Another Week of Global Warming News, April 6, 2014

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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Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

April 6, 2014

• Chuckles, COP20+, GCF, WG2 Report, WG2 Implications, WG2 Reactions
• WG3, Energiewende, Bottom Line, World Bank, Cook, Shrinkology
• Fukushima: Note, News, Policies
• Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food: Crisis, Fisheries, Prices, GMO Labelling, Production
• Hurricanes, Notable Weather, Extreme Weather, New Weather
• GHGs, Aerosols, Volcanoes. Weather Machine, Climate Sensitivity, ENSO
• Temperatures, Satellites, Paleoclimate, Historical Climate
• Oceans, Biosphere, Extinctions, Bees & CCD, Insects, Overshoot
• Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Desertification, Disease, Phenology
• Tornadoes, Wildfires, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Geoengineering, Conservation, Adaptation
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc., Science Orgs, DIY, Free Science, Goodall, Emanuel, Lovelock, Tol, Pielke
• International Politics: UN, IPCC, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax
• Hormuz, South China Sea, EU ETS & Airlines, Solar Spat, Treaties, Ukraine, Misc.
• Security, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Groundwater, Education
• National Politics: Britain, Europe, Australia, Abbott, CSG, MDBP
• Tas Forest Deal, India, China, Japan, Asia, Africa, South America
• Canada, Lac-Mégantic, G20, Opposition, Kinder Morgan, ELA, Salmon
• BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, North, Canadiana
• America, Keystone, Spills & Leaks, Birth Control, McCutcheon, 2016, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
• Ecological Economics, Recycling, IPAT, Apocalypso, Rose Coloured, Media, Books, Video, Courts, Mann Suit
• Energy, Transitions, Energy Investments, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Fossil Fuel Corps
• Energy Independence, Peak Oil, Biofuel, Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Fusion
• FITs, Hydrogen, Grid, Utilities, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
• Business, Insurance, Other Lists, Quotes, Carbon Lobby, Inaction, Misc., Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

 

The things people consider funny nowadays:

• 2014/04/05: S&R: (cartoon - Szep) McCutcheon v Federal Election Commission: how much democracy can you afford?
• 2014/04/04: uComics: (cartoon - Danziger) The Three Branches of Government (revised)
• 2014/04/04: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Roberts' Rules
• 2014/04/04: Onion: Landmark Supreme Court Decision Lets Americans Cram Cash Directly Into Politicians' Mouths
• 2014/04/03: Onion: U.S. Currency Finally Achieves Universal Suffrage
• 2014/04/03: TPride: Met Office issues smug alert as record levels of ministerial self-satisfaction hit UK
• 2014/04/02: OParachute: (cartoon - ???) Is anyone listening?
• 2014/04/02: Onion: EPA Announces New Initiative To Conserve Whatever's Left
• 2014/03/31: TruthDig: (cartoon - Wolverton) GOP Conscious Uncoupling
• 2014/03/31: uComics: (cartoon - Auth) The Report Says...

You ever find yourself wondering..."Is this an April Fools joke?":

• 2014/04/02: CCP: NYT: The Aliens Have Landed
• 2014/04/01: CCP: IPCC: Wolf! Wolf! No, Really, Wolf!
• 2014/04/01: DeSmogBlog: All the Positive and Helpful Things in the IPCC Report No One Will Talk About
  

  Looking ahead to COP20 and future international climate negotiations:

  • 2014/04/02: RTCC: US, China and EU agree to cooperate on UN climate treaty
  • 2014/04/02: RealEconomics: Did the USA sabotage the Copenhagen Climate Conference?
  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): Marshall Islands minister unsure of Australia's stance on climate change
  • 2014/03/31: CPunch: How the US Undermined the Copenhagen Climate Summit -- What Was the NSA Really Up To?

  The developed nations are weaseling out of their Green/Global Climate Fund obligations:

  • 2014/04/03: RTCC: How can developing nations close the climate finance gap?
  • 2014/04/03: NakedCapitalism: Gaius Publius: IPCC Accidentally Proves that "International Cooperation" on Climate Change is Dead
  • 2014/03/31: NYT: Panel's Warning on Climate Risk: Worst Is Yet to Come
    [...]
    The poorest people in the world, who have had virtually nothing to do with causing global warming, will be high on the list of victims as climatic disruptions intensify, the report said. It cited a World Bank estimate that poor countries need as much as $100 billion a year to try to offset the effects of climate change; they are now getting, at best, a few billion dollars a year in such aid from rich countries. The $100 billion figure, though included in the 2,500-page main report, was removed from a 48-page executive summary to be read by the world's top political leaders. It was among the most significant changes made as the summary underwent final review during an editing session of several days in Yokohama. The edit came after several rich countries, including the United States, raised questions about the language, according to several people who were in the room at the time but did not wish to be identified because the negotiations were private. The language is contentious because poor countries are expected to renew their demand for aid this September in New York at a summit meeting of world leaders, who will attempt to make headway on a new treaty to limit greenhouse gases. Many rich countries argue that $100 billion a year is an unrealistic demand; it would essentially require them to double their budgets for foreign aid, at a time of economic distress at home. That argument has fed a rising sense of outrage among the leaders of poor countries, who feel their people are paying the price for decades of profligate Western consumption.
  • 2014/03/31: CBC: Climate change costs seen as steep but tough to tally
  • 2014/03/31: CNN: Climate change could cost more than $100 billion a year
    Climate change could cost more than $100 billion a year, the UN panel of experts said - Experts say the bill could be much higher if emissions continue at the current pace - The report is the second part of the IPCC's benchmark assessment of climate change

  The IPCC Working Group 2 report:

  • 2014/03/31: IPCC: [links to various pdfs] Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability
  • 2014/03/31: IPCC: [12.6 meg pdf] Climate Change 2014:Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability -- Summary for Policy Makers
  • 2014/04/04: RealClimate: Impacts of Climate Change - Part 2 of the new IPCC Report has been approved
  • 2014/03/31: RealClimate: IPCC WG2 report now out
  • 2014/03/31: RTCC: IPCC LIVE: UN science panel releases climate impacts report
  • 2014/03/30: Stanford: Behind the scenes of an international climate report, with Stanford scientists

  Implications of the IPCC Working Group 2 report:

  • 2014/04/05: Xinhuanet: Swedish researcher suggests pricing CO2 emissions in UN climate report
  • 2014/04/05: CBC:Q&Q: IPCC Climate Change Report
  • 2014/04/04: RTCC: IPCC's latest report can galvanise political action on climate
  • 2014/04/03: UGothenburg: UN Climate Report: Pricing of CO2 Emissions Critical
  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): UN - climate 'perfect storm' is already here. Time to slay Zombie Big Oil
  • 2014/04/03: Xinhuanet: Xinhua Insight: Climate change: risks and opportunities
  • 2014/04/02: Guardian(UK): Seeking the political will to secure a carbon-free future
    Global leaders must see the IPCC report for what it is: one last chance to stop catastrophic climate change
  • 2014/04/02: DemNow: U.N. Climate Panel Issues Dire Warning of Threat to Global Food Supply, Calls for Action & Adaption
  • 2014/04/02: TheConversation: Climate change and security: a wake-up call for Australia
  • 2014/04/02: RTCC: Rajendra Pachauri: adaptation only works alongside carbon cuts
    Higher seas and more floods and heat waves will overwhelm efforts to prepare for climate change without early cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases, the head of a UN panel of scientists told RTCC.
  • 2014/04/02: RTCC: UN climate panel answers 11 key questions on its latest report [FAQs]
  • 2014/04/01: ICN: Climate Impacts Are Going to Hit the Developing World Hardest, IPCC Says
  • 2014/04/01: UCSUSA:B: Top 5 Ways the Latest IPCC Review of Climate Change Reflects the U.S. Experience
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): IPCC report highlights the importance of carbon targets
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): Frame climate change as a food issue, experts say
    As IPCC report warns of climate impact on food security, researchers are looking at whether talking about food could break political deadlock on global warming
  • 2014/04/01: RTCC: How much worse is a 4 degrees world?
    Analysis: risks linked to warming above 2C likely to be unpredictable and dangerous, says IPCC report
  • 2014/04/01: RNE: Climate change impacts in pictures: 8 stark IPCC images
  • 2014/03/31: TheConversation: IPCC expert wrap: costs of climate change mounting, time to adapt
  • 2014/03/31: ERW: IPCC: world is ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate
  • 2014/03/31: WMO: IPCC report on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation confirms the high human costs of climate change
  • 2014/03/31: UN: Climate change impacting entire planet, raising risk of hunger, floods, conflict - UN report
  • 2014/03/31: Grist: U.N. climate report offers lots of bummer news plus a few dollops of encouragement
  • 2014/03/31: Grist: What the U.N.'s new climate report says about North America
  • 2014/03/31: NatureNB: UN climate change report marks risks of a warm future
  • 2014/03/31: CCurrents: IPCC Report Predicts A Dark Future For The Planet
  • 2014/03/31: CSM: Climate change to leave no one on planet 'untouched,' IPCC chief
  • 2014/03/31: DeSmogBlog: New IPCC Report: Climate Hazards a "Threat Multiplier" and the World is Not Ready
  • 2014/03/31: CTV: Climate change puts world's food supply at risk: UN science panel
  • 2014/03/26: BMJ: [Editorial] Climate change and human survival
  • 2014/03/31: CSW: IPCC climate change Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability assessment poses urgent challenge for risk management
  • 2014/03/31: Stoat: Climate inaction to be 'catastrophe'
  • 2014/03/31: CarbonBrief: Big impacts: The main messages from today's big UN climate report
  • 2014/03/31: GreenPeace: 5-minute redux of key findings from the IPCC report on climate change impacts
    1. Climate change is happening now - here, there and everywhere
    2. And it's rapidly getting worse
    3. It's not just the polar bears, corals and rainforests that are threatened - it's us
    4. Climate change interacts with other problems we're causing and struggling with
    5. How bad it will get depends on how much more will we pollute
    6. And, well, it truly can get bad, threatening our security and fueling conflicts
    7. But with faster cuts on climate pollution, risks can be reduced substantially
    8. And we will need to adapt too
    9. But we can't count on adaptation alone
    10. Nor should we count on simplistic economic models that can't capture the true costs of climate change
  • 2014/03/31: CBC: [Infographic] UN climate change report
  • 2014/03/31: Salon: IPCC report: 5 ways climate change threatens life as we know it
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change report: five key points
    1. Food threat
    2. Human security
    3. Inequality
    4. No-one is safe
    5. Hard but not hopeless.
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): 'We expect catastrophe' - Manila, the megacity on the climate frontline
    IPCC report warns life in the Filipino capital and other coastal cities will get much worse in many ways as temperatures rise
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Haiyan - harbinger of things to come?
    Lives lost, villages destroyed, communities devastated - and according to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, the Philippines disaster was just the beginning
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): The IPCC report takes us from alarmism to adaptation
    The landmark climate change study should silence the doubters, and steers us towards calm - if urgent - debate on how we act
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change a threat to security, food and humankind - IPCC report
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change report 'should jolt people into action' says IPCC chief, Rajendra Pachauri
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): IPCC report: climate impacts on wildlife
    Plants, animals and entire ecosystems are on the move as rising temperatures force species to seek out cooler climes
  • 2014/03/30: CNN: Little time left to turn down the world's heat, U.N. says
    Time's running out to rein in climate change, U.N. panel concludes - "A certain amount of warming" is locked in, expert says - Without checks on emissions, the impacts may be irreversible, report states - Losses outweigh gains for farmers and the poor, it concludes
  • 2014/03/31: EurActiv: IPCC report: Climate change a threat to security, food and humankind
  • 2014/03/31: CCP: Justin Gillis, NYT: The Worst Is Yet To Come
  • 2014/03/31: DD: New IPCC report: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability -- Summary for policymakers and FAQ
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): IPCC report most explicit warning yet on climate change
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): IPCC report highlights challenges for farmers
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Climate change will impact everything everywhere
    The latest report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says a warming world is already wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture and endangering many animal species.
  • 2014/03/31: RTCC: Climate change is already here, poses serious threat - IPCC
  • 2014/03/31: RTCC: IPCC report: Arctic, crops and coral reefs on climate frontline
  • 2014/03/31: Wunderground: IPCC: Climate Change Increasing Risk of Hunger, Thirst, Disease, Refugees, and War
  • 2014/03/30: ScienceInsider: Major Climate Report Describes a Changing World, Striving to Adapt
  • 2014/03/31: OilChange: "Nobody is going to be untouched by climate change"
  • 2014/03/31: RNE: IPCC says climate change is here, world needs to act
  • 2014/03/31: RNE: IPCC expert wrap: costs of climate change mounting
  • 2014/03/31: Xinhuanet: IPCC report highlights climate risk for Australia
  • 2014/03/31: CBC: Global warming dials up our risks, UN report says
    'Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of climate change,' chairman says
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Climate change could be putting human health at risk: Australian IPCC report researchers
  • 2014/03/31: BBerg: World Is Ill-Prepared for Global Warming Impacts, UN Says
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): UN climate committee 'optimistic' on chances of managing climate change risks
  • 2014/03/31: BBC: Climate impacts 'overwhelming' - UN
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change 'already affecting food supply' - UN
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change report: IPCC finds governments unprepared - live blog
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change will damage Australia's coastal infrastructure, says IPCC
  • 2014/03/30: TP:JR: Conservative Climate Panel Warns World Faces 'Breakdown Of Food Systems' And More Violent Conflict
  • 2014/03/30: ERabett: We Are All Sitting Ducks

  Reactions to the IPCC Working Group 2 report:

  • 2014/04/04: PRI:LoE: UN Climate Change Reports As Haiku
  • 2014/04/04: SciAm:GB: IPCC Finally Acknowledges Its "Himalayan Blunder"
  • 2014/04/02: WtD: IPCC says future in doubt if we don't act know: time for climate disobediance
  • 2014/04/02: DD: Business leaders and experts react to the IPCC climate change report...
  • 2014/04/02: KSJT: Blockbuster climate-change report: Where's the reaction?
  • 2014/04/02: RTCC: Do governments need clearer climate messages from the IPCC?
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): Yeb Sano: unlikely climate justice star
    John Vidal meets the Filipino diplomat whose emotional reaction to typhoon Haiyan made him the face of UN climate talks
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): Reactions to the IPCC climate change report from business leaders and experts
    The IPCC's second climate change report has spurred plenty of debate from business leaders, news media and experts
  • 2014/04/01: TRP: U.N. Climate Panel: "We're Fucked. Hello? Is Anyone Listening? We. Are. Fucked."
  • 2014/04/01: TruthDig: 'Some Say the World Will End in Fire:' Climate Panel Paints Mad Max World of Famine, Fire, War
  • 2014/04/01: CCP: Seth Borenstein, AP: Global warming dials up our risks, UN report says
  • 2014/03/31: RTCC: IPCC report: Kerry and Hague call for tough climate action
  • 2014/04/01: Xinhuanet: Britain calls for global action against climate change
  • 2014/03/31: BBC: Climate report: Creating a sense of urgency or alarm?
  • 2014/03/31: Maribo: The IPCC and finding the balance between science and advocacy
  • 2014/03/31: BBC: Climate inaction catastrophic - US
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): IPCC report warns of future climate change risks, but is spun by contrarians
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change action is the best insurance policy in world history
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate change laws: time to act on the IPCC report?
    As the world reacts to the latest UN climate study, legislators call for focus on national consensus for international action
  • 2014/03/31: ClimateShifts: The IPCC has spelled out the risks -- now what do we do?
  • 2014/03/31: TheConversation: The IPCC has spelled out the risks - now what do we do?
  • 2014/03/31: RNE: Why the fossil fuel industry wants us to ignore risk
  • 2014/03/30: PSinclair: Climate Impacts Potentially Immense, Overwhelming
  • 2014/03/30: PSinclair: British Medical Journal: This is an Emergency.

  The WG3 report is coming out next week:

  • IPCC: WG3
  • 2014/04/05: ERabett: RTFWSB
  • 2014/04/04: BBerg: U.S. Seeks Changes to 'Skewed' Data in UN Climate Draft

  How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

  • 2014/04/04: GEB: Fraunhofer ISE: Strong Increase in Renewable Input in Q1, Particularly from Solar Power Plants
  • 2014/04/03: GEB: EEG Account: Positive Balance Increases - But High EEG-related Payments Due to High Solar Input
  • 2014/04/02: GEB: EEG 2.0: Federal Government and Federal States Reach Agreement on Important Issues of EEG Reform
  • 2014/04/01: GEB: 110.414 MWp: New Solar Capacity in February Again Fairly Low
  • 2014/04/01: GET: German government debates energy policy details
  • 2014/03/31: EurActiv: Push for energy diversification puts German coalition to the test
  • 2014/03/31: RNE: Can Germany survive the Energiewende?

  And on the Bottom Line:

  • 2014/04/05: RealEconomics: Forget the cost -- time to go to work
  • 2014/04/04: NatureN: Global warming: Improve economic models of climate change
    Costs of carbon emissions are being underestimated, but current estimates are still valuable for setting mitigation policy, say Richard L. Revesz and colleagues.
  • 2014/04/03: CCR: Climate economic impact models meaningless, so key question is "what is survivable?" not "what is affordable?"
  • 2014/04/03: CCP: Mitigate climate change as quickly as possible or risk making the world uninhabitable -- 'Forget the cost - tackle climate anyway'
  • 2014/04/01: Grist: Risk game: What a warmer planet means to the bottom line
  • 2014/04/01: RTCC: IPCC: specific costs of climate change impacts still unclear
  • 2014/04/01: RTCC: Yvo de Boer: It's time to measure the 'true value' of business
    What if cost of environmental damage caused by businesses were subtracted from their profits? Our world is increasingly crowded, depleted, resource-hungry yet resource-constrained, and starting to experience the consequences of climate change.

  What's the World Bank up to?

  • 2014/04/02: RTCC: World Bank boosts Solomon Islands adaption efforts with $9.1m grant

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

  • 2014/04/05: SkS: The climate change uncertainty monster -- more uncertainty means more urgency to tackle global warming by dana1981
  • 2014/04/05: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly News Roundup #14B by John Hartz
  • 2014/04/04: SkS: Video: Climate science crash course by Dana Nuccitelli with Citizens Climate Lobby by dana1981
  • 2014/04/03: SkS: Earth has a fever, but the heat is sloshing into the oceans by John Abraham
  • 2014/04/02: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly News Roundup #14A by John Hartz
  • 2014/04/02: SkS: Alarming new study makes today's climate change more comparable to Earth's worst mass extinction by howardlee
  • 2014/04/01: SkS: 2014 SkS News Bulletin #2: IPCC Report by John Hartz
  • 2014/03/31: SkS: IPCC report warns of future climate change risks, but is spun by contrarians by dana1981
  • 2014/03/30: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly Digest #13 by John Hartz

  Various psychological angles arise in considerations of the ecological crisis:

  • 2014/04/02: CCurrents: The Struggle For Humanity
  • 2014/03/30: TheCanadian: Ecopathy: The environmental disease

  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:

   

  • 2014/04/05: EneNews: Inside Sources: Fukushima crisis "actually far worse than anyone acknowledged... information withheld to prevent panic" ...
  • 2014/04/04: EneNews: MIT Professor & US Experts: Japan "must act now to seal Fukushima reactors, before it's too late"...
  • 2014/04/04: FukuLeaks: Fukushima Unit 1 To Undergo Spent Fuel Pool Desalination
  • 2014/04/04: EneNews: Former US Gov't Official: Growing likelihood Fukushima reactors will be entombed -- Nuclear 'sacrifice zone' where they can only try to reduce contamination from escaping...
  • 2014/04/03: EneNews: Caldicott: All of Japan contaminated by Fukushima -- "Realistic estimate is 60,000 km², occupied by 46 million people" -- "Things are grim, it gets worse by the day" -- Unheard of in history, 100s of tons of melted fuel may be in earth (video)
  • 2014/04/03: FukuLeaks: Fukushima Unit 3 Fuel Pool Debris Removal Progress
  • 2014/04/03: FukuLeaks: IPPNW Disputes Accuracy Of UNSCEAR Report On Fukushima
  • 2014/04/03: FukuLeaks: Fukushima Unit 3 Shield Wall Installation Begins
  • 2014/04/02: RoboHub: Fukushima photo essay: A drone's eye view
  • 2014/04/02: EneNews: Award-winning project finds seafood sold in Canada with high radiation levels -- Many samples well over contamination limit...
  • 2014/04/02: EneNews: Foreign reporters find radiation levels over 100 times legal limit off Fukushima -- Captain: Radioactive releases "may last until end of the Earth"...
  • 2014/04/02: FukuLeaks: Unit 2 Frozen Trench Installation Begins At Fukushima Daiichi
  • 2014/04/02: WNN: UN reports on Fukushima radiation
  • 2014/04/01: FukuLeaks: One Fukushima Evacuation Town Reopens
  • 2014/04/01: FukuLeaks: New Fukushima Daiichi Workers Exposure Report
  • 2014/04/01: FukuLeaks: Worker Death At Fukushima Daiichi Completely Preventable
  • 2014/04/01: FukuLeaks: Fukushima Unit 4; 550 Assemblies Removed
  • 2014/04/01: CNN: Fukushima residents cleared to return home amid ongoing contamination fears
    Evacuation zone near stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant lifted - More than 100 households cleared to return to city only 12 miles from site of disaster - Suspicions concerning the safety of the area remain
  • 2014/03/31: EneNews: TV: Fukushima crisis "much more severe than we're led to believe"...

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

  • 2014/04/02: FukuLeaks: Two Japanese Power Companies Ask For Bailouts
    First Hokkaido Electric, now Kyushu Electric is asking for a government bank to give them money. Both are complaining about unexpected costs involved with operating without their nuclear power plants. Kyushu Electric owns quite a few reactors, Hokkaido Electric only owns two.
  • 2014/04/01: Reuters: Japan may only be able to restart one-third of its nuclear reactors
  • 2014/03/31: FukuLeaks: The Real Risks At Sendai

  The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

  • 2014/04/05: Dosbat: 2014: Large Multi-Year Ice [MYI] Export into Beaufort & Chukchi
  • 2014/04/05: ArcticNews: River ice reveals new twist on Arctic melt
  • 2014/04/04: PSinclair: The Weekend Wonk: A Theory so Cutting Edge, it's Hard to Prove
  • 2014/04/03: PSinclair: Greenland Ice, and How it Melts
  • 2014/04/03: PSinclair: NSIDC: 2014 Sea Ice Max Reached
  • 2014/04/03: TP:JR: Arctic Sea Ice Cover Was Fifth-Smallest On Record This Year
  • 2014/04/02: Guardian(UK): Arctic sea ice falls to fifth lowest level on record
    National Snow and Ice Data Center says findings reinforce trend that Arctic sea ice disappearing much faster than expected
  • 2014/04/02: SFU: River ice reveals new twist on Arctic melt
  • 2014/04/02: NSIDC: Arctic sea ice at fifth lowest annual maximum
  • 2014/04/01: CCP: NASA: Arctic Melt Season Lengthening 5 days per decade
  • 2014/03/31: Eureka: NSIDC, NASA Say Arctic Melt Season Lengthening, Ocean Rapidly Warming
  • 2014/03/31: TruthOut: The Vanishing Arctic Ice Cap
  • 2014/03/31: ASI: Forecast me not

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

  • 2014/04/04: TruthOut: The Perp in the Greatest Mass Extinction on Earth? Methane
  • 2014/04/01: ArcticNews: Earthquakes in the Arctic Ocean
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Methane-producing microbes blamed for biggest ever mass extinction
    Methanosarcina churned out vast quantities of the greenhouse gas methane 252m years ago, sending temperatures soaring

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

  • 2014/03/31: NNW: Canada faces stark choice with Russia: expert

  While in Antarctica:

  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): Australian scientists warn of declining Antarctic research
  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): Australia urged to boost its Antarctic research or risk losing influence

  The food crisis is ongoing:

  • 2014/04/06: CCurrents: South Sudan Facing Famine Crisis
  • 2014/04/05: SimpleC: Weather extremes take twin crop and disease toll
  • 2014/04/04: PLNA: Famine Threatens More than Three Million Sudanese, Says UNO
  • 2014/04/04: WFP: Cost of Hunger in Africa Study: A Regional Look at the Price of child undernutrition in Africa
  • 2014/04/04: WFP: UN Rome-Based Agencies Reveal Food Security And Nutrition Targets For Post-2015 Agenda
  • 2014/04/03: D2E: Hailstorm drives farmers to suicide
  • 2014/04/02: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Food supply and climate change: time for politicians to show leadership
  • 2014/04/02: ABC(Au): [Agricultural] Research not keeping up with warming climate
  • 2014/04/02: MoJo: California Farmers: Drill, Baby, Drill (for Water, That Is)
  • 2014/04/02: WFP: UNHCR, WFP Leaders Witness Shocking State Of South Sudanese Refugees During Ethiopia Visit
  • 2014/04/01: NYT: Old Forecast of Famine May Yet Come True
  • 2014/04/01: ERW: Olive production: you win some, you lose some
  • 2014/04/01: WFP: WFP And UN Refugee Agency Alarmed At Scale Of Needs In South Sudan
  • 2014/04/01: FAO: Europe and Central Asia not without nutrition woes
  • 2014/04/01: WSWS: Report: Thousands of Polish children go hungry
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Farm production tipped to shrink
    Australian farm production is expected to shrink in a climate with hotter temperatures and reduced rainfall.
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Think the new climate report is scary? The food-pocalypse is already upon us
    Riots. Towns gone dry. Soaring prices. Crushing starvation. If this sounds like fear-mongering from scientists, talk to the farmers
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Climate catastrophes in other countries will hit UK's food security, experts say
    Reliance on imported food and rising population leaves Britain exposed and vulnerable to climate shocks overseas

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

  • 2014/04/02: FAO: Cabo Verde Prime Minister calls for sustainable marine resources management, especially in Small Island Developing States
  • 2014/04/02: TreeHugger: Climate change will be bad for fishermen, good for jellies
  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): Environmentalists say proposed Palau marine sanctuary could create more fish stocks

  Food Prices are rising:

  • FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
  • 2014/04/03: UN: Global food prices hit 10 month high due to weather, Crimea tensions
  • 2014/04/03: CBC: Rise in beef prices coming to Canadian restaurants, grocery stores -- Herds shrinking from drought, feed costs

  Regarding labelling GM food:

  • 2014/04/04: RT: Koch ally to introduce Monsanto-backed bill to bar state GMO labeling laws
    Rep. Mike Pompeo will introduce legislation backed by powerful trade groups to prevent states from passing laws requiring the labeling of genetically-modified foods, according to reports. The bill is linked to biotech giant Monsanto and Koch Industries. Pompeo will offer the bill in the US House before Congress leaves for Easter recess later this month...

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

  • 2014/04/04: Guardian(UK): Gardens: soil
    Flushed away by floods and compacted by overgrazing, our soil is disappearing fast. Are you looking after yours?
  • 2014/04/04: FAO: Countries chart a two-year course on food, nutrition and agriculture across Europe and Central Asia
  • 2014/04/02: FAO: Climate change, malnutrition, family farming and agri-food trade on FAO radar
  • 2014/04/02: Resilience: Earthworms Detoxify Pesticides From Soil at Significant Cost
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): Venezuela tackles food shortage with ID card system
    Government says system will stop people overbuying groceries for resale -- but critics say it's the first step towards rationing
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): Maple syrup makers go high-tech with wireless monitoring
  • 2014/04/01: EurActiv: Agroforestry is crucial to the food production challenge

  A relatively quiet week with most storms except Hellen still at sea. TC 22S [Ivanoe] in the South Indian Ocean is heading South, unreported. TC 23P [Ita] East of Austrailia is also unreported:

  In the Western Pacific, Tropical Storm Peipah is approaching the Phillipines:

   

• 2014/04/04: NASA: NASA Sees Tropical Depression 05W's Bulk West of Center
• 2014/04/03: NASA: NASA's Aqua Satellite Flies Over Newborn Tropical Depression 05W
  

  In the South Indian Ocean, Hellen zinged Western Madagascar and faded:

• 2014/04/06: IOTD: Near Miss in Madagascar [Hellen on Mar.30]
• 2014/04/02: NASA: NASA Sees Tropical Cyclone's Hellen's Lively Remnants
• 2014/04/02: ReliefWeb: Thousands affected in Comoros and Mozambique; alerts lifted in Madagascar
• 2014/03/31: NASA: Tropical Cyclone Hellen Makes Landfall in Madagascar
• 2014/03/30: Wunderground: Dangerous Category 4 Hellen Nears Madagascar
  

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2014/04/04: MODIS: Tropical Cyclone Gillian (17P) off Australia [on Mar.23]
• 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): Remote Vanuatu residents call for more early cyclone warning systems as climate changes
• 2014/04/03: CPunch: In the Wake of the 2013 Philippine Floods
• 2014/04/02: Wunderground: Camille of 1969 Downgraded to Second Strongest Landfalling U.S. Hurricane
• 2014/04/02: DD: No-build zones could lead to massive displacement of Typhoon Haiyan refugees
  

  This week in notable weather:

  • 2014/04/04: WMO: Cherrapunji, India, Holds New Record for 48-Hour Rainfall
    Geneva - A World Meteorological Organization (WMO) panel has concluded that Cherrapunji in India now holds the world record for two-day (48-hour) rainfall, with 2 493 millimeters (98.15 inches) recorded on 15-16 June 1995.
  • 2014/04/01: CBC: Ice storm leaves thousands without power in New Brunswick
  • 2014/03/31: al Jazeera: Giant hailstones batter Hong Kong
    "Black rainstorm" warning issued for deluge that dumps 80mm rain and more than 3,500 lightning strikes in an hour.
  • 2014/03/31: CBC: Thick Great Lakes ice thwarts ice breakers, delays shipping
  • 2014/03/30: CBC: Maritime provinces brace for more bad weather
    New Brunswick warned of heavy snow in the north, flooding in the south
  • 2014/03/30: al Jazeera: Giant hailstones batter Hong Kong
    Hailstones smash windows at a shopping mall as observatory records nearly 9,000 lighting strikes in one hour. Giant hailstones smashed windows at a Hong Kong shopping mall as torrential rainstorms drenched the Sevens rugby tournament and delayed dozens of flights. Authorities issued the highest black rainstorm warning late on Sunday when rainfall exceeded 80 millimetres an hour in parts of the territory.

  This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

  • 2014/04/05: ArcticNews: Escalating extreme weather events to hammer humanity

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

  • 2014/04/02: ERW: Melting sea ice off the hook for recent cold winters?
    Melting Arctic sea ice has been a prime suspect for causing the extreme winter cold experienced by North America and Europe in recent years. Now, researchers from the US, reckon that the natural temperature variation in the North Atlantic Ocean - or Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) - could also play a role.

  Meanwhile on the GHG front:

  • 2014/03/31: RNE: The new 400ppm world: CO2 measurements at Mauna Loa continue to climb

  Aerosols are making their presence felt:

  • 2014/04/04: BBC: Air pollution: High levels remain but forecast to fall
  • 2014/04/03: al Jazeera: Smog blanketing Britain set to clear
    Relief in sight after combination of local emissions and dust blown from the Sahara envelop the United Kingdom.
  • 2014/04/03: TP:JR: Smog Envelops London For Third Day
  • 2014/04/03: RT: Smog alert in Britain due to Sahara dust, high pollution (photos)
  • 2014/04/03: Xinhuanet: Sandstorm hits NW China's Xijiang [pix]
  • 2014/04/03: BBC: Air pollution: High levels continue to affect UK
  • 2014/04/02: BBC: Air pollution reaches high levels in parts of England
  • 2014/04/02: CBC: Britain smog caused by Sahara dust, industrial pollution -- Many motorists find cars covered in a film of red dust
  • 2014/04/02: BBC: Air pollution: High levels 'to spread across England and Wales'
    [...] It expects the pollution - a mix of local emissions and dust blown from the Sahara - to move across southern England, the Midlands, and south Wales.
  • 2014/04/01: MODIS: Dust storms in southcentral United States (morning overpass) [on Mar.18]
  • 2014/03/31: MetBlog: Storm in Sahara sends dust to UK

  What's up with volcanoes this week?

  • 2014/04/05: BBC: Ecuador volcano throws up spectacular ash plume
    A volcano just south of Ecuador's capital Quito has erupted, creating a spectacular plume of ash, 10km (six miles) high. The Tungurahua volcano created the huge cloud on Friday in an eruption that lasted just five minutes. The volcano has been erupting since 1999, but has been particularly active in the last two months.
  • 2014/04/02: CSM: Peru [Ubinas] volcano: Do growing rumblings point to a big eruption to come?

  What's new in the Weather Machine?

  • 2014/04/05: ArcticNews: Like a giant elevator to the stratosphere
  • 2014/04/03: AWI(de): "Like a giant elevator to the stratosphere" [w mach]
    Recent research results show that an atmospheric hole over the tropical West Pacific is reinforcing ozone depletion in the polar regions and could have a significant influence on the climate of the Earth.
  • 2014/03/30: AarhusU: The Atlantic Ocean dances with the Sun and volcanoes
    Natural fluctuations in the ocean temperature in the North Atlantic have a significant impact on the climate in the northern hemisphere. These fluctuations are the result of a complex dance between the forces of nature, but researchers at Aarhus University can now show that solar activity and the impact of volcanic eruptions have led this dance during the last two centuries.

  Regarding Climate Sensitivity:

  • 2014/04/03: QuarkSoup: The Exact Value of Climate Sensitivity Doesn't Much Matter

  And on the ENSO front:

  • 2014/04/04: Wunderground: Record-Warm Subsurface Pacific Waters May Bring Moderate to Strong El Niño Event
  • 2014/04/02: NatureN: El Niño tests forecasters
    As hints emerge of a major weather event this year, poor data could thwart attempts to improve predictions.
  • 2014/04/02: RScribbler: El Nino Update: Monster Kelvin Wave Continues to Emerge and Intensify

  As for the temperature record:

  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): Earth has a fever, but the heat is sloshing into the oceans
  • 2014/04/02: al Jazeera: A late blast of summer heat Down Under
    Parts of southern Australia have their hottest April day on record.

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

  • 2014/04/04: EurActiv: Russian rocket takes Copernicus satellite into space
  • 2014/04/04: al Jazeera: Europe launches environment satellite
    Sentinel 1-A will carry cloud-penetrating radar that monitors climate change and can spot environmental damage.
  • 2014/04/03: BBC: EU launches flagship Sentinel-1a satellite project to monitor Earth
    A Soyuz rocket has launched from French Guiana with the first satellite in the European Union's new multi-billion-euro Earth-observation [Copernicus] programme.
  • 2014/04/03: BBC: EU set to roll out Sentinel space project
    The biggest civil Earth-observation programme ever conceived begins its rollout on Thursday with the launch of a radar satellite from French Guiana. The EU's Sentinel-1a spacecraft will be followed into orbit by a fleet of other satellites in the coming years.
  • 2014/04/02: BBC: Sentinel satellites promise data explosion
  • 2014/04/01: RT: China eyes 'global monitoring network' of surveillance satellites
  • 2014/03/31: NASA: Satellite Shows High Productivity from U.S. Corn Belt

  While in the paleoclimate:

  • 2014/04/02: CBC: Methane-spewing microbe blamed in worst mass extinction [252 mya]
    'Great dying' caused by archaebacteria population explosion, study suggests
  • 2014/04/02: Eureka: Killing a name of an extinct sea cow species
  • 2014/04/01: CSM: Earth's biggest murder mystery: Methane-spewing microbe named prime suspect
  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): 'Seesaw' current explains past bursts of CO2
  • 2014/03/31: NatureN: Archaeageddon: how gas-belching microbes could have caused mass extinction
    Study suggests gene transfer led to sudden release of methane 252 million years ago, killing most life on Earth.
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Methane-producing microbes blamed for biggest ever mass extinction
    Methanosarcina churned out vast quantities of the greenhouse gas methane 252m years ago, sending temperatures soaring

  And in historical times:

  • 2014/04/01: UChicago: World's oldest weather report could revise Bronze Age chronology

  What's the State of the Oceans?:

  • 2014/04/05: EneNews: Reports: Sea stars decimated on West Coast -- SoCal ravaged as mystery disease spreads south...

  And the State of the Biosphere?

  • 2014/04/06: SciAm:EC: Sunday Species Snapshot: Puerto Rican Parrot
  • 2014/04/05: Grist: The untold story of deforestation: Slothageddon
  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): Wetas released into wild: Captive breeding program aims to repopulate New Zealand with unique insect
  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): Hummingbird family tree unveiled
  • 2014/04/03: BBC: The woman who rescued 200 sloths
  • 2014/04/03: Eureka: Fences cause 'ecological meltdown'
  • 2014/04/03: KSJT: American Prospect: The dirt on the northern plains. More corn, more soy, less grassland and the redwinged blackbird is getting scarce
  • 2014/04/01: EarthMag: The trouble with turtles: Paleontology at a crossroads

  What's new on the extinction front?

  • 2014/04/04: Monbiot: Like a Demon from a Mediaeval Manuscript
  • 2014/04/03: SciAm:EC: Unusual Night Lizard Returns after Eradication of Invasive Species
  • 2014/04/03: Xinhuanet: 16 new species listed into CITES for protection in int'l trade
  • 2014/04/02: ABC(Au): Mammal extinctions: size isn't everything
  • 2014/04/02: BBC: Modern lions' origin revealed by genetic analysis
    The origin and history of modern lions have been revealed by scientists. A genetic analysis of living lions and museum specimens confirms modern lions' most recent common ancestor lived around 124,000 years ago. Modern lions evolved into two groups; one lives in Eastern and Southern Africa, the other includes lions in Central and West Africa, and in India. This second group is now endangered, meaning half the genetic diversity of modern lions is at risk of extinction.
  • 2014/03/30: DD: Over 9,000 primates killed each year for single bushmeat market in West Africa
  • 2014/03/30: APoA: On The Sixth Extinction

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

  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): Quarter of Europe's bumblebee species risks extinction: study
    Almost a quarter of Europe's bumblebees are at risk of extinction due to loss of habitats and climate change, threatening pollination of crops worth billions of dollars. Almost a quarter of European bumblebee species are threatened with extinction, largely because of climate change and intensive farming, the International Union for Conservation of Nature warned on Wednesday. In a European Union-funded study of all 68 bumblebee species found in Europe, the environmental group found that 24 per cent were on the verge of disappearing. The research also found that 46 per cent had a declining population, including those at risk of extinction, while 29 per cent were stable, 13 per cent were increasing in number and the status of the remainder was unknown.
  • 2014/04/03: MSU: Attracting wild bees to farms is a good insurance policy
  • 2014/04/03: CCurrents: Europe's Bumblebees Are Going Extinct

  How are the Insect Orders doing?

  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): Expert says red-back spider numbers jump after dry conditions
  • 2014/03/30: TheCanadian: Disappearing Monarch butterflies need citizen scientists' help [Suzuki]

  Intimations of Overshoot:

  • 2014/04/02: SciAm:GB: Is a Footprint the Right Metaphor for Ecological Impact?

  More GW impacts are being seen:

  • 2014/04/03: Grist:Biking the Iditarod? Climate change makes for faster times
  • 2014/04/03: PostArctica: How Climate Change Will Kill Us in the Dumbest Possible Way
  • 2014/04/01: RTCC: Marshall Islands President [Christopher Loeak]: Future will be 'like living in a war zone'
  • 2014/03/30: CCurrents: A longer Autumn, A Shorter Spring And A Sourer Pacific: News From The Climate Crisis "Front"
  • 2014/03/29: TruthDig: U.K. Seabirds Sound Climate Warning - drastic declines in numbers

  And then there are the world's forests:

  • 2014/04/03: Grist: California's cap-and-trade program pays loggers to clearcut old-growth forests
  • 2014/04/02: WinrockI: Gauging the impact of tropical forest logging: Winrock develops new method for quantifying carbon emissions
  • 2014/04/01: Yale: Deforestation of sandy soils a greater threat to climate change
    Deforestation may have far greater consequences for climate change in some soils than in others...
  • 2014/03/30: DD: Just how bad is the logging crisis in Myanmar? 72 percent of exports are illegal...

  Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): Migrants make fresh attempt to storm Spain's north African enclave of Melilla

  Desertification looms as a threat:

  • 2014/04/06: DenverPost: For southeast Colorado, a new dust bowl is blowing in
  • 2014/04/03: Salon: Global warming could dry out a third of the Earth by 2100
  • 2014/04/02: Eureka: A new tree-planting technique for ecological control of desert
  • 2014/03/31: Columbia:EI: Warming Climate May Spread Drying to a Third of Earth, Says Study -- Heat, Not Just Rainfall, Plays into New Projections

  Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:

  • 2014/04/02: ConvEcon: Air Pollution: World's Biggest Health Hazard
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Climate change could be putting human health at risk: Australian IPCC report researchers

  Changes in natural cycles are showing up:

  • 2014/04/02: Eureka: Climate change forces flower festival forward a month since 1960s
  • 2014/03/31: Eureka: Heat waves reduce length of pregnancy -- Extreme summer heat in Montreal may have an effect on early-term deliveries

  On the tornado front:

  • 2014/04/03: CNN: Strong storms, tornadoes barrel through central U.S.
    There's a slight risk of severe weather for parts of Texas, beyond for Friday - Tornadoes are reported in parts of Missouri as well as Texas - The threat of twisters continued past sunset in many locales - Those states and others, including Oklahoma and Arkansas, also see large hail

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

  • 2014/04/06: SiberianTimes: Forest fires arrive early as Siberia sees record high temperatures
  • 2014/04/02: Salon: California's in for a brutal wildfire season
  • 2014/03/31: MODIS: Fires in Indochina [on Mar.18]

  Acidification is changing the oceans:

  • 2014/03/31: Yale360: Scientists Focus on Polar Waters - As Threat of Acidification Grows
    A sophisticated and challenging experiment in Antarctica is the latest effort to study ocean acidification in the polar regions, where frigid waters are expected to feel most acutely the ecological impacts of acidic conditions not seen in millions of years.

  Glaciers are melting:

  • 2014/04/03: FaGP: Kangiata Sermia, Retreat Southwest Greenland

  Sea levels are rising:

  • 2014/04/04: QuarkSoup: Eastern US Sea-Level Rise, Modelling vs. Observations
  • 2014/04/04: QuarkSoup: North Carolina, Gluttons for Punishment
  • 2014/04/04: DD: Graph of the Day: Global sea level trends, 2003-2013
  • 2014/04/03: ERabaett: The Towering Sea Flattens North Carolina
  • 2014/03/28: NYT: Borrowed Time on Disappearing Land -- Facing Rising Seas, Bangladesh Confronts the Consequences of Climate Change

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

  • 2014/04/06: ABC(Au): Infrastructure damage hampers relief efforts in flood-hit Solomon Islands, thousands of people in need
  • 2014/04/06: ABC(Au): Eight children among 15 people confirmed dead
    Eight children are among 15 people confirmed dead in flash flooding in Solomon Islands, with as many as 52,000 people affected by the disaster.
  • 2014/04/05: al Jazeera: Deadly floods devastate Solomon Islands
    At least 16 killed and dozens missing as flash flooding leaves 10,500 homeless in capital of Pacific nation.
  • 2014/04/05: BBC: Dozens missing in Solomon Islands flash floods
  • 2014/04/05: al Jazeera: Solomon Islands floods death toll rises
    At least 16 people have died in the flooding, another 40 are missing, and tens of thousands have become homeless.
  • 2014/04/03: al Jazeera: Flashfloods hit southern China
    Violent storms have caused widespread flooding across parts of southern China.
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): Heavy rain causes deadly flooding in Solomon Islands
    Authorities say flash flooding in Solomon Islands has killed at least two people and destroyed around a hundred homes in the capital, Honiara. Loti Yates, director of the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), says 10,000 people have been evacuated, including those living in coastal villages. He says police have confirmed that two people died after floods swept through the Chinatown area.
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): NSW storms: Three rescued as storms cause flash flooding across state
  • 2014/04/02: DD: Meager snowpack bad news for drought-plagued California...
  • 2014/04/02: PSinclair: California Drought Update
  • 2014/04/02: TP:JR: No Real Relief For California Drought. Next Up: Wildfires
  • 2014/03/31: SigFig: Update on the California Drought

  First, stop putting GHGs into the atmosphere,
  Second, begin to reduce current levels of GHGs,
  Third, save as many species as possible,
  Fourth, begin to reduce the human population,
  And elsewhere on the mitigation front:

  • 2014/04/02: RTCC: Kill the cheeseburgers to stop global warming - report
    Scientists say public must stop eating so much meat and dairy produce, citing rising levels of carbon pollution from industry
  • 2014/04/02: Eureka: A new tree-planting technique for ecological control of desert
  • 2014/04/02: GreenGrok: A Tale of Two Air Quality Programs: China vs. the U.S.
  • 2014/03/31: CCurrents: Climate Crisis: Reduce Meat, Dairy Consumption

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

  • 2014/04/04: TheCanadian: Transport industry driving a 'SmartWay' to tackle emissions
  • 2014/04/03: RNE: The future of transportation -- how we will move in 2050
  • 2014/04/03: NBF: China high speed rail system on track to about 12,000 miles of network by 2015
  • 2014/04/01: CalcRisk: U.S. Light Vehicle Sales increase to 16.4 million annual rate in March, Highest since 2007

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

  • 2014/04/06: CleanTechnica: Green Prefabricated Homes -- Part II: SIPs & BioSIPs
  • 2014/04/06: CleanTechnica: Passive House In Seattle's Madison Park Designed By NK Architects

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

  • 2014/03/27: WoL:JGRA: (ab$) Forcings and feedbacks in the GeoMIP ensemble for a reduction in solar irradiance and increase in CO2 by Nicolas Huneeus et al.
  • 2014/03/26: WoL:Zygon: (ab$) Geoengineering, theology, and the meaning of being human by Forrest Clingerman
  • 2014/03/25: WoL:GRL: (ab$) How deep is deep enough? Ocean iron fertilization and carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean by J. Robinson et al.
  • 2014/03/20: WoL:JGRA: (ab$) The climatic effects of modifying cirrus clouds in a climate engineering framework by H. Muri et al.
  • 2014/04/04: MediaCoop: Five facts CBC listeners didn't hear from Canada's geoengineering cheerleader
    What's missing from David Keith's climate change charm offensive
  • 2014/04/: ClimateColab: Wiki Wiki - Geoengineering 2014
    Question - How can research into geoengineering be governed to limit its environmental and political risks?
  • 2014/03/28: USouthampton: Damaging effects of biochar on plant defence casts doubt on geoengineering claims
  • 2014/03/28: EtcGroup: The IPCC's AR5 & Geoengineering
  • 2014/03/26: IMechE: Climate engineering the Institution responds to a new report
  • 2014/03/26: NOAAClimate: Natural variability in Earth's reflectiveness would limit our ability to detect effects of climate engineering

  What's new in conservation?

  • 2014/03/31: SeppoNet: Oceans 14

  While on the adaptation front:

  • 2014/04/04: Grist: It helps to like your neighbor during a natural disaster
  • 2014/03/31: Monbiot: Loss Adjustment -- When people say we should adapt to climate change, do they have any idea what that means?
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): So, after the IPCC report, which bit of the world are you prepared to lose? [Monbiot]
    When people say we should adjust to climate change, do they understand what that actually means?
  • 2014/03/30: CCurrents: Climate Crisis: Limits To Adaptations

  Meanwhile in the journals:

  • 2014/04/01: PNAS: (ab$) Extinct New Zealand megafauna were not in decline before human colonization by Morten Erik Allentoft et al.
  • 2014/04/01: PNAS: (ab$) Shifts in flowering phenology reshape a subalpine plant community by Paul J. CaraDonna et al.
  • 2014/04/01: PNAS: (ab$) High carbon dioxide uptake by subtropical forest ecosystems in the East Asian monsoon region by Guirui Yu et al.
  • 2014/04/01: PNAS: (abs) Tackling soil diversity with the assembly of large, complex metagenomes by Adina Chuang Howe et al.
  • 2014/04/01: PNAS: (abs) Toward global mapping of river discharge using satellite images and at-many-stations hydraulic geometry by Colin J. Gleason & Laurence C. Smith
  • 2014/04/01: PNAS: (ab$) Nitrogen isotope fractionation by alternative nitrogenases and past ocean anoxia by Xinning Zhang et al.
  • 2014/04/01: PNAS: (letter$) Reply to Harwood et al.: Thermophilization estimation is robust to the scale of species distribution data by Pieter De Frenne et al.
  • 2014/04/01: PNAS: (letter$) Microclimate is integral to the modeling of plant responses to macroclimate by Thomas D. Harwood et al.
  • 2014/03/20: WoL:JGRA: (ab$) The climatic effects of modifying cirrus clouds in a climate engineering framework by H. Muri et al.
  • 2014/03/27: WoL:JGRA: (ab$) Forcings and feedbacks in the GeoMIP ensemble for a reduction in solar irradiance and increase in CO2 by Nicolas Huneeus et al.
  • 2014/03/25: WoL:GRL: (ab$) How deep is deep enough? Ocean iron fertilization and carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean by J. Robinson et al.
  • 2014/04/02: ESD: Quantifying uncertainties in soil carbon responses to changes in global mean temperature and precipitation by K. Nishina et al.
  • 2014/04/03: ACP: Investigation of aged aerosols in size-resolved Asian dust storm particles transported from Beijing, China, to Incheon, Korea, using low-Z particle EPMA by H. Geng et al.
  • 2014/04/01: ACP: Horizontal divergence of typhoon-generated gravity waves in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) and its influence on typhoon evolution by S. H. Kim et al.
  • 2014/04/02: ACPD: Aerosol radiative effects in the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared spectral ranges using long-term aerosol data series over the Iberian Peninsula by D. Mateos et al.
  • 2014/03/31: ESDD: Climate impacts on human livelihoods: where uncertainty matters in projections of water availability by T. K. Lissner et al.
  • 2014/03/31: ACP: The 2013 severe haze over southern Hebei, China: model evaluation, source apportionment, and policy implications by L. T. Wang et al.
  • 2014/03/31: ACPD: Methane and carbon dioxide fluxes and their regional scalability for the European Arctic wetlands during the MAMM project in summer 2012 by S. J. O'Shea et al.
  • 2014/03/31: ACPD: Contribution of ship traffic to aerosol particle concentrations downwind of a major shipping lane by N. Kivekäs et al.
  • 2014/03/10: WoL:GRL: (ab$) Local spring warming drives earlier river-ice breakup in a large Arctic delta by Lance F. W. Lesack et al.
  • 2014/04/03: ERL: Carbon emissions from tropical forest degradation caused by logging by Timothy R H Pearson et al.
  • 2014/04/03: BG: Response of carbon dioxide emissions to sheep grazing and N application in an alpine grassland - Part 2: Effect of N application by Y. M. Gong et al.
  • 2014/04/03: BG: Response of carbon dioxide emissions to sheep grazing and N application in an alpine grassland - Part 1: Effect of sheep grazing by Y. M. Gong et al.
  • 2014/04/01: BG: Timing of sea ice retreat can alter phytoplankton community structure in the western Arctic Ocean by A. Fujiwara et al.
  • 2014/04/01: BG: Spatial scale-dependent land-atmospheric methane exchanges in the northern high latitudes from 1993 to 2004 by X. Zhu et al.
  • 2014/04/04: BGD: Comparing the influence of net and gross anthropogenic land use and land cover changes on the carbon cycle in the MPI-ESM by S. Wilkenskjeld et al.
  • 2014/04/03: BGD: CO2 and nutrient-driven changes across multiple levels of organization in Zostera noltii ecosystems by B. Martínez-Crego et al.
  • 2014/04/03: CP: The faint young Sun problem revisited with a 3-D climate-carbon model - Part 1 by G. Le Hir et al.
  • 2014/04/01: CP: 10Be in late deglacial climate simulated by ECHAM5-HAM - Part 2: Isolating the solar signal from 10Be deposition by U. Heikkilä et al.
  • 2014/04/01: CP: Holocene changes in African vegetation: tradeoff between climate and water availability by C. Hély et al.
  • 2014/04/04: CPD: Evolution of the large-scale atmospheric circulation in response to changing ice sheets over the last glacial cycle by M. Löfverström et al.
  • 2014/04/04: CPD: Multiproxy reconstruction for Kuroshio responses to Northern Hemispheric oceanic climate and Asian Monsoon since marine isotope stage 5.1 (?88 ka) by X. Shi et al.
  • 2014/04/03: CPD: Variation in the Asian monsoon intensity and dry-wet condition since the Little Ice Age in central China revealed by an aragonite stalagmite by J.-J. Yin et al.
  • 2014/03/31: BGD: Mangrove habitats provide refuge from climate change for reef-building corals by K. K. Yates et al.
  • 2014/03/31: BGD: Estimating the carbon dynamics of South Korean forests from 1954 to 2012 by J. Lee et al.
  • 2014/04/03: WoL:GCB: (ab$) Simultaneous improvement in productivity, water use, and albedo through crop structural modification by Darren T. Drewry et al.
  • 2014/04/03: Cell:CB: (ab$) Molecular Phylogenetics and the Diversification of Hummingbirds by Jimmy A. McGuire et al.
  • 2014/04/04: Science: (ab$) Monolignol Ferulate Transferase Introduces Chemically Labile Linkages into the Lignin Backbone by C. G. Wilkerson et al.
  • 2014/04/04: GMD: Representation of climate extreme indices in the ACCESS1.3b coupled atmosphere-land surface model by R. Lorenz et al.
  • 2014/04/04: GMDD: An efficient method for discerning climate-relevant sensitivities in atmospheric general circulation models by H. Wan et al.
  • 2014/04/04: HESS: Long term soil moisture mapping over the Tibetan plateau using Special Sensor Microwave/Imager by R. van der Velde et al.
  • 2014/04/04: HESS: Comparing impacts of climate change on streamflow in four large African river basins by V. Aich et al.
  • 2014/04/03: HESS: Modelling overbank flood recharge at a continental scale by R. Doble et al.
  • 2014/04/02: HESSD: Runoff generation processes during the wet-up phase in a semi-arid basin in Iran by H. Zarei et al.
  • 2014/04/03: TC: Brief Communication: On the magnitude and frequency of Khurdopin glacier surge events by D. J. Quincey & A. Luckman
  • 2014/04/03: TC: Influence of snow depth distribution on surface roughness in alpine terrain: a multi-scale approach by J. Veitinger et al.
  • 2014/04/04: TCD: Sensitivity of the dynamics of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, to climate forcing for the next 50 years by H. Seroussi et al.
  • 2014/04/02: TCD: Sensitivity of CryoSat-2 Arctic sea-ice volume trends on radar-waveform interpretation by R. Ricker et al.
  • 2014/04/04: Springer:CC: (ab$) Scientific uncertainty and climate change: Part II. Uncertainty and mitigation by Stephan Lewandowsky et al.
  • 2014/04/04: Springer:CC: (ab$) Scientific uncertainty and climate change: Part I. Uncertainty and unabated emissions by Stephan Lewandowsky et al.
  • 2014/04/01: HESS: Upstream to downstream: a multiple-assessment-point approach for targeting non-point-source priority management areas at large watershed scale by L. Chen et al.
  • 2014/04/01: HESS: Impacts of climate variability on wetland salinization in the North American prairies by U. Nachshon et al.
  • 2014/04/01: HESSD: Hydroclimatic control of sediment and metal export from a rural catchment in Northwest Spain by L. Palleiro et al.
  • 2014/04/01: HESSD: Identifying flood recharge and inter-aquifer connectivity using multiple isotopes in subtropical Australia by A. C. King et al.
  • 2014/03/31: HESS: Droughts and floods over the upper catchment of the Blue Nile and their connections to the timing of El Niño and La Niña events by M. A. H. Zaroug et al.
  • 2014/03/31: TCD: Influence of stress, temperature and crystal habit on isothermal densification and specific surface area decrease of new snow by S. Schleef et al.
  • 2014/03/06: Springer:CD: (ab$) Global warming and 21st century drying by Benjamin I. Cook et al.
  • 2014/03/26: WoL:Zygon: (ab$) Geoengineering, theology, and the meaning of being human by Forrest Clingerman
  • 2014/03/26: WoL:GCBB: (ab$) More plant growth but less plant defence? First global gene expression data for plants grown in soil amended with biochar by Maud Viger et al.
  • 2014/03/30: Nature:CC: (ab$) The missing aerosol response in twentieth-century mid-latitude precipitation observations by Joe M. Osborne & F. Hugo Lambert
  • 2014/03/30: Nature:CC: (ab$) Inter-hemispheric temperature variability over the past millennium by Raphael Neukom et al.

  And other significant documents:

  • 2014/03/31: IPCC: [links to various pdfs] Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability
  • 2014/03/31: IPCC: [12.6 meg pdf] Climate Change 2014:Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability -- Summary for Policy Makers

  As for miscellaneous science:

  • 2014/04/04: Guardian(UK): The climate change uncertainty monster - more uncertainty means more urgency to tackle global warming
  • 2014/04/04: Eureka: Scientists unmask the climate uncertainty monster
  • 2014/04/02: JEB: Another journal editor resigns!
  • 2014/04/01: MoQP: Keenan's accusations of research misconduct

  In the science organizations:

  • 2014/04/04: UCSUSA:B: Any Port in a Storm: Public and Private Sector Funding for Science
  • 2014/04/02: ScienceInsider: Lean Times Ahead for Russian Science Academy
  • 2014/04/01: NatureN: Ukraine's science in turmoil
    Crimean institutions put their future in Russia's hands as Ukraine attempts research reforms.

  More DIY science:

  • 2014/04/04: Moyhu: Active viewer for Neukom et al proxies
  • 2014/04/02: Moyhu: http://moyhu.blogspot.com/2014/04/webgl-code-shaded-grids-and-maps.html

  What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

  • 2014/04/01: PLoS:B: HEFCE Access Policy: The stick, the carrots and the bear trap -- UK HEFCE Public Access policy is a shift in the landscape
  • 2014/03/31: CHE: Nature Publishing Group Requires Faculty Authors to Waive 'Moral Rights'
  • 2014/03/31: NatureN: UK open-access movement sways towards low-cost repositories
    Higher-education funders encourage academics to archive copies of papers online

  Regarding Goodall:

  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): When I met Jane Goodall, she hugged me like a chimp
  • 2014/04/03: NIH:B: Happy Birthday, Jane Goodall!
  • 2014/04/03: BrainP: Happy 80th Birthday, Jane Goodall: The Beloved Primatologist on Science, Religion, and Our Human Responsibilities
  • 2014/04/02: NatGeo: Happy 80th Birthday, Jane Goodall, From Nat Geo Explorers!
  • 2014/04/01: BBC: Jane Goodall: How she redefined mankind
  • 2014/03/29: LiSci: Jane Goodall Biography

  Regarding Emanuel:

  • 2014/03/31: CCNF: Tail Risk vs. Alarmism, by Kerry Emanuel
  • 2014/03/31: CCP: Kerry Emanuel: Tail Risk vs. Alarmism
  • 2014/03/31: CCP: Kerry Emanuel responds to Roger Pielke's 538 article

  Regarding Lovelock:

  • 2014/03/30: Guardian(UK): James Lovelock: 'Instead of robots taking over the world, what if we join with them?'
  • 2014/03/30: Guardian(UK): James Lovelock: environmentalism has become a religion

  Regarding Tol:

  • 2014/04/04: ATTPh: Some thoughts, or not
  • 2014/04/01: CCP: Errors in estimates of the aggregate economic impacts of climate change
  • 2014/04/01: ATTPh: Emergence timescale for trends in US Tropical Cyclone loss data

  The Pielke fan clubbe, alas:

  • 2014/03/31: ERabett: Do Bears Snack in the Woods?
  • 2014/03/31: Slate: Unnatural Disaster -- Roger Pielke Jr.'s writing is an embarrassment to Nate Silver's new venture
  • 2014/03/30: QuarkSoup: About Using GDP to Define Disasters

  Meanwhile at the UN:

  • 2014/04/04: UN: Ban applauds Prague's climate change preparedness
  • 2014/04/04: EurActiv: Ban Ki-Moon: EU must agree to a 2030 climate package in June
  • 2014/04/03: UN: In Brussels, Ban says 'much heavy lifting' required by all to curb impacts of climate change
  • 2014/04/03: RTCC: Ban Ki-moon: world leaders 'narrow minded' on climate change
    Crises in Syria and Ukraine have distracted world leaders from the urgency of climate change, says UN chief
  • 2014/04/02: UN: Ban praises small islands' commitment to address climate change
  • 2014/04/02: UN: At UN, countries to consider need for global instrument to protect marine biodiversity
  • 2014/04/01: WMO: Workshop targets climate services for the Pacific Island States

  Regarding changes to the IPCC process:

  • 2014/04/04: NatureN: Climate policy: Streamline IPCC reports
    As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change asks how its assessment process should evolve, Dave Griggs argues for decadal updates and eased workloads.
  • 2014/04/02: RTCC: UN considers biennial climate summits post 2015 deal
    Global negotiations could take place every two years as UN body focuses on implementing decisions

  And on the carbon trading front:

  • 2014/04/02: RTCC: China's Hubei province launches carbon market

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

  • 2014/04/03: PeakEnergy: Here's why B.C.'s carbon tax is super popular -- and effective
  • 2014/04/01: CSM: Could taxes be the key to curbing climate change?

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

  • 2014/04/05: BBC: US allows Boeing airplane component sales to Iran
  • 2014/04/05: RT: US gives Boeing, GE license to sell spare parts to Iran
  • 2014/04/04: BBC: US accuses Chinese man of breaching Iran nuclear sanctions
    A Chinese national faces US criminal charges that he conspired to export devices to Iran that could be used in uranium enrichment. US prosecutors said Sihai Cheng supplied thousands of parts to a company involved in Iran's nuclear programme in violation of US sanctions. Mr Cheng is in custody in the UK after being arrested at Heathrow Airport in February on a US provisional warrant. He faces a hearing in June over whether he will be extradited to the US.
  • 2014/04/04: AntiWar: Boeing, GE Confirm Permission to Sell Airplane Parts to Iran -- GE Schedules Iranair Meeting for Next Week
  • 2014/04/04: Xinhuanet: Technical issues in fresh nuclear talks: Iranian negotiator
  • 2014/04/01: TAC: Has Iran Really Pursued Nukes?
    Gareth Porter's new book challenges years of the West's claims about Tehran's nuclear program.
  • 2014/04/01: Asia Times: US rejects 'Iran confession' demand
  • 2014/03/31: BBerg: Oil Tanker Evades Gunfire Along [Hormuz] Most Important Crude Route
  • 2014/03/28: 972Mag: Iranian nuclear talks: Not what Israel wants you to believe
    How are the Iranian nuclear talks really going? The answer is: very well, thanks for asking.

  South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

  • 2014/04/06: al Jazeera: US warns China over contested islands
    US defence secretary warns China against unilateral action over disputes with Japan, a day before his visit to Beijing.
  • 2014/04/05: Xinhuanet: U.S. should honor commitment of taking no sides on Asian-Pacific maritime disputes: Chinese envoy
  • 2014/04/04: PLNA: South Korea Disagrees With Japan's Claim on Islands
  • 2014/04/04: Xinhuanet: Japan approves new textbooks claiming China's Diaoyu Islands
  • 2014/04/04: IndiaTimes: US warns China not to attempt Crimea-style action in Asia
  • 2014/04/03: Xinhuanet: Commentary: History-denying Japan could jeopardize regional peace
    Tokyo cast a shadow over regional peace and stability when its chief cabinet secretary rejected on Sunday Chinese President Xi Jinping's remarks on Japan's invasion of China and the Nanjing Massacre.
  • 2014/04/03: AntiWar: US Vows to Back Allies in Territory Disputes With China -- State Dept Insists US Will 'Stand By Commitments' on South China Sea
  • 2014/04/03: Xinhuanet: The Philippines' violation of international laws to end in vain
  • 2014/04/03: Xinhuanet: Foreign experts: the Philippines seeking int'l arbitration is an one-man show doomed to fail
  • 2014/04/03: WSWS: Manila files legal case against Beijing's South China Sea claim
  • 2014/04/03: Asia Times: Jakarta rejects China's 'nine-dash line'
  • 2014/04/03: Asia Times: Manila files South China Sea claim
  • 2014/04/02: IndiaTimes: China rejects UN arbitration in sea island dispute with Philippines
  • 2014/04/02: Guardian(UK): 'Comfort women' deserve a memorial: their ordeal must not be forgotten
    My mother was forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military. To hear the Japanese prime minister say 'comfort women' were voluntary prostitutes is shocking
  • 2014/04/01: Xinhuanet: Commentary gives China's reasons for refusing arbitration on South China Sea issue
  • 2014/03/31: Xinhuanet: China lodges solemn representation to Philippines over South China Sea dispute
  • 2014/03/31: Xinhuanet: Philippines must take consequences of provocation: China
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Philippines stands by rejection of Beijing's claims to South China Sea
  • 2014/03/31: CSM: Philippines stare down China in South China Sea dispute
  • 2014/03/31: Xinhuanet: Commentary: Manila's wrong calculation
  • 2014/03/31: Xinhuanet: China concerned by "irrational" Japan
  • 2014/03/31: BBC: Philippines files case to UN in South China Sea dispute
    The Philippines has submitted evidence to a UN tribunal hearing its case against China's territorial claims in the South China Sea. Both sides have overlapping claims in the sea, leading to severe tensions. China has refused to take part in the arbitration and warned that the case will damage bilateral ties. The latest move comes a day after a Philippine ship evaded Chinese vessels to bring supplies to troops stationed on a disputed shoal.
  • 2014/03/31: al Jazeera: Philippines sues China over sea claims
  • 2014/03/30: Xinhuanet: China insists on bilateral talks on disputes on South China Sea

  Who is serious about reducing airline carbon emissions?

  • 2014/04/04: Grist: Europe wimps out again on airlines' carbon pollution
  • 2014/04/04: EurActiv: EU fails to curb aviation emissions
    MEPs voted in favor of a watered down deal on aviation emissions on 3 April, after the EU Commission backed down from its own proposal a day before.
  • 2014/04/04: BBC: EU backs compromise on plane CO2 emissions
    The EU will not levy a carbon emission tax on airlines when their planes are outside European airspace, the European Parliament has decided. The exemption for airlines will apply until 2017, by which time a global deal on aviation emissions may be in place. An EU tax will still apply for flights inside the EU. The new rules followed difficult talks with EU governments.
  • 2014/04/03: RTCC: EU 'bullied' into diluting aviation emissions trading scheme
    Observers say fierce lobbying from non-EU countries and industry forced Parliament to back weakened deal Europe was 'bullied' by Russia, China and the USA into watering down its aviation emissions trading system this week, say observers close to the process.
  • 2014/04/03: EurActiv: Commission backs down on aviation emissions
    The European Commission urged the bloc's Parliament to exempt international flights from paying for their carbon emissions yesterday (2 April), retreating from its own proposal on the eve of a binding vote amid pressure from national governments. In a late night debate in the Brussels parliamentary chamber, Europe's climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard told members to back a weakened compromise rather than her own agency's proposal to regulate the portion of international flights over EU territory.
  • 2014/04/01: EurActiv: China's trade war threats over aviation emissions "not serious", MEPs say
    The unblocking of Airbus orders by China's Xi Jinping in Paris last week is another argument for MEPs "in favour" of a stronger European stance on carbon emissions trading in the aviation sector.

  A notable faux pas in the India vs. USA solar squabble:

  • 2014/03/28: HuffPo: U.S. Tries To Stop India's Solar Policy While Pushing Fight Against Climate Change
    The Obama administration talks a lot about the need to develop renewable energy around the world to curb climate change. But right now, it's trying to kill India's effort to boost its domestic solar industry. The U.S. wants India to back off a policy that would require local sourcing for solar energy technology, and has sought World Trade Organization enforcement action. Representatives from the two nations reportedly met last week to try to settle the trade battle over India's rapidly developing solar industry, but reached no resolution.

  These 'free trade' treaties should be called the corporate control treaties:

  • 2014/04/02: RT: Pyrrhic victory for whistleblowers on Transatlantic Trade Agreement
  • 2014/04/02: CCurrents: Stopping The Corporate Plunder Of The TTIP/TAFTA By Campaigning For An Alternative Trade Mandate
  • 2014/03/31: NakedCapitalism: Cokie Roberts Picked a Fight With Alan Grayson on the TransPacific Partnership. Guess Who Won?

  Small moves in the new cold/economic war between US/EU and Russia:

  • 2014/04/05: RT: Moody's downgrades Ukraine to 'default imminent'
    Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Ukraine's government bond rating one notch from Caa2 to Caa3, citing the current political crisis and deepening economic instability as reasons for its negative outlook. The Caa rating is a credit risk grading pertaining to investments that are both very poor quality and entail a high credit risk. The current downgrade drops Ukraine from Moody's "extremely speculative" rating to "default imminent with little prospect for recovery."
  • 2014/04/05: BBC: Ukraine rejects Russia Gazprom gas price hike
    Ukraine has rejected moves by Russia to almost double the price of Russian gas supplies to the country and threatened legal action. Ukraine's interim PM, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said Moscow's hikes were a form of "economic aggression".
  • 2014/04/04: Reuters: Moody's downgrades Ukraine bond rating with negative outlook
  • 2014/04/04: BBerg: Ukraine Debt Rating Cut by Moody's Amid Russia Dispute
  • 2014/04/03: GET: Russia and the Energiewende - is there a connection?
  • 2014/04/03: CBC: Gazprom puts pressure on Ukraine to pay its $2.2B gas bill -- Russian supplier of natural gas hikes prices to Ukraine by 70%
  • 2014/04/02: CSM: Kerry to Russia: Don't use energy as a weapon in Ukraine crisis
  • 2014/04/02: CleanTechnica: There They Go Again: Heritage Says Frack Your Backyard To Thwart Russia
  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): NASA cuts ties with Russia over Ukraine crisis, except for space station
    Exemption for International Space Station co-operation highlights American dependence on Russia in space
  • 2014/04/02: RT: Heated issue: Russia to construct gas pipeline to Crimea
  • 2014/04/02: BBC: Gazprom hikes Ukraine gas price by a third
  • 2014/03/31: RT: Italy energy giant says nation will survive next winter without Russian gas

  As for miscellaneous international political happenings:

  • 2014/04/01: CBC: Climate change: 4 countries that are fighting the trend

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

  • 2014/04/05: Resilience: World Bank: Climate change and inequality brewing global social upheaval
  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): Climate change will 'lead to battles for food', says head of World Bank
  • 2014/03/31: CCurrents: Climate Crisis Is Increasing Insecurity
  • 2014/03/31: TruthDig: Climate Change 'Makes Violence Likelier'
  • 2014/03/30: IO9: Famine and Water Riots Are Coming, Warns New Intergovernmental Report

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

  • 2014/04/04: CCP: Peabody Coal Is The Eco-Terrorist, Not People Trying To Stop Them
  • 2014/04/01: TruthDig: Why Does the FBI Treat Nonviolent Activists Like Terrorists?
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): Barrier reef protesters are not 'eco-terrorists', they're ordinary Australians
    Big miners and their spruikers have a razor sharp agenda to smear the everyday Australians working to protect the Great Barrier Reef
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Leard blockade: Police move in on protesters at Whitehaven Coal's Maules Creek mine
  • 2014/03/28: Guardian(UK): So much for the so-called people's police, if they treat protesters like this
    From Stephen Lawrence to today's Taser revelations, Britain's forces of law and order have defiled the idea of the public sphere
  • 2014/03/28: Guardian(UK): Police spies still get free rein to have sexual liaisons, say women suing Met
    Group of eight women behind lawsuit criticise government for failing to ban relationships, attacking 'institutional sexism'

  What are the activists up to?

  • 2014/04/03: Grist: This 92-year-old who got arrested for protesting coal is our new hero
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): At 92, I was arrested for protesting against mining. I'm glad I took a stand by Bill Ryan
    The people worried about climate change have got to take action, because the government has completely ignored them. So I'll continue to protest --- I owe it to all children

  Polls! We have polls!

  • 2014/04/04: Gallup: Americans Show [35%] Low Levels of Concern on Global Warming
  • 2014/03/31: PewResearch: Many around the world see climate change as a major threat

  Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:

  • 2014/04/05: JFleck: Declining Colorado River Basin groundwater reserves
  • 2014/04/05: JFleck: The value of water depends on how dry it is
  • 2014/04/04: JFleck: A river means different things to different people
  • 2014/04/03: CCurrents: Sri Lanka: In The Midst Of Water-Energy Nexus
  • 2014/04/03: JFleck: abandoned citrus
  • 2014/04/03: JFleck: Updated Pulse Flow Map
  • 2014/04/03: JFleck: Following the flow
  • 2014/04/03: CNN: A giant basket that uses condensation to gather drinking water
    30 foot tall WarkaWater towers can collect 25 gallons of drinking water a day from vapor - Designer believes they can help provide 700+ million people worldwide with clean water - Vittori was inspired by the Warka tree, a giant, domed tree native to Ethiopia
  • 2014/04/02: JFleck: Minute 320?
  • 2014/04/02: JFleck: Colorado "pulse flow": fighting deeply held perceptions
  • 2014/04/02: PSinclair: Fracking, Oil Shale Suck Water from Where its Most Needed
  • 2014/04/02: Asia Times: Nepal's data won't hold water
  • 2014/04/02: UDW: Are Brazil's Dams to Blame for Record Floods in Bolivia?
  • 2014/03/31: JFleck: "water hoarding" on the U.S. side of the border
  • 2014/03/30: JFleck: Colorado River pulse flow: managing expectations
  • 2014/03/30: al Jazeera: Israel's water miracle that wasn't
    Covering up a crime in plain sight: The dual function of Israel's water industry.

  And on the groundwater front:

  • 2014/04/02: USGS: East Poplar Brine-Contaminated Groundwater Plumes Continue to Move

  Regarding science education:

  • 2014/04/05: DeSmogBlog: Education, or Advertisement?
  • 2014/04/02: CChallenge: Coursera.org free Science of Climate Change class

  While in the UK:

  • 2014/04/06: CleanTechnica: UK Bets On Solar But Nukes Lurk In The Shadows
  • 2014/04/04: Guardian(UK): Solar farms 'will not spread unrestricted across British countryside' [says Greg Barker]
  • 2014/04/04: TreeHugger: Smog is a "naturally occurring phenomenon", say UK leaders
  • 2014/04/03: TreeHugger: Balcombe - Village at center of fracking fight goes all-out for solar
  • 2014/04/03: BBC: Dawlish's storm-damaged railway line reopens
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): [Letters] We must act now to stop the devastating effects of climate change
  • 2014/03/31: BBC: Somerset floods: River dredging to begin on Parrett and Tone
  • 2014/03/31: BBC: RSPB Scotland calls for urgent action on climate change
  • 2014/03/30: Guardian(UK): Former archbishop of Canterbury reveals global climate change fears
  • 2014/03/30: BBC: Government will be able to 'keep the lights on' - Ed Davey
    Energy Minister Ed Davey says fears of a blackout are unfounded Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey says the government has a strategy that will "keep the lights on" despite concern over a diminishing buffer of electricity capacity.

  And in Europe:

  • 2014/04/04: PSinclair: Financial Times: Ukraine Stand-off Aids Case for Renewables
  • 2014/04/03: BBC: Electric cars must make noise under new EU rules
  • 2014/04/02: EurActiv: Report: New state aid rules offer utilities E2 billion windfall
    Big utillities and energy-guzzling companies will get a handout of up to E2 billion under proposed new state aid rules due to be finalised by the European Commission by 9 April, according to an analysis by the Öko Institute, which EurActiv has seen. The analysis says that industry exemptions from renewable support schemes planned under the new guidelines could account for as much as a third of current revenues. "This is clearly a gift to Germany and if industry is going to pay less, the consumer will have to pay more," said the Green MEP Claude Turmes . "The commission will effectively be bankrolling windfall profits for big carbon emitters."
  • 2014/04/02: EurActiv: Poland calls for EU energy union
  • 2014/04/01: RTCC: Carbon market 'hot air' undermining EU's climate strategy
  • 2014/04/01: EUO: Green groups unhappy with EU climate proposals
  • 2014/04/01: RNE: EU declares that wind tariffs are not state aid
    In a potentially far-reaching decision, the European Commission has decided that the French system of feed-in tariffs for wind energy on land is not excluded under prohibitions against "state aid," and is therefore permitted under European Union (EU) regulations.
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault quits after Socialist local election losses
    Interior minister, Manuel Valls, named as successor as François Hollande attempts to limit damage to his leadership

  Meanwhile in Australia:

  • 2014/04/06: ABC(Au): WA Senate election: Government hopeful of favourable Upper House as Palmer United Party picks up seat
  • 2014/04/05: ABC(Au): Live blog: WA Senate election count underway for poll re-run
  • 2014/04/05: ABC(Au): History making fodder drive arrives in Bourke
    A massive convoy of fodder for drought stricken farmers has arrived at Bourke. Two groups of trucks, one from near Lockhart, the other from Western Australia met up at Cobar on the way to Bourke yesterday. The final convoy was about five kilometres long and included 52 trucks and 78 trailers.
  • 2014/04/05: ABC(Au): WA heads to the polls in Senate election re-run
  • 2014/04/04: Guardian(UK): NT government's hold on power in limbo as backbenchers resign
  • 2014/04/04: Guardian(UK): Clive Palmer says PUP senators will vote to repeal carbon tax
    Leader corrected candidate's support for renewable energy target and said focus should be on reducing nature's carbon emissions
  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): NT Government faces threat as [indigenous] rebel backbenchers resign from Country Liberals
  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): Queensland Government under fire from Wilderness Society over land clearing permits in state's north
  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): Conservationists worried about new Queensland land clearing
  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): Clive Palmer and Ross Garnaut debate carbon tax ahead of WA Senate election re-run
  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): Forests closed as protests heat up
    The New South Wales forest authorities have shut off several state forests from the public as environmentalists and farmers step up their protests against mining and exploration activity in the areas. Police say they made the request to close the forest citing safety concerns.
  • 2014/04/04: RNE: Push for WA solar thermal as renewables stars align
  • 2014/04/04: RNE: Graphs of the Day: Australia's plunging cost of solar
  • 2014/04/04: RNE: AGL unveils 'next generation' transport fuel plans [CNG]
  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): Climate change is already changing the Australian landscape
    Climate zones along the coast of southeastern Australia have already moved south by around 350km. Those fluctuations are also altering the way rural communities live
  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): Clive Palmer tells Lateline's Tony Jones to 'shut up' - video
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): WA Senate election: Dozens to recast vote due to ballot box problem
  • 2014/04/03: RNE: NEM demand continues slide, despite long hot summer
  • 2014/04/03: RNE: Australia urged to have renewable high speed rail line by 2030
  • 2014/04/03: RNE: More heat on rooftop solar as STC war chests run out
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): Queensland environment at risk unnecessarily says report
    The Queensland Auditor General Andrew Greaves has delivered a scathing review of the way resource projects are being regulated in Queensland.
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): [NSW] Greens want 'please explain' from Police Minister over forest closures
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): Live from Perth, Clive Palmer and Ross Garnaut
  • 2014/04/02: ABC(Au): Wind farm row breaks out between ACT and NSW politicians
  • 2014/04/02: ABC(Au): Clean Energy Regulator threatens legal action over Queensland Nickel's outstanding tax debt
    The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) is threatening to pursue legal action against Federal MP Clive Palmer's Queensland Nickel company to recover more than $2 million. The regulator says it received $6.8 million from the company yesterday, but that amount does not cover penalty interest or a new carbon tax liability of $2.27 million which was due in February. It says it will continue to pursue the debts, including through payment plans and court proceedings.
  • 2014/04/02: RNE: Conservative MPs rail against ACT wind energy plans
  • 2014/04/02: RNE: Queenslanders continue to chase rooftop solar dream
  • 2014/04/02: RNE: The Australian Renewable Energy Agency [ARENA] warns future funding for renewables is 'unclear'
  • 2014/04/02: ABC(Au): BP shuts Brisbane refinery
    Global oil giant BP will shut its Bulwer Island refinery in Brisbane, affecting more than 300 jobs.
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): We shouldn't look to a state that entrenches racism to legislate against it
    Some of us who have spent years fighting discrimination also feel uncomfortable with laws which hinder free speech - which is why I cautiously support the government's move to amend 18C
  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): WA Senate election: Tony Abbott accuses Clive Palmer of trying to 'buy seats'
  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): NSW Water rebate increased to help with drought
  • 2014/04/01: RNE: Regulator cracks down on gold plating of networks
  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): Clive Palmer says Queensland Nickel pays multi-million-dollar carbon tax bill, denies company was to be shut down
  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): NSW politicians up in arms over ACT Government's wind energy plan
    [...] Member for Monaro John Barilaro, Member for Burrinjuck Katrina Hodgkinson, Member for Goulburn Pru Goward, and Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor say wind farms are deeply unpopular in their communities.
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Company releases envrionmental impact statement for substantial windfarm near Oberon
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Leard blockade: Police move in on protesters at Whitehaven Coal's Maules Creek mine
  • 2014/03/31: RNE: CEFC says it has unlocked $2.5 billion in investment

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

  • 2014/04/06: UKISS: Immigration department publicly bullies refugee advocate
    If you ever wanted to see how far into the sewer the Australian Immigration and Border Protection minister, Scott Morrison's department has sunk...
  • 2014/04/06: JQuiggin: Freedom of speech (if you're a boss or a bigot)
  • 2014/04/04: AIMN: Pinks Batts and Red Tape are not naughty words
  • 2014/04/04: Guardian(UK): A restriction on secondary boycotts is a restriction on free speech
  • 2014/04/04: al Jazeera: Has the 'Pacific Solution' solved anything in Australia?
    Over the past decade Australian politicians have used asylum seekers for political gains.
  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): Manus Island riot: Asylum seeker speaks of allegedly witnessing Reza Berati's death
  • 2014/04/03: TP:JR: Anger Mounts After Australian PM Calls Climate Concerns 'Clutter,' Refuses To Mention Them
  • 2014/04/03: RNE: Climate policy: could it be the boxing PM's glass jaw?
  • 2014/04/03: RNE: Ex White House advisor [Heather Zichal] rebukes Australia on climate stance
  • 2014/04/03: TheConversation: Climate policy: could it be the boxing Prime Minister's glass jaw?
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): Refugee assessments for Manus Island detainees to be delivered within a month, says [Immigration Minister] Scott Morrison
  • 2014/04/02: Guardian(UK): Australian government may ban environmental boycotts
    Parliamentary secretary says there is 'an appetite' for removing environmental groups' exemption from secondary boycotts ban
  • 2014/04/02: ABC(Au): Recognition in US of impact and cost of climate change
    Heather Zichal, former advisor to Barack Obama on climate change discusses climate policy.
  • 2014/04/02: ABC(Au): Repower Port Augusta urges MP support for CEFC
  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): Marshall Islands minister unsure of Australia's stance on climate change
    The foreign minister of Marshall Islands, Tony de Brum, says he's extremely disappointed by Australia's approach to climate change. Marshall Islands is hosting the UN-backed Cartagena Dialogue for Progressive Action on climate change, which includes the governments of 30 countries. Mr de Brum has told the ABC that the Australian Government should be taking a leadership role.
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Federal budget: Joe Hockey warns of wide-ranging cuts, says all must do 'heavy lifting'
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Free immigration advice service for asylum seekers dumped by Federal Government

  The fight over coal seam gas continues:

  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): Metgasco says farmers must have right to say 'yes' to gas drilling
    Metgasco says the industry should be focussing on a farmer's right to say 'yes' to gas drilling on their property. Energy companies A-G-L and Santos broke new ground recently when they gave farmers veto power over access to their land. The right to say 'no' was hailed as a breakthrough by NSW Farmers, but Metgasco won't be following suit.
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): Design changes for Galilee Basin CSG well part of 'trial and error process'
  • 2014/04/02: ABC(Au): Richmond Valley Council wants compulsory baseline water testing around gas wells
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Numbers swell at Bentley gas protest site
    The Richmond Valley Council says it was caught by surprise by the turnout of protesters at Bentley. Anti-gas campaigners say about 2000 people converged on a proposed drilling site early this morning.
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): RFS hands Bentley station to police for anti-gas protest

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

  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): Gulf irrigation scheme alarms prawn fishing industry
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): Proposed Indian sandalwood project sparks water concerns
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): ACT Government to review how water and sewerage prices are set
  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): ACT pricing regulator rejects criticism
    The independent pricing regulator has launched a scathing attack on the Auditor-General's review of the system for setting water and sewerage prices in the ACT.
  • 2014/04/02: ABC(Au): End to unrestricted pumping for Gascoyne growers

  The Federal and now the State Liberals are bent on trashing the hard won Tasmanian forest deal:

  • 2014/04/03: ABC(Au): Tony Burke takes to Buzzfeed: Former environment minister weighs in on forest heritage delisting plan
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Tasmanian World Heritage Area delisting 'a breach of international obligations'
  • 2014/04/01: ABC(Au): Hodgman Government prepares to reveal forestry revamp plan
    The new Tasmanian Government expects to detail plans for the state's forest industry as early as next week. Premier Will Hodgman has vowed to tear up the historic forest peace deal struck between industry and environmental groups, but has revealed no details on what might replace it.

  And in the Indian subcontinent:

  • 2014/04/04: Rediff:B: Varun spoke from heart - while thinking by M K Bhadrakumar
  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): Indian election official calls for calm debate ahead of huge poll [beginning next week]
  • 2014/04/02: NatureN: Policy: Free Indian science
    As elections begin in India, Mathai Joseph and Andrew Robinson call for an end to the stultifying bureaucracy that has held back the nation's science for decades.
  • 2014/04/02: TP:JR: India Just Massively Boosted Its Solar Target For 2015
  • 2014/04/02: Guardian(UK): Fifth of India's election candidates face criminal charges, says study

  While in China:

  • 2014/04/04: TP:JR: China Wants To Close 1,725 Coal Mines By The End Of This Year
  • 2014/04/04: Asia Times: Greener energy blossoms in China
  • 2014/04/03: NBF: China high speed rail system on track to about 12,000 miles of network by 2015
  • 2014/04/02: DD: Oxygen stations set up across China to provide relief from air pollution
  • 2014/04/02: BBerg: China Considers More Electric-Car Incentives, Official Says
  • 2014/04/02: CBC: China stimulus plan invests in rail, construction

  And in Japan:

  • 2014/04/02: WSWS: The Eternal Zero: Propaganda in the service of present day militarism
  • 2014/03/31: BBC: Japan accepts court ban on Antarctic whaling

  And elsewhere in Asia:

  • 2014/04/01: RTCC: Marshall Islands President first to commit to Ban's climate summit
    Christopher Loeak confirms he will bring "bold actions" to UN Secretary General's September meeting
  • 2014/03/30: DD: Just how bad is the logging crisis in Myanmar? 72 percent of exports are illegal...

  While in Africa:

  • 2014/04/01: al Jazeera: Can Africa leapfrog the carbon energy age?
    Africa has a chance to divert from the fossil fuels dependency path and pursue clean energy development.

  And South America:

  • 2014/04/05: WSWS: "Cuban twitter" affair exposes USAID as instrument of regime-change
  • 2014/04/03: FDL: U.S. Government Hilariously Creates Secret Cuba Twitter, Then Just Quits
  • 2014/04/02: PLNA: Venezuelan Opposition Kills, With US Assistance
    Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says that the U.S. Government invests at least $5 million USD annually to back opposition movements in his country. An article by Maduro, published in The New York Times, warned that a "bill to allocate an additional $15 million to these opposition organizations is being debated now in the Congress," which will consider whether or not "to impose sanctions on Venezuela". "In the United States, the protesters have been described as 'peaceful,' while the Venezuelan government is said to be violently repressing them. According to this narrative, the American government is siding with the people of Venezuela; in reality, it is on the side of the 1 percent who wish to drag our country back to when the 99 percent were shut out of political life and only the few â?" including American companies â?" benefited from Venezuelaâ?Ös oil," Maduro noted. In addition, he noted, "The protesters have a single goal: the unconstitutional ouster of the democratically elected government.
  • 2014/04/03: IndiaTimes: US secretly created 'Cuban Twitter' to stir unrest
    Washington: The Obama administration secretly financed a social network in Cuba to stir political unrest and undermine the country's communist government. An Associated Press investigation found the programme evaded Cuba's internet restrictions by creating a text-messaging service that could be used to organize political demonstrations. It drew in tens of thousands of subscribers who were unaware it was backed by the US government. Documents and interviews show the US Agency for International Development went to extensive lengths to conceal its involvement in a so-called Cuban Twitter.
  • 2014/04/02: WSWS: Brazil marks 50 years since US-backed coup
    Brazil this week marks the 50th anniversary of the April 1, 1964, military coup that subjected Latin America's largest country to 21 years of brutal dictatorship. The events of 50 years ago were orchestrated from start to finish by the CIA, the State Department, the Pentagon and the White House under both John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
  • 2014/03/30: PLNA: Mexico to Auction Off Two-Thirds of Oil Reserves

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

  • 2014/04/02: TheCanadian: New York Times op-ed: Canada tarring itself with oil sands
  • 2014/04/01: TheCanadian: Robert F. Kennedy Jr: Canada used to be our moral paradigm
  • 2014/03/31: LFR2: New York Times tars and feathers Harper and the Conservatives
  • 2014/03/31: CCP: New York Times: Is Canada Tarring Itself?
  • 2014/03/29: iPolitics: Julia Gillard's advice to Canada: putting a price on carbon is possible

  Resonances of the Lac Mégantic tragedy linger:

  • 2014/04/04: TStar: Lac-Mégantic disaster: Railway's one-man crew documents kept secret
    Documents detailing how Montreal, Maine and Atlantic would ensure the safety of its one-man crew operation through Lac-Mégantic are secret.

  Hey remember the G20?

  • 2014/04/02: StreetLamplight: The Toronto G20 Summit: A State of Exception

  What's happening in the Opposition parties?

  • 2014/03/31: CBC: Climate change warnings met with denial from Ottawa, NDP says

  The Kinder Morgan expansion remains controversial:

  • 2014/04/04: Tyee: 'No Rationale Given,' Say Rejected Kinder Morgan Intervenors
    Public hearings for TransMountain's oilsands pipeline expansion begin next January.
  • 2014/04/02: TheCanadian: Kinder Morgan review panel rejects 80% of applicants
  • 2014/04/02: CBC: Kinder Morgan hearings scheduled for Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion
    National Energy Board to hear oral, aboriginal traditional evidence starting in August

  A deal has been reached to save the Experimental Lakes Area:

  • 2014/04/02: ScienceInsider: Canada's World-Renowned Freshwater Research Facility Saved by New Management
    Saved. A nonprofit group has struck a deal to keep open Canada's Experimental Lakes Area. The Experimental Lakes Area (ELA), Canada's flagship environmental research center that has been under threat of closure for 2 years, has found a savior. The ELA will leave government hands and will now be managed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), a Winnipeg-based think tank. The 1 April announcement guarantees that the 46-year-old field site in northwestern Ontario will survive, at least for another 5 years, and will expand its research focus beyond that of the Canadian government's mandate.
  • 2014/04/01: CBC: Experimental Lakes Area research station officially saved
    Deal launches 'fresh new chapter' in life of research station near Kenora in northwestern Ontario A unique freshwater research station in northwestern Ontario that the federal government planned to shut down has officially been saved. Research at the Experimental Lakes Area will continue in the 2014 field season under agreements transferring the facility from the federal government to the Ontario government and the Winnipeg-based non-profit International Institute for Sustainable Development, the groups announced Tuesday.
  • 2014/04/01: TRR: Deal reached to save Experimental Lakes Area

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

  • 2014/04/04: AlexandraMorton: Canada - changing its laws to fit salmon farming
  • 2014/04/03: TheCanadian: Fisheries Minister's weak response to Cohen Commission petition
  • 2014/04/03: Tyee: Heiltsuk Vow to Disrupt Central Coast Fisheries Reopening
    Looming conflict between First Nation and feds traps herring fishermen in between.

  Meanwhile in BC:

  • 2014/04/04: WCEL: The government invites you to "adjust" BC's park laws
  • 2014/04/03: TheCanadian: BC Liberal director linked to Ontario gas plant scandal
  • 2014/04/03: PeakEnergy: Here's why B.C.'s carbon tax is super popular -- and effective
  • 2014/04/02: TheCanadian: Ms. Clark goes to Ottawa...to boost BC LNG
  • 2014/04/01: Resilience: A dam shame
  • 2014/04/01: TheCanadian: Christy Clark was a partner in firm that lobbied for Enbridge
  • 2014/04/01: PolEhcon: Where's the tax in BC's carbon tax?
  • 2014/03/31: WCEL: Taseko Mines, what part of "No" don't you understand?
  • 2014/03/31: WCEL: Tell the BC government: Hands off Our Food Security!
  • 2014/03/31: TheCanadian: Density battle goes to vote at Langley Council
  • 2014/03/31: Grist: How did Vancouver get so green?

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

  • 2014/04/01: TP:JR: Tar Sands Likely Caused Sickness That Forced Families From Homes, Canadian Regulator Says
  • 2014/04/01: CBC: Changes recommended for heavy oil extraction near Peace River
    Following complaints that industrial emissions were causing health problems in Peace Country, Baytex Energy and other companies involved in heavy oil operations are being told to make changes to the way their plants operate.
  • 2014/04/01: SudburySteve: Who Speaks For Woodland Caribou?
  • 2014/04/01: OilChange: Tar Sands "Linked to Health Problems"

  Also in Alberta:

  • 2014/04/02: CBC: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation makes the best of oil money
  • 2014/03/31: Tyee: Canada Is a Lousy Oil Negotiator
    We collected less than one-fifth the tax and royalty benefits Norway did in 2012. Ouch.

  In Ontario, there are rumours of an election:

  • 2014/04/04: NNW: Wynne hits Hudak with libel notice
  • 2014/04/04: CBC: Gas plant scandal: Kathleen Wynne waits for 'judge' Horwath to pull the plug
  • 2014/04/03: SudburySteve: As NDP Old Guard Takes Over, Division Between "browns" and "greens" Starting to Show
  • 2014/04/03: CBC: NDP MP Chris Charlton targeted by anti-abortion group -- Hamilton homes sent postcards with disturbing images of aborted fetuses

  While in la Belle Province:

  • 2014/04/03: TheCanadian: Environment, green economy left out of Quebec election

  In the North:

  • 2014/04/02: PI:B: Despite the fanfare, devolution means less say for northerners over land and resources
  • 2014/04/01: CBC: Northwest Territories devolution officially takes hold
    Starting today, N.W.T. collects revenues from mining, expected to be about $60M this year
  • 2014/03/31: PI:B: Renewable energy helps people of Dehcho Region reclaim their power

  As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

  • 2014/04/03: DeSmogBlog: Five Canadian Communities Fighting Climate Change That You've Probably Never Heard of Before

  And on the American political front:

  • 2014/04/05: CleanTechnica: ALEC Defeated Again In Attacks On Solar, Net Metering Preserved In Kansas
  • 2014/04/04: DD: Bill Richardson: Wake up to the reality of climate change
  • 2014/04/04: HillHeat: Tony Strickland, Republican Candidate for California's 20th District, Believes Global Warming a 'Hoax'
  • 2014/04/04: NYT:PK: Equivalences
  • 2014/04/03: ERabaett: The Towering Sea Flattens North Carolina
  • 2014/04/03: TruthDig: U.S. Cools on States' Climate Action
    While Washington is doing more to address climate change, individual American states are scaling back their efforts -- and apparently with public approval.
  • 2014/04/04: RFTimes: Missouri Rep. [Jay Houghton (R)] Wants to Criminalize Finding Out Where Your Diseased Meat Came From
  • 2014/04/03: Grist: Like some dust bowl with your grain belt?
  • 2014/04/03: Grist: California's cap-and-trade program pays loggers to clearcut old-growth forests
  • 2014/04/02: Grist: Vermont expands solar net metering, gives finger to ALEC
  • 2014/04/01: Resilience: Carbon Delirium: The Last Stage of Fossil-Fuel Addiction and Its Hazardous Impact on American Foreign Policy
  • 2014/04/01: RTCC: California rewards energy users with 'climate credits'
    Bill payers will receive a welcome bank account boost this month, as state's carbon policies start to pay off California's ambitious carbon cutting policies will start to pay off for residents of the state this month, as 'climate credits' of $29-40 are paid into their bank accounts.
  • 2014/04/01: Grist: Californians to receive $30 to $40 climate credit this month
  • 2014/04/01: Hypergeometric: Risky Business
  • 2014/03/31: OFW: The Absurdity of US Natural Gas Exports
  • 2014/03/31: TP:JR: Ohio Senate Republicans Launch Attack On State's Renewable Energy Law
  • 2014/03/31: Grist: Obama endorses Senate climate hawk Brian Schatz in Hawaii race
  • 2014/03/31: TP:JR: California To Start Giving Millions Of Dollars Of Climate Credits To Electricity Users
  • 2014/03/31: Salon: Climate deniers are taking their anti-science shenanigans to Vegas
  • 2014/03/31: CleanTechnica: California Grandfathers Existing Solar Arrays In, Rates Won't Change For 20 Years
  • 2014/03/31: CleanTechnica: Iowa Solar Tax Credit Tripling Passed by State Senate
  • 2014/03/31: TP:JR: Gov. Pence Lets Indiana Energy Efficiency Program Die
  • 2014/03/31: TP:JR: Drilling Company Could Force Pennsylvania Landowners To Allow Fracking Under Their Land
  • 2014/03/30: CNN: Wake up to the reality of climate change
    Bill Richardson: New report says the science is clear: The world is warming in dangerous ways - Impact of climate change is being felt on every continent, the report finds - He says governments and companies are taking steps to respond to the threat - Richardson: Ultimately, setting a national price for carbon is the way to transition to the future
  • 2014/03/30: P3: The Idea Formerly Known As Wisconsin

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

  • 2014/04/01: TP:JR: Native Americans And Business Leaders Pressure White House To Reject Keystone XL

  Leaks and spills:

  Jeez! It's getting hard to keep all the spills and leaks straight. You need a map. Let's see...:

  1. In North Caroline, Duke Energy spilled coal ash slurry into the Dan River
  2. In Arkansas, Exxon, spilled dilbit into the suburb of Mayflower
  3. In Alaska, the Exxon Valdez is an oldie and a baddie
  4. The 2010 PG&E Pipeline Explosion
  5. Anadarko Agrees To Record $5 Billion Fine

  In North Carolina, Duke Energy spilled coal ash slurry into the Dan River:

  • 2014/04/01: TP:JR: Two Months After Coal Ash Spill, Duke Cleaning Up The Dan River

  Earlier in Arkansas, Exxon, spilled dilbit into the suburb of Mayflower:

  • 2014/04/01: ICN: Exxon to Reopen Ruptured Arkansas Pipeline, but Cause of Its Failure Remains Unknown
    Exxon laid out its intentions Monday to reopen the 650-mile northern section of the Pegasus, saying the investigation into the Arkansas spill is complete. Now it's official: ExxonMobil plans to fully reopen its idled Pegasus oil pipeline, including the 1940s-era segment that ruptured and dumped sticky tar-like Canadian dilbit into [Mayflower] an Arkansas neighborhood.

  In Alaska, the Exxon Valdez is an oldie and a baddie:

  • 2014/03/30: DD: 25 years after Exxon Valdez, we still haven't learned to limit oil drilling

  That PG&E Pipeline Explosion in 2010 has resurfaced:

  • 2014/04/01: BBerg: PG&E Charged by U.S. Over Fatal 2010 Pipeline Explosion
    PG&E Corp., owner of California's largest utility, was charged with 12 pipeline safety violations by the U.S. government for a 2010 natural gas explosion that killed eight people and left a crater the size of a house. PG&E was charged in a grand jury indictment filed yesterday in federal court in San Francisco with knowingly and willfully violating the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act by failing to test and assess unstable pipelines to determine whether they could fail. The company was also charged with keeping incomplete and inaccurate records about the pipeline that exploded. The indictment underscores increased scrutiny on pipeline and utility companies over the safety risks of aging pipes running beneath U.S. cities.

  The Anadarko deal:

  • 2014/04/04: TP:JR: Anadarko Agrees To Record $5 Billion Fine For '85 Years Of Poisoning The Earth'
  • 2014/04/04: RT: Polluter pays: Record $5bn cleanup settlement for Kerr-McGee legacy
    Oil and gas company Anadarko Petroleum Corp agreed to pay a record $5.15 billion to settle the eight-decade toxic legacy of subsidiary Kerr-McGee. The largest-ever compensation payout is still less than might have been ordered by a court. The agreement announced on Thursday settles a dispute between Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, which bought Kerr-McGee in 2006, and a litigation trust representing the US government, 11 state governments, Indian tribes and individuals. Most of the money, $4.4 billion, will go to clean up waste left since at least 1928 by Kerr-McGee's operations, including a former rocket fuel manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada, which contaminated Lake Mead, a water source for the Colorado River, 50 closed uranium mines in and around the Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico, a former chemical production site in Columbus, Mississippi, and a wood treatment facility in Manville, New Jersey. The rest will go to compensate to more than 8,000 people for health damage from Kerr-McGee pollution.
  • 2014/04/04: PhiladelphiaInquirer: U.S. reaches $5.15 billion environmental settlement [with Anadarko]
    The federal government on Thursday reached a $5.15 billion settlement with Anadarko Petroleum Corp., the largest ever for environmental contamination, to settle claims related to the cleanup of thousands of sites tainted with hazardous chemicals for decades. The bulk of the money - $4.4 billion - will pay for environmental cleanup and be used to settle claims stemming from the legacy contamination.
  • 2014/04/04: TheCanadian: Anadarko stock rises after $5.15 billion contamination settlement

  The GOP War on Women continues. See also:

  • 2014/04/04: FDL: Mississippi Cares More about the Politics of Unborn Children, than Unborn Children
  • 2014/04/01: TruthOut: Open Letter to Legislators From a Clinic Escort
  • 2014/04/01: Salon: Louisiana House passes sweeping abortion restrictions in the name of women's "safety"
  • 2014/04/01: Salon: Report: Doctors at Oklahoma hospital banned from prescribing birth control
  • 2014/03/31: ACLU: Challenge to Alabama Abortion Restrictions to Go to Trial
    Unnecessary Restrictions Would Force All but Two Clinics in the State to Stop Providing Abortions
  • 2014/03/31: WSWS: US appeals court upholds reactionary Texas anti-abortion law

  A notable ruling from the Supreme Court this week. See also:

  • 2014/04/04: TruthDig: On Our Highest Court, a Former Lobbyist Guts Campaign Finance Reform
  • 2014/04/03: BillMoyers: An Activist Court's Ideology: More Money, Less Voting
  • 2014/04/04: WSWS: The Supreme Court ruling on campaign donations: Government of, by and for the rich
  • 2014/04/03: WSWS: US Supreme Court strikes down limits on political contributions
  • 2014/04/02: Grist: Supreme Court's campaign finance ruling: Bad for greens, good for Kochs
  • 2014/04/02: OilChange: Response to Supreme Court ruling on McCutcheon v. FEC
  • 2014/04/02: RealEconomics: Limiting speech by the rich

  Looking ahead to the 2014 & 2016 elections:

  • 2014/04/04: CPunch: So What If Democrats Lose the Senate?
  • 2014/04/02: WSWS: Republican presidential hopefuls begin the "money primary"
    [...]
    The five presidential hopefuls who attended the Las Vegas event included three governors, Chris Christie of New Jersey, John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin; one former governor, Jeb Bush of Florida, son of President George H. W. Bush and brother of President George W. Bush; and former UN ambassador John Bolton.
  • 2014/03/31: TAC: Get Ready for Jeb Bush
    He may be the GOP establishment's pick for 2016. But is he more like his father or brother -- and is either what Americans want?
  • 2014/03/31: CSM: Jeb Bush: Is GOP elite drafting him for 2016?

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

  • 2014/04/04: OpenMedia: TPP breathes life into SOPA as Obama appoints Holleyman as chief negotiator
  • 2014/04/04: Grist: FDA tells livestock and dairy farmers: We're cutting you off -- no more beer!
  • 2014/04/04: ScienceInsider: Former U.S. Research Fraud Chief Speaks Out on Resignation, 'Frustrations' [admin]
  • 2014/04/03: Grist: Obama admin sued for dragging feet on studies of climate impacts
  • 2014/04/02: NOAANews: NOAA Fisheries concludes 'no jeopardy' to Steller sea lions from proposed fishery management changes in the Aleutian Islands
  • 2014/04/02: NOAANews: NOAA Fisheries to develop national policy on recreational fishing
  • 2014/04/02: TP:JR: Is The Energy Department Still Looking To A Give Coal-To-Liquid Plant A Loan Guarantee?
  • 2014/04/01: EnvEcon: Beware when federal officials request innovative ideas
  • 2014/04/01: UCSUSA:B: President Obama's Plan to Cut Methane Emissions Will Help Reduce Climate Risks of Natural Gas

  As for what is going on in Congress:

  • 2014/04/04: Grist: Republicans join Democrats in trying to revive wind energy incentives
  • 2014/04/04: RT: Koch ally to introduce Monsanto-backed bill to bar state GMO labeling laws
  • 2014/04/04: TP:JR: Proposed Law To Prevent Chemical Spills Gains Bipartisan Support, But At A Cost
  • 2014/04/03: TP:JR: House Democrats Call On EPA To Investigate Fracking's Link To Water Contamination In Three States
  • 2014/04/03: MoBrd: Congress's Scientific Illiterates Are Resigning the World to Ruin
  • 2014/04/03: SlashDot: The Problem With Congress's Scientific Illiterates
  • 2014/04/03: UCSUSA:B: The EPA, Human Studies, and Getting the Science Right
  • 2014/04/03: Grist: 5 ways Paul Ryan's budget screws the climate and environment
  • 2014/04/03: CleanTechnica: Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Gets Important Last-Minute Push
  • 2014/04/02: Grist: Congress members ask EPA to reopen three fracking investigations
  • 2014/04/02: TP:JR: House Passes Bill Requiring Agencies To Put Climate Change On The Back Burner
  • 2014/04/02: TP:JR: Senate Tax Credit Extenders Don't Include Wind Energy -- But They Might Soon
  • 2014/04/02: CensoredNews: US Senators push to terminate portion of Arapaho's Wind River land
    Wind River Reservation, Wyoming - A new push by U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., to terminate a portion of the Wind River Reservation should appall and worry Native American people everywhere, Northern Arapaho leaders said Tuesday.
    [...]
    The bill is a response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to treat the Wind River tribes as a state under the Clean Air Act. A detailed legal analysis in the EPA decision concluded that the town of Riverton is part of the Wind River Reservation, a position the tribes have always held. Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead has asked the federal courts to determine whether the EPA analysis is correct. Enzi has decided instead to change the law.
  • 2014/04/01: Grist: Republican's bill calls for weather forecasting, not climate forecasting
  • 2014/03/31: SciAm:TCW: The House of Representatives Committee on Science is turning into a national embarrassment
  • 2014/03/31: UCSUSA:B: Sidelined Science: Let's Get the House Science Committee Back on Track
  • 2014/03/31: UCSUSA: House Science Committee Relying on More Industry Witnesses, Analysis Finds

  What are the lobbyists pushing?

  • 2014/03/31: UCSUSA:B: Heads in the Sand: Koch Brothers Push States to Avoid Carbon Rules

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

  • 2014/04/02: Resilience: Crowd Financing Worker Cooperatives: Lessons from the Workers Diner
  • 2014/04/02: Eureka: New model shows moderate resource use & reduced economic inequality keys to sustainability
  • 2014/04/02: CBC: Jeremy Rifkin sees new economy arising from Internet of Things

  In nature, there is no garbage:

  • 2014/03/31: Resilience: Zero Waste: Closer than You Think

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

  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): Reproductive rights and wrongs: how discrimination blights maternity care

  Apocalypso anyone?

  • 2014/04/05: FergusB: The Morrow Project, chapter one
  • 2014/04/04: CCP: Alarming new study makes today's climate change more comparable to Earth's worst mass extinction
  • 2014/04/04: CCP: Climate Code Red: Too hot to handle: life in a four-degree world
  • 2014/04/03: UBardi: Why the elites are so ruthless that they destroy themselves
  • 2014/04/02: CCurrents: What To Do When You Suspect We're Headed For Collapse
  • 2014/04/02: DD: Climate change could make humans extinct, warns health expert...
  • 2014/04/01: Resilience: What to Do When You Suspect We're Headed for Collapse
  • 2014/03/31: Resilience: The Future of an Illusion
  • 2014/03/31: ATTPh: Are you alarmed?

  Please adjust your rose coloured glasses as necessary:

  • 2014/04/03: RTCC: Oil industry can be 'solution' to climate change says Figueres
    Top UN climate official calls on fossil fuel executives to lead transition to cleaner forms of energy The UN's climate chief has appealed to the oil and gas industry to become the solution rather than the problem to addressing the causes of global warming.

  How do the corporate media stack up?

  • 2014/04/04: CSW: Assessing IPCC climate report, The Economist draws conclusion at odds with report itself
  • 2014/04/03: PSinclair: NBC on IPCC
  • 2014/04/02: Guardian(UK): MPs criticise BBC for 'false balance' in climate change coverage
  • 2014/04/02: RTCC: BBC and UK government 'failing public' over climate change coverage
    Damning report from MPs says BBC should adopt clear editorial guidelines around climate coverage The BBC and UK Government are failing in their public duty to communicate climate science 'clearly and effectively', says a panel of MPs in a report published today.
  • 2014/04/02: BBC: MPs criticise BBC over climate change reporting
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): Telegraph and Mail concede on climate change
    Newspapers critical of climate change science tell MPs global warming is happening and humans play a role in it
  • 2014/04/01: CJR: The IPCC presser was livestreamed, but those present still got the best stories -- Digital connection can only get reporters so far
  • 2014/03/31: KSJT: Scant coverage of harsh and sweeping climate report
  • 2014/03/30: V V: The BBC will continue fake debates on climate science

  While activists search for effective communication techniques:

   

• 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): Let me tell you a story...
  It's time for those of us who want to bring facts to the climate and energy debate to embrace the cultural power of story to convey those facts.
• 2014/04/02: ABC(Au): Fad not facts: call for new approach to climate change
  An Australian National University science academic says it is time to call in the advertising industry to make sure that the warnings from climate scientists hit home. This week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report which revealed that climate change will have severe, pervasive and irreversible effects on the planet and on human survival. Dr Rod Lamberts, says scientists have done all they can to alert governments to the need for action, but that professional marketing may be more effective.
• 
  

  Here is something for your library:

   

  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): [Book Plug] _The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch_ by Lewis Dartnell
  • 2014/03/: Routledge: [Book Page] _The Energy of Nations - Risk Blindness and the Road to Renaissance_ by Jeremy Leggett

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

  • 2014/04/04: PSinclair: The Weekend Wonk: A Theory so Cutting Edge, it's Hard to Prove
  • 2014/04/04: CleanTechnica: Daily Show Airs Excellent Clip On Fracking (video)
  • 2014/04/04: Hypergeometric: "Climate Change: Why you should be angry and why anger isn't enough"
  • 2014/04/04: Onion: Landmark Supreme Court Decision Lets Americans Cram Cash Directly Into Politicians' Mouths
  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): Producers of An Inconvenient Truth moot sequel
  • 2014/04/01: PSinclair: Wind Turbines: Birds (and other species) Best Friend

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

  • 2014/04/04: Asia Times: Top court lets the cash flow in US politics
  • 2014/04/03: Grist: Obama admin sued for dragging feet on studies of climate impacts
  • 2014/04/02: BBC: The US Supreme Court has struck down overall contribution limits for individual political donors
  • 2014/04/02: CBC: U.S. Supreme Court loosens rules on political giving -- Rich can give as much as they want...
  • 2014/03/31: TheCanadian: Australia torpedoes illegal Japanese whaling at international court
  • 2014/03/31: Guardian(UK): Japan told to halt Antarctic whaling by international court
  • 2014/03/31: UN: UN court rules against Japan's whaling activities in the Antarctic
  • 2014/03/31: DD: U.N. court orders Japan to halt whale hunt
    "A fair and just stance on the right side of history that protects the whales of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and the vital marine ecosystem of Antarctica"
  • 2014/03/31: ABC(Au): Japan's whaling program not for scientific purposes, rules International Court of Justice
  • 2014/03/31: ScienceInsider: Japan Ordered to Stop Scientific Whaling [by the International Court of Justice]
  • 2014/03/31: NatureNB: Science is no excuse for Japan's Antarctic whaling, court rules
  • 2014/03/31: IndiaTimes: Top UN court orders Japan to end Antarctic whale hunt
  • 2014/03/31: al Jazeera: UN court to rule on legality of Japan whaling
    The International Court of Justice is about to rule on whether Japan has the right to hunt whales in the Antarctic.
  • 2014/03/31: al Jazeera: Philippines sues China over sea claims
    Philippine lawsuit says China has no 'historical rights' to a section of South China Sea. Two years ago, a standoff broke out between the Philippines and China, when Filipino authorities tried to arrest Chinese fishermen suspected of illegally fishing in the Scarborough Shoal. China blocked the arrest, sending paramilitary vessels to surround the Philippine patrol ships. The face-off lasted two months before the US intervened, securing assurances from both sides to withdraw vessels from the disputed rock formation in the South China Sea. The Philippines left. China ignored the deal and stayed. After months of diplomatic wrangling, the Philippines filed a lawsuit on Sunday, challenging China before a UN court at The Hague. The case questions the validity of China's "nine-dash line" claim (refering to the line that China puts on maps to justify its claim) and its occupation of Scarborough. The Philippines argues that the U-shaped boundary, which China set out based on "historical rights", encroaches on its territory under international law.
  • 2014/03/31: BBC: Philippines files case to UN in South China Sea dispute

  The Mann defamation suit saga rolls on:

  • 2014/04/05: ERabett:BSD: Bozo the Clown could be novel, maybe [M/S]
  • 2014/04/02: ERabett: No Mulligan Zone
  • 2014/04/02: QuarkSoup: Steyn's Silencing of Science

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

  • 2014/04/04: TreeHugger: Latest look at the Lawrence Livermore graph that tells you everything you need to know about America's energy use
  • 2014/04/04: RNE: Pathways to clean energy: three strategies reviewed
  • 2014/04/04: GET: Overview of new charts
  • 2014/04/03: LLNL: Estimated Energy Use in 2013: 97.4 Quads [flowchart]
  • 2014/04/02: RNE: Carnegie to test CETO 6 at world-leading wave energy hub
  • 2014/04/02: RNE: Wave energy company Oceanlinx goes into receivership
  • 2014/04/01: UCSUSA:B: Which Costs More? Transmission Lines for 10x More Renewable Energy, or Pipelines for 2x More Natural Gas
  • 2014/03/31: PSinclair: Elon Musk on the Renewable Transition
  • 2014/03/30: TruthDig: Bulgaria's Micro-Hydro Power Surge

  What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?

  • 2014/03/31: TP:JR: Wind Reaches Its Highest Generation Level Ever In Texas, Heralding A Challenge To Natural Gas
  • 2014/03/31: CleanTechnica: Wind Energy Generation Increases As Coal And Gas Decrease
  • 2014/03/31: CleanTechnica: Why Shale Gas Is Toast: Texas Wind Power Sets New US Record

  What's changing in energy investments?

  • 2014/04/05: CleanTechnica: China Is #1 In Renewable Energy Investment, US #2, Japan #3 (chart)
  • 2014/04/04: RTCC: Norway's oil fund to increase clean energy investments
    Norway's $800 billion wealth fund to double investments in renewables and energy efficiency Norway has proposed to double investment in environmental companies to US$ 8.4 billion as part of its plans to restructure its sovereign wealth fund.
  • 2014/04/04: RNE: Arvizu: Why the current energy system is unsustainable
    Dan Arvizu, the head of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the US, the world's largest renewable energy research facility, has some simple points to make when he says that the energy system of today is unsustainable. The first point is on cost, as renewables become a cheaper option than coal or gas; the other is on environmental impacts, as the world finally absorbs the impact of dirty coal generation; and the third is the arrival of new disruptive (and mostly renewable) technologies, such as rooftop solar and storage. But the most stunning piece of evidence is this: the industry spends only 0.3 per cent of its phenomenal revenues (in the trillions of dollars) on R&D. And even that money is spent by new players looking to bring new technologies to the market.
  • 2014/04/04: Xinhuanet: China remains leading destination for clean energy investment: report
  • 2014/04/03: TP:JR: Report: Global Clean Energy Investment Reached $254 Billion In 2013
  • 2014/03/31: BBerg: Hong Kong Property Tycoon Makes $533 Million Bet on Solar
    A Hong Kong real-estate tycoon has spent the past year accumulating stakes in failing solar companies, piecing together what may become the biggest collection of photovoltaic factories in the world. Zheng Jianming, also known in Cantonese as Cheng Kin Ming, has spent or pledged about $533 million to buy assets that at their peak were worth almost $20 billion, according to regulatory filings in the U.S. and Hong Kong, where he has a home and office. The transactions, if completed, would transform Zheng, a newcomer to the solar industry, into one of its most powerful leaders.

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

  • 2014/04/04: ICN: Toxic Emission Spikes at Fracking Sites Are Rarely Monitored, Study Finds
    Gas drilling facilities have sporadic emission spikes that spew toxins harmful to human health, but states rarely monitor these fleeting events.
  • 2014/04/04: CleanTechnica: Daily Show Airs Excellent Clip On Fracking (video)
  • 2014/04/04: Salon: Pennsylvania fails to report water contamination from fracking
  • 2014/04/03: TP:JR: House Democrats Call On EPA To Investigate Fracking's Link To Water Contamination In Three States
  • 2014/04/03: UDW: Fracking, Seismic Activity Grow Hand in Hand in Mexico
  • 2014/04/02: TP:JR: Cleanup Company Warns Parts Of North Dakota Could Soon Become Radioactive Waste Sites
  • 2014/04/01: TruthDig: Slow Response to Fracking Complaints Makes Problems Worse for Pennsylvania Residents
  • 2014/04/01: ProPublica: In Fracking Fight, a Worry About How Best to Measure Health Threats
    In Pennsylvania, opponents of gas drilling say regulators are slow and unprepared in responding to air quality complaints.
  • 2014/03/31: DeSmogBlog: Colorado Health Department Investigating Spike in Fetal Abnormalities in Heavily-Drilled Garfield County
  • 2014/03/31: AP: Chevron, Polish firm jointly explore for shale gas
  • 2014/03/31: TP:JR: Drilling Company Could Force Pennsylvania Landowners To Allow Fracking Under Their Land

  On the coal front:

  • 2014/04/05: WSWS: Four years since the Upper Big Branch mine disaster
  • 2014/04/04: CCP: Coal is destroying southern Illinois
  • 2014/04/04: CCP: Peabody Coal Is The Eco-Terrorist, Not People Trying To Stop Them
  • 2014/04/03: BBC: UK Coal mines face closures as insolvency threatens
    UK Coal is likely to close two of the last three deep mines in Britain as it battles to stave off insolvency.
  • 2014/04/01: RNE: Lights out at 1GW Wallerawang coal-fired power station
  • 2014/03/31: Eureka: What will climate policy mean for coal?
    Limiting climate change to 2°C means shutting down coal power plants - an unpopular proposition for coal power companies. But a new study shows that delaying climate policies could prove even worse for power plant owners. Coal power plants are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, and new plants are planned around the world, particularly in India and China. These new power plants are built to run for 30-50 years, paying off only after years of operation. But stringent climate policies could make the cost of emission so high that coal power generation is no longer competitive, leaving new power plants sitting idle and their owners and investors with huge losses -- a problem known as stranded capacity.
  • 2014/03/31: BBerg: Mongolian Mining Seeks Debt Extension Amid Coal Price Slump

  On the gas and oil front:

  • 2014/04/04: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
    OIL (US$/bbl)
    Dated Brent Spot....106.72
    WTI Cushing Spot....101.14
  • 2014/04/04: DOE:TiE: U.S. crude oil imports fall, but share of top three suppliers highest in four decades
  • 2014/04/04: Asia Times: 'Saudi America' faces a barren future by Michael Klare
  • 2014/04/04: DD: U.S. now in the terminal stage of fossil-fuel addiction by Michael T. Klare
  • 2014/04/03: PeakEnergy: Carbon Delirium The Last Stage of Fossil-Fuel Addiction and Its Hazardous Impact on American Foreign Policy
  • 2014/04/02: DOE:TiE: Net energy imports in 2013 lowest in more than 20 years
  • 2014/04/02: BBerg: Brent Oil Falls Below $105 on Libya Talks
  • 2014/04/01: TP:JR: In Kazakhstan, Development Of World's Largest Oil Field In 35 Years Still Going All Wrong
  • 2014/04/01: BBerg: Pemex's March Crude Production Falls to Lowest Level Since 1995 [2.47 million barrels a day]
  • 2014/03/31: OFW: The Absurdity of US Natural Gas Exports
  • 2014/03/30: EconBrowser: Tight oil making a difference

  In the gas and oil corps:

  • 2014/04/04: Guardian(UK): Shell ignored safety warnings 'partly to avoid tax', says US Coast Guard
    Allegation that oil group moved Kulluk drill ship partly to avoid paying extra taxes contained in official report by coastguard
  • 2014/04/03: BBerg: Shell Rushed Rig to Arctic Sea to Avoid Alaska Tax: U.S.
    A desire to avoid millions of dollars in Alaska state taxes played a role in Royal Dutch Shell Plc's decision to move [the Kulluk] drilling rig, which later broke free from a tow boat and ran aground on an uninhabited island in Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a report.
  • 2014/04/03: Guardian(UK): Exxon Mobil's response to climate change is consummate arrogance - Bill McKibben
  • 2014/04/02: USGS: East Poplar Brine-Contaminated Groundwater Plumes Continue to Move
  • 2014/04/01: Grist: ExxonMobil: Carbon caps? Fat chance. We'll just keep on drilling.
  • 2014/04/01: RTCC: Exxon Mobil dismisses climate change risks to future growth
    Fossil fuel giant says 'stranded assets' are not a risk to the company, as the world needs all its oil
  • 2014/04/01: Salon: Exxon: The world is never going to get over fossil fuels
  • 2014/04/01: Guardian(UK): Exxon Mobil says climate change unlikely to stop it selling fossil fuels
    Oil giant issues report on risks that climate policies could pose to the value of its assets and future profitability
  • 2014/04/01: CleanTechnica: ExxonMobil Discloses Stranded Carbon Asset Risks, Almost
  • 2014/04/01: BBC: Exxon Mobil shrugs off climate change risk to profit
    Exxon Mobil, the US's largest oil and gas company, said in a new report that world climate policies are "highly unlikely" to stop it from producing and selling fossil fuels in the near future.
  • 2014/03/31: Exxon: ExxonMobil reports to shareholders on managing climate risk
  • 2014/03/31: CCP: Exxon to World: Drop Dead! Oil Company Believes World Will Fail To Limit Climate Change to Safe Levels
  • 2014/03/31: OilChange: Exxon to World: Drop Dead

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

  • 2014/04/04: DeSmogBlog: Spills, Explosions, Earthquakes and War: Welcome to American Energy "Independence"
  • 2014/04/03: BBerg: Old Math Casts Doubt on Accuracy of [Shale] Oil Reserve Estimates
  • 2014/04/02: DeSmogBlog: "Our Energy Moment": The Blue Engine Behind Fracked Gas Exports PR Blitz
  • 2014/04/02: BBerg: Itochu Writes Down Most of Samson Investment as Shale Bet Sours
    Itochu Corp., Japan's third-largest trading house, said it booked another writedown on its investment in oil and gas producer Samson Investment Co., as its bet on the U.S. shale boom sours. The latest impairment of 29 billion yen ($279 million) follows charges of about 33 billion yen reported by the Tokyo-based company last year. Itochu has now written down most of the 78 billion yen, worth $1.04 billion at the time, it paid in 2011 for a 25 percent stake in family-owned Samson.
  • 2014/03/25: OGJ: Financial questions seen for US shale gas, tight-oil plays

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

  • 2014/03/31: Resilience: Former oil man [Jeremy Leggett] calls for renewable "Renaissance" to ward off shale dystopia
  • 2014/03/28: Guardian(UK): Ex govt adviser [Dr. Jeremy Leggett]: "global market shock" from "oil crash" could hit in 2015

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

  • 2014/04/04: ABC(Au): GM trees 'designed for deconstruction'
    Deconstructable trees Pulping trees for paper could one day take much less energy due to a genetic modification process involving a gene from a Chinese medicinal herb. The gene modifies plant lignin, a type to reinforcement in cell walls, so it is more easily broken down by industrial chemicals, says Professor John Ralph, a biochemist at the US Department of Energy's Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.
  • 2014/04/03: SciNow: Cheaper Fuel From Self-Destructing Trees
  • 2014/04/03: NatureN: Transgenic trees make easy-chew wood for biofuels
    Modified lignin is easier to break apart, potentially leading to cheaper energy conversion.
  • 2014/04/03: MSU: 'Unzipping' poplars' biofuel potential
  • 2014/04/03: Eureka: The feasibility of a crop should be investigated before it can be promoted for adoption by farmers

  The answer my friend...

  • 2014/04/03: QuarkSoup: The Buoyant Airborne Turbine
  • 2014/04/02: TheCanadian: David Suzuki: Don't blow off wind power
  • 2014/04/02: PSinclair: Texas Lassos One Third of Electricity from Wind
  • 2014/04/01: Rabble: Windmills are things of beauty [Suzuki]
  • 2014/03/31: Grist: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a flying wind turbine!
  • 2014/03/31: CleanTechnica: Wind Farms Have No Sizable Impact On House Prices

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

  • 2014/04/05: SciAm:PI: First utility-scale solar project on tribal land breaks ground in Nevada
  • 2014/04/04: CleanTechnica: FPL To Pilot Community-Funded Solar Power Plants
  • 2014/04/03: RTCC: One million solar lamps now shining across Africa
    One million solar lights are now shining across Africa, thanks to a project by the UK-based SolarAid charity, which seeks to eradicate kerosene lamps from the continent by 2020.
  • 2014/04/03: CleanTechnica: New Possibilities In Solar Power With New Multilayered Waveguide Taper Array
  • 2014/04/03: IUCr: Tiny crystals to boost solar
  • 2014/04/03: PeakEnergy: McKinsey On The disruptive potential of solar power
  • 2014/04/03: RNE: Soaring solar PV growth set to hit new highs in 2014-15
  • 2014/04/01: RNE: First Solar sees 200MW of solar in Australian mining projects
  • 2014/03/31: CleanTechnica: The History Of Solar

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

  • 2014/04/05: NYT: Under Revised Quake Estimates, Dozens of Nuclear Reactors Face Costly Safety Analyses
    Owners of at least two dozen nuclear reactors across the United States, including the operator of Indian Point 2, in Buchanan, N.Y., have told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that they cannot show that their reactors would withstand the most severe earthquake that revised estimates say they might face, according to industry experts. As a result, the reactors' owners will be required to undertake extensive analyses of their structures and components. Those are generally sturdier than assumed in licensing documents, but owners of some plants may be forced to make physical changes, and are likely to spend about $5 million each just for the analysis.
  • 2014/04/04: WNN: First CAP1400 reactor under construction
    The pouring of concrete for the basemat of Shidaowan 1, the first of two demonstration CAP1400 units in China's Shandong province, was recently completed. The design is a scaled up version of Westinghouse's AP1000 and could potentially be exported.
  • 2014/04/04: JQuiggin: Why nuclear power worked once in France and might work again in China
  • 2014/04/03: BBerg: World Needs to Get Ready for the Next Nuclear Plant Accident
    Three major atomic accidents in 35 years are forcing the world's nuclear industry to stop imagining it can prevent more catastrophes and to focus instead on how to contain them.
  • 2014/04/02: CleanTechnica: Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant Seeks Decommission But Lacks Funds
  • 2014/04/01: FukuLeaks: UK Reactor Shut Down 5 Months Without Informing Public
  • 2014/04/01: TruthDig: The Nuclear Omnicide
    [...] frightening new scientific findings have forced us to look at a larger reality: the bottom-up damage that radioactive fallout may do to the entire global ecosystem.
  • 2014/03/31: APR: STURGIS to be decommissioned, dismantled

  Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

  • 2014/04/06: EneNews: Expert: No one in world has ever dealt with something like WIPP disaster -- Continuous release of radioactive material '24/7? to environment -- Nobody knows when leaking will end ...
  • 2014/04/04: WNN: South African launches radwaste agency
    The National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute (NRWDI) has been formally launched by South Africa's energy minister. It will be responsible for the management and disposal of the country's radioactive waste.
  • 2014/04/03: WNN: Investigators enter WIPP
    Workers have re-entered the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico for the first time since a radiological event occurred there in mid-February. Future teams will travel deeper into the facility towards the suspected source of the release.
  • 2014/04/02: EneNews: Experts: Concern gases caused underground explosion at WIPP; Extent of contamination "could topple long-held assumptions" ...
  • 2014/03/31: EneNews: Reuters: "Unsafe levels of radiation" were released during WIPP accident; More workers contaminated with plutonium...
  • 2014/03/31: FukuLeaks: DOE To Do WIPP Mine Reentry On April Fools Day

  Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:

  • 2014/04/01: NBF: Plasma Jet Magneto Inertial Fusion ARPA-E and Los Alamos National Lab Plans for 2027 relevant gain
  • 2014/04/01: NBF: Plasma Jet Driven Magneto-Inertial Fusion is an Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF)-Magnetic Confinement Fusion (MCF) hybrid approach

  Feed-In-Tariffs (Net Metering & Time-of-Use Tariffs) are being variously implemented around the world:

  • 2014/04/02: Grist: Vermont expands solar net metering, gives finger to ALEC

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

  • 2014/04/02: PSinclair: Artificial Leaf Update

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

  • 2014/04/02: RNE: Unique models offer glimpse of New England's microgrid future

  How are the utilities adjusting (or not)?

  • 2014/04/01: RNE: Solar supporters declare open season on utilities' duck chart
  • 2014/03/31: PeakEnergy: This Is What the Utility Death Spiral Looks Like?
  • 2014/03/25: SciAm: Fight over Rooftop Solar Forecasts a Bright Future for Cleaner Energy
    As the cost of solar power drops, more consumers find that they hold the upper hand as utilities fight to maintain paying customers and the relevance of the grid

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

  • 2014/04/06: Grist: Citi takes energy efficiency all the way to the bank
  • 2014/04/03: Resilience: How Increased Labour Efficiency Drives Resource Consumption [Jevon]
  • 2014/04/02: RNE: Why Conservatives are terrified of negawatts
  • 2014/04/01: CleanTechnica: Largest Source Of Energy Not Coal, Not Oil, Not Renewables, Not Natural Gas, Not Nuclear... [effic]

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

  • 2014/04/05: TP:JR: Solar, Hydrogen, And Aluminum: A Guide To The Latest In Advanced Vehicle Technology
  • 2014/04/04: SlashDot: Tesla Model S Has Hidden Ethernet Port, User Runs Firefox On the 17" Screen
  • 2014/04/03: RNE: Top 7 reasons for considering an electric vehicle today
  • 2014/04/03: BBC: Electric cars must make noise under new EU rules
  • 2014/04/02: UCSUSA:B: Top 7 Reasons for Considering an Electric Vehicle Today
  • 2014/04/01: CleanTechnica: Electric Vehicle Wedge -- Electric Vehicles Vs Gasoline Cars By Country & Car
  • 2014/04/01: Xinhuanet: Pave way for new energy cars
  • 2014/03/31: LBL: Hybrid Vehicles More Fuel Efficient In India, China Than in U.S.
    Berkeley Lab researchers find hybrids use less fuel and mitigate emissions more effectively in India, China than in U.S.

  As for Energy Storage:

  • 2014/04/01: RNE: Who will be first to offer easy-to-add-on storage for solar?
  • 2014/03/31: Eureka: USC Viterbi researchers developing cheap, better-performing lithium-ion batteries
    USC Viterbi School of Engineering professor Chongwu Zhou and his research team have developed a silicon anode and a sulfur-based cathode with low fabrication cost and high electrode performance for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries
  • 2014/03/31: CleanTechnica: First 3-D Nanoscale Observations Of Structural Changes In Rechargeable Battery Material During Operation

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

  • 2014/04/04: TreeHugger: How green is the internet? Greenpeace ranks the big online players from best to worst
  • 2014/04/04: TP:JR: As Apple, Google, And Facebook Go Green, Report Says Amazon Still Uses Dirty Energy
  • 2014/04/03: BBC: Amazon's 'dirty cloud' criticised in Greenpeace report
  • 2014/04/03: Grist: Amazon and Twitter are dirty dirty scoundrels, says Greenpeace
  • 2014/04/02: Salon: Amazon's dirty secret: Damning new report reveals shameful environmental record
  • 2014/04/02: Guardian(UK): Social media explosion powered by dirty energy, report warns
    Greenpeace singles out Amazon Web Services and Twitter for siting data centres in coal areas and failing to reveal energy use
  • 2014/03/31: Tyee: Embedded with the Planet Savers
    Are we screwed? At Globe 2014, I survey the rapidly evolving world of 'clean capitalism' for answers.

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

  • 2014/03/30: RTCC: Swiss RE calls for adaptation drive as extreme weather events rise
    Insurers on the frontline of climate change say more investment is needed in resilient infrastructure Insurance companies should emphasise the importance of boosting preparations for extreme weather events and other impacts from climate change, Swiss RE says in a report.

  What do we have in (weekly) lists?

  • 2014/04/05: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly News Roundup #14B by John Hartz
  • 2014/04/02: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly News Roundup #14A by John Hartz

  Anything in pithy (or piffling) quotes this week?

  • 2014/04/02: QuarkSoup: Nordhaus on Ignoring Evidence
  • 2014/03/30: QuarkSoup: What Exceptional Nations Do
  • 2014/03/30: P3: Grumpy nostalgists

  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.

  • 2014/04/02: RNE: Internet's worst reactions to UN's new climate report [d]
  • 2014/03/30: Lenz: Enemies of Wind Organize in Germany
  • 2014/04/02: CCP: Denier-created myth of "a new ice age is coming" myth from the 1970s -- debunked, of course
  • 2014/04/02: Stoat: Le NIPCC ancien est deja arrive
  • 2014/04/02: DebunkingD: Is Donald Trump Scientifically Illiterate?
  • 2014/04/03: QuarkSoup: Monckton + Hypocrisy = 2*Monckton
  • 2014/04/04: Wonkette: Koch Brothers Seek Comic Geniuses For Rightwing Improv Troupe
  • 2014/04/01: Hypergeometric: The Stone Giant speaks to the Hobbit ...
  • 2014/03/31: Salon: Climate deniers are taking their anti-science shenanigans to Vegas
  • 2014/04/06: PSinclair: Verily, "Noah" Draws Denier's Wrath

  This week in intimidation:

   

• 2014/03/31: DeSmogBlog: University Criticizes Conservative Media For Misrepresentations That Sparked Hate Mail From Climate Science Deniers
• 2014/03/31: CCP: Leiter Reports: Rochester Institute of Technology issues stronger statement in support of Professor Torcello
  

  More on that forced retraction of the Recursive Fury paper:

• 2014/04/06: LoE: Climate change denial IS conspiracy theory
• 2014/04/05: HotWhopper: Speaking of ethics and conspiracies ...
• 2014/04/05: CCP: Ars Technica: Climate deniers cause Frontiers in Psychology to retract sound Lewandowsky paper due to fears of legal action
• 2014/04/04: STW: Recursive Fury: A Summary of Media Coverage
• 2014/04/04: RetractionWatch: Journal that retracted conspiracy ideation-climate skepticism paper says it did not "cave into threats"
• 2014/04/03: ERabaett: Comment of the Year
• 2014/04/02: WtD: The journal that gave in to climate deniers' intimidation
• 2014/04/01: TheConversation: The journal that gave in to climate deniers' intimidation
• 2014/04/01: CCP: SMH: 'Conspiracist' climate change study withdrawn amid legal threats
• 2014/04/01: CCP: The journal that gave in to climate deniers' intimidation
• 2014/04/01: ERabett: The Reviewers Tale
  

  Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:

• 2014/04/04: TP:JR: What Should Happen To Coal Ash Ponds?
• 2014/03/30: CSM: Toxic coal ash poses persistent threat to US waters
  

  So why is nothing getting done?

  • 2014/04/06: CCurrents: Terracidal Climate Change Inaction [Polya]
  • 2014/04/03: MWatch: 10 reasons why 76% of Americans ignore climate disasters
  • 2014/03/30: DeSmogBlog: Why, When We Know So Much, Are We Doing So Little?: Jim Hoggan on the Polluted Environment and the Polluted Public Square

  As for climate miscellanea:

  • 2014/04/02: TheCanadian: Deconstructing the language of corporate power
  • 2014/04/02: Guardian(UK): Climate change: we must terminate this market madness
  • 2014/04/03: Reuters: Who's leading on climate action pledges? A calculator reveals all
  • 2014/04/03: Resilience: Foreward from Notes to Nowhere
  • 2014/04/04: UBardi: Resource crisis ("Extracted" no more)
    The blog "Extracted", formerly "Cassandra's Legacy," changes name today to "Resource Crisis".
  • 2014/03/31: UCSUSA:B: On Human Strength and Climate Change: Thoughts on Chavez Day
  • 2014/03/31: ERabett: Dano Tells Eli to Get to Work And Save the World
  • 2014/03/31: PSinclair: Hurricanes, Risks, and Bears in the Woods
  • 2014/03/31: CDreams: Profiting from Climate Change
  • 2014/03/31: LoE: Climate change is here and now
  • 2014/03/30: QuarkSoup: Models for Thee, But Not for Me
  • 2014/03/31: TCoE: From the archives: Planetary prognosis
  • 2014/03/30: QuarkSoup: "Warnings by Pesky Scientists"

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

  • Wiki: Typhoon Haiyan
  • IUCr: International Union of Crystallography
  • Copernicus, pka GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security)
  • WMO: Global Weather & Climate Extremes
  • IPCC: WG3
  • MoQP: Musings on Quantitative Palaeoecology
  • Met Office News Blog
  • Hot Whopper
  • TWC: Hurricane Central
  • ReliefWeb
  • Humanity's Test - Humanity's forced journey from adolescence to adulthood
  • Sustainable Energy for All
  • GEB: German Energy Blog
  • QuackWatch
  • Okapi Conservation Project
  • Wiki: Territorial disputes in the South China Sea

  ---

  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.

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  "I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that." -Thomas Edison

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

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  Last modified April 6, 2014