Great Barrier Reef
• 2013/02/05: TheConversation: Grief of Great Barrier Reef: UNESCO should declare heritage site in danger
• 2013/02/06: TheConversation: Worried about Great Barrier Reef water pollution? Look at mining, not agriculture
  

  Acidification is changing the oceans:

• 2013/02/03: Eureka: Climate change clues from tiny marine algae -- ancient and modern
  

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2013/02/04: FaGP: Lower Curtis Glacier Annual Survey 1984-2012
  

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2013/02/10: al Jazeera: Torrential rain causes flooding in Peru
  At least six dead and hundreds of homes inundated after torrential rains lash southern city of Arequipa.
• 2013/02/09: BBC: Peru, Chile and Bolivia hit by floods after heavy rain
  Torrential rain has been creating havoc along the Pacific coast side of South America, with flooding causing the deaths of at least six people in Peru.
• 2013/02/07: DD: Graph of the Day: Australia rainfall deficiencies, 1 April 2012 - 31 January 2013
• 2013/02/07: DD: Severe drought expands in key U.S. farm states - 'It's not overly encouraging'
• 2013/02/07: CSM: Two Great Lakes hit record low levels: Climate crisis or natural cycle?
• 2013/02/07: WtD: Increases in rainfall extremes linked to global warming (reprint)
• 2013/02/07: UN: Iraq: UN assists thousands after flooding along Tigris River basin
• 2013/02/06: CBC: Lake Huron, Lake Michigan hit lowest water levels on record
• 2013/02/06: BBC: Pakistan rain and storms kill dozens
  At least 34 people have been killed and dozens more injured after three days of heavy rain and storms in Pakistan...
• 2013/02/05: NBC: 2 Great Lakes hit lowest water level on record
  Two of the Great Lakes have hit their lowest water levels ever recorded, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday, capping more than a decade of below-normal rain and snowfall and higher temperatures that boost evaporation. Measurements taken last month show Lake Huron and Lake Michigan have reached their lowest ebb since record keeping began in 1918, and the lakes could set additional records over the next few months, the corps said. The lakes were 29 inches below their long-term average and had declined 17 inches since January 2012. The other Great Lakes -- Superior, Erie and Ontario -- were also well below average.
• 2013/02/05: TheConversation: Increases in rainfall extremes linked to global warming
• 2013/02/04: UN: UNICEF scales up emergency support to flood-affected Malawi
• 2013/02/04: Eureka: Tropical rainfall patterns varied through time -- Research provides deeper understanding of drought cycles in Central America
  

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

• 2013/02/04: CEPR: New Paper Projects Significant Carbon Emission Reductions with Fewer Work Hours
• 2013/02/08: CBC: Working less would slow climate change, group argues
• 2013/02/03: CCurrents: Afforestation To Bring Cooler Summers
  

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2013/02/08: IOTD: A Satellite's View of Ship Pollution
• 2013/02/07: TreeHugger: Map Shows What US-Wide High Speed Rail Might Look Like
• 2013/02/03: Guardian(UK): Battery-powered intercity trains possible, says government study
  Research for Department of Transport reveals trains could travel 600 miles on single charge if fossil fuel prices trigger demand
• 
  

  As for carbon sequestration:

   

• 2013/02/08: CSM: US can slow climate change with new carbon-capture technology
  

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• OxfordMartin: Next Big Thing - "Manipulating the planet: Is there a role for Negative Emissions Technologies in tackling climate change?"
• 2013//: CSPR: Linköping University Climate Engineering Programme (LUCE)
• 2013/02/09: GEP: Indonesia Launches Cloud Seeding Program
• 2013/02/09: DD: Soot from oil-burning ships may be geoengineering by accident
• 2013/02/08: TechRev: A Cheap and Easy Plan to Stop Global Warming
  Intentionally engineering Earth's atmosphere to offset rising temperatures could be far more doable than you imagine, says David Keith. But is it a good idea?
• 2013/02/06: SciAm:GB: When Global Catastrophes Collide: The Climate Engineering Double Catastrophe
• 2013/02/05: Harvard:Env: Geoengineering Lecture - Tuesday, February 12, 2013 - 5:00pm
• 2013/02/04: IISD: Climate Change and Geoengineering: Ocean Fertilization Practicalities, Opportunities and Threats
  

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2013/02/03: Nature:CC: (ab$) Greenhouse-gas emissions from soils increased by earthworms by Ingrid M. Lubbers et al.
• 2013/02/03: Nature:CC: (ab$) Spectral biases in tree-ring climate proxies by Jörg Franke et al.
• 2013/02/03: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Species-specific growth response of coccolithophores to Palaeocene-Eocene environmental change by Samantha J. Gibbs et al.
• 2013/01/12: Springer:CC: (ab$) Global increase in record-breaking monthly-mean temperatures by Dim Coumou et al.
• 2013/02/04: OSD: Biogeography of planktonic microbial communities across the whole Mediterranean Sea by F. Mapelli et al.
• 2013/02/04: OSD: An optical model for deriving the spectral particulate backscattering coefficients in clear and turbid coastal waters by S. P. Tiwari & P. Shanmugam
• 2013/02/05: CCP: Recursive fury: Conspiracist ideation in the blogosphere in response to research on conspiracist ideation by Stephan Lewandowsky et al.
• 2013/02/: Springer:JR&NC: (ab$) Should we measure plutonium concentrations in marine sediments near Fukushima? by R. Periáñez et al.
• 2013/02/05: RSC:CS&T: (ab$) Nickel nanoparticles catalyse reversible hydration of carbon dioxide for mineralization carbon capture and storage by Gaurav A. Bhaduri & Lidija Seiller
• 2013/02/07: ACP: Tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities over Beijing: results of the first three years of ground-based MAX-DOAS measurements (2008-2011) and satellite validation by J. Z. Ma et al.
• 2013/02/07: ACP: Sources of anions in aerosols in northeast Greenland during late winter by M. Fenger et al.
• 2013/02/06: ACP: The effect of regional changes in anthropogenic aerosols on rainfall of the East Asian Summer Monsoon by L. Guo et al.
• 2013/02/05: ACP: Modelling the global atmospheric transport and deposition of radionuclides from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident by T. Christoudias & J. Lelieveld
• 2013/02/04: ACP: African dust outbreaks over the Mediterranean Basin during 2001-2011: PM10 concentrations, phenomenology and trends, and its relation with synoptic and mesoscale meteorology by J. Pey et al.
• 2013/02/04: ACP: Air pollution and associated human mortality: the role of air pollutant emissions, climate change and methane concentration increases from the preindustrial period to present by Y. Fang et al.
• 2013/02/06: ACPD: Relating aerosol absorption due to soot, organic carbon, and dust to emission sources determined from in-situ chemical measurements by A. Cazorla et al.
• 2013/02/04: ACPD: Trends in emissions and concentrations of air pollutants in the lower troposphere in the Baltimore/Washington airshed from 1997 to 2011 by H. He et al.
• 2013/02/05: PNAS: (ab$) Temperature-driven range expansion of an irruptive insect heightened by weakly coevolved plant defenses by Kenneth F. Raffa et al.
• 2013/02/05: PNAS: (ab$) Using data to attribute episodes of warming and cooling in instrumental records by Ka-Kit Tung & Jiansong Zhou
• 2013/02/05: PNAS: (ab$) Centennial-scale analysis of the creation and fate of reactive nitrogen in China (1910-2010) by Shenghui Cui et al.
• 2013/02/05: PNAS: (ab$) Ice nucleation and dehydration in the Tropical Tropopause Layer by Eric J. Jensen et al.
• 2013/02/05: PNAS: (ab$) Detection of iodine monoxide in the tropical free troposphere by Barbara Dix et al.
• 2013/02/05: PNAS: (ab$) Nitrogen trifluoride global emissions estimated from updated atmospheric measurements by Tim Arnold et al.
• 2013/02/05: PNAS: (ab$) Midlatitude atmospheric OH response to the most recent 11-y solar cycle by Shuhui Wang et al.
• 2013/02/05: PNAS: (letter$) Ancient and historic dispersals of sweet potato in Oceania by Tim Denham
• 2013/01/13: arXiv: Enhanced Efficiency of Light-Trapping Nanoantenna Arrays for Thin Film Solar Cells by Constantin R. Simovski et al.
• 2013/02/08: ACP: The effects of timing and rate of marine cloud brightening aerosol injection on albedo changes during the diurnal cycle of marine stratocumulus clouds by A. K. L. Jenkins et al.
• 2013/02/07: ESDD: Implications of accounting for land use in simulations of ecosystem services and carbon cycling in Africa by M. Lindeskog et al.
• 2013/02/08: CP: Modern isotope hydrology and controls on D of plant leaf waxes at Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia by K. M. K. Wilkie et al.
• 2013/02/06: CP: Dansgaard-Oeschger events: bifurcation points in the climate system by A. A. Cimatoribus et al.
• 2013/02/05: CP: The Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age in the eastern Ecuadorian Andes by M.-P. Ledru et al.
• 2013/02/07: CPD: Inter-annual tropical Pacific climate variability in an isotope-enabled CGCM: implications for interpreting coral stable oxygen isotope records of ENSO by T. Russon et al.
• 2013/02/07: CPD: Simulation of the Indian monsoon and its variability during the last millennium by S. Polanski et al.
• 2013/02/04: CPD: Seemingly divergent sea surface temperature proxy records in the central Mediterranean during the last deglacial by M.-A. Sicre et al.
• 2013/02/04: CPD: Heinrich Event 4 characterized by terrestrial proxies in southwestern Europe by J. M. López-García et al.
• 2013/02/08: AGWObserver: Papers on 2003 heat wave in Europe
• 2013/02/08: Cell:CB: (ab$) Evidence for Geomagnetic Imprinting as a Homing Mechanism in Pacific Salmon by Nathan F. Putman et al.
• 2013/02/08: Science: (ab$) Time Scales of Critical Events Around the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary by Paul R. Renne et al.
• 2013/02/04: NERC:NORA: Deep instability of deforested tropical peatlands revealed by fluvial organic carbon fluxes by Sam Moore et al.
• 2013/02/06: NERC:NORA: Elevated CO2 enrichment induces a differential biomass response in a mixed species temperate forest plantation by Andrew R. Smith et al.
• 2013/02/08: ACP: Spatial distribution and temporal variations of atmospheric sulfur deposition in Northern China: insights into the potential acidification risks by Y. P. Pan et al.
• 2013/02/08: ACPD: Impact of the vertical emission profiles on ground-level gas-phase pollution simulated from the EMEP emissions over Europe by S. Mailler et al.
• 2013/02/08: TC: Paleo ice flow and subglacial meltwater dynamics in Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica by F. O. Nitsche et al.
• 2013/02/07: TC: Brief communication: "Important role of the mid-tropospheric atmospheric circulation in the recent surface melt increase over the Greenland ice sheet" by X. Fettweis et al.
• 2013/02/07: TC: Restoring mass conservation to shallow ice flow models over complex terrain by A. H. Jarosch et al.
• 2013/02/06: TC: Thermal conductivity of snow measured by three independent methods and anisotropy considerations by F. Riche & M. Schneebeli
• 2013/02/08: TCD: Characterizing supraglacial lake drainage and freezing on the Greenland Ice Sheet by N. Selmes et al.
• 2012/08/: Springer:CC: Testing ensembles of climate change scenarios for "statistical significance" by Hans von Storch & Francis Zwiers
• 2012/12/13: GSW:GeoSphere: (ab$) Continental arc-island arc fluctuations, growth of crustal carbonates, and long-term climate change by Cin-Ty A. Lee et al.
• 2013/01/23: PLoS One: Distribution of Artificial Radionuclides in Abandoned Cattle in the Evacuation Zone of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant by Tomokazu Fukuda et al.
• 2013/01/23: NIH: Distribution of Artificial Radionuclides in Abandoned Cattle in the Evacuation Zone of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant by Tomokazu Fukuda et al.
  

  And other significant documents:

• 2013/02/06: WMO: [link to 3.2 meg pdf] Typhoon Committee considers impact of climate change
  

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2013/02/08: NatureNB: Australian science agency to launch independent bullying investigation
• 2013/02/07: DeSmogBlog: Frackademics: Shale Institute's Jacobi hired to do seismic study for [NY] DEC
• 2013/02/07: MGS: Time to go do some science
• 2013/02/07: Fudzilla: Indian hack claimed to have written Duke Cancer expose
• 2013/02/07: KSJT: A Takedown at Retraction Watch
• 2013/02/06: ERW: Are we heading for 6° temperature rise?
  Climate scientist Kevin Anderson believes scientists at the interface of climate and policy may have used naive assumptions when modelling for a 2°C target.
• 2013/02/05: VV: A database with daily climate data for more reliable studies of changes in extreme weather
• 2013/02/05: Guardian(UK): Global worming: how worms are accelerating climate change
• 2013/02/04: ScienceInsider: Successor for Sacked Bulgarian Research Minister Nominated
• 2013/01/21: JComm: Argo collects its one millionth observation
• 2013/01/21: UNESCO: Argo collects its one millionth observation
  

  More DIY science:

• 2013/02/04: SciAm:Obs: Watch this Amazing 12-Year-Old Launch a Hello Kitty into Space
  

  What's new in models?

• 2013/02/08: RealClimate: 2012 Updates to model-observation comparions
• 2013/02/08: CLB: Updated comparison of simulations and observations
  

  What developments in the ongoing struggle for Free/Open Science?

• 2013/02/06: NatureN: Researchers opt to limit uses of open-access publications
  Advocates of open publishing fret that misunderstandings lead scientists to choose restrictive licenses
• 2013/02/04: NatureN: New initiative throws open access to Arabic science education
  New initiative to provide free, open access, high-quality education materials in Arabic, with a focus on science and technology.
• 
  

  Meanwhile at the UN:

   

• 2013/02/04: UN: At UN-backed meeting, Asian countries seek ways to reduce air pollution
  

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2013/02/07: Guardian(UK): European carbon price 'inching ever closer to zero'
  Value of the European emissions trading scheme and UN CDM fell 35% in 2012, Point Carbon analysts warn
• 2013/02/07: BBerg: U.S. Northeast Cap-and-Trade Group Plans Permit Reduction
  Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Inc., the nonprofit that administers the U.S. Northeast's carbon-dioxide emissions program, proposed reducing the number of available permits by 45 percent to drive up prices.
• 
  

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

   

• 2013/02/08: UCSUSA:B: Bring on the Fire Trucks: RGGI States Tighten Cap, Up Their Climate Game
• 2013/02/08: G&M: Australia taxed carbon and the sky didn't fall
• 2013/02/06: PSinclair: Scoring the Carbon Tax: British Columbia's Experience
  

  On the international political front, tensions continue as the empire leans on Iran:

• 2013/02/09: al Jazeera: Iran's Press TV taken off air in N America
  State run channel says its removal by Galaxy 19 satellite is part of sanctions imposed over Tehran's nuclear programme.
• 2013/02/09: CCurrents: US Officials Confess To Targeting Iran's Civilian Population
• 2013/02/08: Guardian(UK): Iranians brace for hard times as US imposes new round of sanctions
• 2013/02/06: BBC: US expands sanctions on Iran, targeting oil and media
  

  South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

• 2013/02/09: BBC: Senkaku/Diaoyu islands: Japan may release China radar data
  Japan says it may release evidence to prove a Chinese naval frigate locked its fire-control radar onto a Japanese ship near disputed islands.
• 2013/02/09: al Jazeera: Japan may release proof of China 'radar lock'
  Defence minister says country has evidence of claim that Chinese ship locked weapons-targeting radar on Japanese vessel.
• 2013/02/08: NakedCapitalism: The Island Dispute Between China and Japan: The Other Side of the Story
• 2013/02/08: BBC: China rejects Japan radar-lock allegation
• 2013/02/08: al Jazeera: Japan furious over China 'radar lock'
  PM summons Chinese envoy after frigate allegedly directed weapon targeting-radar at a Japanese vessel in East China sea.
• 2013/02/08: CNN: Will radar-rattling between Asia's powerhouses turn to conflict?
  China-Japan tensions escalated after incident between respective navies - Kingston: This is a militarized game of tag that could spark wider hostilities - Both sides continue to press their claim over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands - Code of conduct in disputed seas could prevent armed miscalculations
• 2013/02/07: WSWS: Tokyo accuses Chinese navy of "locking onto" Japanese targets
• 2013/02/06: BBC: Japan PM hits out at China 'dangerous' radar act
  Japan's prime minister has called the decision by a Chinese frigate to put a radar lock on a Japanese navy ship a "dangerous act". Shinzo Abe told parliament the move could have led to an "unpredictable situation" and called for Chinese "self-restraint".
• 2013/02/05: CSM: Japan: China used weapons radar in disputed waters
• 2013/02/05: BBC: Japan protest over China ship's radar action
  A Chinese navy frigate has locked its weapon-targeting radar on a Japanese ship, Tokyo says, amid mounting tensions over a territorial row. Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera said the incident happened on 30 January near islands claimed by both nations in the East China Sea.
• 
  

  In the global competition for Rare Earths and other natural resources:

   

• 2013/02/06: RealEconomics: Rare earths worth fighting over?
  

  Oh joy! Now the Yanks are going after India for their cheap solar panels:

• 2013/02/07: BBC: US takes India to WTO over solar cell imports
  The US has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against India's national solar policy saying it "discriminates" against US products. The US has alleged that India requires solar energy producers to use Indian-manufactured solar cells and modules.
• 
  

  And in miscellaneous international political jousting:

   

• 2013/02/08: al Jazeera: Power, privilege and climate change: A tale of two presidents
  With less than five percent of the world's population, the US consumes about a quarter of the world's fossil fuels.
• 2013/02/05: BBC: Argentina 'will control Falklands within 20 years'
  

  Climate Change is a threat multiplier exacerbating existing conflicts in food, energy, water, race, resources, religion, ideology ... etc.:

• 2013/02/08: TMoS: Is North Africa the West's First Climate War?
• 2013/02/08: Guardian(UK): Islam is not the real issue we are facing in Africa
  Christians and Muslims have co-existed here for centuries. Corruption and climate change are much more pressing problems
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/02/07: ABC(Au): Arrests at CSG protest site
  Three anti-coal seam gas (CSG) protesters have been arrested at a test-drilling site west of Lismore. The protest at Doubtful Creek near Kyogle is to prevent Metgasco getting onto a property to drill a test well. One of those arrested today is a neighbouring property owner.
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): CSG protester arrested after 'Mad Max' blockade
  An anti coal seam gas protester has been arrested at a stand-off at a drilling site south of Grafton, on the New South Wales north coast. A man has been locked inside the cabin of a fortified car that is blocking access to a test-drilling site at Glenugie.
• 
  

  What are the activists up to?

   

• 2013/02/08: Guardian(UK): Al Gore backs growing fossil fuel divestment campaign
  A US campaign to encourage universities and cities to drop their investments in fossil fuel companies is gaining momentum
• 2013/02/07: CSM: Lucy Lawless fined $547 for trespassing on Arctic oil drilling ship
• 2013/02/04: Grist: Meet the activists who think they can save the planet with porn
• 2013/02/06: DemNow: Bill McKibben: Ahead of Keystone XL Rally, Fossil Fuel Divestment Expands Across U.S. Campuses
• 2013/02/05: Guardian(UK): No Dash for Gas - the new, chimney-climbing face of climate direct action
  Protesters at West Burton power station in November were fighting to cut emissions -- and raise morale after police infiltration of the green protest movement
• 
  

  Polls! We have polls!

   

• 2013/02/07: Eureka: Poll: Americans back climate change regulation, not taxes
• 2013/02/07: BCLSB: Latest Poll On Northern Gateway - 61% of B.C. residents opposed
• 2013/02/07: TP:JR: Poll: Westerners Agree Protected Public Lands Create Jobs, Oppose Turning Them Over To States And Private Companies
• 2013/02/04: TP:JR: New Poll Finds Overwhelming Support For A Carbon Tax Over Spending Cuts For Deficit Reduction
• 2013/02/05: Eureka: Blowing hot and cold: US belief in climate change shifts with weather
• 2013/02/04: Eureka: Survey reveals fault lines in views on climate change [among geoscientists and engineers]
  

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2013/02/10: JFleck: Stuff I wrote elsewhere: Navajo water rights
• 2013/02/06: Wunderground: Lake Michigan and Lake Huron hit all-time low water levels
• 2013/02/06: JFleck: River beat: 54 percent of average runoff into Lake Powell
• 2013/02/05: BBC: The average household water and sewerage bill in England and Wales is to rise by 3.5% over the next year, regulator OFWAT has said
• 2013/02/05: DD: Lakes Michigan and Huron sink to lowest levels ever recorded - Michigan governor proposes $11 million plan to dredge harbors
• 2013/02/05: CPW: Sierra Club Canada: Great Lakes organizations alarmed with IJC's 'advice'
• 2013/02/05: JFleck: What exactly does the Basin Study mean we need to do?
• 2013/02/05: JFleck: Dust, runoff and the Vegas pipeline
• 2013/02/04: JFleck: The cost of Arizona water
• 2013/02/02: CBC: Lake Winnipeg most threatened in world in 2013
  

  And on the American political front:

• 2013/02/10: TP:JR: The New Sustainable Energy Factbook: A Strong Case for Consistent Policy
• 2013/02/09: CCurrents: Charting A New Course For The U.S. And The Environment
• 2013/02/08: UCSUSA:B: The State of the Union is This: America is Ready to Take Bold Climate Action
• 2013/02/08: TreeHugger: Americans Continue to Embrace and Push for Clean Energy
• 2013/02/08: AutoBG: California outlines plans for 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2025
• 2013/02/07: UCSUSA:B: State Renewable Electricity Standards: A Cornerstone in America's Clean Energy Transition
• 2013/02/07: TreeHugger: Agenda 21 Update: Tinfoil Hats in Iowa, Republicans Fight Back
• 2013/02/07: TP:JR: Carbon Pollution Data Put Power Plants Front And Center
• 2013/02/05: TreeHugger: How Are U.S. Local Governments Adapting to Climate Change?
• 2013/02/05: CSW: Michael Mann on "Ken Cuccinelli's Cloudy Judgment"
• 2013/02/05: TP:JR: John Podesta: Conservation Deserves Equal Ground On Public Lands
• 2013/02/05: ICN: Safety Compromised by Missing Rules on Oil and Gas Pipelines, GAO Says
• 2013/02/06: TP:JR: Discussion on Future Energy Mix at NARUC Celebrates Natural Gas and Coal, Doesn't Mention Climate
• 2013/02/08: TP:JR: Colorado Committee Kills Bill Giving Legal Protections To Teaching Climate Change Denial And Creationism In Schools
• 2013/02/05: AzStarNet AZ bill would let teachers dismiss global warming
• 2013/02/05: Guardian(UK): Alaska climate body hasn't met since 2011, documents show
• 2013/01/24: GP: States Considering Laws That Would Make it an Act of Terrorism to Report on Abuses at Factory Farms
  

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2013/02/08: BBerg: Transocean, U.S. Urge Judge to Accept Plea in Gulf Spill
  Transocean Ltd. and federal prosecutors urged a judge to accept the oil driller's agreement to plead guilty to a criminal charge over its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill and pay more than $1.4 billion, according to court papers.
• 2013/02/06: BBerg: BP Headed for Trial as U.S. Gulf States Claim $34 Billion
• 2013/02/05: Guardian(UK): BP hit by new $34bn Deepwater Horizon claim
  

  Post-Sandy commentary and news:

• 2013/02/07: GreenGrok: Superstorm Sandy Conundrum: Rebuild or Retreat
• 2013/02/07: TP:JR: Christie Has Time For Super Bowl But Not 'Esoteric Question' Of Whether Climate Change Fueled Superstorm Sandy
• 2013/02/06: HillHeat: New York City Outlines Plan For Spending $1.8 Billion In Federal Sandy Block Grants
• 2013/02/05: NNU: Nurses Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline, Cite Adverse Effects of Increased Air Pollution, Climate Change
  

  The Keystone XL saga grinds slowly. And it grinds woe:

• 2013/02/09: CSM: Keystone XL pipeline action coming in 'near term,' says Kerry
• 2013/02/09: G&M: Is Keystone XL Obama's line in the sand?
• 2013/02/08: SkS: An Updated Look at What Keystone XL and Alberta Tar Sands Mean for the Climate by dana1981
• 2013/01/07: TRN: Koch Brothers Driving Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada to Cut Out Venezuelan Oil
• 2013/02/06: DeSmogBlog: Is TransCanada Laying Defective Keystone XL Pipe in Texas?
• 2013/02/06: Tyee: Five Keystone XL Keyholders
  While a decision is likely still months away, here are some U.S. pipeline power brokers to watch.
• 2013/02/06: OilChange: Nurses Say No to KXL
• 2013/02/06: Grist: Debunking Nature's arguments for Keystone
• 2013/02/05: CSM: Canada considers oil spill legislation. Repercussions for Keystone XL?
• 2013/02/04: G&M: Alberta plans green incentives to sweeten pot for U.S. on Keystone XL
• 2013/02/04: OilChange: KXL: Its Not an Either / Or Decision
• 2013/02/03: CBC: John Kerry to 'stay in touch' with Canada on Keystone XL
  Jim Prentice says with Kerry in key role Canada has to do more on the environment, energy
• 
  

  The GOP War on Women continues. See also:

   

• 2013/02/07: RawStory: Iowa bill would jail raped women for 'murder' of single-cell zygotes
  A bill introduced by nine Republican state lawmakers in Iowa on Wednesday would define abortion as "murder," sending doctors and raped women who terminate pregnancies to jail.
• 2013/02/06: RawStory: Republican lawmakers propose new anti-abortion 'ultrasound' bills
• 2013/02/06: WSWS: Obama's contraception climb-down and the separation of church and state
• 2013/02/04: WSWS: Further cave-in by Obama on contraceptives
• 2013/02/01: CDreams: All In: North Dakota Anti-Choicers Seek Heartbeat Bans, Human Life Amendments, TRAP Laws, and More
• 2013/02/05: Tumblr: All states except Oregon now limit abortion access [chart of abortion restriction by US state]
  

  The NorthWest coal export debate remains heated:

• 2013/01/31: SeattlePI:B: Northwest's so-called 'green' law firms working for Big Coal
  

  Now that he doesn't need their vote any more, how will Obama treat liberals and their policy issues?

• 2013/02/08: DD: Reuters analyst: Obama will not match climate rhetoric - 'Carbon industry dead-enders and populist anti-government forces are the ones who hold sway in the GOP'
• 2013/02/06: Guardian(UK): Barack Obama 'cannot cut emissions without decisive new actions'
• 2013/02/04: TP:JR: Inside the President's Climate Toolbox, Part 2
  

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2013/02/08: UCSUSA:B: Don't Just Watch the Weather Forecast. Do Something About It! All You Need Is Five Seconds and This New App from NOAA
• 2013/02/08: ScienceInsider: Storm Expert [Louis W. Uccellini] to Lead U.S. Weather Service
• 2013/02/07: Resilience: Comments on US Energy Secretary Chu's plans to leave the DOE
• 2013/02/07: CSW: John Kerry and climate change: Recalling a federal lawsuit against the Bush administration
• 2013/02/07: NOAANews: Louis W. Uccellini selected as next director of NOAA's National Weather Service
• 2013/02/06: NOAANews: New smart phone app lets public report rain, hail, sleet and snow to NOAA -- Public reports will aid weather research
• 2013/02/06: TP:JR: Sally Jewell, CEO of REI, Will Be Named As New Secretary Of The Interior
• 2013/02/06: ICN: Climate Change Impacts Absent from FEMA's Redrawn NYC Flood Maps
  Scientists argue new FEMA flood maps may be too conservative because they don't consider future sea level rise, with implications for Sandy rebuilding.
• 2013/02/06: Grist: Obama taps Sally Jewell, CEO of REI, for Interior post
• 2013/02/06: FuelFix: Houston companies among top polluters on federal list
• 2013/02/05: DeSmogBlog: Ed Rendell Intervened For Oil Company to Stop EPA Contamination Case Against Range Resources
• 2013/02/05: NatureN: NSF director to step down -- Subra Suresh will leave US agency to head Carnegie Mellon University
• 2013/02/05: CSM: EPA doubles down on ethanol mandates
• 2013/02/04: NOAANews: Bamford named new assistant NOAA administrator for its National Ocean Service
• 2013/02/03: RealEcon: Steven Chu resigns
  

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2013/02/07: TP:JR: House GOP Rejects Calls For Climate Hearings -- But Democrats Will Keep Pressing
• 2013/02/07: TP:JR: GOP Lawmaker Laments [GOP-Led] 'Congress Is Not a Reliable Partner' To Cleantech
• 2013/02/07: Grist: Marco Rubio keeps digging deeper on climate denial
• 2013/02/06: GLaden: Republicans: US Government will wait 2 more years to address climate change
• 2013/02/06: TP:JR: GOP's Future Still Stuck In The Past: Rubio Claims There's 'Reasonable Debate' On Cause Of Climate Change
• 2013/02/05: BuzzFeed: Despite Presidential Push, Congress Still Cool On Tackling Climate Change
• 2013/02/04: TP:JR: Senator Tom Carper (D-De) Calls Out Climate, Economic Benefits of Offshore Wind Energy
• 2013/02/04: TheHill:e2W: Murkowski launches push for expanded drilling, green-energy policy revamp
• 2013/02/04: RTCC: US climate change taskforce launched in Congress
  Efforts to address climate change in Washington have been boosted by the launch of a 'taskforce' to focus members of Congress on global warming. Co-chaired by Representative Henry Waxman and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse -- both Democrats -- the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change's stated aim is to develop effective policy responses to climate change.
• 
  

  While in the UK:

   

• 2013/02/08: Guardian(UK): Flood defences: good news drowned out by spin
  More protection from the horrors of flooding will benefit thousands of homes. But the risk is higher and the funding is lower than five years ago
• 2013/02/08: Guardian(UK): We don't need nuclear power to meet climate goals and keep the lights on
• 2013/02/08: Guardian(UK): Tory MP tables decarbonisation amendment to coalition's energy bill
• 2013/02/07: BBC: Construction is to start on 93 new flood defences in England this year to improve protection for more than 64,000 homes...
• 2013/02/05: EurActiv: Cameron pushes energy efficiency as motor of green growth
• 2013/02/05: RTCC: Nuclear faces tough future after UK meltdown
• 2013/02/05: BBC: The average household water and sewerage bill in England and Wales is to rise by 3.5% over the next year, regulator OFWAT has said
• 2013/02/04: BBC: Centrica pulls out of new UK nuclear projects
  Centrica has withdrawn from the UK's nuclear re-building programme because of increasing costs and delays. The move further reduces the involvement of UK companies in the massive nuclear project. Centrica, which owns British Gas, had the option of taking a 20% stake in four new reactors in a partnership with EDF, the French state-owned utility. Centrica said "the project costs in new nuclear have increased and the construction timetable has extended".
• 2013/02/03: BBC: Sellafield clean-up cost reaches £67.5bn, says report
  The cost of cleaning up the Sellafield nuclear waste site has reached £67.5bn with no sign of when the cost will stop rising, according to a report. The Public Accounts Committee's report said deadlines to clean the Cumbria site had been missed, leaving crucial decommissioning projects over budget.
• 2013/02/06: al Jazeera: 60 years since the North Sea Flood
  It was the worst natural disaster to hit the region in more than 1,000 years.
• 2013/02/05: Guardian(UK): Boris Johnson's climate flippancy translates into policy failure
  The London mayor has missed his own targets on domestic insulation, carbon emissions and electric cars -- and now he questions climate science
• 
  

  And in Europe:

   

• 2013/02/08: RTCC: WWF: EU budget a bad deal for the climate
• 2013/02/08: NatureN: Europe's leaders slash research budget
  Heads of the 27 European Union governments want E8 billion in savings over 7 years.
• 2013/02/08: EUO: Poorer farmers to get at least 196 euro per hectare
• 2013/02/08: DerSpiegel: Gas Bonanza for Germany?: Berlin Wants to Fast-Track Fracking
  Germany's governing coalition wants to quickly put an end to a virtual moratorium on the controversial shale gas extraction method of fracking in the country, SPIEGEL has learned. Officials want to have plans finished before the federal election this autumn.
• 2013/02/07: EurActiv: Farmers cultivate support to protect CAP budget
  Hundreds of European farmers who gathered in Brussels on the eve of an EU budget summit sent a terse message to national leaders: Hands off the CAP.
• 2013/02/07: ScienceInsider: European Parliament Approves Ambitious Fisheries Reform
• 2013/02/07: EurActiv: MEPs cast vote to restore EU fish stocks
  The European Parliament on Wednesday (6 February) overwhelmingly backed reform to end decades of over-fishing and restore EU sea stocks to healthy levels by 2020.
• 2013/02/06: NatureNB: European Parliament backs major fisheries reform
• 2013/02/06: EurActiv: Poland positions itself as energy efficiency champion
  Few environmentalists would see Poland as an energy efficiency champion, but noises from Warsaw point towards an unlikely repositioning by the fiercest opponent of the EU's decarbonisation strategy.
• 2013/02/06: BBC: Euro MPs back large-scale fishing reform to save stocks
  The European Parliament has voted for sweeping reforms of the controversial EU Common Fisheries Policy. The package includes measures to protect endangered stocks and end discards - the practice of throwing unwanted dead fish into the sea. Wasteful discards are reckoned to account for a quarter of total catches under the current quota system.
• 2013/02/05: DerSpiegel: Farm Wars: EU Grapples with Costs of Subsidizing Agriculture
  European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos wants to reform Europe's agricultural policy, but resistance from the farming lobby threatens to derail his plans. It will be to the detriment of citizens, who are expected to pay for a highly subsidized industry that is harmful to the environment.
• 2013/02/04: RTCC: Nordic states eye 2050 carbon neutral energy system
  Developing a carbon neutral energy system in the Nordic region by 2050 would cost less than 1% of cumulative GNP, a new analysis has revealed.
• 
  

  Meanwhile in Australia:

   

• 2013/02/09: ABC(Au): Burke hits out over leaked coal mine document
• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): Conservationists, farmers unite for fracking forums
• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): Environmentalists promise long-running fight over Tarkine
• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): Mining leases excluded from Tarkine heritage area
  Tasmania's Tarkine region will be given heritage protection but vast forest areas will not be included as they are deemed to have been downgraded by mining.
• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): Calls for new farm flood insurance as damage bill approaches $700m
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Garnaut predicts shock impact from Chinese cap on coal
  China has announced it will cap coal imports to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Economics Professor Ross Garnaut has warned the impact on Australia's economy will be dramatic.
• 2013/02/07: ABC(Au): [5] More NSW regions qualify for disaster aid
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Wind farm debate continues as new report released into infrasound
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Volunteer resigns after RFS caters for cops at CSG protest
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Study considers forestry industry's long-term future
  Consultants say the first stage of a study to help develop the long-term future of the south-east South Australian forestry industry has had a good response. The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, with help from the SA Government, is halfway through the first stage of the Cellulose Fibre Study.
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): NSW under Fed deadline over CSG
  A row is brewing between the federal and New South Wales governments over the exploration and exploitation of coal seam gas in urban and regional centres. The Federal Government has given New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell a week to explain how he plans to address community concerns. While the Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke is demanding New South Wales reconsider its policy and he's intimated he may intervene, he admits he's not sure how much power he has to impose stricter standards.
• 2013/02/06: NewAnthropocene: Thoughts on Al Gore's Recent Comments on Australian Carbon Pricing
• 2013/02/05: ScienceInsider: In Australia, Record Weather Fuels Climate Policy Process
• 2013/02/05: ABC(Au): Lord Mayor reveals Brisbane flood cost
  Brisbane's damage bill from severe weather associated with ex-tropical cyclone Oswald is estimated at $60.5 million. Lord Mayor Graham Quirk says the council will be left about $23 million out of pocket after Federal disaster relief payments.
• 2013/02/05: ABC(Au): Wind farm deal sealed - Hydro Tasmania has signed a deal with a Chinese energy company
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Lobby group question wind farm survey
  The Cooranga North Concerned Citizens group says it will do its own research to see how locals feel about the proposed South Burnett wind farm. AGL wants to build about 115 wind turbines near Cooranga North, between Dalby and Kingaroy, in southern Queensland. The company has released the results of a survey of 500 people, including 400 living within 50 kilometres of the proposed development, showing 65 per cent support the project.
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): SA's EPA rejects link between wind farms and health
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Who should pay to prevent future floods?
  After a second catastrophic series of floods in two years, Queensland's become a battleground over who should pay for projects that would reduce the chance of it happening again. The State Government through Local Government Minister, David Crisafulli, says the insurance industry should contribute to the cost of flood-proofing towns and cities. But the Insurance Council of Australia has rejected that proposal, saying flood mitigation projects, such as levees, are a matter for governments, not insurers.
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Al Gore questions Tony Abbott's climate policy
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Coalition's climate policy has never worked: Gore
  Former US vice-president and climate change activist Al Gore has dismissed the Opposition's climate change policy, but praised the Government as a world leader for its climate action. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott intends on dumping the Government's carbon tax if the Coalition wins the September election.
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Concerns raised over 'death trap' fire bunkers
  Concerns have been raised about the safety of homemade bushfire bunkers installed to provide people with a last-minute refuge from bushfires. The Black Saturday royal commission found people died in bushfire bunkers, leading it to recommend national regulations for personal fire shelters.
• 
  

  It's a long way to the September election:

   

• 2013/02/07: JQuiggin: Eddie, obeyed
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au):TDU: Easy solutions and complex realities
  Last week we saw a glimpse of the narratives we can expect to see from Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott in their election bids. While one acknowledged complexity, the other delivered only spin, says Greg Jericho.
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Thomson appears in Melbourne court
  Former Labor MP Craig Thomson has made a brief appearance in the Melbourne Magistrates Court accused of misusing union funds. The court heard Thomson is now facing 154 charges relating to his use of Health Service Union funds while he was the union's national secretary.
• 2013/02/05: ABC(Au):TDU: If it looks and smells like a campaign, then it's a campaign
  Julia Gillard's election announcement exposed pretty much everything that's wrong with Australian politics today. Chris Berg says she didn't just reveal a date - September 14. She opened a little window into our current malaise. When Prime Minister Julia Gillard told the National Press Club that she did not want to start "the nation's longest election campaign", the whole room laughed. Because that's what she had just done. She knew it, the press gallery knew it, and the public knows it.
• 2013/02/05: ABC(Au): Windsor confirms he'll run for re-election
  Independent MP Tony Windsor has confirmed he will run for re-election in his northern NSW seat of New England. Mr Windsor, along with fellow independents Rob Oakeshott and Andrew Wilkie, were crucial in helping Labor form a minority Government after the 2010 election.
• 2013/02/05: ABC(Au): Rudd moves to hose down leadership talk
  Kevin Rudd has reaffirmed his loyalty to Prime Minister Julia Gillard amid reports there is growing support within Caucus for a potential comeback.
• 2013/02/05: WSWS: Australian Labor government crisis deepens as unofficial election campaign begins
  Less than a week after announcing that the next Australian federal election would be held on September 14, Prime Minister Julia Gillard confronts an escalating crisis within the Labor government's ranks. The unprecedented seven-month campaign has begun with the arrest of a suspended Labor parliamentarian, the resignation of two senior government ministers, the publication of further polling pointing to a government electoral wipe-out, and mounting speculation of a renewed leadership challenge by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
• 2013/02/04: TheConversation: The environment issues we should be hearing about at this election
• 2013/02/04: Guardian(UK): Australian politics cools off on climate change -- even as the temperature rises
  The 2013 poll will pit rampant denialism against grudging action based on political expediency
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Opposition calls for caretaker curbs on climate spending [now that election called]
  

  After years of wrangling the Murray Darling Basin plan is in place. Now the real fight begins:

• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): NSW hopes to save water in Menindee Lakes
• 2013/02/07: ABC(Au): Level 4 water restrictions for Port Macquarie
• 2013/02/07: ABC(Au): Cooper Creek residents at odds again over irrigation
  A rift is emerging among residents in the Windorah area as to whether irrigation should be allowed alongside the Cooper Creek. The pros and cons of water extraction has long been discussed in the region, but has come to a head again with a state government review into Wild Rivers legislation.
• 2013/02/07: ABC(Au): Government gets extra water for the Basin, as bill passes parliament
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Floodwater to reach Menindee Lakes
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Mayors fight for Menindee Lakes
  Mayors from two councils in far west NSW want the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to slow the release of water from the Menindee Lakes. The Authority says it is releasing more than 3,500 megalitres of water from the lakes every day.
• 2013/02/06: ABC(Au): Miner can pump contaminated water into river
  Mining company Vista Gold has been given the go-ahead to discharge water contaminated with toxic metals into the Edith River in the Northern Territory.
• 2013/02/05: ABC(Au): Water authority [Central Highlands Water] pours cold water on superpipe push
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Murray-Darling Basin Authority concerned about 'race to the bottom'
  The Murray-Darling Basin Authority says it's hoping that funding for the group doesn't continue to be cut by millions of dollars. Late last year, NSW and South Australia cut tens of millions of dollars of funding to the MDBA, citing tight state budgets.
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): Record floods no good for Menindee Lakes
  

  While in the Indian subcontinent:

• 2013/02/04: RTCC: Singh: India not planning further emission cuts
  India's Prime Minster says developed countries are primarily responsible for addressing climate change, arguing his government has taken sufficient steps to promote low carbon growth.
• 2013/02/04: CSM: Can India sweep up its 'soot' pollution challenge?
  

  And in China [Happy New Year!]:

• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): China to cap dirty coal
  China's leaders are moving to cap coal consumption to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions.
• 2013/02/07: PlanetJ: Good news from China (maybe)
• 2013/02/04: DD: Graph of the Day: Beijing air pollution, January 2013
• 2013/02/04: DD: China gives green-light to new era of mega-dams...
• 2013/02/06: Grist: China is getting serious about taming coal
  

  While in Japan:

• 2013/02/05: BizGreen: Fears mount over Japan's carbon target
  Prime Minister [Abe] looking to water down target to reduce emissions 25 per cent by 2020
• 
  

  And elsewhere in Asia:

   

• 2013/02/04: al Jazeera: 'Sinking' Jakarta pins hopes on rising star
  New governor is promising to redress mounting civic woes of Indonesian capital built on a swamp.
• 
  

  And South America:

   

• 2013/02/05: RTCC: In focus: Mexico's climate change laws
  

  In Canada, neocon PM Harper pushes petroleum while ignoring climate change:

• 2013/02/07: TStar: New policy gives government power to muzzle DFO scientists
• 2013/02/08: G&M: Australia taxed carbon and the sky didn't fallAustralia, Canada's cousin, has got climate-change policy right. Canada, predictably, has got it wrong.
  Here are two countries with huge geographies, forbidding climates, vast distances, abundant fossil fuels and small populations. Climate-change skeptics and scoffers abound in both countries. Down Under, they're now in retreat; in Canada, they're part of the government and prominent in certain media outlets.
• 2013/02/07: DeSmogBlog: One Question John Kerry Should Ask John Baird To Gauge Canada's Sincerity on Bilateralism -- "Is Canada committed to confronting climate change?"
• 2013/02/06: PostMedia: Ottawa's green credibility gap hurting pipeline hopes
• 2013/02/05: WpgFP: Canada joins international group to help countries in crisis meet food needs
• 2013/02/04: HarperWatch: Harper Watch - January 29 to February 4, 2013
• 2013/02/09: PostMedia: Jim Prentice says Canada playing global energy game without much skill
  

  The IdleNoMore movement is changing:

• 2013/02/07: TStar: Senator Patrick Brazeau crashes after years of boorish behaviour: Tim Harper
  It's not 20-20 hindsight to say we all saw the Patrick Brazeau crash coming. The question is why Stephen Harper made him a Senator in the first place.
• 2013/02/06: 350orBust: Idle No More: A Response By People Who Feel Like Hostages In Their Own Country
• 2013/02/05: OilChange: Idle No More Activist Gets Death Threat
• 2013/02/05: Resilience: A movement to protect the earth rises in Canada
  Idle No More: Indigenous people mount a high-profile challenge to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's policies
• 
  

  The Environment Commissioner, Scott Vaughn, has quit providing cover for the Harper gang:

   

• 2013/02/05: TreeHugger: Canada is Unprepared for Offshore Oil Spills
• 2013/02/05: CBC: Environment commissioner to table last report
• 2013/02/05: TStar: Environment commissioner's farewell audit screams the obvious: Tim Harper
  

  The Liberal party leadership race is on:

• 2013/02/08: CBC: Half of Liberal MPs support Trudeau for leader
  Seventeen MPs for Trudeau, three for Garneau, none for remaining leadership candidates
• 
  

  The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

   

• 2013/02/04: iPolitics: Northern Gateway: Is Ottawa prepping plan B?
  Is the Harper government sitting on a plan to use a constitutional weapon to push through the Northern Gateway pipeline -- over the opposition of the British Columbia government and in defiance of the First Nation duty-to-consult? Some legal supporters of the pipeline in Alberta are arguing that the Northern Gateway project would constitute a single interprovincial work or undertaking, and so would come under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government under sections 91(29) and 92(10)a of the Constitution Act 1867. This suggests a possible legal strategy for the Harper government -- to assert that B.C. cannot use its control over provincial Crown lands under section 109 of the Constitution Act to prevent federal work approved by the National Energy Review Board under the NEB Act, which would be finally approved by the federal cabinet under the changes in the first omnibus budget bill, C-38.
• 2013/02/07: PostMedia: Ottawa could force B.C. to accept Gateway pipeline
  But Alberta reluctant to ask for intervention, fearing it could backfire Alberta desperately wants a pipeline built across a reluctant B.C., but not badly enough to court Ottawa's constitutional intervention. So says Ted Morton, who was Alberta's energy minister until April, when he was defeated in his riding by a Wildrose candidate.
• 2013/02/08: BCLSB: In Which Enbridge Admits
• 2013/02/07: VanObs: Enbridge Northern Gateway website: "diluted bitumen floats"
• 2013/02/07: BCLSB: Latest Poll On Northern Gateway - 61% of B.C. residents opposed
• 2013/02/06: VanObs: Enbridge's pipeline spills, PR headaches and corporate history
• 2013/02/05: G&M: First nations carving out an energy bridge to the B.C. coast
  For the Canadian energy industry desperate to pump oil and natural gas through British Columbia, the single greatest obstacle has been the dozens of first nations fighting to ensure pipelines are never built. Now, some of the leading figures in Canada's aboriginal business community are offering a bridge across the province's difficult political landscape. They have formed Eagle Spirit Energy Holdings Ltd., a company quietly working to create a first nations-owned energy corridor across northern B.C. that could serve as a physical line across the province to move natural gas, electricity and oil.
• 2013/02/05: PostMedia: Alberta must respect B.C. pipeline concerns -- Unity crucial to Canada
  B.C.'s opposition to the Northern Gateway pipeline stands to harm Alberta's economy, and nurture resentment between residents of the two provinces.
• 2013/02/04: PostMedia: B.C.'s Coastal First Nations walk away from Northern Gateway review process
  Coastal First Nations have left the federal review of the Northern Gateway pipeline plan, saying they've run out of money and patience.
• 
  

  And on the fabled West-East line:

   

• 2013/02/07: BBerg: TransCanada Looks East Amid Keystone Pipeline Delay
• 2013/02/10: JStar: TransCanada planning cross-country pipeline end-around
• 2013/02/05: CBC: N.B. Green Party leader dismisses east-west pipeline idea
• 2013/02/05: CBC: East-West pipeline project viable, premiers say -- Alberta's Redford, New Brunswick's Alward tout piping bitumen eastward
  

  The ISA/PRV/IHN/Alpha virus in Canadian waters is potentially disastrous:

• 2013/02/08: BBC: Sockeye salmon 'sense magnetic field of home'
  Salmon use the Earth's magnetic field to navigate across the ocean as they return to their home rivers to breed, research suggests. Each year millions of fish make the journey home in one of the toughest migrations of the animal kingdom.
• 2013/02/02: AlexandraMorton: Ground truthing the CFIA
• 2013/02/05: AlexandraMorton: Voice to Salmon
  

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

• 2013/02/09: DeSmogBlog: BC's Fracking Problem: Northern Gateway Not Only Concern for BC Residents
• 2013/02/08: PostMedia: Former Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal resigns as provincial candidate amid tax-evasion charges
  Former Surrey MP Sukh Dhaliwal resigned Friday as a B.C. Liberal candidate in the coming provincial election over revelations he's facing charges under the Income Tax Act.
• 2013/02/08: NI: "This government has problems up the wazoo"
• 2013/02/08: TheCanadian: Vaughn Palmer's Wrongheaded Defense of Private Power Projects
• 2013/02/08: TheCanadian: Kokish River IPP Appoved Over Serious Environmental Objections from Regulators, New Documents Reveal
• 2013/02/07: TheCanadian: NDP Projects Billion Dollar Loss for BC Hydro from IPPs
• 2013/02/07: PostMedia: B.C. Liberal Party goes silent over Dhaliwal's tax charges
  The B.C. Liberal Party went silent Thursday about a revelation that Sukh Dhaliwal is facing charges, raising questions about the political future of the party's high-profile candidate in Surrey. The Vancouver Sun revealed Thursday that Dhaliwal, a former MP and B.C. Liberal power broker, is facing six charges under the Income Tax Act for failing to file returns for a company of which he is president.
• 2013/02/06: PSinclair: Scoring the Carbon Tax: British Columbia's Experience
• 2013/02/05: TheCanadian: Battle Looms Over BC LNG Industry, Fracking, Water
• 2013/02/04: TheCanadian: Shell-led LNG Proposal for Kitimat Granted Export Licence
  

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2013/02/07: DeSmogBlog: When War is Peace, Dirty is Clean
• 2013/02/06: CBC: Suncor's $1.5B charge puts Voyageur tarsands in more doubt
• 2013/02/06: KSJT: You want irony with your Arctic pipeline news? Bloomberg reports, Grist then snorts
• 2013/02/06: BBerg: Suncor Posts First Quarterly Loss in 3 1/2 Years
• 2013/02/05: FuelFix: Shipping landlocked Alberta oil north an option [says Northwest Territories leader Bob McLeod]
• 2013/02/06: SierraClub: There is a new tar sands pipeline in town and it goes right through Ontario and Quebec.
  

  Also in Alberta:

• 2013/02/08: PostMedia: Oil and gas industry seeks billion-dollar tax break to lure LNG plants
  The Canadian oil and gas industry is asking Ottawa for subsidies that could be worth $2 billion in tax savings to encourage the development of liquefied natural gas plants in British Columbia.
• 2013/02/07: CBC: Pipeline delays 'devastating' to Canadian economy, says report
  Report says delays to Keystone XL, Northern Gateway, Trans Mountain expansion could cost $1.3 trillion by 2035
• 2013/02/07: CBC: Window closing for Alberta to get oil to Asia, finds study
• 2013/02/04: G&M: Alberta plans green incentives to sweeten pot for U.S. on Keystone XL
• 2013/02/01: Yahoo:Reuters: Alberta picks former oil lobby head as Washington envoy
  Alberta on Friday appointed energy executive David Manning, a former head of Canada's most powerful oil lobby group, as its envoy to Washington as it looks for a favorable decision from the Obama administration on the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline project. Manning is a senior vice-president and head of the energy practice at Vanasse Hangen Brustline Inc, a Boston engineering firm, and a director at consulting firm M.J. Bradley & Associates.
• 2013/02/05: TStar: Bitumen bubble gives Alberta the vapours: Greenspon -- Overreliance on one resource and one market has boomeranged on province.
  

  In Saskatchewan the NDP is having a leadership race:

• 2013/02/08: BuckDog: Erin Weir Is The BEST Candidate To Deal With Saskatchewan's 'Incoherent' Potash Fiscal Regime [NDP leadership race]
  

  In Manitoba:

• 2013/02/02: CBC: Lake Winnipeg most threatened in world in 2013
  

  in Ontario, Wynne has won. Now what?

• 2013/02/06: NCR:CJCE: Predicting a low carbon future for Toronto: A tale of two outcomes in the plan to reduce GHGs
  

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

• 2013/02/06: Resilience: The Joule Standard
• 2013/02/08: CCurrents: New Era of Food Scarcity Echoes Collapsed Civilizations
  The world is in transition from an era of food abundance to one of scarcity. Over the last decade, world grain reserves have fallen by one third. World food prices have more than doubled, triggering a worldwide land rush and ushering in a new geopolitics of food. Food is the new oil. Land is the new gold.
  This new era is one of rising food prices and spreading hunger. On the demand side of the food equation, population growth, rising affluence, and the conversion of food into fuel for cars are combining to raise consumption by record amounts.
  On the supply side, extreme soil erosion, growing water shortages, and the earth's rising temperature are making it more difficult to expand production. Unless we can reverse such trends, food prices will continue to rise and hunger will continue to spread, eventually bringing down our social system.
  Can we reverse these trends in time? Or is food the weak link in our early twenty-first-century civilization, much as it was in so many of the earlier civilizations whose archeological sites we now study?
• 2013/02/07: CCurrents: Tribalism And Agreed-Upon Lies
• 2013/02/08: Resilience: Less is more, more or less
  

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

• 2013/02/05: DerSpiegel: Emergency Contravention: German Bishops Change Tune on Morning-After Pill
  The case of a young woman who was denied treatment by Catholic hospitals after she may have been raped has sparked a debate among German Catholics. At its heart is whether the Church should allow emergency contraceptive pills, or whether such drugs are equivalent to abortion.
• 
  

  Apocalypso anyone?

   

• 2013/02/09: CCurrents: Rationally Speaking, We Are All Apocalyptic Now
• 2013/02/07: CCurrents: You Don't Know What Has Collapsed
  

  How do the media measure up?

• 2013/02/08: SciAm:PI: It's Always Sunny In China
• 2013/02/10: GLaden: Science and Science Communication: Self Correcting
• 2013/02/08: Guardian(UK): BBC exaggerated climate change in David Attenborough's Africa
• 2013/02/08: CJR: Momentum becomes Ensia -- Univ. of Minnesota expands its environmental magazine
• 2013/02/03: PressThink: Look, you're right, okay? But you're also wrong
• 2011/03/19: BadSci: Why don't journalists link to primary sources?
• 2013/02/07: PSinclair: Fox News: Germany has "lots more sun" than the US
• 2013/02/06: Wonkette: Fox Bravely Continues Wars On Nature, Math
• 2013/02/06: TP:JR: Sounds Of Silence: Weekly Science Sections In Newspapers Drop From 95 In 1989 To 19 In 2012
• 2013/02/04: TP:JR: Memo To Media: 'Climate Sensitivity' Is NOT The Same As Projected Future Warming, World Faces 10°F Rise
• 2013/02/04: MediaMatters: Confronted With 97 Percent Of Climate Scientists, Fox Makes Up Stats
• 2013/02/04: GLaden: Climate Change is Real Despite Fox News
• 2013/02/04: KSJT: New Scientist contest offers winner an oil-industry tour of the Arctic
• 2013/02/03: JFleck: So this happened
• 2013/02/02: CJR: Hard Numbers
  

  Here is something for your library:

• 2013/02/08: Resilience: New era of food scarcity echoes collapsed civilizations
  [Book Adaptation] _Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity_ by Lester R. Brown
• 2013/02/06: Tamino: [Book Plug] _Understanding Statistics: Basic Theory and Practice_ by By Grant Foster
• 2013/02/03: CCurrents: Does Preaching Apocalypse Work?
  [Book Review] _Catastrophism: The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth_ by Sasha Lilley, Eddie Yuen, James Davis, David McNally.
• 
  

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

   

• 2013/02/04: WtD: Video: Climate change and the Queensland floods
• 2013/02/04: TreeHugger: Watch a City-Sized Glacier Collapse (Video)
  

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2013/02/09: BBerg: ExxonMobil Denied Mistrial in New Hampshire MTBE Suit
  ExxonMobil Corp. lost its bid for a mistrial in a lawsuit by New Hampshire claiming it contaminated the state's water supply with a gasoline additive.
• 2013/02/03: DeSmogBlog: Shell Wriggles Free Of Oil Spill Liability In Nigeria, But Case Is Far From Closed
• 2013/02/04: Reuters: Arizona sues U.S. EPA over coal power plant emissions
  Arizona challenged in federal court U.S. environmental regulators efforts to force Arizona power companies to spend up to $1 billion to install pollution control equipment at three coal plants to reduce haze in the region's national parks.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/02/10: Eureka: Low-carbon hybrid energy systems -- China's future energy solutions
• 2013/02/10: PeakEnergy: Severn Tidal Power Subsidy Below Offshore Wind
• 2013/02/04: BNC: Energy Policy - substance wins over style
• 2013/02/05: TP:JR: Can America's Regulators Reinvent Fire?
• 2013/02/05: UCSUSA:B: Driving Renewable Energy: Policies That Matter
• 2013/02/04: Resilience: The mechanical transmission of power (2): Jerker Line Systems
• 2013/02/06: UCSUSA:B: Well-Designed Power Plant Carbon Standards Can Reduce Emissions and Increase Renewable Energy
• 2013/02/05: CSM: Energy innovation: views on the future
  

  What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions? See also:

• 2013/02/08: ChicagoTrib: Exelon chief: Wind-power subsidies could threaten nuclear plants
• 2013/02/06: UCSUSA: Report Shows Energy Efficiency and Renewables Are Best Alternatives for Replacing Duke's Coal and Nuclear Plants
• 2013/02/05: NBF: Hydro beats coal and nuclear which beat oil and natural gas plants in a recent study
• 2013/02/04: CNN: [US] Shale gas boom sparks EU coal revival
  U.S. shale gas boom having knock-on effect in Europe, despite EU environmental policies - Fracking revolution pushed down US natural gas prices, leading electricity generators to switch from coal - US coal has displaced more expensive gas in Europe as feedstock for power stations - Experts believe coal's European revival will be shortlived
• 2013/02/03: TP:JR: New Mexico Utility Agrees To Purchase Solar Power At A Lower Price Than Coal
  

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

• 2013/02/08: Grist: Beer brewers are joining forces to fight fracking
• 2013/02/07: DeSmogBlog: Frackademics: Shale Institute's Jacobi hired to do seismic study for [NY] DEC
• 2013/02/07: TheConversation: We need more research into the safety of CSG, says community
• 2013/02/06: Vindy: Documents: CEO Lupo directed illegal dump of brine [fracking wastewater]
• 2013/02/05: DeSmogBlog: Shale Industry Moves to Ship Fracking Waste via Barge, Threatening Drinking Water Supplies
• 2013/02/04: EurActiv: German parliament urges tighter fracking rules
  Germany's upper house of parliament passed a non-binding resolution on Friday (1 February) urging Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to tighten the rules for controversial modern drilling techniques, or fracking, for unconventional gas.
• 2013/02/01: Reuters: German upper house passes resolution to tighten fracking rules
• 2013/01/30: AlterNet: Can a Small Community Throw a Monkey Wrench Into the Global Fracking Machine?
  

  On the coal front:

• 2013/02/05: ABC(Au): Coal company can't meet contracts due to cyclone damage
  Coal mining company Yancoal has declared force majeure on several coal contracts for its Yarrabee Mine at Blackwater in central Queensland.
• 2013/02/04: TP:JR: Peace In Our Time: Coal Employment Stays Constant, Despite Conservative Predictions Obama Would Trigger Mass Layoffs
  

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2013/02/08: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Dated Brent Spot....118.90
  WTI Cushing Spot.....95.72
• 2013/02/10: OilDrum: Tech Talk - Future Bakken production and hydrofracking
• 2013/02/09: OilChange: US Crude Exports, the IEA can't have it both ways
• 2013/02/06: FuturePundit: The Potential For Shale Oil Production [in USA]
• 2013/02/06: EarlyWarning: Oil Prices
• 2013/02/06: OilDrum: Why is US Oil Consumption Lower? Better Gasoline Mileage?
• 2013/02/06: BWeek: North Dakota's Bakken Oil Finally Hits the East Coast
• 2013/02/05: PeakEnergy: LNG exports from Canada and the US get closer
• 2013/02/04: UCSUSA:B: From the Pump to Profits: Where Your Gas Money Goes
• 2013/02/04: NakedCapitalism: Dan Dicker: Aubrey McClendon and the Destruction of the Natural Gas Market
• 2013/02/03: NYT: Vast Oil Reserve [Monterey Shale] May Now Be Within Reach, and Battle Heats Up
  

  In the fossil fuel corps:

• 2013/02/05: TP:JR: BP Rakes In $11.6 Billion In Profits For 2012
• 2013/02/05: BBC: BP posts fall in profits after more Gulf disaster costs
  Oil giant BP has posted a fall in full-year profits after setting aside money to cover liabilities for the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Replacement cost profit, which strips out the effect of oil price movements, was $17.6bn (£11.18bn) in 2012 - down from $21.7bn a year earlier.
• 
  

  And in pipeline news:

   

• 2013/02/07: ICN: Mich. OKs Replacement of Second Section of Enbridge Pipeline That Ruptured in 2010
• 2013/02/06: VanObs: Enbridge's pipeline spills, PR headaches and corporate history
  

  A rush of American triumphalism pervades the energy independence PR campaign. Think it will last?

• 2013/02/09: BBerg: Ambani Says U.S. Will Be Energy Independent in 5-7 Years
  Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd., said that the U.S.'s development of shale oil and gas will make the country energy independent as early as 2018. "For many decades, we have heard that the U.S. will be independent of foreign imports of energy," Ambani, whose company operates the largest oil refining complex in the world, said in an interview to be aired today on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS program. "Realistically, I can now tell you that it is my judgment this will happen in the next five to seven years,"
• 2013/02/06: Slate: The Myth of "Saudi America" -- Straight talk from geologists about our new era of oil abundance
  

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2013/02/04: CassandrasLegacy: The Twilight of Petroleum
  

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2013/02/07: AutoBG: Broad coalition working against ethanol, says it's "worse than tar sands"
• 2013/02/06: Resilience: The Achilles' Heel of Algal Biofuels - Peak Phosphate. - An Update
• 2013/02/05: UGA: Newly discovered plant structure may lead to improved biofuel processing
• 2013/02/06: Eureka: Hydrothermal liquefaction -- the most promising path to a sustainable bio-oil production
  

  The answer my friend...:

• 2013/02/08: DerSpiegel: A Mere Breeze: Era of Fast Growth Ends for Wind Energy in Europe
  The debt crisis is finally catching up with wind energy, once a fast-growing sector in Europe. After more than a decade of double-digit growth, austerity, rapidly changing energy policies and skittish investors are putting a damper on the industry.
• 2013/02/08: MWEN: Despite a tarnished reputation, advocates for small wind still see opportunity
• 2013/02/08: EurActiv: Wind power buffeted by 'political uncertainty' but still growing
  Wind power accounted for over a quarter of all power capacity installed in the European Union last year, but turbulent times lie ahead, says a new report by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).
• 2013/02/06: UCSUSA:B: Offshore Wind Surges Forward
• 2013/02/05: PSinclair: Will SuperConductors SuperCharge Wind Turbines?
• 2013/02/05: ABC(Au): Wind farm deal sealed
  Hydro Tasmania has signed a deal with a Chinese energy company to finance the Musselroe wind farm in northern Tasmania. Shenhua Clean Energy Holdings has paid $89 million to take a 75 per cent stake in the project.
• 2013/02/04: ABC(Au): SA's EPA rejects link between wind farms and health
• 2013/02/04: TreeHugger: Using Solar Energy to Create Wind Power [Downdraft Tower]
• 2013/02/04: CBC: Wind energy in Spain sets record -- 25% of the electricity Spain produced in January came from wind
  

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2013/02/03: ABC(US): Solar Development Absorbing Calif. Farmland -- Developers buying farmland for solar; Calif. can't track how much is being lost in rush
  There's a land rush of sorts going on across the nation's most productive farming region, but these buyers don't want to grow crops. They want to plant solar farms. With California mandating that 33 percent of electricity be generated from renewables by the end of the decade, there are 227 proposed solar projects in the pipeline statewide. Coupled with wind and other renewables they would generate enough electricity to meet 100 percent of California's power needs on an average summer day, the California Independent System Operator says.
• 2013/02/07: ABC(Au): Solar cells get silver lining
• 2013/02/09: Grist: Germany has more solar power because everyone wins
  

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2013/02/09: BBerg: NRC Probing Edison Unit's Documents on Nuclear Plant
  The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating information that an Edison International unit provided to the agency about two shuttered reactors at the company's San Onofre plant in California.
• 2013/02/07: CBC: No money for Cameco after sale of ship that had uranium spill [2 years ago]
• 2013/02/07: EneNews: AP: U.S. Senator [Boxer] wants probe after reading confidential report on sickly California nuke plant - Shows they knew about San Onofre problems beforehand
• 2013/02/07: APR: FANC [Belgian nuclear regulator] Approves Electrabel / GDF Suez Action Plan
• 2013/02/07: APR: SCE Responses to Boxer / Markey Letter
• 2013/02/06: SciAm:CW: Top 5 reasons why intelligent liberals don't like nuclear energy
• 2013/02/05: EneNews: AP: Florida nuclear plant will permanently close -- 60 years to decontaminate and dismantle
• 2013/02/05: SciAm:Obs: Is Nuclear Power Doomed to Dwindle?
• 2013/02/05: APR: Crystal River Nuclear Plant [in Citrus County, Fla] to be retired; company evaluating sites for potential new gas-fueled generation
• 2013/02/05: RTCC: Nuclear faces tough future after UK meltdown
  The UK Government's plan to build a new generation of 10 nuclear power stations suffered another severe blow yesterday when the British utility Centrica pulled out of the programme, writing off a £200 million investment in the process.
• 2013/02/04: APR: Electrabel / February 4 press release - Doel 3, Tihange 2 [in Belgium]
• 2013/02/04: BBC: Centrica pulls out of new UK nuclear projects
  

  Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): Western Sydney fights radioactive waste plans
  Residents in western Sydney are fighting plans to move contaminated soil from a former uranium processing factory to Kemps Creek. The state government wants to clean up a former carbolic acid plant and uranium processing factory at Nelson Parade in Hunters Hill.
• 2013/02/07: TheCanadian: Geology 101: Why Nuclear Problem Can't be Buried
• 2013/02/03: BBC: Sellafield clean-up cost reaches £67.5bn, says report
  

  Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:

• 2013/02/07: Ph&Ph: No Ignition For National Ignition Facility
• 2013/02/06: NatureNB: External review reaffirms hurdles for nuclear fusion superlaser [at NIF]
• 2013/02/04: ScienceInsider: ITER Fixes Problem With Superconductor for Giant Magnets
  

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2013/02/08: CSM: Device meant to prevent cable failure to blame for Super Bowl blackout
• 2013/02/07: Grist: The U.S. electricity system: Overengineered and vulnerable
• 2013/02/06: Grist: Super Bowl blackout makes the case for smart microgrids
• 2012/12/14: PEI: US shifting to a decentralised power system says FERC boss
  The US is moving away from an electricity generation system based on large, centralised power stations to a distributed generation or decentralised energy model. This is according to Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)...
• 
  

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

   

• 2013/02/07: BBerg: Energy Efficiencies May Cut $169 Bln in Business Costs
• 2013/02/04: CBC: 'Most energy-efficient' light bulb shines on Kickstarter -- Nanolight created by 3 University of Toronto graduates
  

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

• 2013/02/08: CSM: Better Place electric car startup pulls plug on US, Australia
• 2013/02/08: AutoBG: UPS puts 100 electric trucks into service in central California
• 2013/02/06: TreeHugger: New Vehicle Average Fuel Economy Reaches Record 24.5 MPG in January 2013
• 2013/02/06: BBC: Plan for electric car charging points across Scotland
  Charging points for electric cars are to be installed throughout the Scottish road network, as part of a government scheme to cut vehicle emissions. Householders will also be offered the chance to have home charging points installed free by energy firm, SSE. The plans mean the drivers of electric vehicles will never be more than 50 miles from a charging point when on Scotland's trunk roads.
• 2013/02/05: AutoBG: Reuters goes back to the well, calls electric vehicles a 'dead end'
• 2013/02/04: UCSUSA: Drivers Spend Almost as Much on Gas as They Paid for Their Cars
• 2013/02/03: CSM: How to read plug-in hybrid specifications
  

  As for Energy Storage:

• 2013/02/09: CleanBreak: Another chapter in a very long EEStory
• 2013/02/05: NBF: "Yolk-shell" design stores five times more energy in the sulfur cathode of a rechargeable lithium-ion battery than commercial batteries
• 2013/02/05: PSinclair: Meanwhile, 2013 is the Year of Energy Storage
• 2013/02/05: CSM: Boeing 787 batteries: What's causing their 'thermal runaways?'
  

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2013/02/07: RTCC: IEA: Business complacent about climate change
• 2013/02/06: RTCC: Carbon War Room: Avoiding 2°C impossible without business
  

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2013/02/08: ABC(Au): Calls for new farm flood insurance as damage bill approaches $700m
• 2013/02/05: CCP: Munich Re Says World Crop Insurance Costs Top Record on Drought
  

  Who's fielding theFAQs?

• 2013/02/06: Guardian(UK): What is the state of international climate talks?
  

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

• 2013/02/08: TP:JR: February 8 News...
• 2013/02/07: TP:JR: February 7 News...
• 2013/02/06: TP:JR: February 6 News...
• 2013/02/05: TP:JR: February 5 News...
• 2013/02/04: TP:JR: February 4 News...
  

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2013/02/09: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #6 by John Hartz
• 2013/02/04: BPA: Agriculture is Not a Guaranteed Investment Sector. Plus, More Agriculture News This Week
  

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2012/12/01: Cell:TiM: Science denial: a guide for scientists
• 2013/02/04: CCP: Al Gore: Public Conditioned to Accept Pollution of the Atmosphere by oil company advertising
• 2013/02/05: APSmith: A conspiratorial loop
• 2013/02/06: TWTB: Rapidly warming satellite data sends "skeptics" scurrying to models
• 2013/02/05: TP:JR: Denial River: Conspiracy Thinking In The Climate Blogosphere In Response To Research On Conspiracy Thinking
• 2013/02/07: Tamino: Death by Chartsmanship
• 2013/02/07: Stoat: The sleepwalkers
• 2013/02/10: CDL: Willis Eschenbach
• 2013/02/05: P3: Logic Fail Logic Fail
• 2013/02/05: ERabett: Considerable Controversy [Recursive Fury]
• 2013/02/05: ERabett: The Dagger [Recursive Fury]
• 2013/02/05: WtD: Recursive Fury: the involvement of conspiracist ideation in rejection of science
  

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2013/02/04: PlanetJ: The illusion of the reasonable centre
• 2013/02/03: Resilience: Oil, climate and time: Why some problems will wait and others will not
• 2013/02/04: ERabett: MT and Willard Discuss JC
• 2013/02/04: CSM: Global warming vs. time: why some problems can't wait
• 2013/02/04: Guardian(UK): Delhi sustainable development summit highlights need for urgent action
• 2013/02/04: Guardian(UK): The end of nuclear power? Careful what you wish for by George Monbiot
  Flawed and stalled as the plans for toxic waste may be, at least they exist. There is no way to clean up CO2, the greater evil
• 2013/02/06: QuarkSoup: Successful Predictions of Climate Science
• 2013/02/05: Grist: How can we prepare for climate change without screwing poor people?
• 2013/02/06: Stoat: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/International Climate Science Coalition
• 2013/02/07: Grist: Eve Ensler connects the dots between violence against women and violence against the planet
• 2013/02/07: ERabett: The Cyanobacteria's Friend Publishes
• 2013/02/08: BobPark: What's New?
  1. The Political Climate: Global warming is not inevitable.
  2. Personhood: How many cells does it take to make a person?
  3. Fertility: How many persons should there be on Earth?
• 2013/02/07: CCurrents: Consensus Among Scientists: Climate Crisis Is Due To Human Activities
• 2013/01/07: TRN: Koch Brothers Driving Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada to Cut Out Venezuelan Oil
• 2013/02/08: P3: Peter Gleick at SciBlogs
• 2013/02/08: GreenGrok: Climate Change Chatter, 3rd Edition [quotes]
• 2013/02/09: Tamino: Fun with averages and trends
• 2013/02/10: LoE: Climate Science - Room 101
• 2013/02/09: ERabett: Guides for the Perplexed
• 2013/02/05: GreenGrok: Climate Change: The Case for Heat
• 2013/02/05: Tamino: Welcome to the Jungle
  

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

• 2013 North American Biochar Symposium - October 13-16 Amherst
• NOAA:ESRL: Global Monitoring Division FTP Data Finder
• UKOA: UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme
• Wiki: Heinrich event
• NSIDC: Greenland Today
• OxfordMartin: Next Big Thing - "Manipulating the planet: Is there a role for Negative Emissions Technologies in tackling climate change?"
• 2013//: CSPR: Linköping University Climate Engineering Programme (LUCE)
• Ensia
• The Green Car Website(UK)
• Significant Figures [Peter Gleick]
• EIA: Environmental Investigation Agency
• PBS: The Current Mass Extinction
• Resilient Communities
• Watershed Sentinel
• No Tankers - We Say No to Enbridge Oil
• DeepSeaNews
• BPA: Big Picture Agriculture

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.

A Simple Plea

Webmasters, web coders and content providers have mercy on your low bandwidth brethren. Because I am on dial-up, I am a text surfer -- no images, no javascript and no flash. When you post a graphic, will you please use the alt text field ... and when you embed a youtube/vimeo/flash video, please add some minimal description. Thank you.

<regards>

-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.

"We are a plague on the Earth. It's coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It's not just climate change; it's sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit our population or the natural world will do it for us." -David Attenborough

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