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  2. Another Week in the Ecological Crisis, September 29, 2013

Another Week in the Ecological Crisis, September 29, 2013

By illconsidered on October 1, 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 is not Knowledge...Knowledge is not Wisdom

September 29, 2013

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Is funny. Yes?

These equinox articles showed up after the fact:

  • 2013/09/23: CSM: What exactly is an equinox, anyway?
  • 2013/09/28: APOD: Equinox Earth

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

    IPCC - AR5 - The Documents:

    IPCC - AR5 - Reactions:

    IPCC - AR5 - The Buildup:

    The annual United Nations General Assembly started this week:

    A group of nations has created the Commission on the Economy and Climate:

    Looks like the MDGs are being eased out the door:

    This week in the Maldives saga:

    This week in the potash fandango:

    • 2013/09/25: CBC: Onexim mulling stake in Russian potash giant Uralkali
      Mikhail Prokhorov's investment group latest in long line of bidders for firm feuding with Belarusian partners
      Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's investment group Onexim has joined a list of potential bidders for a stake in the world's largest potash producer, Uralkali, as the search continues for a peacemaker to end a row between Russian and Belarusian potash exporters that has disrupted the global market in the valuable fertilizer component.

    How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

    And on the Bottom Line:

    Who's getting the subsidies, tax exemptions, loan guarantees, grants...?

    What's the World Bank up to?

    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:

      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:

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

    What do we have for Fukushima related papers this week?

    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:

    The food crisis is ongoing:

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

    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, Typhoon Pabuk (19W) curled away from the Philippines and Japan, but bothered both:

    Earlier, in the Western Pacific, Typhoon Usagi zapped mainland China:

  • 2013/09/28: DD: Heavy rains spawned by Typhoon Usagi kill 36 in Vietnam, Cambodia
  • 2013/09/25: Xinhuanet: Typhoon Usagi kills 29 in China's Guangdong
  • 2013/09/24: Xinhuanet: 8,000 evacuated as typhoon Usagi lashes central [China's Hunan Province]
  • 2013/09/24: NASA: NASA Sees Inner-core Structure of Typhoon Usagi Persisted at Landfall
  • 2013/09/24: IOTD: Super Typhoon Usagi [on Sept.21,22]
  • 2013/09/24: MODIS: Typhoon Usagi (17W) off the Philippines [on Sept.19]
  • 2013/09/23: al Jazeera: In [12] Pictures: Coping with Typhoon Usagi
    People attempt to get on with their everyday lives as Typhoon Usagi finally clears Taiwan and the Philippines
  • 2013/09/23: CBC: Typhoon Usagi peters out but leaves trail of dead -- 25 die in China's Guangdong province and 22 perish in Philippines
  • 2013/09/23: DD: Typhoon Usagi hits southern China, killing at least 25...
  • 2013/09/22: Wunderground: Category 2 Usagi Hits China; Hong Kong Misses the Storm's Worst
  • 2013/09/23: IndiaTimes: 25 dead as typhoon hits China, flight chaos in Hong Kong
  • 2013/09/23: CBC: Typhoon Usagi slams China, killing 21 -- Hong Kong spared the worst of storm's wrath as winds top 210 km/h
  • 2013/09/23: al Jazeera: Powerful Typhoon Usagi lashes China
    At least 20 killed and thousands moved to safer areas on mainland by storm, though little damage reported in Hong Kong.
  • 2013/09/22: BBerg: Hong Kong Maintains Storm Signal as Usagi Reaches China
  • 2013/09/22: CBC: Typhoon Usagi veers away from Hong Kong
  • 2013/09/22: BBC: Typhoon Usagi has killed at least three people in southern China - but nearby Hong Kong escaped the worst damage
  • 2013/09/22: Guardian(UK): Typhoon Usagi hits southern China
    Storm brings travel chaos and puts nuclear power plant on alert, but spares Hong Kong after warnings of severe threat to city

    • West of the Philippines, Tropical Storm Wutip (20W) is taking a run at Vietnam (unreported):

    In Mexico, the impact of Tropical Storms Manuel and Ingrid has been devastating:

  • 2013/09/28: DD: Flooding is costliest disaster ever in Mexico at $5.7 billion - At least 3 percent of farmland destroyed
  • 2013/09/25: Xinhuanet: Mexican storm death toll jumps to 130
  • 2013/09/25: CBC: Mexican floods, slides death toll rises to 130
  • 2013/09/24: DD: Mexico storms death toll rises to 123 - 613,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of planted land 'completely lost'
  • 2013/09/23: BBC: The number of people confirmed to have died as a result of Tropical Storms Manuel and Ingrid in Mexico now stands at 110...

    While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

  • 2013/09/26: NASA: HS3 Mission Identifies Area of Strong Winds, Rain in Hurricane Ingrid [on Sept.15]
  • 2013/09/25: Wunderground: Quiet in the Atlantic
  • 2013/09/24: Wunderground: Disturbed Weather Over Florida May Develop Into Weekend U.S. East Coast Storm
  • 2013/09/13: EarthMag: A hurricane by any other name: How Sandy changed the way we issue storm warnings

    As for the Monsoon:

    This week in notable weather:

    Abrupt Climate Change put in an appearance:

    This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

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

    As for GHGs:

    What's new in the Weather Machine?

    As for the temperature record:

    While in the paleoclimate:

    In the attribution debate:

    What's the State of the Oceans?:

    What's new in Biodiversity?

    And on the extinction watch:

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

    How are the Insects doing?

    Oh look! The Anthropocene came up again:

    More GW impacts are being seen:

    And then there are the world's forests:

    Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

    Desertification looms as a threat:

    As for heatwaves and wild fires:

    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:

    As for carbon sequestration:

    Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

    What's new in conservation?

    Meanwhile in the journals:

    And other significant documents:

    As for miscellaneous science:

    More DIY science:

    What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

    Regarding Mann:

    Regarding Broecker:

    Regarding Dyson:

    And on the carbon trading front:

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

    South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

    Who is serious about reducing airline carbon emissions?

    These 'free trade' treaties feature fundamentally anti-democratic dispute resolution mechanisms:

    Who's mad at the NSA this week?

    As for miscellaneous international political happenings:

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

    What are the activists up to?

    Is the Climate Movement anything more than a fantasy?

    Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:

    As for SW tools:

    Regarding science education:

    While in the UK:

    And in Europe:

    Meanwhile in Australia:

    Now we get to watch the suppository of wisdom and his minions destroy what little Australia has done to fight climate change:

    Abbott killed the Climate Commission and the Climate Council was born:

    After years of wrangling, the Murray Darling Basin Plan is in place, but the water management fights are far from finished:

    And in the Indian subcontinent:

    While in China:

    And elsewhere in Asia:

    In the Middle East:

    And in Russia:

    While in Africa:

    And South America:

    In Canada, neocon PM Harper, aka The Blight, pushes petroleum while ignoring the climate and ecology:

    The Lac Megantic tragedy plays on:

    The Harper gang's muzzling of scientists still rankles:

    The West-East pipeline is suddenly a focus of much dispute:

    The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

    Now that Christy Clark has a mandate, what will she do?

    Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

    Also in Alberta:

    In the Maritimes:

    In the North:

    As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

    And on the American political front:

    The BP disaster continues to twist US politics. See also:

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

    The Mayflower oil spill and its ramifications just keep dragging on:

    An inquiry on the deaths of the Granite Mountain Hotshots has reported:

    The GOP War on Women continues. See also:

    The Pew Environment group released a report on Arctic oil drilling standards this week:

    The impacts of budgetary sequestration are beginning to add up:

    The US State Dept. released their 2014 Climate Change Report for pubic comments:

    The Colorado fracking fluid mess lingers:

    Looking forward to 2014 & 2016 elections:

    At what point do you stop listening to the pretty lies and realize you've been had?

    The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

    As for what is going on in Congress:

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

    What do we tell the children?

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

    Apocalypso anyone?

    Please adjust your rose coloured glasses as necessary:

    How do the corporate media measure up?

    While activists search for effective communication techniques:

  • 2013/09/28: TFTJO: Losing the debate on climate change: why climate activists are their own worst enemies [eff comm]
  • 2013/09/26: ERabett: Established Science

    Here is something for your library:

    And for your film & video enjoyment:

    As for podcasts:

    Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

    It looks like this BP trial over the Gulf oil spill is going to take a long while:

    Among the non-members of Gamblers Anonymous:

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

    What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?

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

    On the coal front:

    On the gas and oil front:

    Ships and boats and trains -- How to tranport the stuff? See also:

    Marvelous. Now the USA can have their own Mechanical Mordor:

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

    Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

    Biofuel bickering abounds:

    The answer my friend...

    Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

    The nuclear energy controversy continues:

    Like a mirage, the dream of a Hydrogen Economy shimmers on the horizon:

    More people are talking about the electrical grid:

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

    As for Energy Storage:

    The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

    Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

    What do we have in other (weekly) lists?

    The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

    As for climate miscellanea:

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

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