Another Week in the Ecological Crises, September 22, 2013

By illconsidered on September 24, 2013.

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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Information Overload is Pattern Recognition

Equinox Edition

September 22, 2013

Equinox, COP19+, IPCC, HMNDP, MDG, EDF, Potash, Maldives, Energiewende
Bottom Line, Pricing Nature, Cook, Shrinkology
Fukushima: Note, News
Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food: Crisis, Land Grabs, GMOs, Production
Hurricanes, Notable Weather, Extreme Weather, New Weather
GHGs, Aerosols, Volcanoes, Temperatures, Attribution
Oceans, Biosphere, Extinctions, Bees & CCD
Impacts, Forests, Desertification, Disease
Wildfires, Corals, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Conservation, Adaptation
Journals, Misc. Science, Science Orgs, DIY Science, Free Science, Hansen, Bartlett
International Politics: UN, Carbon Trade, Bank Tax, Hormuz, South China Sea
Nicaragua-Colombia, Treaties, NSA-Brazil, Misc., Law & Activism, Activism, H2O Biz, Education
National Politics: Britain, Europe, Australia, Switchover, Results & Reactions, MDBP
New Zealand, India, China, Japan, Africa, South America, Canada, Lac-Mégantic, Stand Up for Science!
Bees, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Sask, Manitoba, Ontario, North, Canadiana, America, BP Disaster
Keystone, Mayflower, Colorado Contamination, Pebble Mine, EPA & Coal, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
Ecological Economics, Recycling, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts, Courts
Energy, Transitions, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Pipelines, Peak Oil, Biofuel
Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Hydrogen, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
Business, Insurance, FAQs, Other Lists, Carbon Lobby, Misc., Useful Links
Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

Yes we have no jokes this week. Hope you had an equable equinox:

Looking ahead to COP19 at
(Warsaw) and future international climate negotiations:

2013/09/21: Guardian(UK): World leaders must co-operate on talks for strong new climate change deal
2013/09/20: RTCC: UK youth target COP19 UN climate summit sponsors
Climate activists say choice of BMW, Emirates and General Motors as COP19 hosts is inappropriate given poor pollution records
2013/09/20: Guardian(UK): Climate change: UN makes high-risk attempt to break deadlock on talks
2013/09/18: DeSmogBlog: Poland Partners with Coal and Oil Corporate Sponsors for COP19 Climate Conference
2013/09/18: NatureN: Climate change: A patchwork of emissions cuts
Home-made national approaches can be effective for climate-change mitigation if countries agree on rules and build trust, says Elliot Diringer.
2013/09/18: RTCC: Concrete emissions pledges 'not a priority' for 2015 climate deal - UN official
2013/09/17: DetroitNews: U.N. official: World failing over climate change
London - International leaders are failing in their fight against global warming, one of the United Nations' top climate officials said Tuesday, appealing directly to the world's voters to pressure their politicians into taking tougher action against the buildup of greenhouse gases.
Halldor Thorgeirsson told journalists gathered at London's Imperial College that world leaders weren't working hard enough to prevent potentially catastrophic climate change.
"We are failing as an international community," he said. "We are not on track."

The IPCC Climate Change 2013 report [AR5] is coming out next week, with all the usual back talk:

IPCC WGI AR5 -- Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis
2013/09/21: Guardian(UK): Climate change: IPCC cites global temperature rise over last century
2013/09/21: Guardian(UK): Climate change: IPCC issues stark warning over global warming
2013/09/21: DD: United Nations climate report will not sway U.S. deniers
2013/09/21: NBF: The Climate change report will confirm that the rate of warming has slowed or been flat since 1998
2013/09/20: TMoS: Throwing Down the Gauntlet - "Rational" People Will Be Convinced By the Science - IPCC
2013/09/19: CSM: Global warming slowing: What does that mean?
2013/09/19: RTCC: Russia urges UN's IPCC climate report to include geoengineering
2013/09/19: ABC(Au): The planet is warming and we're mostly to blame: IPCC report
2013/09/19: ABC(Au): Draft IPCC report predicts sea levels to rise a metre by end of century
2013/09/19: RTCC: UN climate report set to establish 'global carbon budget'
Governments could be set figure of fossil fuels that can be burnt before 2°C warming limit is breached
2013/09/19: CBC: Global warming slowdown complicates job of UN climate panel
IPCC, countries argue over how to communicate science behind recent trend
2013/09/19: WottsUWTB: A crisis in climate science?
2013/09/19: Guardian(UK): Russia urges UN climate report to include geoengineering
2013/09/19: Guardian(UK): IPCC chairman dismisses climate report spoiler campaign
2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): Reports on leaked IPCC study like a bad game of Chinese whispers
2013/09/18: TMoS: One Reason the IPCC Estimates Regularly Fall Short
2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): Climate change to have double impact - study
New research shows traditional IPCC models could be underestimating global warming due to feedbacks
2013/09/18: NatureN: IPCC: The climate chairman
Getting hundreds of experts to agree is never easy. Ottmar Edenhofer takes a firm, philosophical approach to the task.
2013/09/18: NatureN: Climate assessments: 25 years of the IPCC
A graphical tour through the history of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the science that underlies it.
2013/09/18: NatureN: Global warming: Outlook for Earth
As the IPCC finalizes its next big climate-science assessment, Nature looks at the past and future of the planet's watchdog.
2013/09/17: RTCC: Climate change case now 'overwhelming' warn scientists
2013/09/16: Guardian(UK): Case for climate change is overwhelming, say scientists
2013/09/15: NatPo: Climate agency accused of cooling on global warming as new report lowers predicted temperature increase

A largely unreported High-level Meeting on National Drought Policy went down this week:

Remember the Millennium Development Goals?

There was a lot of yelling about that EDF+ study:

2013/09/20: Grist: EDF defends its controversial study of methane leaks from fracking wells
2013/09/19: FAIR: Is Oil Industry Funding of a Fracking Study a Problem? Let's Ask an Oil-Funded Expert
2013/09/19: TP:JR: Study Of Best Fracked Wells Finds Low Methane Emissions, But Skips Super-Emitters
2013/09/19: CleanTechnica: EDF Burned By Its Own Fracking Study, Sez Gas Experts
2013/09/18: DeSmogBlog: Big Oil PR Pros, Lobbyists Dominate EDF Fracking Climate Study Steering Committee
2013/09/18: SciAm:PI: On environmentalism and 'frackademia'
2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): Naomi Klein 'waging ideological war' instead of tackling climate change
EDF hits back at Canadian's author's recent comments on green groups' advocacy for partnering with business
2013/09/17: Grist: Fracking study downgrades methane worries, escalates enviro infighting
2013/09/17: RTCC: Methane capture equipment can cut fracking emissions by 99%
2013/09/17: NatureN: Study revises estimate of methane leaks from US gas fields
Leaks are minimal during removal of fracking fluids but increase once gas is flowing.
2013/09/17: E&C: US Media Fails to Educate The Public About Links Between Greater Natural Gas Use and Climate Change[EDF]
2013/09/16: ICN: Study Delivers Good News, Bad News on Methane Leaks from Fracking Operations
Methane leaks from 'well completions' were significantly lower than EPA's numbers, but equipment leaks were much higher than expected.
2013/09/16: NYT: Gas Leaks in Fracking Disputed in Study [EDF]
2013/09/16: CCP: EDF scandal: Frackademia study by oil industry standins shows non-credible levels of fugitive methane emissions from frack wells chosen by industry
2013/09/16: DeSmogBlog: Frackademia: The People & Money Behind the EDF Methane Emissions Study

This week in the potash fandango:

2013/09/19: RT: 'Uralkali is bankrupt', reported financials 'bogus' - Belarus president
The Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko claims Russia's potash giant and former partner in the world's biggest export consortium Uralkali is bankrupt. That didn't stop the president from offering a reconciliation of the companies involved.
2013/09/16: RT: Belarus wanted businessman Kerimov sells his potash stake, shares up 6%
Global investors watching fertilizers are breathing again, after the sale of Suleiman Kerimov's stake in Russia's potash giant Uralkalli was confirmed. Now the wanted Russian tycoon is exiting the company, a battle is unfolding among potential buyers.

A new wrinkle in the Maldives saga:

2013/09/19: UN: Maldives: Ban urges respect for democracy ahead of second-round presidential vote
2013/09/18: IndiaTimes: Fate of Maldives presidential polls to be decided by Supreme Court
Male: The fate of the first round of presidential elections in the Maldives, won by former President Mohamed Nasheed, would be decided by a full bench of the Supreme Court which started hearing the matter, media reports said.
A full bench of seven judges has admitted the plea of the Jumhooree Party seeking annulment of presidential elections and conducted its first hearing on Tuesday.
The hearing will continue today, local media said. The Jumhooree Party (JP) whose candidate Gasim Ibrahim missed the second round, scheduled on September 28, by a whisker has alleged irregularities in the voters' list and requested the apex court to annul first round of elections.

How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

2013/09/20: CleanTechnica: New York Times Gets Big, Red "F" On Germany's Renewable Energy Transition
2013/09/20: Lenz: EU Commission's Recommendation on German Energy Shift
2013/09/19: BBerg: RWE to Cut Dividend in Face of Shrinking Power Generation
RWE AG, Germany's second-largest utility, reduced dividend payments after the country's shift to renewable power curbed profit from gas- and coal-fired plants. The shares fell.
2013/09/18: NYT: Germany's Effort at Clean Energy Proves Complex
2013/09/17: Lenz: Part of Telegraph Article Makes Sense

And on the Bottom Line:

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

2013/09/18: Monbiot: Pricing the Priceless

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

Various psychological angles arise in considerations of the ecological crisis:

2013/09/20: TreeHugger: "We've acquired an immunity to crisis," writes flood survivor. What does it mean for climate change?
2013/09/19: Eureka: After the storms, a different opinion on climate change
Extreme weather may lead people to think more seriously about climate change, according to new research. In the wake of Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, New Jersey residents were more likely to show support for a politician running on a "green" platform, and expressed a greater belief that climate change is caused by human activity.
This research, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that traumatic weather events may have the power to shift people's automatic attitudes -- their first instincts -- in favor of environmentally sustainable policies.

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.]
And the IAEA is now saying 40 years too.
[Now some people are talking about a century or more. Sealing it in concrete for 500 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:

2013/09/21: Asahi: [Editorial] Abe should confront the reality of Fukushima radiation leaks
2013/09/21: EneNews: Senior Scientist: Fukushima problem getting worse - Leaks from plant becoming stronger - We're back to where we just can't predict how long and how much is coming out of there (audio)
2013/09/21: EneNews: TV: Gov't reports large spike in health problems for Fukushima nuclear workers...
2013/09/21: CCurrents: The Crisis at Fukushima 4 Demands A Global Take-Over
2013/09/20: CDreams: The Crisis at Fukushima's Unit 4 Demands a Global Take-Over
2013/09/20: Grist: Typhoon and earthquake strike Fukushima
TBAS: Suzuki's Fukushima updates
2013/09/20: VoR: Ban on Japanese fish remains in place due to Fukushima accident - oversight service
A ban on fish and seafood imports from Japan, introduced on April 6 2011 in connection with the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, will remain in effect in full, the federal veterinary and phytosanitary oversight service Rosselkhoznadzor has reported.
It said the ban applies to 242 companies located in eight prefectures of Japan. The ban remains in effect despite Japanese officials' repeated requests to lift it," Rosselkhoznadzor said.
This decision is based on the monitoring, run by Russian services, and by international and foreign organizations.
2013/09/20: EneNews: Science Journal: 'Fukushima Forever... Nuclear Denial' - High number of thyroid cancers in Japan already for a rare disease
2013/09/20: EneNews: Yale Professor: Fukushima Unit 4 pool in perilous condition - "All of humanity will be threatened for thousands of years" if not able to be kept cool...
2013/09/20: EneNews: Ban on Japanese seafood in full effect, says Russia - Includes Fukushima and 7 other prefectures - "Decision is based on monitoring"
2013/09/20: EneNews: Japan Prime Minister reveals shocking lack of knowledge about his Fukushima claims: Asks plant's chief, "Where is the 0.3 km² area?"...
2013/09/20: EneNews: Official: Prime Minister and government are lying about Fukushima - This is a big problem
2013/09/20: EneNews: TV: Warnings the worst is yet to come at Fukushima - Deep underneath nuclear plant a massive pool of contamination is believed to be heading toward Pacific Ocean (video)
2013/09/20: ABC(Au): Fukushima operator [TEPCO] apologises to Japanese PM Shinzo Abe over name gaffe
2013/09/19: RT: Japan dismissed US warnings to contain radioactive water at Fukushima
2013/09/19: EneNews: NHK: Tepco says it's checking tanks of nuclear waste for quake damage...
2013/09/19: ABC(Au): Fukushima operator TEPCO ignored advice two years ago to control ground contamination
A memo prepared by the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant has revealed the company ignored advice about controlling ground contamination, fearing the cost would spook investors.
The site is now leaking about 300 tonnes of contaminated groundwater into the ocean every day.
The internal memo, obtained by the Reuters news agency, reveals how Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) was advised two years ago to take immediate steps to prevent groundwater contamination at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
2013/09/19: Guardian(UK): Future of Japan depends on stopping Fukushima leaks, PM tells workers
Shinzo Abe visits stricken site amid rising doubts about plant operator's ability to conduct cleanup operation alone
2013/09/19: APR: Fukushima Daiichi 5 and 6 - finally a solid plan?
2013/09/19: BBC: Fukushima: PM Shinzo Abe visits plant amid leak concerns
2013/09/19: BBerg: Abe Asks Tepco to Shut All Fukushima Reactors to Focus on Crisis
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on a visit to the wrecked Fukushima Dai-Ichi atomic station told Tokyo Electric Power Co. its priority is to halt leaks of radioactive water from the plant into the ocean.
He also urged the company to decommission the two remaining reactors at the site, following the four it wrote off in April 2012 due to damage from the earthquake and tsunami. Reactors 5 and 6 that Abe referred to were safely shut down during the disaster on March 11, 2011.
2013/09/19: Asia Times: Toxic agenda-setting in Washington
2013/09/18: EneNews: TV: Officials concerned about 400 ft. tall pipe near Fukushima reactors collapsing during quake - 8 cracks found in support brace...
2013/09/18: EneNews: Professor: New studies show radioactive materials being carried across Pacific relatively intact from Fukushima - On West Coast we need to monitor these pockets of high contamination...
2013/09/18: EneNews: Steam observed 5 of previous 6 days at Fukushima Unit 3; Lasted for 24 hours straight at one point - Nuclear Expert: There could be pockets of corium still in molten state; Nobody quite understands what's going on (audio)
2013/09/18: EneNews: Asahi: Buildings at Fukushima plant can start floating from too much groundwater...
2013/09/17: EneNews: NPR: How can Fukushima's molten fuel be contained so it stops contaminating the planet? Nuclear Expert: There's no way to get at molten fuel... I've not seen a solution to this (audio)
2013/09/17: EneNews: BBC: Fukushima plant in "unprecedented crisis" and it's getting worse, says Japan nuclear official [Dr Tatsujiro Suzuki]
2013/09/17: EneNews: 'Emergency' Measure: Over 1,000 tons of polluted water dumped on ground at Fukushima...
2013/09/17: EneNews: Chairman of Tepco Panel: "Future surprises" are in store at Fukushima plant...
2013/09/16: CNA: Typhoon hits Japan as Fukushima operator releases water into sea
2013/09/16: EneNews: Kyodo: Fearing Fukushima plant would flood, workers opened barriers -- Amount of contamination released 'unknown'
2013/09/16: EneNews: Japan Officials: Nuclear "event" at Fukushima from radioactive release into ocean? -AP
2013/09/16: DD: Japan turns off last nuclear reactor amid fears of surge in gas prices
2013/09/15: GLaden: Fukushima Update #70: If you can't measure it ...

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

2013/09/21: IOTD: 2013 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum [on Sept 13]
2013/09/21: PSinclair: NSIDC: Arctic Sea Ice Hits Annual Bottom
2013/09/21: Grist: What's really going on with Arctic sea ice?
2013/09/20: Guardian(UK): Arctic on course for ice-free summer 'within decades', scientists say
2013/09/20: BBC: Arctic sea ice reaches seasonal low
2013/09/20: NASA: Arctic Sea Ice Minimum in 2013 is Sixth Lowest on Record
2013/09/20: TheConversation: Arctic sea ice levels reach seasonal low
2013/09/19: Guardian(UK): Arctic sea ice "recovers" to its 6th-lowest extent in millennia
2013/09/19: ArcticNews: Is the North Pole now ice-free?
2013/09/19: Maribo: Did climate scientists make a mistake in predicting the decline of Arctic sea ice?
2013/09/18: QuarkSoup: Recovery! Recovery! Recovery!
2013/09/18: NatureNB: Arctic sea-ice minimum is sixth smallest on record
2013/09/18: RTCC: Arctic ice hits sixth lowest record as summer draws to a close
2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): Arctic sea ice shrinks to sixth-lowest extent on record
2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): How fast is Arctic sea ice melting?
2013/09/17: Dosbat: 2013 Sea Ice Prediction Review
2013/09/17: NSIDC: Melt season ending
Following a relatively cool summer, sea ice extent fell to a little over 5 million square kilometers (1.93 million square miles) over the first two weeks of September and is at or near the minimum extent for the year. NSIDC will announce the final minimum extent and date once it is confirmed.
2013/09/16: CLBook: Arctic sea ice in 2014
2013/09/15: MetOfficeNews: Met Office in the Mail on Sunday
2013/09/15: Dosbat: Mid Monthly Miscellanea: September

As for the charismatic megafauna:

2013/09/21: DD: Graph of the Day: Harp seal strandings and sea ice decline, 1991-2010
2013/09/19: SciTech(Dk): Climate change: Polar bears change to diet with higher contaminant loads
Over the past 30 years, polar bears have increasingly exchanged ringed seal with harp seal and hooded seal in their diet. This change exposes the polar bear to more contaminants, according to a recent international study.

That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

2013/09/20: TheConversation: It's time to draw a line in the Arctic ice over oil and gas
2013/09/19: G&M: Danish firm seeks to be first to bring bulk carrier through Northwest Passage
Earlier this month, the ice-strengthened bulk carrier Nordic Orion was loaded with coal at a Vancouver terminal. From there, it headed to Finland via the Northwest Passage, undertaking a voyage that could make it the first commercial bulk carrier to traverse the route since the SS Manhattan broke through in 1969.
2013/09/17: EurActiv: Greenland report paves way for sovereign uranium mining
A new report commissioned by the Greenland government has concluded that the country has full sovereignty over commodities trading, including for uranium, which is regulated by international treaties on non-nuclear proliferation.
The report was kept confidential for more than six months but recently published as Greenland's parliament prepares to vote on 24 October on whether to allow the extraction of radioactive substances in Greenland.
The outcome of the vote is expected to be a clear 'yes'.
2013/09/16: CSM: Russian navy returns to Arctic. Permanently.

While in Antarctica:

The food crisis is ongoing:

2013/09/21: WSWS: US Congress moves to cut billions in food aid
2013/09/20: Resilience: FAO Says Food Waste Harms Climate, Water, Land, and Biodiversity
2013/09/20: CBC: Record crop yields in Prairies pushing grain prices down
2013/09/20: CBC: Manitoba wheat, canola farmers have bumper crops -- Many producers trying to find space to store all their grain
2013/09/19: Grist: Republicans to poor: Tighten your belts
2013/09/18: FAIR: Should Poor People Eat? Let's Hear From Both Sides!
2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): Food crisis fears prompt UN wake-up call to world leaders
United Nations urges governments to do more to support small farmers to curb hunger, poverty and climate change
2013/09/18: SciAm:GB: 40 Percent of Food in the U.S. Never Gets Eaten
2013/09/17: AllAfrica:AfricanArguments: Food Crisis in Zimbabwe - 2.2 Million At Risk but Where Do the Figures Come From, and What Do They Mean?
2013/09/17: RTCC: Southern Africa set to be hit by climate related migration
Rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall patterns across region likely to cause a decline in maize and sorghum yields
2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Agriculture conference warned farming changes needed to counter global warming
2013/09/17: RTCC: Kenyan farmers warned [by IFPRI] climate change may impact crop yields
2013/09/16: EurActiv: EU food aid cuts to hit Portuguese poor
Spending cuts to EU food aid programmes could leave Portugal's growing ranks of poor with even emptier plates, experts say.
Western Europe's poorest country is likely to lose 40% of the E20 million in food aid it gets from Brussels every year, according to Isabel Jonet, who heads the Food Banks charity.
2013/09/15: Eureka: Report: Climate change to shift Kenya's breadbaskets
2013/09/15: CDreams: The USDA's Reckless Plan to Decrease Food Safety
The government intends to spread a failed pilot program that decreased food safety to every hog plant in the nation.

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

2013/09/18: Eureka: 31 percent of timber, mining, agriculture concessions in 12 nations overlap with local land rights
Billions of dollars in investment risk ignored; financial report released on eve of global conference
2013/09/17: TreeHugger: The global land rush by Lester Brown
2013/09/16: CSM: In Ethiopia, more land grabs, more indigenous people pushed out

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

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

2013/09/18: CCurrents: Seeing Food As A Commons Opens Up Creative New Possibilities
2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): David Attenborough: trying to tackle famine with bags of flour is 'barmy'
BBC presenter links famine to overpopulation and warns if we do not curb growth the natural world will
2013/09/17: WFP: Strategic Grain Reserve Inaugurated In Kabul To Boost Emergency Response Capacity
2013/09/16: FAO: Bridging the information gap in agriculture
AGORA makes online scientific literature available to over 100 poor countries - Tenth anniversary celebrated in Rome
2013/09/16: Eureka: Flame cultivation promising as weed control method for cranberry -- Open flame torches shown to be cost-effective, non-fatal to crops
2013/09/16: Eureka: Sensors allow for efficient irrigation, give growers more control over plant growth

In the Western Pacific, 600 km. wide Super Typhoon Usagi (17W) barreled through the Luzon Straight, zinging Taiwan and the Philippines, heading for Hong Kong:

2013/09/22: BBC: Powerful Typhoon Usagi heads to Hong Kong
Hong Kong is bracing itself for the arrival of typhoon Usagi, which is expected to be the strongest storm to hit the city in more than 30 years.
2013/09/22: ABC(Au): Typhoon Usagi batters southern Taiwan and northern Philippines, barrels toward Hong Kong
2013/09/22: Wunderground: Hong Kong Braces for Category 3 Typhoon Usagi
2013/09/22: Xinhuanet: Typhoon alert closes schools in southeast China
2013/09/22: Xinhuanet: China braces for super typhoon Usagi
2013/09/22: CBC: Typhoon Usagi barrels down on Hong Kong -- Most powerful typhoon of the year pummels islands in Southeast Asia
2013/09/21: CBC: Typhoon Usagi heads for Hong Kong
2013/09/21: CNN: Typhoon Usagi menaces Hong Kong, China's southern coast
Winds from Typhoon Usagi drop but still register 115 mph - More than 80,000 people have been evacuated from Fujian Province -
Some shipping to Taiwan and along the coast has been suspended - Landfall is expected Sunday or Monday
2013/09/21: DD: China battens down the hatches, crosses fingers as Typhoon Usagi strikes...
2013/09/21: DD: Typhoon Usagi hits Taiwan, Philippines, nears Hong Kong, posing 'severe threat' to the city...
2013/09/21: Xinhuanet: Hurricanes leave 101 dead, 68 missing in Mexico
2013/09/21: Xinhuanet: China braces for super typhoon Usagi
2013/09/21: Xinhuanet: Super typhoon Usagi disrupts cross-Strait traffic
2013/09/21: RT: China on red alert as 'super typhoon' closes in
2013/09/21: al Jazeera: Typhoon Usagi hits Philippines and Taiwan
Highest level warning issued as super typhoon moves towards China after wreaking havoc in the Philippines and Taiwan.
2013/09/21: ABC(Au): Super Typhoon Usagi: 'strongest storm of the year'
2013/09/21: CBC: Typhoon Usagi hits Taiwan and Philippines -- The most powerful typhoon of the year eyes landfall in Hong Kong
2013/09/21: BBerg: China, H.K., Taiwan Brace as Year's Strongest Storm Looms
2013/09/20: Guardian(UK): Philippines evacuates coastal villages ahead of typhoon Usagi
2013/09/20: RawStory: Super Typhoon Usagi on path of destruction towards Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong
2013/09/20: Xinhuanet: China upgrades warning for super typhoon Usagi
2013/09/20: NASA: NASA Sees Super-rapid Intensification of Supertyphoon Usagi
2013/09/20: Eureka: TRMM satellite sees system 98W organizing near Guam, Marianas
2013/09/20: Eureka: NASA sees super typhoon affecting Philippines and Taiwan, headed to China
2013/09/20: DD: Video: 'Beast of a storm' Typhoon Usagi to batter SE Asia - More than 1000mm (39 inches) of rain expected for the Philippines and Taiwan
2013/09/20: DD: Super typhoon Usagi, strongest storm on Earth in 2013, may strike Hong Kong Sunday
2013/09/20: Xinhuanet: China issues warning on typhoon Usagi
2013/09/20: Xinhuanet: China maintains alert as super typhoon Usagi nears
2013/09/20: Xinhuanet: Storms leave 97 dead, 58 missing in Mexico
2013/09/17: Xinhuanet: Major cleanup operations underway in Japan as typhoon leaves 3 dead, 5 missing
Major cleanup operations are underway across wide areas of Japan on Tuesday after typhoon Man- yi lashed a broad swathe of the mainland, leaving at least three people dead as police and firefighters were still searching for others missing in the wake of the storm.
2013/09/20: IndiaTimes: Mexico storm: Toll rises to 97, dozens missing
2013/09/20: BBC: Typhoon Usagi moves towards Philippines, Taiwan
The Philippines and Taiwan are braced for Typhoon Usagi, which meteorologists say could become the most powerful typhoon of 2013.
2013/09/20: al Jazeera: Mexico rescuers search for mudslide survivors
Rescuers search for 68 people missing after village mudslide, as death toll in storm-ravaged country reaches 97.
2013/09/20: CBC: Super Typhoon Usagi nears Taiwan, Philippines -- Hong Kong area expected to be affected Sunday
2013/09/20: CNN: Super Typhoon Usagi nears Philippines, Taiwan -- The strongest storm on the planet so far this year
Usagi is the most powerful storm in the world so far this year - It's packing winds of 260 kph, equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane -
Authorities in the Philippines and Taiwan have issued storm warnings - "It's an incredible storm system," says a CNN International meteorologist
2013/09/20: ABC(Au): Villages evacuated in Philippines as Southeast Asia braces for super typhoon
2013/09/20: ABC(Au): Villages evacuated as Typhoon Usagi approaches Philippines
2013/09/19: Xinhuanet: China issues alert for super typhoon Usagi
Beijing - An alert was issued on Thursday for typhoon Usagi, which was upgraded to a super typhoon at 5 p.m., according to China's meteorological authority.
2013/09/17: NASA: NASA Spots Wide Band of Strong Thunderstorms South of Tropical Storm Usagi's Center

Last weekend Typhoon Man-yi zapped Japan:

2013/09/18: al Jazeera: Man-yi swamps Japan [11 pix]
2013/09/17: Xinhuanet: 3 dead, 5 missing after typhoon [Man-yi] makes landfall in Japan
2013/09/16: NASA: Two NASA Satellites Track Typhoon Man-yi Across Japan
2013/09/16: CSM: Typhoon Man-yi complicates Fukushima nuclear cleanup
2013/09/16: CDreams: Typhoon Forces Dumping of Radioactive Water at Fukushima
TEPCO officials indicate measures were taken to avoid worse disaster, but it remains unclear how much water was pumped into ocean
2013/09/16: CBC: Typhoon Man-yi downgraded to tropical storm -- Japan typhoon forces hundreds of thousands from Kyoto
2013/09/16: DD: Typhoon Man-yi dumps 'unprecedented' rainfall on Kyoto, hundreds of thousands evacuate
2013/09/16: ABC(Au): Typhoon Man-yi hits Japan raising fears about Fukushima nuclear plant
2013/09/16: NHK: Tropical storm moves across Japan
2013/09/16: IndiaTimes: Powerful typhoon lashes Japan; Tokyo rail, air services hit
2013/09/16: BBC: Powerful Typhoon Man-yi hits central Japan
A powerful typhoon has made landfall in central Japan, flooding scores of houses and forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate.
2013/09/16: al Jazeera: Man-yi brings further floods to Japan
Flights cancelled out of Tokyo airport as the Fukushima power plant endures tropical downpours
2013/09/16: RT: Crippled Fukushima braces for typhoon Man-Yi hit (video)
2013/09/15: ChinaDaily: Fukushima disaster deepens with new errors
2013/09/15: EneNews: 'Typhoon Alert' at Fukushima Plant: Concern winds could topple large cranes - Tepco trying to secure outdoor pipes and pumps that inject water into reactors buildings
2013/09/15: EneNews: Analysis: Prepare for Fukushima's economic consequences, worst may be yet to come -- Pay close attention to latest scientific data from plant, it could become even more tragic -- Examine impact on rest of world
2013/09/15: EneNews: Japan Times: Fukushima may be inundated by typhoon on Monday...
2013/09/15: EneNews: Wall St. Journal: They appear to be losing the battle at festering Fukushima plant - Leaks sprouting above and below ground - Response is frantic, desperate, and dangerously haphazard
2013/09/15: EneNews: Fukushima reactor cores may have had "Melt Through to China Syndrome" and went into the earth itself -- Includes over 1,500 pounds of plutonium
2013/09/15: CBC: Typhoon Man-yi hits Japan, forces 260,000 to evacuate -- 1 woman dead after mudslide hits home
And in the Atlantic:
2013/09/20: NASA: NASA HS3 Mission Reveals Tropical Storm Humberto's Hybrid Core
2013/09/16: NASA: NASA to Investigate Tropical Storm Humberto: Atlantic's Second "Zombie Tropical Storm"
2013/09/16: GLaden: Atlantic Tropical Update
2013/09/16: MODIS: Tropical Storm Gabrielle (07L) approaching Bermuda [on Sept. 10]
Ingrid and Manuel caused a lot of grief in Mexico:
2013/09/22: ABC(Au): Mexico facing huge rebuilding task after dozens die in twin freak storms
2013/09/22: BBC: Mexico storms: Village landslide missing 'probably dead'
2013/09/22: MODIS: Tropical Storm Manuel (13E) over Mexico [on Sept 19]
2013/09/21: DD: More than 100 killed in Mexico landslides, flooding - Heavy rain drenched two-thirds of the country over the last week
2013/09/21: CNN: Death toll rises in Mexico storms -- At least 101 dead, 69 missing
2013/09/21: WSWS: Intense storms cause death, destruction in Mexico
Two storms are having a widespread impact across Mexico, causing floods and destruction. The states most affected are those along the Pacific coast and include Guerrero, Michacán, Sinaloa, and Jalisco. Veracruz and Tamaulipas, on Mexico's eastern shores, have also been impacted. The storms have been the most intense in written Mexican history.
The response to this historic disaster by the government of president Enrique Peña Nieto has been slow and is being condemned for its indifference.
2013/09/20: BBerg: Eleven Die in Veracruz as Mexico Storms Kill at Least 97
Twin hurricanes that battered Mexico on both coasts left more than 100 people dead after 11 were reported killed in a landslide in Veracruz yesterday, causing the president to suspend his trip to the United Nations General Assembly opening.
2013/09/20: Eureka: NASA sees remnants of Hurricane Manuel soaking northern Mexico, Texas
2013/09/20: UN: Ban offers condolences, UN assistance as hurricanes pummel Mexico
2013/09/19: Grist: Storm that already hit Mexico turns into a hurricane, threatens to strike again
2013/09/19: Wunderground: Manuel Hits Mexico Again, 138 Dead or Missing; Cat 4 Usagi a Threat to Hong Kong
2013/09/19: CBC: Mexico storm victims recount horror of mudslide -- Twin storms leave at least 97 dead
2013/09/19: CSM: Mexico storms strand thousands of tourists, with no reprieve in sight
2013/09/19: RT: At least 58 'likely' dead after mudslide hits Mexico ahead of hurricane
2013/09/19: BBC: Mexico storms: Hurricane Manuel upgraded and near coast
US meteorologists say Tropical Storm Manuel, which has battered the south-west of Mexico, has gathered strength and is now a category one hurricane.
2013/09/19: CBC: Mexico storms Manuel, Ingrid devastate locals -- Death toll climbs to 80 after twin storms hit Mexico
2013/09/19: BBC: Mexico storms: Death toll up to 97 as Manuel loses force
2013/09/18: al Jazeera: Deadly Mexico storms leave thousands stranded
At least 80 people left dead across country in aftermath of two tropical storms, as police tackle looting in Acapulco.
2013/09/18: CBC: Mexico storm Manuel reforms off coast, headed for Baja -- Death toll climbs to 80 as tourists scramble to escape cut-off resort of Acapulco
2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): Mexico floods cause worst storm damage in decades - in [19] pictures
2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): Mexico floods leave thousands trapped in Acapulco
2013/09/18: Wunderground: Mexican Death Toll 57 From Manuel and Ingrid; 95L Likely to Bring More Rain
2013/09/18: TP:JR: Two Powerful Storms Strike Mexico At Once, Turning A Quiet Atlantic Hurricane Season Extreme
2013/09/18: Xinhuanet: Death toll of storms rises to 47 in Mexico
2013/09/18: BBC: Mexico storms: Tourists airlifted from flooded Acapulco
2013/09/18: IOTD: Two Storms Strike Mexico [on Sept 15]
2013/09/17: IndiaTimes: 34 dead as big storms hit Mexico on opposite sides
2013/09/17: BBC: Mexico storms Ingrid and Manuel leave trail of destruction
2013/09/17: Guardian(UK): Mexico storms leave dozens dead and tourists stranded
2013/09/17: CSM: Tropical cyclones ravage both of Mexico's coasts, leaving at least 47 dead
2013/09/17: Eureka: NASA's TRMM satellite adds up Tropical Storm Manuel's amazing rainfall
2013/09/17: Eureka: NASA's TRMM satellite animation gives flyby of Tropical Storm Ingrid's heavy rains
2013/09/17: Wunderground: Sunshine Aids Colorado Evacuations; 38 Dead in Mexico From Manuel and Ingrid
2013/09/17: CBC: Mexico storm strands thousands in flooded Acapulco
At least 34 people died in flooding, landslides from twin storms
2013/09/16: CCP: Rare twin storms batter Mexico, 40 dead
2013/09/16: NASA: NASA Saw Tropical Storm Manuel Soak Western Mexico
2013/09/16: CBC: Mexico storms Manuel, Ingrid leave 33 dead
2013/09/16: CNN: A weakened Ingrid makes landfall in Mexico
2013/09/16: Wunderground: Tropical Storms Ingrid and Manuel Hit Mexico, Killing 21
2013/09/16: CSM: Mexico tropical storm systems hammer both coasts
2013/09/16: CSM: Mexico's double whammy storms: Manuel, Ingrid
2013/09/16: IndiaTimes: 24 dead as tropical storm, hurricane batter Mexico
2013/09/16: CBC: Mexico storms Manuel, Ingrid leave 21 dead
2013/09/16: al Jazeera: Deadly storms rage over Mexico
At least 21 people are dead and thousands more evacuated as the country is engulfed by storms on both coasts.
2013/09/16: al Jazeera: Coastal Mexico reels from twin storms
Tropical Storm Manuel strikes Pacific coast, killing nine people, as Gulf Coast braces for Hurricane Ingrid's landfall.
2013/09/16: BBerg: Hurricane Ingrid Nears Mexico as Manuel Dissipates Over Land
2013/09/16: BBC: Mexico hit by Hurricane Ingrid and Tropical Storm Manuel
At least 23 people have been killed in Mexico, which is being battered by two powerful storms simultaneously, one on its east and another on its west coast.
2013/09/15: Wunderground: Hurricane Ingrid and Tropical Storm Manuel Drench Mexico, Killing 5
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
2013/09/20: Wunderground: 95L Remains Unorganized in the Gulf of Mexico
2013/09/19: NASA: Mission Update: Southwestern Gulf System 95L Targeted by NASA's Global Hawk
2013/09/18: NASA: NASA Sees Formation of Northwestern Pacific's Tropical Depression 18W
2013/09/16: NASA: GOES Satellite Catches Three Tropical Cyclones in One Shot, Sees Gabrielle Absorbed
This week in notable weather:
- 2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Heavy rainfall in Canberra breaks record
This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:
- 2013/09/18: UColorado: Today's worst watershed stresses may become the new normal, study finds
- 2013/09/18: TMoS: When "Biblical" Becomes Normal
Rossby Waves? Blocking Patterns? Arctic Oscillation?
What is the Arctic melt doing to our weather?
- 2013/09/17: Wunderground:RR: Colorado's Big Flood: Arctic Oscillation (5)
- 2013/09/16: CCP: Colorado floods: another example of amplified jet stream
- 2013/09/16: PSinclair: Colorado
Meanwhile on the GHG front:
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
- 2013/09/20: ABC(Au): Wood smoke, heavy industry, power generators: air pollution study
  A study into the sources of air pollution in the Upper Hunter has been released to the public this afternoon.
  The fine particle characterisation study revealed that domestically produced wood smoke, emissions from heavy industry and power generation are all contributing factors.
- 2013/09/19: IOTD: The Global Toll of Fine Particulate Matter
- 2013/09/18: Eureka: African dust storms in our air -- Dust storms in Africa affect US and the Caribbean's air quality
What's up with volcanoes this week?
- 2013/09/16: Guardian(UK): Indonesia evacuates 6,000 people after volcano erupts in North Sumatra
- 2013/09/16: CBC: Indonesia's Mount Sinabung erupts, forcing 6,000 to flee
As for the temperature record:
- 2013/09/22: CCurrents: Paleoclimate: The End Of The Holocene [Rahmstorf]
- 2013/09/19: TheConversation: Is global warming in a hiatus?
- 2013/09/17: RTCC: NOAA: August 2013 temperatures fourth highest on record
  August the 342nd consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th century average
- 2013/09/16: QuarkSoup: Someone Forgot to Tell the Ocean About the Pause
- 2013/09/16: Moyhu: Adjusting temperature series stats for autocorrelation
- 2013/09/16: RealClimate: Paleoclimate: The End of the Holocene
In the attribution debate:
- 2013/09/21: SimpleC: Enhanced fingerprinting strengthens evidence for human warming role
- 2013/09/18: DemNow: The 1,000-Year Flood: Did Global Warming Worsen Colorado's Unprecedented Rainfall?
- 2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Scientists conclude humans key factor in global warming
- 2013/09/17: Guardian(UK): What's causing global warming? Look for the fingerprints
- 2013/09/15: Arctic News: Colorado flooding, what does the IPCC say?
What's the State of the Oceans?:
- 2013/09/19: TheConversation: Killing sharks is killing coral reefs too
- 2013/09/18: CBC: 'Jellyfish invasion' controversial among scientists -- Predictions of doom not universally shared
- 2013/09/18: Eureka: Southern Ocean sampling reveals travels of marine microbes
- 2013/09/18: CliSci(Au): Algorithm finds missing phytoplankton in Southern Ocean
- 2013/09/17: Grist: Forget zombies; we should be fighting jellyfish
- 2013/09/16: Grist: Hawaii molasses spill less delicious, more disastrous than it sounds
And the State of the Biosphere?
- 2013/09/18: UKent: Heavily logged forests still valuable for tropical wildlife
- 2013/09/16: BBC: Hot summer helps boost butterflies
  UK butterfly numbers have benefited from the long spells of warm weather this summer, according to a nationwide survey.
  The annual Big Butterfly Count attracted a record 46,000 participants who spotted a total of 830,000 insects.
On the extinction watch:
- 2013/09/21: DD: Attempt to export nearly-extinct pygmy sloths sets off international incident in Panama
- 2013/09/17: Eureka: Extinction and overfishing threats can be predicted decades before population declines
- 2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Extinction fears aired for vulnerable sea eagle
  Natural resources staff on Kangaroo Island believe South Australia's white-bellied sea eagle population is at high risk of extinction if nests continue to be disturbed by human activities.
  At the last count, there were about 70 breeding pairs of the endangered bird in the state.
The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern.
And then, there are the NeonicotinoidsSee also:
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2013/09/21: CBC: Climate change pushing lobster north, study says
  Lobster and other marine species moving into cooler northern waters, says 1st of its kind study
- 2013/09/20: TP:JR: Yes, The Summer Of 2013 Did Break Records
- 2013/09/18: TreeHugger: Could climate change be any worse? Yes. BEARS!
- 2013/09/17: CSM: New climate change map adds a new factor: people
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2013/09/19: TreeHugger: Adding calcium to soil can heal forests damaged by acid rain, help increase maple syrup production!
- 2013/09/16: CSM: How one group of plants help regrow an entire forest
- 2013/09/15: Eureka: Tropical forest carbon absorption may hinge on an odd couple
- 2013/09/15: Eureka: Tropical forests 'fix' themselves -- New results from the Smithsonian's Panama Canal Watershed experiment
Desertification looms as a threat. See also :
- 2013/09/15: RTCC: UN targets global land degradation deal in 2015
Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:
- 2013/09/17: CBC: 10 West Nile cases confirmed in Alberta
- 2013/09/16: Eureka: Study shows projected climate change in West Africa not likely to worsen malaria situation
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2013/09/21: ABC(Au): Fast-moving fire in Sunshine Acres and Nikenbah near Hervey Bay brought under control
- 2013/09/20: MODIS: Fires and smoke in Argentina [on Sept.11]
- 2013/09/19: WSWS: Early, ominous start to Australian bushfire season
- 2013/09/17: MODIS: Fires, smoke, and dust in Argentina [on Sept 10]
Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:
- 2013/09/21: ProMedMail: Coral reef kill - Caribbean: virus associated with white plague
- 2013/09/20: ABC(Au): Study finds climate change action needed to save Barrier Reef
- 2013/09/19: UToronto: Overfishing of sharks is harming coral reefs
Acidification is changing the oceans:
- 2013/09/19: DD: Ocean acidification drives Oregon oyster hatchery to Hawaii...
- 2013/09/17: DD: Graph of the Day: CO2 and acidity measurements at Monterey Bay, 1993-2010
- 2013/09/16: TreeHugger: A closer look at the horrors of ocean acidification
- 2013/09/16: RTCC: Arctic Ocean acidifiying at 'unprecedented levels' as sea ice melts
- 2013/09/15: DD: Volcanic vents show how ocean acidification threatens marine life
- 2013/09/17: CJR: #Oceanfall -- The Seattle Times' glitzy new digital package unveils a substantial piece of reporting on our changing seas
- 2013/09/11: STimes: Oysters dying as coast is hit hard
- 2013/09/11: STimes: Lucrative crab industry in danger
- 2013/09/11: STimes: Pacific Ocean takes perilous turn
Glaciers are melting:
- 2013/09/19: FaGP: Toby Glacier Retreat, Purcell Range, British Columbia
- 2013/09/19: USGS: Surveying Ice and Fire: The First Map of All of Iceland's Glaciers and Subglacier Volcanic Calderas Released
- 2013/09/18: TheConversation: Tibetan glaciers decapitated by warming climate
- 2013/09/16: FaGP: Brúarjökull Retreat, Iceland
Sea levels are rising:
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2013/09/21: DD: Image of the Day: Satellite view of Greeley, Colorado flooded by the South Platte River, 17 September 2013
- 2013/09/20: PSinclair: Colorado Update, and Hurricane Watch in the Gulf
- 2013/09/20: DD: Graph of the Day: Annual average Secchi depth at Lake Tahoe, 1967-2010
- 2013/09/20: WSWS: Death toll at six in Colorado flooding
- 2013/09/20: IOTD: Floods in Colorado [June 29 vs. Sept.17]
- 2013/09/20: RTCC: India and China face significant flooding risk warns Swiss Re
  Insurer's analysis of 616 cities around world predicts Asia cities set to suffer most from climate related impacts
- 2013/09/20: Xinhuanet: Heavy rain in Thailand causes flooding in 7 provinces
- 2013/09/19: TheCanadian: Colorado's fracking flood: new aerial photos, contamination fears
- 2013/09/18: BPA: Photos: Cleaning Up a Mess After the Flood at Frasier Meadows Retirement Community
- 2013/09/18: EPOD: Flood Debris Along Boulder Creek, Colorado
- 2013/09/18: PSinclair: NCAR: How much rain fell on the Front Range, and how historic was it?
- 2013/09/18: DD: Heatwave and wildfires worsened Colorado flooding - 'This was a once-in-1000-year rainfall'
- 2013/09/18: CNN: Wary Nebraska watches as Colorado overflow rolls east
  Some runoff from Colorado flooding will likely end up on River Platte in Nebraska - "We're anxiously waiting to see how the Platte River responds," resident says - Neighboring Colorado takes stock of aftermath of deadly floods
- 2013/09/17: CCurrents: Colorado Floods: All Dress Rehearsals Are Over
- 2013/09/17: CCurrents: Colorado's Thousand-Year Flood
- 2013/09/17: CSM: In flooded Colorado, an anguished question: where to live, and for how long
- 2013/09/17: BBC: Colorado floods: Hundreds still missing
- 2013/09/17: Resilience: 5 Things You Should Know About Colorado's '1,000 Year Flood' (with Jaw-Dropping Photos)
- 2013/09/17: Guardian(UK): Colorado flood deaths reach eight but number of missing continues to fall
- 2013/09/17: PSinclair: Images from Colorado Flooding
- 2013/09/17: RT: FEMA grounds drones helping authorities map Colorado flood areas
- 2013/09/17: BPA: Photos: Aftermath of Boulder Flood
- 2013/09/17: CNN: Colorado flooding: Residents return, but some find no home
  Two counties issue numbers of unaccounted for residents - In the town of Lyons, flood waters pushed entire houses around like furniture -
  Nearly 18,000 homes around the state have been damaged - Air efforts may be the largest evacuation since Katrina
- 2013/09/17: PSinclair: The Colorado Event: Struggling to Find a Precedent
- 2013/09/17: DD: Record rainfall soaks New Mexico, prompts rescues - More than 11 inches fell in a 24-hour period, which forecasters describe as 'unbelievable'
- 2013/09/17: WSWS: Seven confirmed dead in Colorado flooding
- 2013/09/17: IOTD: Floods in Colorado [Sept 7 vs. Sept 13]
- 2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Heavy rainfall in Canberra breaks record
- 2013/09/16: TreeHugger: Colorado floods show challenge of global weirding
- 2013/09/16: BPA: 18 Inches of Rain on My SE Boulder Block This Week
- 2013/09/16: TechDirt: FEMA Grounds Private Drones That Were Helping To Map Boulder Floods, Threatens To Arrest Operators
- 2013/09/16: CDreams: 'Thousand-Year Flood' in Colorado Has Climate Change Written All Over It
- 2013/09/16: CDreams: Colorado's Thousand-Year Flood -- Repeated assaults culminate with epic floods in Colorado
- 2013/09/16: CNN: Colorado floods: Stories of grief, generosity and gratitude
- 2013/09/16: LeDaro: Heavy rains and flooding is an international phenomena - picture of the day
- 2013/09/16: CBC: Colorado flooding destroys, damages thousands of homes -- 4 dead, hundreds unaccounted for following flooding
- 2013/09/16: WSWS: More than 500 unaccounted for in Colorado floods
- 2013/09/16: al Jazeera: Fresh rains hamper Colorado flood rescue
  Search for people stranded across US state grows more difficult amid heightened risk of flash-flooding and mudslides.
- 2013/09/15: CSM: Colorado flood: There's more where that came from
- 2013/09/15: DD: Image of the Day: Satellite view of weather system that caused '1000-year flood' in Colorado, 11 September 2013
- 2013/09/15: DD: Colorado's 'Biblical' flood in line with climate trends...
- 2013/09/15: BPA: Sunday Morning. It's Still Raining in Boulder
- 2013/09/15: CDreams: Hundreds Missing as Historic Floods Continue to Ravage Colorado
- 2013/09/15: CBC: Colorado flood rescue efforts hampered by more rain
First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
Second, put a price on carbon
Third, begin to reduce the human population
And elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2013/09/21: Guardian(UK): To fight climate change, we must trust scientific truth and collective action
- 2013/09/20: TFTJO: Keep calm and jump out!
- 2013/09/17: Guardian(UK): 'Super grass' could vastly reduce agriculture emissions, say scientists
  Brachiaria grasses inhibit the release of nitrous oxide, which has a more powerful warming effect than carbon dioxide or methane
- 2013/09/16: Grist: Wasted food is a huge climate problem
- 2013/09/16: Eureka: New world map for overcoming climate change
Consider transportation & GHG production:
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2013/09/21: OilDrum: The House that Randy Built
- 2013/09/21: ERabett: A Tree Should Grow In Brooklyn
- 2013/09/20: ERW: Insight: national US benchmarking policy could save $60 billion
  Many building owners overlook opportunities to improve the energy performance of their buildings. New analyses from the Climate and Energy Policy Laboratory at Georgia Tech, US, suggest that a policy called "energy benchmarking" offers a low-cost way of addressing this issue whilst reducing pollution and saving money.
- 2013/09/17: TP:JR: Carbon-Free, Biologically-Grown Bricks Win Green Business Competition
- 2013/09/16: Eureka: Environmentally friendly cement is stronger than ordinary cement
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2013/09/20: BBC: Norway abandons Mongstad carbon capture plans
  The outgoing government in Norway has buried much-vaunted plans to capture carbon dioxide and store it underground amid mounting costs and delays.
- 2013/09/16: ABC(Au): Soil can offset carbon emissions from farms
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2013/09/19: Guardian(UK): Russia urges UN climate report to include geoengineering
- 2013/09/19: RTCC: Russia urges UN's IPCC climate report to include geoengineering
- 2013/09/19: PermacultureNews: Healing the Planet Through Photosynthesis and Carbon Sequestration [geo eng]
- 2013/09/18: EIJ: Biochar: Black Gold or Just Another Snake Oil Scheme?
What's new in conservation?
- 2013/09/19: TheConversation: Protect a sixth of the land, save two thirds of species
- 2013/09/18: CNN: 'Wall of trees' to protect Nairobi wildlife
  Nairobi National Park is threatened by human encroachment - Lack of planning means park has become compromised, say experts - Nairobi Greenline Project will plant 300,000 trees to form 30-kilometer fence
- 2013/09/18: NatureN: The Himalayas must be protected
  Climate change and human activities are pushing the fragile ecosystem ever closer to instability, warns Maharaj K. Pandit
- 2013/09/18: SciAm:EC: The 5 Biggest Myths about the Endangered Species Act
While on the adaptation front:
- 2013/09/19: RTCC: Study identifies 10 regions to target climate adaptation funding
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2013/09/17: SSRN: Climate Engineering Field Research: The Favorable Setting of International Environmental Law by Jesse Reynolds
- 2013/09/16: GMD: Assimilating water column and satellite data for marine export production estimation by X. Yao & R. Schlitzer
- 2013/09/16: GMDD: Application and evaluation of McICA scheme with new radiation code in BCC_AGCM2.0.1 by H. Zhang et al.
- 2013/09/16: GMDD: Modeling different freeze/thaw processes in heterogeneous landscapes of the Arctic polygonal tundra using an ecosystem model by S. Yi et al.
- 2013/09/16: TC: Snow on the Ross Ice Shelf: comparison of reanalyses and observations from automatic weather stations by L. Cohen & S. Dean
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (abs) Future reef decalcification under a business-as-usual CO2 emission scenario by Sophie G. Dove et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (ab$) Microbial diversity in The Cedars, an ultrabasic, ultrareducing, and low salinity serpentinizing ecosystem by Shino Suzuki et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (abs) Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans sp. nov. causes lethal chytridiomycosis in amphibians by An Martel et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (abs) Evidence of recovery of Juniperus virginiana trees from sulfur pollution after the Clean Air Act by Richard B. Thomas et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (ab$) Recovery of a top predator mediates negative eutrophic effects on seagrass by Brent B. Hughes et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (abs) Priming of jasmonate-mediated antiherbivore defense responses in rice by silicon by Mao Ye et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (ab$) Agricultural landscape simplification does not consistently drive insecticide use by Ashley E. Larsen
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (ab$) The Hawthorne effect and energy awareness by Daniel Schwartz et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (abs) Bioclimatic and physical characterization of the world's islands by Patrick Weigelt et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (abs) End of the Little Ice Age in the Alps forced by industrial black carbon by Thomas H. Painter et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (ab$) Model projections of atmospheric steering of Sandy-like superstorms by Elizabeth A. Barnes et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (ab$) Sea surface height evidence for long-term warming effects of tropical cyclones on the ocean by Wei Mei et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (ab$) Origin and provenance of spherules and magnetic grains at the Younger Dryas boundary by Yingzhe Wu et al.
- 2013/09/17: PNAS: (letter$) Observational evidence supports the role of tropical cyclones in regulating climate by Ryan L. Sriver
- 2013/09/: RSTA: Climate sensitivity, sea level and atmospheric carbon dioxide by James Hansen et al.
- 2013/09/16: ESD: The impact of nitrogen and phosphorous limitation on the estimated terrestrial carbon balance and warming of land use change over the last 156 yr by Q. Zhang et al.
- 2013/09/17: ACP: Regional CO2 flux estimates for 2009-2010 based on GOSAT and ground-based CO2 observations by S. Maksyutov et al.
- 2013/09/17: ACP: Relating aerosol absorption due to soot, organic carbon, and dust to emission sources determined from in-situ chemical measurements by A. Cazorla et al.
- 2013/09/16: ACP: Atmospheric processing of iron carried by mineral dust by S. Nickovic et al.
- 2013/09/17: BGD: Seasonal trends of dry and bulk concentration of nitrogen compounds over a rain forest in Ghana by F. Fattore et al.
- 2013/09/17: BGD: Anthropogenic and natural methane fluxes in Switzerland synthesized within a spatially-explicit inventory by R. V. Hiller et al.
- 2013/09/16: BGD: Timing of sea ice retreat can alter phytoplankton community structure in the western Arctic Ocean by A. Fujiwara et al.
- 2013/09/16: CP: Water-soluble organic carbon in snow and ice deposited at Alpine, Greenland, and Antarctic sites: a critical review of available data and their atmospheric relevance by M. Legrand et al.
- 2013/09/16: CP: Can we determine what controls the spatio-temporal distribution of d-excess and 17O-excess in precipitation using the LMDZ general circulation model? by C. Risi et al.
- 2013/09/17: CPD: Impact of precession on the climate, vegetation and fire activity in southern Africa during MIS4 by M.-N. Woillez et al.
- 2013/09/17: CPD: Evaluation of seasonal climates of the Mediterranean and nothern Africa in the CMIP5 simulations by A. Perez-Sanz et al.
- 2013/09/16: CPD: Similarity estimators for irregular and age uncertain time series by K. Rehfeld & J. Kurths
- 2013/07/16: ERL: Quantification of upland thermokarst features with high resolution remote sensing by E F Belshe et al.
- 2013/07/04: arXiv: Molten Air -- A new, highest energy class of rechargeable batteries by Stuart Licht
- 2013/09/19: arXiv: Mass Extinction And The Structure Of The Milky Way by M. D. Filipovic' et al.
- 2013/09/15: Nature:CC: (ab$) Mapping vulnerability and conservation adaptation strategies under climate change by James E. M. Watson et al.
- 2013/09/15: Nature:CC: (ab$) The role of satellite remote sensing in climate change studies by Jun Yang et al.
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2013/09/21: JEB: Only 6 models?
- 2013/09/19: SMandia: Published Rebuttal of Akasofu Paper "On the Present Halting of Global Warming"
- 2013/09/19: QuarkSoup: A Useful Paper on One Model's Results
- 2013/09/18: PS: The Known Knowns of Climate Change by Stefan Rahmstorf
- 2013/09/17: CCP: "Response of the wintertime Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation to current and projected Arctic sea ice decline: a numerical study with CAM5," J. Climate (2013); doi: 10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00272.1
- 2013/09/17: CCP: Benjamin Santer et al., "Human and natural influences on the changing thermal structure of the atmosphere"
In the science organizations:
- 2013/09/20: NatureN: Russian academy leader speaks out on reforms
  Vladimir Fortov highlights the need for a clear separation between science and administration.
- 2013/09/19: NatureN: Vote seals fate of Russian Academy of Sciences -- Controversial law has critics fearing 'liquidation' of the nation's science
- 2013/09/18: RT: Academy of Sciences reform bill passes Lower House
  The State Duma has given its final approval to the controversial document that deprives Russia's Academy of Sciences of most of its property and management rights and transfers them to a newly created government agency.
  The bill was passed by the 331 against 107 voting with one abstention.
- 2013/09/18: ScienceInsider: Golden Rice Not So Golden for Tufts
- 2013/09/17: ScienceInsider: The True Cost of Becoming an Academician in China?
More DIY science:
- 2013/09/20: CSM: Calling all plankton hunters: Ecologists need your help.
- 2013/09/17: Eureka: Online citizen scientists: Classify plankton images -- Plankton Portal uses crowd-sourcing to classify strange oceanic creatures
What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?
- 2013/09/16: NatureNB: European Research Council funds arXiv - a taste of changes to come
Regarding Hansen:
- 2013/09/20: RtS: If We Burn All the Fossil Fuels [Hansen]
- 2013/09/18: Lenz: James Hansen's New Opinion on Venus Syndrome
Regarding Bartlett:
- 2013/09/15: Resilience: Albert Bartlett: On message about exponential growth to the end
Meanwhile at the UN:
- 2013/09/19: Xinhuanet: "Champions of the Earth" award ceremony held in New York [5 pix]
- 2013/09/18: UN: UN 'Champions of the Earth' prize honours individuals fighting for the environment
- 2013/09/17: CCurrents: [Veerabhadran Ramanathan] Indian Scientist Behind Pioneering Black Carbon Research To Be Conferred UN 'Champion Of The Earth' Award
- 2013/09/17: EurActiv: Potocnik bags UN 'Champions of the Earth' prize
  The United Nations will honour Janez Potocnik, the EU's top environment official, with its Champions of the Earth prize for his efforts to promote a greener EU economy.
- 2013/09/16: UN: UN chief appoints Monique Barbut of France as head of convention to combat desertification [UNCCD]
Somebody is always having a 'Day':
2013/09/16: WMO: Healthy Atmosphere is theme of Ozone Day
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2013/09/15: CleanTechnica: Latest RGGI Auction: Time To Reconsider "Success" In Carbon Markets?
The Robin Hood tax, aka the Tobin tax, aka the Bank tax, aka the Financial Transaction tax, keeps coming up:
On the international political front, tensions continue as the empire leans on Iran:
- 2013/09/22: Xinhuanet: West should accept Iran's nuclear enrichment right: president
  President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday urged the West to accept Iran's nuclear enrichment right.
  "Enrichment inside Iran and within the international rules and conventions should be endorsed" by Western powers, Rouhani told a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
  By making the remarks, the president is reasserting Iran's longtime position that nuclear enrichment is the "inalienable right" of the country.
- 2013/09/22: IndiaTimes: Iran to take control of Russian-built reactor on 'Monday'
  Tehran: Iran will take control of a Russian-built nuclear power station at Bushehr on its Gulf coast on Monday, Iranian Atomic Energy Agency chief Ali Akbar Salehi said.
- 2013/09/19: Guardian(UK): Hassan Rouhani: Iran will never seek to build nuclear weapons
- 2013/09/17: EUO: EU court scraps sanctions against Iran firm
  An EU court Tuesday ruled sanctions against Iran's biggest shipping line, IRISL, be lifted because the EU did not provide evidence it is aiding Iran's alleged nuclear arms programme.
- 2013/09/17: Xinhuanet: China eyes substantial progress of Iran nuclear issue solution
- 2013/09/16: DerSpiegel: Intelligence Sources: Rohani Prepared to Shut Down Nuclear Site
  International sanctions are taking their toll on Iran's economy, and it now appears that new President Hassan Rohani could thus be willing to make concessions in the country's long-running standoff with the West over its nuclear program.
- 2013/09/16: AntiWar: Report: Iran Would Shut Enrichment Plant for End to Sanctions
- 2013/09/15: Guardian(UK): Iran's Rouhani may meet Obama at UN after American president reaches out
  First meeting of US and Iranian leaders since 1979 revolution could open way to diplomatic end to Iranian nuclear standoff
- 2013/09/14: SST: Recasting "The Great Game" - TTG
South [& East] China Sea tension persists:
- 2013/09/18: Xinhuanet: U.S. says position unchanged on Diaoyu Islands
- 2013/09/18: Xinhuanet: Commentary: Sincere moves needed to jumpstart China-Japan relations
- 2013/09/16: WSWS: Sino-Japanese tensions flare over disputed islands
Another island dispute over undersea oil:
The Trans-Pacific Partnership looks like a stealth corporate takeover:
- 2013/09/19: CDreams: 'Winning the Race to the Bottom': Obama Moves to Fast-Track the TPP
The Brazil-USA contretemps over NSA is developing:
- 2013/09/19: BLongstaff: Wow! This NSA stuff is getting serious -- Rouseff snubs Obama
- 2013/09/18: FDL: Brazil's President Cancels Trip To US Over NSA Spying
- 2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): The US needs to take the hint from Dilma Rousseff's snub
  The Brazilian president's cancelled visit, over NSA spying, ought to jolt the US out of its arrogant disrespect for Latin America
- 2013/09/17: RT: Brazilian president postpones visit to Washington over US spying
- 2013/09/17: PLNA: Espionage Against Brazil Causes Rousseff to Defer U.S. Visit
- 2013/09/17: Guardian(UK): Brazilian president postpones Washington visit over NSA spying
- 2013/09/17: McClatchyDC: Brazil to Obama: We're not coming to dinner
As for miscellaneous international political happenings:
- 2013/09/16: TP:JR: China And California Form Unlikely Partnership To Address Climate Change
- 2013/09/16: RTCC: California and China sign climate change pact
  US state signs two-year agreement with Beijing, agreeing to work together to advance low carbon development
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
- 2013/09/21: DD: Video: Russian guards 'storm Greenpeace ship' protesting Arctic drilling platform - Thirty activists held in 'illegal boarding of a peaceful protest ship'
- 2013/09/21: ABC(Au): Greenpeace activists face piracy charges over Gazprom oil protest
  Russian authorities are threatening to bring criminal charges against Greenpeace activists, including an Australian man, over piracy for scaling an oil platform in the Arctic.
  Special forces officers armed with guns stormed Greenpeace's ship, the Arctic Sunrise, after the protest and locked up the activists.
- 2013/09/20: TheCanadian: Russians storm Greenpeace ship with 2 Canadians, tow to port
- 2013/09/20: Guardian(UK): Greenpeace activists could be charged with terrorism after ship stormed
  Crew of Arctic Sunrise were in custody of armed Russian security forces after being prevented from disrupting oil rig work
- 2013/09/20: IndiaTimes: Armed Russian guards lock up activists on ship: Greenpeace
- 2013/09/20: ABC(Au): Arctic Sunrise: Russia to tow Greenpeace ship, detained protesters to port after armed raid
- 2013/09/20: CNN: Russian authorities detain Greenpeace activists protesting Arctic drilling
  Greenpeace icebreaker is carrying 30 activists, a spokesman says - Thursday's incident occurred in international waters, it adds -
  "They're still trying to kick in the door," says a Greenpeace tweet that documented the incident - The group is protesting oil drilling in the Arctic
- 2013/09/20: ABC(Au): Greenpeace says Russian coastguards detaining Arctic Sunrise crew in locked room
  Environmental group Greenpeace says armed Russian officers have stormed its ship protesting oil exploration in the Arctic and detained all its crew in a locked room.
  Activist Faiza Oulahsen called news agency AFP from Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise icebreaker and said the crew had been locked in the ship's mess.
  "Twenty-nine of us are being held in the same room," Ms Oulahsen, 26, said. She said between 10 and 12 officers apparently from Russian security services had boarded the ship.
- 2013/09/19: BBC: Russia 'seizes' Greenpeace ship after Arctic rig protest
- 2013/09/19: CBC: Greenpeace ship boarded by Russia, 2 Canadians arrested
  Paul Ruzycki of Port Colborne, Ont. and unidentified Montreal man among 25 activists under arrest
- 2013/09/18: RTCC: Russian authorities threaten to shoot Greenpeace Arctic protesters
- 2013/09/18: GreenPeace: Greenpeace climbers arrested, shots fired in ongoing Russian Arctic oil protest
- 2013/09/18: BBerg: Greenpeace Activists Are Removed From Gazprom Arctic Rig
  Two environmental activists who climbed an OAO Gazprom (GAZP) Arctic rig to protest planned oil extraction were taken into custody following warning shots from Russia's Coast Guard.
- 2013/09/16: CCP: Police arrest NoKXL great-grandmother protesting at TransCanada's Houston headquarters
What are the activists up to?
- 2013/09/18: DemNow: Bill McKibben: Obama Can Salvage His Climate Legacy by Rejecting Keystone XL Oil Pipeline
- 2013/09/18: CCurrents: Two Indian Cities Among 75 That Protest Against Oil Drilling In The Arctic
- 2013/09/18: Grist: British anti-fracking occupation will continue [in Balcombe]
- 2013/09/18: RTCC: Kelly Rigg: Women's leadership will strengthen climate action
- 2013/09/18: BBC: Greenpeace activists have launched an attempt to board a Russian oil platform and prevent it drilling in the Arctic
- 2013/09/17: CCP: Wen Stephenson: Yes, Harvard, the Climate Crisis Is an 'Extraordinarily Rare Circumstance'
- 2013/09/16: Grist: A small group in Maine takes on a big tar-sands pipeline plan
Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:
- 2013/09/15: P3: Minnow Saves Albuquerque: An Example of Ecological Services
Regarding science education:
- 2013/09/20: Grist: These global-warming-denying creationists want to rewrite science textbooks
- 2013/09/17: SciAm:GB: The Sea Change in Science Education: Corporate Stakeholders Step Up
While in the UK:
- 2013/09/19: Guardian(UK): Number of climate sceptics rising in the UK, survey finds
  Researchers examined public attitudes to climate change and nuclear power in the UK and Japan
- 2013/09/19: TheCanadian: Number of UK climate change deniers up 400%
- 2013/09/17: TMoS: Boris Slams Wind Farm "Disease"
- 2013/09/16: Monbiot: Parliament of Fools
  The US disease has arrived in Britain: representatives waging an all-out war against science.
- 2013/09/16: Guardian(UK): How much longer can MPs resist this flat-Earth love-in? [George Monbiot]
  All the evidence of manmade climate change is proving inconvenient for a Commons beseiged by fossil fuel lobbyists
- 2013/09/16: Guardian(UK): Lib Dems' nuclear U-turn shows they realise we can't say 'no' to everything [Mark Lynas]
- 2013/09/16: Guardian(UK): [Former UK scientific adviser] David King warns against fracking
- 2013/09/16: RTCC: [Former Chief Scientific Advisor] David King appointed UK climate change envoy
- 2013/09/16: RTCC: John Ashton: a winning climate coalition is waiting to be forged
  Former UK climate envoy says low carbon industry and progressive politicians need to develop new alliance
- 2013/09/15: Guardian(UK): Lib Dems vote to accept nuclear power
  Party backs motion to accept nuclear power's role in electricity supply, in a regulated environment and without public subsidy
- 2013/09/15: Guardian(UK): Lib Dems' green boast under threat as party votes for nuclear
And in Europe:
- 2013/09/22: BBC: Germany election: Voting gets under way
- 2013/09/20: EurActiv: EU admits double-counting climate finance and development aid
  EU officials have admitted for the first time that member state donations to the developing world can simultaneously count towards meeting climate change obligations and development commitments, such as providing 0.7% of gross income for overseas aid.
  The lines between EU-funded projects for development and climate mitigation and adaptation often overlap and ODA funding in support of, for example, renewable energy projects can "clearly contribute to more than one objective," an EU official told EurActiv, on condition of anonymity.
- 2013/09/19: EurActiv: EU farm subsidies rise despite downward trend: OECD
  Public support made up 19% of all EU farming revenues last year despite a historic downward trend, the OECD said in a report released yesterday (18 September).
  The EU shelled out E83 billion in support of agricultural producers in 2012 - or 19% of total farm receipts - a rise of 1% from the year before, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
  Support for farming has declined by some 10% since 1995-97, when the EU introduced direct payments to farmers to compensate for the decrease in price support.
- 2013/09/18: NatureN: Germany hits science high -- But election prompts fears that budgetary pressures may sap strong investment
- 2013/09/17: RTCC: Are EU carmakers presenting artificially low emission data?
- 2013/09/15: RTCC: Will Norway's climate ambition continue under Erna Solberg?
  What will a right-wing government mean for Norway's future role in international efforts to address climate change?
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2013/09/22: ABC(Au): Warning of more power pain [in WA]
  The State Opposition leader Mark McGowan says electricity prices will rise if a government plan to privatise state power entities comes to fruition.
- 2013/09/20: ABC(Au): Council loses wind farm 'decision-making'
  The Tablelands Regional Council says the Queensland Government has taken decision-making about a controversial wind farm out of its hands.
  RATCH Australia is hoping to build at least 75 large wind turbines at Mount Emerald near Walkamin and had asked the council for an extension until next April to meet environmental and technical reporting requirements.
  Mayor Rosa Lee Long says that has now been granted by the State Government.
- 2013/09/20: ABC(Au): Anti coal seam gas protesters take to horse back to deliver message to Canberra
- 2013/09/20: Guardian(UK): Abbott may have decimated the Climate Commission, but my work will go on by Tim Flannery
- 2013/09/20: Resilience: In Australia, an Uphill Battle To Rein in the Power of Coal
- 2013/09/19: PeakEnergy: South Australia's perfect energy mix: Cleaner, greener, cheaper
- 2013/09/19: BBerg: Carbon Trade Seen Losing Globally in Aussie Vote: Energy Markets
  Australia is at risk of breaching a global agreement to cut greenhouse gases as power markets signal Prime Minister Tony Abbott will exploit the widest election victory in nine years to repeal the nation's carbon system.
  Electricity futures prices show the implied costs of emitting a metric ton of carbon in Australia plunged 18 percent in the two days following the Sept. 7 election, bringing its monthly decline to 55 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. At their lowest, prices indicated an 80 percent probability that Abbott will overturn the law that charges the nation's polluters for their CO2 emissions, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
- 2013/09/19: ABC(Au): MP urged to help save clean energy fund
  The Victorian Wind Alliance is calling on the Liberal Member for Wannon, Dan Tehan, to help stop the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) from being axed.
  The Federal Government's ministry was sworn in yesterday and it is understood legislation to abolish the clean energy fund is to be drafted immediately.
- 2013/09/18: ABC(Au): Hope renewable energy co-op lead study will discover why concerns exist about wind power
- 2013/09/18: ABC(Au): A mixed reaction to new Abbott ministry from Mid North Coast
- 2013/09/18: ABC(Au): Julia Gillard's 'carbon tax' regrets debatable
- 2013/09/16: ABC(Au): Airport fears glare from solar farm
- 2013/09/13: SJ: Invincible Summer
Now we get to watch the suppository of wisdom destroy what little Australia has done to fight climate change:
- 2013/09/22: JQuiggin: Restarting the History Wars: a decade of silence
- 2013/09/21: WSWS: New Australian government appoints military commander to oversee anti-refugee regime
- 2013/09/20: Fairfax: Axe comes down on climate body
- 2013/09/20: TheConversation: Abbott and the public service: where now on department heads?
- 2013/09/20: TheConversation: Australia needs climate institutions, whoever is in power
- 2013/09/19: Guardian(UK): Coalition scraps Climate Commission, dispensing with Tim Flannery
- 2013/09/19: CCurrents: New Ultraconservative Climate Change Denialist Abbott Coalition Australian Federal Government Fails Its Four Key Policy Goals [Polya]
- 2013/09/19: TheConversation: Axing the Climate Commission splits Australians from science
- 2013/09/19: ABC(Au): Government to scrap climate change agencies
  The Federal Government is moving to scrap two climate change agencies as it continues to put its stamp on the public service.
  The head of the Climate Commission, Professor Tim Flannery, lost his job today and the organisation was abolished.
  And the [Climate Change Authority] with the job of advising the government about emissions targets and the carbon price is also expecting to be wound up.
- 2013/09/19: ABC(Au): Government axes Climate Commission
- 2013/09/19: WtD: Climate Commission shut down (expect the war on science to get worse)
- 2013/09/19: ScienceInsider: Australia's New Government Cuts Climate Panels
  On its second day in office, Australia's new conservative government has fulfilled an election promise by shuttering the independent Climate Commission. It also began drafting legislation to abolish a second government body, the Climate Change Authority.
- 2013/09/19: ABC(Au): Tim Flannery defends Climate Commission after Government scrapping
  The Abbott Government has abolished the Climate Commission, pushing ahead with its plan to scrap government bodies associated with Labor's carbon pricing scheme and climate change policy.
  The commission was set up under then prime minister Julia Gillard in February 2011 as an independent body "to provide reliable and authoritative" information on climate change.
  The now former chief commissioner, Professor Tim Flannery, says Environment Minister Greg Hunt called him this morning to announce the commission's closure.
- 2013/09/19: ABC(Au): Tony Abbott says Coalition 'respects' Indonesia's sovereignty on asylum policy
  Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the Federal Government "respects" Indonesia's sovereignty over asylum seeker policy after an Indonesian MP labelled the Coalition's policy "offensive" and "illegal".
- 2013/09/18: ABC(Au): [Incoming environment minister] Greg Hunt labels Clean Energy Finance Corporation a 'green hedge fund', says it will be shut down
- 2013/09/18: ABC(Au): Coalition carbon policy: What's in it for farmers?
- 2013/09/18: ABC(Au): [Federal Industry Minister, Ian] Macfarlane says CSG has 'transformed' Qld farm fortunes
- 2013/09/18: TheConversation: Abbott's transport priorities drive Australia into the past
- 2013/09/18: JQuiggin: The global party of stupid
- 2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Julie Bishop rejects Ita Buttrose criticism that Cabinet's lack of women shows 'glass ceiling still exists'
  Australian of the Year Ita Buttrose says she is disappointed Tony Abbott's incoming Cabinet only includes one woman, arguing it is proof the "glass ceiling" still exists.
- 2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Liberal backbencher Dennis Jensen hits out at science 'confusion' in new ministry
- 2013/09/17: TMoS: Tony Abbott's Ongoing Woman Problem
- 2013/09/17: Guardian(UK): Australia, where is your science minister?
- 2013/09/17: RenewEcon: Tony Abbott's business advisor attacks "myth" of climate change
- 2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Australia needs a strategic approach to the development of science
  Professor Ian Chubb, Australia's chief scientist discusses Tony Abbott's failure to appoint a Minister for Science and says what is really needed is a 'whole of government' approach to the development of science.
- 2013/09/17: TheConversation: Where to for energy policy under a Coalition government?
- 2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Industry Minister dismisses coal seam gas protests
  The incoming federal Industry Minister, Ian Macfarlane, says the development of Australia's natural gas industry will be a priority.
- 2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Funding up in air as CEFC's future remains uncertain
  Funding for clean energy projects in north-west New South Wales is up in the air now that Clean Energy Finance Corporation's future is uncertain.
  Moree Solar Farm is currently the only guaranteed project set to go ahead in the region, as the contract was secured before the caretaker period set in.
- 2013/09/17: WtD: The boys are back in town: Abbott's dumps science and women, gives industry portfilio to Greenhouse Mafia
- 2013/09/17: ScienceInsider: Australia's New Science-Lite Government
- 2013/09/16: PointCarbon: Australia axes ministerial role for climate change
- 2013/09/16: Monbiot: Parliament of Fools
  The US disease has arrived in Britain: representatives waging an all-out war against science.
- 2013/09/16: HotWhopper: Abbott Destroys the Joint:- Sexism regains its crown in Australia as Tony Abbott retreats to the 1950s!
- 2013/09/16: ScienceInsider: Australia's New Science-Lite Government
  Australia's scientific community and incoming Prime Minister Tony Abbott are off to a rocky start. Unveiling his picks for Cabinet posts at a press conference in Canberra today, Abbott left science out in the cold. Pressed by reporters on the omission, Abbott replied that Australia's national research agency, CSIRO, would fall under the portfolio of industry minister Ian Macfarlane.
- 2013/09/16: ABC(Au): Sue Boyce and Judith Troeth express dismay over Tony Abbott's male-dominated Cabinet
  Tony Abbott has not even been sworn in as Prime Minister yet, but he is already under fire from his own side over a cabinet line-up that includes just one woman.
Post election results and reactions:
- 2013/09/22: ABC(Au): Fairfax count: LNP candidate Ted O'Brien says he can still defeat Clive Palmer
  The Liberal National Party candidate for the Queensland seat of Fairfax believes he can still defeat businessman Clive Palmer.
  The result in Fairfax is one of the tightest in political history, with the Electoral Commission (AEC) ordering a recount after Mr Palmer finished just 36 votes ahead.
- 2013/09/21: ABC(Au): Clive Palmer wins Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax by 36 votes, triggering recount
- 2013/09/21: ABC(Au): Abbott decision to scrap Climate Commission criticised by UK climate action institute
- 2013/09/21: WtD: The Climate Culture War enters a new phase in Australia
- 2013/09/21: NewAnthropocene: Australia's mini-Dark Age, greeted with celebration
- 2013/09/21: ABC(Au): Clive Palmer holds slender lead ahead of LNP as last votes tallied in Fairfax
- 2013/09/20: TP:JR: Australia's New Government Puts Its Head Back In The Sand On Climate Change
- 2013/09/19: ABC(Au): Academic questions Federal Govt's climate change policies
- 2013/09/18: UKISS: Well done Australia! Morons.
- 2013/09/18: ABC(Au): Clive Palmer and Ted O'Brien swap lead in vote count for Queensland seat of Fairfax
- 2013/09/17: ABC(Au): Clive Palmer's lead dwindles to 64 votes as Indi firms for Cathy McGowan
  Mining magnate Clive Palmer's grip on the seat of Fairfax appears to be slipping with just 64 votes separating him from his nearest rival.
  With 91.7 per cent of the vote counted...
  [...]
  Meanwhile, the AEC says the Liberal Party's Sophie Mirabella is fighting a losing battle in the north-east Victorian seat of Indi.
  Independent candidate Cathy McGowan is leading Mrs Mirabella by 387 votes with just 550 ballots left to be counted.
  The majority of those pre-poll votes will be tallied tomorrow, and about 50 postal votes will be counted on Friday.
After years of wrangling, the Murray Darling Basin Plan is in place, but the water management fights are far from finished:
- 2013/09/20: ABC(Au): Dam levels provide welcome insurance as summer approaches
  Recent record-breaking rainfall has delivered a welcome top-up for water supplies in the ACT region.
  The combined storage level for ACT dams is sitting at about 73 per cent of capacity, a rise of about four per cent since last weekend.
- 2013/09/18: ABC(Au): [Greg] Hunt to re-examine Murray endangered listing
  The incoming Environment Minister says he will take a closer look at a decision to list the lower reaches of the Murray-Darling as "critically endangered".
- 2013/09/18: ABC(Au): Queensland drought predicted to bankrupt some graziers
  [...] About 60 per cent of Queensland is now under drought declaration.
- 2013/09/16: ABC(Au): Irrigators want Murray endangered listing scrapped
And in New Zealand:
- 2013/09/21: WSWS: NZ Labour installs new leader
- 2013/09/20: CBC: New Zealand to sell off 49% stake in key power company -- IPO for Meridian Energy set for Oct. 29, part of sell-off of government assets
- 2013/09/18: TP:JR: Marring 'Middle Earth': The Frantic Effort To Exploit New Zealand's Fossil Fuels
While in the Indian subcontinent:
- 2013/09/21: CCurrents: Koodankulam Welcomes Ganeshan's Return
- 2013/09/21: CCurrents: Have American Nuclear Companies Trapped Indian Prime Minister?
- 2013/09/19: Asia Times: India's free lunches exact a high price
And in China:
- 2013/09/20: RTCC: China responds to public anger with new pollution plan
  Pew Research Centre reports 47% unhappy with air quality as government releases new 5-year plan
- 2013/09/19: TP:JR: China Will Try To Reduce Pollution Through Public Shaming
  In an effort to help cities meet clear air targets and promote environmentally friendly growth, the Chinese central government announced it will start publishing a list of its 10 worst -- and best -- cities for air pollution each month.
- 2013/09/18: BBC: China unveils a new round of electric car subsidies
  China has unveiled a new round of subsidies for fuel-efficient vehicles in a bid to combat rising air pollution in its major cities.
- 2013/09/17: BBerg: China Renews Electric Vehicle Subsidies Without Adding Hybrids
- 2013/09/17: PSinclair: China's Coming War on Coal
While in Japan:
- 2013/09/17: BBerg: Japan Warned U.S. of Blackouts in Appeal for LNG Supply [last year]
In Africa:
- 2013/09/16: OilChange: Electrifying Africa -- But at What Cost to Africans?
And South America:
- 2013/09/18: UDW: Brazil: "The Oil Is Ours" -- But Its Secrets Are the NSA's
- 2013/09/18: PLNA: Ecuador Congress Approves Yasuni Oil Field Report
- 2013/09/17: PLNA: President Correa Shows Chevron Pollution in Amazonia
- 2013/09/16: UDW: Awá: Top Human Rights Watchdog Demands Answers from Brazil
  The Awá tribe is being driven towards extinction by Brazil's failure to protect its forest.
- 2013/09/16: CleanTechnica: 2,700 MW Of Solar PV Up For Grabs At Upcoming Brazilian Renewable Energy Auction
In Canada, neocon PM Harper, aka The Blight, pushes petroleum while ignoring the climate and ecology:
- 2013/09/18: WpgFP: Joe Oliver says Keystone is worth the costs of ongoing U.S. lobbying efforts
- 2013/09/18: MSimon: The Day Joe Oliver Collided with Robert Redford
- 2013/09/17: G&M: Oliver targets U.S. coal dependence as oil sands controversy builds
- 2013/09/17: MSimon: Harperland: The Horror and the Resistance
The Lac Mégantic tragedy plays on:
- 2013/09/21: CDreams: Off the Rails: How a Lack of Oversight Doomed Lac-Megantic
- 2013/09/18: CBC: Lac-Mégantic an 'environmental disaster,' says expert -- Preliminary report on contamination has been released
  An expert on hazardous material spills has called the Lac-Mégantic train explosion "the worst environmental disaster in Canadian history."
  Rosa Galvez, chair of the civil water engineering department at Laval University, said digging at the site of the blast shows the soil there is completely saturated with oil.
  "They ran hundreds of trenches and they saw free petroleum coming and filling up the trenches," said Galvez.
  A preliminary report on the extent of the contamination was released yesterday by the Montreal-based Golder company, stating that more than 100,000 cubic meters of soil will have to be excavated at the site of the derailment.
  The report, made public Monday, is based on an investigation conducted by Golder between July 7 and Aug. 20.
- 2013/09/17: TStar: Lac Megantic: Environmental report details extent of contamination
  A preliminary report into soil and water reveals that an estimated 5.6 million litres of crude oil spilled from the MMA train that devastated Lac Megantic in July
Canadian scientists protested from coast to coast, while the Harper gang jeered:
- 2013/09/20: WSWS: Canada: Cross-country protests against Conservatives' attack on science
- 2013/09/17: CDreams: Thousands of Canadian Scientists Protest 'Death of Science-Based Policy'
  Harper government's cuts to research funding show preference for 'ignorance over evidence and ideology over honesty'
- 2013/09/16: Monbiot: Parliament of Fools
  The US disease has arrived in Britain: representatives waging an all-out war against science.
- 2013/09/16: Straight: David Suzuki speaks out against Stephen Harper at Stand Up for Science rally in Vancouver
- 2013/09/16: SciAm:Symb: Standing (and Soaring) with Canadian Science
- 2013/09/16: Grist: Canada bans researchers from discussing snowflakes, findings. Scientists protest
- 2013/09/16: Guardian(UK): Canadian scientists protest against government censorship
- 2013/09/16: CBC: Stand Up for Science rallies target federal government -- Demonstrations target research cuts, muzzling of scientists
- 2013/09/16: TMoS: Scientists Across Canada Protest Harper Gag Rules
- 2013/09/16: KSJT: Standing Up for Science in Canada
- 2013/09/15: CDreams: Rallies Across Canada Ask Canadians to 'Stand Up for Science' -- New advocacy group fighting for the survival of public science
The high mortality rate of Canadian bees lately is triggering an institutional reaction:
- 2013/09/13: HC:PMRA: Consultation on Action to Protect Bees from Exposure to Neonicotinoid Pesticides, Notice of Intent, NOI2013-01
- 2013/05/31: HC:PMRA: Evaluation of Canadian Bee Mortalities that Coincided with Corn Planting in Spring 2012
- 2013/09/16: CBC: Cause of bee deaths has farmers, beekeepers at odds -- Pest Management Regulatory Agency says insecticide deadly, farmers disagree
  According to the Association of Professional Apiculturists, nearly every province experienced higher honey bee losses during the 2012-2013 winter compared to the one prior. (The Associated Press)
  An arm of the federal government says it has determined pesticides and insecticides are having impacts on bees and other pollinators.
  Beekeepers are applauding the news while grain farmers have serious concerns.
  Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency says current agricultural practices related to the use of neonicotinoid treated corn and soybean seed are to blame.
  The agency has published a notice of intent that outlines measures to mitigate risks to pollinators actions and provides interested parties, including those beekeepers and farmers an opportunity to comment.
- 2013/09/15: TheCanadian: Canada mulls crackdown on pesticide suspected of killing bees
Now that Christy Clark has a mandate, what will she do?
- 2013/09/22: CBC: B.C. NDP president Moe Sihota to step down -- Former NDP cabinet minister was elected to position in 2009
- 2013/09/20: TMoS: [Green Party MLA and professor, Andrew] Weaver Slams Christy Clark's Gassy Pipedream
- 2013/09/20: PI:B: B.C.'s Climate Action Charter deserves national recognition
- 2013/09/19: Tyee: Potential Dix Successors Already Emerging -- Heyman, Horgan, Eby and Farnworth say they may vie to be next BC NDP honcho
- 2013/09/19: CBC: B.C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix to step down
  Dix will stay on until a new leader is chosen sometime in 2014
- 2013/09/18: Tyee: Dix Bows Out -- 'That we fell short on election day is my responsibility,' owns BC NDP leader in exit speech
- 2013/09/18: Tyee: Disasters Foretold in Northern Gateway Danger Zones -- Enbridge already knows where, and how much, the proposed pipeline could leak
- 2013/09/18: BuckDog: A Good Political Leader Knows When To Step Down - Adrian Dix Leaving Leadership Of BC New Democrats ...
- 2013/09/18: TheCanadian: Tahltan's Sacred Headwaters defence has deep roots
- 2013/09/18: TheCanadian: It's official: Adrian Dix stepping down as BC NDP leader next year
- 2013/09/18: TheCanadian: Rafe: Farnworth favorite to replace Adrian Dix as LNG hurts Horgan
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2013/09/20: NBF: A near term lead cooled integral reactor that is passively safe for the Canadian oilsand market
- 2013/09/17: CBC: Robert Redford ... labels Alberta oilsands as 'dirtiest oil on the planet'
- 2013/09/16: G&M: Alberta First Nation concerned about six leaks at oil sands project
  A First Nation says it is concerned about two other leaks at an oil sands project in northeastern Alberta, bringing the total in recent months to six.
  Chief Bernice Martial of Cold Lake First Nation said Monday that she is worried about the safety of drinking water, animals and vegetation in her region.
- 2013/09/16: TheCanadian: First Nation says CNRL up to 6 leaks in Cold Lake, Alberta
Also in Alberta:
- 2013/09/20: Tyee: Encana Files Defence in Lawsuit with Fracking Folk Hero -- Landmark case could change how shale gas industry is regulated in Canada.
  One of the continent's largest natural gas extractors has finally filed a legal defence in a landmark Alberta lawsuit that could change the way hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is regulated in Canada.
  In its statement of defence, Calgary-based Encana Corporation denies that it contaminated the drinking water well of Jessica Ernst, a scientist and oil patch consultant, and that it "complied with or exceeded the requirements of all relevant laws, directives and regulations in respect of its coal bed methane."
- 2013/09/16: TheCanadian: No flood insurance without better maps, factoring in climate change
- 2013/09/15: CBC: No flood insurance without new maps, say CEOs
  Study surveyed senior executives at 13 Canadian insurance firms on extreme flooding
  Insurance executives say homeowners will never have access to comprehensive flood insurance in Canada unless there are new maps of flood-prone areas that take climate change into account.
  That's the finding of a study that surveyed senior executives at 13 Canadian insurance firms on extreme flooding, which devastated parts of southern Alberta and Toronto this year and is becoming more frequent across the country.
While in Saskatchewan:
- 2013/09/21: SaskBoy: Climate Change According to Sask Party Government
- 2013/09/15: SaskBoy: An Irrational Mixup at SaskPower
And in Manitoba:
In Ontario:
- 2013/09/20: Rabble:KK: Grassy Narrows First Nations will get their day in the Supreme Court to stop clear-cutting
In the North:
- 2013/09/16: CBC: Diavik wind power making diamonds greener -- 4 turbines at mine site reduce power costs and environmental impact
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
- 2013/09/17: CBC: Endangered sage grouse to be protected by emergency order -- Unprecedented move comes after environmental groups sue federal government
  For the first time, Environment Canada will issue an emergency order to protect an endangered species, a rare Prairie bird called the greater sage grouse.
  Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Tuesday that the order will be issued in the coming months and will impose restrictions to protect the habitat of the sage grouse on provincial and Crown lands in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
- 2013/09/16: MetroNews: Elizabeth May says she's 'shocked' over Nova Scotia NDP's environment decisions
And on the American political front:
- 2013/09/21: WSWS: US Congress moves to cut billions in food aid
- 2013/09/20: BBerg: Brown Approves California Regulations on Oil Fracking
  California Governor Jerry Brown, preparing the state for development of the largest shale-oil reserves in the U.S., signed into law regulations for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process that has been criticized by environmental groups.
  The third-largest oil-producing state will for the first time require permits to use the drilling technique, which injects millions of gallons of chemically treated water underground to break up rock and free trapped oil and natural gas. Energy companies will have to disclose the ingredients in fracking fluid and notify nearby landowners of their plans.
- 2013/09/19: AutoBG: California puts legislative muscle, $2b behind hydrogen fueling stations
- 2013/09/18: BBC: A US judge has ordered a retrial in the case of five officers convicted of charges related to deadly shootings on a bridge after Hurricane Katrina
- 2013/09/18: PSinclair: More Green Tea, Mr Koch?
- 2013/09/17: DD: Virginia mayors: Time to respond to climate change - 'There are more 100-year storms in the last 15 years than we've ever seen'
- 2013/09/17: UCSUSA:B: Managing Risk in Ohio: Clean Energy's Role in a Reliable, Diverse Power Supply
- 2013/09/17: HillHeat: Microsoft Defends Its Support For Anti-Climate American Legislative Exchange Council
- 2013/09/16: TP:JR: Unspent Hurricane Katrina Recovery Funding Goes To Mississippi Convention Center Parking Garage
- 2013/09/16: ADN: Anglo American pulls out of Alaska's proposed Pebble mine
  One of the two companies seeking to build Alaska's Pebble mine is dropping out of the project as scrutiny grows over its impact on wild salmon.
  British mining giant Anglo American said Monday it is withdrawing from the Pebble Partnership, a 50-50 venture with Canada's Northern Dynasty Minerals. Anglo American will take a $300 million charge for dropping out.
- 2013/09/16: TP:JR: The Owner Of Half Of Alaska's Controversial Pebble Mine Just Backed Out
- 2013/09/16: Grist:Bobby Jindal to axe officials who took on Big Oil
- 2013/09/16: Grist: Bills will make it easier for Californians to buy and sell solar power
- 2013/09/16: ICN: Americans Finding Themselves Powerless to Stop Pipeline Companies From Taking Their Land
  Unable to deny right of away for new Enbridge pipeline in Michigan, homeowners see their American dream overtaken 'by an invading army' on their property.
- 2013/09/16: Grist: A small group in Maine takes on a big tar-sands pipeline plan
- 2013/09/15: EnvEcon: The market for RINs
- 2013/09/14: NYT: Wall St. Exploits Ethanol Credits [RINs], and Prices Spike
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
- 2013/09/21: TP:JR: Ex-Halliburton Official Charged With Destroying Evidence In Gulf Oil Spill Disaster
- 2013/09/19: CDreams: Halliburton Pleads Guilty to Destroying Evidence in Gulf Disaster
- 2013/09/19: CSM: Halliburton's former manager charged with destroying evidence after 2010 oil spill
  A former Halliburton manager was charged Thursday with destroying evidence following BP's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a case that coincides with a guilty plea to a related charge by the Houston-based oilfield services company.
  Anthony Badalamenti, who had been the cementing technology director for Halliburton Energy Services Inc., was charged in federal court with instructing two other employees to delete data during a post-spill review of the cement job on BP's blown-out well.
  Halliburton was BP PLC's cement contractor on the drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf in April 2010, killing 11 workers and triggering the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
- 2013/09/19: BBC: Halliburton pleads guilty to destroying oil spill evidence
- 2013/09/19: FuelFix: Halliburton pleads guilty to criminal charge in Gulf oil spill case
- 2013/09/18: OilChange: Cancer Risk to BP Clean Up Workers
- 2013/09/17: TP:JR: BP Oil Spill Cleanup Workers Are At Higher Risk Of Sickness, Cancer
The Keystone XL wheel grinds slowly. And it grinds woe:
- 2013/09/21: CDreams: 'Drawing the Line' On Keystone XL, Americans Take to the Streets
  In national day of action across 50 states, advocates demand rejection of Keystone XL and dirty tar sands
- 2013/09/20: DeSmogBlog: This Graphic Says It All About Keystone XL Web of Deceit
- 2013/09/20: FDL: DOJ Gives Halliburton A Pass On Destroying Evidence In BP Oil Spill
- 2013/09/19: CCP: The Roller Coaster of Emotions on the Path to Build the Keystone XL Pipeline
- 2013/09/18: DeSmogBlog: Whether Approved Or Not, Keystone XL Has Been A Victory For Lobbyists
- 2013/09/17: G&M: Lobbyists get rich as Keystone XL pipeline marks five years in limbo
- 2013/09/16: CCP: Activists to Risk Arrest at TransCanada HQ in Houston in Protest of the Keystone XL Pipeline
- 2013/09/16: OilChange: The Five Year Fight Over KXL
The Mayflower oil spill and its ramifications just keep dragging on:
- 2013/09/20: TreeHugger: Experts say dilbit could have caused Mayflower, Arkansas oil spill
One side effect of the Colorado flood is contamination by fracking fluids:
- 2013/09/20: Grist: In wake of Colorado floods, officials start counting oil and gas spills
- 2013/09/20: DD: Thousands of oil and gas wells underwater in Colorado -- State monitoring 10 separate oil and gas spills
- 2013/09/20: DenverPost: Colorado confirms more oil spills but flood flows complicate clean-up
  State regulators raised their tally of oil and gas storage tanks toppled in the flood to 24 and documented more spills Friday, bringing the total to more 22,000 gallons of oil contaminating Colorado.s South Platte River valley.
- 2013/09/20: BPA: Safely Diluted, Or Not?
- 2013/09/19: BoulderWeekly: Boulder County floods: What's in the water? A look at potential flood-related impacts on human health and the environment
- 2013/09/19: CSM: Colorado flooding puts oil and gas wells underwater
- 2013/09/19: BBC: Colorado flood death toll rises, amid oil spills
- 2013/09/19: CDreams: Colorado Flooding Sparks 18,000-Gallon Oil Leak -- 10 oil and gas releases being monitored in the state, officials say
- 2013/09/19: DeSmogBlog: Media Ignores Damaged Oil And Gas Tanks In Colorado Floods
- 2013/09/19: TP:JR: In The Wake Of Colorado's Devastating Floods, 5,250 Gallons Of Crude Oil Spill Into Major River
- 2013/09/18: TreeHugger: Colorado flood damaged oil pipelines & gas fracking wells
- 2013/09/17: TMoS: Petro-Statehood and Flooding Are a Bad Mix
- 2013/09/17: CDreams: Colorado's Oil and Gas Infrastructure Drowning in Climate-Driven Floodwaters
  Fossil fuel industry not immune to the climate-driven disaster it helps create
- 2013/09/17: EneNews: Colorado's richest oil field buried in flood waters, 1,000s of wells and sites affected -- Official: "Scale is unprecedented" We will have to deal with environmental contamination...
- 2013/09/17: OilChange: Colorado's Flooded Frack Wells
- 2013/09/17: TP:JR: Colorado Floodwaters Cover Fracking And Oil Projects: 'We Have No Idea What Those Wells Are Leaking'
- 2013/09/16: Grist: Oil and fracking chemicals spill into Colorado's floodwaters
- 2013/09/16: TheCanadian: Colorado flood raises fears of fracking chemical spill -- new photos
- 2013/09/15: TexasSharon: Is there a media blackout on the fracking flood disaster in Colorado?
- 2013/09/12: DenverPost: Colorado flood: Commerce City horse owners flee water spilling from Arsenal
  Commerce City authorities have evacuated the Irondale neighborhood after a day of carefully monitoring water flowing from a broken dam at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.
Is the fat lady going to sing at Pebble Mine?
- 2013/09/17: Grist: Pebble Mine project in Alaska is on the ropes
After much folderol, the EPA's new CO2 regulations came out this week. Much more folderol to come:
- 2013/09/21: BBC: Obama proposes carbon limits on new US power plants
  US President Barack Obama has unveiled a proposal to limit carbon emissions on new power plants built in the US.
  It would be the first federal attempt to impose limits on the pollution blamed for global warming.
  "Climate change - caused by carbon pollution - is one of the most significant public health threats of our time," said Environmental Protection Agency head Gina McCarthy.
  But the proposal is opposed by the coal industry and congressional Republicans.
- 2013/09/21: Guardian(UK): Carbon limits: Obama's EPA sets terms for tomorrow's cleaner energy industry
- 2013/09/20: CBC: Barack Obama moves to cap carbon emissions from power plants
- 2013/09/20: Guardian(UK): EPA outlines first steps to limit US coal plant pollution
  Proposal to tackle emissions from the power sector will require new plants to be about 40% cleaner than current coal plants
- 2013/09/20: CDreams: Flooding and Fracking in Colorado: Double Disaster
- 2013/09/20: CCP: Flooded oil and gas wells spark fears of contamination in Colorado
- 2013/09/20: BBerg: Obama's Carbon Rules Seen as New Battleground for EPA
- 2013/09/20: CSM: New EPA rules: Coal's future depends on cheap carbon capture
- 2013/09/20: CSM: Obama proposes cuts in power plant C02 emissions to tackle climate change
- 2013/09/20: AutoBG: New EPA clean coal plant rules would cut CO2 emissions in half
- 2013/09/20: GreenGrok: Government Says U.S. CO2 Emissions Going Back Up, Obama Moves to Stem the Tide
- 2013/09/20: SciAm:PI: Running the numbers on EPA's new CO2 regulations: combined cycle stacks up well
- 2013/09/20: Grist:EPA chief tells Grist what coal will have to do to survive in a "carbon-constrained" future
- 2013/09/20: Grist: Is this the beginning of the end for coal?
- 2013/09/20: NatureNB: EPA proposes emissions limits for new power plants
- 2013/09/20: ScienceInsider: Carbon Capture Would Become Reality Under New U.S. Power Plant Rules
- 2013/09/20: SciAm:Obs: The Answer to Coal Climate Pollution Is Natural Gas and Carbon Capture, EPA Says
- 2013/09/20: SciAm:PI: Don't just blame the EPA -- coal exports are down, too
- 2013/09/20: SciAm:Obs: EPA Challenges Coal Industry to Adopt New Technology
- 2013/09/21: ERabett:BSD: The one weird trick missing from coverage of carbon emission rules for new power plants
- 2013/09/20: UCSUSA: New EPA Carbon Rules Can Be Backstop Against Future Emissions
- 2013/09/20: RTCC: Will the USA's new power plant pollution limits kill coal?
At what point do you stop listening to the pretty lies and realize you've been had?
- 2013/09/20: CDreams: Obama's 'Clean Coal' Push Is Disaster for Planet's Climate: Experts
- 2013/09/19: CDreams: 'Winning the Race to the Bottom': Obama Moves to Fast-Track the TPP
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2013/09/20: DeSmogBlog: Should We Wait 300 Years for Clean Air in U.S. National Parks?
- 2013/09/20: TreeHugger: Oil pipeline regulation is broken, admits US top oil pipeline regulator
- 2013/09/19: DeSmogBlog: An End to Powder River Basin Coal Leases? Second Auction in Two Months Fails to Seal a Mining Deal
- 2013/09/19: CCP: As Colorado endures a slow-motion disaster, so-called "regulators" are in total denial -- while lives are at stake
- 2013/09/19: TP:JR: 'The Bottom Has Just Dropped Out Of The Market': Government's Latest [BLM] Coal Auction Attracts Lowest Bid In 15 Years
- 2013/09/18: Grist: USDA doesn't care about GMO contamination of alfalfa
- 2013/09/17: RT: FEMA grounds drones helping authorities map Colorado flood areas
- 2013/09/16: CSM: Is the writing on the wall for U.S. coal?
- 2013/09/15: CDreams: The USDA's Reckless Plan to Decrease Food Safety
  The government intends to spread a failed pilot program that decreased food safety to every hog plant in the nation.
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2013/09/20: FDL: House Votes To Cut Food Stamps By $40 Billion
- 2013/09/20: NYT:PK: SNAP Notes
- 2013/09/20: DD: Colorado House Republicans unanimously support flood relief, after unanimously opposing Hurricane Sandy aid...
- 2013/09/20: TP:JR: In The Midst Of The Budget Battle, Congress Is Handing Out Favors To The Mining Industry
- 2013/09/20: TP:JR: Republican Launches Personal Attack Against Keystone XL Activist At Congressional Hearing
- 2013/09/20: BBC: US lawmakers vote to cut food stamp benefits from 2014
  US lawmakers have narrowly voted to cut food stamp benefits from next year despite a veto threat from the White House and opposition from lobby groups.
  The Republican-led House of Representatives passed the bill by 217-200. But it has little chance in the Democratic-held Senate.
- 2013/09/19: WaPo:B: House Republicans just voted to cut food stamps by $39 billion. Here's how.
- 2013/09/19: HillHeat: Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.): "There Are No Emergency Rooms For Planets"
- 2013/09/19: ScienceInsider: U.S. Senate Passes Bill to Head Off Helium Shortage
- 2013/09/19: Grist: Republicans to poor: Tighten your belts
- 2013/09/19: TP:JR: The Five Craziest Arguments At Yesterday's Climate Hearing
- 2013/09/19: Grist: The best (and worst) quotes from the silly House climate hearing
- 2013/09/19: HillHeat: From Hitler To Lobsters: Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) Decries 'Oblivious Generation' Ignoring Climate Threat
- 2013/09/19: TP:Econ: Colorado House Republicans Unanimously Support Flood Relief, Unanimously Opposed Sandy Aid
- 2013/09/19: TCoE: This is how ugly denialism gets
- 2013/09/19: CSM: Why House wants to cut $4 billion from food stamps program
- 2013/09/18: Resilience: What You Need To Know Before This Week's House Vote On Food Stamps
- 2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): Obama climate change plan gets first airing in front of House sceptics
  EPA asserted authority to move forward without new laws from Congress at hearing where contrarian views were on display
- 2013/09/18: CDreams: GOP Pushes to Axe Food Stamps Amid Reports of Devastating Poverty
- 2013/09/18: CCurrents: Thursday Republican Controlled House Scheduled To Vote On Aid To Poor
- 2013/09/18: OilChange: House Climate Hearing Dripping in Oil Money
- 2013/09/18: TP:JR: Harry Reid On Senate GOP Inaction: 'Climate Change Is Here. We Are Doing Nothing About It.'
- 2013/09/18: Grist: Big Coal, Republicans go after Obama's [FERC] nominee, saying he's too green
- 2013/09/18: EnvEcon: Ummm...that's kinda the point
- 2013/09/18: ABC(US): Congress Presses for Details on Obama Climate Plan
- 2013/09/17: TP:JR: How Science Denial Is Going To Affect Wednesday's Big Climate Hearing
- 2013/09/17: Wonkette: Fearing Witchcraft, House Republicans Pull Proposal For National Science Laureate
- 2013/09/17: CSW: Upcoming House hearing on Obama administration's climate change activities September 18
- 2013/09/17: CSM: Sound and fury over [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)] nominee Ron Binz
- 2013/09/17: TP:JR: Climate Hawks Vs. Climate Deniers: 'Denial Is Not Just A River In Egypt'
- 2013/09/16: TechDirt: FEMA Grounds Private Drones That Were Helping To Map Boulder Floods, Threatens To Arrest Operators
- 2013/09/15: NYT: An Unusual Public Battle Over an Energy Nomination - the nomination of Ronald J. Binz to head the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2013/09/20: RealEconomics: We have the skills needed. But what future are we building with them?
- 2013/09/20: MetaSD: Are there limits?
- 2013/09/20: CassandrasLegacy: Plundering the planet: an update
- 2013/09/18: GreenGrok: Single-Stream Recycling
- 2013/09/18: CassandrasLegacy: Mineral resources and the limits to growth
- 2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): Localism is the cornerstone of environmentalism in the 21st century
  From community energy to protecting species, concern at the changes to our home environment is translating into action
- 2013/09/17: Resilience: Approaching a Steady State Economy, Part 2 -- Clean Clothes
- 2013/09/17: Guardian(UK): Green economy: will it ever be people, planet and profit?
In nature, there is no garbage:
- 2013/09/16: ABC(Au): E-waste is a 'global time bomb'
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology]
raised its head once again:
- 2013/09/22: CCurrents: If Overpopulation Isn't The Problem, What's The Question?
- 2013/09/21: CSM: A look at global population trends
- 2013/09/20: Resilience: If Overpopulation Isn't the Problem, What's the Question?
- 2013/09/16: TP:JR: NY Times Says Earth Has Unlimited Carrying Capacity, So Forget Climate Change and Party On, Homo Sapiens!
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2013/09/19: CSM: Don't panic: Earth has at least 1.75 billion years to go, scientists say
How do the corporate media measure up?
- 2013/09/21: JQuiggin: "We got it wrong", says Oz, but they're still wrong
- 2013/09/20: TCoE: Natural gas, the media's failures, and you
- 2013/09/20: CCP: Right-wing takeover at NPR: Paul G. Haaga new boss, cuts staff 10%, thank you dirty Koch money
- 2013/09/19: KSJT: US Press: Tons of ink for Colorado floods. Far worse and maybe even weirder Mexico storms? Feh.
- 2013/09/18: FAIR: Should Poor People Eat? Let's Hear From Both Sides!
- 2013/09/18: JQuiggin: The Daily Mail: comprehensively anti-science
- 2013/09/18: Guardian(UK): Majority of climate change news stories focus on uncertainty, study finds
  About eight in 10 stories contain some discussion of uncertainties and risk, according to Oxford analysis
- 2013/09/18: KSJT: Seattle Times: Story as broad as the sea - 3-part series on ocean acidification
- 2013/09/17: TP:JR: Time Magazine Pushes Phony 'Global Cooling' Meme With Cartoon Penguin
- 2013/09/17: FAIR: NPR's New Boss: Financial Industry Lobbyist, GOP Donor, Right-Wing Think Tank Booster
- 2013/09/17: DeSmogBlog: David Rose's Misinformation Legacy from WMD to Climate Change
- 2013/09/17: CCP: New Management, Same Misinformation? Tell Jeff Bezos To Stop The Washington Post's Climate Denial
- 2013/09/16: CSW: Lomborg's threadbare techno-optimism resurfaces in Washington Post, Australian
- 2013/09/16: JQuiggin: Can't quote, can't link
- 2013/09/15: MetOfficeNews: Met Office in the Mail on Sunday
While activists search for effective communication techniques:
2013/09/19: Eureka: After the storms, a different opinion on climate change
Extreme weather may lead people to think more seriously about climate change, according to new research. In the wake of Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, New Jersey residents were more likely to show support for a politician running on a "green" platform, and expressed a greater belief that climate change is caused by human activity.
This research, published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that traumatic weather events may have the power to shift people's automatic attitudes -- their first instincts -- in favor of environmentally sustainable policies.
2013/09/19: TP:JR: Journalists Should Talk About Climate Change More Like A Pension Policy, Study Suggests
2013/09/19: ERabett:BSD: Storms crashing on peoples' heads can fill some information deficits on climate
2013/09/18: ERabett: Chris Mooney Was Right
Here is something for your library:
- 2013/09/17: JQuiggin: Book plug: Pushing our luck, and more
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2013/09/21: SkS: The Climate Show #35: elections, extremes and a big wind by Gareth
- 2013/09/18: SkS: Latest myth from the Mail on Sunday on Arctic ice by dana1981
As for podcasts:
- 2013/09/21: CBC:Q&Q: #1) Overfishing Sharks Damages Coral Reefs
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2013/09/21: RT: Ecuador protests denial of US visas for plaintiffs in Chevron oil damages case
- 2013/09/20: Rabble:KK: Grassy Narrows First Nations will get their day in the Supreme Court to stop clear-cutting
- 2013/09/20: Tyee: Encana Files Defence in Lawsuit with Fracking Folk Hero -- Landmark case could change how shale gas industry is regulated in Canada.
- 2013/09/19: Grist: California wins right to clamp down on carbon from gasoline, diesel
- 2013/09/18: CSM: New twist in Ecuador vs. Chevron case
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
- 2013/09/20: Lenz: Of Course We're Heading For an Era of Renewable Energy
- 2013/09/17: Asia Times: Our black future by Michael T Klare
- 2013/09/20: SciAm:PI: Running the numbers on EPA's new CO2 regulations: combined cycle stacks up well
- 2013/09/19: PeakEnergy: South Australia's perfect energy mix: Cleaner, greener, cheaper
- 2013/09/18: TP:JR: Not Just Hydropower: Energy Needs Water And Water Needs Energy, Report Finds
- 2013/09/18: PSinclair: Utilities Shocked as More Companies Self-Generate Power
- 2013/08/18: OCEF: Our Clean Energy Future
- 2013/09/17: NBF: China may add double the hydro power Three Gorges Dam every year until 2030 to fight coal pollution
- 2013/09/17: PeakEnergy: Europe's largest tidal power array [Pentland Firth] surges forward
- 2013/09/16: SciNews: Bacterial batteries get a solid boost -- Using microbes to harvest energy from wastewater now has a silver lining
- 2013/09/16: BBC: Pentland Firth tidal turbine project given consent
  Work is to begin on the largest tidal energy project in Europe after the Scottish government granted permission.
  MeyGen is to install the tidal array in stages in the Pentland Firth, between Orkney and the Scottish mainland.
  It will begin with a 9MW demonstration project of up to six turbines, with construction expected to take place on a phased basis until 2020.
  When fully operational, the 86MW array could generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 42,000 homes.
What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?
- 2013/09/19: TreeHugger: Renewable energy is America's cheapest option, study finds
- 2013/09/19: CleanTechnica: Solar Power & Wind Power Now Cheaper Than Coal Power In US
- 2013/09/17: RenewEcon: US utility chooses wind and solar - "cheaper and more reliable"
- 2013/09/16: CleanTechnica: Utility Agrees: (Their) Solar Should Supplant Natural Gas
- 2013/09/16: SciAm:PI: Switching from coal to natural gas may be better for the climate than previously thought: new measurements see lower fugitive emissions from fracking
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifers for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2013/09/20: CCP: Sierra Club California statement on terrible, altered fracking regulatory bill SB4 (Pavley) signed by Governor Frackinator
- 2013/09/20: BBerg: Brown Approves California Regulations on Oil Fracking
  California Governor Jerry Brown, preparing the state for development of the largest shale-oil reserves in the U.S., signed into law regulations for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process that has been criticized by environmental groups.
  The third-largest oil-producing state will for the first time require permits to use the drilling technique, which injects millions of gallons of chemically treated water underground to break up rock and free trapped oil and natural gas. Energy companies will have to disclose the ingredients in fracking fluid and notify nearby landowners of their plans.
- 2013/09/19: OilChange: Reckless Endangerment while Fracking the Eagle Ford Shale
- 2013/09/18: Resilience: Snake Oil: How Fracking's False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future - Introduction
- 2013/09/17: GreenGrok: Natural Gas Study: Allays Fears for Some, Inspires Hot Air From Others
- 2013/09/17: Grist: This video explains almost everything you want to know about fracking
- 2013/09/16: SciAm:PI: EPA "got it right" on more stringent methane regulations
- 2013/09/16: CCP: Photos: Fracking industrialization scars Ohio countryside
- 2013/09/15: CleanTechnica: Everything You Wanted to Know About Fracking, But Were Afraid To Ask
On the coal front:
- 2013/09/19: DeSmogBlog: An End to Powder River Basin Coal Leases? Second Auction in Two Months Fails to Seal a Mining Deal
- 2013/09/19: MWEN: Report: Social costs, if accounted for, make coal uneconomical
- 2013/09/19: TP:JR: 'The Bottom Has Just Dropped Out Of The Market': Government's Latest [BLM] Coal Auction Attracts Lowest Bid In 15 Years
- 2013/09/18: TheCanadian: The End of Coal?
- 2013/09/16: TP:JR: When Coal Comes To Town: Western Communities Brace For Coal Export Explosion
- 2013/09/16: CSM: Is the writing on the wall for U.S. coal?
On the gas and oil front:
- 2013/09/20: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Dated Brent Spot....109.22
  WTI Cushing Spot....104.75
- 2013/09/20: DOE:TiE: Oil futures price curve has steepened over the past six months
- 2013/09/18: UCSUSA:B: Gas Ceiling: Assessing the Climate Risks of an Overreliance on Natural Gas for Electricity
- 2013/09/17: CSM: [US] Gas prices set record: 1000 days straight above $3 a gallon
- 2013/09/16: Resilience: Extreme Energy Extraction Roadtrip -- The Scary Ways We're Ruining the Country to Get Fossil Fuels
And in pipeline news:
- 2013/09/20: TreeHugger: Oil pipeline regulation is broken, admits US top oil pipeline regulator
- 2013/09/17: EurActiv: EU, Russia reach 'political' deal on OPAL gas pipeline: sources
  EU and Russia have agreed a deal on the use of Germany's OPAL link to Gazprom's Nord Stream gas pipeline, a Russian energy ministry spokeswoman said yesterday (16 September).
  No one from the European Commission, the EU executive, was available for immediate comment on the deal, which ends months of talks on OPAL, which runs from the offshore section of Nord Stream through Germany to the Czech border (see background).
  A deal could help to ease tensions between Russia and the EU, although the bigger issue of the European Commission's competition investigation into Gazprom remains unresolved.
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2013/09/16: PeakEnergy: The Peak in World Oil Production is Yet to Come
- 2013/09/15: EconView: 'The Peak in World Oil Production is Yet to Come' - Jim Hamilton
- 2013/09/15: EconBrowser: The peak in world oil production is yet to come
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2013/09/21: CSM: Is Brazilian sugarcane the answer to U.S. biofuel needs?
- 2013/09/21: CleanTechnica: New Real-World Study Adds Meat To Algae Biofuel Muscle
- 2013/09/19: TreeHugger: What happened to biofuels? Do they have a future?
- 2013/09/19: AlgaeBiomass: Algae Biofuel Can Cut CO2 Emissions by up to 68 Percent Compared to Petroleum Fuels Finds New Peer Reviewed Study
- 2013/09/18: BRitholtz: Ethanol: Another Chapter in Scamnation
- 2013/09/15: EnvEcon: The market for RINs
- 2013/09/14: NYT: Wall St. Exploits Ethanol Credits [RINs], and Prices Spike
The answer my friend...
- 2013/09/19: ERW: Insight: wind farms could impact atmosphere less than previously believed
- 2013/09/19: CleanTechnica: Vestas Receives 80 MW Order In US, With Possibility Of 750 MW
- 2013/09/18: CleanTechnica: One Of Europe's Largest Offshore Wind Farms [Thornton Bank] Commissioned
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2013/09/20: CleanTechnica: Sandia Harnessing Solar Energy With Tiny Particles
  Engineers at Sandia National Laboratories, along with partner institutions Georgia Tech, Bucknell University, King Saud University and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are using a falling particle receiver to more efficiently convert the sun's energy to electricity in large-scale, concentrating solar power plants.
  Falling particle receiver technology is attractive because it can cost-effectively capture and store heat at higher temperatures without breaking down, which is an issue for conventional molten salts. The falling particle receiver developed at Sandia drops sand-like ceramic particles through a beam of concentrated sunlight, and captures and stores the heated particles in an insulated container below. The technique enables operating temperatures of nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius. Such high temperatures translate into greater availability of energy and cheaper storage costs because at higher temperatures, less heat-transfer material is needed.
- 2013/09/19: CleanTechnica: Cost Of Solar Power 60% Lower Than Early 2011 In US
- 2013/09/18: CleanTechnica: US Solar Installations [832 megawatt] Strong In Quarter 2, 2013
- 2013/09/17: DOE:TiE: Most new residential solar PV projects in California program are not owned by homeowners
- 2013/09/15: TP:JR: U.S. Solar Installations Just Had Their Second-Best Quarter Ever
- 2013/09/05: NREL: New Study Shows Solar Manufacturing Costs Not Driven Primarily by Labor -- NREL, MIT take an in-depth look at national competitiveness in PV manufacturing
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2013/09/20: CleanTechnica: US Nuclear Power In Decline
- 2013/09/20: NBF: A near term lead cooled integral reactor that is passively safe for the Canadian oilsand market
- 2013/09/17: NBF: Asia Pacific forecasted to add 103 nuclear reactors by 2025
Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:
Like a mirage, the dream of a Hydrogen Economy shimmers on the horizon:
- 2013/09/19: UCSUSA:B: Batteries Not Included: How Chemistry is Impacting Hydrogen Powered Electric Vehicles
- 2013/09/17: ETI:RRapier: The Hydrogen Economy Revisited
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2013/09/19: Grist: How energy efficient is your city?
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2013/09/21: AutoBG: Boulder Electric keeps on trucking with vehicle-to-grid charging demonstrations
- 2013/09/18: UCSUSA:B: Companies Up the Ante in Support of Electric Vehicles and Workplace Charging
- 2013/09/17: AutoBG: Coastal states will lead plug-in vehicle adoption through 2022
- 2013/09/16: CleanTechnica: US Army Goes All Chevy Volt With New Hybrid EV
- 2013/09/16: AutoBG: Ethanol-heavy Brazil ready to shift focus to electric vehicles
- 2013/09/15: CSM: Does coal mean electric cars are bad? No, it's the other way around.
As for Energy Storage:
- 2013/09/21: NBF: Molten Air - A new, highest energy class of rechargeable batteries with up to 4.5 times the energy capacity of lithium air batteries
- 2013/09/18: PeakEnergy: Compressed Air Energy Storage Makes a Comeback
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2013/09/19: ICN: Most U.S. Companies Ignoring SEC Rule to Disclose Climate Risks
  Only 27 percent of publicly traded companies even mention 'climate change' in their annual reports, finds new data.
- 2013/09/18: CleanTechnica: Google To "Buy" 100% Of Electricity From 240 MW Texas Wind Farm
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
- 2013/09/20: RTCC: India and China face significant flooding risk warns Swiss Re
  Insurer's analysis of 616 cities around world predicts Asia cities set to suffer most from climate related impacts
- 2013/09/16: TheCanadian: No flood insurance without better maps, factoring in climate change
- 2013/09/15: CBC: No flood insurance without new maps, say CEOs
  Study surveyed senior executives at 13 Canadian insurance firms on extreme flooding
  Insurance executives say homeowners will never have access to comprehensive flood insurance in Canada unless there are new maps of flood-prone areas that take climate change into account.
  That's the finding of a study that surveyed senior executives at 13 Canadian insurance firms on extreme flooding, which devastated parts of southern Alberta and Toronto this year and is becoming more frequent across the country.
Who's fielding theFAQs?
- 2013/09/16: ABC(Au): Why don't trees grow above a particular altitude?
What do we have in (weekly) lists?
- 2013/09/21: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #38B by John Hartz
- 2013/09/20: BPA: 3 Picks: Root Microbiomes, Maggot Feed, Food Outdates
- 2013/09/20: CleanTechnica: Solar Energy & Wind Energy Buffet
- 2013/09/20: CleanTechnica: Electric Car, Bike, & Transit Buffet
- 2013/09/20: CleanTechnica: Cleantech Buffet Leftovers
- 2013/09/19: BPA: 3 Picks: Food Innovation, Antibiotic Resistance, Fracking Flood Damage
- 2013/09/18: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #38A by John Hartz
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

Note: You may notice my denialist coverage flagging. I am finding it
increasingly difficult to give any attention to these people.
- 2013/09/16: CSW: Correcting Ridley's climate errors in the Wall Street Journal
- 2013/09/17: QuarkSoup: Worse Even Than the Heartland Billboards?
- 2013/09/18: ICN: Ahead of IPCC Climate Report, Skeptic Groups Launch Global Anti-Science Campaign
  Leading scientists will soon tell the world they're 95% certain that humans are driving global warming. Skeptics are busy trying to sow any doubt.
- 2013/09/18: JQuiggin: The global party of stupid
- 2013/09/17: DeSmogBlog: International Climate Science Coalition Lacks Credibility, Launches Heartland Institute Anti-Science Report
- 2013/09/17: QuarkSoup: More on Lomborg's Faulty Understanding of the Basics
- 2013/09/17: DeSmogBlog: Two Tweets and a Lie! Greenpeace Responds to Heartland Institute
- 2013/09/17: DeSmogBlog: Zoologist Matt Ridley Should Stick to Animals Instead of Butchering Climate Science
- 2013/09/20: HotWhopper: WUWT, Heartland Institute and CFACT advocate global suicide by CO2
- 2013/09/19: Guardian(UK): IPCC report: sceptic groups launch global anti-science campaign
- 2013/09/16: DeSmogBlog: John Abraham Slams Matt Ridley for Climate Denial Op-Ed in Wall Street Journal
- 2013/09/21: Tamino: Double Standard
- 2013/09/20: Grist: Ahead of IPCC report, fossil-fuel groups organize climate denial campaign
- 2013/09/20: Guardian(UK): Big business funds effort to discredit climate science, warns UN official
- 2013/09/21: GLaden: Matt Ridley Wrong, John Abraham Right
- 2013/09/16: Maribo: False claims by contrarians, not scientists, caused Matt Gurney's cynicism about climate change
- 2013/09/17: LoE: 10 inconvenient truths for climate 'sceptics' everywhere...
- 2013/09/16: QuarkSoup: Does Bjorn Lomborg Understand Physics?
- 2013/09/16: Guardian(UK): The 5 stages of climate denial are on display ahead of the IPCC report
- 2013/09/16: SMandia: Goalposts are not just for sports: Climate deniers use them too!
- 2013/09/15: TP:JR: Have Matt Ridley, Wall Street Journal Finally Embraced Strong Climate Action And 2°C Warming Target?
- 2013/09/20: CDreams: Obama's 'Clean Coal' Push Is Disaster for Planet's Climate: Experts
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2013/09/18: QuarkSoup: "Scientists are a Skeptical Bunch" - John Abraham
- 2013/09/17: QuarkSoup: No Results Not Confirmed By Theory
- 2013/09/16: CCP: David Spratt: Is climate change already dangerous?
- 2013/09/16: Arctic News: Is climate change already dangerous?
- 2013/09/19: CCP: David Spratt: Is climate change already dangerous? Part II. Arctic sea ice
- 2013/09/19: TheConversation: Climate change is not all disaster and uncertainty
- 2013/09/18: Grist: Why debunk climate change deniers? by Phil Plait
- 2013/09/19: UCSUSA:B: What's in a Name? Why the [Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil] Definition of "Sustainable" Falls Short
- 2013/09/19: RTCC: Mary Robinson: climate change is a 'serious issue of human rights'
- 2013/09/20: LoE: I think it is time to start dealing with reality
- 2013/09/19: al Jazeera: Is natural resource development a blessing, a 'quick-fix,' or a curse?
  The "resource curse" is alive and well in the global south, as natural resource development deepens poverty.
- 2013/09/22: CCurrents: Women's Knowledge: Three Reasons We Won't Solve Climate Change Without It
- 2013/09/15: DeSmogBlog: Bitumen in Los Angeles: Photos of the La Brea Tar Pits
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- Wiki: MIS - Marine Isotope Stage
- UNFCCC: Warsaw Climate Change Conference - November 2013
- COP19 - CMP9, Conference of Parties and climate change conference
- Survival International - The movement for tribal peoples
- IPCC WGI AR5 -- Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis
- TBAS: Suzuki's Fukushima updates
- HMNDP: High-level Meeting on National Drought Policy
- The Great White Con -- Putting the Arctic sea ice record straight
- Worldwatch Institute
- Fermi Paradox
- Tamino: Open Mind
Low Key Plug

My first novel _Water_ was published in May 2007.
An Introduction is available.
My most recent novel _The Bottleneck Years_ is being serialized online atmy siteand on AFTIC at Table of Contents
If you want further information, see A Gentle Introduction.
If you want a copy, see The Deal.
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.

"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability
to understand the exponential function."
-Albert Bartlett
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Last modified September 22, 2013

More like this

And where are we to find discussions of the ecological science of human population dynamics/overpopulation of Earth? The AWAREness Campaign on The Human Population was founded in 2001. Since that moment I have seen it as a moral imperative to continue the work I’ve been doing for many years now: getting the message out and explaining to as many people as possible that human overpopulation of the Earth is occurring on our watch, that it poses profound existential risks for future human well being, life as we know it and environmental health, and that robust action is required starting here, starting now to honestly acknowledge, humanely address and eventually overcome.

Another Week in the Ecological Crises, September 22, 2013

Information Overload is Pattern Recognition

Equinox Edition

September 22, 2013

Yes we have no jokes this week. Hope you had an equable equinox:

Looking ahead to COP19 at (Warsaw) and future international climate negotiations:

The IPCC Climate Change 2013 report [AR5] is coming out next week, with all the usual back talk:

A largely unreported High-level Meeting on National Drought Policy went down this week:

Remember the Millennium Development Goals?

There was a lot of yelling about that EDF+ study:

This week in the potash fandango:

A new wrinkle in the Maldives saga:

How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

And on the Bottom Line:

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

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

Various psychological angles arise in considerations of the ecological crisis:

A note on theFukushima disaster:

Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

As for the charismatic megafauna:

That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

While in Antarctica:

The food crisis is ongoing:

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

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

In the Western Pacific, 600 km. wide Super Typhoon Usagi (17W) barreled through the Luzon Straight, zinging Taiwan and the Philippines, heading for Hong Kong:

Last weekend Typhoon Man-yi zapped Japan:

And in the Atlantic:

Ingrid and Manuel caused a lot of grief in Mexico:

While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

This week in notable weather:

This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

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

Meanwhile on the GHG front:

Aerosols are making their presence felt:

What's up with volcanoes this week?

As for the temperature record:

In the attribution debate:

What's the State of the Oceans?:

And the State of the Biosphere?

On the extinction watch:

The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern. And then, there are the NeonicotinoidsSee also:

More GW impacts are being seen:

And then there are the world's forests:

Desertification looms as a threat. See also :

Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:

As for heatwaves and wild fires:

Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

Acidification is changing the oceans:

Glaciers are melting:

Sea levels are rising:

As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels Second, put a price on carbon Third, begin to reduce the human population And elsewhere on the mitigation front:

Consider transportation & GHG production:

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

As for carbon sequestration:

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

What's new in conservation?

While on the adaptation front:

Meanwhile in the journals:

As for miscellaneous science:

In the science organizations:

More DIY science:

What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

Regarding Hansen:

Regarding Bartlett:

Meanwhile at the UN:

Somebody is always having a 'Day':

And on the carbon trading front:

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

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

South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

Another island dispute over undersea oil:

The Trans-Pacific Partnership looks like a stealth corporate takeover:

The Brazil-USA contretemps over NSA is developing:

As for miscellaneous international political happenings:

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

Looking ahead to COP19 at
(Warsaw) and future international climate negotiations:

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

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

The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern.
And then, there are the NeonicotinoidsSee also:

First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
Second, put a price on carbon
Third, begin to reduce the human population
And elsewhere on the mitigation front:

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