This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup

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Another Week in the Ecological Crisis

Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is not Wisdom

February 2, 2014

• Chuckles, COP20+, NSA at Copenhagen, Triumvirate, Potash, Warnings
• Seeger, Energiewende, Bottom Line, Cook
• Fukushima: Note, News, Policies, Related Papers
• Melting Arctic, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food: Crisis, Fisheries, Prices, Land Grabs, GMOs, GMO Labelling, Production
• Hurricanes, Notable Weather, Abrupt CC, Extreme Weather, New Weather
• GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Milankovitch Cycles, Aerosols, Volcanoes
• Ozone, ENSO, Temperatures, Satellites, Paleoclimate
• Oceans, Extinctions, Bees & CCD, Insects
• Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Phenology
• Wildfires, Corals, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Cities, Buildings, Geoengineering, Conservation, Restoration, Adaptation
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, Science Orgs, Advocacy, Patterson
• International Politics: UN, IPCC, Carbon Trade, South China Sea, EU ETS & Airlines, Resources
• FQD, Treaties , Panama, Law & Activism, Activism, Divestment, Polls, H2O Biz, Education, Predictions
• National Politics: Britain, Europe, Australia, Abbott, GBR, MDBP, China, Japan, Asia, Middle East, Africa
• Canada, Libricide, Greens, Northern Gateway, Salmon
• BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Maritimes, North, Canadiana
• America, BP Disaster, Keystone, Birth Control, Keeling, West Virginia, SOTU, 2016, USAdmin, Congress
• Ecological Economics, Recycling, IPAT, Apocalypso, Fixes, Media, Books, Video, Courts, Mann Suit, BP Trial
• Energy, Energy Investments, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Oil & the Economy
• Pipelines, Oil Transportation, US Tar Sands, Energy Independence, Peak Oil, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Fusion, FITs, Hydrogen, Grid, Utilities, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
• Business, Insurance, Other Lists, Carbon Lobby, Intimidation, Miscellaneous, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

 

More in the black humour vein:

• 2014/02/01: RealEconomics: Saturday toons
• 2014/01/31: XKCD: (cartoon - Munroe) Weather
• 2014/01/31: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) Punxgytawney Vito
• 2014/01/30: JoeMohrToons: (cartoon - Mohr) Denialists FINALLY Right About Global Warming
• 2014/01/29: OtherWords: (cartoon - Bendib) The Magic of De-Regulation
• 2014/01/29: ATTPh: (cartoon) How science actually works
• 2014/01/28: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) The SOTU is...
• 2014/01/28: Guardian(UK): (cartoon - Bell) The Food Bank Way

Looking ahead to COP20 and future international climate negotiations:

• 2014/01/31: Guardian(UK): Lima talks should deliver first draft for 2015 climate deal, says Peru minister
  Amazon country wants UN summit to steer the course for a binding global committment on carbon emissions in Paris
• 2014/01/31: RTCC: USA critical to Paris climate summit success says Hollande advisor
• 2014/01/31: RTCC: Nuclear key to UN climate deal say France and UK
• 2014/01/30: ERW: Could 'obstinate' poor countries break climate negotiations deadlock?
• 2014/01/29: RTCC: China, India and Brazil could 'derail' UN [2015] climate deal says UK envoy [David King]
• 2014/01/29: RTCC: UN climate talks: rich nations need to deliver in 2014 says Gambia envoy
  Rich nations cannot buy their way out of taking tough greenhouse gas emission cuts, a leading diplomat representing some of the world's poorest countries has warned.

It will be educational to see how the outrage over this report develops (or not):

• 2014/01/31: Grist: Did spying take Copenhagen from Hopenhagen to Brokenhagen?
• 2014/01/30: Guardian(UK): Snowden revelations of NSA spying on Copenhagen climate talks spark anger
  Documents leaked by Edward Snowden show NSA kept US negotiators abreast of their rivals' positions at 2009 summit
• 2014/01/30: TP:JR: Snowden Documents Reveal U.S. Spied During 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit
• 2014/01/30: RTCC: Snowden NSA files reveal US spied on diplomats at UN climate summit
  Documents from whistleblower reveal extensive intelligence operation at 2009 COP15 meeting in Danish capital New documents released by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden reveal how the USA spied on climate negotiators before and during the 2009 UN summit in Copenhagen.
• 2014/01/30: Information(Dk): For the NSA, espionage was a means to strengthen the US position in climate negotiations
  At the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009, the world's nations were supposed to reach an agreement that would protect future generations against catastrophic climate change. But not everyone was playing by the rules. A leaked document now reveals that the US employed the NSA, its signals intelligence agency, to intercept information about other countries' views on the climate negotiations before and during the summit. According to observers, the spying may have contributed to the Americans getting their way in the negotiations
• 2014/01/30: CDreams: 'Insane, Disgusting' and 'Epic Treachery': NSA Spied on Climate Talks
  'Obama admin. clearly never wanted Copenhagen talks to work,' says Bill McKibben following latest NSA revelations concerning climate talks
• 2014/01/30: CCurrents: NSA Spied On Climate Talks
• 2014/01/30: EUO: NSA said to have spied on leaders at Danish climate summit
• 2014/01/29: CensoredNews: Snowden docs: US spying on Copenhagen thwarted change Indigenous hoped for
  US spying on Copenhagen climate summit was aimed at halting real climate solutions

A Terrible Triumvirate is wreaking havoc with climate policy in Canada, Australia and Britain:

• 2014/01/27: TMoS: Rampage of the Right
  It's ongoing in Canada. It's happening in Australia. It's well underway in Britain. In the Conservative ruled Anglosphere, governments are busy dismantling environmental protections. The focus, at the moment, is on Britain where Conservative prime minister David Cameron is about to shred 80,000 pages of environmental protections and building codes.
• 2014/01/26: CCP: UK PM Cameron channels Canadian PM Harper -- pledges to scrap 3,000 green regulations

Unsurprisingly, when cartels fall apart & prices drop, profits drop too:

• 2014/01/30: PEF: PotashCorp Projects Low Royalties
• 2014/01/30: CBC: PotashCorp profit falls 45% to $230M
  Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan says its fourth-quarter profit dropped to US$230 million -- down 45 per cent from a year earlier as it took hits from lower fertilizer prices and downsizing.

What do we have for warnings this week?

• 2014/01/31: Guardian(UK): Heed the warnings in extreme weather -- or risk losing Earth
  Make no mistake -- climate change will hit us hard. We need to clean up the mess before it is too late

Pete Seeger, in memory still bright:

• Art&Response: Beacon of Hope - Pete Seeger
• 2014/02/02: CCurrents: Pete Seeger: Character, Personality, Intuition And Focus by Ralph Nader
• 2014/01/30: WSWS: American folksinger Pete Seeger dead, at 94
• 2014/01/29: TLWoN: My Dirty Stream
• 2014/01/29: CSW: R.I.P. Pete Seeger, 1919-2014
• 2014/01/29: RealEconomics: Where have all the flowers gone?
• 2014/01/29: Resilience: Pete Seeger Interview: How Can I Keep from Singing?
• 2014/01/29: FAIR: Pete Seeger: 'It's Hard for Me to Talk About the Media Without Getting Angry'
• 2014/01/28: CensoredNews: Leonard Peltier on the Passing of Pete Seeger

How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

• 2014/01/31: RealEconomics: 20% returns? What were they thinking?
• 2014/01/30: DerSpiegel: Gone With the Wind: Weak Returns Cripple German Renewables
  Investments in renewable energy were supposed to be a sure thing, with wind park operators promising annual returns of up to 20 percent. More often than not, however, such pledges have been illusory -- and many investors have lost their principal to boot.
• 2014/01/28: GET: Minister Wanka: Energy Research Needs to be Coordinated to Make Energy Transition Happen [energiwende]
• 2014/01/27: EurActiv: Germany to cut energy rebates for industry, renewable subsidies
  The German government last week agreed on far-reaching cuts to industry energy rebates and wind power generation. The plan, details of which must still be negotiated, reforms the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and was introduced by Sigmar Gabriel, the economic minister who is also in charge of energy, EurActiv Germany reports.

And on the Bottom Line:

• 2014/01/29: RTCC: Norway's giant wealth fund deals $405m blow to coal industry
  World's biggest wealth fund under pressure to get out of coal, but many others may take their place

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2014/02/01: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly News Roundup #5 by John Hartz
• 2014/01/31: SkS: The Oceans Warmed up Sharply in 2013: We're Going to Need a Bigger Graph by Rob Painting
• 2014/01/30: SkS: Corrections to Curry's Erroneous Comments on Ocean Heating by dana1981, Rob Painting
• 2014/01/29: SkS: Warming oceans consistent with rising sea level & global energy imbalance by dana1981, Rob Painting, Kevin Trenberth
• 2014/01/28: SkS: A Historical Perspective on Arctic Warming: Part One by robert way
• 2014/01/27: SkS: Cowtan and Way: Surface temperature data update by Kevin C
• 2014/01/26: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly Digest #4 by John Hartz

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:

• 2014/02/01: EneNews: Nuclear Engineer: "Very huge catastrophe" for melted fuel to burn into ground -- Radioactive material "will go all around the world" once in underground water - Chernobyl made cement barrier below reactor, #Fukushima did not (video)
• 2014/02/01: Asahi: Sludge designated radioactive waste for 1st time in Kanagawa
  The Environment Ministry has classified 2.9 tons of sludge from Kanagawa Prefecture as radioactive waste derived from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the first such designation for the prefecture on the southern border of Tokyo. The designation, made in December, means the ministry is responsible for disposing of the radioactive sludge.
• 2014/01/31: GreenPeace: Will a new lawsuit finally give some justice to the victims of Fukushima?
• 2014/01/31: EneNews: Wall St. Journal: 'Potentially lethal' Strontium-90 moving deeper into groundwater at Fukushima, levels rising -- Asahi: Radioactive material spreading below underground wall next to ocean -- Record high on other side of final barrier by Unit 3
• 2014/01/31: EneNews: NYTimes: Widespread public distrust of NHK over Fukushima radiation cover-up...
• 2014/01/31: EneNews: NHK: More damage being discovered in Fukushima Reactor No. 1 -- "Destruction" at containment vessel -- Concerned about tons of water draining from unknown cracks and holes (video)
• 2014/01/31: NYT: Japan's Public Broadcaster Faces Accusations of Shift to the Right
  [...]
  The broadcaster has also faced widespread public distrust for coverage of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident that was later criticized for meekly complying with government efforts to cover up the extent of radiation releases.
• 2014/01/30: BizInsider: Japan Is Using Drones To Chart Radiation Levels Above Fukushima
• 2014/01/30: Asahi: NHK radio regular quits after anti-nuclear commentary nixed
  A veteran radio show commentator quit his job at Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) after the public broadcaster told him to drop the subject of nuclear power during the Tokyo gubernatorial election, sources said. For about 20 years, Toru Nakakita, a professor of economics at Toyo University, had been in charge of the "Business Outlook" segment of the "Radio Asa Ichiban" show aired weekdays from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. on NHK Radio Daiichi. Nakakita said his original manuscript for the Jan. 30 program pointed out the increase in costs for the resumption of nuclear reactor operations, saying "damages to be paid in the wake of a nuclear plant accident are extraordinarily high." However, when he showed the manuscript to a program director on the day before the scheduled broadcast, Nakakita was asked to change the theme. He said that NHK told him not to talk about "nuclear issues during the Tokyo gubernatorial election campaign period." The election is scheduled for Feb. 9.
• 2014/01/30: EneNews: NHK broadcaster quits in protest over nuclear issues - Professor censored after 20 years on air...
• 2014/01/30: EneNews: Kyodo: Robot data reveals hole in Unit 2 suspected to be almost 10 square cm; Highly radioactive water draining out bottom of containment vessel - Tepco model shows molten fuel barely underwater - Temperature irregulaties started earlier this month (graphic)
• 2014/01/30: FukuLeaks: Fukushima Unit 2 Torus Has A Hole In It
• 2014/01/30: EneNews: County officials in California approve action on Fukushima: "An international crisis of epic proportions" - Monitoring and testing requested for West Coast
• 2014/01/30: TheCanadian: David Suzuki: Citizens asked to help with Fukushima radiation research
• 2014/01/30: CTV: Fukushima nuclear plant manufacturers named in lawsuit
• 2014/01/29: EneNews: NHK: Experts 'shocked' by what they saw in video of Reactor 1 - Radioactive water flowing down side of containment vessel...
• 2014/01/28: NHK: TEPCO to create frozen walls to stop water leaks
• 2014/01/28: FukuLeaks: Fukushima Unit 4 Removes 220 Fuel Assemblies
• 2014/01/28: EneNews: Number of sick U.S. military first responders doubles - Around 250 victims of Fukushima radiation exposure contact attorney...
• 2014/01/27: EneNews: Stony Brook Univ. Scientist: Fukushima radioactivity "has absolute consequences in rest of world"...
• 2014/01/27: FukuLeaks: Fukushima News Roundup

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

• 2014/01/31: RTCC: Fukushima to use 100% renewable energy by 2040
  The Japanese province of Fukushima has pledged to switch to 100% renewable energy by 2040, turning its 2011 nuclear disaster into an opportunity to tackle climate change.

What do we have for Fukushima related papers this week?

• 2013/03/07: PLoS One: Concentration of Strontium-90 at Selected Hot Spots in Japan by Georg Steinhauser et al.

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

• 2014/02/02: Tamino: Arctic Sea Ice Decline
• 2014/01/29: ASI: 2014 Nares Strait ice bridges
• 2014/01/28: NASA: New NASA Laser Technology Reveals How Ice Measures Up
• 2014/01/28: PSinclair: More on Arctic Oscillation from Dr. Ricky Rood
• 2014/01/27: TP:JR: The Hockey Stick Lives: Canadian Arctic Warming Unprecedented In 120,000 Years
• 2014/01/27: ASI: Sea ice atlas

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2014/02/01: Guardian(UK): Arctic city hopes to cash in as melting ice opens new sea route to China
  Thaw in temperatures brought by climate change could bring benefits for Siberian city of Nadym as global trade patterns shift
• 2014/02/01: QuarkSoup: January Sea Ice Gets Bronze Medal
• 2014/01/31: CCurrents: Shell Ditches Its Arctic Drilling Plans
• 2014/01/31: Grist: Shell will stay out of the Arctic this year
• 2014/01/30: TP:JR: Shell Suspends 2014 Offshore Drilling Plans In Arctic
• 2014/01/30: FuelFix: Shell puts 2014 Arctic drilling plans on ice after legal challenge
• 2014/01/30: OilChange: Shell Suspends Arctic Drilling
• 2014/01/30: BBC: Royal Dutch Shell halts Alaska exploration as profits fall
  Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is stepping up asset disposals as part of a strategy that will see the company "changing emphasis" in 2014.
• 2014/01/27: EurActiv: Minerals won't buy Greenland independence, experts say
  In a new report published on Friday (24 January), 13 Nordic experts affirm that the minerals found in Greenland won't be enough to grant the country economic independence from Denmark.

While in Antarctica:

• 2014/02/01: QuarkSoup: January Antarctic Sea Ice Extent
• 2014/02/01: CCP: Atlantic changes are warming Antarctic
• 2014/01/31: MODIS: Iceberg from Pine Island Glacier, Antarctica [on Jan.18]

The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2014/02/01: BBC: South Sudan conflict: 3.7m in 'need of food', says UN
• 2014/02/01: CBC: Deadly pig virus spreads in Ontario, as 5th case reported
• 2014/01/31: EurActiv: Food security hindered by seed market dominance, MEPs warn
  The EU seed market is dominated by a few large seed businesses rather than a diverse range of smaller companies, which has implications for the continent's food security, says a report commissioned by European Parliament Green group.
• 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Drought conditions worsen, hay travels further
  As dry conditions in Queensland continue, graziers are looking further and further afield to keep their stock alive. In some instances, hay is being trucked more than a thousand kilometres to Queensland from as far away as South Australia.
• 2014/01/30: WSWS: US House of Representatives votes to slash $8.7 billion from food stamps
• 2014/01/29: WSWS: Democrats, Republicans reach deal to slash $8.7 billion from food stamp program
• 2014/01/29: al Jazeera: Starving to death in Syria's Yarmouk camp
  Fighting has cut off food and medical supplies to 18,000 desperate Palestinian refugees.
• 2014/01/28: SwissInfo: Swiss throwing away more food
  Food makes up about a third of all Swiss trash, according to a waste study from the Federal Environment Office. Roughly 31 kilograms of food per person landed in Swiss rubbish bins over the course of a year -- up 10% from 20 years ago.
• 2014/01/28: ABC(Au): Port congestion shrinks Canada wheat crop
  Canada is forecasting a much smaller wheat crop next season because it can't move last season's harvest. A record 37.5 million tonnes was harvested last season, but that is set to fall by as much as a quarter as rail infrastructure struggles to cope with the abundance of grain.
• 2014/01/27: Grist: UN warns us to eat less meat and lay off biofuels, or we're in for it

The state of the world's fisheries is a concern. See also, and:

• 2014/01/28: NOAANews: U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker declares fishery disaster for Fraser River Sockeye Salmon Fishery in Washington
• 2014/01/21: AlaskaDispatch: Bleak king salmon run predicted for Alaska's world-famous Kenai River this summer
• 2014/01/28: Guardian(UK): Warmer seas 'are making fish smaller'

Food Prices are still problematic:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2014/01/28: CleanTechnica: Report: Climate Impacts Could Lead To Drastic Increases In Food Prices Over Coming Decades

So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

• 2014/01/30: al Jazeera: Ethiopia - Land for Sale
  As the economy thrives, we examine the plight of Ethiopians forced from their land to make way for foreign investors.

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

• 2014/01/31: BRitholtz: Genetic Engineering INCREASES Pesticide Use, DECREASES Crop Yield by Washingtons Blog
• 2014/01/29: Grist: Hawaii lawmakers move to block local bans on GMOs, pesticides
• 2014/01/28: CBC: Cancer fighting purple tomatoes harvested in Leamington
  A crop of genetically modified purple tomatoes designed to fight cancer has been grown and harvested in a greenhouse in Leamington, Ont. The purple tomatoes have been genetically modified to have a higher amount of anthocyanins, an antioxidant found in blueberries, blackberries and plums. It's what gives those fruit their purple colours. Anthocyanins are also said to fight cancer.
• 2014/01/28: Grist: RNAi: Chatroom acronym? Nope -- it's the next generation of GMOs
• 2014/01/27: NYT: Genetic Weapon Against Insects Raises Hope and Fear in Farming [GMOs]

Regarding labelling GM food:

• 2014/01/28: TruthOut: Legal Experts Reject Food Industry Claims That GMO Labeling Laws Are Unconstitutional

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

• 2014/02/01: UN: UN agricultural agency hails 'historic' new commitment to end hunger in Africa by 2025
• 2014/01/31: Eureka: Well-watered citrus tested in cold-acclimating temperatures
• 2014/01/31: Eureka: Secrets of potato blight evolution could help farmers fight back
  Scientists have discovered vital clues as to how the pathogen responsible for the Irish potato famine adapted to spread between different plant species
• 2014/01/31: Eureka: Nitrogen management studied in greenhouse pepper production
• 2014/01/31: WFP: WFP Welcomes Japan Contribution To Assist Zimbabwe's Poor & Hungry Families
• 2014/01/31: FAO: FAO welcomes historic commitment to end hunger in Africa by 2025 -- Challenge is to transform vision into reality, Director-General says
• 2014/01/30: WFP: Buying From Small Farmers Boosts The Economy And Helps Meet Food Needs Of Haiti's Poor, Says WFP Regional Director
• 2014/01/30: UN: Securing crop biodiversity is key to feeding world's growing population - UN study
• 2014/01/30: Grist:Sustainable farming needs math as much as mulch, says one veteran
• 2014/01/30: BPA: Agricultural Predictions, Concerns, and, What's New?
• 2014/01/29: Resilience: Food security
• 2014/01/29: UN: Agriculture 'engine of growth' to eradicating hunger in Africa, UN official stresses
• 2014/01/29: Eureka: Better sweet corn research, better production
• 2014/01/28: WFP: Securing Supply Routes Vital To Reach The Hungry In Central African Republic, Says WFP
• 2014/01/28: Eureka: Fertilizer nutrient imbalance to limit food production in Africa
  Underuse of phosphorus-based fertilizers in Africa currently contributes to a growing yield gap -- the difference between how much crops could produce in ideal circumstances compared to actual yields. This phosphorus-specific yield gap currently lies at around 10% for subsistence farmers, but will grow to 27% by 2050 if current trends continue, according to a study published today in the journal Global Change Biology.
• 2014/01/27: Grist: This vertical garden is 31 stories tall
• 2014/01/27: Grist: Meet Monsanto's newest vegetables

In the Western Pacific, Tropical Cyclone Dylan zapped Queensland, Australia:

• 2014/02/01: ABC(Au): Ex-tropical Cyclone Dylan brings no drought relief to inland Queensland
• 2014/02/01: MODIS: Tropical Cyclone Eleven (11P) over Queensland, Australia [on Jan.30]
• 2014/01/31: al Jazeera: Flooding hits northeast Australia -- Queensland is slammed by Tropical Cyclone Dylan
• 2014/01/31: ABC(Au): Cyclone Dylan makes landfall in North Queensland
• 2014/01/31: Guardian(UK): Cyclone Dylan batters north Queensland with winds up to 140km/h
• 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Cyclone Dylan bears down on North Queensland as locals brace for destructive winds
  Residents in North Queensland are gearing up for destructive winds as Cyclone Dylan is expected to make landfall early this morning. The system began as a tropical low in the Coral Sea several days ago but officially became a category two cyclone yesterday evening. Authorities are on cyclone alert across the region.
• 2014/01/30: NASA: NASA Gets 2 Views of Tropical Cyclone Dylan Making Landfall in Australia
• 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): King tides hit North Queensland coast as tropical low moves closer
• 2014/01/29: Eureka: NASA-NOAA satellite sees Tropical Cyclone 11P headed for Queensland
• 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Cyclone warning: North Queensland residents continue emergency preparations as Dylan forms
• 2014/01/28: Eureka: Watches up in Australia as NASA sees System 99P developing
• 2014/01/28: ABC(Au): Cyclone: North Queensland residents told to prepare as system develops
• 2014/01/27: ABC(Au): Queensland's first cyclone of year predicted to form in Coral Sea this week

And right after Dylan, Cyclone Edna spun up in the Coral Sea:

• 2014/02/02: ABC(Au): Cyclone Edna downgraded to tropical low, moves away from Queensland coast
• 2014/02/01: ABC(Au): Newly formed Cyclone Edna not expected to threaten Queensland, weaken in the Coral Sea
  

  Also in the Western Pacific, Tropical Depression Kajiki soaked the Southern Phillipine islands (again):

• 2014/01/31: Eureka: NASA catches Tropical Depression Kajiki over central Philippines
  

  In the South Indian Ocean:

• 2014/01/31: Eureka: NASA's Aqua satellite sees System 91S struggling
• 2014/01/30: Eureka: NASA satellite sees System 91S undeveloped in Mozambique Channel
• 2014/01/29: Eureka: TRMM satellite peers at rainfall in developing low near Mozambique
• 2014/01/28: NASA: NASA Spots Developing Tropical System Affecting Mozambique's Nampala Province
  

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2014/01/29: Nature: (ab$) Australian tropical cyclone activity lower than at any time over the past 550-1,500 years by Jordahna Haig et al.
• 2014/02/02: ABC(Au): Tropical cyclone watch declared for Gulf of Carpentaria from Port McArthur to Kowanyama
• 2014/01/31: Eureka: Trees' diminished resistance to tropical cyclone winds attributed to insect invasions
• 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Cyclone record reveals drop in activity
  Downward trend Rain captured in ancient stalagmites shows Australian tropical cyclone activity is at its lowest level for the past 500 to 1500 years. The finding by a team of Australian and Dutch researchers, published in today's edition of the journal Nature, implies climate change is impacting on weather systems in the region earlier than global models predict.
• 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Roebourne Shire counts cost of cyclone clean-up
  The Shire of Roebourne is estimating its clean up bill for ex-Tropical Cyclone Christine will cost more than $3 million.
• 2014/01/29: TheConversation: Tropical cyclone frequency falls to centuries-low in Australia - but will the lull last?
• 2014/01/27: FAO: Philippine coconut farmers struggling to recover from typhoon -- Small-scale producers need help to recover livelihoods while replanted trees mature
• 2014/01/27: ABC(Au): Tonga receives $1.27m insurance payout for cyclone recovery: World Bank
  The World Bank has awarded the first Pacific catastrophe insurance payout to Tonga to help the country recover from Cyclone Ian. Tonga is one of six Pacific island nations, including Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, currently participating in the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Pilot.
• 
  

  This week in notable weather:

   

  • 2014/02/02: al Jazeera: Europe hit by stormy weather
    Snow, torrential rain and strong winds have caused disruption across the continent.
  • 2014/01/31: IOTD: Snow and Ice in the Southeastern United States [on Jan.29]
  • 2014/01/31: WSWS: Cold weather fires kill 10 children in Kentucky, Georgia
  • 2014/01/31: WSWS: Winter storm paralyzes Atlanta, Georgia, stranding thousands
  • 2014/01/30: Guardian(UK): Atlanta recovers from paralysing winter storm but roads remain dangerously icy -- Southern US states hit by massive snow storm
  • 2014/01/30: Wunderground: Southeast U.S. Slowly Thaws; Rains in California End Record Dry Streaks
  • 2014/01/29: GLaden: Today's Weather Disaster in the US Southeast
  • 2014/01/29: Wunderground: SnowedOutAtlanta: Extreme Travel Chaos in the Deep South
  • 2014/01/29: CBC: Stranded ships on Great Lakes create icebreaking logjam -- 'It's almost unmanageable,' says freighter captain who was struck twice in a day
  • 2014/01/29: WSWS: Unrelenting cold snap grips wide area of US
  • 2014/01/29: al Jazeera: Euro snow -- Images of the rain, sleet and snow across Europe over the last few days
  • 2014/01/29: CBC: U.S. Deep South paralyzed by snowstorm -- Tuesday's storm deposited mere inches of snow in region
  • 2014/01/28: Wunderground: Rare and Dangerous Ice Storm Hits Deep South; Extreme Cold in the Midwest
  • 2014/01/28: CBC: U.S. Deep South hit by deep freeze, ice and snow
  • 2014/01/28: P3: Atlanta Snow and Traffic Disaster
  • 2014/01/28: BBC: [US] Deep South in winter storm emergency
  • 2014/01/28: Guardian(UK): Midwest states declare emergency as cold blast worsens propane shortage
  • 2014/01/28: Guardian(UK): Rare winter ice storm cripples parts of US south
  • 2014/01/28: BBerg: Deep South Set for Rare Winter Storm Amid U.S. Frigid Front
  • 2014/01/27: Wunderground: Record Alaskan Warmth and Rains Trigger Huge Avalanche That Isolates Valdez
  • 2014/01/27: Wunderground: Intense Cold Blast Hits Midwest; Significant Winter Storm Expected in the Deep South
  • 2014/01/27: Guardian(UK): US midwest nears record cold as officials issue weather warnings

  Abrupt Climate Change put in an appearance:

  • 2014/02/01: ArcticNews: Abrupt Climate Change - by Paul Beckwith

  This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

  • 2014/01/28: QuarkSoup: Global Warming, Ha Ha
  • 2014/01/27: TruthDig: Nature Is Trying to Tell Us Something

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

  • 2014/01/30: Grist: Snow's melting in Alaska and pelting the South. What's going on?
  • 2014/01/29: KSJT: Alaska Dispatch, AP, etc: US has nomadic polar vortex mischief up the yin-yang. Alaskans freaking out.
  • 2014/01/29: CCP: David Spratt, Climate Code Red: With Arctic freezer door open, frigid air drains into USA and Eurasia, with Arctic unusually mild
  • 2014/01/27: ArcticNews: Our New Climate and Weather - part 2
  • 2014/01/28: P3: All-Time January High Temperature Tied in Alaska
  • 2014/01/28: RScribbler: Arctic Heat Wave Sets off Hottest Ever Winter-Time Temperatures, Major Melt, Disasters for Coastal and Interior Alaska
  • 2014/01/27: RScribbler: Polar Vortex Ripped in Half by Anomalous Jet Stream, High Arctic Experiencing 32 Degree F Above Average Temperatures Over Broad Region
  • 2014/01/27: PSinclair: Pull on Your Longies and Read the Polar Vortex Primer
  • 2014/01/27: PSinclair: While East Coast Freezes - Alaska's Toasty Warmth
  • 2014/01/26: Wunderground:RR: Are the changes in the Arctic messing with our weather? Analysis

  As for GHGs:

  • 2014/01/27: ERW: Climate change: who's the biggest emitter of them all?

  And in the carbon cycle:

  • 2014/01/26: Eureka: Sensitivity of carbon cycle to tropical temperature variations has doubled, research shows
    The tropical carbon cycle has become twice as sensitive to temperature variations over the past 50 years, new research has revealed

  Regarding Milankovitch Cycles:

  • 2014/02/02: TSoD: Ghosts of Climates Past - Fifteen - Roe vs Huybers
  • 2014/01/30: TSoD: Ghosts of Climates Past - Fourteen - Concepts & HD Data

  Aerosols are making their presence felt:

  • 2014/01/29: Eureka: Cooperative SO2 and NOx aerosol formation in haze pollution
  • 2014/01/28: TP:JR: Black Carbon Pollution Is Two To Three Times Worse In India And China Than Previously Thought

  What's up with volcanoes this week?

  • 2014/02/02: al Jazeera: Volcanic eruptions claim lives in Indonesia
    At least 16 people killed as Mount Sinabung in Sumatra province releases clouds of noxious gas and lava.
  • 2014/02/02: ABC(Au): At least 14 killed in Indonesia volcano eruption
  • 2014/02/02: CBC: Mount Sinabung volcano eruption kills 16 in Indonesia
  • 2014/02/01: BBC: Indonesia volcano Sinabung in deadly eruption
  • 2014/02/01: Guardian(UK): At least 11 killed as Indonesia's Mount Sinabung volcano erupts
  • 2014/02/01: CBC: Mount Sinabung erupts in Indonesia -- Tens of thousands of people displaced in Sumatra province

  As for ozone:

  • 2014/01/27: TheConversation: Antarctic ozone recovery will be a long and bumpy road
  • 2014/01/27: Princeton: Asian ozone pollution in Hawaii is tied to climate variability

  And on the ENSO front:

  • 2014/01/30: WMO: El Niño/La Niña Update - Current Situation and Outlook
    The tropical Pacific continues to be ENSO-neutral (neither El Niño nor La Niña). Model forecasts and expert opinion suggest that neutral conditions are likely to continue into the second quarter of 2014. Current model outlooks further suggest an enhanced possibility of the development of a weak El Niño around the middle of 2014, with approximately equal chances for neutral or weak El Niño. However, models tend to have reduced skill when forecasting through the March-May period. National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other agencies will continue to monitor the conditions over the Pacific and assess the most likely state of the climate through the first half of 2014.
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Weather models show El Nino risk increasing

  As for the temperature record:

  • 2014/02/01: ERabett: Is the message getting through?
  • 2014/01/28: PSinclair: Alaska All Time High for This Date: Warmer Than Alabama
  • 2014/01/28: CLBook: The future of the slowdown
  • 2014/01/27: RealClimate: Global temperature 2013
  • 2014/01/26: GLaden: The Global Warming Hiatus, 2013, And Some Data (#FauxPause)
  • 2014/01/26: QuarkSoup: Trenberth on the Two Pauses

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

  • NASA: GPM - Global Precipitation Measurement international satellite mission
  • 2014/01/30: GizMag: GPM satellite to usher in a new era of weather observation [launch on Feb.27]

  While in the paleoclimate:

  • 2014/02/01: CCP: Deep Atlantic Circulation During the Last Glacial Maximum and Deglaciation
  • 2014/01/28: SciNow: What Killed the Great Beasts of North America?
  • 2014/01/27: CCP: Year-Round Arctic Ice Cooled Earth Earlier Than Thought

  What's the State of the Oceans?:

  • 2014/01/30: EneNews: NPR: West Coast sea stars melt into mush, "just vaporized... it's the change of my lifetime"...

  And on the extinction watch:

  • 2014/01/31: BBC: Project targets 2016 for Asian vultures release
    After the devastation wrought by a drug on Asian vulture populations, a project hopes to begin releasing captive-bred birds into the wild by 2016. The Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction (Save) programme says it plans to release up to 25 birds into a 30,000-sq-km drug-free "safe zone". Diclofenac - used by vets on cattle - was identified as causing a crash in vulture numbers and banned by India.
  • 2014/01/29: SciAm:EC: Only 4 Northern White Rhinos Remain in Africa: Inside the Last Attempts to Breed and Save Them
  • 2014/01/28: BBC: Police in Togo have arrested three men after finding nearly two tons of ivory in a container destined for Vietnam.
  • 2014/01/28: ABC(Au): Dwindling jaguar population facing extinction
    Shrinking habitat The jaguar could soon become extinct in Brazil's tropical Atlantic forest, threatening the shrinking primitive forest itself, Brazilian scientists warn. A study by the Brazilian conservation authority Cenap indicates the adult jaguar population in the region may have fallen to just 250, "an 80 per cent slide over the past 15 years."
  • 2014/01/28: BBC: Chinese ivory smuggler gets record Kenyan fine
    A court in Kenya has fined a Chinese man a record 20m shillings (£140,000; $230,000) for smuggling ivory, under tough new anti-poaching laws. Tang Yong Jian was caught last week with an elephant ivory tusk weighing 3.4kg (7.5 pounds) in a suitcase, at Nairobi's international airport. If he is unable to pay the fine, he will spend seven years in prison.
  • 2014/01/27: TreeHugger: The biggest illegal ivory stockpile in the world [33 tonnes] will be destroyed by incineration [in Hong Kong]
  • 2014/01/27: Guardian(UK): Poachers slaughter rhino in Nairobi national park
    Brazen attack defies Kenya's new stricter laws to protect wildlife as horn is hacked off the animal in heavily guarded sanctuary
  • 2014/01/26: TheConversation: Fuzzy words endanger koalas' lives and habitat
  • 2014/01/26: SciAm:EC: Sunday Species Snapshot: Mexican Agouti

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

  • 2014/01/31: Grist: Bees exposed to neonic pesticides suck at gathering pollen
  • 2014/01/31: SciShot: Seeing the Forest for the Bees
  • 2014/01/31: SciAm:TAA: Suspicious Virus Makes Rare Cross-Kingdom Leap From Plants to Honeybees
  • 2014/01/28: CCP: Ecoterrorist Monsanto pushes yet another bee-extinction neonicotinoid pesticide -- SULFOXAFLOR, own research says it's highly toxic to bees

  How are the Insect Orders doing?

  • 2014/01/31: Grist: The number of monarch butterflies that made it to Mexico is at all time low
  • 2014/01/31: KSJT: Report Ties GMO Corn and Herbicides to Collapse of Migrating Monarchs. One Story Gets Multiple Viewpoints
  • 2014/01/31: TP:JR: Why Has The Magnificent Monarch Butterfly Migration Slowed To A Trickle?
  • 2014/01/30: BCLSB: Are Genetically Modified Crops Killing The Monarch Butterfly?
  • 2014/01/29: SciNow: Monarch Numbers in Mexico Fall to Record Low
  • 2014/01/29: CDreams: Monarch Butterfly in 'Grave Danger' -- Herbicides, deforestation and climate conditions putting the monarch in free fall
  • 2014/01/29: Guardian(UK): Monarch butterfly numbers drop to lowest level since records started
  • 2014/01/29: Guardian(UK): Monarch butterfly decline leads to warning over famed migration

  More GW impacts are being seen:

  • 2014/02/01: SimpleC: Heat drives Pakistani migration
  • 2014/01/30: Guardian(UK): Penguins suffering from climate change, scientists say
  • 2014/01/30: BBC: Climate change is 'killing Argentina's Magellanic penguin chicks'
    Penguin chicks in Argentina are dying as a direct consequence of climate change, according to new research. Drenching rainstorms and extreme heat are killing the young birds in significant numbers.
  • 2014/01/29: SciNow: Changing Climate Kills Magellanic Penguin Chicks
  • 2014/01/29: RTCC: Climate change killing penguins say scientists

  And then there are the world's forests:

  • 2014/02/01: Grist: In the American West, a battle unfolds over bugs, climate change, and the fate of an iconic species
  • 2014/01/31: Grist: Oh rot: Climate change could topple Northwest's Douglas fir forests
  • 2014/01/31: Science: (ab$) Drug Policy as Conservation Policy: Narco-Deforestation by Kendra McSweeney et al.
  • 2014/01/31: BBC: Drug trafficking is speeding deforestation in Central America
    A new report says that drug smuggling in Central America is rapidly increasing rates of deforestation. Remote forests in Honduras and Guatemala are being cut down to facilitate landing strips for the transportation of narcotics.
  • 2014/01/30: NAU: Forests in Central America paying the price of drug trafficking shift

  Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

  • 2014/01/29: TP:JR: As Sea Level Rises, Fijian Village Begins To Relocate Citizens
  • 2014/01/26: DD: Prolonged drought is final blow to small North Texas town - 'It was like there was a fire drill and everybody left and never came back'

  Changes in natural cycles are showing up:

  • 2014/01/31: SwissInfo: Warm winters change migration patterns
    Many water birds which usually migrate south from Switzerland have stayed put this winter, while birds from more northerly areas have not turned up, according to the preliminary results of this year's first aquatic bird census, released on Friday.

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

  • 2014/02/02: ABC(Au): Residents urged to leave as Goongerah bushfire burns out-of-control
  • 2014/02/01: ABC(Au): Fire continues to burn north of Wattle Flat
  • 2014/01/30: RScribbler: Arctic Wildfires In Winter: Norway Experiences Freakish Historic Wildfire In January
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): RFS Region North sends resources to help with Victorian bushfire crisis
  • 2014/01/29: Eureka: Rise in wildfires may significantly degrade air quality, health in the future
  • 2014/01/28: ABC(Au): Bushfire emergency warning for Wattle Hill, near Hobart, downgraded to alert level
  • 2014/01/28: ABC(Au): Residents on edge as bushfire burns
    People in South Australia's southern Flinders Ranges are preparing for another nervous night as a bushfire burns out of control into its fourteenth day. Starting at Bangor, north of Adelaide, it has burnt through 22,000 hectares and killed thousands of livestock. Fire fighters say the blaze could burn for many more weeks.
  • 2014/01/27: MODIS: Fires in Indochina [on Jan.22]

  Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health. See also:

  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Rising carbon dioxide affecting health of fish living on the Great Barrier Reef
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Common chemical [benzophenone-2 (BP-2)] kills coral reefs
    A chemical used to manufacture many soaps, shampoos and other products, is killing young coral reefs at concentrations commonly found in the environment.
  • 2014/01/28: TreeHugger: Ocean acidification is kryptonite to all coral reefs... except one in the Western Pacific

  Acidification is changing the oceans:

  • 2014/01/29: TheConversation: Ocean acidification leaving fish in the dark: study
  • 2014/01/27: UBC: Ocean acidification research should increase focus on species' ability to adapt

  Glaciers are melting:

  • 2014/01/30: FaGP: North Alsek Glacier Retreat-Lake Formation, Alaska
  • 2014/01/26: FaGP: Walker Glacier Retreat and Lake Development, Alaska

  Sea levels are rising:

  • 2014/01/29: AGU: Sea level variations escalating along eastern Gulf of Mexico coast

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

  • 2014/02/01: Guardian(UK): January was England's wettest winter month in almost 250 years
  • 2014/02/01: DD: Flooding experts say Britain will have to adapt to climate change, and fast - 'We have to realise we cannot defend at all costs'
  • 2014/02/01: DD: California snowpack hits record low - 'Frankly, I've never seen anything like it'
  • 2014/02/01: BBerg: California Warns Water Deliveries Will Be Cut to Zero
    California officials said the state's deepening drought means they won't be able to deliver any of the water sought by contractors that supply two-thirds of the population and a million acres of farmland. The California Department of Water Resources, which earlier predicted it would meet about 5 percent of requests, projected yesterday that it won't be able to deliver any of the 4 million acre-feet of water sought by local agencies.
  • 2014/02/01: BBC: Drought-hit California unable to supply state water
    California's water agency has announced it may for the first time be unable to deliver water to local agencies, amid a worsening drought. Two-thirds of state residents and 1m acres (404,500 hectares) of farmland get part or all of their drinking and irrigation supplies from the agency. A state-wide drought was declared earlier this month, as the largest reservoirs sank to record low levels.
  • 2014/02/01: Guardian(UK): More floods expected in Wales and south-west England
  • 2014/02/01: BBC: High tides and gale force winds could bring more flooding to parts of south-west England and the Midlands, the Environment Agency has warned
  • 2014/02/01: TP:JR: U.K.'s January Flooding Surpasses All 247 Years Of Data On The Books
  • Wiki: Lake Urmia
  • 2014/01/31: TP:JR: The Water Levels Of The Middle East's Biggest Lake [Urmia] Have Dropped 95 Percent In Two Decades
  • 2014/01/31: RScribbler: North Atlantic Ramping up to 'Storms of My Grandchildren' to set off Major Flood Event for Storm-Ravaged England?
  • 2014/01/31: Wunderground: California's Sierra Snowpack Only 12% of Average, a Record Low
  • 2014/01/31: CCP: California's Drought and Climate change
  • 2014/01/31: QuarkSoup: See All This Brown? It's Bad News....
  • 2014/01/31: BBC: Areas of Italy and France are on flood alert as heavy rain brings chaos to parts of Europe
  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Where has all the water gone?
    Two major waterfalls in the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park have ceased to flow.
  • 2014/01/30: Grist: Thousands of Californians are about to run out of water
  • 2014/01/30: BBC: UK floods: January rain breaks records in parts of England
    Early figures suggest parts of England have had their wettest January since records began more than 100 years ago. The Met Office said much of southern England and parts of the Midlands had already seen twice the average rainfall for January by midnight on Tuesday - with three days left in the month.
  • 2014/01/30: BBC: Somerset flood support: Military planners discussing plan
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Drought drying up Balonne River at St George
  • 2014/01/29: TP:JR: No Rain In The Forecast Doesn't Just Mean Drought -- It Also Means Dirty Air
  • 2014/01/28: TP:JR: The Great Lakes Go Dry: How One-Fifth Of The World's Fresh Water Is Dwindling Away
  • 2014/01/28: BBC: Somerset Levels flooding: Villagers 'devastated' and businesses 'killed off'
    Villages on the Somerset Levels have faced weeks of flooding with no respite from the conditions in sight. Muchelney has been cut off because of flooded roads for almost a month.
  • 2014/01/28: PSinclair: California Drought: Start of a New Big Dry?
  • 2014/01/28: CBC: Indonesia landslides [triggered by torrential rain] kill 19 villagers, 10 missing
  • 2014/01/27: al Jazeera: A sinking feeling on the Levels [pix]
    Parts of the county of Somerset, UK have been cut off by flooding for several weeks as heavy rain continues The Somerset Levels, occupy an area of 650 sq km, in the west of England, bordering the Bristol Channel.
  • 2014/01/26: BBC: Heavy rain has swept across parts of the UK, including recently flooded areas in southern England, with forecasters warning of ice overnight
  • 2014/01/26: TMoS: How Dry Is It? The Wet Coast is Parched

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

  • 2014/01/30: Guardian(UK): Global warming continues and won't be stopped by wishful thinking
    Global warming is mainly being manifested in ocean warming, consistent with the global energy imbalance and sea level rise

  Can cities take up the slack when nations shirk their responsibilities?

  • 2014/01/30: CleanTechnica: 10 US Cities Making Massive Emissions Cuts Through Energy Efficiency
  • 2014/01/30: RTCC: Leading US cities pledge radical carbon pollution cuts
    Mayors of ten of the USA's largest cities say they're ready to take radical action to cut carbon pollution equal to annual emissions from four power plants, or 1.5 million cars.

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

  • 2014/01/31: CleanTechnica: Net Zero In Seattle: Sustainable Building Of The Year (video)
  • 2014/01/29: Grist: White roofs are better than green roofs, and everything's better than black
  • 2014/01/28: PNNL: Modeling buildings by the millions: Building codes in China tested for energy savings
  • 2014/01/27: RealEconomics: A green city organized by grown-ups

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

  • 2014/01/28: VoR: Geoengineering, another haven for climate change denial
  • 2014/01/27: NBF: China is expanding rain from cloud seeding from 55 billion tons per year to 280 billion tons per year of rain
  • 2014/01/26: NBF: More details about Skyscraper water spraying to mitigate air pollution

  What's new in conservation?

  • 2014/01/30: MSU: To calculate long-term conservation pay off: Factor in people
    Paying people to protect their natural environment is a popular conservation tool around the world - but figure out that return on investment, for both people and nature, is a thorny problem, especially since such efforts typically stretch on for years. "Short attention-span worlds with long attention-span problems" is how Xiaodong Chen, a former Michigan State University doctoral student now on faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill sums it up.

  What's new in restoration?

  • 2014/01/27: SciAm:EC: First Wild Beaver in 800 Years Confirmed in England? [Video]

  While on the adaptation front:

  • 2014/02/01: DD: Flooding experts say Britain will have to adapt to climate change, and fast - 'We have to realise we cannot defend at all costs'
  • 2014/01/28: TheConversation: Spending wisely now will make heatwaves less costly later
  • 2014/01/28: Eureka: 'Natural' engineering offers solution against future flooding
  • 2014/01/26: RI: Is adaptation to climate change really feasible?
  • 2014/01/26: Resilience: Is adaptation to climate change really feasible?

  Meanwhile in the journals:

  • 2014/01/27: WoL:GRL: (ab$) Modifications of the quasi-biennial oscillation by a geoengineering perturbation of the stratospheric aerosol layer by V. Aquila et al.
  • 2014/01/28: HESS: Data-driven scale extrapolation: estimating yearly discharge for a large region by small sub-basins by L. Gong
  • 2014/01/27: HESS: Nitrate leaching from intensive organic farms to groundwater by O. Dahan et al.
  • 2014/01/28: OS: A parameter model of gas exchange for the seasonal sea ice zone by B. Loose et al.
  • 2014/01/27: OS: Changes in ventilation of the Mediterranean Sea during the past 25 year by A. Schneider et al.
  • 2014/01/28: TC: Monitoring water accumulation in a glacier using magnetic resonance imaging by A. Legchenko et al.
  • 2014/01/27: TCD: Thermal resistances in the Everest Area (Nepal Himalaya) derived from satellite imagery using a nonlinear energy balance model by D. R. Rounce & D. C. McKinney
  • 2014/01/27: TCD: Sea ice melt pond fraction estimation from dual-polarisation C-band SAR - Part 2: Scaling in situ to Radarsat-2 by R. K. Scharien et al.
  • 2014/01/27: TCD: Sea ice melt pond fraction estimation from dual-polarisation C-band SAR - Part 1: In situ observations by R. K. Scharien et al.
  • 2014/01/27: TCD: Dating of a Dome Fuji (Antarctica) shallow ice core by volcanic signal synchronization with B32 and EDML1 chronologies by Y. Motizuki et al.
  • 2014/01/29: Nature:CC: (ab$) Americans' views by Monica Contestabile
  • 2014/01/29: Nature:CC: (ab$) Detection limits of albedo changes induced by climate engineering by Dian J. Seidel et al.
  • 2014/01/29: Nature:CC: (ab$) Global bioenergy resources by Raphael Slade et al.
  • 2014/01/29: Nature:CC: (ab$) Making the most of climate impacts ensembles by Andy Challinor et al.
  • 2014/01/29: Nature:CC: (ab$) REDD+ Policy: Corridors of carbon and biodiversity by Oscar Venter
  • 2014/01/29: Nature:CC: (ab$) Atmospheric Science: A boost in big El Niño by Nathaniel C. Johnson
  • 2014/01/29: Nature:CC: (ab$) Psychology: Local weather and climate concern by Patrick J. Egan & Megan Mullin
  • 2014/01/28: PNAS: (abs) Perennial grasslands enhance biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services in bioenergy landscapes by Ben P. Werling et al.
  • 2014/01/28: PNAS: (ab$) Seasonal ITCZ migration dynamically controls the location of the (sub)tropical Atlantic biogeochemical divide by Christian Schlosser et al.
  • 2014/01/28: PNAS: (letter$) An iron curtain in the Atlantic Ocean forms a biogeochemical divide by Douglas G. Capone
  • 2014/01/21: Nature:Comm: (ab$) Asian pollution climatically modulates mid-latitude cyclones following hierarchical modelling and observational analysis by Yuan Wang et al.
  • 2014/01/30: ESD: Applying the concept of "energy return on investment" to desert greening of the Sahara/Sahel using a global climate model by S. P. K. Bowring et al.
  • 2014/01/28: ESD: Comment on "Carbon farming in hot, dry coastal areas: an option for climate change mitigation" by Becker et al. (2013) by M. Heimann
  • 2014/01/29: ACPD: Longitudinal hotspots in the mesospheric OH variations due to energetic electron precipitation by M. E. Andersson et al.
  • 2014/01/28: ACPD: Influence of future climate and cropland expansion on isoprene emissions and tropospheric ozone by O. J. Squire et al.
  • 2014/01/27: ACPD: A global climatology of stratosphere-troposphere exchange using the ERA-Interim data set from 1979 to 2011 by B. Skerlak et al.
  • 2014/01/29: ACPD: Constraining CO2 emissions from open biomass burning by satellite observations of co-emitted species: a method and its application to wildfires in Siberia by I. B. Konovalov et al.
  • 2014/01/27: ACPD: Assimilation of atmospheric methane products in the MACC-II system: from SCIAMACHY to TANSO and IASI by S. Massart et al.
  • 2014/01/29: Nature: (ab$) Australian tropical cyclone activity lower than at any time over the past 550-1,500 years by Jordahna Haig et al.
  • 2014/01/29: PLoS One: Climate Change Increases Reproductive Failure in Magellanic Penguins by P. Dee Boersma et al.
  • 2014/01/28: BG: A full greenhouse gases budget of Africa: synthesis, uncertainties, and vulnerabilities by R. Valentini et al.
  • 2014/01/28: BG: Calcium carbonate corrosivity in an Alaskan inland sea by W. Evans et al.
  • 2014/01/28: BG: Photosynthetic activity buffers ocean acidification in seagrass meadows by I. E. Hendriks et al.
  • 2014/01/31: BGD: Extreme events in gross primary production: a characterization across continents by J. Zscheischler et al.
  • 2014/01/29: BGD: Old carbon contributes to aquatic emissions of carbon dioxide in the Amazon by L. E. Vihermaa et al.
  • 2014/01/29: BGD: Mechanisms for the suppression of methane production in peatland soils by a humic substance analog by R. Ye et al.
  • 2014/01/29: BGD: Dust deposition in an oligotrophic marine environment: impact on the carbon budget by C. Guieu et al.
  • 2014/01/28: BGD: The net exchange of methane with high Arctic landscapes during the summer growing season by C. A. Emmerton et al.
  • 2014/01/31: CP: Biogeochemical variability during the past 3.6 million years recorded by FTIR spectroscopy in the sediment record of Lake El'gygytgyn, Far East Russian Arctic by C. Meyer-Jacob et al.
  • 2014/01/28: CPD: New on-line method for water isotope analysis of speleothem fluid inclusions using laser absorption spectroscopy (WS-CRDS) by S. Affolter et al.
  • 2014/01/31: Science: (ab$) Drug Policy as Conservation Policy: Narco-Deforestation by Kendra McSweeney et al.
  • 2014/01/31: ESD: Modelling multiple threats to water security in the Peruvian Amazon using the WaterWorld policy support system by A. J. J. van Soesbergen & M. Mulligan
  • 2014/01/31: ACPD: Analysis of the global atmospheric methane budget using ECHAM-MOZ simulations for present-day, pre-industrial time and the Last Glacial Maximum by A. Basu et al.
  • 2014/01/31: HESS: Separating the effects of changes in land cover and climate: a hydro-meteorological analysis of the past 60 yr in Saxony, Germany by M. Renner et al.
  • 2014/01/31: HESS: Coupled prediction of flood response and debris flow initiation during warm- and cold-season events in the Southern Appalachians, USA by J. Tao & A. P. Barros
  • 2014/01/30: HESS: Hydrological model calibration for derived flood frequency analysis using stochastic rainfall and probability distributions of peak flows by U. Haberlandt & I. Radtke
  • 2014/01/31: HESSD: Environmental flow assessments in estuaries related to preference of phytoplankton by Z. F. Yang et al.
  • 2014/01/30: HESSD: Balancing ecosystem services with energy and food security - assessing trade-offs for reservoir operation and irrigation investment in Kenya's Tana basin by A. P. Hurford & J. J. Harou
  • 2014/01/29: HESSD: Flow regime change in an Endorheic basin in Southern Ethiopia by F. F. Worku et al.
  • 2014/01/31: OSD: Quantification of octacalcium phosphate, authigenic apatite and detrital apatite in coastal sediments using differential dissolution and standard addition by J. F. Oxmann & L. Schwendenmann
  • 2014/01/30: TC: Effect of uncertainty in surface mass balance-elevation feedback on projections of the future sea level contribution of the Greenland ice sheet by T. L. Edwards et al.
  • 2014/01/30: TC: Probabilistic parameterisation of the surface mass balance-elevation feedback in regional climate model simulations of the Greenland ice sheet by T. L. Edwards et al.
  • 2014/01/30: TC: Response of ice cover on shallow lakes of the North Slope of Alaska to contemporary climate conditions (1950-2011): radar remote-sensing and numerical modeling data analysis by C. M. Surdu et al.
  • 2014/01/28: WoL:GCB: (ab$) African crop yield reductions due to increasingly unbalanced Nitrogen and Phosphorus consumption by Marijn van der Velde et al.
  • 2014/01/26: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Ephemeral formation of perennial sea ice in the Arctic Ocean during the middle Eocene by Dennis A. Darby
  • 2014/01/26: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Tropospheric ozone trends at Mauna Loa Observatory tied to decadal climate variability by Meiyun Lin et al.
  • 2014/01/26: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Carbon isotope equilibration during sulphate-limited anaerobic oxidation of methane by Marcos Y. Yoshinaga et al.
  • 2014/01/26: Nature:CC: (ab$) Integrating emissions transfers into policy-making by Marco Springmann
  • 2014/01/26: Nature:CC: (ab$) Heat stress increases long-term human migration in rural Pakistan by V. Mueller et al.
  • 2014/01/26: Nature:CC: (ab$) Carbon stock corridors to mitigate climate change and promote biodiversity in the tropics by Patrick Jantz et al.

  And other significant documents:

  • 2014/01/30: Stoat: [link to 312k pdf] The AR5 comments are available!

  As for miscellaneous science:

  • 2014/02/01: V V: Effect of data homogenization on estimate of temperature trend: a case of Huairou station in Beijing Municipality
  • 2014/01/30: Stoat: Science
  • 2014/01/27: V V: Peer review helps fringe ideas gain credibility

  In the science organizations:

  • 2014/01/31: BBC: Horizon 2020: UK launch for EU's £67bn research budget
    The new European Union research budget has had its official UK launch. Known as Horizon 2020, the programme is worth nearly £67bn (80bn euros) and covers the next seven years. The funds are allocated through a competitive process, in which Britain traditionally fares very well - second only to Germany. If this performance is maintained, UK universities, research centres and businesses could expect to receive £2bn in the first two years of Horizon 2020.
  • 2014/01/30: NatureNB: Hollande pledges to avoid cuts to France's science funding
  • 2014/01/29: ScienceInsider: A Supporting Role for Science in Obama's State of the Union Address

  Regarding Advocacy:

  • 2014/02/01: P3: If You See Something, Say Something

  Patterson obit:

  • 2014/01/27: FukuLeaks: PSR Mourns Loss Of Dr. Jeff Patterson
  • 2014/01/24: PSR: PSR Mourns an Exceptional Leader
    Jeff Patterson, DO, was an indefatigable champion who served Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and will be sorely missed by all who knew and worked with him. Jeff exuded compassion. He cared for human life and committed himself to the relief of suffering; it motivated all his work. Jeff was a gentle soul with a powerful spirit and always provided a calming influence in difficult times.

  Meanwhile at the UN:

  • 2014/01/31: BBC: Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has been appointed as UN special envoy for cities and climate change
  • 2014/01/31: UN: Former New York Mayor Bloomberg named Ban's envoy for cities and climate change
  • 2014/01/31: RTCC: Ban Ki-moon selects [Former NYC Mayor Mike] Bloomberg as cities and climate change envoy
  • 2014/01/30: UN: Launching scientific advisory board, Ban urges bridging gap between science, policy

  Regarding the Fifth IPCC report:

  • 2014/02/01: WtD: IPCC releases early drafts of reports to counter deniers: will it work?
  • 2014/01/31: RTCC: China unhappy with 'carbon budget' reference in IPCC review
    Chinese government objected to scientists including carbon budget in IPCC Summary for Policymakers, documents reveal Documents released yesterday show that China wanted references to a global "carbon budget" to be excluded from the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Government officials told the UN's top climate scientists last year that countries should not be told there is a fixed volume of carbon dioxide that can be burnt before the world experiences dangerous levels of warming. Review papers released by the IPCC show that the Chinese believed that the figure was too uncertain to be included in the 30-page Summary for Policymakers, which is targeted at the world's top politicians. "It is inappropriate for such an argument with much uncertainty to be cited as a key conclusion in the Technical Summary and the Summary for Policymakers," government officials wrote.
  • 2014/01/30: Stoat: [link to 312k pdf] The AR5 comments are available!
  • 2014/01/30: UN: Human cause of global warming is near certainty, UN reports
  • 2014/01/28: ARussell: Thunderstorms in the IPCC AR5

  And on the carbon trading front:

  • 2014/01/30: BBerg: EU Environment Panel Backs Faster Approval of Carbon Fix

  South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

  • 2014/01/30: Asia Times: Abe leads the 'contain' China two-step
  • 2014/01/29: WSWS: The danger of war in Asia
  • 2014/01/28: BBC: Japan revises school manuals to set out territorial claims
    Japan's Education Ministry says it is revising teaching manuals for schools to set out its ownership of disputed islands.
  • 2014/01/27: FPIF: A Green Challenge to the Asia-Pacific Pivot
    The Obama administration's "Pacific Pivot" is wreaking environmental havoc on the pristine ecosystems of the Asia-Pacific region.

  Now that the EU-ETS for airlines is in limbo, will it ever be resurrected?

  • 2014/01/31: EurActiv: MEPs defy EU states on aviation emissions law
    The European parliament's environment committee has voted to apply the EU's emissions trading system to all airlines operating anywhere in the bloc's air space, even though France, the UK and other states want the scheme confined to intra-EU flights.
  • 2014/01/27: EurActiv: Aviation emissions law 'puts Europe's global power to the test', MEPs say
    The emissions trading system (ETS) for aviation is rapidly turning into a "political question of the EU's influence on the world stage", members of the European Parliament and industry representatives said on Thursday (23 January), ahead of a key vote in the Parliament's environment committee on 30 January.

  In the "global competition for natural resources":

  • 2014/01/29: CassandrasLegacy: The problem with mining

  Regarding the EU FQD: Fuel Quality Directive:

  • 2014/01/27: OilChange: Tar Sands Imports to EU Equivalent to Six Million Extra Cars

  These 'free trade' treaties are a stealth corporate takeover with anti-democratic dispute resolution mechanisms:

  • 2014/01/30: NakedCapitalism: Mirabile Dictu! Reid Tells Off Obama on Fast Track, Killing Toxic Trade Deals for 2014
  • 2014/01/28: EFF: Congress, Don't Let Us Down: Oppose the Bill to "Fast Track" TPP
  • 2014/01/28: Grist: Free trade deal on solar and wind could hurt the environment

  As for miscellaneous international political happenings:

  • 2014/01/31: BBerg: Panama's $5 Billion Canal Upgrade Jolts U.S. Ports From California to New Jersey

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

  • 2014/01/29: Guardian(UK): Drax coal case shows police cannot be trusted to investigate themselves
  • 2014/01/29: Grist: Anti-fracking activist barred from 312.5 square miles of Pennsylvania
  • 2014/01/28: Guardian(UK): Victoria's new anti-protest bill is a threat to our freedom of assembly
    It is utterly disgraceful that the Victorian state government would place the power to decide what is 'legitimate protest' in the hands of police
  • 2014/01/28: ABC(Au): Three people arrested at Maules Creek [coal] mine protest in NSW
  • 2014/01/27: LSJ: Trial begins for Enbridge protesters charged with felony obstruction
    Testimony began Monday in the trial of three protesters charged with resisting and obstructing police after attaching themselves to construction equipment last summer at an Enbridge Inc. work site near Stockbridge. During opening statements, attorneys for two of the defendants said their clients were engaged in a peaceful protest and never were told to leave the premises. Their actions didn't meet the elements of the felony crime they are charged with, the lawyers said.

  What are the activists up to?

  • 2014/01/30: ICN: Enviros Fire Warning Shot at Coal Export Investor
    A letter urging a little-known investor to drop its financing of few remaining coal export projects or face public protest represents a shift in tactics.
  • 2014/01/28: Asia Times: Principles to guide the young activist

  The move to divest from fossil fuel investments is growing slowly:

  • 2014/01/31: TP:JR: 17 Foundations Pledge To Divest Their Stocks Of Fossil Fuels
  • 2014/01/30: ICN: Will the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement Sweep Through U.S. Foundations?
    Seventeen foundations with modest holdings in oil, coal and gas announced that they have ditched fossil fuel stocks for clean energy ones.
  • 2014/01/27: RTCC: World Bank chief backs fossil fuel divestment drive
    Jim Yong Kim says levels of carbon dioxide threaten development gains over the past two decades The head of one of the world's most powerful financial institutions says governments and business should consider withdrawing funding from oil, gas and coal companies.

  Polls! We have polls!

  • 2014/01/28: Guardian(UK): Public support for fracking in Britain falls for a second time
    Poll shows a further increase in shale gas opposition since protests last summer -- despite prime minister's support

  Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:

  • 2014/02/01: JFleck: Breathe, California. Keep it together. You can do this.
  • 2014/01/31: JFleck: Imagine having to set water rates for an entire nation
  • 2014/01/30: Guardian(UK): Gaza warned of looming water crisis
  • 2014/01/30: JFleck: Moving water to where it's needed
  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Chinese water diversion project to help tackle northern China's drought crisis
  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): China introduces $62b South-North Transfer Project to ease water shortage
    This year billions of cubic metres of water will begin flowing from central China to Beijing as part of the government's $62 billion water diversion scheme.
  • 2014/01/29: JFleck: Drought, the "ridge" and the Colorado Basin
  • 2014/01/26: JFleck: In a drought, who runs out of water, and who pays?

  Regarding science education:

  • 2014/02/01: RealClimate: New climate science MOOCs
  • 2014/02/01: PSinclair: The Weekend Wonk: Educating for Ignorance: It's "School Choice" Week!
  • 2014/01/29: WaPo: Teachers oppose Va. bill challenging mainstream science
    Virginia science teachers are opposing a bill in the General Assembly they say would open classroom doors to lessons challenging evolution, global warming and other mainstream scientific views.
  • 2014/01/28: ScienceInsider: Congress and NIH Don't See Eye to Eye on Science Education

  Who's making predictions this week?

  • 2014/01/30: ArcticNews: Forecast: America to be hit by temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees

  While in the UK:

  • 2014/02/01: Guardian(UK): Flooding: too little defence, too late, as the waters rise
    Is Britain suffering the consequence of long neglect of flood risks -- and will the damage to homes and livelihoods just get worse?
  • 2014/02/01: TP:JR: U.K.'s January Flooding Surpasses All 247 Years Of Data On The Books
  • 2014/01/30: TP:JR: Public Pressure Puts U.K. Fracking On The Defensive
  • 2014/01/30: BBC: The environment secretary is warning of further flooding for parts of the UK, with those in affected areas urged to heed Environment Agency advice
  • 2014/01/30: Monbiot: Dredged Up -- Never mind the evidence, we'll do something eye-catching
  • 2014/01/29: Guardian(UK): UK should have 10 million homes with solar panels by 2020, experts say
    Imperial College says Britain could get as much as 40% of its electricity from solar power on sunny days by decade's end
  • 2014/01/28: ATTPh: IPCC 5th Assessment Review
  • 2014/01/28: BBC: Farmers urged by WWF to do more to prevent flooding
  • 2014/01/28: BBC: Somerset Levels flooding: Villagers 'devastated' and businesses 'killed off'
  • 2014/01/28: Guardian(UK): Public support for fracking in Britain falls for a second time
  • 2014/01/28: RTCC: As it happened: UK MPs assess IPCC climate science report
  • 2014/01/28: BBC: Environment Agency 'worked socks off' over floods
    The head of the Environment Agency has defended its handling of the floods, saying its staff have "worked their socks off" over the past two months. It follows criticism that the organisation failed to protect the Somerset Levels, which have been badly hit by flooding, by dredging rivers.
  • 2014/01/27: TP:JR: Fracking Under Houses Could Be New Norm As U.K. Puts Environmental Concerns On Backburner
  • 2014/01/27: Guardian(UK): IPCC hearing brings UK closer to US polarisation on climate change
    Leading sceptics getting big slots to reject global warming indicates a growing climate denial bias at Westminster
  • 2014/01/27: EurActiv: David Cameron pledges to rip up green regulations
    David Cameron will on Monday (27 January) boast of tearing up 80,000 pages of environmental protections and building guidelines as part of a new push to build more houses and cut costs for businesses of up to £850 million (E1 billion) per year.
  • 2014/01/27: Guardian(UK): UK climate change spend almost halved under Owen Paterson, figures reveal
    Critics blame 'climate sceptic' environment secretary for drop in funding to prepare country for impacts of global warming
  • 2014/01/27: RTCC: John Ashton: look to Paracelsus for effective climate action
  • 2014/01/27: BBC: Floods: Environment Agency in dredging row
    The Environment Agency has been criticised as flood warnings for south-west England remain in force. Farmers in the Somerset Levels - which the Environment Secretary is visiting - have demonstrated against the agency for failing to dredge the rivers.

  And in Europe:

  • 2014/01/31: BBC: Goldman investment sparks political row in Denmark
    Grassroots opposition has caused a political storm in Denmark over plans to sell part of a state-owned energy company to Goldman Sachs. Opponents are continuing to sign an online petition, which has collected nearly 200,000 signatures.
  • 2014/01/31: RNE: False enemies: emission reductions, renewables, and efficiency
  • 2014/01/31: EurActiv: European Greens nominate Snowden for Nobel Peace Prize
  • 2014/01/31: EurActiv: MEPs defy EU states on aviation emissions law
    The European parliament's environment committee has voted to apply the EU's emissions trading system to all airlines operating anywhere in the bloc's air space, even though France, the UK and other states want the scheme confined to intra-EU flights.
  • 2014/01/31: EurActiv: French body blames renewables for EU power market failures
  • 2014/01/30: BBerg: EU Environment Panel Backs Faster Approval of Carbon Fix
  • 2014/01/30: CleanTechnica: Brussels Restricts Policy To Emission Reduction And Trading
  • 2014/01/30: EUO: Greens pick German and French politicians [Jose Bove & Ska Keller] to lead EU campaign
  • 2014/01/29: EurActiv: Keller and Bové to campaign as Greens' duo
    José Bové and Ska Keller will lead the European Greens party's campaign for the EU elections in May, after winning an 'online primary' that polled 22,600 people across Europe, the party announced today (29 January).
  • 2014/01/29: EurActiv: Oettinger rallies opposition to 2030 CO2 target
    The EU's energy commissioner, Günther Oettinger, has spoken out against a planned 40% cut in CO2 emissions across the EU by 2030, just a week after he helped to launch the policy.
  • 2014/01/29: RTCC: EU energy chief [Günther Oettinger] labels new climate targets "stupid"
  • 2014/01/28: NatureN: EU climate targets under fire -- Critics fear that Europe's proposed energy goals and emissions cuts are too soft
  • 2014/01/27: EurActiv: Denmark signals fight for tougher 2030 climate and clean energy goals
    Copenhagen is preparing a push for stronger EU-wide 2030 climate and energy goals despite tough opposition from states such as the UK and Poland, the Danish climate and energy minister, Martin Lidegaard, has told EurActiv.
  • 2014/01/22: EnergyPost(EU): Brussels: ocean energy could fulfill all our energy needs

  Meanwhile in Australia:

  • 2014/02/01: Guardian(UK): A patriotic ABC: a parody
    Tony Abbott wants a more patriotic ABC. What would its daily schedule look like?
  • 2014/02/01: ABC(Au): Fire continues to burn north of Wattle Flat
    Firefighters continue to battle a major bush fire burning close to Wattle Flat, north of Bathurst in the New South Wales central west. The fire is burning out of control about a kilometre north west of the town, and has burnt more than 95 hectares. The Rural Fire Service says the fire is still heading towards the north west corner of the town, and the fire remains at a watch and act status.
  • 2014/01/31: ABC(Au): Food drops continue for flood-isolated Pilbara communities
    Authorities are maintaining contact with Pilbara communities, still cut off by floodwaters, to ensure they remain well-stocked with essential supplies. Heavy rainfall in the past couple of weeks has flooded roads, isolating Marble Bar, Warralong, Nullagine and Jigalong.
  • 2014/01/31: ABC(Au): BOM defends cyclone warning system
  • 2014/01/30: DeSmogBlog: Australian Report Trumpeted By Coal Bosses Does Not Say What They Want You To Think It Says
  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Great Barrier Reef authority set to announce decision on dumping of Abbot Point coal port spoils
  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): A lesson in lobbying: Gregson says irrigators can't stop CSG
    The outgoing Chief Executive Officer of the NSW Irrigators Council says farmers don't have 'a chance in hell' of stopping the coal seam gas industry in NSW, and that agriculture isn't harnessing its lobbying potential. Andrew Gregson finished his six-and-a-half year tenure with the Council today.
  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Drought conditions worsen, hay travels further
    As dry conditions in Queensland continue, graziers are looking further and further afield to keep their stock alive. In some instances, hay is being trucked more than a thousand kilometres to Queensland from as far away as South Australia.
  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Roebourne Shire counts cost of cyclone clean-up
    The Shire of Roebourne is estimating its clean up bill for ex-Tropical Cyclone Christine will cost more than $3 million.
  • 2014/01/29: RNE: Heatwave hastens utilities' move to storage and electric vehicles
  • 2014/01/29: Grist: Australian Open heat was a climate-change preview, but at least nobody died
  • 2014/01/29: TheConversation: There is no need to dump Abbot Point's dredge spoil on the reef
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Scientists lobby Great Barrier Reef authority to halt Abbot Point coal port expansion
  • 2014/01/28: TheConversation: Bushfires: what we can learn from Hobart's near miss
  • 2014/01/26: ABC(Au): Bendemeer facing tough water restrictions
    Tamworth Regional Council says residents in Bendemeer will be limited in their use of outside water, as they move into Level Three water restrictions. Level One restrictions were introduced in the town two weeks ago, but tougher measures are now required to conserve water.
  • 2014/01/27: ABC(Au): Statewide fire ban issued for Tasmania with hot, dry winds expected
  • 2014/01/26: PrecariousC: We need to rethink national interests

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

  • 2014/02/02: ABC(Au): Labor's Penny Wong rejects ABC, SBS efficiency review as politically motivated
    The Federal Opposition has criticised the Government's planned efficiency review of the ABC and SBS as politically motivated, with Labor frontbencher Penny Wong saying the Coalition wants to avoid scrutiny.
  • 2014/02/01: WSWS: Australian government refuses assistance to SPC fruit cannery
  • 2014/01/31: ABC(Au): Asylum seekers: Releasing Operation Sovereign Borders details not in the national interest, Scott Morrison tells Senate committee
  • 2014/01/31: ABC(Au): Shepparton business leaders, fruit growers, determined to fight
    Business leaders and farmers in northern Victoria say they are rocked by the Federal Government's knockback of SPC Ardmona's bid for assistance. The cannery wanted $25 million from the government, and matching funds from the state government, to retool and modernise. But the Federal Government has declined the grant, meaning at least 2,000 jobs are at risk at the northern Victorian cannery and the orchards and transport business that supply it.
  • 2014/01/31: ABC(Au): Opposition says Abbott 'got the balance wrong' on SPC
    Federal shadow agriculture spokesperson Joel Fitzgibbon says Prime Minister Tony Abbott 'got it wrong' when rejecting SPC Ardmona's request of $25 million for its cannery in Shepparton. [...] "Tony Abbott just takes this hard-line economic rationalist view that there's no role for government in sustaining some of these businesses."
  • 2014/01/30: Guardian(UK): A 'patriotic' state-owned ABC would not serve Australia's best interests
    For Tony Abbott to berate the ABC for not being on 'Australia's side' and ask them to bat for the home team is bad media policy. Why? It simply doesn't work
  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): ABC, SBS review: Federal Government to conduct efficiency study of operating costs
  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): Malcolm Turnbull defends ABC independence as Coalition MPs feud over treatment of broadcaster
  • 2014/01/29: PrecariousC: 21 flaws in Tony Abbott's climate policy
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Natural disasters cost Victoria almost billion over 10 years
    Coalition governments are turning their backs on tackling climate change. But the imperative to address climate change is not merely scientific. There's an economic reason to act, too.
  • 2014/01/29: RNE: Axing RET would cost thousands of solar jobs: study
  • 2014/01/29: BBC: Australia's Tony Abbott calls broadcaster ABC unpatriotic
  • 2014/01/28: RNE: Abbott's wind energy review a waste of taxpayer money
  • 2014/01/28: RNE: Is Tony Abbott about to appoint IPA to renewables review?
  • 2014/01/27: NewAnthropocene: Abbott's Davos Disaster
  • 2014/01/27: ABC(Au): Stop the boats asylum seeker policy 'morally corrupt and indefensible', former Navy officer says

  The Abbott gang has decide to sacrifice the Great Barrier Reef:

  • 2014/02/01: CCP: Graham Readfearn: Death by sludge, coal and climate change for Great Barrier Reef?
  • 2014/02/01: DD: Australia Great Barrier Reef dredge dumping plan approved...
  • 2014/02/01: ABC(Au): Abbot Point approval: Tour operators disappointed by Great Barrier Reef dredge spoil decision
    Great Barrier Reef tour operators say a decision to allow the dumping of dredge spoil near the reef's marine park area will affect the region's tourism industry and Australia's international reputation.
  • 2014/02/01: ABC(Au): Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority approves plan to dump Abbot Point spoil
  • 2014/02/01: ABC(Au): Former Barrier Reef park head dismayed by dredging decision
  • 2014/02/01: ABC(Au): Great Barrier Reef tour operators concerned by dredging decision
    Great Barrier Reef tour operators say they're disgusted by a decision to allow the dumping of dredge spoil in the reef Marine Park Area. Nearly three million cubic meters of spoil will be tipped in the Marine Park as part of the Abbot Point coal port expansion near Bowen.
  • 2014/01/31: ABC(Au):TDU: Would you dump rubbish in the Grand Canyon?
    By granting permission to dump in Reef waters the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority has failed in its duty to protect a reef which took millions of years to form, writes Louise Matthiesson.
  • 2014/01/31: Grist: Great Barrier Reef will be smothered with silt, because coal
  • 2014/01/31: CNN: Body blow for the Reef - Australia to dump dredged sand in Great Barrier Reef Park
    Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority approves plan to dump millions of tons of dredge spoil - Waste material will come from the expansion of a coal port - Environmental groups decry decision
  • 2014/01/31: TheConversation: Australia courting danger with the Great Barrier Reef
  • 2014/01/31: GreenPeace: Green light to Reef dumping a disgrace - but conditions will delay coal port plans
    Brisbane, 30 January 2014. Greenpeace says the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority approval of a permit to dump spoil on the Reef is another hit for the World Heritage listed site which will increase the likelihood that UNESCO lists it as 'in danger' later in 2014.
  • 2014/01/31: GBRMPA: Strict conditions placed on approval for Abbot Point permit
    After rigorous assessment, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has approved an application by North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation to dispose of dredge spoil at a deepwater location offshore of Abbot Point, subject to strict environmental conditions.
  • 2014/01/31: BBC: Australia Great Barrier Reef dredge dumping plan approved
    Australian authorities have approved a project to dump dredged sediment in the Great Barrier Reef marine park as part of a project to create one of the world's biggest coal ports. The decision was made by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Scientists had urged it not to back the project, saying the sediment could smother or poison coral. Several companies want to use the Abbot Point port to export coal reserves from the Galilee Basin area.
  • 2014/01/31: al Jazeera: Australia agrees dumping near Barrier Reef
    About 3m cubic metres of mud will be dumped near world heritage site after approval to expand Queensland coal port.
  • 2014/01/31: ABC(Au): Abbot Point approval: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority imposes conditions on dredge spoil dumping
    [...] The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has approved plans to tip about 3 million cubic meters of spoil into the Marine Park as part of the project at Bowen, in North Queensland, green-lighted by Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt last month.
  • 2014/01/31: ABC(Au): Dredge dumping: just because you can doesn't mean you should
    The decision to dump dredge spoil within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is an outrage to Australians. It should never be allowed to proceed. Australians have every right to be outraged right now. Our greatest marine park is to be used as a dump. Three million cubic metres of sea bed will be ripped up at Abbot Point, north of Bowen, then transported and unloaded in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. First Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt approved this craziness, then today the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority issued a dumping permit.
  • 2014/01/31: ABC(Au): Queensland fisherman labels dredging decision a 'disaster'
    A north Queensland fisherman says the decision to dump dredge spoil from the Abbot Point coal terminal in the Great Barrier Marine Park will seriously damage the local fishing industry. Three million cubic metres of spoil must be dredged as part of the expansion of the major coal terminal at Bowen, North Queensland. The expansion was approved by Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, in December.
  • 2014/01/31: ABC(Au): Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority approves controversial dredge spoil permit
    The agency responsible for protecting the Great Barrier Reef has approved the dumping of three million tonnes of dredge spoil as part of a port expansion project. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's decision will allow the Abbot Point coal terminal in north Queensland to become the biggest in the world. The move's been opposed by environmentalists, tourism operators and tens of thousands of locals, and there are fears that it sets the scene for unprecedented development in the world heritage area.
  • 2014/01/30: WWF: New report: government failures put [Great Barrier] Reef World Heritage Status "on the line"

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

  • 2014/02/01: ABC(Au): Lostock could hold Hunter's water future
    The scrapping of the controversial Tillegra Dam has put another water storage area in the Hunter on the radar, with an option to more than triple its capacity. The State Government has released its response to an inquiry into water storages.
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Water in demand
    Water cartage operators are in demand across the Hunter, as drier conditions start to bite. Drought is now gripping much of New South Wales, including the Upper Hunter.
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Warm weather causing dam storages to drop
    Hot, windy conditions have taken a toll on the Hunter's water storages. The average storage level across the Grahamstown and Chichester Dams, as well as the Tomago sandbeds and Anna Bay facility is 88 per cent. That is down from 95 per cent six weeks ago. Individually Chichester Dam is struggling, dropping to 67 per cent.
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Water use jumps to record high in January heatwave
    Victorian Water Minister Peter Walsh says there is no need for water restrictions despite a spike in water use during the recent heatwave.
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Council adopts Dysart water crisis report
    The Isaac Regional Council says it hopes to complete all improvements to the Dysart Water Treatment Plant by the end of the year. Council yesterday adopted a report into the Dysart water crisis, including recommended short and long-term improvements. Late last year, the plant was forced to shut and more than 4.2 million litres of potable water had to be delivered to the mining town.
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Commonwealth raises $3.2 million in northern NSW water trade
  • 2014/01/28: ABC(Au): No federal money for Needles Dam
    The Deputy Prime Minister says he's committed to building more dams in Australia, but is not sure the Needles Gap dam proposed in central west New South Wales will make the shortlist.
  • 2014/01/28: ABC(Au): Manning Valley on water restrictions for first time in a decade [Level 3]
  • 2014/01/28: ABC(Au): State Water Corporation on NSW dam levels
  • 2014/01/28: ABC(Au): Bogan council formalises water charges
    The Bogan Shire Council has formalised a water supply contract for irrigators using a 65 year old channel in the hope of recouping its operating costs. The Albert Priest Channel supplies water to the council, Cobar Water Board and a number of irrigators without a formal contract between the parties. The Mayor, Ray Donald, says the charges include access and usage fees as well as potential water loss.

  And in China:

  • 2014/01/30: ABC(Au): China introduces $62b South-North Transfer Project to ease water shortage
  • 2014/01/29: RTCC: China PM calls for national roll-out of electric vehicles

  While in Japan:

  • 2014/01/31: NYT: Japan's Public Broadcaster Faces Accusations of Shift to the Right
    [...]
    The broadcaster has also faced widespread public distrust for coverage of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident that was later criticized for meekly complying with government efforts to cover up the extent of radiation releases.
    The accusations of political interference have also become a new headache for the Abe government, which has already seen its high approval ratings slide after passage in December of a secrecy law that many Japanese journalists saw as imposing draconian punishments on government officials who speak with reporters. This has led many liberals to accuse Mr. Abe of trying to muzzle the press as he pushes through a right-wing agenda that most Japanese voters may not fully support.
    "This is gross political interference," said Yasushi Kawasaki, a former NHK political reporter who now teaches journalism at Sugiyama Jogakuen University near Nagoya, Japan. "The Abe government has stocked NHK's Board of Governors with friendly faces in order to neuter its coverage."
  • 2014/01/31: WSWS: Japan: New political alignment emerges in Tokyo election
    The campaign for the February 9 election for Tokyo governor has exposed a deep-seated alienation from the political establishment -- the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and opposition Democratic Party of Japan as well as the myriad political parties. None of the 16 candidates is standing under a party banner. All preferred to run as "independents," receiving "support" or "endorsement" from various political parties.

  And elsewhere in Asia:

  • 2014/01/31: RTCC: South Korea confirms 30% carbon reduction target by 2020
  • 2014/01/28: WSWS: East Timorese prime minister announces resignation plan
    East Timor's prime minister, Xanana Gusmão, has announced he will resign later this year, supposedly to allow a "new generation" to take control of the tiny state.

  In the Middle East:

  • 2014/01/28: AntiWar: Iran, Iraq Plan Challenge to Saudi Control Over Oil Market -- Nations Plan to 'Flood the Market' With Increased Oil Production

  While in Africa:

  • 2014/01/28: Guardian(UK): Vulnerable to climate change, Cameroon tackles the problem head-on
  • 2014/01/27: RTCC: Tunisia embeds climate change in constitution
    Parliament vote makes country only third on planet to have legal commitment to tackling climate causes and impacts Tunisia has become only the third country on the planet to embed the importance of addressing climate change into its constitution.

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

  • 2014/01/30: NNW: Nuclear power liability to jump to $1 billion
    The Conservative government is poised to introduce legislation that will raise the liability for civilian damages for nuclear operators to $1 billion from the current $75 million. The Canadian Press has learned that will be included in an act Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver will introduce in the Commons today to improve offshore energy safety and security along with nuclear security. The move is part of an orchestrated government effort to get ahead of widespread environment concerns about Canada's energy regulation.
  • 2014/01/29: DeSmogBlog: Andrew Nikiforuk: Canada's Petrostate Has "Dramatically Diminished Our International Reputation"
  • 2014/01/29: Creekside: RU-4Choice? : Ethical Abortion
  • 2014/01/28: CBC: Abortion debate may return as Health Canada weighs RU-486 approval
    Abortion debate likely to continue as Health Canada considers approving abortion drug mifepristone The abortion debate on Parliament Hill isn't likely to fade in 2014 as Health Canada is expected to decide whether to approve a drug that terminates pregnancies. Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, has been under consideration by Health Canada since December 2012. It usually takes about nine months for pharmaceuticals to work their way through the approvals process, making mifepristone overdue for a decision.
  • 2014/01/27: MSimon: The Keystone Ad Stephen Harper Doesn't Want Americans to Watch
  • 2014/01/27: NNW: U.S. TV viewers tuning into Obama speech will see PM Harper in unflattering ad
    Prime Minister Stephen Harper will make a cameo appearance on an international stage Tuesday night -- though it's hardly one he would have chosen. The prime minister will be cast in the villain's role in an anti-Keystone XL pipeline ad airing during the broadcast of President Barack Obama's state of the union address.
  • 2014/01/27: CBC: State of the union audience will see Harper in anti-Keystone ad
  • 2014/01/26: CdnTrends: Every minister is an 'oilsands minister'

  The Harper gang is pushing fundamentally destructive science policies:

  • 2014/02/01: BLongstaff: Speak up for science
  • 2014/01/30: CBC: Fisheries science books disposal costs Ottawa thousands
    7 Fisheries and Oceans libraries to close, sending books, documents to trash
  • 2014/01/27: Tyee: Elizabeth May Questions Legality of Science Library Cullings
  • 2014/01/27: SaskBoy: Greens: Conservatives Ordered Illegal Destruction of Canadian Records

  What's happening in the Opposition parties?

  • 2014/01/27: CBC: Ex-NDP MP Bruce Hyer becomes Green party deputy chief

  The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

  • 2014/01/30: TStar: Northern Gateway project threatened by court challenges
    Native groups, environmentalists opposed to oil pipeline have filed court challenges that could seriously delay or even scuttle the project.
  • 2014/01/27: ICN: New Oil Spill Research Too Late for Northern Gateway Pipeline

  What's the state of the West Coast salmon fishery?

  • 2014/02/01: TheCanadian: Salmon farms get tax dollars for dead fish, provide few jobs
  • 2014/01/31: AlexandraMorton: It is clear where this is going
  • 2014/01/31: TheCanadian: Morton: Marine Harvest lists on NYSE as Harper govt plans salmon farm expansion
  • 2014/01/27: TheCanadian: Chief sees major salmon farm expansion on horizon - issues urgent plea to "lock arms"
  • 2014/01/26: TheCanadian: Athabasca Chipewyan Nation pulls out of govt [Joint Oil Sands Monitoring program]
  • 2014/01/23: PostMedia: Environment ministers dismiss talk of slowing oilsands expansion
    Former Fort McMurray MP says quality of life suffering in northern Alberta Provincial and federal environment ministers agreed Thursday there are no plans to slow down expansion of the oilsands, even as a former Fort McMurray [Former Conservative MP Brian Jean] says explosive growth needs to cool off to allow the area's infrastructure to catch up.

  Meanwhile in BC:

  • 2014/01/31: TheCanadian: [BC] Environmental hearing process not working for public
  • 2014/01/30: CBC: 5 Vancouver Island native bands get commercial fishery
    Supreme Court of Canada dismisses federal government appeal ending decades-long legal fight
  • 2014/01/30: CBC: Risk to B.C. salmon 'minimal' from Run-of-River projects
    An independent review inconclusively finds the hydro projects will have no impact on river salmon
  • 2014/01/29: TheCanadian: BC's private run-of-river power projects a 'horror show', documents reveal
  • 2014/01/27: TheCanadian: Site C Dam story changes again -- now it's about powering California
  • 2014/01/27: TheCanadian: Burnaby mayor calls BC "banana republic" over coal port review

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

  • 2014/01/31: CensoredNews: Indigenous fighting tarsands get boost from Neil Young
  • 2014/01/28: PostMedia: Alberta, B.C. promise energy partnership to smooth differences, clean oil spills
  • 2014/01/27: PostMedia: Oilsands and water: report calls for more research on effects of spill
    Too little is known about products from Alberta's oilsands to assess whether spills in rivers or coastal areas could be effectively cleaned up, according to a recent report for a U.S. government agency. The scientists writing for the emergency response division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say it is unclear whether diluted bitumen will float in water and for how long the molasses-like mixture will remain at the surface.

  Also in Alberta:

  • 2014/01/29: Rabble: Protest-ending injunction won't stop Lubicon efforts
  • 2014/01/28: TheCanadian: Alberta families abandon homes over bitumen fumes

  In Manitoba:

  • 2014/01/27: TheCanadian: Manitoba government floats northern oil, LNG port for Churchill
  • 2014/01/08: WpgFP: Northern energy hub? Pipeline to Churchill explored -- deepwater port ice-free longer

  In Ontario, energy still looms large:

  • 2014/02/01: CleanTechnica: Ontario Received Nearly 500 MW Of New PV FiT Project Applications In 5½ Weeks

  In the Maritimes:

  • 2014/01/31: CBC: [New Brunswick Premier David] Alward makes 'crystal clear' commitment to shale gas
  • 2014/01/31: CBC: Fracking waste can be cleaned for disposal: minister
    Nova Scotia government says filtered water meets Health Canada's disposal guidelines The Nova Scotia government says a waste management company has found a way to safely clean up millions of litres of treated water left over from fracked wells. Environment Minister Randy Delorey released a statement Friday saying the process developed by Atlantic Industrial Services in Debert can clean the waste to the point that it poses a "minimal risk" to the health of Nova Scotians and the environment.
  • 2014/01/27: CBC: CN derailment in Edmundston: Probe starts into 2nd incident in 3 weeks
  • 2014/01/27: CBC: CN train derailment in Edmundston, New Brunswick -- 5 cars derailed, 1 carrying flammable gas, official says, but no injuries, leakage reported

  In the North:

  • 2014/01/29: TheCanadian: Thomas Berger leads watershed lawsuit v. Yukon development plan
  • 2014/01/27: CBC: First Nations, environment groups sue Yukon over Peel plan
    Yukon plan to open Peel River watershed to development called violation of land claims

  As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

  • 2014/01/28: Sierra: [Canadian] Senate must heed evidence on bee killing pesticides

  And on the American political front:

  • 2014/01/30: Reuters: Politicians under fire as icebound U.S. South gets relief
    City and state leaders admitted missteps on Thursday in their handling of a rare ice storm that swept across the U.S. South, killing at least 14 people, snarling traffic and setting off a barrage of criticism from Atlanta residents.
  • 2014/01/30: Grist: Frackers banned from New York for at least another year
  • 2014/01/30: TP:JR: It Could Be A Few Years Before North Dakota Stops Wasting Nearly A Third Of Its Natural Gas
  • 2014/01/30: TP:JR: A Georgia Republican Is Working To Increase Access To Rooftop Solar Power
  • 2014/01/30: DeSmogBlog: New York Governor Cuomo Issues Executive Order on Oil by Rail Safety
  • 2014/01/30: DenverPost: Garfield County opposes air pollution rules
    Garfield County is joining four other western Colorado counties in an effort to persuade state regulators to soften proposed new air quality standards, urging the state not to adopt statewide standards that may not apply in some areas. Environmental groups want statewide rules governing the oil and gas industry, which has been blamed for much of the air pollution.
  • 2014/01/29: WaPo: Teachers oppose Va. bill challenging mainstream science
    Virginia science teachers are opposing a bill in the General Assembly they say would open classroom doors to lessons challenging evolution, global warming and other mainstream scientific views.
  • 2014/01/29: TheHill:RW: Arizona bill would nullify EPA regs
  • 2014/01/29: BismarckTrib: Plan outlined to reduce flaring
  • 2014/01/29: HoustonChronicle: EPA, Texas reach deal on clean air plan
  • 2014/01/29: TP:JR: Florida Congressional Candidate [David Jolly (R)]: Humans Haven't Had A Huge Impact On Climate
  • 2014/01/29: Grist: Hawaii lawmakers move to block local bans on GMOs, pesticides
  • 2014/01/28: TP:JR: Lawmaker Could Fix His State's Budget Shortfall Twice With The Tax Breaks He Wants To Give Big Oil
  • 2014/01/28: DeSmogBlog: Maryland Residents Fight Cove Point LNG Export Plans That Threaten To Turn Area Into "Industrial Site"
  • 2014/01/28: TP:JR: None Of The Republicans Giving State Of The Union Responses Take Climate Change Seriously
  • 2014/01/27: Grist: Why the climate needs its own Tea Party
  • 2014/01/27: UCSUSA:B: A Science-Informed Post-Sandy Resilience Plan, but Hoboken Faces Challenges Implementing It
  • 2014/01/27: RWER: Five economic policy changes for 2014 that could boost employment and reduce climate disruption
  • 2014/01/27: PSinclair: Clean Energy Splits Conservatives
  • 2014/01/27: ICN: FEMA: Caught Between Climate Change and Congress
    The agency has needed Congress to approve extra disaster relief funds every year over roughly the past decade to handle mounting climate-related damage.
  • 2014/01/26: LA Times: Republicans seek to tap California drought for a political edge
    Midterm election campaigns attempt to link the state's water crisis to Democratic environmental policies, and promise relief for farmers.
  • 2014/01/26: RealEconomics: Quoting Jeremy Rifkin
  • 2014/01/25: NYT: Fissures in G.O.P. as Some Conservatives Embrace Renewable Energy

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

  • 2014/01/29: BBerg: BP Continued Suspension From New U.S. Contracts Sought
    BP Plc's suspension from new government contracts and oil leases after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill should continue because the company hasn't demonstrated it's a responsible contractor, the U.S. said. BP is fighting a 2012 ban imposed on 20 affiliates by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which prevents all BP entities from bidding on any new government supply contracts or oil leases. The suspension, which doesn't affect BP's earlier government contracts, was imposed after the agency determined the London-based company hadn't fully corrected problems that led to the fatal explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and the worst offshore spill in U.S. history.

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

  • US State Dept: New Keystone XL Pipeline Application
  • 2014/02/01: ICN: Keystone Review Leaves Door Open for Obama Approval, or Rejection
  • 2014/02/01: CCP: Tom Steyer's Response to the Keystone XL Final Environmental Impact Statement
  • 2014/02/01: CBC: Keystone XL supporters, detractors clash over U.S. pipeline report
  • 2014/02/01: CleanTechnica: State Department Keystone XL Pipeline Report, Finally
  • 2014/01/31: OilChange: State Department admits Keystone XL could equal 5.7 million cars
  • 2014/01/31: OilChange: What did Big Oil know and when did they know it?
  • 2014/01/31: PI: Pembina reacts to U.S. environmental assessment of Keystone XL pipeline
  • 2014/01/31: SciAm:Obs: Keystone Pipeline Will Impact Climate Change, State Department Reports
  • 2014/01/31: DeSmogBlog: State Department Releases Flawed Keystone XL Final Environmental Review In Super Bowl Friday Trash Dump
  • 2014/01/31: Grist: Low impact: State Department says Keystone won't hurt much at all
  • 2014/01/31: ICN: Foes of Keystone XL Begin New Legal Battle Against State Department
    Petition filed by 16 green groups outlines a new basis for challenging the State Department's review of the project, as well as hints at a future lawsuit.
  • 2014/01/31: BBerg: Keystone XL Won't Worsen Climate Change, U.S. Says
    The proposed Keystone XL pipeline cleared a key hurdle today with a government study that found the project's impact on the climate would be minimal, which supporters said meets President Barack Obama's test for building the project. In its final technical review, the U.S. State Department found the Canada-U.S. oil pipeline would not greatly increase carbon emissions because the oil sands in Alberta will be developed anyway, a department official said today on a call with reporters.
  • 2014/01/31: BBC: The US state department has raised no major environmental objections to the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, according to a new report
  • 2014/01/31: Guardian(UK): Keystone XL review 'to say pipeline will not appreciably increase emissions'
  • 2014/01/31: Guardian(UK): Keystone XL oil pipeline -- everything you need to know
  • 2014/01/31: Guardian(UK): Approving Keystone XL could be the biggest mistake of Obama's presidency by Michael Mann
  • 2014/01/31: Guardian(UK): Keystone XL pipeline closer to reality after State Department review
  • 2014/01/30: CBC: Keystone XL report by U.S. State Department expected to be positive
  • 2014/01/28: HillHeat: Top Oil Industry Lobbyist: State Department Will Issue Keystone XL Environmental Approval This Week
  • 2014/01/27: TP:JR: TransCanada Tries To Throw More Money At Nebraskans To Allow Keystone XL On Their Land
  • 2014/01/27: CBC: Keystone resistance sparks 700% spike in cash offers for land -- One offer apparently jumped from $8,900 in 2012 to $61,977 this month

  The GOP War on Women continues. See also:

  • 2014/01/29: TruthOut: Forty-one Years After Roe, Women's Rights Are Still at Risk
  • 2014/01/29: ACLU: Lawsuit Seeks to Protect Abortion Access for Low Income Women in Alaska
    Groups Sue to Immediately Block New Regulation that Severely Restricts Abortion Coverage Through the State Medicaid Program
  • 2014/01/28: ACLU: House Passes Bill Banning Insurance Coverage for Abortion Services
  • 2014/01/27: Salon: Louisiana regulations force women to wait 30 days before accessing abortion
  • 2014/01/27: Salon: Watch these women turn a hearing on abortion waiting periods into a brilliant protest
  • 2014/01/27: AlterNet: Scary Trend: Across America, Attacks on Pregnant Women's Rights On the Rise
  • 2014/01/27: WSWS: US Supreme Court extends exemption of contraception mandate for church-affiliated institution
  • 2014/01/26: BBC: A brain-dead woman kept alive by a hospital in Texas because she was pregnant has been taken off life support
  • 2014/01/26: CBC: Brain-dead Marlise Munoz taken off life support in Texas hospital

  The Keeling CO2 monitoring project still needs funding:

  • 2014/01/31: RScribbler: Stop The War to Silence Science, End Egregious Cuts To Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Now

  West Virginia's chemical spill is still kicking up a ruckus:

  • 2014/01/30: CleanTechnica: WV Chem Spill Update: Formaldehyde Is Safe, Coal Is Clean, And Would You Like To Buy This Bridge?
  • 2014/01/30: Wonkette: This West Virginia Chemical Spill Company Too Stupid To Be Real
  • 2014/01/28: UCSUSA:B: Alabama Scientists Drive 900 Miles to Fill Information Gaps in West Virginia Water Crisis
  • 2014/01/28: TP:JR: West Virginia's Chemical Spill Was Larger Than Previously Reported, Company Reveals
  • 2014/01/28: Resilience: West Virginia's Elk River Chemical Spill and How We Measure Progress
  • 2014/01/28: PSinclair: Sean Hannity: Let Them Drink Kool Aid.
  • 2014/01/28: al Jazeera: West Virginia chemical leak scope grows
    State regulators say some 10,000 gallons of chemicals, up from an earlier figure of 7,500 gallons, were involved
  • 2014/01/27: Grist: Freedom Industries kept West Virginia spill details secret
  • 2014/01/25: FEMA: Company at center of West Virginia water crisis knew second chemical leaked, official says
  • 2014/01/25: WVWaterCrisis: The 10 Most Commonly Asked Questions from Residents Affected by the West Virginia Drinking Water Crisis Answered

  Obama's State of the Union speech gave rise to much chatter:

  • 2014/01/31: GreenGrok: Climate Change Chatter, Issue 13, SOTU Edition
  • 2014/01/30: Resilience: Obama's Hopelessly Wrong on the Environment -- Here's the Reality of What We Face
  • 2014/01/30: PSinclair: I'm a Republican that Agrees with President Obama on Climate
  • 2014/01/29: Guardian(UK): State of the Union scorecard: Guardian reporters grade Obama's speech
  • 2014/01/29: TCoE: The Climate Impact Line
  • 2014/01/29: AutoBG: SOTU: President Obama promises tougher truck mpg standards, more renewable energy
  • 2014/01/29: AlterNet: Obama's Hopelessly Wrong on the Environment -- Here's the Reality of What We Face
  • 2014/01/29: UCSUSA:B: President Obama's State of the Union: the Good, the Not-So-Good, and the Missing
  • 2014/01/29: ScienceInsider: A Supporting Role for Science in Obama's State of the Union Address
  • 2014/01/29: GReadfearn: In his State of the Union Speech, President Obama refuses to say the "c" word - coal
  • 2014/01/29: ICN: Obama's SOTU 2014: Loud on Oil and Gas Drilling, Mum on Keystone
    The restrained address angered some prominent environmentalists and showed the limits of the president's 'go-it-alone' climate agenda.
  • 2014/01/29: Grist: Energy state of Obama's union: Drill? Frack? Cut carbon? "All the above"
  • 2014/01/28: TP:JR: Jekyll And Hyde: The Two Sides Of Obama's Energy Strategy
  • 2014/01/28: Grist: 6 things Obama can do on climate without Congress
  • 2014/01/29: NatureNB: Obama promises action and seeks a science-funding boost
  • 2014/01/29: SciAm:Obs: Obama Vows More Executive Action on High-Tech Manufacturing, Climate Change Mitigation and Renewal of Science
  • 2014/01/29: UCSUSA: President Obama Makes Case for Climate Action in State of the Union
  • 2014/01/29: RTCC: State of the Union: Obama calls for climate urgency
  • 2014/01/28: ArcticNews: Methane Man
  • 2014/01/29: OilChange: State of our climate: Obama can't have it both ways
  • 2014/01/29: RNE: Obama hails solar push, says climate debate is settled
  • 2014/01/28: DeSmogBlog: Transcript: President Obama's State of the Union Remarks on Energy and Climate Change
  • 2014/01/28: Guardian(UK): State of the Union: Obama expected to move forward with climate plan
  • 2014/01/28: RTCC: State of the Union: how will Obama tackle climate change?

  Looking ahead to the 2014 & 2016 elections:

  • 2014/01/31: CBC: Chris Christie knew about bridge lane closures, former ally says
    Lawyer for David Wildstein says evidence exists that contradict N.J. governor's earlier statements

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

  • 2014/01/31: TP:JR: Underground Coal Burning Experiment Lacked Adequate Protest Period, EPA Says
  • 2014/01/30: EENews: White House: 'Shale zones' catch advocates by surprise
  • 2014/01/30: TheHill:e2W: Obama taps Norman Bay for FERC chief
  • 2014/01/29: EarhMag: Down To Earth With ... [Secretary of the Department of the Interior] Sally Jewell
  • 2014/01/28: NOAANews: U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker declares fishery disaster for Fraser River Sockeye Salmon Fishery in Washington
  • 2014/01/28: ScienceInsider: Congress and NIH Don't See Eye to Eye on Science Education
  • 2014/01/28: TMoS: EPA Throws In The Towel In Florida
  • 2014/01/27: TP:JR: The Oil Industry Just Talked EPA Into Reconsidering Its 2013 Mandate For Cellulosic Biofuel
    In a move cheered by the oil industry, the Environmental Protection Agency agreed last week to consider downgrading its 2013 mandate for cellulosic biofuel production.
  • 2014/01/27: TP:JR: Meeting On Possible Crude Oil Trains Through D.C. Turns Tense After EPA Doesn't Show Up

  As for what is going on in Congress:

  • 2014/01/30: TP:JR: The Extraordinary Climate And Environmental Legacy Of Henry Waxman
  • 2014/01/30: CSW: Climate science-policy champion Rep. Henry Waxman to retire
  • 2014/01/30: Grist: Waxman poetic: Climate hawk leaves an impressive 'stache of green achievements
  • 2014/01/31: Grist: To become a law, a farm bill needs friends in unlikely places
  • 2014/01/31: TP:JR: Despite Hazard of Sea Level Rise, Senate Halts Flood Insurance Reforms
  • 2014/01/30: NakedCapitalism: Mirabile Dictu! Reid Tells Off Obama on Fast Track, Killing Toxic Trade Deals for 2014
  • 2014/01/30: WSWS: US House of Representatives votes to slash $8.7 billion from food stamps
  • 2014/01/30: OilChange: Response to Senate Energy Committee Hearing on Crude Export Ban
  • 2014/01/30: Grist: Republicans vote to deny climate change
  • 2014/01/29: WaPo: This farm bill deserves a veto
  • 2014/01/29: UCSUSA:B: Thanks to You, We Won The "Sound Science" Battle
  • 2014/01/29: UCSUSA:B: Why Support a Flawed Farm Bill?
  • 2014/01/29: WSWS: Democrats, Republicans reach deal to slash $8.7 billion from food stamp program
  • 2014/01/29: EnvEcon: Actually, higher insurance premiums was not an unintended consequence [congress]
  • 2014/01/29: TP:JR: What The New Farm Bill Means For Energy And The Environment
  • 2014/01/28: EFF: Congress, Don't Let Us Down: Oppose the Bill to "Fast Track" TPP
  • 2014/01/28: NYT: Popular Flood Insurance Law Is Target of Both Political Parties
  • 2014/01/28: EENews: Negotiators release final farm bill with wins for conservation, renewable energy
  • 2014/01/28: TP:JR: 24 House Republicans Just Voted To Deny The Reality Of Climate Change
  • 2014/01/29: UCSUSA:B: The Biggert-Waters Act: Fix It, Don't Abandon It
  • 2014/01/28: UCSUSA: Farm Bill Offers Seeds of Change for Industry Accustomed to Status Quo
  • 2014/01/28: OilChange: Is the Senate Energy Committee being handed to Big Oil?
  • 2014/01/27: Grist: Send up the white smoke -- we have a farm bill!
  • 2014/01/27: GreenGrok: In the House, a Little Quid Pro Coal?
  • 2014/01/27: Guardian(UK): New US farm bill proposal expected to contain $9bn cut to food stamps

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

  • 2014/01/29: CCurrents: Economic Justice Is The Solution
    A paradigm shift is taking place. It is coming from the awareness that all of our crises are connected to an economy rigged for the wealthiest. The symptoms of big finance capitalism create the poverty, low wages, economic insecurity and environmental destruction so a handful can profit. While these facts have been hidden by political leaders and corporate mass media, now people are seeing them and understand the task we have before us.

  And in the Transition movement:

   

• 2014/01/31: CCurrents: Why The World Needs Transition
  

  In nature, there is no garbage:

  • 2014/01/30: al Jazeera: In Pictures: Ghana's e-waste mecca
    E-waste at the Agbogbloshie dumpsite near Accra has created a socio-economic and environmental disaster.

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

  • 2014/02/02: CBC: Spain abortion law spurs rally, march to parliament
    Tens of thousands protest law aimed at restricting abortions in the country
  • 2014/02/01: BBC: Thousands of Spaniards have protested in Madrid against a draft law backed by the government that would restrict the right to abortion
  • 2014/02/01: Guardian(UK): Thousands of pro-abortion protesters gather in Spain
    Anger mounts in Madrid at bill that will end woman's right to termination except in cases of rape or medical need
  • 2014/01/29: Creekside: RU-4Choice? : Ethical Abortion

  Apocalypso anyone?

  • 2014/01/31: CCurrents: Picking Cherries
  • 2014/01/30: Resilience: On the Other Side of Collapse: Notes from the Island of Cyprus
  • 2014/01/29: NorRe: Too Close To The Sun
  • 2014/01/28: CCurrents: The Fragility Of Our Complex Civilization
  • 2014/01/27: TruthOut: The Myth of Human Progress and the Collapse of Complex Societies by Chris Hedges

  Okay hot shot, so how are we gonna fix this?

  • 2014/02/01: Tamino: Louder than Words
  • 2014/01/29: GreenGrok: In a Global Warming World: Protect and Rebuild or Retreat?
  • 2014/01/29: CCurrents: Climate Change: The Wrong Top Priority For Environmentalists And Conservation Professionals

  How do the corporate media measure up?

  • 2014/01/28: Grist: ABC, CBS, and NBC nightly news covered climate for less than two hours in 2013
  • 2014/01/28: PSinclair: Sean Hannity: Let Them Drink Kool Aid.
  • 2014/01/28: KSJT: Stephen Glass denied admission to California bar; does not meet "moral character" standards. [media]

  Here is something for your library:

  • 2014/01/28: BNC: [Book Review] _Energy in Australia: Peak Oil, Solar Power, and Asia's Economic Growth_ by Graham Palmer

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

  • 2014/02/01: PSinclair: The Weekend Wonk: Educating for Ignorance: It's "School Choice" Week!
  • 2014/01/31: TheCanadian: Cortes community forestry offers alternative to industrial logging
  • 2014/01/31: PSinclair: Richard Alley on the Polar Vortex and What He Worries About Most
  • 2014/01/30: PSinclair: One Vid to Rule Them All: National Journal Discovers Climate Crocks
  • 2014/01/29: PSinclair: New Video: If There's Global Warming, Why is It So Cold?
  • 2014/01/28: PSinclair: California Drought: Start of a New Big Dry?

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

  • 2014/01/31: GreenPeace: Will a new lawsuit finally give some justice to the victims of Fukushima?
  • 2014/01/31: TP:JR: Judge: Think Tank's Lawsuit Over EPA E-Mails Contains 'Imaginative Conspiracy Theory'
  • 2014/01/30: CTV: Fukushima nuclear plant manufacturers named in lawsuit
    Tokyo -- About 1,400 people have filed a joint lawsuit against three companies that manufactured Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, saying they should be financially liable for damage caused by its 2011 meltdowns. Lawyers for the plaintiffs say the lawsuit, filed Thursday at Tokyo District Court, is a landmark challenge of current regulations which give manufacturers immunity from liability in nuclear accidents.
  • 2014/01/29: TheCanadian: Thomas Berger leads watershed lawsuit v. Yukon development plan
  • 2014/01/28: AbqJournal: Texas can sue NM over water, Supreme Court rules
    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said Texas can go ahead with its lawsuit that claims groundwater pumping in southern New Mexico is draining the Rio Grande and depriving Texas users of water to which they are legally entitled. Texas cleared a major hurdle with the decision, which could set the stage for a protracted legal battle. The court did leave New Mexico what could be an escape clause that would allow the case to be quickly dismissed.

  The Mann defamation suit saga rolls on:

  • 2014/02/01: CCP: Newsweek: A Change in the Legal Climate
  • 2014/01/31: FDL: National Review's Future At Risk Over Climate Change Smear
  • 2014/01/30: QuarkSoup: Steyn's Earlier Use of the Word "Fraud"
  • 2014/01/30: QuarkSoup: What Happened to the AntiMenn's Joy of Discovery?
  • 2014/01/28: QuarkSoup: Is the Hockey Stick "flaccid?"
  • 2014/01/28: BBickmore: What Precedent? Why National Review et al. Are Running Scared
  • 2014/01/28: P3: Mann vs Steyn
  • 2014/01/27: Grist: Judge rules climatologist can sue skeptics who compared him to Jerry Sandusky
  • 2014/01/27: BBickmore: Free Speech 101 for Sulky Teenagers
  • 2014/01/26: CCP: Barry Bickmore: "How to Manipulate Rubes into Covering Your Legal Bills," Mark Steyn edition
  • 2014/01/26: BBickmore: "How to Manipulate Rubes into Covering Your Legal Bills," Mark Steyn edition
  • 2014/01/26: ERabett: Steyn doesn't understand the picture

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

  • 2014/01/29: TP:JR: BP Rig Supervisors Must Face Manslaughter Charges For Deepwater Horizon Deaths, Judge Rules
  • 2014/01/27: WSJ:CI: BP's New Tactic in Oil Spill Claims: Go After the 'Special Master'
    BP has been complaining for a year that money it has promised to pay to financial victims of the Deepwater Horizon disaster has been doled out to unworthy, uninjured claimants. In courthouse filings and newspaper ads, BP has targeted companies it says were not really harmed by the accident and their lawyers, as the oil giant's estimate of the tab ballooned from $7.8 billion to $9.4 billion. Now the oil company is taking aim at the guy doing the doling: Patrick Juneau, who was appointed by a federal judge in New Orleans to administer claims under a settlement between BP and lawyers for businesses along the Gulf Coast.

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

  • 2014/01/31: CleanTechnica: First Magma-Enhanced Geothermal System In The World Developed In Iceland
  • 2014/01/29: RNE: Carnegie [Wave Energy] mulls Rottnest Island, UK for next generation wave sites
  • 2014/01/29: WSWS: Energy companies continue utility shutoffs as bitter cold hits Detroit
  • 2014/01/29: OFW: A Forecast of Our Energy Future; Why Common Solutions Don't Work
  • 2014/01/28: RNE: CETO wave energy machine swept away in cyclone [Bejisa], report says
  • 2014/01/27: UCSUSA:B: Powering California with 50% Renewable Energy by 2030: New Analysis Shows It Can Be Done
  • 2014/01/22: EnergyPost(EU): Brussels: ocean energy could fulfill all our energy needs

  What's changing in energy investments?

  • 2014/01/31: RNE: Goldman Sachs sees "transformational moment" in renewables investment

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

  • 2014/02/01: CCP: Frackquakes: Public Opposition Builds As Property Rights Are Endangered in Texas
  • 2014/01/31: Tyee: Swarms of Earthquakes Shake Up Shale Gas Fields
  • 2014/01/31: DeSmogBlog: Amid Calls for EPA to Reopen Fracking Investigations, States Confirm Contaminated Groundwater
  • 2014/01/30: al Jazeera:USA: New study links fracking to birth defects in heavily drilled Colorado
    Risks of some birth defects increased as much as 30 percent in mothers who lived near oil and gas wells Living near hydraulic fracturing -- or fracking -- sites may increase the risk of some birth defects by as much as 30 percent, a new study suggests. In the U.S., more than 15 million people now live within a mile of a well.
  • 2014/01/30: Grist: Frackers banned from New York for at least another year
  • 2014/01/30: DeSmogBlog: Nordheim: A Texas Town Facing A Toxic Future
  • 2014/01/30: CCurrents: Is Fracking About To Arrive On Your Doorstep?
  • 2014/01/28: OilChange: Fracking's Conundrum: How to Dispose of Millions of Gallons of Radioactive Waste Water?
  • 2014/01/27: TP:JR: Fracking Under Houses Could Be New Norm As U.K. Puts Environmental Concerns On Backburner
  • 2014/01/27: ColumbusDispatch: Ohio EPA, health officials dismiss radioactive threat from fracking
    When Pennsylvania environmental officials tested creek mud near a fracking wastewater-treatment plant last year, they found radiation at levels 45 times higher than federal drinking-water standards. As the plant owner prepares to dredge radium from Blacklick Creek, Pennsylvania officials are examining other radiation problems related to Marcellus shale fracking.
  • 2014/01/27: Grist: Gas company: No need to frack outside London; regular old drilling will do
  • 2014/01/26: Guardian(UK): Fracking firms 'should pay £6bn a year tax to compensate for climate change'
  • 2014/01/23: AlterNet: Why the Shale Gas Rush Will Be an Economic Bust for New Yorkers

  On the coal front:

  • 2014/01/31: SciAm:PI: Photo Friday: Coal gasification
  • 2014/01/31: BBC: Colombia to charge employees of US coal company Drummond
    Colombian chief prosecutor Eduardo Montealegre says he will bring charges against six employees of the US coal mining company, Drummond, over an environmental disaster last year. The company spilled hundreds of tonnes of coal into the sea at Santa Marta, on Colombia's Caribbean coast, when it tried to rescue a sinking barge.
  • 2014/01/27: CSM: Unfazed by environmental challenges, coal industry mounts PR assault
    Social benefits of carbon outweigh costs at least 50 times, according to new coal industry report. But even coal's friends say it should push to clean up its fuel.

  On the gas and oil front:

  • 2014/01/31: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
    OIL (US$/bbl)
    Dated Brent Spot....106.40
    WTI Cushing Spot.....97.49
  • 2014/02/01: BBerg: California Getting Record Volume of Canadian Oil by Rail
    California, the third-largest oil-refining state in the U.S., is bringing in a record volume of oil from Canada by rail as it faces shrinking supplies from Alaska and within the state. The most populous U.S. state received 709,014 barrels of crude from Canada by rail in December, a 4.9 percent increase from November and up from zero a year ago, data posted on the state Energy Commission's website show. Canada made up 67 percent of the state's total oil-by-rail receipts. North Dakota, where fields in the Bakken formation are producing a record volume of crude, shrank to a 5.9 percent share. U.S. West Coast refiners from Valero Energy Corp. to Tesoro Corp., lacking pipeline access to the glut of shale oil in the middle of the country, have been turning to rail to counter declining supplies in California and Alaska.
  • 2014/01/31: OilChange: Potential Keystone XL refineries continue to increase exports
  • 2014/01/31: BBerg: Teapots Boiling in Texas as Shale Spurs Refining Revival: Energy
  • 2014/01/30: TheConversation: Despite the politics, oil firms are planning to pay for emissions
  • 2014/01/28: ICN: Tar Sands Seen Flowing to Northeast States, if Pipelines Built
    New report says that by 2020, as much as 18 percent of the motor fuels in the region might come from Canada's dirtier crude, up from nearly zero today.
  • 2014/01/27: Asia Times: Iran and a new energy settlement

  Regarding oil and the economy...Do you think this is delusional?

  • 2014/01/29: TP:JR: How The U.S. Is Breaking The Link Between Energy Use And Economic Growth

  And in pipeline news:

  • 2014/01/30: TStar: Enbridge gets go-ahead for $685-million GTA pipeline
  • 2014/01/29: EurActiv: Russia's South Stream pipe shores up hefty contracts
    Russia's massive South Stream pipeline project for transporting gas to southern Europe took a big step forward today (29 January) as three companies secured E1 billion worth of contracts to supply part of its offshore section. The 2,400 km (1,500-mile) pipeline, which Russian state-controlled gas producer Gazprom says will be fully operational by 2018, would be able to supply almost 15% of Europe's annual gas demand, pumping Russian gas through the Black Sea into southeastern Europe. It would bypass Ukraine...
  • 2014/01/28: PoliticsReSpun: What's With Pipeline-Loving Old Men?
  • 2014/01/27: TP:JR: As Temperatures Reach -32° C, TransCanada Pipeline Explosion Leaves Thousands Without Gas
  • 2014/01/27: P3: Pipeline Failure Incidents are Not Rare
  • 2014/01/27: PSinclair: Michigan Tar Sands Spill: A Billion Dollar "Different Animal"
  • 2014/01/26: CBC: Manitoba pipeline explosion cuts heat to 4,000 amid extreme cold

  Ships and boats and trains -- How to tranport the stuff?

  • 2014/01/31: CBC: CN Rail train carrying fuel oil derails, spills in Mississippi - at least 18 rail cars
  • 2014/01/30: FuelFix: Exxon to move Canadian crude by rail amid pipeline shortage
  • 2014/01/29: FuelFix: Oil shipments disrupting Amtrak trains
  • 2014/01/28: OilChange: Crude-by-Rail may grow 4-fold. Are we all comfortable with that?
  • 2014/01/27: CBC: CN derailment in Edmundston: Probe starts into 2nd incident in 3 weeks
  • 2014/01/27: DeSmogBlog: Oil on the Tracks: More Oil Spills from Railcars in 2013 than in Previous Four Decades
  • 2014/01/26: CBC: Transport of Alberta oilsands products risky, U.S. study warns

  Marvelous! Now the USA has their own Mechanical Mordor:

  • 2014/01/30: TP:JR: It Could Be A Few Years Before North Dakota Stops Wasting Nearly A Third Of Its Natural Gas
  • 2014/01/29: NPR: On The Plains, The Rush For Oil Has Changed Everything
    A remarkable transformation is underway in western North Dakota, where an oil boom is changing the state's fortunes and leaving once-sleepy towns bursting at the seams. In a series of stories, NPR is exploring the economic, social and environmental demands of this modern-day gold rush.

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

  • 2014/01/30: TP:JR: Why President Obama's Natural Gas 'Bridge' May Be On The Verge Of Collapse
  • 2014/01/26: BizInsider: Why Natural Gas Prices Are Soaring
    [...] Thousands of unprofitable wells litter the land. Many billions were written off. Real money that had been recklessly thrown around during the boom disappeared into the ground. Investors were lured with false promises. The bloodletting in the industry was enormous. Some of the largest drillers have pulled back from drilling for dry natural gas. [...] But shale gas wells have sharp decline rates, and new wells need to be drilled constantly to make up for the decline in older wells. These days, not enough wells are being drilled, and production in all gas plays combined - except for the Marcellus - is already in slight decline. The only production boom left is in the Marcellus: the "shale gas revolution" in the US is now a one-pony show.

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

  • 2014/01/30: Resilience: A Bargain with the Archdruid

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

  • 2014/01/29: BBerg: Branson's Butanol Heading to U.S. as Ethanol Substitute
    Butanol, the gasoline substitute promoted by billionaire Richard Branson, is headed for its debut at U.S. pumps as soon as next year in a challenge to ethanol's domination of the $26 billion renewable fuels market. Like ethanol, the colorless alcohol can be brewed from corn, though it packs more energy when mixed into gasoline.

  The answer my friend...

  • 2014/01/29: CleanTechnica: EWEA Perceives Slowdown In Record Offshore Figures
  • 2014/01/28: TP:JR: World's Largest Wind Turbine Starts Generating Power For First Time [8 MW]
  • 2014/01/28: SciAm:PI: Where wind power is generated in the US
  • 2014/01/27: GET: BWE/VDMA Information on Offshore Wind Power Growth in Germany in 2013
  • 2014/01/27: CleanTechnica: Google Signs 10-Year Deal To Buy Power From Eolus Vind In Sweden

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

  • 2014/02/01: CleanTechnica: Price Of Solar Much Lower Than Solar Savings
  • 2014/01/31: RNE: Graph of the Day: Solar PV's path to 2c/kWh
  • 2014/01/30: RNE: Solar thermal and storage could offer best value for money
  • 2014/01/30: RNE: Trina says solar PV costs to fall, but prices not so much
  • 2014/01/29: Eureka: New theory may lead to more efficient solar cells
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Construction underway on huge solar power plant - Mugga Lane Solar Park in Canberra
  • 2014/01/29: CleanTechnica: UK Solar Trade Association Welcomes Community Energy Strategy
  • 2014/01/29: CleanTechnica: 120 MW Solar Power Plant Planned For UAE
  • 2014/01/28: CleanTechnica: First Solar Breaks Ground On Australia's Largest Utility-Scale Solar Project - 102 MW Nyngan Solar Project
  • 2014/01/28: CleanTechnica: Kyocera Soccer Stadium In The Hague Goes Solar, Helps The Hague's Goal Of Being Carbon Neutral By 2040
  • 2014/01/28: CleanTechnica: Puerto Rico Getting Six Large-Scale Solar PV Projects
  • 2014/01/28: Grist: Midwestern farmers harvesting solar power
  • 2014/01/28: RNE: Construction begins on Nyngan, Australia's largest solar PV plant
  • 2014/01/28: RNE: Queensland plant to develop Oz technology for super efficient solar
  • 2014/01/27: TP:JR: 2013 Broke Records For New Solar Jobs In America
  • 2014/01/27: Grist: London's new solar bridge is the largest in the world

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

  • 2014/02/01: BNC: The REAL reason some people hate nuclear energy
  • 2014/01/31: al Jazeera: UK nuclear plant detects elevated radiation
    Sellafield bans non-essential workers as precaution after monitors detect higher-than-normal radioactivity.
  • 2014/01/31: BBC: Sellafield partly closed after 'above normal' radiation
    The Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria is partially closed after "elevated levels of radioactivity" were detected. Each building was checked after a perimeter alarm was triggered at the north of the site. The company later said it was naturally occurring background radiation and not attributable to any issue or problem with any operation on site.
  • 2014/01/29: NBF: South Korea will start building to APR1400 reactors this year and China is completing two AP 1000 nuclear reactors
  • 2014/01/30: FukuLeaks: Radiation Makes People Invisible - Full Article
  • 2014/01/29: FukuLeaks: Radiation Makes People Invisible (Part 3)
  • 2014/01/28: FukuLeaks: Radiation Makes People Invisible (Part 2)
  • 2014/01/27: FukuLeaks: Radiation Makes People Invisible (Part 1)
  • 2014/01/28: APR: Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power undergoes a reset
  • 2014/01/28: UCSUSA:B: Climate Change and Nuclear Power
  • 2014/01/29: al Jazeera: South Korea approves $7bn nuclear project
    Two new plants will be built to increase the country's energy capacity and prevent shortages.

  Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:

  • 2014/01/28: NBF: Lawrenceville Plasma Physics Nuclear Aneutronic Fusion 2014 Project Report

  Feed-In-Tariffs are being variously implemented around the world:

  • 2014/02/01: CleanTechnica: Ontario Received Nearly 500 MW Of New PV FiT Project Applications In 5½ Weeks

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

  • 2014/01/31: TheConversation: Why is hydrogen fuel making a comeback?
  • 2014/01/26: Eureka: Engineers teach old chemical new tricks to make cleaner fuels, fertilizers
    Researchers from Denmark and Stanford show how to produce industrial quantities of hydrogen without emitting carbon into the atmosphere

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

  • 2014/02/01: CleanTechnica: Power Outages To Become Much More Common & More Severe In Coming Years, Better To Start Adapting Now
  • 2014/01/20: NREL: NREL Study: Active Power Control of Wind Turbines Can Improve Power Grid Reliability
  • 2014/01/26: Guardian(UK): Past power failures 'dress rehearsals' for frequent future blackouts

  How are the utilities adjusting (or not)?

  • 2014/01/31: RNE: Why traditional utilities are like frogs in warming water
  • 2014/01/30: RNE: Don't like solar PV? Ban new installations
  • 2014/01/30: RNE: WA grid may become first big victim of "death spiral"
  • 2014/01/30: DeSmogBlog: Two Big Reasons Why Solar Power is Under Siege

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

  • 2014/01/31: CleanTechnica: Shrink That Footprint's Ultimate Guide To Light Bulbs
  • 2014/01/17: Spark: Building an open source Nest

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

  • 2014/02/02: CleanTechnica: BYD Supplies Twenty E6 Electric Sedans For London's First Zero-Emissions Electric Chauffeur Fleet
  • 2014/01/28: TreeHugger: Human-electric hybrid three-wheeler goes 100 MPH, has 75 mile range
  • 2014/01/28: CleanTechnica: Controlled EV Charging Cuts Power Costs 50% (Even More With Wind Energy)
  • 2014/01/28: AutoBG: ACEEE's greenest car for 2014 is Smart Fortwo electric...
  • 2014/01/28: UCSUSA:B: Electric Buses: How Plugs and Batteries are Replacing Wires and Diesel

  As for Energy Storage:

  • 2014/01/30: RNE: Battery storage: From marijuana plantations to grid changers
  • 2014/01/29: KSU: Engineer brings new twist to sodium ion battery technology with discovery of flexible molybdenum disulfide electrodes
  • 2014/01/28: RNE: Australian water-splitting concept could herald battery breakthrough

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

  • 2014/01/27: BBerg: Global Warming Battle Is Over Market Share, Not Science
    Last week, the New York Times reported that venerable Dow Jones Industrial Average component Coca-Cola Co. was awakening to the impact of climate change on its business. The increase in unpredictable weather, droughts, floods and other climate-related events was disrupting the company's product supply. Some of their "essential ingredients" are now under threat. Global warming, according to the article, is being seen "as a force that contributes to lower gross domestic products, higher food and commodity costs, broken supply chains and increased financial risk." This debate is no longer about whether global warming is real (it is) or whether humans are the most likely cause (you are), but rather, some very interesting and different questions that might be more professionally relevant to finance: How is this going to affect business? What are the investing consequences? Who will be the financial winners and losers of climate change? Investors should be considering this as a fight over market share, not a scientific debate.
  • 2014/01/27: TP:JR: Google Adds 59 Megawatts Of Wind Power In Bid To Be Powered By 100 Percent Renewable Energy

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

  • 2014/01/31: Guardian(UK): Extreme weather is a reality -- the insurance industry must adapt
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Natural disasters cost Victoria almost billion over 10 years
    Coalition governments are turning their backs on tackling climate change. But the imperative to address climate change is not merely scientific. There's an economic reason to act, too.

  What do we have in (weekly) lists?

  • 2014/02/01: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly News Roundup #5 by John Hartz
  • 2014/01/28: MGS: Old links still of interest

  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.

  • 2014/01/29: V V: Testimony Judith Curry on Arctic temperature seems to be a misquotation
  • 2014/01/29: ERabett: Die Entdeckung der Currywurst
  • 2014/01/28: QuarkSoup: Lindzen in 1975 -- His Prediction?
  • 2014/01/28: Tamino: Judith Curry responds ... sort of
  • 2014/01/30: FergusB: It's gone! Out of the park... Tamino hits a bases-loaded world series winner...
  • 2014/01/30: AFTIC: The Thermageddon Cult strikes again
  • 2014/01/29: ERabett: Curry Vindaloo
  • 2014/01/30: DeSmogBlog: Two Big Reasons Why Solar Power is Under Siege
  • 2014/01/30: Tamino: Global Temperature: the Post-1998 Surprise
  • 2014/01/29: Stoat: Tim Ball: turned out NN again
  • 2014/01/30: HotWhopper: How Expert is Arctic Climate Expert Judith Curry?
  • 2014/01/31: WtD: The paranoid tradition and climate change: where crisis, paranoia and politics collide
  • 2014/02/01: LoE: On the Origin of the Specious by Means of Climate 'Scepticism'...
  • 2014/02/01: ATTPh: Understanding Lewis (2013)
  • 2014/02/01: PSinclair: How it's Done. Mann v Morano on BBC
  • 2014/02/01: DeSmogBlog: Misinformation Is Winning -- Doubt In Climate Change Climbing
  • 2014/01/31: QuarkSoup: Richard Lindzen's Paradox for the Ages
  • 2014/01/31: TP:JR: Nestlé CEO: Let God Handle Global Warming
  • 2014/01/31: Guardian(UK): Nestlé chairman Peter Brabeck courts controversy by claiming climate change is largely down to natural cycles and society should focus on adaptation
  • 2014/01/27: TheConversation: Climate and vaccine deniers are the same: beyond persuasion
  • 2014/02/02: HotWhopper: WUWT and the headless chooks
  • 2014/01/27: DeSmogBlog: Mont Pelerin Society A Window Into Ideological Heart Of Kochtopus Climate Denial
  • 2014/01/27: WtD: Age of paranoia: exploring the paranoid tradition in times of crisis
  • 2014/01/27: UKISS: Climate change denial, xenophobia, capitalism and empathy
  • 2014/01/26: P3: Whither the Golden Horseshoe?
  • 2014/01/27: JQuiggin: The anti-science right on wind farms
  • 2014/01/26: ERabett: Gauntlet Tossing
  • 2014/01/26: GLaden: The Global Warming Hiatus, 2013, And Some Data (#FauxPause)

  This week in intimidation:

   

• 2014/01/29: KSJT: E&E Climate Wire: Blistering emails from skeptics to climate scientists may be even worse for women
  

  As for climate miscellanea:

  • 2014/01/29: Grist: How to talk to your polar-vortexed friends
  • 2014/01/29: ABC(Au): Genetic modification helps Aboriginal people survive tough climate, research finds
  • 2014/01/28: DeSmogBlog: Why It's Not Enough To Be Right About Climate Change
  • 2014/02/01: Tyee: What Will Save Humankind: Tech or Nature?
  • 2014/01/27: SciAm:PI: Why Naming this Winter Storm Leon is a Great Thing
  • 2014/02/02: CBC: Groundhog Day: hopes for predictions of early spring -- Annual ritual held amid harsher than usual winter
  • 2014/01/27: Guardian(UK): Climate change is spoken of in hushed tones, but it wasn't always this way
  • 2014/01/26: CD: Climate change and the military-industrial complex

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

  • West Virginia Water Crisis
  • Wiki: Shockley-Queisser limit
  • NASA: GPM - Global Precipitation Measurement international satellite mission
  • International Dark Sky Association
  • Wiki: Lake Urmia
  • The World Weather Open Science Conference 16 - 21 August 2014
  • Mining Watch
  • US State Dept: New Keystone XL Pipeline Application
  • Wiki: Ecological footprint
  • Research Blogging
  • Painting With Water
  • Alberta: Mountain Pine Beetle - FAQs

  ---

  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.

  ---

  "In the bottom of my heart I'm convinced now, and I think a lot of people share this feeling, that our government and its processes no longer belong to the people. They belong to the big oil companies, who have bought and paid for the changes that have been made very recently." -Gerald Amos, former chief of the Haisla nation

  • Global Warming Links
  • Global Warming News Archive
  • Energy
  • Energy News
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  • ---
  • H.E. Taylor (homepage)

  ---

  Last modified February 2, 2014