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
Sipping from the Internet Firehose...
November 14, 2010
- Chuckles, COP15, COP16+, G20, APEC, IEA, Kiribati, Cities, Fighting Back, Montreal Protocol, Pakistan
- Bottom Line, Subsidies, UNCFG, IP Issues, IEC, Post CRU
- Melting Arctic, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Agro Corps, Food vs. Biofuel, GMOs, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Aerosols, Paleoclimate
- ENSO, State of the Oceans, Satellites, DSCOVR
- Impacts, Forests, Wildfires, Corals, Acidification
- Glaciers, Sea Levels, GW Deluge Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc., DIY, Ambaum, Mann, Hansen, Pielke, Curry
- Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Bank Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
- International Politics: Misc., Rare Earths, Security, Law & Activism, H2O Biz, Software
- National Politics: America, BP Disaster, Post Election, Shimkus, Kansas, Conservatism, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
- Britain, Europe, Australia, Murray-Darling, New Zealand, China, Africa, South America
- Canada, Post G20, Offshore Drilling, COP15, AECL, Emitter, Post Igor, Tar Sands, Alberta, Sask, North
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts, Courts
- Energy, Fracking, Wind, Solar, FITs, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
- Business, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
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- 2010/11/13: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Crop Circle
- 2010/11/09: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Burning bridges
- 2010/11/09: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Facts of Life
- 2010/11/11: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Revelations
- 2010/11/12: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Inundation Nation
And for those interested in exploring the nether reaches of Poe's Law:
- 2010/11/10: Onion: Report: Global Warming Issue From 2 Or 3 Years Ago May Still Be Problem
- 2010/11/08: Wonkette: Republicans Trying To Lure Away Joe Manchin With All The Coal He Can Eat
Looking back at Copenhagen:
- 2010/11/13: WpgFP: Officials linked climate deal to aboriginals asking feds for more cash
- 2010/11/09: NatureN: Copenhagen failure could cost US$1 trillion -- World Energy Outlook highlights ongoing fallout from the summit
Looking ahead to COP16 and future international climate negotiations:
- UNFCCC: The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, 29 November - 10 December 2010
- COP 16, United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cancún, Quintana Roo
- 2010/11/12: Yahoo:AFP: Climate talks 'will not yield binding treaty': Calderon
- 2010/11/12: EnergyBulletin: Slouching towards Cancun
- 2010/11/11: Reuters: Analysis: China's soaring emissions challenge climate split
Soaring greenhouse gas emissions in China and other emerging nations are eroding rich nations' historical responsibility for causing global warming, and this could complicate U.N. talks starting in Mexico this month. - 2010/11/12: Google:AFP: G20 vows to 'spare no effort' for Cancun climate meeting
- 2010/11/11: PlanetArk: India: Cancun Will Test Climate Talks' Credibility
- 2010/11/10: NYT:CW: Venezuelan Climate Envoy [Claudia Salerno] Recalls 'Bloody Palm' Incident, Has High Hopes for Cancun
- 2010/11/10: TerraDaily: Climate progress possible in Cancun despite problems: UN
- 2010/11/10: Reuters: Climate talks seek complex, interlocked deal: U.N.
U.N. climate talks starting in Mexico this month will seek a complex set of interlocking deals to slow global warming but will fall well short of a new treaty, the U.N.'s climate chief said on Wednesday. Christiana Figueres said that governments had lowered their sights for the November 29-December 10 talks in Cancun, Mexico, after the Copenhagen summit in December 2009 failed to reach a sweeping new U.N. pact to slow climate change. Even so, almost 200 nations faced a balancing act in Cancun, where governments were aiming for a less ambitious but still complex package deal. - 2010/11/08: Guardian(UK): Climate finance plan could break talks inertia
Our report showing how $100bn a year can be raised for climate adaptation will help make progress towards agreement at Cancún - 2010/11/12: ENS: G-20 Leaders Progress Toward Fossil Fuel Subsidy Phase-Out
- 2010/11/09: UN: UN environment chief calls on G20 to build on previous pledges of green growth
- 2010/11/09: OilChange: "There's just no action behind the words"
[...] despite the promises, no new actions have been taken by G20 nations as a result of their commitment in Pittsburgh to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. - 2010/11/08: EarthTimes: Green groups and business pile on pressure ahead of G20 summit [Nov 11-12 in Seoul]
APEC met in Yokohama this week, again to little of climatic import:
- 2010/11/12: BBC: The leaders of 21 countries are preparing to meet in the Japanese city of Yokohama for the 21st Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit
- 2010/11/11: PlanetArk: Agriculture "Key Challenge" For APEC: Australia
The IEA released its World Energy Outlook this week:
- IEA: World Energy Outlook 2010
- 2010/11/11: CCurrents: World Energy Outlook 2010 Is A Cry For Help
- 2010/11/11: GreenGrok: Peak Oil Finally Piquing Analysts?
- 2010/11/12: OilDrum: Global Oil Supplies as Reported by EIA's International Petroleum Monthly for November 2010
- 2010/11/11: TEC: IEA: it's going to get hot
- 2010/11/12: PeakEnergy: IEA sees oil supply peak looming, ups price view
- 2010/11/11: EnergyBulletin: IEA acknowledges peak oil
- 2010/11/11: EnergyBulletin: Spin slips off oil production numbers - World Energy Outlook 2010 is a cry for help
- 2010/11/11: CSM: Global temperature to rise 3.5 degrees C. by 2035: International Energy Agency
- 2010/11/11: OilDrum: IEA World Energy Outlook 2010: Questionable Assumptions and Major Omissions
- 2010/11/10: IF&P: IEA releases World Energy Outlook 2010, "peak oil is an inevitability"
- 2010/11/10: EurActiv: IEA warns of high oil prices if climate pledges not met
- 2010/11/10: OilDrum: Objectivity of the International Energy Agency
- 2010/11/10: CCurrents: IEA World Energy Outlook 2010 Now Out; A Preliminary Look
- 2010/11/09: BBC: Call to stop fossil fuel subsidy
A global energy think tank has urged nations to stop subsidising fossil fuels as soon as possible. It says that last year governments, mainly in the developing world, spent $312bn subsidising coal oil, gas and coal. This was even though they agree these fuels cause climate change. The International Energy Agency says removing the subsidies would be the quickest way to control the soaring demand for energy. It would also cut CO2 emissions by 5.8% - 2010/11/09: EarthTimes: International Energy Agency urges action on climate change
- 2010/11/09: OilDrum: IEA World Energy Outlook 2010 Now Out; a Preliminary Look
- 2010/11/09: REA: IEA's World Energy Outlook 2010 Sends Strong Message
The report indicates that policy is on the right track but stronger policy is needed -- especially the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies -- if agreements set forth in Copenhagen are to be achieved. - 2010/11/09: CNN: Energy in 2035: China and oil dominate
- 2010/11/08: NBF: IEA Oil Market Report
- 2010/11/09: NBF: IEA World Energy Outlook 2010-2035
- 2010/11/09: TMoS: The Only Question Now - Just How Bad Will It Get
- 2010/11/09: CBC: Energy price spike looms, agency says -- International Energy Agency says governments are unprepared for rise in demand
The Small Island States had a meeting on Kiribati this week:
- 2010/11/11: Guardian(UK): Namibia must learn from Tarawa about climate change
Vulnerable countries attending the Tarawa climate change conference [on Kiribati] have much to learn from each other - 2010/11/10: TerraDaily: Kiribati leader mulls resettling population if seas rise
- 2010/11/10: HotTopic: Island life
- 2010/11/09: Guardian(UK): Climate change could kill my islands' culture
- UMSL:CIA:WFB: Kiribati
- 2010/11/09: Guardian(UK): Kiribati climate change conference: voices from the South Pacific
Kiribati, a chain of low-lying South Pacific islands, is to host a conference addressing the impacts of climate change on some of the world's most vulnerable countries - 2010/11/09: Guardian(UK): The devil and the deep blue sea: Climate change on Kiribati [14 pix]
- 2010/11/09: Guardian(UK): The view from beneath the waves: climate change in the Solomon Islands
Climate change and rising sea levels are devouring the low-lying lands of the Solomon Islands, with crops failing and lands disappearing. The time to act is now - 2010/11/12: ClimateP: C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
- 2010/11/12: SolveClimate: Is Mexico City's 'Plan Verde' a Model for Latin America?
As more than 2,000 city leaders gather, Marcelo Ebrard hopes his Plan Verde will inspire them to sign the Mexico City Pact - 2010/11/13: ClimateShifts: Climate change: science's fresh fight to win over the sceptics. What will Peabody do next?
- 2010/11/14: Guardian(UK): Climate change: science's fresh fight to win over the sceptics
- 2010/11/08: Guardian(UK): Scientists have a duty to engage with the public on climate change by John Abraham
- 2010/11/10: CSW: Climate scientists form rapid response media team to counter denialist claims
- 2010/11/08: Guardian(UK): US researchers fight to reclaim climate science message
- 2010/11/08: QuarkSoup: AGU disputes LA TImes story
- 2010/11/08: KSJT: Nature News: How it went for aggrieved scientist when Brit press cherry-picked his quotes. Over there, they have a commission
- 2010/11/08: KSJT: LA Times: Climate scientists push back, sure, but some don't like this story's version
- 2010/11/08: Grist: Climate scientists say enough is enough and mobilize an army
- 2010/11/08: ScienceInsider: Two New Climate Science Outreach Efforts On Tap
- 2010/11/08: TDC: AGU has no plans to attack climate skeptics, contrary to reports
American Geophysical Union's relaunch of 2009 Climate Q&A Service mischaracterized in media reports; society has no plans to campaign against climate skeptics and conservative lawmakers. - 2010/11/08: TreeHugger: 700 Scientists Fight Back Against Climate Change Denying Politicians
- 2010/11/08: LA Times: Climate scientists plan campaign against global warming skeptics
The American Geophysical Union plans to announce that 700 researchers have agreed to speak out on the issue. The effort is a pushback against congressional conservatives who have vowed to kill regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. - 2010/11/07: MoJo: Quote of the Day #2: Fighting Back on Climate
- 2010/11/07: SMandia: "We are Not Going to Take It Anymore!" Scientists Push Back
There has been some talk of expanding the Montreal Protocol to include GHGs:
- 2010/11/13: NatureTGB: Ozone talks delay action on climate
The international ozone talks wrapped up in Bangkok today with negotiators making some progress on hydrofluorocarbons but ultimately delaying a decision on whether, when and how to overhaul the Montreal Protocol in order to tackle global warming head on. - 2010/11/12: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Progress on HFCs, the Super Greenhouse Gases? - Good News and Bad News from Bangkok
- 2010/11/10: DeSmogBlog: Policy Experts Propose Expansion to Montreal Protocol to Fight Global Warming
- 2010/11/10: KSJT: NYTimes: Dusting off the old Montreal Protocol, supposed template for Kyoto pact, as its stand-in
- 2010/11/09: NatureN: Ozone treaty could be used for greenhouse gases -- Montreal Protocol might find a new role in helping to reduce emissions of hydrofluorocarbons
- 2010/11/08: NYT: A Novel Tactic in Climate Fight Gains Some Traction
The monsoon floods in Pakistan are an ongoing tragedy:
- 2010/11/08: WFP: Pakistan Floods: The First 100 Days
Floodwaters have receded in many parts of Pakistan and flood victims are thinking about recovery and rebuilding. But in other areas, vast swathes of land remain submerged and communities cut off by the waters still depend on deliveries of emergency food aid. - 2010/11/11: EarthTimes: Oxfam criticizes donors' slow response to Pakistan flood
- 2010/11/10: Guardian(UK): The floods in Pakistan show our vulnerability to climate chaos
- 2010/11/08: UN: Fresh funds enable UN to continue aiding flood-affected Pakistanis
And on the Bottom Line:
- 2010/11/11: NYT:CW: U.N. and World Bank Report Says Act Now or Pay Much More Later for Climate Disasters
The IEA says stop subsidizing fossil fuels; gives numbers:
- 2010/11/10: PlanetArk: World Should Eradicate Fossil Fuel Subsidies: IEA
- 2010/11/09: BBC: Call to stop fossil fuel subsidy
- 2010/11/09: NewScientist:SSS: Axe fossil fuel subsidies to stop climate change
- 2010/11/09: TEC: Subsidies for renewables: $57 billion; subsidies for fossil fuels: $312 billion [IEA]
- 2010/11/09: OilChange: "There's just no action behind the words"
[...] despite the promises, no new actions have been taken by G20 nations as a result of their commitment in Pittsburgh to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. - 2010/11/09: REA: More Than $5 Fossil Fuel Subsidies for Every $1 of Support for Renewables
Meanwhile in the UN Climate Financial Group:
- 2010/11/08: EurActiv: UN says $100 billion climate aid fund 'feasible'
Raising $100 billion per year by 2020 to help developing countries fight climate change is "challenging but feasible" if supported by taxes and auctioning of CO2 permits, a UN advisory group said on Friday (5 November). - 2010/11/12: PhysOrg: Combating climate change by helping poorer countries
The effects of global climate change could be minimised by transferring 'best available' low carbon technologies from the rich to the poor nations, say researchers at the University of Bath. - 2010/11/12: Guardian(UK): Oxfam's fantasy 'climate court' is both prescient and practical
Over a thousand legal experts, politicians and economists gathered in Dhaka this week to explore routes to justice for the victims of climate criminals -- and found that precedents exist Imagine an international court where the poorest people in the world could sue countries such as the US or Britain for failing to keep to agreements to reduce climate emissions or for knowingly causing devastating climate change. - 2010/11/12: IJISH: Muir Russell team publishes example code for producing annual temperature series from raw data
The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
- 2010/11/13: CCP: NASA analysis of satellite data has quantified, for the first time, the amount of older and thicker "multiyear" sea ice lost from the Arctic Ocean due to melting
- 2010/11/13: CCP: Stronger positive feedbacks in the Arctic Sea: Larger heat transport to the Arctic, in particular in the Barents Sea, reduces the sea ice cover in this area
- 2010/11/12: SolveClimate: Scientist [Jason Box] Must Wait Until 2011 to See His Photos of Glacier Fracturing
- 2010/11/10: SpaceDaily: NASA Study Quantifies Role Of Melt In Loss Of Old Arctic Sea Ice
- 2010/11/09: NASA:JPL: NASA Study Shows Role of Melt in Arctic Sea Ice Loss -- Satellite images showing the movement of fragmented ice away from ice edges
- 2010/11/09: ERabett: WTH, it's a slow day
- 2010/11/08: MGS: Sea Ice Predictions vs Reality
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
- 2010/11/12: Guardian(UK): Greenland wants $2bn bond from oil firms keen to drill in its Arctic waters -- Greenland wants upfront payment to cover major oil spills in wake of BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster
- 2010/11/10: Pew: [link to 7.6 meg pdf] Oil Spill Prevention and Response in the U.S. Arctic Ocean: Unexamined Risks, Unacceptable Consequences
- 2010/11/10: Pew: New Report Finds Oversight Lacking for Oil Drilling in U.S. Arctic Ocean
- 2010/11/12: OilChange: "Unacceptable Consequences" of Arctic Oil Drilling
- 2010/11/12: CBC: Arctic waters vulnerable to oil spill: U.S. report
- 2010/11/11: SolveClimate: Oil Industry Unprepared to Clean Up Spill in Harsh Arctic Climate, [Pew] Report Warns
- 2010/11/11: Grist: Shell game -- Spill cleanup plans for Arctic ripped as 'thoroughly inadequate'
While in Antarctica:
- 2010/11/10: SolveClimate: "Fraser's Penguins" Documents Stark Climate Change in the Antarctic
The food crisis is ongoing:
- 2010/11/13: AlterNet: Global Warming Could Lead to Vast Chocolate Shortage
- 2010/11/12: ABC(Au): Farmers in the Mallee are working around the clock to protect their best crops in years from an army of locusts advancing across the north-west of Victoria
- 2010/11/08: BBC: Sri Lanka declares war on an unlikely enemy - wheat
Some 2,000 bakers across Sri Lanka have been forced to close their businesses, the industry says. The closures come as the government campaigns against the consumption of products based on wheat flour. - 2010/11/12: PlanetArk: Analysis: Shareholder Demands To Shape Modern Agriculture
Increasing investor demand for agricultural land and the funneling of big money into farms is raising questions about whether small, family-sized operations can survive. Enthusiasm about agricultural commodities has spilled into rural real estate as rich people, private equity funds and some government entities snap up farmland as a way to secure food supplies and hedge themselves against inflation. An estimated 45 million hectares of large-scale farmland deals were announced in 2009 alone, according to a World Bank report released in September. Agriculture financiers say their clients are most keen on industrial-size production of corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and other traded goods, whose value has shot up alongside concerns about strains on the world's food chain. - 2010/11/09: Guardian(UK): Forced use of biofuels could hit food production, EU warned [by Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP)]
Regarding the genetic modification of food:
- 2010/11/12: FoodFreedom: Death of Gene Patents?
- 2010/11/09: PlanetArk: EU States Told GM Crop Plans May Breach Trade Rules
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- 2010/11/11: UN: UN develops guide on appropriate crops for African farmers
- 2010/11/10: AlterNet: Revolution at a Snail's Pace: How the Slow Food Movement Is Tackling Our Biggest Food Problems
- 2010/11/10: Grist: Feeding the world means hogging less grain [Lester Brown]
- 2010/11/10: NatureN: Rice research goes global -- Science partnership aims to jump-start growth rate in rice yields
- 2010/11/10: Eureka: Scientists launch global scheme to boost rice yields while reducing damage to environment
There is a numbered storm in the Indian Ocean. Otherwise it has been relatively quiet:
- 2010/11/13: Wunderground: Little change to Caribbean disturbance 94L
- 2010/11/12: Wunderground: Caribbean disturbance 94L may develop early next week
- 2010/11/10: Wunderground: Caribbean disturbance 93L no threat; remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald storm
- 2010/11/09: Eureka: NASA watching Jal's remnants in the Arabian Sea for possible rebirth
- 2010/11/08: UN: UNICEF assessing needs after hurricane batters Haiti
- 2010/11/08: PhysOrg: Haiti 'got very lucky' as Tomas skirted island
- 2010/11/08: EarthTimes: Hurricane Tomas left 20 dead in Haiti
- 2010/11/08: Eureka: NASA sees Tropical Depression Jal's remnants entering and leaving India
- 2010/11/08: Eureka: GOES-13 satellite sees cold front stalking remnant low of Tomas
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2010/11/13: CCP: Paul A. O'Gorman, PNAS 107 (2010), Understanding the varied response of the extratropical storm tracks to climate change
- 2010/11/11: Wunderground: Is the Atlantic hurricane season getting longer?
- 2010/11/08: PhysOrg: Threshold sea surface temperature for hurricanes and tropical thunderstorms is rising
Scientists have long known that atmospheric convection in the form of hurricanes and tropical ocean thunderstorms tends to occur when sea surface temperature rises above a threshold. The critical question is, how do rising ocean temperatures with global warming affect this threshold? If the threshold does not rise, it could mean more frequent hurricanes. - 2010/11/08: DM:80B: Can Researchers Forecast Hurricanes Seasons a Decade in Advance?
- 2010/11/07: SciNews: Hurricane forecasts can be made years in advance -- Climate modelers push Atlantic predictions beyond a single season
- 2010/11/08: Wunderground: Is the Atlantic hurricane season of 2010 over?
As for GHGs:
- 2010/11/12: PostMedia: The Copenhagen emissions gap -- Actual carbon dioxide emissions will be far above what the IPCC wants
- 2010/11/13: TCoE: What we need vs. what we've got
- 2010/11/11: TCoE: Methane update
- 2010/11/11: PlanetArk: EU Reports Biggest Ever Fall In Car Emissions In 2009 [5%]
- 2010/11/10: NRDC:SwitchBoard: The Curious Case of HFC-23
- 2010/11/11: TreeHugger: Global Communications Industry Has Similar Global Warming Effect as Aviation: 3% of Total Emissions
- 2010/11/09: TreeHugger: Proposal to Phase Out Super-Powerful Greenhouse Gases Would Slow Warming by 10 Years
As for the temperature record:
- 2010/11/12: Grist: 2010 still on track to be hottest on record
- 2010/11/11: ClimateP: NASA reports 2010 hottest year on record so far
- 2010/11/10: CCentral: It Was a Toasty, Stormy October
- 2010/11/10: TerraDaily: Temperature breaks November record in Russian capital
- 2010/11/08: DWWSJ: Warm October In America
- 2010/11/08: CEJ: N. Atlantic sea surface temperatures ran high in October
- 2010/11/08: CCP: North Atlantic sea surface temperatures were well above normal in October 2010 -- North Atlantic sea surface temperatures ran high in October
- 2010/11/08: NOAANews: U.S. Experienced Above Average Temperatures; Below Average Rainfall
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
- 2010/11/11: NASA:EO: Global View of Fine Aerosol Particle
- 2010/11/11: Eureka: African dust caused red soil in southern Europe
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2010/11/08: SciDaily: Discovery Could Reveal Secrets of Ancient Martian and Terrestrial Atmospheres
- 2010/11/11: NewScientist: Tropical forests thrived in ancient global warming [PETM]
- 2010/11/11: NatureN: Rapid warming boosted ancient rainforest -- Increased temperatures and carbon dioxide caused burst of evolution
- 2010/11/11: SciNews: Warm spell spurred tropical biodiversity -- Number of plant species rose along with atmospheric carbon dioxide
- 2010/11/11: DM:80B: Ancient Rocks Show Oxygen Was Abundant Long Before Complex Life Arose [Parnell]
- 2010/11/11: Eureka: Tropical forest diversity increased during ancient global warming event [PETM]
- 2010/11/10: SciDaily: Extreme Global Warming in the Ancient Past
Variations in atmosphere carbon dioxide around 40 million years ago were tightly coupled to changes in global temperature, according to new findings published in the journal Science. - 2010/11/10: BBC: Scottish rocks record ancient oxygen clues
- 2010/11/10: NatureTGB: Was Earth oxygenated early?
- 2010/11/10: Eureka: Extreme global warming in the ancient past [MECO]
- 2010/11/09: SolveClimate: Study Finds CO2 the Culprit in Ancient Global Warming [MECO 40 mya]
While on the ENSO front:
- 2010/11/11: CBC: B.C. ski hills credit La Nina for early opening
- 2010/11/08: SkeptiSci: Keep those PJs on: a La Niña cannot erase decades of warming
And the State of the Oceans:
- 2010/11/11: LSU: LSU Oceanography Researcher Discovers Toxic Algae in Open Water
What's up with volcanoes this week?
- 2010/11/11: HotTopic: Merapi, volcanoes and cooling
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2010/11/12: FMI: Satellites provide up-to-date information on snow cover
ESA GlobSnow project led by the Finnish Meteorological Institute uses satellites to produce up-to-date information on global snow cover. The new database gives fresh information on the snow situation right after a snowfall. Gathering this information was not possible before when only land-based observations were available. - 2010/11/11: PhysOrg: Polar ice caps studied on airborne science mission [Operation Ice Bridge]
In February 2010, NASA satellite ICESat-1 (Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite) was decommissioned. Designed as a three-year mission, it successfully met its goal of returning science data for five years. Its replacement, ICESat-2, is expected to launch in 2015. To bridge the missing satellite data gap, NASA launched its Operation Ice Bridge airborne campaign to survey the most sensitive and critical areas of sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers in the Arctic and the Antarctic. - 2010/11/11: PhysOrg: SERVIR launches Himalayan node in Nepal
The campaign to uncover DSCOVR [Deep Space Climate Observatory] is not entirely moribund:
- 2010/11/12: BobPark: What's New?
3. Lagrange Points: Where are the Missing Observatories? - 2010/11/13: QuarkSoup: Dengue Fever in Miami
- 2010/11/12: PhysOrg: In 100 years, maple sap will flow a month earlier
As the climate warms this century, maple syrup production in the Northeast is expected to slightly decline by 2100, and the window for tapping trees will move earlier by about a month, reports a Cornell study. - 2010/11/12: PlanetArk: Losses From Natural Disasters Could Triple By 2100: [UN/WB] Report
- 2010/11/11: KSJT: NatureNews: Oh great. Global warming may enhance pollution impact, too.
- 2010/11/09: UCSUSA: New Research: Global Warming is Burning Up Forests and Coral Reefs
- 2010/11/09: NatureN: A warming Earth could mean stronger toxins -- Climate change may force a rethink of toxicity measurements
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2010/11/13: CCP: Joern Fischer et al., PNAS 107 (2010), Tree decline and the future of Australian farmland biodiversity
- 2010/11/11: NYT:GW: Interior West Forests on Verge of Becoming Net Carbon Emitter
- 2010/11/11: Guardian(UK): World's forests can adapt to climate change, study says
- 2010/11/11: MongaBay: Rainforests thrived in warmer conditions in the past, yet study requires "caution"
- 2010/11/11: PlanetArk: Brazil Opens Fund To Cut Agriculture Deforestation
- 2010/11/11: SciDaily: Hope for Borneo's Threatened Biodiversity
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2010/11/13: CCP: O. Pechony & D. L. Shindell, PNAS 107 (2010), Driving forces of global wildfires over the past millennium and the forthcoming century
Corals are dying:
- 2010/11/10: MongaBay: Beyond gloom: solutions to the global coral reef decline
Acidification is changing the oceans:
- 2010/11/12: EarthTimes: Ocean Acidification threatens coral reproduction
- 2010/11/09: SciNews: Acidification may halve coral class of 2050 -- Experiments suggest big drop in egg fertilization and larval settlement
- 2010/11/08: PhysOrg: New ocean acidification study shows added danger to already struggling coral reefs
Glaciers are melting:
- 2010/11/10: TCoE: Himalayan glacier melt: It's worse than we thought
- 2010/11/10: NatureN: Measuring the meltdown
With global warming hitting the Tibetan plateau hard, scientists gather to plan an international research campaign to understand and mitigate changes at the 'third pole'. - 2010/11/08: SciDaily: Climate Change: Regional Differences in Water Reservoir Glaciers
- 2010/11/09: HotTopic: NZ glaciers holding their own (just)
Sea levels are rising:
- 2010/11/13: NYT: As Glaciers Melt, Scientists Seek New Data on Rising Seas
- 2010/11/12: ClimateP: AGU Climate Q&A Service won't answer this Q: "Is current U.S. infrastructure adequate for sea level rise?" -- Is that prudent -- or lame?
These global warming deluges aka 100-500 year storms are happening regularly:
- 2010/11/13: CBC: Southwestern N.S. recovers from flood
- 2010/11/10: WpgFP: Nova Scotia premier says devastation brought on by floods is 'incomprehensible'
- 2010/11/09: CBC: Southwest N.S. water levels start to fall -- Halifax-area bridge damaged
Water levels were beginning to recede Tuesday in parts of southwestern Nova Scotia after the worst flooding in a century, emergency management officials said. - 2010/11/08: CBC: N.S. floods prompt state of emergency -- Many roads in New Brunswick also closed
- 2010/11/07: CBC: Flooding closes Moncton roads
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2010/11/14: EarthTimes: Two dead in Belgium floods
- 2010/11/12: UPI: Study: Warming could 'tip' Bolivia drought
- 2010/11/12: TreeHugger: Drought in Amazon Allows Art to Surface after 7,000 Years
- 2010/11/11: EarthTimes: Sri Lankan capital [Colombo], suburbs hit by floods
- 2010/11/12: NSF: Catastrophic Drought Looms for [La Paz] Capital City of Bolivia
- 2010/11/11: TreeHugger: Amazon's Stunning 'Meeting of Waters' Under Threat
- 2010/11/08: JFleck: The View of Mead From Upstream
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2010/11/12: EarthTimes: Biochar - Wisdom of Ancient Amazonians May Hold Secrets of Carbon Capture
- 2010/11/09: SkeptiSci: Solving Global Warming - Not Easy, But Not Too Hard
- 2010/11/08: SkeptiSci: Skeptical Science moving into solutions
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2010/11/11: SeattlePI:STW: Report: High-speed rail could help conserve energy, reduce congestion
- 2010/11/08: CalcRisk: AAR: October 2010 Rail Traffic Continues Mixed Progress
- 2010/11/07: TGBeaver: The dream of high speed rail
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2010/11/09: Grist: Home Energy Score could be a much-needed MPG for houses
- 2010/11/09: USAToday:GH: Biden unveils plan to score homes for energy efficiency
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2010/11/12: ClimateP: Study: Leaks from CO2 stored deep underground could contaminate drinking water
- 2010/11/11: BWeek: Atlantic City opposes buried CO2 plan from plant
- 2010/11/12: TreeHugger: Leaking Underground Carbon Storage Schemes Could Contaminate Drinking Water Aquifers
- 2010/11/10: EarthTimes: New funding initiatives tipped to help Europe become world carbon capture and storage leader
- 2010/11/11: Eureka: Leaking underground CO2 storage could contaminate drinking water
- 2010/11/10: NYT:CW: From Star Wars to Carbon Capture -- Do Fairy Tales Come True?
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2010/11/11: ERW: How much carbon dioxide can be removed from the atmosphere if the mineral olivine is increasingly decomposed on land?
- 2010/11/12: NGJ: Geoengineering the Climate
- 2010/11/12: ClimateSight: Geoengineering the Climate
- 2010/11/12: ABC(Au): The Victorian Government is looking into the viability of using cloud seeding to generate man-made rain
- 2010/11/12: NewScientist: Rock-burning, sea-zapping geoengineering could cut CO2
- 2010/11/11: Wired: Powdering the Equator With [olivine] Mineral Dust Could Fight Climate Change
- 2010/11/10: Guardian(UK): Geo-engineering: climate intervention is a dilemma for scientists
Geo-engineering could save the planet - but it could also persuade politicians that there is an alternative to cutting carbon - 2010/11/09: NatureTGB: Asilomar geoengineering conference report released
- 2010/11/07: ClimateSight: A Misplaced Ban
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2010/11/12: ACP: Seasonal variations of aerosol size distributions based on long-term measurements at the high altitude Himalayan site of Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (5079 m), Nepal by K. Sellegri et al.
- 2010/11/12: ACPD: Annual variation of methane emissions from forested bogs in West Siberia (2005-2009): a case of high CH4 and precipitation rate in the summer of 2007 by M. Sasakawa et al.
- 2010/11/12: ACPD: Source attribution of the changes in atmospheric methane for 2006-2008 by P. Bousquet et al.
- 2010/11/12: ACPD: Emission factors for open and domestic biomass burning for use in atmospheric models by S. K. Akagi et al.
- 2010/11/12: TCD: Photogrammetric determination of spatio-temporal velocity fields at Glaciar San Rafael in the Northern Patagonian Icefield by H.-G. Maas et al.
- 2010/10/: FS:CM: Can carbon cycle geoengineering be a useful complement to ambitious climate mitigation? by H Damon Matthews
- 2010/11/12: CP: A critical look at solar-climate relationships from long temperature series by B. Legras et al.
- 2010/11/10: CPD: The construction of a Central Netherlands temperature by G. van der Schrier et al.
- 2010/11/09: CPD: Robustness of the Atlantic-Pacific flow reversal in the early miocene by E. Bernsen & H. A. Dijkstra
- 2010/11/10: ACP: An overview of current issues in the uptake of atmospheric trace gases by aerosols and clouds by C. E. Kolb et al.
- 2010/11/10: ACP: Evaluation of various observing systems for the global monitoring of CO2 surface fluxes by K. Hungershoefer et al.
- 2010/11/08: ACP: Characterising aerosol transport into the Canadian High Arctic using aerosol mass spectrometry and Lagrangian modelling by T. Kuhn et al.
- 2010/11/08: ACP: Observation operator for the assimilation of aerosol type resolving satellite measurements into a chemical transport model by M. Schroedter-Homscheidt et al.
- 2010/11/11: ACPD: Long-term analysis of carbon dioxide and methane column-averaged mole fractions retrieved from SCIAMACHY by O. Schneising et al.
- 2010/11/11: ACPD: Characteristics, sources, and transport of aerosols measured in spring 2008 during the aerosol, radiation, and cloud processes affecting Arctic climate (ARCPAC) project by C. A. Brock et multi alia
- 2010/11/10: ACPD: Understanding the transport of Patagonian dust and its influence on marine biological activity in the South Atlantic Ocean by M. S. Johnson et al.
- 2010/11/10: ACPD: Radiative impact of mineral dust on monsoon precipitation variability over West Africa by C. Zhao et al.
- 2010/11/09: ACPD: Spectral albedo of arctic snow during intensive melt period by O. Meinander et al.
- 2010/11/09: ACPD: Synergetic monitoring of Saharan dust plumes and potential impact on surface: a case study of dust transport from Canary Islands to Iberian Peninsula by C. Córdoba-Jabonero et al.
- 2010/11/09: ACPD: Influence of meteorology on PM10 trends and variability in Switzerland from 1991 to 2008 by I. Barmpadimos et al.
- 2010/11/09: ACPD: Aerosol nucleation spikes in the planetary boundary layer by J.-P. Chen et al.
- 2010/11/09: ACPD: The annual cycle in lower stratospheric temperatures revisited by S. Fueglistaler et al.
- 2010/11/08: ACPD: An investigation of methods for injecting emissions from boreal wildfires using WRF-Chem during ARCTAS by W. R. Sessions et al.
- 2010/11/11: Nature: [Letter$] Early oxygenation of the terrestrial environment during the Mesoproterozoic by John Parnell et al.
- 2010/11/09: PNAS: (abs) Tree decline and the future of Australian farmland biodiversity by Joern Fischer et al.
- 2010/11/09: PNAS: (ab$) CO2 enhancement of forest productivity constrained by limited nitrogen availability by Richard J. Norby et al.
- 2010/11/09: PNAS: (ab$) Ecological contingency in the effects of climatic warming on forest herb communities by Susan Harrison et al.
- 2010/11/09: PNAS: (ab$) Relation of Phanerozoic stable isotope excursions to climate, bacterial metabolism, and major extinctions by Steven M. Stanley
- 2010/11/09: PNAS: (ab$) Importance of representing optical depth variability for estimates of global line-shaped contrail radiative forcing by Bernd Kärcher et al.
- 2010/11/09: PNAS: (ab$) Understanding the varied response of the extratropical storm tracks to climate change by Paul A. O'Gorman
- 2010/11/09: PNAS: (ab$) Tropical mid-tropospheric CO2 variability driven by the Madden-Julian oscillation by King-Fai Li et al.
- 2010/11/09: PNAS: (abs) Driving forces of global wildfires over the past millennium and the forthcoming century by O. Pechony & D. T. Shindell
- 2010/11/09: PNAS: [Letter$] Reply to Sloan and Stork: Spatially explicit scenario analysis for reconciling agricultural expansion, forest protection, and carbon conservation in Indonesia by Lian Pin Koh & Jaboury Ghazoul
- 2010/11/09: PNAS: [Letter$] Geography and Indonesian oil-palm expansion by Sean Sloan & Nigel Stork
- 2010/11/10: AGWObserver: Papers on Arctic Oscillation and global warming
- 2010/11/09: OS: Spatio-Temporal Complexity analysis of the Sea Surface Temperature in the Philippines by Z. T. Botin et al.
- 2010/11/08: TC: Monitoring of active layer dynamics at a permafrost site on Svalbard using multi-channel ground-penetrating radar by S. Westermann et al.
- 2010/11/09: TCD: Glacier contribution to streamflow in two headwaters of the Huasco River, Dry Andes of Chile by S. Gascoin et al.
- 2010/11/09: RSTB: [links to 16 articles] Discussion Meeting issue 'Biological diversity in a changing world' organized and edited by Anne Magurran and Maria Dornelas
- 2010/11/09: RSTB: Biological diversity in a changing world by Anne E. Magurran & Maria Dornelas
- 2010/11/09: AIP:JRSE: (abs) Effects of global warming on wind energy availability by Diandong Ren
- 2010/11/08: AGWObserver: New research from last week 44/2010
- 2010/11/07: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Changes in the sea surface temperature threshold for tropical convection by Nathaniel C. Johnson & Shang-Ping Xie
- 2010/11/07: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Skilful multi-year predictions of Atlantic hurricane frequency by Doug M. Smith et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2010/11/10: Pew: [link to 7.6 meg pdf] Oil Spill Prevention and Response in the U.S. Arctic Ocean: Unexamined Risks, Unacceptable Consequences
- 2010/11/10: TCoE: Doc alert: China country analysis brief
- 2010/03/22: CI: [link to 8.3 meg pdf] The Asilomar International Conference on Climate Intervention Technologies
- 2010/03/22: CRF: [link to 8.3 meg pdf] The Asilomar International Conference on Climate Intervention Technologies
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2010/11/13: MTobis: The Empiricist Fallacy
- 2010/11/13: CCurrents: Building Climate Change Consensus: Mann Vs McIntyre, For Example
- 2010/11/12: MTobis: Empiricism
- 2010/11/11: MTobis: Explaining is Hard
- 2010/11/09: Eureka: Global warming reduces available wind energy
- 2010/11/09: CBC: Rising temperatures threaten wind energy: study
- 2010/11/08: SciNews: Mining the maritime past for clues to climate's future -- Researchers collect data with a mashup of 19th century ship records and 21st century crowdsourcing
- 2010/11/07: CCP: "Cryo-Hydrologic Warming: A potenial mechanism for rapid thermal response of ice sheets" by Thomas Phillips, Harihar Rajaram & Konrad Steffen
More DIY science:
- 2010/11/09: SolveClimate: "Citizen Scientists" to Analyze Weather Logs from WWI Ships
Regarding Ambaum:
- 2010/11/13: Tamino: Much Ado About Something
- 2010/11/12: SkeptiSci: How significance tests are misused in climate science by Dr Maarten H. P. Ambaum
Regarding Mann:
- 2010/11/11: CJR: Man(n) the Torpedoes -- Climate scientist Michael Mann goes on the offensive
- 2010/11/09: CCP: Michael Mann: A Changing Climate Doesn't Have a Political Agenda
- 2010/11/09: MTobis: Mann: Ice Has No Agenda
- 2010/11/09: PeakEnergy: Professional climate change deniers' crusade continues
Regarding Hansen:
- 2010/11/09: TCoE: Hansen on reticence and the threat of sea level rise
- 2010/11/09: CCP: James Hansen's Blue Planet Prize acceptance speech, Tokyo, October 26, 2010
The Pielke fan clubbe, alas:
- 2010/11/12: BSD: Iron Law versus BOSO [PFC]
Regarding Curry:
- 2010/11/11: ClimateP: Judith Curry abandons science -- But I'm glad the GOP chose her as a witness for a climate hearing
- 2010/11/11: CCP: More Currygate from Sourcewatch: Judith Curry, High Priestess of the Climate Denial Machine
- 2010/11/09: BVerheggen: Science, dissent, polarization and ideology [Curry]
- 2010/11/09: CColose: Judith Curry on 'dogma' and ideology
- 2010/11/08: MTobis: Curry Cannot Back Down
On the carbon trading front:
- 2010/11/11: BBC: Kenya to launch Africa's first carbon exchange
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
- 2010/11/09: NYT:CW: A Carbon Tax Emerges Among the Ideas to Reduce the Federal Deficit
The proposed Bank Tax refuses to die:
- 2010/11/13: EconView: Why No Financial Transactions Tax?
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:
- 2010/11/14: Guardian(UK): Graciela Chichilnisky's innovation: carbon capturing
On the international political front:
- 2010/11/10: NOAANews: New U.S. - India "Monsoon Agreement" to Improve Global Seasonal Climate Forecasts
- 2010/11/09: JKB: EU sees U.S. "disappearing" as partner on climate
- 2010/11/08: NYT:CW: Europe's Military Leaders Differ With U.S. Republicans Over Urgency of Global Warming Problems
- 2010/11/09: TEC: Japan Claims Canada's FIT Program Violates WTO Rules
The rare earth dispute is over, Sort of:
- 2010/11/12: KSJT: Trickle of ink: Rare earth trade dispute. What's a rare earth anyway?
- 2010/11/10: NYT: China Still Bans Rare Earth to Japan
- 2010/11/09: PlanetArk: South Korea Discovers Rare Earths Deposit
- 2010/11/09: PlanetArk: Industry Groups Lobby G20 On Rare Earth Supply
As for GW, energy & water security:
- 2010/11/13: CCP: Climate Patriots video: a military perspective on the threat to national security that global warming is causing
- 2010/11/08: EurActiv: US sees water scarcity as a 'security issue'
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
- 2010/11/12: Rabble: G20 trials and the war on activism
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
- 2010/11/13: JFleck: On the Difficulty of Fixing Water Problems
- 2010/11/12: UPI: Arabs face severe water crisis by 2015
- 2010/11/12: Guardian(UK): Growing pressure on water supplies affecting one in five global businesses
- 2010/11/12: CDP: Carbon Disclosure Project reveals water constraints now a boardroom issue for global corporations
- 2010/11/12: TCoE: Doc alert: Water disclosure project
- 2010/11/12: BBC: Businesses concerned by water use
Future water shortages are a growing concern for business, according to a global survey published today. The research shows that more than half of the 147 firms responding expect problems with water in the next 1-5 years. It says 60% of firms have already set performance targets on the way they use water. The report predicts that the issue will get much worse as the world demand for water is projected to soar over the next few decades. - 2010/11/11: EarthTimes: Bangkok to spend 533 million dollars on flood tunnels
- 2010/11/02: AlterNet: Watch Out: The World Bank Is Quietly Funding a Massive Corporate Water Grab
- 2010/11/09: CBC: Lakes, rivers at risk due to knowledge gaps
As for SW tools:
- 2010/11/11: SEasterbrook: The future of Software Engineering?
- 2010/11/07: SEasterbrook: Climate Model Coding Standards
And on the American political front:
- 2010/11/13: Ph&Ph: US No Longer A "Collosus of Science"
- 2010/11/12: AlterNet: Don't Give Up: Sierra Club Leader on How We Can Win the Fight for Clean Energy
- 2010/11/12: ClimateP: AGU Climate Q&A Service won't answer this Q: "Is current U.S. infrastructure adequate for sea level rise?" -- Is that prudent -- or lame?
- 2010/11/10: SN&R: Cap and giveaway -- California's landmark climate-change law survived the election, but it's already being watered down
- 2010/11/11: DallasNews: Texas officials refuse to follow new federal greenhouse gas policy
- 2010/11/10: SolveClimate: New Mexico Adopts Emissions Cap, But Challenges Expected
- 2010/11/09: BSD: How to be a climate hawk and a polite elected official
- 2010/11/10: DM:BA: Energy and science in America are in big, big trouble
- 2010/11/09: CSW: Response from California EPA to our post on new state-issued energy reader
- 2010/11/09: TreeHugger: Next Step On Climate? We Have A Choice.
- 2010/11/09: TEC: America's Energy Question: What Price Will it Take to Commit to Renewable Energy?
- 2010/11/08: VAFreedom: Something is up
- 2010/11/08: HotTopic: Tell it like it is
- 2010/11/08: ClimateP: Proposition 26 will not stop AB 32
CARB Chair: "Prop 26 does not impair the scoping plan adopted in 2008 or any regulations developed under that plan. AB 32 is on track." - 2010/11/08: ClimateP: Public opinion snapshot: No conservative mandate
- 2010/11/08: OilChange: The Game Remains the Same
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
- 2010/11/10: RawStory: Multiple independent lab tests confirm oil in Gulf shrimp
- 2010/11/12: ProPublica: Transocean Engineer Snubs Federal Agency Investigating Gulf Disaster
- 2010/11/08: GreenGrok: Bayou Stories: Preserving a Way of Life in a Place Losing Ground
- 2010/11/11: CSM: A combustible mix for White House: Gulf oil spill and politics
- 2010/11/11: NatureTGB: White House interference: bad science or poor communication?
- 2010/11/10: ENS: White House Staffers Rewrote Report to Justify Deepwater Drilling Ban
- 2010/11/11: CBC: Gulf oil spill cleanup could wrap by spring
- 2010/11/11: AlterNet: High Risks and Catastrophic Results: The Story Behind BP's Deepwater Well Blowout
- 2010/11/09: ProPublica: Spill Panel: Driven by 'Compulsion' to Finish Well, BP's Procedures Increased Risk
- 2010/11/08: DM:80B: Massive Coral Die-Off Found Just 7 Miles from BP Oil Spill Site
- 2010/11/08: CBC: Gulf spill panel finds safety not sacrificed
The U.S. presidential commission investigating the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico found no instance where a decision deliberately sacrificed safety to cut costs, says the chief counsel to the inquiry. - 2010/11/13: TreeHugger: 'Nobody's Right, If Everybody's Wrong' - Wisconsin's Republican Governor Opposes Biomass Power
- 2010/11/10: RawStory: Republicans could scale back US science budgets
- 2010/11/12: DeSmogBlog: Assessing the Midterm Damage in DC
- 2010/11/10: QuarkSoup: Chris Christie and Global Warming
- 2010/11/10: Reuters: Key lawmaker [Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash)] plans tough energy oversight
- 2010/11/10: ClimateP: Zombies take New Jersey: Governor Christie questions climate science
- 2010/11/10: ClimateP: Fred Upton on Climategate: "We do need hearings"
- 2010/11/10: Grist: Rep. Ed Markey makes bid for ranking spot on Natural Resources Committee
- 2010/11/10: Grist: Christie finds the Right's kingmakers demand orthodoxy on climate change
- 2010/11/11: DM:BA: More bad news about the Congressional Energy Committee
- 2010/11/10: NatureN: What do the 2010 election results mean for federal science budgets?
- 2010/11/10: ScienceInsider: Could Luring Manchin Boost Coal to Liquid Plant?
- 2010/11/10: AlterNet: The GOP's Coming Climate Witch Hunt
- 2010/11/08: NYT:GW: Wis. Halts Rail Project as Election Fallout Begins
Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi said the state is suspending its work on an $810 million Milwaukee-Madison rail line after Gov.-elect Scott Walker (R) reaffirmed his pledge to kill the project. The announcement is a harsh realization for some advocates who fear that the results of Tuesday's midterms could spell trouble for the nation's nascent high-speed rail system. Candidates who came out against rail projects won gubernatorial races in Ohio, Florida and Wisconsin and a GOP-controlled House is expected to be tight-fisted on rail funds. - 2010/11/09: Grist: The post-election outlook for regional cap-and-trade
- 2010/11/09: Grist: King Coal wins the mid-terms
- 2010/11/08: MoJo: The GOP's Coming Climate Witch Hunt
- 2010/11/08: TWM: The GOP's plans for climate hearings...
- 2010/11/08: SolveClimate: GOP Leaders with Poor Green Voting Records to Call the Shots in the House
Pelosi's LCV score is 92, Boehner's is 2. Waxman had a 91, his top scoring potential replacement scores 39 - 2010/11/08: NewScientist: Midterms change political landscape for climate control
Shimkus takes an early lead in the Republican race for the heights of ridiculousness:
- 2010/11/12: TEC: God Will Not Allow Global Warming Proclaims Rep. John Shimkus, Seeking Top U.S. Congress Energy Position
- 2010/11/10: CleanBreak: Global warming is still a problem: Report (but Republican says God will take care of us)
- 2010/11/12: GreenGrok: The Theological Approach to Climate 'Science'
- 2010/11/11: DeSmogBlog: God Will Not Allow Global Warming Proclaims Rep. John Shimkus, Seeking Top U.S. Congress Energy Position
- 2010/11/10: TStar: God will save us from climate change: U.S. Representative [John Shimkus (R-Ill.)]
- 2010/11/11: DM:SRK: Trouble
- 2010/11/11: LeDaro: [Rep.] John Shimkus (R- Ill.): God will save us against any climate change
That Kansas ploy:
- 2010/11/09: Forbes: Kansas gov's comments don't quiet coal plant fuss
Environmentalists seeking more information about a top state regulator's abrupt departure reacted skeptically Tuesday to Gov. Mark Parkinson's promise that Kansas is conducting a fair and thorough review of plans for a new coal-fired power plant. - 2010/11/11: Guardian(UK): Why environmentalism is a conservative concern
- 2010/11/07: WaPo: Don't believe in global warming? That's not very conservative.
- 2010/11/07: TCoE: So-called "conservatives" reveal their true agenda
- 2010/11/07: ClimateP: Don't believe in global warming? That's not very conservative
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
- 2010/11/10: SolveClimate: Obama's Green Stimulus Too Slow to Deliver Money or Jobs
- 2010/11/08: AlterNet: Why Is Obama Cuddling Up to Karl Rove and His Gas Drilling Friends?
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2010/11/13: Grist: So what's EPA up to with its CO2 regulations?
- 2010/11/10: CSM: As regulation of greenhouse gases nears, EPA releases guidelines
- 2010/11/10: TheHill:e2W: Critics say EPA greenhouse gas guidelines issued too late
- 2010/11/11: ClimateP: Given the Clean Air Act's built-in limitations on EPA authority, fears of agency 'overreach' are misplaced
- 2010/11/11: PlanetArk: EPA To Push Efficiency On Big Carbon Emitters
- 2010/11/10: NRDC:SwitchBoard: EPA subpoenas Halliburton, and why it's important
- 2010/11/10: ENS: EPA Subpoenas Halliburton, Seeking Fracking Secrets
- 2010/11/10: UCSUSA: EPA to Take an Important Step in Reducing Global Warming Emissions
- 2010/11/10: NYT:GW: EPA Issues Guidelines for States' Permitting for Greenhouse Gases
U.S. EPA has released a long-awaited guidance document that instructs state and local officials how to start issuing permits for power plants, refineries and other large stationary sources of greenhouse gases when EPA's new climate rules take effect next year. - 2010/11/10: ClimateShifts: EPA Issues Guidance on New Emissions Rules
- 2010/11/09: TheHill:e2W: EPA completes greenhouse gas reporting rule for oil-and-gas industry
- 2010/11/10: PlanetArk: EPA Subpoenas Halliburton Over Fracking Fluids
- 2010/11/10: Grist: The EPA, the Clean Air Act, and U.S. manufacturing
- 2010/11/10: Reuters: U.S. requires oil and gas firms to report carbon output
U.S. environmental regulators finalized rules requiring oil and natural gas plants to monitor and report all their greenhouse gas emissions beginning next year. - 2010/11/09: NYT:GW: EPA Issues Emissions Reporting Rules for Oil and Gas Industry
U.S. EPA announced the release today of final rules that will require oil and gas facilities and certain electronics manufacturing plants to begin keeping tabs on their greenhouse gas emissions next year. The new regulations will add those industries to EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which kicked off at the beginning of this year. Companies are not required to achieve any emissions reductions through the program, but they must produce annual emissions reports that are intended to inform the public and guide policymakers in the quest to address global warming. - 2010/11/08: TheHill:e2W: Sensenbrenner: Keep House climate panel as a check against EPA
- 2010/11/08: TheHill:e2W: EPA chief, previewing 2011 battles, strikes back at House GOP critics
- 2010/11/09: LA Times: EPA issues subpoena to Halliburton for information on chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing
- 2010/11/09: ClimateP: Van Jones: We must prepare for battle
The fight over EPA's GHG authority "is going to be the most important fight for the environment on Planet Earth next year." - 2010/11/08: Grist: To block EPA regulations, Koch Industries expands lobbying campaign to children
- 2010/11/09: USAToday:GH: Biden unveils plan to score homes for energy efficiency
- 2010/11/08: Grist: What are the limits on the EPA? The Clean Air Act holds answers
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2010/11/12: CSW: One last "rational discussion of climate change" in the House
While in the UK:
- 2010/11/12: EarthTimes: UK government launches Green Deal
- 2010/11/12: BBC: British Gas customers will face a 7% rise in gas and electricity bills this winter, the company has announced
- 2010/11/09: PlanetArk: UK Opens Carbon Capture Competition To Gas Projects
- 2010/11/07: Guardian(UK): Gas plants now eligible for £9bn carbon capture demonstration programme
Programme to store emissions rather than release them into atmosphere previously only open to coal plants - 2010/11/12: EurActiv: MEPs seal deal on crisis funds for clean energy
The European Parliament yesterday (11 November) approved a deal between the EU institutions to free up 146 million euros of unspent EU recovery funds to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. - 2010/11/12: NatureTGB: Europe opens 4.5 billion euro clean energy fund
- 2010/11/11: JKB: The letter of the German Party Alliance '90/The Greens
- 2010/11/11: EurActiv: Lawmakers back creation of EU 'green stats'
EU lawmakers this week backed plans to harmonise national reporting on data such as air pollution, green taxes or raw material flows in order to introduce the first ever Europe-wide "environmental economic accounts". - 2010/11/11: EurActiv: Commission's 2020 energy plan fails to impress
The European Commission presented its new energy strategy yesterday (10 November), calling for 1 trillion euros of investment over the next decade to integrate Europe's energy network while fending off criticism over a lack of concrete ideas. - 2010/11/11: PlanetArk: EU Reports Biggest Ever Fall In Car Emissions In 2009 [5%]
- 2010/11/10: EarthTimes: EU 'unlikely' to meet targets for cutting road transport emissions [says EC report]
- 2010/11/10: EarthTimes: New funding initiatives tipped to help Europe become world carbon capture and storage leader
- 2010/11/11: SwissInfo: Plan unveiled to boost cleantech sector
The government wants Switzerland to be a world leader in green technologies by 2020 and has unveiled a master plan to boost research and innovation. - 2010/11/10: EurActiv: EU launches 4.5bn euro clean energy fund
The European Commission opened competition for the world's biggest investment programme in green technologies yesterday (9 November), in a bid to gain a competitive advantage over the US and China on renewables and carbon capture and storage. - 2010/11/10: EUO: EU says joint-up energy grid will cost 1 trillion euros
- 2010/11/09: PlanetArk: EU States Told GM Crop Plans May Breach Trade Rules
EU legal experts "seriously doubt" that plans to let European Union member states decide for themselves to grow or ban genetically modified (GM) crops are in line with global trade rules, officials said on Monday. The European Commission made legal proposals in July to let governments to make their own decisions on the controversial crops, in a bid to break a longstanding EU deadlock on new GM product approvals. But a new opinion from the EU Council of Ministers' legal service could deal a fatal blow to the plans, after several EU governments already expressed fears that the draft law risks breaching World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. - 2010/11/09: EarthTimes: EU calls for tenders for world's largest clean energy fund
- 2010/11/08: EurActiv: Commission to unveil 1trln euro energy strategy for 2020
The European Commission will present on Wednesday (10 November) its energy strategy for the coming decade, calling for investment of around 1 trillion euros to secure the bloc's energy needs in a sustainable way. - 2010/11/08: EUO: EU biofuel policy will increase CO2 emissions, study says
- 2010/11/08: EarthTimes: EU tackles conflict of interest between renewable energy and biodiversity
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2010/11/14: ABC(Au): Greens seize on OECD's call for carbon price
The Greens say the latest OECD report card should shame the Coalition into supporting a cross-party push to put a price on carbon. The organisation says Australia should adopt a carbon price sooner rather than later, and delays have increased uncertainty in the energy sector. - 2010/11/13: ClimateShifts: PM needs something to say: What about focusing on something strategic like the Coral Triangle Initiative of President SBY? [Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono]
- 2010/11/12: ABC(Au):TDU: Who is the real Julia Gillard?
- 2010/11/12: ABC(Au): Farmers in the Mallee are working around the clock to protect their best crops in years from an army of locusts advancing across the north-west of Victoria
- 2010/11/11: ABC(Au): Climate committee expert backs carbon price
- 2010/11/11: ABC(Au): Federal Industry Minister Kim Carr will not guarantee the Government will keep its rebate scheme for people trading in old cars
- 2010/11/11: ABC(Au): Solar subsidy scheme was 'middle class welfare'
A new report has found the Federal Government's billion-dollar subsidies for solar energy favoured the wealthy and barely reduced Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. - 2010/11/11: PhysOrg: Blueprint to protect the future of Australia's oceans revealed
What is believed to be the first science-based blueprint for managing Australia's oceans has been developed to safeguard marine life and protect economic and social interests. The blueprint is the result of more than two years of analysis by The Ecology Centre at The University of Queensland and involves 44 of the country's leading marine and social scientists. It is designed to provide the Federal Government with a detailed roadmap to make accurate decisions about its plans for new marine sanctuaries in the south-west of Australia later this year. The Ecology Centre blueprint establishes that 50 per cent of the oceans in the south-west of the country will need to be protected in a network of marine sanctuaries to minimise risks to marine life, fish stocks and ecosystems. The blueprint also ensures costs to industry are minimised and a balance is achieved to allow economic and social activities to continue. - 2010/11/11: SMH: A$1.1bn wasted on solar power
More than $1 billion of taxpayers' money was wasted on subsidies for household solar roof panels that favoured the rich and did little to reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, a scathing review has found. - 2010/11/10: ABC(Au): Plan for future wild weather, councils advised
Climate Change Minister Kate Jones says recent severe weather events in Queensland are a stark reminder of the need for local councils to have accurate risk-planning information. - 2010/11/10: ABC(Au): Candidates to be quizzed on climate change
State election candidates will be questioned on environmental and climate change issues at a forum in Ballarat tonight. - 2010/11/10: PeakEnergy: Australian solar put to the test
- 2010/11/09: ABC(Au): Central Queensland welfare workers are concerned about the social and infrastructure impact of the emerging liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry
- 2010/11/09: ABC(Au): Environmental group Friends of the Earth says new gas projects in Queensland are being approved too quickly
- 2010/11/09: ABC(Au): Premier Anna Bligh says the coordinator-general has approved another major gas project for Queensland
The Murray-Darling Basin Plan controversy continues:
- 2010/11/12: ABC(Au): Extraction limits won't save Murray, conservationists warn
The Australian Conservation Foundation says extraction limits proposed for the Murray-Darling Basin are too low to save the river system. The foundation has written to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority urging it to look at the economic, social and environmental outcomes of returning up to 7,600 gigalitres to the river. - 2010/11/08: ABC(Au): Stop trading until studies out
A water spokesman for Griffith's Business Chamber wants irrigators to stop trading their water out of the area permanently until socio-economic studies are completed into reduced allocations. Paul Pierotti said 18 per cent of water had already gone from the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area and he is hoping farmers were involved in only temporary trades until more was known about the effects of the Murray Darling Basin plan. - 2010/11/08: ABC(Au): Researchers push financial case for lower Murray
An independent study shows improving the health of the Coorong at the Murray mouth would add $4.3 billion to its value. - 2010/11/08: ABC(Au): A new report has found south-east Queensland water bills will double in the next seven years
And in New Zealand:
- 2010/11/12: HotTopic: NZ regions planning for climate change
While in China:
- 2010/11/12: SolveClimate: For Asian Games, Chinese Host City Using 'Iron Fist' to Clean the Air
In recent weeks Guangzhou stopped construction and banned cars. But whether it's improved air quality is unclear - 2010/11/10: TEC: China Energy Use to Soar, Driving Demand for Coal, Oil & Clean Energy Alike
- 2010/11/10: ScienceInsider: Defying Critics, China's Science Ministry Defends Research Culture
And in Africa:
- 2010/11/10: Guardian(UK): Madagascar must wake up to climate change - and not just at election time
And South America:
- 2010/11/12: Guardian(UK): How Brazil can speak for both rich and poor countries on climate change
- 2010/11/11: PlanetArk: Brazil Opens Fund To Cut Agriculture Deforestation
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2010/11/10: TEC: New Environmental Disclosure Guidance From Canadian Regulators
- 2010/11/09: CBC: Lakes, rivers at risk due to knowledge gaps
Canada's lakes and rivers are awash in harmful contaminants, but new documents warn the federal government's murky understanding of the problem is putting the country at risk. Senior bureaucrats reached that conclusion in a pair of internal reports on contaminants and excess nutrients in fresh water. The officials warned that Ottawa needs to know much more about the contaminants before it can tell how dangerous they are, what happens when they mix together, or where to focus cleanup efforts. - 2010/11/02: Tyee:Hook: Peak oil task force recommends steps to reduce oil dependency
The first Canadian task force to tackle "peak oil" is recommending that the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District work to reduce oil imports and exports by 2.6 per cent annually. - 2010/11/14: TStar: Tales of horror from a police state -- ours
I sat in a plain, ordinary downtown hotel seminar room for two days this week, listening, one after another, to utterly jarring stories of police sadism at the G20. Tales of women forced to pee through their jeans. Naked students ordered to lift their testicles for inspection. A woman snatched from a downtown corner and dropped off near midnight in the shadows of Scarborough, no directions or hope of finding her way home. The hearings by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and National Union of Public and General Employees were focused on the summit this past summer in Toronto. But it often felt like a history lesson on 1935 Germany. - 2010/11/14: StageLeft: Support Your Local Police
- 2010/11/10: Dominion: Riding Out the G20 Judicial Roller-Coaster -- Hundert threatened with solitary, Rainville released, Ichim's charges dropped
- 2010/11/12: Rabble: G20 trials and the war on activism
Questions and debate about offshore and Arctic drilling continue:
- 2010/11/10: CBC: $70M N.L. offshore oil contract awarded
A major contract has been awarded to start work on Newfoundland and Labrador's Hebron offshore oil project. U.S. construction company Peter Kiewit has won a $70-million contract for engineering and site preparation. The work will be done at Bull Arm fabrication site in eastern Newfoundland. Kiewit is sharing the work with Aker Solutions, a Norwegian engineering and construction company. Exxon Mobil is leading a consortium to develop Hebron. The consortium awarded the contract. It will be the fourth Newfoundland and Labrador offshore oil industry project to go into production. - 2010/11/10: PostMedia: Oil, gas development in St. Lawrence is frozen to Ontario border
A moratorium announced last month on oil and gas development in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the lower part of the river east of Ile d'Orleans applies all the way up the river to the Ontario border, Natural Resources Minister Nathalie Normandeau said yesterday. And she has asked her department for legal opinions about what to do about shale-gas exploration permits covering the St. Lawrence River in its entirety, issued by the government to seven different companies. Normandeau said she wants proposals from her department by next spring, when a new law on oil and gas production is to be presented. None of the companies that hold permits for the river have begun doing work, she said. In September, Normandeau announced a freeze on oil and gas exploration in the river's estuary below Ile d'Orleans after an environmental-impact study showed it posed too much risk to fish and wildlife. Another study is being done fortheGulf of St. Lawrence. - 2010/11/13: WpgFP: Officials linked climate deal to aboriginals asking feds for more cash
The Tories will privatize everything they can:
- 2010/11/11: CleanBreak: AECL has been a niche player and will remain a niche player
- 2010/11/10: G&M: Ottawa's plan to sell AECL threatens future of Canada's nuclear industry
Dave Eaves has launched Emitter:
- 2010/11/12: DEaves: Launching Emitter.ca: Open Data, Pollution and Your Community
- Emitter -- Tracking pollution in your neighbourhood
- 2010/11/12: BCLSB: Somebody Finally Does Something Useful On The Internet
The post Igor recovery (or not):
- 2010/11/12: CBC: N.L. family won't return home after Igor
Trouty residents fear many others will make the same decision. - 2010/11/08: CBC: Igor insurance delayed by labour shortage
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2010/11/10: Tyee: US Diplomat [Tom Huffaker's] Memo Urged 'Greening' of 'Shocking' Oil Sands
'Environmental impacts are high' but US should support Alberta's bitumen mining anyway, advised restricted 2008 report - 2010/11/12: CrossCut: For tar sands developers, a long and winding road leads through the Northwest
Big Oil's plans for developing Alberta's sands involve shipping huge equipment up the Columbia to Lewiston, Idaho, then by truck to the north. - 2010/11/09: Tyee: $1.7 Billion and Rising: Taxpayers' Gas Bill for Oil Sands
Extractors gobble natural gas, deducting the cost from their taxes. That already huge public subsidy, hidden from view, is due to balloon. - 2010/11/09: MediaCoop: Secret Agreement in the Works Between ENGOs and Tar Sands Industry
Will environmentalists continue to allow foundation funding to dictate to the movement? - 2010/11/08: DeSmogBlog: 75 Groups from Canada, US and Europe Call for End to Toxic Tar Sands Tailings
Also in Alberta:
- 2010/11/09: TMoS: The Latest Tar Sands Subsidy - Albertans Assume Liability for Carbon Sequestration Failure
- 2010/11/09: CBC: Alberta carbon capture bill in controversy
In Saskatchewan the big question is Potash:
- 2010/11/10: EmbassyMag: Diplomats' mixed reviews
Canada's decision to block BHP Billiton's hostile bid for Potash Corp. has gotten mixed reviews from the Ottawa diplomatic corps, with some envoys concerned about the contradictory message Canada is sending to the international community. As recently as September, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was praising the benefits of the free market to global leaders. - 2010/11/12: CBC: PotashCorp 'tit for tat' unlikely: Australia
Canada's rejection of a takeover of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan by an Anglo-Australian company won't be met with retaliation, Australia's top diplomat in Ottawa says. - 2010/11/13: BBerg: Australia's Gillard Raises BHP's Potash Bid With Canada's Harper at G-20
- 2010/11/10: CBC: Reconsider Potash bid rejection: Aussie MP [Michael Danby]
A member of Australia's Parliament said Tuesday he hopes the Canadian government will reconsider its decision to block BHP Billiton's $40-billion bid to buy Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan. - 2010/11/11: CBC: Labrador caribou plan devastating: outfitters
- 2010/11/10: CBC: Labrador caribou count plummets
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is dramatically restricting hunting in a Labrador caribou herd that is now less than 10 per cent of its size from two decades ago. Environment Minister Charlene Johnson disclosed that a new count of the George River herd shows 74,131 animals. The herd had 776,000 caribou in a 1993 census, while a 2001 estimate put it at 385,000 animals. - 2010/11/09: CBC: Canadian Arctic gateway pondered
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2010/11/13: SciDaily: Overcoming the 'Tragedy of the Commons': Conditonal Cooperation Helps in Forest Preservation
- 2010/11/12: EnergyBulletin: The end of growth [Heinberg]
- 2010/11/10: CCurrents: Beyond Chaos
- 2010/11/10: CCurrents: The Horns Of Our Dilemma
- 2010/11/08: EnergyBulletin: Thermodynamic roots of economics
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2010/11/11: MongaBay: It's not just size that matters: how population affects climate change
- 2010/11/11: Grist: What should climate hawks do next? Fight for free birth control
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2010/11/11: Deltoid: Mass Extinction #6
- 2010/11/10: MTobis: How Doomed Are We?
- 2010/11/10: TreeHugger: We're Killing Everything, Including Ourselves: Royal Society Sort of Says
- 2010/11/09: ClimateP: Royal Society: "There are very strong indications that the current rate of species extinctions far exceeds anything in the fossil record."
- 2010/11/09: MTobis: Se vogliamo che tutto rimanga
As for how the media handles the science:
- 2010/11/11: Grist: How the Wall Street Journal twisted the facts on transmission
- 2010/11/12: CSW: Revkin asks: "Same as it ever was?" No, it's not.
- 2010/11/10: Grist: A question for James Fallows about coal and focus
Regarding the quality of blogospheric discussion:
- 2010/11/11: QuarkSoup: How *Not* to Advocate for Your Science
- 2010/11/08: Maribo: Climate blogs, cable news and some inconvenient truths
Here is something for your library:
- 2010/11/14: OilDrum: A User's Guide to the Crisis of Civilization: And How to Save it -- A Review of Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed's Latest Book
- 2010/11/10: TEC: [Book Reviews] CO2 rising -- the science of global warming
_CO2 Rising: The World's Greatest Environmental Challenge_ by T. Volk
_Climate Change: The Science of Global Warming and Our Energy Future_ by Edmond A. Mathez - 2010/11/14: CCP: A great new video: 300 years of fossil fuel dependency in 5 minutes
- 2010/11/12: PSinclair: A Model for Urban Agriculture
- 2010/11/12: DeSmogBlog: George Marshall: The Ingenious Ways We Avoid Believing in Climate Change
- 2010/11/11: PSinclair: Lake Superior and Climate Change
- 2010/11/11: HotTopic: Prepare for business as unusual
- 2010/11/11: Grist: A brief (stylish, animated) history of fossil fuels
- 2010/11/10: PSinclair: Hollywood Does Climate Change
- 2010/11/10: PSinclair: Climate Change: The Biggest Impact is on the Poor
- 2010/11/09: ClimateP: World premiere video [_Amber Waves of Green_] on Greensburg, Kansas: A red state town turns green
- 2010/11/09: AFTIC: CCW - Blast from the Past
- 2010/11/09: PSinclair: Resistance to Wind Development --- Really? Not in My Back Yard...
- 2010/11/08: ClimateP: The global cooling myth dies again -- Climate science 1956: A Plass from the past
- 2010/11/08: PSinclair: This is your Father's Climate Science: A Climate Crock Blast from [1956] the Past
As for podcasts:
- 2010/11/10: SkeptiSci: Real experts don't know everything
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2010/11/09: Reuters: Food groups sue U.S. for ethanol boost in gasoline
Livestock producers and other food industry groups filed a suit on Tuesday seeking to overturn a U.S. decision to allow higher levels of ethanol in gasoline, saying it could push up food prices. - 2010/11/09: TheHill:e2W: Oil industry also sues EPA over higher ethanol blend
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
- 2010/11/14: BNC: SNE 2060 -- assessment of energy demand
- 2010/11/12: AutoBG: Analyst: Price of oil in 2020? $300 a barrel
- 2010/11/11: NBF: Boston Consulting Group examines seven alternative energy technologies
- 2010/11/12: PlanetArk: Concentrated Solar, Biofuels Competitive Soon: BCG [Boston Consulting Group]
- 2010/11/11: NewScientist: Green machine: Markets hint at 100-year energy gap
The stock market has a worrying message for the future. It suggests we may run out of oil a century before we have an alternative fuel ready to replace it. - 2010/11/10: CNN: The natural gas takeover shakeout
- 2010/11/11: NBF: World Energy in Exajoules by energy source from 1800 to 2008
- 2010/11/09: CSM: Satellite to beam solar power to Earth, a la Bond movie
- 2010/11/09: Eureka: Oil will run dry before substitutes roll out
- 2010/11/09: TEC: America's Energy Question: What Price Will it Take to Commit to Renewable Energy?
- 2010/11/08: WaPo: Green Lantern: Geothermal power offers hope for a clean energy future
- 2010/11/07: NYT: Cost of Green Power Makes Projects Tougher Sell
Michael Polsky's wind farm company was doing so well in 2008 that banks were happy to lend millions for his effort to light up America with clean electricity. But two years later, Mr. Polsky has a product he is hard-pressed to sell. His company, Invenergy, had a contract to sell power to a utility in Virginia, but state regulators rejected the deal, citing the recession and the lower prices of natural gas and other fossil fuels. "The ratepayers of Virginia must be protected from costs for renewable energy that are unreasonably high," the regulators said. Wind power would have increased the monthly bill of a typical residential customer by 0.2 percent. - 2010/11/08: TreeHugger: Energy Analyst Predicts $300 A Barrel Oil in Ten Years
- 2010/11/08: Eureka: Nanogenerators grow strong enough to power small conventional electronics
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2010/11/12: ProPublica: Interview: Former NY Environmental Commissioner Pete Grannis on Gas Drilling
- 2010/11/10: GreenGrok: Hyrdrofracturing: An Energy Revolution
- 2010/11/10: NRDC:SwitchBoard: EPA subpoenas Halliburton, and why it's important
- 2010/11/10: ENS: EPA Subpoenas Halliburton, Seeking Fracking Secrets
- 2010/11/10: TEC: Halliburton Uncooperative on Fracking Fluid Disclosure
- 2010/11/09: ProPublica: Science Says Methane in PA. Water Is from Drilling, Not Natural Causes
- 2010/11/09: BBC: Chevron buys Marcellus shale deposit owner Atlas Energy
US energy giant Chevron has agreed to buy Atlas Energy for $4.3bn (£2.7bn). Atlas owns a 60% stake in a joint venture with India's Reliance Industries to exploit the Marcellus shale gas deposit in Pennsylvania It means Chevron has chosen to follow ExxonMobil and Shell, by entering the burgeoning US industry for shale - a rock deposit that produces natural gas. Chevron will pay $3.2bn in cash and its own stock, and will also take over $1.1bn of Atlas' debts. - 2010/11/09: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Offshore Wind Moving Forward in the US
- 2010/11/08: PhysOrg: Future wind turbines go offshore -- deep and floating
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2010/11/12: Yahoo:AP: Largest solar power plant in Mass. about to start
- 2010/11/09: NBF: Cogenra solar power for electricity and hot water and more efficiency
- 2010/11/08: PlanetArk: ReneSola Ups Outlook, Signals Bright Finish To 2010
- 2010/11/09: PeakEnergy: A new direction for American solar?
- 2010/10/08: REA: What's Behind Record-Breaking Solar Cell Efficiencies, Part 1
- 2010/11/09: REA: What's Behind Record-Breaking Solar Cell Efficiencies, Part 2
- 2010/11/08: TreeHugger: Is Asking When Solar Power Will Reach Grid Parity Addressing the Right Question?
Feed-In-Tariffs are being variously implemented around the world:
- 2010/11/09: TreeHugger: Are 'Massive Forces of Darkness' Lining Up Against Solar? [UK FITs]
- 2010/11/08: TEC: Impact of CSP and PV solar feed-in-tariffs in Spain
On the coal front:
- 2010/11/10: WWI: Global Coal Use Stagnates Despite Growing Chinese and Indian Markets
- 2010/11/12: TreeHugger: Global Coal Burning Stagnates For First Time in 10 Years! But China's Use Still Climbing...
- 2010/11/11: SolveClimate: College Campuses Continue to Leave Coal Behind
60 U.S. campuses have coal-fired power plants. Lawsuits and activism are trying to phase them out - 2010/11/11: Grist: China's top-down energy gigantism and a bottom-up American alternative
- 2010/11/10: Grist: A question for James Fallows about coal and focus
- 2010/11/09: EnergyBulletin: After a strong counterattack, big coal makes a comeback
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2010/11/11: NewScientist: Biofuels will up Euro greenhouse emissions
- 2010/11/11: PlanetArk: World Bank Arm Ready To Back Palm Oil If Ban Goes
- 2010/11/10: Eureka: Growing sorghum for biofuel -- Iowa State researchers examine the efficiencies and environmental impacts of growing sorghum for ethanol
- 2010/11/08: PlanetArk: Dutch Buyers To Import Only Green Palm Oil By 2015
- 2010/11/08: EUO: EU biofuel policy will increase CO2 emissions, study says
- 2010/11/07: Reuters: Biofuel worse for climate than fossil fuel - study
Analysis of EU biofuels shows negative climate impact - Industry says new science is insufficiently robust - EU Commission says will change policy if needed - 2010/11/08: TreeHugger: EU Biofuel Expansion Plans Worse For Environment Than Burning Fossil Fuels, New Report Claims
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2010/11/12: NatureN: [ITER] Fusion project looks for savings -- Plans to scale down testing sparks concern
- 2010/11/11: NBF: Tennessee Valley Authority takes first step to build six mPower mini nuclear reactors
- 2010/11/08: ScienceInsider: ITER Managers Debate Painful Cuts to Lower Costs
- 2010/11/08: Eureka: Fusion makes major step forward at MIT through studies of the plasma edge -- Breakthrough could help reduce heating of plasma container walls
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2010/11/12: CCurrents: Global Oil Availability Has Peaked : EU Energy Chief
- 2010/11/02: Tyee:Hook: Peak oil task force recommends steps to reduce oil dependency
The first Canadian task force to tackle "peak oil" is recommending that the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District work to reduce oil imports and exports by 2.6 per cent annually. - 2010/11/10: EnergyBulletin: Peak Oil -- "The Debate is Over"
- 2010/11/10: CCurrents: Has The World Already Passed "Peak Oil"?
- 2010/11/08: OilDrum: Jeff Rubin: Oil and the End of Globalization - ASPO-USA
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2010/11/08: Eureka: Power grid of the future saves energy
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2010/11/10: ScienceInsider: Did Bush's Changes to Daylight Saving Time Save Energy?
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2010/11/12: TreeHugger: Mitsubishi Unveils U.S. Version of i-MiEV Electric Car
- 2010/11/10: AutoBG: One city in China [Shenzhen] aims to have 35,000 electric vehicles on the road in 3 years
- 2010/11/11: BBC: GE buys 25,000 electric cars to kick-start market
- 2010/11/11: CBC: GE to buy 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015
As for Energy Storage:
- 2010/11/08: AutoBG: Underwriters Laboratory releases white paper on li-ion battery safety
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2010/11/08: CCP: Rolling Stone: Bill Gates is investing millions to halt global warming by creating an inexhaustible supply of carbon-free energy
- 2010/11/08: PhysOrg: The 6-percent solution: How corporations can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions through better planning
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
- 2010/11/12: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for November 12...
- 2010/11/10: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for November 10...
- 2010/11/09: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for November 9...
- 2010/11/08: ClimateP: Energy and Global Warming News for November 8...
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2010/11/12: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Climate, Energy and Environment News from Latin America: 11.8 - 11.12.2010
- 2010/11/11: Grist: A walk through the week's climate news -- The Climate Post: Climate scientists: It's war
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2010/11/13: TPL: Don't worry. Be happy.
- 2010/11/13: DeSmogBlog: Andy Revkin Reviews Bjorn Lomborg's New Film 'Cool It'
- 2010/11/12: TWTB: "Cool It" yourselves
- 2010/11/12: ClimateP: Koch Industries Facts: A new website about 2010's dirtiest opponent of clean energy
- 2010/11/12: DeSmogBlog: Koch Industries: 2010's Dirtiest Opponent of Clean Energy
- 2010/11/11: Tamino: Hey David Whitehouse: why is the sky green?
- 2010/11/11: JKB: French Academy of Sciences refutes Claude Allègre's book The climate Imposter
- 2010/11/11: SkeptiSci: Climate cherry pickers: cooling oceans
- 2010/11/10: OilChange: Shell's Nigerian PR Strategy Exposed
- 2010/11/08: Grist: To block EPA regulations, Koch Industries expands lobbying campaign to children
- 2010/11/08: ERabett: The Anti-Watts Effect
- 2010/11/08: AFTIC: Global and seasonally averaged means seasonally and globally averaged
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2010/11/14: TSoD: Do Trenberth and Kiehl understand the First Law of Thermodynamics? Part Three -- The Creation of Energy?
- 2010/11/13: moyhu: Condensation - the Eulerian View
- 2010/11/12: TSoD: Interesting Refutation of Some Basics
- 2010/11/11: BVerheggen: It's what we know that's most important
- 2010/11/11: NewScientist: Countdown to 'thermogeddon' has begun
- 2010/11/11: Deltoid: Stewart Brand disappoints
- 2010/11/10: MTobis: Climate Change Myths
- 2010/11/08: CSM: New energy: climate change and sustainability shape a new era
- 2010/11/08: MTobis: The Future
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- G20 Justice -- We demand justice now
- Koch Industries Facts -- 2010's Dirtiest Opponent of Clean Energy
- Emitter -- Tracking pollution in your neighbourhood
- NOAA ESRL GMD Carbon Cycle - Interactive Atmospheric Data Visualization
- NSF: Science360
- Climate change in Kiribati
- Old Weather - Our Weather's Past, the Climate's Future
- IEA: World Energy Outlook 2010
- Ecological Sociology
- Planet 3.0: Sights Sites & Cites
- CEJ: Center for Environmental Journalism
- ClimateSpin - A climate scientist looks at the media coverage of both climate change and the debate on what to do about it
- UNL: US Drought Monitor
- Maribo
The things that pass for humour nowadays:
The G20 met in Seoul this week, with little news of climatic import:
Cities taking over where other levels of government fail?
Scientists fight back?
Here's a mitigation right up your IP alley:
Speaking of an International Ecological Court:
Post CRU theft, controversy & inquiry:
As for the agro-chem corps:
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
More GW impacts are being seen:
Post election repercussions and machinations:
Somebody is trying to redefine conservatism:
And in Europe:
The G20 controversy lingers:
A uniquely Canadian retrospective on Copenhagen:
In the North:
And for your film & video enjoyment:
The answer my friend...:
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.
"The notion that truth will prevail is not working. The truth has been out there for the past two decades, and nothing has changed." -Scott Mandia
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