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  2. Another Week in the Ecological Crisis, June 1, 2014

Another Week in the Ecological Crisis, June 1, 2014

By illconsidered on June 3, 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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Information Overloadis Pattern Recognition

June 1, 2014

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Just to keep things in perspective:

And for those interested in exploring the nether reaches of Poe's Law:

  • 2014/05/30: KSJT: Solar panels drain sun's energy, experts warn! (But see *Disclaimer.)
  • 2014/05/28: RealEconomics: Beyond ignorant to crazy
  • 2014/05/23: NatRep: Solar Panels Drain the Sun's Energy, Experts Say

    Looking ahead to COP20 and future international climate negotiations:

    Still some Post WG1/WG2/WG3 commentary:

    More on Antarctica:

    And yet more on Antarctica:

    What do we have for warnings this week?

    How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

    And on the Bottom Line:

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

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

    What's new in the tussle between economists and climatologists?

    John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

    A note on theFukushima disaster:

      It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.]
      And the IAEA is now saying 40 years too.
      [Now some people are talking about a century or more. Sealing it in concrete for 500 years.]
      We'll see.
      At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
      Meanwhile...
      It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of propagated information.
      How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
      Do they have an agenda?
      Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
      Do they want to write a good news story?
      Do they want to write a bad news story?
      Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
      Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
      One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
      If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

    Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

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

    The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

    While in Antarctica. See also, and :

    The food crisis is ongoing:

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

    Food Prices are still problematic:

    Regarding the genetic modification of food. See also:

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

    In the Eastern Pacific, Hurricane Amanda spun up to Cat 5, but faded offshore:

    Early in the week, Tropical Storm 92B faded in the northern Bay of Bengal:

  • 2014/05/28: NASA: NASA Sees Northern Indian Ocean System 92B's End

    While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

  • 2014/05/30: DD: MIT study: Dangerous storms peaking further north, south than in past
  • 2014/05/30: Wunderground: Six Key Questions for the 2014 Atlantic Hurricane Season
  • 2014/05/29: NASA: NASA Widens 2014 Hurricane Research Mission
    During this year's Atlantic hurricane season, NASA is redoubling its efforts to probe the inner workings of hurricanes and tropical storms with two unmanned Global Hawk aircraft flying over storms and two new space-based missions [Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory & the surface-wind monitoring ISS-RapidScat instrument on the ISS].
  • 2014/05/28: Wunderground: Global Tropical Cyclones Shifting Poleward as the Climate Warms
  • 2014/05/27: USGS: Hurricane Sandy Impacts Did Not Contribute to Subsequent Storm Flooding

    As for the Monsoon:

    This week in notable weather:

    This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

    As for GHGs:

    And in the carbon cycle:

    Aerosols are making their presence felt:

    What's up with volcanoes this week?

    And on the ENSO front:

    How is the temperature record?

    Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

    What's the State of the Oceans?

    What's the State of the Biosphere?

    And on the extinction watch:

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

    How are the Insect Orders doing?

    More GW impacts are being seen:

    And then there are the world's forests:

    • 2014/05/26: PPP: 'Deforestation plagues ASEAN'
      Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have never been higher, but Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries are still failing to curb emissions created by heavy deforestation, according to a new report. Forest land in ASEAN countries declined by more than 6 per cent between 2010 and 2013, with land-use changes contributing to more than 75 per cent of the region's total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Regional Community Forestry Training Center (RECOFTC).

    Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

    Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:

    Aerosols affect the climate, but they also affect people's health:

    On the tornado front:

    As for heatwaves and wild fires:

    Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

    Glaciers are melting:

    Sea levels are rising:

    As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

    On the mitigation front, can cities take up the slack when nations shirk their responsibilities?

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

    As for carbon sequestration:

    Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

    What's new in conservation?

    What's new in restoration?

    While on the adaptation front:

    Meanwhile in the journals:

    And other significant documents:

    As for miscellaneous science:

    In the science organizations:

    What's new in models?

    What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

    Meanwhile at the UN:

    And on the carbon trading front:

    The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

    The debate over the optimal carbon reduction strategy arises anew:

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

    South [& East] China Sea tension persists, as the empire leans on China:

    Tensions continue as the empire leans on Syria, Ukraine, Russia...:

    Regarding the ongoing geopolitical shift:

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

    Remember the Argentina-Spain - YPF-Repsol squabble?

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

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

    What are the activists up to?

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

    Polls! We have polls!

    Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:

    Among the world's religions:

    Regarding science education:

    While in the UK:

    And in Europe:

    Meanwhile in China:

    And elsewhere in Asia:

    And South America:

    Meanwhile in Australia:

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

    The fight over coal seam gas continues:

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

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

  • 2014/05/28: ABC(Au): Labor to vote against Tasmanian Government's bid to ditch forest peace deal

    The Warburton investigation of the Renewable Energy Target is designed to kill it:

    A major court ruling on GMO contamination of a neighbour's organic crop set tongues a waggin' this week:

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

    Resonances of the Lac Mégantic tragedy linger:

    The abortion non-debate sputters on:

    Archbishop Desmond Tutu paid a much heralded visit to the tar sands:

    There are getting to be so manyoil [2] andnatural gas [2]pipelines, one almost needs a scorecard:

      1. The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on
      2. There are hearings for the Kinder Morgan expansion coming up

      The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

      There is wrangling over the NEB trying to restrict the Kinder Morgan expansion hearings:

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

      Meanwhile in BC:

      Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

      Also in Alberta:

      In Ontario, the June 12th election race is boisterous:

      And on the American political front:

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

      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 West Virginia, Freedom Industries spilled coal cleaning chemicals into the Elk river
      2. Louisville Gas & Electric has been pouring coal ash wastewater into the Ohio River for years

      In West Virginia, Freedom Industries spilled coal cleaning chemicals into the Elk river:

      Louisville Gas & Electric has been pouring coal ash wastewater into the Ohio River for years:

      • 2014/05/29: TP:JR: Kentucky Utility Has Been Discharging Coal Ash Into Ohio River On A Daily Basis, Lawsuit Alleges
        Two environmental groups are alleging that a Kentucky utility has been dumping coal ash into the Ohio River on an almost daily basis, based on time-lapse images that were taken over the course of a year. The Sierra Club and Earthjustice filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Louisville Gas & Electric, claiming that the utility has violated the Clean Water Act and a state permit that allowed the utility's Mill Creek Generating Station in Louisville an "occasional" discharge into the river. The lawsuit is based on time-lapse photos that were taken by a camera set up by Sierra Club members in front of the discharge site at the Mill Creek station.

      Looks like the GOP is getting climate change messaging lessons from Luntz or some clone:

      Looking ahead to the 2014 & 2016 elections:

      The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

      As for what is going on in Congress:

      What are the lobbyists pushing?

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

      What comes after Capitalism?

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

      How are we going to deal with this mess?

      How do the corporate media measure up?

      Here is something for your library:

      And for your film & video enjoyment:

      Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent. See also:

      This Equador suit against Chevron/Texaco has been going on for decades:

      The Mann defamation suit saga rolls on:

      It looks like these BP trials over the Gulf oil spill are going to take a long while:

      • 2014/05/29: BBC: BP asks judge to freeze Gulf of Mexico spill payouts
        BP has asked a US judge to allow it to halt paying compensation claims while it waits for the US Supreme Court to review its settlement with businesses over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
      • 2014/05/27: BBerg: BP Loses Bid to Stall Spill Payments During Appeal
        BP Plc must pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damage claims while it seeks U.S. Supreme Court review of disputed payments in its $9.2 billion accord over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a court ruled. The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected the U.K.-based energy company's request to maintain a temporary halt on payments to businesses that can't prove they were directly damaged by the spill.

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

      What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?

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

      On the gas and oil front:

      In the fossil fuel corps:

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

      Marvelous! Now the USA has their own Mechanical Mordor:

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

      The answer my friend...

      Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

      The nuclear energy controversy continues:

      Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

    • 2014/05/31: RT: Los Alamos to miss nuclear waste removal deadline
    • 2014/05/31: EneNews: Top Science Journal: "Time bombs" at WIPP nuclear site? "High alert over risk of new explosions" in hundreds of plutonium-contaminated drums...
    • 2014/05/29: EneNews: New emails reveal concern over plutonium chain reaction in WIPP containers...
    • 2014/05/28: FukuLeaks: WIPP Cat Litter Acts As Fuel To Ignition Or Reaction
    • 2014/05/27: NatureN: Nuclear-waste facility on high alert over risk of new explosions
      US repository scrambles to seal off barrels containing cat-litter buffer thought to be responsible for February accident

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

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

      More people are talking about the electrical grid:

      How are the utilities adjusting (or not)?

      And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

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

      As for Energy Storage:

      What do we have in (weekly) lists?

      The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

      As for climate miscellanea:

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

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