Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
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
Another week of Climate Instability News
Another Week of Climate Instability News
Sipping from the internet firehose...
September 12, 2010
- Chuckles, ASEM, COP16+, Geneva, World Water Week, Bees:Study, Bees:Spin
- Future CO2, Boris Worm, Pakistan, Correa, Cook, Post CRU
- Melting Arctic, Narwhal, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Pavlovsk Experimental Station, Food Riots, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Aerosols
- Paleoclimate, ENSO, State of the Oceans, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Extreme Weather, Wildfires
- Corals, Acidification, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, REDD, Transportation, Buildings, Geoengineering
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, Cliff Crawford, Curry, Pielke Sr.
- Kyoto, UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Bank Tax, Carbon Labelling, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- International Politics: Misc., Security, Law & Activism, Activism, Water Politics & Business, Software
- National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2010 Election, Prop. 23, Satellites, White House Solar Panels
- Digg, Obama, USAdmin, Climate Bill, Lobbyists, EPA vs. Wyoming, Al Gore
- Britain, Europe, Australia, Australian Election, China, Asia
- Canada, G20 Policing, Offshore Drilling, Saint-Jacques, Pelosi, Pipelines
- Security, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Sask, Ontario, Maritimes, North
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts, Courts
- Energy, Fracking, Wind, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Cars, Energy Storage
- Business, Insurance, Greenwashing, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
- 2010/09/08: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Peak
- 2010/09/08: MTobis: (cartoon - Toles) Seeking, er, Duly Diligent Consideration Tactics
- 2010/09/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) A matter of scale
An Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Climate Change happened this week without much fanfare:
- 2010/09/06: People's Daily: Asia-Europe Meeting on Climate Change opens in Vietnam
The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Climate Change opened on Monday in Vietnam's northern province of Quang Ninh, Vietnam News Agency reported. The two-day meeting, hosted by Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, drew more than 150 representatives from Vietnam, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Spain, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and Indonesia among others. - 2010/09/07: BBerg: CO2 Target Debate Is Irrelevant, Former UN Climate Chief [Yvo de Boer] Says
- 2010/09/08: SIFY: Rich countries may pay $10 bn this year: UN climate chief
- 2010/09/08: Guardian(UK): We can in Cancún -- former UN man has a plan
Erstwhile UNFCCC chief Yvo de Boer explains how to overcome the obstacles preventing a global climate deal from being signed - 2010/09/10: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Key steps on global warming need to be agreed in Mexico later this year
- 2010/09/07: UNDispatch: Is China Unwilling to Play the Climate Negotiation Game?
- 2010/09/10: TEC: Looking towards Cancun
Late comment on Geneva:
- 2010/09/07: FinExp: Nations rethink Copenhagen commitment on climate funding
- 2010/09/06: EurActiv: Progress seen on 'Green Fund' for climate deal
Almost 50 nations made progress on Friday (3 September) towards a 'Green Fund' to help poor countries fight global warming but hosts Mexico and Switzerland said a full UN climate treaty was out of reach for 2010. - 2010/09/06: IndiaTimes: Hope of deal in Cancun fades as rich break vow
Hope of progress on a global climate deal at the year-end Cancun summit is rapidly dimming with rich countries backtracking on their commitment to provide climate funds. Finance is a key issue for rebuilding trust among developing and developed countries. The two-day informal Geneva Dialogue on Climate Finance held late last week focused on sources of long-term climate finance, particularly the role of public and private funds. The developing world is concerned about the increased emphasis by industrialised countries on private sources and markets for climate funds. There is hesitation on the part of the rich countries to commit public funds on account of global financial crisis and the ensuing austerity cuts. - World Water Week
- 2010/09/07: TerraDaily: Access to clean water down due to urbanisation: UN
- 2010/09/07: Yahoo:AFP: Erratic global weather threatens food security
- 2010/09/05: TerraDaily: Pollution and worsening quality focus of World Water Week
Bees: Here is the study:
- 2010/09/: RSTB: (ab$) Flowering phenology, fruiting success and progressive deterioration of pollination in an early-flowering geophyte by James D. Thomson
Bees: And you can choose how you want to spin it:
- 2010/09/08: NewScientist: Bees and climate change cleared in pollination mystery
[...]
Many studies have shown that populations of pollinators are falling, but Thomson's is the best evidence yet that plants' ability to reproduce is being affected. Thomson's study site is pristine, local bees are not in decline and climate change does not appear to be affecting seasons at the site, leaving researchers casting around for an explanation. - 2010/09/07: CBC: Climate change tied to bee pollination decline
- 2010/09/08: USAToday: Studies: Climate change threatens bees, flowers, food
- 2010/09/08: Guardian(UK): Bees stung by 'climate change-linked' early pollination
- 2010/09/05: UToronto: Fears of a decline in bee pollination confirmed: may be due to climate change
- 2010/09/05: Eureka: Fears of a decline in bee pollination confirmed -- May be due to climate change
Widespread reports of a decline in the population of bees and other flower-visiting animals have aroused fear and speculation that pollination is also likely on the decline. A recent University of Toronto study provides the first long-term evidence of a downward trend in pollination, while also pointing to climate change as a possible contributor. - 2010/09/10: Science: (ab$) Future CO2 Emissions and Climate Change from Existing Energy Infrastructure by Steven J. Davis et al.
- 2010/09/09: CBC: Warming from today's CO2 emitters modest: study -- But it's important to stop building new devices now
- 2010/09/09: Eureka: Energy technologies not enough to sufficiently reduce carbon emissions, NYU's Hoffert concludes
- 2010/09/09: Eureka: Main climate threat from CO2 sources yet to be built
- 2010/09/10: KSJT: Chr. Sci Monitor, Time Mag, etc: Nobody's built stuff to really cook Earth. Or to save it either.
- 2010/09/09: PostMedia: Global warming is a winnable war, with proper planning: Study
Humans have yet to push the planet past the point of no return when it comes to global warming, according to the surprising results of a new study. It says that if people stopped building carbon dioxide-emitting power plants, factories, vehicles and homes today and allowed existing CO2-emitters to live out their normal lives, catastrophic climate change could likely be avoided. - 2010/09/09: CSM: Climate-change study: Today's power plants aren't the problem
- 2010/09/10: TEC: Decision time on climate change
- 2010/09/10: Guardian(UK): The scale of the low-carbon task is immense
We cannot hope to replace fossil fuel energy infrastructure and prevent unmanageable climate change at the current rate of growth in low-carbon energy - 2010/09/11: CBC:Q&Q: (mp3) Fading Phytoplankton
The Pakistan monsoon floods are a monumental tragedy:
- 2010/09/08: UN: Pakistani flood emergency still unfolding, UN relief chief warns during visit
- 2010/09/07: TerraDaily: Saving flood-hit Pakistan has global implications: UNDP
- 2010/09/07: DerSpiegel: After the Flood -- 'We Are Grateful for Any Help'
The scope of the disaster is becoming more and more visible as flood levels fall along the Indus River in Pakistan. In the Swat Valley, controlled by the Taliban only last year, US troops are now helping the victims. It remains unclear as to who will gain their trust -- the government, the West or the extremists. - 2010/09/08: CBC: Floods threaten parts of southern Pakistan -- UN says relief donations have slowed
- 2010/09/07: CBC: Jolie visits Pakistan's flood victims
American movie star Angelina Jolie met flood victims in northwestern Pakistan and appealed to the international community Tuesday to provide aid needed to help the country recover from its worst natural disaster. The flow of aid money has stalled in recent days, and officials expressed hope the two-day visit by Jolie -- who serves as a goodwill ambassador for the UN's refugee agency -- will persuade other countries and individuals to open their wallets. - 2010/09/07: UN: UN agency spotlights plight of pregnant women in Pakistani flood zone
- 2010/09/07: UN: New [UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos] spends first day at work in flood-hit Pakistan
- 2010/09/07: BBC: The UN has made a fresh appeal for Pakistan's flood victims as film star Angelina Jolie has arrived in the country to highlight their plight
- 2010/09/09: UN: UN relief chief pleads for more help for Pakistani flood survivors
- 2010/09/06: BBC: Latest Pakistan floods prompt fresh exodus from towns
At least 350,000 people are on the move in Sindh, fleeing the new flood surge Several hundred thousand more people have been forced to flee towns and villages in Pakistan's southern Sindh province amid fresh flooding. Water is gushing towards Dadu district after a breach in the Toori dam in the north of the already flood-hit region. In the past weeks all but four of Sindh's 23 districts have been deluged. - 2010/09/06: CBC: More than 8 million Pakistanis in dire need: UN
- 2010/09/05: Guardian(UK): Behind the photograph: the human face of Pakistan's deadly flood
- 2010/09/10: JQuiggin: A slow motion disaster (update)
- 2010/09/09: TerraDaily: Pakistan flood emergency far from over
- 2010/09/10: DemNow: Pakistan Flood Victims Tell of Suffering, Unfolding Disaster in Southern Sindh Province
- 2010/09/09: UrukNet: The Great Pakistani Deluge Never Happened -- Don't Tune In, It's Not Important
The Great Deluge in Pakistan passed almost unnoticed in the United States... - 2010/09/09: CBC: Pakistan floods affect 500,000 pregnant women
In Ecuador, Rafael Correa is still trying to swing this deal:
- 2010/09/07: EarthTimes: Ecuadoran President [Rafael Correa] says the world should pay for conserving nature
John Cook & friends are continuing the Basic and Advanced Versions of their denial counterpoints:
- 2010/09/08: SkeptiSci: A detailed look at climate sensitivity [AV]
- 2010/09/07: SkeptiSci: Climate and chaos [BV]
- 2010/09/09: SkeptiSci: The Little Ice Age: Skeptics skating on thin ice [BV]
- 2010/09/09: SkeptiSci: How we know the sun isn't causing global warming [AV]
- 2010/09/06: SkeptiSci: Ocean cooling: skeptic arguments drowned by data [BV]
- 2010/09/12: SkeptiSci: A history of satellite measurements of global warming [BV]
- 2010/09/11: SkeptiSci: Industrial CO2: Relentless warming taskmaster [BV]
Post CRU theft, controversy & inquiry:
- 2010/09/08: Guardian(UK): Oxburgh: UEA vice-chancellor was wrong to tell MPs he would investigate climate research
The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
- 2010/09/08: ClimateP: Major analysis finds "less ice covers the Arctic today than at any time in recent geologic history."
- 2010/09/07: BristolU: Balancing the risks of Greenland's melting ice sheet
- 2010/09/07: DWWSJ: Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Second Lowest Level On Record
- 2010/09/07: ASI: North Hole 2
- 2010/09/07: ClimateP: Arctic non-shocker: Ever-thinning sea ice melts out as area, extent, and volume approach record lows
- 2010/09/07: ASI: NSIDC Arctic sea ice news August 2010
- 2010/09/07: PhysOrg: Climate: New study slashes estimate of icecap loss
Estimates of the rate of ice loss from Greenland and West Antarctica, one of the most worrying questions in the global warming debate, should be halved, according to Dutch and US scientists. - 2010/09/09: ASI: Sea ice extent update 29: riding the slide
- 2010/09/09: ClimateP: NSIDC scientist: This year's rapid Arctic melt "suggests that the ice may have been on the thin side"
- 2010/09/09: NatureN: Collapse of the ice titans -- Monitoring Greenland's melting glaciers from a 15-metre long sailboat
- 2010/09/08: TDG: Arctic Melt Extreme in 2010, Again
The extent of Arctic sea ice is reaching the third-lowest point ever recorded, as the annual summer melt slows. Both the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route are open, and ships are navigating the once ice-locked channels. - 2010/09/09: TreeHugger: Last Time Arctic Was Ice Free Was 100,000+ Years Ago & That's Where We're Heading
- 2010/09/08: PostMedia: Another big-ice Arctic thaw, say experts
Arctic Ocean sea ice has experienced another severe meltdown this year, with the approaching end-of-summer minimum representing the third-biggest thaw since satellite monitoring began about 30 years ago. This year's retreat from a winter maximum of about 15 million square kilometres to a September coverage area of just five million square kilometres also means that the four greatest melts since satellite measurements began in the late 1970s have occurred in the past four years. - 2010/09/06: SciDaily: Melting Rate of Icecaps in Greenland and Western Antarctica Lower Than Expected
- 2010/09/05: ASI: North Hole
- 2010/09/10: CNN: 'Manhattan' ice island splits in two
Satellite images show ice island has broken in two - Original piece broke off Petermann Glacier in early August - Ice island moved into Nares Strait in early September - Scientists interested in the impact of its departure on the remaining ice - 2010/09/11: CCentral: As Arctic Melt Season Nears Finish Line, Researchers Look to Distant Past for Perspective
- 2010/09/11: SpaceDaily: Giant [Petermann Glacier] ice island breaks in two
- 2010/09/11: ASI: Race to Fram Strait 5
- 2010/09/11: PostMedia: Arctic ice 'continuing down in a death spiral' -- Experts say last four years have represented largest melts since monitoring began in late 1970s
Arctic Ocean sea ice has experienced another severe meltdown this year, with the approaching end-of-summer minimum representing the third-biggest thaw since satellite monitoring began about 30 years ago. This year's retreat from a winter maximum of about 15 million square kilometres to a September coverage area of just five million square kilometres also means that the four greatest melts since satellite measurements began in the late 1970s have occurred in the past four years. - 2010/09/09: PostMedia: Arctic ice melt threatens iconic narwhal, scientists warn -- Whales could become trapped, drown under massive ice floes
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
- 2010/09/08: EurActiv: Norway, Russia seal Arctic border accord
175,000 square kilometres of previously-disputed territory was finally carved up between Norway and Russia on Monday (6 September), after 40 years of negotiations with regard to exploiting the area for its oil and gas drilling potential. The area mainly covered the Barents Sea, preventing the commercial exploitation of oil and gas resources in a fossil fuel-rich area without being under clear international jurisdiction. A ceremony will take place in Murmansk in Russia on 15 September when the two countries sign a treaty agreeing to the final delineation of their Arctic maritime border, according to Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Detailed rules on possible crossings of the line by oil or gas deposits will still have to be ratified by the two countries' legislative assemblies. - 2010/09/06: Reuters: Norway, Russia to sign final Arctic border deal
Norway and Russia have agreed to a final delineation of their Arctic maritime border and will sign a treaty next week, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday. In April, Stoltenberg and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an initial agreement on the border after four decades of negotiations, paving the way to open the potentially oil- and gas-rich region for offshore exploration. - 2010/09/06: TCD: The imbalance of glaciers after disintegration of Larsen B ice shelf, Antarctic Peninsula by H. Rott et al.
The food crisis is ongoing:
- 2010/09/08: UN: Guatemala: UN agency hands out food to victims of landslides and floods
- 2010/09/08: ABC(Au): A three-kilometre long bed of locust eggs has been discovered west of Nyngan in central New South Wales
- 2010/09/08: ABC(Au): Floods haven't reduced locust threat: [Victorian Agriculture Minister Joe] Helper
The Victorian Government says that flooding has not reduced the threat of the anticipated locust plague. - 2010/09/07: SeedDaily: Walker's World: The food crisis
- 2010/09/07: SeedDaily: Erratic global weather threatens food security: experts
- 2010/09/07: CBC: Food crisis claims disputed by UN agency
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is downplaying fears of a global food crisis despite rioting and protests over the rising cost of food. A widespread drought in Russia, the world's No. 3 wheat exporter, is blamed for a drop in wheat production which has led to spiralling worldwide grain prices. Flooding in Pakistan, a severe drought in Syria, and traders speculating on food prices have also contributed to a food shortage and higher prices. The assistant director general of economic and social development at the UN [Hafez Ghanem] says what the world is seeing now is market volatility and turbulence, not a crisis. - 2010/09/07: UN: Renewed instability in global food markets requires urgent response - UN expert
- 2010/09/08: BPA: Stocks-to-use Ratios of Rice, Wheat, Cereal and Coarse Grains with a discussion on Food Security September 2010
- 2010/09/09: NakedCapitalism: Kalpa: Why Current Food Scares are Overhyped
- 2010/09/08: BNet: Food Stamp Participation Climbs 10%
[...]
26 million in September 2007, 31 million by September 2008, and in June 2010, the most recent report, 41 million people in 19 million households. Thirteen percent of the population, or more than one in eight people. - 2010/09/10: ABC(Au): Floods unearth 20km stretch of locust eggs
The Australian Plague Locust Commission says egg beds up to nearly 20 kilometres long have been exposed in north-western Victoria after the recent flooding - 2010/09/10: Guardian(UK): USDA cuts world wheat, US corn forecasts
USDA cuts world wheat forecast for fourth month in a row - USDA cuts US corn forecast by 2 pct, raises soy 1 pct - 2010/09/10: BBC: US cuts wheat production forecast
- 2010/09/10: SEDAC: Effects of climate change on global food production under SRES emissions and socio-economic scenarios
- 2010/09/09: GG&G: SEDAC is relatively optimistic about crop yields under climate change
- 2010/09/09: BNet: Food Stamps Slated For Cuts
- 2010/09/07: FAO: No food crisis seen, but greater market stability needed -- FAO Assistant-Director General [Hafez Ghanem] on current food situation
- 2010/09/06: FAO: The safe use of wastewater in agriculture offers multiple benefits -- Reduced costs for farmers and cities and improved water quality
- 2010/09/10: ABC(Au):TDU: Farmers' apocalypse: the globalisation of food supply
- 2010/09/10: Reuters: Climate change threatens livelihood, nutrition losses for Asia Pacific fishermen
Hopes, but nothing definite on the Pavlovsk Experimental Station:
- 2010/09/09: NatureTGB: New hope for threatened Russian [Pavlovsk Experimental Station] berry collection
- 2010/09/10: ScienceInsider: Good News for Imperiled Russian Seed Bank [a partial reprieve]
The food riots in Mozambique definitely focussed attention:
- 2010/09/06: CCurrents: Mozambique's Food Riots -- The True Face Of Global Warming
- 2010/09/08: DemNow: Raj Patel: Mozambique's Food Riots Are the True Face of Global Warming
- 2010/09/07: BBC: Mozambique reverses bread price rise in wake of riots
Mozambique says it will reverse the increase in the price of bread that sparked deadly riots last week. The announcement of the change in policy came from the planning minister, Aiuba Cuereneia, who also said the country would restore some subsidies for electricity and water. - 2010/09/07: CSM: Mozambique food riots belie African agricultural success
- 2010/09/06: CSM: Mozambique bread riots may be warning sign on African food security
- 2010/09/05: EnergyBulletin: Food rebellions: Mozambicans know which way the wind blows
So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?
- 2010/09/09: EUO: EU, US biofuels rules aggravating third world land grab, World Bank says
- 2010/09/08: TMoS: World Bank Backs Global Farming LandGrab
- 2010/09/08: EnergyBulletin: Large scale land investments do not benefit local communities
- 2010/09/10: SeedDaily: Major risks seen in large farmland sales
Large-scale disposal of farmland by governments carries potential risks for their communities and the environment and will build economic and social pressures as new corporate or foreign state owners move in, a World Bank report warned. Drawing on firsthand data from 14 countries, the report followed persistent reports of large-scale farmland acquisitions by foreign investors, including governments. China was reported to be in the forefront of foreign investors snapping up large tracts of farmland in Africa and Latin America in outright purchases or long-term lease. Corporate giants from North America were also seen behind the moves. - 2010/09/10: EnergyBulletin: World Bank on land grabs: It's all good unless you're African, a woman, disempowered, or poor
Regarding genetic modification of food:
- 2010/09/07: EurActiv: EU to check unauthorised GM potato crops in Sweden
The European Commission has asked German chemical giant BASF to explain how the company's yet-to-be approved genetically modified (GM) potato, Amadea, was grown in Swedish fields. - 2010/09/06: SeedDaily: EU summons BASF over 'illegal' [genetically modified] potatoes in Swedish field
- 2010/09/07: QuarkSoup: Genetically Modified Salmon
- 2010/09/10: CBC: Genetically modified salmon safe, FDA says
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2010/09/08: IaState: Iowa State study finds corn bred to contain beta-carotene is a good source of vitamin A
- 2010/09/06: EnergyBulletin: Why learn permaculture? For the children and ourselves
- 2010/09/07: TreeHugger: Could Perennial Fodder Crops Mean More Sustainable Livestock?
- 2010/09/10: CBC: Genetic find may curb parasitic plant [Striga]
- 2010/09/09: Grist: Our energy-gulping industrial food system revealed in eight bullet points
- 2010/09/10: UToronto: Discovery offers hope of saving sub-Saharan crops from devastating parasites [Striga aka witchweed]
- 2010/09/11: Grist: Three projects that are watering Detroit's 'food desert'
- 2010/09/10: EnergyBulletin: The future of our food system: Our changing climate and food availability
In the Atlantic, we had Earl, Gaston, Hermine & Igor blowing around:
- 2010/09/08: CNN: Hermine floods Texas cities; Igor moving in Atlantic
- 2010/09/08: PlanetArk: Hermine Lashes South Texas, 3 Other Storms Possible
- 2010/09/07: MTobis: Oh, Bother [Hermine]
- 2010/09/08: EarthTimes: Storm Hermine downgraded as rains swamp Texas
- 2010/09/07: ENS: Tropical Storm Hermine Formed Over Warm Gulf Waters
- 2010/09/07: Eureka: NASA saw strong T-storms in quick-forming Hermine's center, warm water to power it
- 2010/09/08: Wunderground: Major flooding in Austin from Hermine
- 2010/09/08: CBC: Tropical storm Igor forms in Atlantic
- 2010/09/07: CNN: Hermine weakens, but brings tornado warning and rain
Tornado watches and warnings issued in north Texas - Hermine triggers flooding and road closures in San Antonio - All coastal watches and warnings for Hermine have been canceled - It is expected to become a tropical depression later Tuesday - 2010/09/07: Wunderground: Hermine drenching Texas; Gaston's remains less organized
- 2010/09/06: Wunderground: Intensifying Hermine closes in on the Texas/Mexico coast
- 2010/09/07: EarthTimes: Tropical Storm Hermine makes landfall in Mexico
- 2010/09/06: EarthTimes: Northern Mexico braces for Hermine, which has killed eight
- 2010/09/07: BBC: Tropical Storm Hermine threatens to bring flash floods as it pushes through Texas into Oklahoma and Kansas...
- 2010/09/07: CBC: Tropical storm [Hermine] hits southern Texas
- 2010/09/06: TGBeaver: Tropical Storm Hermine
- 2010/09/09: CBC: Tropical storm Igor moving slowly
- 2010/09/06: CBC: Tropical storm Hermine heads for Mexico, Texas
- 2010/09/06: CNN: Hurricane watch issued for Texas, Mexico ahead of Hermine
Hermine less than 100 miles off the Mexican coast - Hermine could approach hurricane strength before landfall - Parts of Mexico and Texas could get 8 inches of rain - 2010/09/06: Wunderground: Hurricane watches for Mexico and Texas as Hermine suddenly develops
- 2010/09/05: Wunderground: Gaston still a threat to redevelop
- 2010/09/10: PhysOrg: TRMM satellite measures Hermine's severe Texas rainfall from space
- 2010/09/10: PlanetArk: Igor, 2 Other Tropical Systems No Threat To Gulf Of Mexico
- 2010/09/10: Wunderground: 92L still a threat to develop; record SSTs continue in the tropical Atlantic
- 2010/09/10: CBC: Igor back to tropical-storm strength
- 2010/09/12: CNN: Hurricane Igor intensifies in Atlantic Ocean
Igor is a Category 1 hurricane with winds of up to 80 mph - The hurricane is 1,230 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands in the Atlantic Ocean - Igor is expected to become a "dangerous Category 3" hurricane on Monday - 2010/09/11: TerraDaily: Storm Igor strengthens into hurricane: US govt
- 2010/09/11: Wunderground: Potentially dangerous 92L steadily developing; Igor nears hurricane strength
In the Pacific, Malou & Meranti raised a ruckus:
- 2010/09/08: CBC: Tropical storm Malou drenches Japan
- 2010/09/08: EarthTimes: Two missing at sea after typhoon [Malou] hits Chinese oil rig
- 2010/09/09: EarthTimes: Taiwan issues land and sea warning for Typhoon Meranti
- 2010/09/08: BBC: Two oil workers are missing and more than 30 have been rescued from a rig off China's north-east coast, which was damaged in [Typhoon Malou] a storm, state media says
- 2010/09/09: TerraDaily: 700 Taiwan aborigines trapped after landslides [due to Tropical Storm Meranti]
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2010/09/07: PhysOrg: CIMAS, NOAA research conduct innovative investigations to study Hurricane Earl
Over the last week, as Hurricane Earl threatened the east coast of the United States, hurricane scientists from NOAA Research's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and colleagues from the University of Miami's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) conducted a total of 18 hurricane hunter research flights, including the first ever flight by the unmanned NASA Global Hawk over a hurricane. - 2010/09/09: PhysOrg: Strengthening La Nina could mean more hurricanes
As for GHGs:
- 2010/09/07: Straight: Annual Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report shows emissions up [1%] in B.C. [to 68.7 megatonnes]
- 2010/09/08: ACS: Nitrous Oxide Goes With The Flow -- Greenhouse Gases: The Ohio River emits more nitrous oxide than predicted by current models
- 2010/09/09: EarthTimes: Sweden, South Africa agree need to verify greenhouse-gas cuts
- 2010/09/10: EurActiv: 'Minuscule' CO2 savings expected from EU scheme
The EU's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) is set to deliver no more than 0.3% carbon savings on total emissions in the current five year trading period, which ends in 2012, according to a new report by climate group Sandbag. - 2010/09/10: GreenGrok: CO2 Emissions: How Long Will This Keep Going On?
- 2010/09/10: EarthTimes: EU emissions fell almost 7 per cent in 2009, study estimates
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2010/09/09: CCP: Chuixiang Yi et al., Environ. Res. Lett., 5 (July-Sept. 2010), Climate control of terrestrial carbon exchange across biomes and continents
As for the temperature record:
- 2010/09/08: NOAANews: Fourth Warmest U.S. Summer on Record
- 2010/09/09: CCP: Jeff Masters: Hottest summer in history for 50 million Americans
- 2010/09/09: PhysOrg: Fourth warmest U.S. summer on record according to NOAA
- 2010/09/07: BaltimoreSun: Well, it's confirmed: It was a hot one
Summer of 2010 sets records for hottest and most days at or above 90 degrees. It's just another example of craziness in a year of weather extremes - 2010/09/10: PhysOrg: Sea temperatures around Japan hit record high
Japan, which has just endured its hottest summer on record, said Friday it had also last month recorded the warmest sea temperatures since it started gathering comparable data 25 years ago. - 2010/09/08: Eureka: Satellite data reveal seasonal pollution changes over India
Armed with a decade's worth of satellite data, University of Illinois atmospheric scientists have documented some surprising trends in aerosol pollution concentration, distribution and composition over the Indian subcontinent. - 2010/09/08: PhysOrg: Scientists discover nanodiamonds in Greenland ice
- 2010/09/08: SciNow: 'Deep Freeze' [Younger Dryas] Didn't Affect Southern Hemisphere
- 2010/09/08: Eureka: Study adds new clue to how last ice age ended [Younger Dryas] -- New Zealand glaciers melted as European glaciers briefly expanded
- 2010/09/09: PhysOrg: Oxygen production may have begun 270 million years earlier
Bacteria that produce oxygen may have evolved hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought, a new study into [stromatolites] ancient rock formations in Western Australia suggests. - 2010/09/12: HotTopic: Take a peek at Pukaki's climate history
While on the ENSO front:
- 2010/09/09: NOAA:NCEP: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion
Synopsis: La Niña is expected to last at least through the Northern Hemisphere winter 2010-11. - 2010/09/09: ClassM: An elegy for the oceans
- 2010/09/06: SciDaily: Lake Michigan Ecosystem May Crash: 'Doughnut' of Phytoplankton Disappearing
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2010/09/07: BBC: GOCE gravity satellite 'caught the cold'
Europe's gravity probe, GOCE, was knocked offline because some of its onboard systems got too cold as the satellite circled the Earth. The spacecraft is on a mission to make the most precise maps yet of how gravity varies across the globe. But when a fault appeared in its only functional computer, the flow of science data to the ground stopped. Controllers managed to recover the situation only when they turned the heat up inside the satellite. - 2010/09/07: ESA: GOCE gravity mission back in action
- 2010/09/08: Eureka: NASA satellite data aid United Nations' ability to detect global fire hotspots
- 2010/09/06: PhysOrg: A dimmer view of Earth
When Stanford climate scientist Christopher Field looks at visual feeds from a satellite monitoring deforestation in the Amazon basin, he sees images streaked with white lines devoid of data. The satellite, Landsat 7, is broken. And it's emblematic of the nation's battered satellite environmental monitoring program. The bad news: It's only going to get worse, unless the federal agencies criticized for their poor management of the satellite systems over the past decade stage a fast turnaround. Many, however, view that prospect as a long shot. "I would say our ability to observe the Earth from space is at grave risk of dying from neglect," said Field, director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University. - 2010/09/07: SciDaily: Termites Foretell Climate Change in Africa's Savannas
- 2010/09/06: ClimateP: Newark Star Ledger Editorial Board -- "Face facts: Climate change is unfolding as predicted"
"If the scientists are right, a lot of people are going to die as a result of climate change." - 2010/09/09: Wunderground: Flooding, tornadoes for TX, OK; dangerous 92L forms; 4th hottest summer for U.S.
- 2010/09/08: Eureka: Risk of beetle outbreaks rise, along with temperature, in the warming West
- 2010/09/05: OneIndia: 10 of 18 penguin species experience further serious population decline
- 2010/09/11: VoxEU: Climatopolis: How will climate change impact urbanites and their cities? by Matthew E. Kahn
Most scientists agree that climate change is underway or at least on the horizon. This column introduces the author's book 'Climatopolis: How Our Cities will Thrive in Our Hotter Future.' It outlines an optimism and an irony: Urban economic growth may have caused climate change, but through the free market, it will also help us to adapt to it. - 2010/09/08: CCP: George P. Asner, PNAS (2010), High-resolution forest carbon stocks and emissions in the Amazon
- 2010/09/07: Grist: 'Avatar' director vows to publicize Amazon tribe's eco-struggle
- 2010/09/07: TerraDaily: Drought, wildfires put Brazil under environmental emergency
- 2010/09/07: PlanetArk: New Detailed Map Shows Carbon In Peru's Amazon
- 2010/09/07: NatureTGB: An end to (large-scale) deforestation in the Amazon?
- 2010/09/07: NatureTGB: Counting carbon in the Amazon: the results are in
[...] The researchers calculated 395 million tonnes of carbon stored in more than 4.3 million hectares of forest in the Madre de Dios region of southeast Peru... - 2010/09/07: TreeHugger: Similar Tropical Forests Store Much Different Amounts of Carbon: New Report
- 2010/09/08: SciNews: What lies beneath -- Studies link deforestation to geology and agricultural demand
- 2010/09/08: Eureka: NASA satellites reveal surprising connection between beetle attacks, wildfire
- 2010/09/06: PhysOrg: Carbon mapping breakthrough
By integrating satellite mapping, airborne-laser technology, and ground-based plot surveys, scientists from the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology, with colleagues from the World Wildlife Fund and in coordination with the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), have revealed the first high-resolution maps of carbon locked up in tropical forest vegetation and emitted by land-use practices. These new maps pave the way for accurate monitoring of carbon storage and emissions for the proposed United Nations initiative on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). - 2010/09/06: SciDaily: The Forest Paradox During Heatwaves [Teuling]
- 2010/09/10: KSJT: Ecopolitology: Big fire in beetle-wrecked forest. But are dead trees more flammable, really?
- 2010/09/10: ENS: Tasmanian Timber Giant Retreats from Old Growth Logging
- 2010/09/12: TerraDaily: Logging spells danger for Europe's last primeval forest [the ancient Bialowieza forest in eastern Poland]
Climate refugees are becoming an issue:
- 2010/09/08: GlobalPost: Disasters drive mass migration to Dhaka
This week in extreme weather:
- 2010/09/09: SusBiz: Global Warming to Bring More Extreme Weather - Report
- 2010/09/12: KoreaHerald: 'Climate change to cause more freak weather'
Climate change was behind the wild weather fluctuations in the first half of this year, the Korean Meteorological Administration said Sunday. - 2010/09/08: CNN: Colorado wildfire torches 54 homes, 4 people missing, officials say
The 54 homes are in 5 to 10 percent of the burned area, officials said - 20 were initially reported missing, but 16 people were located - Gov. Bill Ritter has declared a state of emergency - Damage information about individual homes is hard to come by, an evacuee said - 2010/09/07: S&R: Four Mile inferno
- 2010/09/07: DM:BA: Boulder fire from space
- 2010/09/08: EarthTimes: Wildfires still raging in eastern Spain
- 2010/09/07: EarthTimes: Colorado wildfire forces thousands to flee
- 2010/09/07: ENS: Thousands Flee Worst Wildfire in Boulder, Colorado History
- 2010/09/07: PlanetArk: Eight Die As Wildfires Consume Russian Villages
- 2010/09/07: EarthTimes: Wildfires prompt evacuations in eastern Spain
- 2010/09/07: CBC: Colorado firefighters ramp up fight against wildfire
- 2010/09/08: TerraDaily: Colorado seeks help to douse wildfires
- 2010/09/08: EarthTimes: Eight reported missing as Colorado wildfire continues to burn
- 2010/09/09: CBC: Colorado wildfire destroys 135 homes
- 2010/09/06: DM:BA: Wildfire west of Boulder
- 2010/09/10: ColoradoIndependent: Still unchecked, Boulder fire sparks climate change, beetle kill debate -- Studies find climate change increases wildfire risk across West
- 2010/09/09: TerraDaily: Six dead in Kazakh forest fires close to Russia: official
- 2010/09/09: TerraDaily: [Colorado] Residents allowed home as US blaze contained
Corals are dying:
- 2010/09/08: TreeHugger: Small Networks of Marine Reserves Better Than Single Large Reserves for Preserving Fish & Coral
- 2010/09/08: Reuters: Protect corals with reef networks, U.N. study says
The world should safeguard coral reefs with networks of small no-fishing zones to confront threats such as climate change, and shift from favoring single, big protected areas, a U.N. study showed. - 2010/09/08: TreeHugger: Scientists Drill into Ancient Coral Reefs To Find Secrets About Surviving Rising Seas
- 2010/09/06: ABC(Au): Scientists to map carbon effect on Barrier Reef
Scientists are hoping a new study will help predict how rising levels of carbon dioxide will affect the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland. - 2010/09/10: ABC(Au): SCU holds coral reef conference
Threats to the world's coral reefs and ways to avert them will be under the spotlight in Coffs Harbour this weekend. More than 130 of the world's leading experts on coral reefs will present their latest findings at the Australian Coral Reef Society Conference. The conference starts tonight and runs until Sunday at Southern Cross University's Marine Science Centre. - 2010/09/08: DM:SRK: Ocean Acidifi-WHAT?!
Glaciers are melting:
- 2010/09/07: Guardian(UK): Deadly flood threat hangs over French Alpine village
Scientists are racing to prevent a build-up of water under a glacier on Mont Blanc from flooding the village of Saint-Gervais - 2010/09/10: Asahi: Mt. Fuji quickly losing permafrost
- 2010/09/11: SciDaily: Research Shows Continued Decline of Oregon's Largest Glacier
An Oregon State University research program has returned to Collier Glacier for the first time in almost 20 years and found that the glacier has decreased more than 20 percent from its size in the late 1980s. The findings are consistent with glacial retreat all over the world and provide some of the critical data needed to help quantify the effects of global change on glacier retreat and associated sea level rise. - 2010/09/12: CNN: Tidal bell takes toll of rising sea levels
Tidal bell placed in the banks of London's River Thames will sound at high tide - UK sculptor, Marcus Vergette hopes the bell will reinforce or relationship with environment - Thames bell is third to be installed in the UK - Sculptor hopes to place bells on 12 coastal sites - 2010/09/10: SeattlePI: Rising sea levels - how will Washington [state] cope?
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2010/09/07: TerraDaily: Toll from Guatemala, Mexico landslides rises above 50
- 2010/09/08: BBC: Hundreds of thousands hit by Mexico flooding -- Weeks of heavy rain have brought widespread flooding to wide swathes of eastern and southern Mexico.
- 2010/09/07: UN: UN agencies launch appeal to assist flood victims in Burkina Faso
- 2010/09/06: TerraDaily: Floods displace thousands more in Ethiopia
- 2010/09/06: EarthTimes: Death toll in Guatemala flooding, mudslides, rises to 44
- 2010/09/07: PressTV: Ethiopia floods displace thousands
Days of heavy rainfall and flooding in northeast Ethiopia have displaced another 16,000 people and caused extensive damage to agricultural crops, report says. - 2010/09/09: ABC(Au): Rains see dam levels reach 10-year high -- Recent heavy rain has seen Bundaberg and Burnett dam levels reach a 10-year high
- 2010/09/09: DailyRecord: NJ weather experts say heat, drought linked to global warming
- 2010/09/06: CBC: Guatemala mudslides death toll rises to 44
- 2010/09/05: TerraDaily: 'National tragedy' in Guatemala as landslides kill dozens
- 2010/09/06: TerraDaily: 53,000 on flood alert in Australia: officials
- 2010/09/05: EarthTimes: 42 dead in mudslides in Guatemala
- 2010/09/05: BBC: Landslides kill 36 in Guatemala
Guatemalan authorities say at least 36 people have been killed in landslides caused by weeks of heavy rains. - 2010/09/10: ABC(Au): Floods bring Murray back from the brink
The floods which have destroyed farmland and property in northern Victoria have been heralded as a godsend for farmers and fishermen on the mouth of the Murray River. - 2010/09/10: ABC(Au): Drought embankment on lower Murray [will be removed this weekend]
At the mouth of the Murray, water is about to flow naturally from Lake Alexandrina to Lake Albert for the first time in more than two years. - 2010/09/10: EarthTimes: Indian capital on flood alert as [Yamuna] river rises above danger level
- 2010/09/10: BBC: Flood fears in Delhi as Yamuna river overflows
Thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas near the Yamuna river in the Indian capital, Delhi. - 2010/09/11: TerraDaily: Nearly 70,000 left homeless by Chad floods: UN agency
- 2010/09/11: EarthTimes: Four dead in floods in the southern Philippines
- 2010/09/11: EarthTimes: River Yamuna floods parts of Delhi
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2010/09/07: NYT:GW: Once-Lowly Charcoal Emerges as 'Major Tool' for Curbing Carbon
- 2010/09/07: Eureka: Unusual feed supplement could ease greenhouse gassy cows
- 2010/09/07: ASA: Restoring Coastal Wetlands? Check the Soil -- Helping understand ecosystem changes and improving restoration with soil data
- 2010/09/09: Maribo: Drinking to save the climate
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation has somehow seemed chimeric:
- 2010/09/09: TerraDaily: New Climate Change Mitigation Schemes Could Benefit Elites More Than Poor [REDD]
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2010/09/06: PhysOrg: China to have 200 million vehicles by 2020
- 2010/09/08: ENS: NASA Summit Fosters Cleaner, Greener Aviation Future
- 2010/09/09: NYT: U.S. Steps Up Its Effort Against a European System of Fees on Airline Emissions
- 2010/09/10: TreeHugger: US Objects to Its Airlines Having to Pay For Their Pollution in EU Emission Trading Scheme
- 2010/09/09: Guardian(UK): The surprisingly complex truth about planes and climate change
A new study suggests that planes cause more warming than cars, while ships are cooling enough to counteract them both - 2010/09/12: TStar: Green jet fuel takes flight
- 2010/09/10: AutoBG: Report: China's auto population will exceed 200M by 2020; causing "serious environmental issues"
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2010/09/08: Grist: Chicago takes the LEED in eco building
- 2010/09/07: PhysOrg: Yes you can build a low-cost 'green' house
The greenest house in Lewis County, Ky., is a pleasant shade of blue -- and a model for future low-income housing. It is LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, which means it is an energy-efficient, durable and healthy place to live. - 2010/09/09: EurActiv: EU's next energy savings plan to focus on buildings
- 2010/09/06: BangkokPost: The green building boom
Environment-friendly architecture and construction gaining momentum but certification a challenge - 2010/09/08: SciNow: Tiny 'Flying Saucers' Could Save Earth From Global Warming
- 2010/09/07: Eureka: U of C scientist [David Keith] offers better ways to engineer Earth's climate to prevent dangerous global warming
- 2010/09/01: RoyalSoc: Geoengineering the climate: science, governance and uncertainty
- 2010/08/23: NERC:PEO: Experiment Earth?
Geoengineering, which aims to slow down or reverse climate change, is a hot topic. But what do people really think of it? Peter Hurrell describes NERC's recent efforts to find out. - 2010/09/07: PNAS: (ab$) Quantitative 3D elemental microtomography of Cyclotella meneghiniana at 400-nm resolution by Martin D. de Jonge et al.
- 2010/09/07: PNAS: (abs) Efficacy of geoengineering to limit 21st century sea-level rise by J. C. Moore et al.
- 2010/09/07: PNAS: [Letter$] How to sample the carbon isotopes of tropical ecosystems without leaving your armchair by Linda K. Ayliffe
- 2010/03/12: QSR(via doi): (ab$) History of sea ice in the Arctic by Leonid Polyak et al.
- 2010/09/07: PNAS: Climate not to blame for African civil wars by Halvard Buhaug
- 2010/09/: WJO: (ab$) Annual Bird Mortality in the Bitumen Tailings Ponds in Northeastern Alberta, Canada by Kevin P. Timoney & Robert A. Ronconi
- 2010/09/10: Science: (ab$) Future CO2 Emissions and Climate Change from Existing Energy Infrastructure by Steven J. Davis et al.
- 2010/09/09: ACP: Composition and temporal behavior of ambient ions in the boreal forest by M. Ehn et al.
- 2010/09/08: ACP: A closer look at Arctic ozone loss and polar stratospheric clouds by N. R. P. Harris et al.
- 2010/09/08: ACP: Multi-annual changes of NOx emissions in megacity regions: nonlinear trend analysis of satellite measurement based estimates by I. B. Konovalov et al.
- 2010/09/07: ACP: Climate effects of seasonally varying Biomass Burning emitted Carbonaceous Aerosols (BBCA) by G.-R. Jeong & C. Wang
- 2010/09/06: ACP: Joint spatial variability of aerosol, clouds and rainfall in the Himalayas from satellite data by P. Shrestha & A. P. Barros
- 2010/09/06: ACP: A combined observational and modeling approach to study modern dust transport from the Patagonia desert to East Antarctica by S. Gassó et al.
- 2010/09/09: ACPD: The relationship between 0.25-2.5 um aerosol and CO2 emissions over a city by M. Vogt et al.
- 2010/09/08: ACPD: First global distributions of methanol and formic acid retrieved from the IASI/MetOp thermal infrared sounder by A. Razavi et al.
- 2010/09/08: ACPD: Anthropogenic imprints on nitrogen and oxygen isotopic composition of precipitation nitrate in a nitrogen-polluted city in southern China by Y. T. Fang et al.
- 2010/09/08: ACPD: The European aerosol budget in 2006 by J. M. J. Aan de Brugh et al.
- 2010/09/08: ACPD: Large scale modeling of the transport, the chemical transformation and the mass budget of the sulfur emitted during the eruption of April 2007 by the Piton de la Fournaise by P. Tulet & N. Villeneuve
- 2010/09/07: ACPD: Scale-by-scale analysis of probability distributions for global MODIS-AQUA cloud properties: how the large scale signature of turbulence may impact statistical analyses of clouds by M. de la Torre Juárez et al.
- 2010/09/07: ACPD: Characterization of high-resolution aerosol mass spectra of primary organic aerosol emissions from Chinese cooking and biomass burning by L.-Y. He et al.
- 2010/08/28: GRL: (ab$) Effects of irrigation on global climate during the 20th century by M. J. Puma et al.
- 2010/08/15: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Simultaneous estimation of global present-day water transport and glacial isostatic adjustment by Xiaoping Wu et al.
- 2010/09/06: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Contrasting response of European forest and grassland energy exchange to heatwaves by Adriaan J. Teuling et al.
- 2010/09/08: CP: Statistical issues about solar-climate relations by P. Yiou et al.
- 2010/09/06: CP: A shift in the spatial pattern of Iberian droughts during the 17th century by F. DomÃnguez-Castro et al.
- 2010/09/09: CPD: TALDICE-1 age scale of the Talos Dome deep ice core, East Antarctica by D. Buiron et al.
- 2010/09/08: CPD: Southern Ocean warming and hydrological change during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum by A. Sluijs et al.
- 2010/09/07: CPD: Temperature trends at the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii by B. D. Malamud et al.
- 2010/09/06: CPD: Late Holocene climate variability in the southwestern Mediterranean region: an integrated marine and terrestrial geochemical approach by C. MartÃn-Puertas et al.
- 2010/09/: RSTB: (ab$) Flowering phenology, fruiting success and progressive deterioration of pollination in an early-flowering geophyte by James D. Thomson
- 2010/09/10: NERC:NORA: Lacustrine evidence of Holocene environmental change from three Faroese lakes : a multiproxy XRF and stable isotope study by Jesper Olsen et al.
- 2010/09/10: NERC:NORA: Decadal-scale rainfall variability in Ethiopia recorded in an annually laminated, Holocene-age, stalagmite by Andy Baker et al.
- 2010/09/09: NERC:NORA: Scenario-neutral approach to climate change impact studies: application to flood risk by C. Prudhomme et al.
- 2010/09/09: NERC:NORA: Agriculture as a phosphorus source for eutrophication in the north-west European countries, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and Ireland: a review by B. Ulen et al.
- 2010/09/07: NERC:NORA: Effects of climate change on soil erosion: Estimates using newly-available regional climate model data at a pan-European scale by Simon Dadson et al.
- 2010/09/07: NERC:NORA: Wetland inundation dynamics in a model of land-surface climate: Evaluation in the Niger Inland Delta region by Simon Dadson et al.
- 2010/09/10: ACP: Aerosol mass and black carbon concentrations, a two year record at NCO-P (5079 m, Southern Himalayas) by A. Marinoni et al.
- 2010/09/10: ACP: Improved measurement of carbonaceous aerosol: evaluation of the sampling artifacts and inter-comparison of the thermal-optical analysis methods by Y. Cheng et al.
- 2010/09/10: ACPD: Measurement of fossil fuel derived carbon dioxide and other anthropogenic trace gases above Sacramento, California in Spring 2009 by J. C. Turnbull et al.
- 2010/09/10: ACPD: Stability of temperatures from TIMED/SABER v1.07 (2002-2009) and Aura/MLS v2.2 (2004-2009) compared with OH(6-2) temperatures observed at Davis Station, Antarctica by W. J. R. French & F. J. Mulligan
- 2010/09/09: OSD: The effect of tides on dense water formation in Arctic shelf seas by C. F. Postlethwaite et al.
- 2010/09/08: TC: Reanalysis of multi-temporal aerial images of Storglaciären, Sweden (1959-99) - Part 2: Comparison of glaciological and volumetric mass balances by M. Zemp et al.
- 2010/09/08: TC: Reanalysis of multi-temporal aerial images of Storglaciären, Sweden (1959-99) - Part 1: Determination of length, area, and volume changes by T. Koblet et al.
- 2010/09/10: TCD: Do crustal deformations observed by GPS in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) reflect glacial-isostatic adjustment? by L. Mendoza et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2010/09/08: EST: [link to 1.3 meg pdf] Getting warmer: a field trial of heat pumps
- 2010/09/09: NERC: [link to 868k pdf] Geoengineering dialogue final report
- 2010/09/10: Sandbag: [link to 7.1 meg pdf] EU Emissions trading scheme threatens to trap Europe in a high carbon future
- 2010/09/10: REA: [link to 9.6 meg pdf] NREL Says Offshore Wind Could Power the US Four Times Over
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2010/09/09: CCP: Graham Cogley: Global snowline altitudes and climate change
- 2010/09/08: Eureka: Report issued today examines improving long-term climate forecasts
- 2010/09/09: AlterNet: Why Is College So Expensive? The War on Public Universities
- 2010/09/10: MGS: Scientists are real people
- 2010/09/09: NASA:JPL: New Report Seeks to Improve Climate Forecasts
- 2010/09/10: APSmith: Scientific group-think: the meteorite case
Cliff Crawford obit:
- 2010/09/07: JFleck: RIP Cliff Crawford
Regarding Curry:
- 2010/09/12: TWTB: Welcome to the blogosphere, Dr. Curry!
- 2010/09/11: ERabett: In which Eli pisses off Roger Pielke Jr. and Michael Tobis
- 2010/09/11: MTobis: Curry Blogs
Regarding Pielke Sr.:
- 2010/09/08: CCP: Roger The Dodger Pielke, Sr., again confuses upper ocean temperature with the temperature of the entire ocean
- 2010/09/08: SkeptiSci: Pielke Sr and scientific equivocation: don't beat around the bush, Roger
Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:
- 2010/09/08: IndiaTimes: Kyoto Protocol to continue past 2012: UN climate chief [Figueres]
As hopes for any deal on global warming dims at the Cancun meet later this year, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres today made it clear that the Kyoto Protocol will continue post 2012 as a second protocol since it does not have a "sunset" clause. - 2010/09/08: BWeek: New Carbon Markets May Pose 'Serious Challenge' to UN Program
- 2010/09/07: BBerg: UN 2010-2011 Carbon-Emissions Spread Widens to Record 92 Euro Cents a Ton
- 2010/09/08: BizStd: Carbon credit prices shoot up after probe constricts supply
- 2010/09/07: UN: UN green agency [UNEP] announces strategy to reduce size of its own carbon footprint
- 2010/09/08: Thaindian: More clarity and flexibilty needed for carbon trade
- 2010/09/05: Stoat: What to do with the IPCC
- 2010/09/10: BWeek: UN Risks 'Huge Mistake' in Carbon-Trading Probe: Energy Markets
A United Nations investigation into alleged improper claims for hydrofluorocarbon-pollution credits threatens to choke off investment in projects to curb emissions, according to Bill Clinton's former adviser on global warming. UN regulators froze new credits as they began a probe on July 30 into allegations by CDM Watch, an environmental lobby group, that some plants emitting hydrofluorocarbons were unfairly exploiting the system. Should the inquiry lead to new limits on expected credits, investors would abandon the UN market, the world's second-largest greenhouse-gas program, said Dirk Forrister, head of Clinton's 1997 task force on climate. "There is a possibility of a retroactive change, and that would be a huge mistake," said Forrister, now a managing director at Natsource LLC, a New York investment manager that has profited from HFC-destruction projects. - 2010/09/07: SolveClimate: World Bank Caught in Controversy Over Suspect Carbon Credits
Reformers say dangerous [HFC-23] refrigerants could be eliminated for $70 million a year, instead of $1 billion. - 2010/09/06: BBerg: Carbon Market Won't Have U.S. Cap and Trade This Decade: HSBC
- 2010/09/10: EurActiv: 'Minuscule' CO2 savings expected from EU scheme
The EU's emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) is set to deliver no more than 0.3% carbon savings on total emissions in the current five year trading period, which ends in 2012, according to a new report by climate group Sandbag. - 2010/09/10: EUO: Economic crisis has left ETS 'thoroughly obsolete' [Sandbag report]
The economic crisis, which has shut down manufacturers, idled factories and left lorries and ships with fewer products to transport, has rendered the EU's flagship climate change policy, the emissions trading scheme "obsolete," according to fresh research out on Friday (10 September). - 2010/09/10: Guardian(UK): EU emissions trading scheme on course to make tiny savings, says report
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
- 2010/09/06: PeakEnergy: No need to be afraid of a tax on carbon
The proposed Bank Tax refuses to die:
- 2010/09/06: CBC: EU ministers to discuss bank tax
European Union finance ministers are set to discuss the possibility of introducing a levy on banks and whether a tax on financial transactions could stave off another banking crisis, when they meet in Brussels Tuesday. - 2010/09/05: VoxEU: Can carbon labelling be development friendly? by Paul Brenton et al.
Is offsetting your carbon footprint always a good thing? This column questions the criteria used to label carbon footprints, arguing they can disadvantage developing countries. It suggests a variety of ways to overcome that problem. - 2010/09/08: TDC: Selling the blue sky
- 2010/09/07: SciAm: Making a Market for Pollution -- What does it take to trade in a commodity that cannot be seen or touched--and isn't even a commodity in the United States?
- 2010/09/09: TDC: Carbon trade or carbon con?
- 2010/09/11: Belfer: In Defense of [Carbon] Markets [Stavins]
Meanwhile on the international political front:
- 2010/09/07: NatureN: Big emitters team up [in US-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC)] -- US-China clean-energy collaboration targets coal and cars.
- 2010/09/09: NYT: U.S. Steps Up Its Effort Against a European System of Fees on Airline Emissions
As for GW, energy & security:
- 2010/09/07: Reuters: Analysis - Climate change may add to disaster death tolls
Natural disasters are tending to kill fewer people but climate change may add to the toll by unleashing more extreme weather and causing after-effects such as disease and malnutrition, experts say. - 2010/09/08: NatureN: 'Climate wars' claims disputed -- New research challenges idea that global warming will drive civil unrest
- 2010/09/07: DM:80B: Scientist Smackdown: No Link Between Climate Change and War in Africa?
- 2010/09/06: BBC: Climate shifts 'not to blame' for African civil wars
- 2010/09/06: NatureN: Climate change not linked to African wars -- Claims that global warming can drive civil unrest are hotly disputed
- 2010/09/10: NewScientist: Civil war in Africa has no link to climate change
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
- 2010/09/08: DemNow: Jailed for Facebook Friending: Animal Rights Activist Rod Coronado Ordered Back to Prison After Accepting Friend Request from Fellow Activist
- 2010/09/10: ABC(Au): Loggers sentenced for attacking Florentine protesters
Three Tasmanian forest contractors have been given community service orders for assaulting forest protesters in the state's south, two years ago. - 2010/09/06: DJID: Life vs. Productivity: "What Would You Live and Die to Protect?"
- 2010/09/08: HotTopic: McKibben's long and winding road
- 2010/09/07: Grist: A call for direct action in the climate movement: we need your ideas
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
- 2010/09/07: TerraDaily: Kazakh leader calls for diverting Siberian rivers south
- 2010/09/08: Columbia:EI: Irrigation's Cooling Effects May Mask Warming--For Now -- If Water Runs Short, Some Regions May Suffer Significantly
- 2010/09/08: Eureka: Saving a million acre-feet of water through conservation and efficiency in California -- Pacific Institute study identifies key next steps for California water
- 2010/09/08: Rabble: Keepers of the Water: A wake-up call from the North
- 2010/09/07: UN: Governments must ramp up action to ward off looming water crisis, UN report warns
- 2010/09/10: CBC: Hike water prices to stop waste: expert -- Former UN official [Yvo de Boer] calls for incentive to use water sensibly
- 2010/09/12: TerraDaily: Malaysia dam faces 'white elephant' claims
- 2010/09/07: UNEP: UNEP calls for 'greener' laws to avert world water crisis
As for SW tools:
- 2010/09/07: SEasterbrook: Launch of the Climate Code Foundation
And on the American political front:
- 2010/09/07: Grist: Stupid goes viral: The Climate Zombies of the new GOP
- 2010/09/07: TEC: [US] Climate Movement at the Crossroads
- 2010/09/09: Nature: [Editorial] Science scorned
The anti-science strain pervading the right wing in the United States is the last thing the country needs in a time of economic challenge. - 2010/09/09: ClimateP: The WashPost gets it wrong again: The replacement of old technologies by new ones drives growth
- 2010/09/09: UCSUSA: Kevin Knobloch Argues Congress Can Still Do a Lot on Energy
- 2010/09/06: PeakEnergy: Solar sites strangled by the squid?
- 2010/09/05: BBickmore: Tiptoeing Around Climate Change in Utah
- 2010/09/05: BSD: Denialist Attorney General shot down in Round 1
- 2010/09/09: UrukNet: The Great Pakistani Deluge Never Happened -- Don't Tune In, It's Not Important
The Great Deluge in Pakistan passed almost unnoticed in the United States... - 2010/09/11: Belfer: In Defense of [Carbon] Markets [Stavins]
- 2010/09/10: TEC: Decision time on climate change
- 2010/09/10: TP:WR: Jimmy Carter Was Right
- 2010/09/10: EnergyBulletin: Rearranging the deck chairs
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
- 2010/09/08: TreeHugger: Gulf Doctors Advised to Learn to Treat Oil-Related Illnesses
- 2010/09/08: NatureTGB: Oxygen "sags" and oil "snow storm" near spill site
- 2010/09/07: AlterNet: How Many Oil Rigs Will Explode Before We Realize the Future Lies with Clean Energy?
- 2010/09/07: WashingtonsBlog: Blood Tests Show Elevated Level of Toxic Hydrocarbons in Gulf Residents
- 2010/09/06: Guardian(UK): BP spill: White House says oil has gone, but Gulf's fishermen are not so sure
- 2010/09/09: PhysOrg: Oil dispersants' effects still largely a mystery
- 2010/09/08: EnergyDaily: Battle of oil titans as BP seeks to shift blame for spill
- 2010/09/09: NatureTGB: Oil spill science: On the oil trail
- 2010/09/08: LSU: LSU's WAVCIS Director Says Oil Remains Below Surface, Will Come Ashore in Pulses
- 2010/09/09: REA: Oil Spill Contained, Energy Policy Dies, Status Quo Blissfully Restored -- The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but...
- 2010/09/08: TP: Koch-Funded Oil Rally Calls Global Warming A 'Hoax,' Dismisses Oil Spill, And Attacks Democrats
- 2010/09/06: AlterNet: The Gulf Disaster Will Keep Destroying Lives For Years to Come -- Is There Anything We Can Do About It?
- 2010/09/08: BBC: BP faces backlash over Gulf oil spill report
- 2010/09/08: Guardian(UK): Gulf oil disaster: BP admits missing warning signs hours before blast
We are to blame -- but so are Transocean and Halliburton, concludes oil firm's report on Deepwater Horizon rig explosion - 2010/09/06: ClimateP: Fool me once, shame on Big Oil...
How many Gulf rigs need to explode before we realize the future lies with clean, safe energy that never runs out? - 2010/09/08: AlterNet: Congressman: BP "Openly Blackmailing the American Government"
- 2010/09/12: NatureTGB: Oil spill science: Shallower plume found at Deepwater Horizon site
So how do you figure the 2010 elections will crack up?
- 2010/09/08: ClimateP: Climate and clean energy jobs legislation: Carly Fiorina was for it before she was against it
- 2010/09/08: Grist: Michigan governor's race: Snyder vs. Bernero
- 2010/09/07: McClatchyDC: Can 'cap and trade' ever be the issue 'Obamacare' is?
- 2010/09/08: LA Times: Global warming bill a lose-lose issue for GOP candidates
Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina have wavered on Proposition 23, trying to appease their conservative base without alienating independent voters. Fiorina finally came out in favor of it last week. - 2010/09/07: TEC: Is Arizona's Clean Energy Future Clouded by Dirty Politics? [2010 election]
- 2010/09/07: TWM: Entering the final stretch, an ugly finish line awaits...
- 2010/09/09: SolveClimate: Is Murkowski's Loss an Omen of a Coming Tilt toward Climate Denialism? Mixed feelings among environmentalists over defeat of a traditional foe
- 2010/09/09: ClimateP: Science scorned: The journal Nature warns, "The anti-science strain pervading the right wing in the United States is the last thing the country needs in a time of economic challenge."
- 2010/09/09: ClimateP: The coming climate election: Tea party extremists backed by Big Oil and corporate polluters want to stop and then reverse all efforts to advance clean energy or avoid catastrophic global warming
- 2010/09/09: Grist: Florida governor's race: Sink vs. Scott
- 2010/09/08: TEC: Memo to Media: Republican Senate Candidates are Global Warming Deniers
- 2010/09/08: WVNS: Rockefeller Tells W.Va. Not to Deny Global Warming
The senator is a supporter of the evidence pointing to global warming, feeling some need to be open to the science.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu joined Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Wednesday to tout technology that promises to bury greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants underground, but not before the senator criticized some people in his home state for denying global warming.
[...]
"People think they are protecting coal by pretending climate change doesn't exist or that (by saying) carbon capture and storage is not needed," he said. "But burying one's head in the sand is not a solution." - 2010/09/10: SolveClimate: Sestak and Toomey: Night and Day on Climate and Energy in Pennsylvania Senate Race -- Battle heating up for coveted seat in coal and gas rich state
- 2010/09/09: TEC: Republican Candidates Wield Cap and Trade as Political Weapon
- 2010/09/10: Grist: Stupid goes viral: Climate Zombies in IA, MO, UT, VT, and WA
- 2010/09/09: TP:WR: Jay Rockefeller Rebukes Coal-Powered Climate Deniers: 'Burying One's Head In The Sand Is Not A Solution'
- 2010/09/09: DeSmogBlog: Nature Editorial Slams GOP For Anti-Science Tendencies
In California Proposition 23 is turning out to be a real battle:
- 2010/09/07: UCSUSA: Out-of-State Oil Interests Fund Ballot Measure to Block CA Clean Energy Law
- 2010/09/07: ClimateP: Federal, state, and local leaders unite against Prop 23
- 2010/09/09: BayCitizen: Chevron Sits Out Big Oil's Prop. 23 Fight
- 2010/09/10: LA Times: Fight over bid to suspend California's global warming law gets ugly
George Shultz warns of the dangers of dependence on foreign oil, and backers of Proposition 23 respond with attacks on him and his co-chairman in the opposition campaign, Thomas F. Steyer. - 2010/09/09: SacBee: Study: Suspending climate law would benefit oil, power companies
- 2010/09/10: HuffPo: No on California Prop 23: Reversing Course on Climate Policy Is the Real Job Killer
- 2010/09/09: TP:WR: Study Finds That Fiorina's Push To Repeal California's Clean Energy Law Would Result In Job Losses
- 2010/09/10: AlterNet: Out-of-State Billionaire Oil Barons Pour Seven Figures into California's Climate-Killing Prop 23
- 2010/09/11: SacBee: UC study slams Prop. 23 -- Delaying climate change law would aid energy companies
Didn't somebody get fired for saying this a few years ago?
- 2010/09/06: PhysOrg: A dimmer view of Earth
When Stanford climate scientist Christopher Field looks at visual feeds from a satellite monitoring deforestation in the Amazon basin, he sees images streaked with white lines devoid of data. The satellite, Landsat 7, is broken. And it's emblematic of the nation's battered satellite environmental monitoring program. The bad news: It's only going to get worse, unless the federal agencies criticized for their poor management of the satellite systems over the past decade stage a fast turnaround. Many, however, view that prospect as a long shot. "I would say our ability to observe the Earth from space is at grave risk of dying from neglect," said Field, director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University. - 2010/09/09: TreeHugger: Will President Obama Put Free Solar Panels on the White House Roof?
- 2010/09/10: CCP: Whitehouse Wankers Refuse to use solar panels on the roof of the White House: guess we know where Obama stands
- 2010/09/10: DM:DB: Jimmy Carter's Infamous Solar Panels Won't Return to the White House Roof
- 2010/09/10: CSM: Solar panels on the White House? Not on Obama's watch
President Obama is the biggest booster of renewable energy since President Jimmy Carter. But on Friday he declined -- or White House officials declined for him -- to follow Mr. Carter's footstep and put solar power on his home rooftop - 2010/09/09: DemNow: Unity College Students & Bill McKibben Launch Road Trip to Reinstall Jimmy Carter Solar Panel Back on White House Roof
- 2010/09/10: Guardian(UK): Barack Obama: 'no' to solar panels on the White House roof
- 2010/09/11: TreeHugger: Denied: White House Rebuffs Efforts To Put Solar On Its Roof
Late comment on that Digg scandal:
- 2010/09/08: ClimateP: Digg this: Conservative efforts to manipulate the public discussion extend to social media
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
- 2010/09/07: Grist: Obama: Rebuild America by slashing oil tax breaks
- 2010/09/08: NYT:CW: Obama's Climate Image Blurs as He Nears Last Half of Presidential Term
- 2010/09/10: ClimateP: Some pundits challenge my statement, "Future generations are likely to view Obama's choice of health care over energy and climate legislation as a blunder of historic proportions."
- 2010/09/10: TreeHugger: Was Obama's Choice to Pass on Climate a "Blunder of Historic Proportions"?
- 2010/09/10: OilDrum: Letter to President Obama: Yes We Could, But Are We?
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2010/09/07: WaPo: DOE giving $575 million in carbon capture grants
- 2010/09/07: TEC: EPA Chief: Veto Coming If Congress Tries Blocking Carbon Pollution Clean-Up
- 2010/09/09: TEC: Energy Department Blocks Disclosure of Road Map to Relieve Critical U.S. Energy-Water Choke Points [admin & H2O biz]
- 2010/09/06: AutoBG: Dealers flunk the EPA: NADA [National Automobile Dealers Association] not happy with proposed fuel economy letter grades
- 2010/09/09: Yahoo:AP: EPA officials: Kansas must revise air permit process
- 2010/09/10: NOAANews: NOAA Sea Grant Initiates $1.2 Million Community Climate Change Adaptation Initiative
- 2010/09/10: TreeHugger: US Objects to Its Airlines Having to Pay For Their Pollution in EU Emission Trading Scheme
- 2010/09/09: ENS: EPA Gets an Earful at Coal Ash Disposal Hearings
- 2010/09/10: NYT:GW: Federal Agencies Outline Plans for Curbing Fossil Fuels, Emissions
The White House released federal agencies' sustainability plans yesterday, providing the first detailed glimpse of how the government plans to decrease its greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years. - 2010/09/08: BBerg: U.S. Won't Pass Carbon-Price Law for Power Generators This Year, Reid Says
- 2010/09/02: TEC: Reid Says Passage of Renewable Energy Standard Still Possible
- 2010/09/08: Grist: Does the RES stand a chance?
- 2010/09/08: TEC: It's The Real Thing: The Power of Koch
We are at a critical juncture, as a backlash appears to be derailing action on climate change. If progressive groups want to address this threat, we need to understand the interests, strategies, and cultural politics at play. - 2010/09/09: SolveClimate: Thousands of Jobs Riding on Extension of Clean Energy Cash Grant Program -- Propsects uncertain for bipartisan effort to extend December deadline to 2012
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2010/09/07: PRWatch: Koch-Funded "Americans for Prosperity" Astroturfs Regional Greenhouse Gas Program
I wonder how this will play out...:
- 2010/09/11: Google:AP: Governor [Dave Freudenthal] to EPA: Wyo can't regulate greenhouse gas
- 2010/09/11: CasperStarTrib: Governor: Wyoming can't control greenhouse gases
Gov. Dave Freudenthal this week told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that Wyoming cannot implement that agency's "Tailoring Rule" in regard to the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. EPA is preparing rules for how it will impose limits on greenhouse gas emissions. For now, the agency is targeting facilities that emit 25,000 tons or more per year, requiring those facilities to obtain special permits. Such a review typically results in requiring that a facility install "best available control technology" - in this case for greenhouse gases. The Tailoring Rule describes which facilities would be exempt from such reviews, such as farms, restaurants and other small facilities. It's an attempt to focus on the nation's largest industrial sources of greenhouse gases. But Freudenthal says an anti-Kyoto Protocol law, inserted by the Legislature into the Wyoming Environmental Quality Act in 1999, prevents the state from participating in the regulation of greenhouse gases -- even when it comes to describing which facilities might be spared from regulation. - 2010/09/06: LA Times: Los Angeles school named after Al Gore
While in the UK:
- 2010/09/08: BizGreen: Solar panel pioneers at risk of missing feed-in tariff deadlines
Industry fearful that large number of solar and micro wind early adopters have not yet registered to enter feed-in tariff scheme - 2010/09/08: EST: Heat pump field trial
- 2010/09/08: BBC: Business Secretary Vince Cable has unveiled plans for a squeeze on public funding for scientific research
- 2010/09/08: BBC: Heat pumps 'need tighter regulations'
Domestic heat pumps need to be subject to tighter regulations in order for them to deliver widespread energy savings, a report has concluded. - 2010/09/09: BBC: Universities too focused on research, says Willetts
Science Minister David Willetts has said the research-teaching balance has "gone wrong" in universities, after defending cuts to science research. - 2010/09/08: Guardian(UK): The greenest government ever? Only if the Treasury can be tamed
The silence from Osborne and Cable is ominous. The next few weeks are crucial to keep the low-carbon economy on track - 2010/09/06: Herald: Collision course
For months it has been discussed behind closed doors. It is one of the most important policy documents produced by the Scottish government, and now it has come out of the shadows. The "proposals and policies" report leaked to the Sunday Herald outlines how ministers plan to meet their ambitious target of a 42% cut in climate pollution by 2020. The report contains more than 30 specific measures across several areas of policy, all designed to reduce the emissions that are helping to trigger floods, storms and droughts around the world. It is, by any standards, a hugely ambitious venture that has already received many bouquets and brickbats. It gives a taste of the many battles to come, if the government is serious about making Scotland a truly low-carbon economy. - 2010/09/06: TreeHugger: Can Big Society Save the Planet, and Squash Big Government Too?
- 2010/09/10: Reuters: UK govt told to cut 2020 biofuels target
10 pct biofuel goal risks undesirable effects - "Significant risk" of UK not meeting wider green targets - 2010/09/10: Guardian(UK): UK climate watchdog warns against raising renewables targets
- 2010/09/10: TreeHugger: UK Biofuels Target Should Be Reduced to Protect Tropical Forests: Government Climate Advisors
- 2010/09/12: Independent(UK): Britain must adapt to 'inevitable' climate change, warns minister
As experts call for action now, the coalition withholds green funding and appeals to private enterprise - 2010/09/08: EurActiv: EU to define 'vulnerable' energy customers
The EU is set to draft a definition of energy poverty in a bid to put consumers on the bloc's energy policy agenda. - 2010/09/06: Reuters: German energy watchdog wants faster grid expansion
- 2010/09/09: EurActiv: UN-backed report calls for levy to protect biodiversity
A UN-sponsored report on the economics of biodiversity suggests the adoption of market-based instruments, such as additional levies to enforce sustainable use of ecosystem services, including water, forests and endangered species. - 2010/09/06: EurActiv: MEPs re-allocate crisis funds to energy efficiency
MEPs voted last week (2 September) to use 115 million euros of unspent recovery plan money from the EU's recovery plan on projects to improve energy efficiency in the regions. - 2010/09/10: EurActiv: EU floats method for handing out free CO2 permits
The European Commission's climate department yesterday (9 September) announced it had identified some 50 product benchmarks for allocating free CO2 emission permits to industry amounting to around 100 billion euros until 2020. - 2010/09/10: EarthTimes: EU leaders to debate energy policy at special February summit
- 2010/09/10: EarthTimes: EU emissions fell almost 7 per cent in 2009, study estimates
- 2010/09/09: DerSpiegel: On the Wrong Track -- Exploding Costs Threaten German Rail's High-Speed Future
A new report reveals that the controversial "Stuttgart 21" rail project is likely to be the latest in a series of Deutsche Bahn ventures to go massively over budget. If the plug gets pulled on the project, it will cause enormous damage to Germany's vision of a Europe-wide high-speed rail network. - 2010/09/07: NPDaily: Germany revives nuclear to green energy mix
- 2010/09/07: DerSpiegel: Green Visions -- Merkel's Masterplan for a German Energy Revolution
Giant windparks, insulated buildings, electric cars and a European supergrid: the German government on Monday unveiled an ambitious but vague blueprint to launch a new era of green energy for Europe's largest economy. - 2010/09/07: DerSpiegel: The World from Berlin -- Merkel's Energy Plan Is 'A Gift to the Nuclear Industry'
Germany's nuclear plants were due to be phased out by 2021. Now Chancellor Merkel has given them a 12-year reprieve as part of a transition to a low-emissions future. German commentators are critical of the government's new energy strategy, calling it a victory for the nuclear lobby. - 2010/09/06: BBerg: German Nuclear Power Extension Threatens Offshore Wind Funding
- 2010/09/06: Reuters: German local utilities, renewables slam nuclear plan
A decision to extend the lifespans of German nuclear plants in a two-tier strategy will create more dissent and discourage investment, associations for the country's local utilities and renewable industry said. - 2010/09/06: Guardian(UK): Germany agrees to extend life of nuclear power stations
- 2010/09/06: EarthTimes: Eco-lobby vows fight as Merkel lauds energy 'revolution'
Berlin - Germany's anti-nuclear movement Monday vowed to fight on against plans to allow atomic energy plants to run up to 2050, as Chancellor Angela Merkel lauded her government's new energy strategy as a "revolution." "Our energy supply will be the most efficient and the most environmentally friendly in the world," Merkel said. On Sunday the cabinet reached a late-night deal which would see the country's 17 nuclear plants run, on average, 12 years longer than planned, with some remaining in production until well into the 2030s. - 2010/09/06: WNN: Nuclear a cash cow for Germany's plans
German nuclear power plants are set to operate for longer after a policy change from Angela Merkel's government gave them a short-term extension in return for billions in taxes. [...] Reactors built before 1980 would be allowed to operate for a further eight years beyond [2021] limits imposed in 2002, and newer reactors would gain another 14 years. - 2010/09/05: BBC: Germany agrees to extend nuclear plant life span
Germany's coalition government has decided to extend the life span of the country's nuclear power plants by an average of 12 years, officials say. Under the agreement, some plants will now remain in production until the 2030s, instead of being phased out by 2021 as the previous government wanted. There will also be new fees on utility companies to fund renewable energy. Chancellor Angela Merkel argued that renewable sources are not developed enough to abandon nuclear power. - 2010/09/08: ABC(Au): Forestry Tasmania is under continuing criticism over its plan to generate electricity using woodchips
- 2010/09/08: ABC(Au): Floods haven't reduced locust threat: [Victorian Agriculture Minister Joe] Helper
The Victorian Government says that flooding has not reduced the threat of the anticipated locust plague. - 2010/09/09: BNC: Another ZCA 2020 Critique -- will they respond?
- 2010/09/09: ABC(Au): Rains see dam levels reach 10-year high -- Recent heavy rain has seen Bundaberg and Burnett dam levels reach a 10-year high
- 2010/09/06: PeakEnergy: No need to be afraid of a tax on carbon
- 2010/09/06: WtD: Things that scare me: the "Great Australian Summer"
- 2010/09/10: ABC(Au): Additional rebate offered for installing solar power
Gascoyne residents are being encouraged to take up an offer of an additional rebate when they install solar power technology. Both the federal and state governments offer cash rebates to householders that install photovoltaic systems that feed excess energy back into the power grid. - 2010/09/10: ABC(Au): Committee raises questions over carbon capture
A Victorian parliamentary committee has found there are still more questions than answers about the potential of storing carbon in soil - 2010/09/11: SMH: Combet to push ahead with carbon price
Newly-promoted cabinet minister Greg Combet says climate change remains a tremendous environmental challenge that demands careful economic reform. Mr Combet is one of the big winners of the new Gillard government ministry, the make-up of which was announced by the prime minister on Saturday. He enters cabinet as climate change and energy efficiency minister, replacing Penny Wong who he assisted for the past year. - 2010/09/08: ABC(Au): Climate's right for change to carbon debate
Greens MP Adam Bandt and the independents who threw their lot in with Labor have made it clear they would like to see the Federal Government take action to address climate change. - 2010/09/08: PlanetArk: Analysis: Nod For Australia's Labor Likely Boost For CO2 Law
- 2010/09/07: Guardian(UK): Australian Greens: 'We don't want to be just a coal mine for China'
Australia's new minority government must balance the economic benefits of a booming coal industry with an electorate calling for climate action - 2010/09/07: ENS: Australia's New Government a Brighter Shade of Green
- 2010/09/07: Guardian(UK): Australian election: Greens key to success of new government
- 2010/09/07: Guardian(UK): Australia's 'rainbow coalition' can expect a bumpy ride
- 2010/09/07: SolveClimate: Green Party Assumes Pivotal Role in New Australian Government
Minority government must deliver on climate reform and carbon pricing in return for support from Greens - 2010/09/07: NatureTGB: Gillard clings onto power in Australia with climate concessions
- 2010/09/07: JQuiggin: The miracle of democracy, Part IV
It's finally over, and the outcome (if it holds) looks like the best possible... - 2010/09/07: Reuters: Analysis: Nod for Australia's Labor likely boost for CO2 laws
Australia is now much more likely to introduce a price on planet-warming carbon pollution after support by independents and Greens returned the Labor Party to office on Tuesday. - 2010/09/07: BWeek: Australian Greens Seek 'Fast, Furious' Climate Steps
- 2010/09/07: PeakEnergy: New Australian Government Formed
- 2010/09/07: BBC: Australia PM Julia Gillard to form minority government
- 2010/09/07: CBC: Australia's Labor Party to form government [under Julia Gillard]
- 2010/09/06: BBC: Australia poised for 'kingmaker' MPs' decision
- 2010/09/09: PlanetArk: Australian Government Prepared To Adjust Mining Tax
- 2010/09/09: JQuiggin: Coalitions
- 2010/09/08: BizGreen: Gillard promises new approach to climate policy -- Australian Prime Minister could ditch emissions trading plans in favour of alternative mechanism for pricing carbon
- 2010/09/11: ABC(Au): Gillard unveils major frontbench shake-up
- 2010/09/09: ABC(Au):TDU: Climate change: a policy challenge
- 2010/09/08: ABC(Au):TDU: Labor lost the war, but won the peace
- 2010/09/11: BBC: Australia PM Julia Gillard announces cabinet
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has named her cabinet, four days after returning to power with a tiny majority backed by independent MPs. - 2010/09/09: SMH: Beijing's iron fist on emissions has industry gasping
- 2010/09/09: PeakEnergy: China blacks out towns to meet energy goal
- 2010/09/09: BBC: China U-turn on enforced power cuts in Hebei
Thousands of people in China are to have their electricity restored after the reversal of an order for enforced power cuts to meet energy-saving goals. - 2010/09/07: PlanetArk: Indonesia Could Cut CO2 By 70 Pct By 2030: Report
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2010/09/06: HillTimes: Government's strategy on climate change? Just wait and see what U.S. will do
'Canada so far easily the worst performing country on climate change in the rich world,' says expert. - 2010/09/06: TMoS: Has Environment Canada Been Compromised by Conservative Intimidation?
The G20 policing issue grinds on:
- 2010/09/07: CBC: G20 protester launches $1M lawsuit
A lawsuit claiming more than $1 million in damages has been launched against Toronto police by one of the G20 protesters. Natalie Gray says she was shot twice by what she believes were rubber bullets during a demonstration on Sunday, June 27. After the shooting, "she was driven around in a police car for 30 minutes before she was taken to the hospital to receive treatment for her injuries. She was then taken to the detention centre on Eastern Avenue, where she was taunted by police officers, denied access to her asthma medication, strip searched and denied access to counsel, despite her repeated requests to speak to a lawyer. Natalie was detained for approximately 30 hours before she was released on bail the next day," said a statement from the office of her lawyer, Clayton Ruby. Gray had all charges against her dropped on Aug. 23. - 2010/09/07: PostMedia: Chevron failed to meet own offshore training promises: Audit
The company that has been exploring for oil at record depths off Canada's Atlantic coast did not keep its promises to train workers to respond to an offshore oil spill, according to audit records obtained exclusively by Postmedia News. - 2010/09/10: ChronicleHerald: N.S. to extend drilling ban -- Dexter: Province 'seeking further protections' for Georges Bank, may introduce legislation for permanent moratorium this fall
The Tories have a new climate change negotiator:
- 2010/09/07: Google:AFP: New top climate change negotiator [for Canada] appointed
- 2010/09/07: PostMedia: Ottawa appoints chief climate change negotiator
The Harper government has quietly filled a key international climate negotiating position it had left vacant for nearly six months. In a statement released Tuesday night, the government announced that Guy Saint-Jacques, a veteran Canadian diplomat, had been appointed as chief negotiator and ambassador for climate change. - 2010/09/10: PostMedia: Green appointment panned -- Climate-change czar waste of cash: critics
Canada's newly appointed climate change ambassador says his position is necessary, even though the government had left it vacant for six months through key negotiations on the international stage, including this summer's G8 and G20 summits in Ontario. In an interview with Postmedia News, Guy Saint-Jacques, the Conservative government's new chief climate change negotiator, said he would be able to bring greater focus and higher attention to global warming issues which he has followed since the late 1980s.
[...]
Saint-Jacques's appointment was met with criticism that the government would be wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on salary, staff and travel costs, without any change in policy. - 2010/09/10: EnergyBulletin: Pelosi's probe: oil sands & America's addiction to oil
US House of Representatives Speaker and California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi arrived in Canada last week ostensibly to get the real goods on Alberta's oil sands. As an environmentalist up for re-election in November, Ms. Pelosi is under pressure from her constituents about the carbon footprint of the oil the US gets from its Number One supplier -- the Canadian oil sands.
[...]
Notwithstanding this, unless the US undergoes an epiphany and realizes that a paradigm shift is necessary in order to avoid the inevitable collision of growing consumption of oil and other resources with limits imposed by a finite planet, Canadian oil sands will continue to flow. Ms. Pelosi and other politicians may pay lip service to the obvious environmental constraints but the US really doesn't have many alternatives as long as it is addicted to oil. - 2010/09/08: PostMedia: Martin: Despite Pelosi's visit, oilpatch should be suspicious the fix is in
When the third-highest-ranking politician in the Obama administration comes to Canada with her energy sidekick, oilsands producers and royalty addicted premiers rush into line for an arm-twisting opportunity. But House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's voting record, her iffy re-election prospects, her meeting mix of aboriginal and environmental delegations along with her choice of political tagalong suggest the fix is in. - 2010/09/08: PostMedia: Ed Stelmach will attempt to 'reason' with Nancy Pelosi -- Premier to offer reminder of Alberta's value to U.S. market
- 2010/09/08: G&M: Oil sands to dominate agenda on Nancy Pelosi's visit to Canada -- U.S. House Speaker and environmentalist will hear from both sides in private meetings in Ottawa
- 2010/09/09: CBC: Pelosi hears oilsands concerns
Canadian environmentalists say they are encouraged by meetings with U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, describing her as committed to reducing fossil fuels and interested in learning more about the impact of Canada's oilsands. Several environmental and First Nations leaders met Thursday in Ottawa with Pelosi and Ed Markey, chair of the U.S. House of Representatives select committee on energy independence and global warming. - 2010/09/09: PostMedia: U.S. politicians put Canada on the defensive over oilsands
- 2010/09/09: NRDC:SwitchBoard: What the Speaker means by "clean energy goals" doesn't square with the Canadian government spin
- 2010/09/08: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Markey to hear directly about tar sands from Canadians
- 2010/09/09: CBC: Oilsands chat with Pelosi 'open, candid': Stelmach -- U.S. politician is also to meet Charest and First Nations groups
- 2010/09/09: G&M: U.S. Speaker Pelosi a willing listener in crucial oil-sands talks
Alberta Premier says meeting went 'better than I thought' after long dinner with Democrat - 2010/09/10: G&M: U.S. Speaker calls for cut in oil imports
- 2010/09/09: TStar: Canada's oil exports threatened by U.S. boycott
- 2010/09/10: TStar: Pelosi prompts a needed debate on tarsands
- 2010/09/11: BowiesBlog: Pelosi met with Ignatieff, not Harper
- 2010/09/11: LFR: Harper too busy to meet with Pelosi. Translation: screw her, she's a Democrat.
- 2010/09/07: OSW: Our Message to Madam Speaker
- 2010/09/09: PI: Environmental groups comment on meeting with U.S. House Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Markey
The pipeline debates continue:
- 2010/09/06: Dominion: Stopping the Flow -- Quebec Climate Action Camp takes on the Enbridge Trailbreaker project [pipelines]
- 2010/09/10: CBC: Enbridge criticized for 2nd pipeline leak [in Illinois]
- 2010/09/11: Yahoo:AP: EPA: Ill. oil pipeline leak slowing, size unclear
- 2010/09/10: NBF: Pipeline Accidents in the US
GW & Security with a Canadian twist:
- 2010/09/07: TStar: Climate change could drag Canadian military onto front lines
A navy planner says the Canadian Forces must be ready to be called to the front lines in the battle against the effects of climate change. A recently published article by Lt.-Cmdr. Ray Snook of the defence department's directorate of maritime strategy says the military may have to step in if conflicts flare over dwindling supplies of food and water. - 2010/09/07: Straight: Annual Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report shows emissions up [1%] in B.C. [to 68.7 megatonnes]
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2010/09/08: TreeHugger: Birds Killed by Canadian Tar Sands Projects At Least Seven Times Greater Than Official Stats Show
- 2010/09/08: ChronicleHerald: Study: 30 times more birds dying at oilsands than officials say
- 2010/09/: WJO: (ab$) Annual Bird Mortality in the Bitumen Tailings Ponds in Northeastern Alberta, Canada by Kevin P. Timoney & Robert A. Ronconi
- 2010/09/07: CBC: Oil industry lowballs bird deaths: study -- Annual death rate related to tailings ponds at least 30 times higher, ecologist says
A new study says birds are likely dying in Alberta oilsands tailings ponds at a rate that is at least 30 times higher than that suggested by the oil industry. The results add weight to arguments that depending on the industry to monitor its own environmental impacts isn't working, said Kevin Timoney, an ecologist who co-authored a paper on the subject with Dalhousie University biologist Robert A. Ronconi. - 2010/09/09: CBC: Suncor charged over stormwater runoff in Athabasca
- 2010/09/09: Tyee: Canada Helps Create an Oil Sands World -- Alberta is showing the way for nations with similar reserves. Brace for a global 'age of tough oil.'
- 2010/09/08: CBC: First Nations take Ottawa to court over caribou
Alberta First Nations and environmental groups are going to court to force the federal government to protect northern Alberta caribou herds. Lawyers for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Enoch Cree First Nation and the Beaver Lake Cree Nation filed an application for a judicial review Wednesday morning at the Federal Court in Edmonton. "Today is kind of historic for us, because we have finally come to the realization that enough is enough," said Chief Al Lameman of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation. "Our animals are suffering because of the oil exploration that's going on." The First Nations will argue that as federal minister of the environment, Jim Prentice is required to issue an emergency order to protect caribou habitat. They will also claim that Prentice must file a recovery plan for the animals, as required under the Species at Risk Act, said Jack Woodward, the Victoria-based lawyer who is representing the First Nations. - 2010/09/09: ChronicleHerald: Fight for caribou heads to court -- Challenge launched to halt new oilsands developments
- 2010/09/08: SOE: Where the Blame Lies [Schindler study & tarsands]
- 2010/09/05: PostMedia: Town opposes industry role in cancer panel -- Committee studying disease rates to include oilsands representatives
Residents of this northern Alberta town oppose a provincial proposal to have the oilsands industry participate in a health study on cancer rates. Industry members would sit on the oversight committee managing the study, according to the proposal. "I don't believe industry should be part of this committee," said Steve Courtoreille, a councillor of the Mikisew Cree First Nation. "If there are people sitting on the oversight committee that are connected (to industry), they're going to have instructions as to what steps they have to take to look after the best interests of who they're serving." The provincial government expressed interest in the study after a report from the Alberta Cancer Board in February 2009 stated cancer rates were 30 per cent higher than expected in Fort Chipewyan. - 2010/09/06: ACR: Fox in the henhouse. Alberta tar sands.
- 2010/09/01: Ecologist: Canada tar sands industry ignoring toxic river pollution
Study contradicts Alberta government and industry claims that pollutants are from natural sources and not from the expanding production of oil from tar sands - 2010/09/09: PostMedia: Shun oilsands, save 'billions': Greenpeace -- Environmental group issues report as Stelmach talks energy with U.S. House speaker
Canadians could save billions of dollars while reducing greenhousegas emissions and creating thousands of jobs if the country plots a new energy strategy that turns away from the oilsands industry, says a new report to be released today. The study, produced by the European Renewable Energy Council and Greenpeace International, is being released in advance of a world energy conference in Montreal and suggests the oilsands sector could become obsolete by 2050 through domestic and international policies that reduce demand for the resource. - 2010/09/07: Guardian(UK): Tarnished Earth: the destruction of Canada's boreal forest [9 tarsands pix]
- 2010/09/10: CBC: James Cameron to check out Alberta oilsands
Avatar director James Cameron will travel to Alberta to see the oilsands for himself. In a letter to Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, the Hollywood director says he has scheduled a three-day trip starting Sept. 27. - 2010/09/09: AutoBG: Edmonton will go from trash to gas in 2011 thanks to Enerkem Alberta Biofuels
- 2010/09/11: CBC: [Alberta's] Oilsands campaign hits Times Square
In Saskatchewan the question is still potash:
- 2010/09/07: CBC: PotashCorp could see other suitors: CEO
The head of PotashCorp. of Saskatchewan Inc. said a number of parties have expressed interest in alternative transactions for the Canadian fertilizer giant and he expects a number of companies to make bids to accompany BHP Billiton's offer. But chief executive officer Bill Doyle said in a video posting on the company's website Tuesday that PotashCorp is poised to achieve results that "far surpass BHP's inadequate offer." - 2010/09/07: AutoBG: Toronto hydro chief: Electric car upswing would crash grid
- 2010/09/09: CBC: Wind farm protesters greet Ont. premier
In the Maritimes:
- 2010/09/07: CBC: Insurer blames East's weather for rate hikes
An insurance company is raising its home insurance rates in Atlantic Canada by nearly nine per cent, in part because of extreme weather like Hurricane Earl. Scott Beattie, regional vice-president of business development for Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co., says more frequent catastrophic weather events are to blame for the increase. - 2010/09/08: CBC: New rules urged for N.B. hydro-fracking mining -- Moratorium needed, Mount Allison University professor says
Bradley Walters, a Mount Allison University professor, says the New Brunswick government should prohibit further hydro-fracking projects until more research is conducted.Bradley Walters, a Mount Allison University professor, says the New Brunswick government should prohibit further hydro-fracking projects until more research is conducted. (Courtesy of Bradley Walters) New Brunswick should issue an immediate moratorium on the relatively new mining practice of "hydro-fracking" until more research into potential risks is completed, according to an environmental policy expert. Bradley Walters, a geography and environmental studies professor at Mount Allison University, writes in an election analysis for CBC News that the next New Brunswick government should temporarily prohibit any new projects. The provincial election takes place Sept. 27. - 2010/09/07: CBC: 2nd tanker going to Northwest Passage
A fuel tanker stuck in the Northwest Passage will be joined later this week by a second tanker that will help siphon some of the 9.5 million litres of diesel on board. The Merchant Vessel Nanny ran aground Sept. 1 on a sandbar about 50 kilometres southwest of Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, in Simpson Strait within the Arctic passage. - 2010/09/08: OilDrum: Peak Oil, Carrying Capacity and Overshoot: Population, the Elephant in the Room - Revisited
- 2010/09/06: CCurrents: Why Learn Permaculture? For The Children And Ourselves
- 2010/09/07: EnergyBulletin: Climbing a dark mountain: Thoughts on a new culture
- 2010/09/12: OilDrum: Joseph Tainter's 2009 Speech - Human Resource Use: Timing and Implications for Sustainability
And in the Transition movement:
- 2010/09/05: EnergyBulletin: Steel, cycling and Steeltown
- 2010/09/09: CCurrents: Politics In The Great Transition
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2010/09/08: AlterNet: The Right-Wing Has Made It Next to Impossible for Many Women to Get Abortions
- 2010/09/11: Grist: The GINK videos -- Our planet's population in miniature
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2010/09/06: Xinhuanet: World facing mass extinction: Australian scientist [Alroy]
- 2010/09/10: NNutS: The collapse of complex societies: Joseph Tainter
- 2010/09/09: DU: Fruit Flies in a Bottle
As for how the media handles science:
- 2010/09/07: ClimateP: PBS ombudsman Getler whitewashes the Koch-funded greenwashing episode of Nova that whitewashes the threat of human-caused climate change
- 2010/09/07: NRDC:SwitchBoard: The Media, Climate Science, and Deniers: Time to Tell a New Story
- 2010/09/08: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Bambi v. Godzilla: A Critique of Pure Ideology
- 2010/09/05: ClimateP: Global warming science is still evolving, but not in the direction the disinformers think -- Simon Lewis debunks another flawed Wall Street Journal editorial
- 2010/09/05: ClimateP: George Will embraces Walter Russell Mead's risible anti-science revisionism
- 2010/09/09: CleanBreak: Arctic ice loss is far from normal: study; Sun hack calls the bad news good for Canada
- 2010/09/07: CJR: NYT Pushes BP's PR Line on Its Ability to Pay -- The massively profitable company's poverty claim hits A1 of the Times - unchecked
Something to watch for:
- 2010/09/07: TNW: AP Begins Crediting Bloggers as News Sources
In a letter to its members last week, Associated Press made the announcement that bloggers should be cited as a news source. This is a significant move from the AP, given that they have a history of not exactly 'getting on' with bloggers. Given that such a large news organisation has made a point of recognising bloggers as a viable news source, which they should have done a long time ago, it has much wider implications on how bloggers affect the news agenda and overall news industry. - 2010/09/07: CSW: Forthcoming book by Michael Mastrandrea and Stephen Schneider: "Preparing for Climate Change"
- 2010/09/06: HotTopic: [Book Review] _The Environmental Politics of Sacrifice_ ed. by Michael Maniates & John Meyer
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2010/09/07: SkeptiSci: What do you get when you put 2 climate scientists and 52 skeptics in a room? [Schneider on TV]
- 2010/09/06: AFTIC: Johan Rockstrom TED talk: "Let the environment guide our development"
As for podcasts:
- 2010/?/?: FS: FSN In Depth: Joseph A. Tainter PhD, The Collapse of Complex Societies
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2010/09/08: CBC: First Nations take Ottawa to court over caribou
- 2010/09/09: Yahoo:AP: Alaska sues to lift Arctic drilling suspension
- 2010/09/09: NYT:GW: 12 States Ask Supreme Court to Review Greenhouse Gas 'Nuisance' Case
Challenging the appropriateness of using the courts to address climate change, Indiana and 11 other states are urging the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision that would allow greenhouse gas emitters to be sued for their contribution to global warming. The case, American Electric Power v. Connecticut, is headed to the Supreme Court this fall after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided last year that other states, including Connecticut and New York, had standing to sue coal-fired utilities for their share of the damage caused by climate change. Their lawsuit, joined by environmental advocacy groups and New York City, argues that greenhouse gas emissions can be limited by the courts because they are a "public nuisance" under common law. - 2010/09/08: CBC: Bay of Fundy may get world's largest turbine
The company that recently installed the world's largest tidal turbine off the coast of Scotland wants to test the same machine in the Bay of Fundy off Nova Scotia. Atlantis Resources Corp. is prepared to install the unit -- an 18-metre rotor diameter turbine that can power up to 1,000 homes -- at a site near Parrsboro, N.S., next year, Joseph Fifon, the company's director of corporate development, said Tuesday. - 2010/09/08: REA: China is the Most Attractive Country for Renewables Investment
China has succeeded the US as the most attractive location in which to invest in renewable energy projects, according to Ernst & Young's latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices - 2010/09/08: OpenDem: Energy security
- 2010/09/07: EnergyBulletin: Coal and oil: the dark monarchs of global energy (student thesis) by Mikael Höök
- 2010/09/07: Guardian(UK): Feel the heat: Paris Mètro to warm flats
- 2010/09/07: TreeHugger: China Beat US in Offshore Wind, Europe Still Trounces Everyone Else in Solar Power
- 2010/09/07: OilDrum: Rewarding results: how should we support the development of renewables?
- 2010/09/07: REA: Wave Hub Marine Energy Project Installed Off Coast of England
- 2010/09/07: REA: What's a Watt?
- 2010/09/09: NewScientist: Japan to begin drilling for methane in undersea slush
- 2010/09/09: OilDrum: US electrical generation - Where we are now
- 2010/09/06: PeakEnergy: Hot rocks and high hopes
- 2010/09/06: PeakEnergy: Tata, Origin to develop Indonesian geothermal power plant
- 2010/09/10: TEC: Why Oil Prices Aren't Going Down
- 2010/09/11: OilDrum: Global Oil Supplies as Reported by EIA's International Petroleum Monthly for September 2010
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2010/09/08: CBC: New rules urged for N.B. hydro-fracking mining -- Moratorium needed, Mount Allison University professor says
- 2010/09/09: MSoderstrom: More Evidence that We Need to Cut Down Our Energy Requirements: Gas from Shale Pollutes
- 2010/09/06: TreeHugger: Wyoming Town Close to Drilling Told To Avoid Drinking Water
- 2010/09/09: Yahoo:Reuters: Rural Pennsylvania town [Eagles Mere] fights big gas
In the rush to develop America's biggest new source of domestic energy, one community is fighting to protect its rural way of life from the environmental strains that accompany shale gas drilling. - 2010/09/10: PhysOrg: US asks firms to reveal [fracking] gas extraction liquid
- 2010/09/10: Grist: EPA asks firms for info on gas-fracking liquids
- 2010/09/10: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Thumbs up for EPA hydraulic fracturing investigation, but Antero--did you really say this?
- 2010/09/10: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Incidents where hydraulic fracturing is a suspected cause of drinking water contamination
- 2010/09/10: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Another reported case of drinking water contamination after hydraulic fracturing in Texas
- 2010/09/09: NRDC:SwitchBoard: More cases of drinking water contamination in Texas with suspected links to hydraulic fracturing: "regular reports"
- 2010/09/09: NRDC:SwitchBoard: EPA hearings next week will give New Yorkers the chance to say no new drilling until we get some answers!
- 2010/09/09: CSM: EPA to natural gas companies: Give details on 'fracking' chemicals
- 2010/09/10: ProPublica: EPA's Letters to Fracking Companies Request Information, With a Legal Threat
- 2010/09/08: ProPublica: Do 'Environmental Extremists' Pose Criminal Threat to Gas Drilling?
The answer my friend...:
- 2010/09/06: TEC: The trouble with wind power [in the USA]
- 2010/09/07: BBC: Huge growth at largest wind farm
A massive expansion is to take place at Europe's largest onshore wind farm, which is situated in East Renfrewshire. ScottishPower Renewables is to add another 75 turbines to Whitelee wind farm on Eaglesham Moor by 2012.
[...]
The expansion will see its generating capacity increase from 322MW to 539MW... - 2010/09/09: REA: 450-MW Wind Farm Online in Oregon
- 2010/09/09: EnergyBulletin: Steady Growth of Wind Industry Moves EU Closer to Green Goals
Europe is in the midst of a wind energy boom, with the continent now installing more wind power capacity than any other form of energy. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, the European Wind Energy Association's Christian Kjaer describes his vision of how wind can lead the way in making Europe's electricity generation 100 percent renewable by 2050. - 2010/09/07: TEC: Record-Breaking Solar Cell Efficiency for Oerlikon, Corning [thin-film silicon 11.9%]
- 2010/09/08: REA: CIGS Manufacturers Making Efficiency and Safety Gains
- 2010/09/07: NewScientist: Green machine: Squeezing solar juice from jellyfish [a photovoltaic device based on green fluorescent jellyfish protein]
- 2010/09/06: Eureka: Three-quarters of new solar systems worldwide were installed in the EU in 2009
- 2010/09/07: REA: Producing Solar Below 70 Cents a Watt
- 2010/09/07: REA: Desertec Solar Hopes Cloud over as Support Starts To Waver
- 2010/09/08: TEC: The Sun Shines On Jersey: How Garden State Developments Are Turning Solar Panels Into Selling Points
- 2010/09/09: REA: Solar Cell, Heal Thyself -- New self-assembling photovoltaic technology can keep repairing itself to avoid any loss in performance
- 2010/09/06: PhysOrg: At the 25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (Valencia, Spain), Imec presents several large-area silicon solar cells with a conversion efficiency above 19%.
- 2010/09/05: Eureka: MIT researchers create new self-assembling photovoltaic technology that repairs itself
- 2010/09/10: PlanetArk: SunPower To Research Large-Scale Energy Storage
- 2010/09/10: REA: ATI Energia Launches First Major PV Installation
On the coal front:
- 2010/09/07: Grist: Coal industry flack combines chutzpah and illogic into tasty agitprop stew
- 2010/09/08: Oregonian: Mining companies aim to export coal to China through Northwest ports
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2010/09/08: SolveClimate: Corn Ethanol Boom Driving 'Dead Zone' Expansion, Federal Scientists Say
- 2010/09/09: Eureka: The pros and cons of Miscanthus -- uses more water, leaches less nitrogen
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2010/09/08: TEC: Nuclear Energy Deserves to be On Everyone's List of Clean Energy Alternatives
- 2010/09/07: BNC: IFR FaD 6 -- fast reactors are easy to control
- 2010/09/08: EnergyBulletin: Thorium reactors -- The new free lunch
- 2010/09/10: PlanetArk: Analysis: Argentina Revives Its Nuclear Energy Ambitions
- 2010/09/10: TEC: Hyperion to build small modular reactor at Savannah River
Yes we have peak everything:
- 2010/09/08: PhysOrg: Are some governments taking 'peak oil' seriously?
- 2010/09/08: NatGeo: Mining the Truth on Coal Supplies -- A view that the world's leading electricity fuel...is running out
Most estimates are that the world has abundant coal reserves, like those at this coal mine in northeast Wyoming near Gillette. But a new analysis that takes into account coal quality concludes that supplies may not be as ample as widely thought. - 2010/09/09: AutoBG: Three governments, two worries: oil surpluses vs. peak oil
- 2010/09/10: TCoE: Coal is peaking... or is it?
- 2010/09/06: FuturePundit: German Military Study Warns On Peak Oil
- 2010/09/10: EnergyBulletin: Battle of the think tanks in peak oil reports
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2010/09/08: Reuters: Smart meters alone may not save much energy -study
- 2010/09/08: AutoBG: DOE: Two million smart meters now installed in national grid
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2010/09/07: AutoBG: David Suzuki: Why even electric vehicles won't save us
- 2010/09/07: CBC: Electric car ends coast-to-coast trip
An engineering student from B.C. is claiming to be the first person to cross mainland Canada in an electric car. Ricky Gu, 21, arrived in Halifax in his converted 1972 Volkswagen Beetle on Monday night. "It feels great," he told reporters. "I can't believe we made it without a single problem at all." Gu built the electric car himself, funding the project through grants from the University of British Columbia. Sponsors donated about $25,000 in parts. But the cost of driving coast to coast was much cheaper. "It cost about $3 for every 300 kilometres. So 6,500 kilometres, it cost about $64 in electricity!" said Gu. - 2010/09/07: AutoBG: Toronto hydro chief: Electric car upswing would crash grid
- 2010/09/09: PhysOrg: Hyundai unveils South Korea's first electric car [BlueOn]
- 2010/09/08: TEC: Diesel Hybrids Arrive
- 2010/09/05: AutoBG: Low gas prices pose a problem for efficient vehicles coming to market
As for Energy Storage:
- 2010/09/10: AutoBG: Report: EEStor invites U.S. government agencies to technology demo
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2010/09/10: Yahoo:Reuters: BP evicted from ethical index, delays Q3 results
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
- 2010/09/07: CBC: Insurer blames East's weather for rate hikes
- 2010/09/07: UN: Insurance industry urges climate change help for developing world - UN
- 2010/09/07: BizGreen: Insurers demand key role in climate adaptation
Coalition of insurance firms issue statement urging governments to support public-private initiatives designed to accelerate rollout of climate-related insurance policies - 2010/09/06: UNEP: Insurers call for more action to adapt developing world to climate change
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
- 2010/09/08: TP: California Public Schools Invited BP To Help Develop Environmental Curriculum
- 2010/09/10: DemNow: Why is Oil Giant BP Helping Develop California Schools Environmental Curriculum?
- 2010/09/11: CSW: BP involvement in developing California schools environmental curriculum: A proper role?
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
- 2010/09/10: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for September 10...
- 2010/09/09: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for September 9...
- 2010/09/08: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for September 8...
- 2010/09/07: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for September 7...
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2010/09/08: SMandia: Top 10 Blog Posts
- 2010/09/08: NRDC:SwitchBoard: India Climate Change and Energy News - Week of August 31, 2010 to September 5
- 2010/09/09: Stoat: Winky
- 2010/09/10: Grist: A walk through the week's climate news -- The Climate Post: Climate bill finally dead enough to be fondly remembered
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2010/09/08: IJISH: Climate inactivists ignore real anti-science PR machine, postulate unnamed 'warmist PR machine'
- 2010/09/07: HotTopic: The "inconsistencies" of Chris de Freitas
- 2010/09/07: MTobis: Fullerminations
- 2010/09/07: DeSmogBlog: Koch Industries Funds Attack on Science Linking Formaldehyde and Cancer
- 2010/09/09: IJISH: (Digression) Spero News promotes "Judeo-Christian values", same owner behind Climate Depot
- 2010/09/09: Grist: The right's climate denialism is part of something much larger
- 2010/09/09: Deltoid: Temperatures and Projections [TVMOB]
- 2010/09/08: TEC: It's The Real Thing: The Power of Koch
We are at a critical juncture, as a backlash appears to be derailing action on climate change. If progressive groups want to address this threat, we need to understand the interests, strategies, and cultural politics at play. - 2010/09/08: TP: Koch-Funded Oil Rally Calls Global Warming A 'Hoax,' Dismisses Oil Spill, And Attacks Democrats
- 2010/09/08: TP:WR: Deutsche Bank: 'Human-Made Climate Change Is A Serious Long Term Threat'
- 2010/09/10: DeSmogBlog: Deutsche Bank Debunks Skeptics, Focuses Investment on Global Warming Solutions
- 2010/09/10: TWTB: Tom Fuller's climate misdirection at WattsUpWithThat, Part II
- 2010/09/10: MTobis: Ingrate
- 2010/09/12: Deltoid: About Time
- 2010/09/11: JKB: Ryanair's CEO Michael O'Leary says it's horseshit
- 2010/09/07: PRWatch: Koch-Funded "Americans for Prosperity" Astroturfs Regional Greenhouse Gas Program
- 2010/09/11: SkeptiSci: The contradictory nature of global warming skepticism
- 2010/09/10: Guardian(UK): The hockey stick graph remains an illusion by Andrew Montford
Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:
- 2010/09/09: ENS: EPA Gets an Earful at Coal Ash Disposal Hearings
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2010/09/08: DVoice: Alien Forest, Alien Ocean, Alien Sky
- 2010/09/08: AlterNet: OK, I Take It Back -- We Don't All Have to Eat Vegan to Save the Planet
- 2010/09/07: ClimateP: Philippe Cousteau: "Time is running out for ourselves and future generations."
- 2010/09/07: Deltoid: Stephen Schneider and the skeptics
- 2010/09/06: ClimateSight: Priorities
- 2010/09/09: HotTopic: Paint it bleak
- 2010/09/09: TreeHugger: Being An Environmentalist and Preservationist Can Get You Killed
- 2010/09/06: BVerheggen: The problem is that it's not our problem (but rather that of future generations)
- 2010/09/06: SkeptiSci: Spanish and Catalan translation of the Scientific Guide to 'Skeptics Handbook'
- 2010/09/10: PlanetArk: World Bank Appoints Clean Energy "Czar" [Daniel Kammen]
- 2010/09/10: SkeptiSci: Using Skeptical Science to improve climate literacy by Lee Tryhorn
- 2010/09/12: TSoD: Heat Transfer Basics -- Part Zero
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- UNEPFI: UNEP Finance Initiative - Innovative financing for sustainability
- Ice911
- NERC:PEO: Planet Earth Online
- Big Picture Agriculture
- USDA: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [aka Food Stamps]
- World Water Week
- Nothing New Under The Sun
- CIESIN: Center for International Earth Science Information Network - Columbia University
- Wiki: Marine isotope stage
- GEOSS: Global Earth Observation System of Systems
- GristMill
- CarboEurope
- CCI: Climate Change Institute
- EPA: Global Warming
- ARCSS: Arctic System Science Program
- Kerry Emanuel's Homepage
More in the black humour vein:
Looking ahead to COP16 and future international climate negotiations:
World Water Week went down in Stockholm this week:
This study looks likely to be spun:
There was an unnerving interview of Boris Worm on Quirks&Quarks this week:
As for the charismatic megafauna:
While in Antarctica:
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
While in the paleoclimate:
And the State of the Oceans:
More GW impacts are being seen:
And then there are the world's forests:
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
Acidification is changing the oceans:
Sea levels are rising:
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
Meanwhile in the journals:
While at the UN:
And on the carbon trading front:
How will Carbon Labelling work?
The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:
What are the activists up to?
If nothing else, McKibben's action had the benefit of forcing Obama to show his colours:
The future climate bill defines a battleline:
The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:
And in Europe:
Merkel made her nuclear decision:
Meanwhile in Australia:
Julia scraped together a coalition government, now we'll see how long she can hold it together:
While in China:
And elsewhere in Asia:
Questions and debate about offshore and Arctic drilling continue:
Everybody thought Pelosi agreed with them. Who do you think got played?
BC is wrangling over energy:
Also in Alberta:
Ontario has it's Green Energy Act, now comes the implementation:
In the North:
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
Here is something for your library:
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
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.
<regards>
P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.
"We are running out of traditional energy sources, which can be compared to our house being on fire. While that happens, many people linger around the burning building and pretend to be firemen, mimicking their actions, carrying some equipment, shouting commands - but actually they have no real water, no real skills, no appropriate tools. That way your house will burn to the ground because the "real" firemen never showed up, as everybody thinks there are more than enough firemen on site." -Robert Rapier
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