Another Week of GW News, February 24, 2008

By illconsidered on February 25, 2008.

Sipping from the internet firehose...

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

(skip to bottom)

Top Stories:BC's Carbon Tax, Garnaut Report, Solar Cities, Global Cooling Disputed
Greenland, WAIS, AAAS, Permafrost, PCA, Earth Hour, CCR, Investor's Summit, ZIFs
Hurricanes, Paleoclimate, DSCOVR
Impacts, Central Asia, Forests, Corals, Floods & Droughts, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
Mitigation, Transportation, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
Journals, Misc. Science
Kyoto, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
Politics:International, G8+5, GLOBE
America, Britain, Europe, Switzerland, Australia, India, China, Japan, Canada
Apocalypso, Media, Books, Courts
Energy, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Cars, Business, Greenwashing
Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.

-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.

"You are now warned. Every measurement of the real world carries a penumbra of uncertainty. In demography, the shadow of uncertainty is often longer than is conceded. Numerical measurements are an indispensable crutch, but every crutch has a bit of flex, and some numbers are a rubber crutch. The Law of Information states: 97.6 percent of all statistics are made up. Of course, the Law of Information applies to itself."
-J.E.Cohen, page 21, _How Many People Can The Earth Support?_

Another Week of GW News, February 24, 2008

Sipping from the internet firehose...

Here's a chuckle for ya:

The big story of the week has to be British Columbia setting a carbon tax:

In Australia the Garnaut report came out this week:

Also in Australia, the Solar Cities conference went down:

A survey study of the global cooling thesis disproves a common denial talking point:

Greenland's melt is unsettling:

An unsettling story about the WAIS, so far only on the BBC:

The AAAS meeting wrapped up on Monday:

The permafrost 'Sword of Damocles' was mentioned again:

Tamino has continued his series on Principal Components Analysis:

The Earth Hour campaign is picking up, although many dissent:

Late comment on Climate Code Red:

Late coverage of the UN Investor's Summit:

Late comment on ZIFs:

No new hurricanes, but some analysis:

While in the paleoclimate:

The campaign to uncover DSCOVR [Deep Space Climate Observatory] rolls on:

More GW impacts are being seen:

The harsh winter, energy shortage and food scarcity have sorely tested Central Asia:

And then there are the world's forests:

Corals are dying:

And speaking of floods & droughts:

The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

As for transportation & GHG production:

As for carbon sequestration:

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

While on the adaptation front:

Meanwhile in the journals:

Before we get into politics, there was some science done:

Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

And on the carbon trading front:

The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

Meanwhile on the international political front:

A G8 + 5 meeting happened this week in Brazil, apparently to little effect:

There was also (I think separate) a GLOBE meeting in Brazil:

And on the American political front:

The California Environmental Justice Movement has come out against carbon trading:

The Lieberman-Warner climate bill is under attack:

Kansas has become a focal point in the battle over coal:

The National Governors Association winter meeting went down this week:

One hears a lot about the campaign(s), not much about climate:

The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

While in the UK:

Nukes in the UK are picking up liabilities:

The London Emission Zone is picking up flack:

And in Europe:

A carbon tax tussle in Switzerland?

Meanwhile in Australia:

Repercussions from the Garnaut report:

And in India:

While in China:

While in Japan:

Nature published an editorial critical of Canadian PM Harper's anti-science attitudes:

And surprise, surprise! A Friend of Science flack campaigned for the Conservatives:

Reaction to BC's carbon tax:

Fun on the Alberta campaign trail:

The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands still looms:

Apocalypso anyone?

As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

Here is something for your library:

Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

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

Meanwhile among the solar afficionados:

The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

Biofuel bickering abounds:

The nuclear energy controversy continues:

Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

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

The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

A number of people picked up on Lutz's denial:

Then there was the usual news and commentary:

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

Low Key Plug