Another Week of GW News, August 7, 2011

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

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Another week of Global Warming News

Sipping from the Internet Firehose...

August 7, 2011

• Autobahn Chuckles, COP17+, Horn of Africa, Monnett, Shell & Nigeria
• A Good Question, Cook, Post CRU
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy, Fukushima Talk
• Melting Arctic, Funder et al., Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Food Prices, Land Grabs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Aerosols, Paleoclimate
• ENSO, Solar, Overshoot, State of the Oceans, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Extreme Weather, Wildfires
• Acidification, Glaciers, GW Deluge, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings
• Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, DIY Science, Models, Pielke, Spencer
• International Politics: Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy, Rare Earths, EU-ETS & Airlines
• Security, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, Water Politics & Business, Religioso
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Gore, Keystone XL, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Carbon War, Murray-Darling, New Zealand, India, China, Africa, South America
• Canada, Post G20, Job Cuts, CAFE, CWB, Iodine, Tar Sands PR
• BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Sask, Manitoba, Ontario, Maritimes
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
• Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Fossil Fuel Corps, Pipelines, Peak Oil, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, LENR, Grid, Efficiency, Cars
• Insurance, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Autobahn Note:

In case you have been looking for my home page, it seems Autobahn member pages are permanently toast. I will be looking around for another web hosting solution. In the meanwhile, there is AFTIC only.

Laugh. I dare ya:

• 2011/07/31: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) Clicktivist
• 2011/08/04: ParliamAntHill: (cartoon - Sadlemyer) EnvironmAnt Canada job cuts raise concerns
• 2011/08/01: TP:JR: Mohr Cartoon Humor: 'Thinking' Like a Climate Skeptic
• 2011/08/01: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Strange Buoys

  Looking ahead to COP17 and future international climate negotiations:

• 2011/08/04: OpenDem: An extreme climate: dangers and needs by Paul Rogers
  Both regional weather disasters and global climate trends present compelling arguments for political and economic action on a systemic scale. But the obstacles to this remain formidable.
• 2011/08/03: MLynas: Prospects for a legally-binding international climate deal
• 2011/08/03: PlanetArk: Durban Talks Unlikely To Strike Climate Deal: [chair of U.N. Kyoto Protocol negotiations, Adrian Macey]

  The Horn of Africa drought and famine continues to be a major disaster:

• 2011/08/06: CCP: Day One of 48 for East Africa: Raising awareness, funds for Horn of Africa famine relief
• 2011/08/06: al Jazeera: Famine and hope in the Horn of Africa
  Artificial political boundaries, global warming, and high fertility rates are worsening famine in the Horn of Africa.
• 2011/08/05: FAO: As famine spreads action urgently needed -- Immediate support vital
• 2011/08/01: USGS: USGS Science Supports Famine Declaration in East Africa -- Dire Conditions to Expand Across Southern Somalia
• 2011/08/06: DeSmogBlog: East Africa Food Crisis: 48 Hour Fundraiser This Weekend To Combat Famine and Drought
• 2011/08/05: CCurrents: An Island Of Food In Africa's Horn Of Hunger
• 2011/08/02: ProPublica: As Somalia Starves, U.S. Softens Terrorism Rules That Restricted Aid
• 2011/08/05: AntiWar: Somali Troops Kill Ten in Mogadishu Food Riot -- Witnesses Say Soldiers Were Stealing Famine Rations
• 2011/08/05: CBC: Somali troops open fire on refugees seeking food
• 2011/08/05: Guardian(UK): Somalia famine refugees killed in looting at Mogadishu aid camp
• 2011/08/05: UN: UN agencies step up deliveries of food aid to famine-stricken Somalis
• 2011/08/05: TreeHugger: 29,000 Children Dead Due to East African Famine in Past Three Months (Video)
• 2011/08/05: WiC: Somalia famine's devastation
• 2011/08/05: BBC: Kenya drought: Starvation claims 14 lives in Turkana
  At least 14 people have died in Kenya's north-eastern Turkana region - the first hunger-related Kenyan deaths in the current regional drought.
• 2011/08/05: BBC: Somalia: Armed food raid kills five at Mogadishu camp
  At least five people have been killed and several wounded as an armed gang raided a camp in the Somali capital to steal food aid supplies. Residents of the Badbaado camp, on the outskirts of Mogadishu, were queuing to receive aid when the attack happened. It was not immediately clear who was behind the violence though some reports said it was government soldiers.
• 2011/08/04: L&P: WFP in Somalia: what's going on?
• 2011/08/04: CBC: Somali famine kills thousands of children
• 2011/08/04: al Jazeera: Somalia famine has killed '29,000 children'
  Claim by US officials follows declaration of three new famine zones by UN and warning that more areas are vulnerable.
• 2011/08/03: al Jazeera: Somalia famine summit postponed [for two weeks]
  Delay announced as UN says three new regions are "famine zones" and all regions in country's south are vulnerable.
• 2011/08/04: EurActiv: Switzerland shows solidarity with hunger-stricken Somalia
  Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey conveyed Switzerland's concern about the plight of victims affected by the famine in the Horn of Africa during a visit to the region, the Swiss press reported. Calmy Rey is the only European leader to visit the scene of this year's worst humanitarian disaster.
• 2011/08/03: CBC: Famine spreads in southern Somalia -- East Africa drought leaves millions in need of assistance
• 2011/08/03: Guardian(UK): Somalia famine has reached three new regions, says UN
• 2011/08/03: CNN: Somalia's famine reaches into Mogadishu, U.N. says
  About 100,000 people recently arrive in Mogadishu in need of help, the U.N. says - U.N. spokesman: Somalis need "our immediate and concerted response" - The United Nations first declared a famine in June - Relief efforts are complicated by the country's civil war
• 2011/08/02: UN: Horn of Africa: UNICEF urges airlines to cut costs of delivering aid
• 2011/08/03: UN: UN declares famine in another three areas of Somalia
• 2011/08/02: AntiWar: Kenya-Armed Militiamen Attack Somali Famine Refugees -- Unpaid Militia Make a Living Targeting Refugees
• 2011/08/02: DerSpiegel: Hotel Somalia -- Meeting Fate in World's Largest Refugee Camp
  Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing into eastern Kenya to escape hunger, drought and Islamist militias in Somalia. Their new home is the world's biggest refugee camp in Dadaab, which some of them will never leave. But the example of one man shows that it can still be a place of hope.
• 2011/08/02: CBC: Somalia famine 'spiralling out of control' -- UN, aid groups make appeal for more aid for Horn of Africa relief
• 2011/07/31: PS: Famine and Hope in the Horn of Africa by Jeffrey D. Sachs
• 2011/08/01: Guardian(UK): Red Cross calls for more aid as supplies reach Somali famine victims
  Emergency relief is getting to only a small percentage of those in need, says the Red Cross: 3.7 million Somalis still need food
• 2011/07/31: Guardian(UK): Somali famine victims lose homes as torrential rain hits refugee camps

  The suspension of Charles Monnett continues to draw a lot of comment:

• 2011/08/06: CCP: Greenpeace and the Center for Biological Diversity demand answers about BOEMRE's suspension of Charles Monnett, polar bear biologist
• 2011/08/04: KSJT: See-sawing ink: One polar bear scientist in glare of interrogation, another basking in a glowing review
• 2011/08/03: CCP: Scientific American: "Was the Suspension of Drowned Polar Bear Discoverer [Charles Monnett] Politically Motivated? You Be the Judge
• 2011/08/03: CCP: Alaska Dispatch: Why is a scientist at an offshore oil agency under investigation?
• 2011/08/03: CCP: Lost interview: Alaska scientist, Charles Monnett, described how he discovered 'drowned polar bears'
• 2011/08/03: CBC: U of Alberta distances self from U.S. researcher [Charles Monnett]
  The University of Alberta is distancing itself from a U.S. scientist who is being investigated for how he handled research contracts, including one that has gone to a prominent polar bear researcher from the Edmonton institution. The study tracking polar bears recently restarted following a stop-work order issued by American officials last month, said university spokesman Jamie Hanlon. "Pursuant to their investigation, the United States Department of the Interior's inspector general's office contacted the University of Alberta on July 13, 2011, to issue a 'stop-work' order on a research project, funded by the U.S. government, being conducted by University of Alberta biologist Andrew Derocher," Hanlon said in an email. "The University of Alberta complied and co-operated fully. A 'notice-to-proceed' order was issued by the investigating office on Aug. 1, 2011, for Derocher to resume his study."
• 2011/08/03: NWF:WP: Why Big Oil is Declaring War on Polar Bears --- And How You Can Help Fight Back
• 2011/08/02: STW: Something Does Not Add Up
• 2011/08/03: CCP: "Observations of mortality associated with extended open-water swimming by polar bears in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea," by Charles Monnett & Jeffrey S. Gleason, Polar Biology, 29(8) (2006) 681-687; doi: 10.1007/s00300-005-0105-2
• 2011/08/03: CCP: Science Solid: America's Polar Bears on Thin Ice -- But Questions Surround Internal Investigation of Wildlife Biologist
• 2011/08/03: CCP: Felicity Barringer, NYT: Second-Guessing Polar Bear Research...
• 2011/08/02: ScienceInsider: Update on Suspension of Polar Bear Researcher
• 2011/08/02: G&M: Arctic scientist suspended after awarding research project to University of Alberta
  The U.S. government suspended an Arctic biologist over how he awarded a polar bear research project to the University of Alberta and its management, not for his earlier scientific work detailing drowned polar bears, [PEER] a watchdog group said Monday.
• 2011/08/02: Guardian(UK): Suspended Arctic scientist to be questioned over research contracts
  Charles Monnett will be asked about his compliance with government regulations and relationship with another researcher
• 2011/08/02: CCP: Time to investigate BOEMRE investigators and head, Michael Bromwich, for their links to the oil companies!
• 2011/08/02: CCP: The Mysterious, Ice-Cold Canning of a Prominent Polar Bear Researcher
• 2011/08/02: NatureN: Bear researcher frozen out -- Supporters question motives for suspension of government scientist
• 2011/08/02: BCLSB: Charles Monnett And The Polar Bears
• 2011/07/29: Guardian(UK): [Long] Transcript of an interview with Jeffrey Gleason
  A transcript of a conversation between investigators and Jeffrey Gleason, a government scientist on the same 2004 Arctic research trip as Charles Monnett

A series of announcments about Shell and Nigeria have left me wondering:

• 2011/08/05: DeSmogBlog: U.N. Report On Niger Delta Calls For Billion Dollar Shell Oil Spill Clean-Up Fund
• 2011/08/04: DeSmogBlog: Shell Agrees To Pay Nigerians For 2008 and 2009 Oil Spills
• 2011/08/04: al Jazeera: Shell faces first Nigeria spill claims in UK
  British court rules that Bodo community can seek compensation from Dutch oil giant after oil spills devastate area
• 2011/08/04: CNN: Shell faces $410M payout over Nigeria oil spills
  Royal Dutch Shell group admitted liability for two spills in Nigeria - Compensation to be paid to 69,000 affected Nigerians - Case against Shell results from two oil leaks in 2008-09
• 2011/08/04: CNN: U.N. report: Nigeria oil cleanup could take 30 years, cost $1 billion
  A landmark U.N. report says the cleanup could be world's largest-ever - The Niger Delta's waterways are devastated from more than 6,800 spills - Shell oil company admits liability for two spills - The Delta's Bodo people are suing Shell for damages
• 2011/08/04: UN: Cleaning up Nigerian oil pollution could take 30 years, cost billions of dollars - UN
• 2011/08/04: TP:JR: You Think America Has A Lot of Oil Spills? Welcome to Nigeria, "the World Capital of Oil Pollution"
• 2011/08/04: TreeHugger: Shell Accepts Liability For Nigerian Oil Spills For First Time - Region Will Take 30 Years To Clean Up
• 2011/08/04: BBC: Nigeria Ogoniland oil clean-up 'could take 30 years'
  Nigeria's Ogoniland region could take 30 years to fully recover from the damage caused by years of oil spills, a United Nations report says. The long-awaited study says complete restoration could entail the world's "most wide-ranging and long-term oil clean-up".
• 2011/08/03: Guardian(UK): Shell accepts liability for two oil spills in Nigeria
  Oil giant faces a bill of hundreds of millions of dollars following class action suit brought on behalf of communities in Bodo, Ogoniland
• 2011/08/03: OilChange: "The news that Shell accepts liability will be greeted with joy"

  A good question:

• 2011/07/31: EnergyBulletin: The question of Sovicille
  [...]
  ...why there is so much disagreement on so many issues, from resource depletion to climate change. In theory, the scientific method should lead us to find an agreement, in practice we seem to be engaged in an endless cycle of arguments that never goes anywhere. Why is it so?

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2011/08/07: SkeptiSci: The Ridley Riddle Part Two: The White Queen by Andy S
• 2011/08/06: SkeptiSci: OA not OK part 14: Going down by Doug Mackie
• 2011/08/05: SkeptiSci: OA not OK part 13: Polymorphs - the son of Poseidon by Doug Mackie
• 2011/08/04: SkeptiSci: Loehle and Scafetta Play Spencer's Curve Fitting Game by dana1981
• 2011/08/02: SkeptiSci: Spencer's Misdiagnosis of Surface Temperature Feedback by Kevin Trenberth
• 2011/08/02: SkeptiSci: Just Put the Model Down, Roy by bbickmore
• 2011/08/01: SkeptiSci: OA not OK part 12: Christmas present by Doug Mackie

  Post CRU theft, controversy & inquiry:

• 2011/08/03: CCP: Will Someone Finally Ask If News Corp. Was Behind Hacked Climate Emails?
• 2011/08/01: DeSmogBlog: Global Temperature Data Released by "Climategate" Researchers

  A note on the Fukushima disaster:

  It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. Now the Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, says decades. We'll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.

  Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

• 2011/08/05: Asia Times: Engineer dismantles facade of Japan's nuclear industry
• 2011/08/05: PlanetArk: Japan Town Retreats From Nuclear Project Near Fukushima Plant
• 2011/08/04: PlanetArk: Japan To Announce New Nuclear Watchdog
  Japan will unveil plans as early as this week for a new atomic safety regulator which is expected to lead to tougher safety standards and higher costs for nuclear power operators. The current watchdog's cozy ties with the industry was widely seen as a key contributing factor in Japan's failure to prevent the worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. In an attempt to address this, the government plans to bring the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) together with another government advisory body to be placed under the Environment Agency, according to media reports. An announcement of that plan is expected on Friday.
• 2011/08/04: PlanetArk: Japan's Radiation Scare To Hit Beef Output
• 2011/08/04: BBC: Japan sacks three nuclear power officials in shake-up
  Three men in charge of nuclear power safety and policy have been sacked amid the ongoing crisis at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Japan's Trade and Industry Minister, Banri Kaieda, said the three senior officials would be held responsible for mishandling the plant and its problems. Radioactive material is still leaking from the plant nearly five months on. The crisis has also brought to light the close links between the government and the power industry. Those sacked are the head of the nuclear safety agency, Nobuaki Terasaka, the head of the agency for natural resources and energy, Tetsuhiro Hosono, and the vice-minister for economy, trade and industry, Kazuo Matsunaga. Mr Kaieda, who played a key role in handling the Fukushima crisis, has also said he plans to resign to take responsibility. But he has not said when he will do so...
• 2011/08/03: PlanetArk: Pockets Of High Radiation Remind Of Fukushima Plant Danger
• 2011/08/02: BBerg: TEPCO Reports Second Deadly Radiation Reading at Fukushima Nuclear Plant
• 2011/08/03: CSM: Fukushima's nuclear cauldron: Retirees who want to go in
• 2011/08/03: APR: Fukushima Daiichi update on high rad levels
• 2011/08/03: BBC: Japan's parliament has approved a plan to help the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) compensate victims of its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant
• 2011/08/02: CNN: Workers find ultra-high radiation levels at Fukushima Daiichi plant
  Tokyo Electric Power Company is investigating the cause of the high radiation - These are the highest radiation levels since the early days of the disaster - A single 60-minute dose would be fatal to humans within weeks - The earthquake and tsunami hit in March
• 2011/08/02: PlanetArk: Japan July Nuclear Plant Usage Falls To 33.9 Percent
• 2011/08/02: PlanetArk: Japanese Rice To Be Tested For Radioactive Cesium
• 2011/08/02: APR: Nuclear Energy in Japan
• 2011/08/01: BBerg: TEPCO Says Highest Radiation Yet Is Detected at Fukushima Dai-Ichi
• 2011/08/02: al Jazeera: Record radiation level at Japan nuclear plant
  Fukushima plant's operator says level "fatal to humans" detected near ventilation stack standing between two reactors. Record levels of radiation have been recorded at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant reactor, just months after the nuclear accident resulting from the earthquake and tsunami in March. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported that Geiger counters - a hand-held device used to measure radiation - registered their highest possible reading at the site on Monday. TEPCO said that radiation exceeding 10 sieverts [10,000 millisieverts] per hour was found at the bottom of a ventilation stack standing between two reactors. Al Jazeera's Aela Callan, reporting from Japan's Ibaraki prefecture, said the level recorded was "fatal to humans" but that it was contained just to the plant's site. However, scientists are planning to carry out more tests on Tuesday.
• 2011/08/01: PlanetArk: Japan Vows To Skirt Nuclear Shutdown, Watchdog Embarassed
  Japan will strive to avoid a complete shutdown of its 54 nuclear reactors and avert crippling power shortages in the near term while charting plans to reduce the nation's dependence on nuclear power, the government said on Friday.
  [...]
  Kan surprised the public and his own cabinet ministers earlier this month by saying that the world's worst nuclear crisis since 1986 in Chernobyl convinced him that Japan should wean itself off nuclear energy. A recent poll showed about 70 percent of Japanese voters endorsed that vision.
• 2011/08/01: Grist: Here come Japan's post-nuclear model solar communities

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

• 2011/08/06: ABC(Au): Japan PM vows nuclear-free future
• 2011/08/06: ABC(Au): Fukushima stokes fear on Hiroshima anniversary
• 2011/08/06: BBC: Hiroshima memorial: PM Naoto Kan makes nuclear pledge
  Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has repeated a pledge to reduce reliance on nuclear power, as people mark the 66th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.
• 2011/08/06: CBC: Japan marks Hiroshima anniversary -- PM calls for reduced reliance on nuclear power
• 2011/08/06: al Jazeera: PM in nuclear pledge as Japan marks Hiroshima
  Naoto Kan says Japan should aim to end its dependence on atomic power, as Fukushima crisis prompts anti-nuclear rallies.
• 2011/08/04: PressEurop: Europe rediscovers coal
  The Fukushima accident has greatly reduced interest in nuclear power. But because renewable energies are not sufficient to satisfy the needs of the Old Continent, European nations are turning to the most ancient source of fuel but also the most polluting.
• 2011/08/03: G&M: Setsuden [power conservation] poised to replace nuclear power in Japan
• 2011/08/03: BBC: Sellafield plant set to cut 600 posts
  A nuclear fuel manufacturing plant at the Sellafield complex in Cumbria is to close, putting 600 jobs at risk. The MOX plant, which recycles plutonium into mixed oxide fuel, is no longer viable because of uncertainty in the Japanese nuclear industry, the plant's only customer, officials said.

And of course, the pundits. lobbyists and politicians have a lot to say:

• 2011/08/05: Straight: Japan's Fukushima catastrophe brings big radiation spikes to B.C.
• 2011/08/04: PSinclair: Fukushima Update for August 4: High Radiation at Fukushima in Perspective
• 2011/08/03: NakedCapitalism: WashingtonsBlog: Fukushima Radiation Highest Ever, Exceeding Capacity of Measuring Device -- Fuel Likely Leaking Out Of Containment Vessel

  The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

• 2011/08/06: ASI: SIE 2011 update 15: one step forward
• 2011/08/04: UNDispatch: 4 Reasons We Should Be Worried About July's Near Record-Breaking Sea Ice Melt
• 2011/08/05: CNN: Paddling to the pole: First rowboat heads to Arctic
  Six men are attempting to make history by rowing to the magnetic North Pole - The crew must row 450 miles before their path freezes over in September - Leader Jock Wishart: "Ice flows were threatening to crush the boat"
• 2011/08/04: ASI: The Modern Area of Ice
• 2011/08/04: PostMedia: Arctic sea ice keeps melting at a near-record pace -- Navigable channel may open in Northwest Passage this year
  Arctic sea ice is headed for another major meltdown before summer's end, according to a new U.S. report that highlights the disappearance of thicker, older ice in Canada's Far North and the historically unusual, but recently commonplace, opening of vast stretches of ice-free water in the Beaufort Sea and Northwest Passage. The latest Arctic ice monitoring data, issued Wednesday by the Colorado-based National Snow and Ice Data Center, shows the region is experiencing the second-greatest loss of summer sea ice since satellite tracking began in 1979.
• 2011/08/03: CCP: NSIDC, Report of August 3, 2011: Arctic sea ice at record low for July
• 2011/08/03: ASI: PIOMAS July 2011
• 2011/08/03: TreeHugger: Arctic Sea Ice Sets New Record Low For July
• 2011/08/02: QuarkSoup: 2011 Sea Ice Pulls Up Lame
• 2011/08/01: Tamino: Ice Forecast Update Update
• 2011/07/31: ASI: SIE 2011 update 14: two steps back, one step...

  The Funder et al. paper kicked off a round of Arctic tipping point commentary:

• 2011/08/04: Science: (ab$) A 10,000-Year Record of Arctic Ocean Sea-Ice Variability -- View from the Beach by Svend Funder et al.
• 2011/08/05: TreeHugger: Arctic Ice Still Melting, But We May Never Seen An Actual Tipping Point
• 2011/08/04: ASI: Arctic 'tipping point' may not be reached
• 2011/08/04: BBC: Arctic 'tipping point' may not be reached
  Scientists say that current concerns over a tipping point in the disappearance of Arctic sea ice may be misplaced. Danish researchers analysed ancient pieces of driftwood found in Northern Greenland which they say is an accurate way of measuring the extent of the ancient ice loss. Writing in the journal Science, the team found evidence that sea ice levels were about 50% lower than today when temperatures warmed around 5,000 years ago.

That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2011/08/05: TCoE: Earth: Ground zero for the permafrost bomb
• 2011/08/05: TP:JR: Bombshell: Warming May Shrink Russian Permafrost 30% by 2050

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2011/08/04: CBC: Canadian navy headed for Arctic
  The Canadian Navy ships docked in St. John's will be heading out Friday for an annual Arctic training mission dubbed Operation Nanook.
• 2011/08/04: EnvEcon: Add this to the benefit column in your climate change benefit cost analysis
• 2011/08/04: PlanetArk: Russia Says High Ice Melt Opens Arctic Trade Routes
• 2011/08/03: CBC: Canada, U.S. on board for Arctic [military] mission [Operation Nanook]
• 2011/08/03: BBC: Cairn Energy setback in Greenland
  Edinburgh exploration firm Cairn Energy has announced it is to abandon one of its wells in Greenland after failing to find oil. The company said it had decided to suspend drilling on another because it wants to use that rig to explore at another location.

While in Antarctica:

• 2011/08/03: CCP: "2001-2009 elevation and mass losses in the Larsen A and B embayments, Antarctic Peninsula," by Christopher A. Shumann, Etienne Berthier & Ted A. Scambos, J. Glaciology, 57 (2011) 737-754
• 2011/08/02: TP:JR: Ancient Glacial Melting Shows that Small Amount of Subsurface Warming Can Trigger Rapid Collapse of Ice Shelves

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2011/08/06: RWER: Chart of the day: USA food stamps
• 2011/08/02: Guardian(UK): The truth about the global demand for food
  A new report from the FAO blows the myth about increased grain consumption from developing countries leads to higher global demand and higher prices
• 2011/08/04: ProMedMail: Husk spot, macadamia - Australia: (QL)
• 2011/08/03: PlanetArk: Uganda Could Be Next Hit By Malnutrition, UN [FAO] Warns
• 2011/08/03: RadioAustralia: Food security threatened by phosphorus shortage
• 2011/08/01: NatNews: Monsanto-spawned superweeds growing three inches daily, destroying farm equipment
• 2011/08/01: UN: Somalia: UN official warns famine could spread without adequate relief funding
• 2011/08/02: ProMedMail: Leaf rust, wheat - UK: new strain
• 2011/08/02: TreeHugger: Grain Production Falling as Soil Erosion Continues by Lester Brown
• 2011/08/01: ProMedMail: Blast disease, rice - Philippines: (KA)

  Food Prices are still problematic:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2011/08/03: L&P: For those who still doubt the role of corporations in raising food prices through speculations
• 2011/08/02: BPA: What is NOT driving up food prices? Bulk shipping rates.

  So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

• 2011/08/02: CCurrents: No Boundaries: An Extended Chronicle Of India's Land Acquisition

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion?

• 2011/08/05: Grist: Let them eat dandelions
• 2011/08/02: Grist: Not your grandma's strawberries

  Muifa and Mebok stirred the Western Pacific, Eugene died in the Eastern Pacific and Emily kept the Caribbean on edge:

• 2011/08/07: CNN: Tropical storm Muifa spares Shanghai -- Muifa downgraded to tropical storm, heads to coastal China
  Muifa spares the financial hub of Shanghai - China evacuates residents along coastal areas - Southern regions are sweltering in a heatwave
• 2011/08/07: Wunderground: Tropical Depression Emily Reforms, Rain for the Bahamas
• 2011/08/06: CNN: Gusty Typhoon Muifa set to hit China
  Typhoon Muifa is expected to bring gusty winds and heavy rain to parts of China - It is not expected to make landfall in Shanghai, a major financial center - The typhoon dumped a meter of rain on the Japanese island of Okinawa - Southern regions of China are sweltering in a heatwave
• 2011/08/05: Wunderground: Remnants of Emily could redevelop; Muifa batters Okinawa; Central U.S. roasts
• 2011/08/05: NASA: NASA Sees Typhoon Muifa Almost Twice as Big as Tropical Storm Merbok
• 2011/08/05: Eureka: NASA sees warmer cloud tops in infrared imagery of Tropical Storm Eugene
• 2011/08/05: Eureka: GOES-13 Satellite watches Emily fizzle, morph and hope for a comeback
• 2011/08/06: BBC: Typhoon Muifa: China evacuates thousands as storm nears
  Chinese authorities have evacuated more than 200,000 people from its east coast as the region braces for its most powerful typhoon in years.
• 2011/08/06: al Jazeera: China braces for powerful Typhoon [Muifa]
  Hundreds of thousands evacuated, ports closed, and nuclear plant safety tightened ahead of huge waves and 144kph winds.
• 2011/08/05: Guardian(UK): Typhoon Muifa approaches China, prompting high alert
• 2011/08/04: Guardian(UK): Haiti's quake homeless wait as tropical storm approaches
• 2011/08/04: CNN: Emily weakens as it approaches Haiti
  Tropical Storm Emily could be downgraded Thursday afternoon - Nearly 12,000 U.N. troops and police are on standby in Haiti - The storm was south-southwest of Haiti Thursday - Emily's winds are at 50 mph
• 2011/08/04: Wunderground: Tropical Storm Emily continues to threaten Haiti; More extreme heat in Central U.S.
• 2011/08/04: Wunderground: Emily slides west, still a threat for Hispaniola and Cuba
• 2011/08/04: BBC: Rain hits Haiti as Tropical Storm Emily looms offshore
• 2011/08/04: CBC: Haitians hunker down as tropical storm Emily approaches
• 2011/08/03: CBC: Tropical storm Emily to hit Haiti
• 2011/08/03: Guardian(UK): Haiti braces for tropical storm Emily
• 2011/08/03: CNN: Tropical Storm Emily approaches the Dominican Republic, Haiti
• 2011/08/03: CNN: Typhoon fuels monsoon in the Philippines
  Far-away Typhoon Kabayan boosts monsoon rains over northern Philippines - Flash floods and landslides are possible, forecasters say - The storm has winds over 102 mph - The Department of Education cancels Wednesday afternoon classes
• 2011/08/03: Wunderground: High wind shear disrupts Emily as it approaches Hispaniola
• 2011/08/02: CSM: Tropical storm Emily moves west in Caribbean. Will it hit US coast?
• 2011/08/03: al Jazeera: Tropical storm set to add to Haiti's misery
  Approaching Storm Emily, which may precipitate rain, is big worry for about 600,000 Haitians still living in tents.
• 2011/08/02: CBC: Tropical storm Emily heads toward Haiti
• 2011/08/02: CNN: Emily spins across eastern Caribbean with heavy rain
  Storm strengthens slightly, moves towards Dominican Republic and Haiti - Tropical storm warning issued for Haiti - Some strengthening is expected in the next two days - Heavy rain is forecast for Haiti and the Dominican Republic
• 2011/08/02: PlanetArk: New Tropical Storm [Emily] Forms Over Caribbean
• 2011/08/02: Wunderground: An Uneasy Future for Tropical Storm Emily
• 2011/08/02: Wunderground: Tropical Storm Emily forms from Invest 91L
• 2011/08/01: PlanetArk: Transport Links Suspended As [Tropical storm Nock-Ten] Bears Down On China
• 2011/08/01: Wunderground: Invest 91L reorganizing; The heat is on (again)

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2011/08/05: CBC: Post-Katrina police shootings lead to convictions
  A federal jury on Friday convicted five current or former police officers in the deadly shootings on a New Orleans bridge after Hurricane Katrina.
• 2011/08/05: TP:JR: NOAA: Prepare for 'High Hurricane Activity' in the Atlantic
• 2011/08/05: PlanetArk: NOAA Raises Forecast To 7-10 Hurricanes This Season
• 2011/08/04: PlanetArk: Top U.S. Hurricane Forecasters Maintain 2011 Outlook
• 2011/08/04: NOAANews: NOAA's Atlantic hurricane season update calls for increase in named storms -- Forecasters have higher confidence for an active season

  As for GHGs:

• 2011/08/07: HotTopic: Anthropogenic CO2 Far Exceeds Volcanic
• 2011/08/04: AutoBG: Portugal leads Europe with lowest CO2 emissions, Sweden lands in last
• 2011/08/04: RealClimate: Volcanic vs. Anthropogenic CO2
• 2011/08/03: NOAANews: NOAA study: Slowing climate change by targeting gases other than carbon dioxide
• 2011/08/02: TreeHugger: Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Large Hydropower Reservoirs Far Lower Than Currently Assumed
• 2011/08/01: Eureka: Greenhouse gas impact of hydroelectric reservoirs downgraded -- Site design and location can minimize carbon dioxide, methane emissions
• 2011/08/02: CBC: Hydro reservoirs produce less CO2 than believed
  Hydroelectric reservoirs emit about one-sixth of the greenhouse gases previously attributed to them, says an international team of scientists. They emit 48 million metric tonnes of carbon annually, a downgrade from earlier estimates of 321 million metric tonnes, according to a study of 85 reservoirs published in this week's online version of Nature Geoscience.

And in the carbon cycle:

• 2011/08/05: Eureka: Ocean probes to help refine climate change forecasting -- 4 years of risky research pays off with hard data on the ocean's role as a carbon 'sink'
• 2011/08/03: PNL: Carbon hitches a ride from field to market -- Agriculture's mobile nature makes predicting regional greenhouse gas impacts more complex

  As for the temperature record:

• 2011/08/01: QuarkSoup: 4th Warmest July
• 2011/08/01: JEB: Centennial scale warming over Japan: are the rural stations really rural?
• 2011/07/31: QuarkSoup: 8th Warmest June

  Aerosols are making their presence felt:

• 2011/08/01: TCoE: Aerosol whiplash could be 25% to 35% worse

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2011/08/06: ITracker: Forest-killing fungi
• 2011/08/05: Berkeley: Fungi helped destroy forests during mass extinction 250 million years ago
• 2011/08/04: Eureka: New Montana State research sheds light on South Pole dinosaurs
• 2011/08/01: Eureka: Ancient glacial melting process similar to existing concerns about Antarctica, Greenland
• 2011/07/31: CCP: Blame for Triassic Mass Extinction Spreads to Methane Gas (12,000 gigatons from the seafloor)

  And on the ENSO front:

• 2011/08/04: NOAA:NCEP: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion
  Synopsis: ENSO-neutral is expected to continue into the Northern Hemisphere fall 2011, with ENSO-neutral or La Niña equally likely thereafter.
• 2011/08/05: Eureka: Montana State researcher discovers link between Montana weather, ocean near Peru
  A Montana State University researcher who analyzed 100 years of data has found a significant link between extreme Montana weather and the ocean temperatures near Peru. Montanans who want to know what to expect from the weather should look to the Pacific Ocean in the fall or maybe find a way to chat with some Peruvian fishermen, according to Joseph Caprio, professor emeritus in MSU's Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences and former Montana State Climatologist. If the average surface temperature of the ocean near Peru is warmer than normal from November through March, fishing off the coast of Peru will be poor and Montana will experience El Nino from the following December through June, Caprio said. El Nino generally means Montana will be warm and dry. If the average surface temperature is cooler than usual from November through March, fishing off the coast of Peru will be good and Montana will have a cool, wet spring, like the one experienced this year during La Nina, Caprio said. He added that weather in different areas of the country responds differently to El Nino or La Nina.
• 2011/08/04: Eureka: La Ninas distant effects in East Africa -- Droughts and floods are remote-controlled climate effects
• 2011/08/04: Eureka: East Africa's climate under the spell of El Niño since the last Ice Age

  Regarding the solar hypothesis:

• 2011/08/01: Yale360: Probing the Role of the Sun In an Era of Global Warming
  Some skeptics have suggested the real culprit behind rising temperatures is increased solar activity. But a wide variety of data and experiments still provide no solid evidence to refute the scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions are the major reason the planet is heating up.

Intimations of Overshoot:

• 2011/08/05: CCurrents: Earth's Systems In Rapid Decline
• 2011/08/03: al Jazeera: Earth's systems in rapid decline
  Overpopulation is causing huge losses in biodiversity, and 'protected areas' such as national parks aren't working.
• 2011/07/31: CCP: Biodiversity On Earth Plummets, Despite Growth in Protected Habitats

  And the State of the Oceans:

• 2011/08/04: NOAANews: NOAA-supported scientists find large dead zone in Gulf of Mexico
• 2011/08/03: TP:JR: Gulf 'Dead Zone' Expanding to New Areas as Increased Flooding Makes the Problem Worse
• 2011/08/02: NatureNB: Scientists 'lag behind' as human impacts on the deep sea increase

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2011/08/03: DM:BA: Boulder fire damage seen from space

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2011/08/05: CBC: Whimsical weather is shifting the mosquitoes around
  Usually buggy Winnipeg gets a break while Edmonton feels the sting
• 2011/08/04: Grist: New tool maps how badly climate change affects you
• 2011/08/04: UCSUSA: Record Heat and Humidity Increase Risks for High School Football Players, Scientists Say
  With More Heat Risk, Coaches Need to Closely Follow Safety Guidelines
• 2011/08/03: USDA:ARS: USDA Scientists Study Effects of Rising Carbon Dioxide on Rangelands
• 2011/08/01: PlanetArk: Drought-Hit Bears Head For Texas Urban Areas

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2011/08/04: Oregonian: Carbon-gobbling trees in Northwest forests change the forest equation, a new study finds
• 2011/08/04: BBC: Model works out trees' maximum height
  Scientists have developed a mathematical model that predicts the maximum height trees can reach in particular environmental conditions.
• 2011/08/03: PSinclair: Picture of the Day: Rocky Mountain National Park
• 2011/07/31: TruthOut: Brazil's Deforestation Quagmire

  What is the new normal? Extreme weather?

• 2011/08/03: Wunderground:RR: Is this year what we can expect?

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2011/08/05: Grist: Most of the country had record heat in July
• 2011/08/05: MTobis: Here Comes Sunshine
• 2011/08/05: CCP: Texas Climate News: Is 100 °F the new 90 °F? A question to ponder amid Texas' record heat and drought
• 2011/08/05: PlanetArk: Drought Worsens In Midwest; Parched Plains In Bad Shape
• 2011/08/05: PlanetArk: Heat Waves Pushes Texas Power Grid Into Red Zone
• 2011/08/03: TP:JR: Mysterious Nationwide Heat Wave Causes Exploding Sidewalks and a Blood-Red Reservoir
• 2011/08/04: PlanetArk: South Plains Break Heat Records, Midwest Cold Front Due
• 2011/08/02: CCP: Hottest July for Dalhart, Amarillo, Del Rio, San Antonio, Austin, TX; Bluefield, WV; Detroit, MI; West Palm Beach; Fort Wayne, IN; Wichita Falls; Oklahoma City
• 2011/08/01: PlanetArk: Hot Weather Persists in central United States

  Acidification is changing the oceans:

• 2011/08/02: WHOI: Study Assesses Nations' Vulnerabilities to Reduced Mollusk Harvests from Ocean Acidification

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2011/08/02: ITracker: Yet another independent line of evidence for global warming
• 2011/08/02: Guardian(UK): Himalayan glaciers shrinking
  Japanese researchers say three glaciers have shrunk over the past 40 years due to climate change and two may disappear altogether
• 2011/08/02: PlanetArk: Himalaya Glaciers Shrinking On Global Warming, Some May Disappear
• 2011/08/01: Grist: Glacier National Park to be devoid of glaciers by 2020

  These global warming deluges are becoming all too frequent:

• 2011/08/03: al Jazeera: Thunderstorms deluge Cameroon -- Flooding rains swamp parts of the country
  40 centimetres of rain in 24 hours, that's a lot of rain. This is what was reported by the northern Cameroon city of Garoua, between 12 GMT on 2 August and 12 GMT on the 3 August.

As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2011/08/05: CBC: Flooding throws North Carolina city into chaos
  Firefighters have rescued stranded drivers and evacuated some downtown neighbourhoods as heavy rain flooded streets and roads in Charlotte, N.C.
  [...]
  The flash flooding was triggered by heavy showers and thunderstorms, and as much as 150 millimetres of rain fell in just six hours in some areas.
• 2011/08/05: BBC: Digital cloud lets farmer know when to water
• 2011/08/03: MTobis: Not really a Texas-centered drought at all
• 2011/08/02: CBC: Philippine capital, Manila hit by massive floods
  At least one person has drowned in waist-deep floods that swamped the streets of the Philippine capital after a night of monsoon rains in Manila closed down schools and government offices.
• 2011/07/31: JFleck: Drought -- An Update
• 2011/08/01: Eureka: US sets drought monitor's 'exceptional drought' record in July -- Worst classification for drought in nearly 12 percent of contiguous US

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2011/08/04: EurActiv: Garlic-fed cows combat global warming
  Reducing farm animals' wind by adding garlic to feed could substantially reduce greenhouse emissions, according to research by West Wales' scientists featured by Euronews.
• 2011/08/04: PostMedia: Curb fertilizer use to cut greenhouse gas emissions: Scientists
• 2011/08/03: UManchester: Crop breeding could 'slash CO2 levels'
  Breeding crops with roots a metre deeper in the ground could lower atmospheric CO2 levels dramatically, with significant environmental benefits, according to research by a leading University of Manchester scientist.
• 2011/08/03: Eureka: NOAA study: Slowing climate change by targeting gases other than carbon dioxide

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2011/08/03: CBC: Auto sales slow in July
  Canadian vehicle sales in July dropped 4.9 per cent from the same month a year ago, according to a firm that tracks automotive sales. Sales of cars and light trucks fell to 141,472 last month, DesRosiers Automotive Consultants said Wednesday. That figure represents a drop of more than 7,000 from the 148,756 vehicles sold in July 2010.
• 2011/08/02: CalcRisk: U.S. Light Vehicle Sales 12.23 million Annual Rate in July
• 2011/08/02: BBC: Chinese carmaker JAC to build factory in Brazil
  Chinese carmaker JAC Motors will build a factory in Brazil to boost its presence in Latin America's biggest car market. Jianghuai Automobile, also known as JAC, plans to have the capacity to produce 100,000 vehicles annually.

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

• 2011/08/02: UNEP: New Move to Develop Global Standards for Measuring Energy Use in Buildings [Common Carbon Metric (CCM)]
• 2011/08/02: UN: UN tool for measuring energy use and emissions [CCM] may become industry standard
• 2011/07/06: UNottingham: Scientists invent heat-regulating building material
• 2011/07/31: USAToday: U.S. cities, states require large buildings cite energy use

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2011/06/27: TOS:Oceanography: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Changes in Sea Level by Philip L. Woodworth et al.
• 2011/08/02: NERC:NORA: Ammonia emissions from UK non-agricultural sources in 2009: contribution to the National Atmospheric Emission Inventory by U. Dragosits & M.A. Sutton
• 2011/08/02: NERC:NORA: Isotopic evidence of cool winter conditions in the mid-Piacenzian (Pliocene) of the southern North Sea Basin by Annemarie Valentine et al.
• 2011/08/02: NERC:NORA: Nineteenth and twentieth century changes in sea level by Philip L. Woodworth et al.
• 2011/08/03: NERC:NORA: Assessing the carbon footprint of transporting primary aggregates by J.M. Mankelow et al.
• 2011/08/05: NERC:NORA: Comparison of new and existing agri-environment scheme options for biodiversity enhancement on arable land - NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
• 2011/08/05: ACP: Spatial distributions and seasonal cycles of aerosols in India and China seen in global climate-aerosol model by S. V. Henriksson et al.
• 2011/08/05: ACP: Cloud condensation nuclei as a modulator of ice processes in Arctic mixed-phase clouds by S. Lance et al.
• 2011/08/05: ACP: Methane flux, vertical gradient and mixing ratio measurements in a tropical forest by C. A. S. Querino et al.
• 2011/08/05: ACPD: Stratospheric ozone chemistry in the Antarctic: what controls the lowest values that can be reached and their recovery? by J.-U. Grooà et al.
• 2011/08/05: ACPD: Extension of an assessment model of ship traffic exhaust emissions for particulate matter and carbon monoxide by J.-P. Jalkanen et al.
• 2011/08/05: ACPD: The Arctic vortex in March 2011: a dynamical perspective by M. M. Hurwitz et al.
• 2011/08/04: GMDD: Towards an online-coupled chemistry-climate model: evaluation of COSMO-ART by C. Knote et al.
• 2011/08/05: GMD: Review of effective emissions modeling and computation by R. Paoli et al.
• 2011/08/05: CP: Down the Rabbit Hole: toward appropriate discussion of methane release from gas hydrate systems during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum and other past hyperthermal events by G. R. Dickens
• 2011/08/04: CPD: Spring-summer temperatures reconstructed for northern Switzerland and south-western Germany from winter rye harvest dates, 1454-1970 by O. Wetter & C. Pfister
• 2011/08/04: CPD: Internal and external variability in regional simulations of the Iberian Peninsula climate over the last millennium by J. J. Gómez-Navarro et al.
• 2011/08/02: CPD: Content analysis for Agricultural Records of the United Kingdom, AD 200 to 1977: a study of frequency in human records concerning climate phenomenon by D. H. Holt
• 2011/08/02: CPD: Volcanic impact on the Atlantic ocean over the last millennium by J. Mignot et al.
• 2011/08/01: CPD: Exploring errors in paleoclimate proxy reconstructions using Monte Carlo simulations: paleotemperature from mollusk and coral geochemistry by M. Carré et al.
• 2011/08/04: ACP: Satellite- and ground-based CO total column observations over 2010 Russian fires: accuracy of top-down estimates based on thermal IR satellite data by L. N. Yurganov et al.
• 2011/08/03: ACP: Global dust model intercomparison in AeroCom phase I by N. Huneeus et multi alia
• 2011/08/03: ACP: Relativistic electron beams above thunderclouds by M. Füllekrug et al.
• 2011/08/03: ACP: Spatial features of rain frequency change and pollution and associated aerosols by Y. Lin et al.
• 2011/08/02: ACP: Estimating seasonal variations in cloud droplet number concentration over the boreal forest from satellite observations by R. H. H. Janssen et al.
• 2011/08/02: ACP: Tropospheric temperature response to stratospheric ozone recovery in the 21st century by Y. Hu et al.
• 2011/08/01: ACP: Potential evaporation trends over land between 1983-2008: driven by radiative fluxes or vapour-pressure deficit? by C. Matsoukas et al.
• 2011/08/04: ACPD: Characteristics, sources and formation of aerosol oxalate in an Eastern Asia megacity and its implication to haze pollution by Y. Jiang et al.
• 2011/08/04: ACPD: The composition and variability of atmospheric aerosol over Southeast Asia during 2008 by W. Trivitayanurak et al.
• 2011/08/02: ACPD: Variation of upper tropospheric clouds and water vapor over the Indian ocean by R. L. Bhawar et al.
• 2011/08/02: ACPD: A statistical analysis of North East Atlantic (submicron) aerosol size distributions by M. Dall'Osto et al.
• 2011/08/04: Science: (ab$) A 10,000-Year Record of Arctic Ocean Sea-Ice Variability -- View from the Beach by Svend Funder et al.
• 2011/07/29: ERL: An abrupt increase of intense typhoons over the western North Pacific in early summer by Jien-Yi Tu et al.
• 2006/01/12: Springer:PB: (ab$) Observations of mortality associated with extended open-water swimming by polar bears in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea by Charles Monnett & Jeffrey S. Gleason
• 2011/08/03: AGWObserver: Papers on amphibian decline
• 2011/08/02: GMDD: Partial Derivative Fitted Taylor Expansion: an efficient method for calculating gas/liquid equilibria in atmospheric aerosol particles - Part 2: Organic compounds by D. Topping et al.
• 2011/08/01: GMDD: Application of CMAQ at a hemispheric scale for atmospheric mercury simulations by P. Pongprueksa et al.
• 2011/08/01: AGWObserver: New research from last week 30/2011

  And other significant documents:

• 2011/08/04: Infrastructure(Au): [links to several pdfs] High Speed Rail -- New High Speed Rail Study - Phase One Report

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2011/08/04: MGS: Is it really normal?
• 2011/08/03: Tamino: Cumulative Sums
• 2011/08/02: MTobis: Computational Prediction Lecture
• 2011/08/03: Eureka: University of Miami scientists find way to identify manmade biofuels in atmosphere -- Tracking urban atmospheric plumes using isotopic signatures of vehicle emissions
• 2011/08/02: MGS: How to find climate normals?
• 2011/08/02: NatureNB: How many research papers are freely available?
• 2011/08/01: CCP: Observational and model evidence of global emergence of permanent, unprecedented heat in the 20th and 21st centuries, Noah S. Diffenbaugh & Martin Scherer, Climatic Change, 37 (2011)
• 2011/08/01: CCP: Extensive glaciers in northwest North America during Medieval time, by Johannes Koch & John J. Clague, Climatic Change 37 (2011)
• 2011/08/01: CCP: Michael Mann: On long range dependence in global surface temperature series. An editorial comment, Climatic Change 37 (2011)

  More DIY science:

• 2011/08/02: moyhu: Global surface temperature coverage
• 2011/08/01: moyhu: Cell weighting schemes for the Earth
• 2011/07/31: moyhu: First TempLS CRUTEM3 reconstructions

  What's new in models?

• 2011/08/03: SEasterbrook: On the relationship between earth system models and the labs that build them

  The Pielke fan clubbe, alas:

• 2011/07/31: ERabett: There's a Word for That

  Regarding Spencer:

• 2011/08/03: SMandia: Spencer & Braswell 2011: Proof that global warming is exaggerated? Or just bad science?
• 2011/08/02: SkeptiSci: Spencer's Misdiagnosis of Surface Temperature Feedback by Kevin Trenberth
• 2011/08/01: CChallenge: "On the Misdiagnosis of Surface Temperature Feedbacks from Variations in Earth's Radiant Energy Balance" reviewed
• 2011/08/01: KSJT: AP: If a small paper gets blown all out of proportion by partisan bloggers --- is that news?
• 2011/08/02: SkeptiSci: Just Put the Model Down, Roy by bbickmore
• 2011/07/31: CCP: Roy Spencer debunked again
• 2011/07/31: WottsUWT: Pielke Sr. on new Spencer and Braswell paper

  A couple of moves in the Rare Earths wrangle:

• 2011/08/02: WaTi: Neb. mine find to challenge China's dominance of vital rare [earth] minerals -- Elements coveted for high-tech uses
• 2011/08/04: PlanetArk: China Minmetals Calls For Rare Earth Production Suspension

  As the deadline for applying the EU-ETS to airlines draws near, we will see who is serious about reducing carbon emissions:

• 2011/08/01: TP:JR: Europe Moves to Limit Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Aviation, China Follows, U.S. Obstructs

  The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, cap and trade, cap and dividend, tradable energy quotas and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

• 2011/08/02: BNC: Carbon smoke and mirrors -- the reality of emissions reduction plans

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

• 2011/08/02: AlterNet: Our Biggest Security Threat Is Global Warming-Induced Extreme Weather

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

• 2011/08/05: G&M: Greenpeace activists fined for Calgary Tower mischief
• 2011/08/04: HotTopic: Imprisoned activist's moving court statement [DeChristopher]

  What are the activists up to?

• 2011/08/05: TP:JR: Bill McKibben: Why Cleantech Should Join the Fight Against Tar Sands
• 2011/08/06: AlterNet: Do We Need a Militant Movement to Save the Planet (and Ourselves)?
• 2011/08/04: EnergyBulletin: Models for a movement
• 2011/08/02: Grist: Doing civil disobedience with style
• 2011/08/01: DeSmogBlog: The Bidder 70 26: The Catalyst That Will Ignite The Climate Movement
• 2011/08/01: DeSmogBlog: In Gas Driller's Canadian East Coast Heartland, A Day Of FRACtion

  Polls! We have polls!

• 2011/08/05: WottsUWT: Rasmussen poll: 69% Say It's Likely Scientists Have Falsified Global Warming Research
• 2011/08/05: KlimaZwiebel: Hans von Storch has questions on Rasmusson report on US belief in climate scientists
• 2011/08/01: CTC: Poll: 60% of Californians Support a Carbon Tax

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2011/08/06: JFleck: Another La Nina?
• 2011/08/04: NBF: Cheaper and more efficient water desalination
• 2011/08/04: Eureka: New paper examines future of seawater desalinization
• 2011/08/02: JFleck: Who Was Carl Rasch? The lawyer behind the Winters Doctrine
• 2011/08/02: JFleck: You can't size your infrastructure for the outliers
• 2011/08/01: JFleck: Drought? But it's flooding on the Mississippi!

  Among the world's religions:

• 2011/08/04: TreeHugger: Humans Are Trustees Of Allah's Creation: Islam & The Environment
• 2011/08/01: Grist: The newest front in green energy: Churches

  And on the American political front:

• 2011/08/06: RWER: Chart of the day: USA food stamps
• 2011/08/05: KSJT: Miller McCune: A former chancellor worries that US research universities in deep crisis
• 2011/08/05: AutoBG: Report: Volkswagen still trying to negotiate changes to CAFE standards
• 2011/08/04: DerSpiegel: Once Upon a Time in the West
  This week, the United States nearly allowed itself to succumb to economic disaster. Increasingly, the divided country has more in common with a failed state than a democracy. In the face of America's apparent political insanity, Europe must learn to take care of itself.
• 2011/08/05: CCP: Revealed: BP Is Top Funder Of ALEC Annual Meeting In Oil-Soaked Louisiana
• 2011/08/05: CCP: Kiffmeyer: 30 Minnesota legislators are ALEC members
• 2011/08/05: CCP: Think Progress' Lee Fang and Scott Keyes physically assaulted by ALEC security at Marriott Hotel, New Orleans...
• 2011/08/05: BRitholtz: QOTD: Where We Stand
• 2011/08/05: TP:JR: The Top Five Policy Priorities Now That Congress is Set to Slash Clean Energy Funding
• 2011/08/05: NatureN: Wetlands not aided by Mississippi diversions -- Some marsh-building schemes have failed, but researchers disagree as to why
• 2011/08/05: CSW: "Federal Disaster Assistance Budgeting: Are We Weather ready?"
• 2011/08/04: TP:JR: Oklahoma Drought Now Far Worse Than When Gov. Mary Falin Asked All Oklahomans to Pray for Rain
• 2011/08/04: CCP: Republicans, Alaska Governor Push for Oil Drilling in Arctic Ocean and Wildlife Refuge
• 2011/08/04: Grist: Response to Wall Street Journal op-ed on clean fuels in the military
• 2011/08/04: UCSUSA: Farmers Markets Could Generate Tens of Thousands of New Jobs with Modest Federal Support, New Report Finds
  They're Growing Nationally, but Federal Policies Favoring Industrial Agriculture Hold Them Back
• 2011/08/01: BPA: America's Natural Resources for Sale
• 2011/08/02: NYT: Debt Deal, Promising Energy Budget Cuts, Appears to Chill Hopes for a Carbon Tax
• 2011/08/02: Grist: Here's how the debt deal could spell doomsday for climate and energy
• 2011/08/01: TP:JR: Orient Express: Will Montana Become a Coal Colony?
• 2011/08/01: TP:JR: Debt Be Not Proud: Lame Deal Cements Cement Shoes on Energy and Climate Investment for Foreseeable Future
• 2011/08/01: TreeHugger: You Can't be Both a Tea Partier and an Environmentalist. Sorry.
• 2011/07/31: AutoBG: Virginia governor signs executive order calling for state's transition to alternative-fuel vehicles
• 2011/07/31: MTobis: Middle of the Roaders aka Dead Armadillos
• 2011/08/01: InformedComment: [Martin] Cheek: We have no Liberty without Energy Freedom

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2011/08/07: OilDrum: Tech Talk - The Deep Waters of the Gulf and Salt Domes
• 2011/08/05: Grist: BP funds push for more offshore drilling in oil-soaked Louisiana
• 2011/08/05: SciNews: Bacteria binged on BP oil but didn't grow -- One suspicion: The spilled crude didn't provide a balanced diet
• 2011/08/03: al Jazeera: BP disaster one year later
  One year after the horrific BP oil spill locals still feel BP isn't managing the situation properly.
• 2011/08/02: NOAANews: New NOAA report highlights economic and ecological value of the Gulf coastal region -- 'A Second Glance' is valuable tool for regional managers and the public

  So, do you want a corporate dweeb, or a sociopathic corporate dweeb? Your choice:

• 2011/08/05: DeSmogBlog: Oil Industry Steps Up Astroturf Efforts For 2012 Election
• 2011/08/04: Grist: Michele Bachmann seriously believes in a lightbulb conspiracy
• 2011/08/03: Guardian(UK): Global warming is a litmus test for US Republicans
  Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney crossed a dangerous party line when he stated his belief in anthropogenic climate change
• 2011/08/02: InformedComment: Gingrich Accused of Twitter Fraud
• 2011/08/01: AlterNet: The 10 Worst Things About Rick Perry (And Why It Would Be Really Bad If He Runs for President)
• 2011/08/01: CCP: Lee Fang: Tim Pawlenty's consultants, Chuck Larson and Karen Slifka, are also working for the oil lobby, Iowa Energy Forum...

  More on Al Gore:

• 2011/08/02: PeakEnergy: The Climate Reality Project
• 2011/07/27: Wired: [Open letter from Al Gore to Bruce Sterling] 364 days of rampant climate delusion

  There's a lot of lobbying about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline:

• 2011/08/05: WaPo: Clinton says TransCanada working to upgrade safety of oil pipeline from Canada to Texas
• 2011/08/05: PostMedia: U.S. to rule on Canadian pipeline by year's end -- Keystone conduit would run to Texas
• 2011/08/04: al Jazeera: New pipeline to challenge Obama's promises
  Obama finally has the opportunity to make good on his environmental promises, but will he?
• 2011/08/04: Grist: Tar sands pipeline gets support from fake Twitter accounts
• 2011/08/03: TCoE: Scientists to Obama: Kill the pipeline
• 2011/08/03: CBC: U.S. scientists oppose pipeline
• 2011/08/03: CCP: Letter from Scientific Experts to President Obama Regarding Authorization of the Keystone XL Pipeline
• 2011/08/03: DeSmogBlog: U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Launches Campaign To Lobby For Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
• 2011/08/02: TreeHugger: U.S. Chamber Launches Effort To Support Bringing Dirty Tar Sands Oil Down South

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2011/08/02: TP:JR: Debt and (Carbon) Taxes: Obama's Last Chance for Climate Redemption is Just After 2012 Election

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2011/08/06: CSW: NOAA draft scientific integrity policy a work in progress
• 2011/08/05: TreeHugger: Shell Gets Conditional Approval From Obama Administration For Arctic Oil Drilling
• 2011/08/05: PlanetArk: U.S. Agency Approves Shell Arctic Oil Drilling Plan
• 2011/08/05: AutoBG: EPA Cross-State Air Pollution Rule will force some dirty coal plants to shut down
• 2011/08/04: SeattlePI:B: Fed agency to Shell: Drill, baby, drill
  A key U.S. Department of the Interior agency has approved Shell Oil Co. plans to begin drilling for oil as early as next year in Arctic waters of the Beaufort Sea off the north coast of Alaska. Shell has announced plans to drill up to four wells over two years in the Beaufort, covered much of the year with pack ice and home to large populations of polar bears and bowhead whales.
• 2011/08/03: TP:JR: Interior Department Fails to Collect Billions in Oil Royalties, Launches Major Investigation into ... Polar Bear Research
• 2011/08/03: UCSUSA: Energy Information Administration Report Undercounts Subsidies to Coal, Oil, Natural Gas and Nuclear Energy -- Renewables and Energy Efficiency Shortchanged by Flawed EIA Methodology
• 2011/08/02: Yahoo: EPA Proposes New Air Pollution Standards for Oil and Gas Drilling
• 2011/08/02: Guardian(UK): US government department criticised for failing to collect oil revenues
  Interior department, investigating polar bear studies, accused of failures that could have cost government billions in uncollected royalties
• 2011/08/01: TreeHugger: USDA Hides Damning Report Of Antibiotic Abuse on Factory Farms
• 2011/08/02: Eureka: Report offers framework to guide EPA on incorporating sustainability in its decision making
• 2011/08/02: LA Times: EPA gas mileage ratings don't add up in real world
  The EPA's tests that measure a vehicle's fuel economy are outdated. They're conducted with professional drivers inside of laboratories using better-performing fuel and with air conditioning turned off for most of the ride.
• 2011/08/01: TP:JR: EIA Admits its Review of 2010 Energy Subsidies is Limited, But Still Releases Skewed Report to Congress

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2011/08/04: AlterNet: The Tea Party's Next Target: Taking Out the EPA and Sacking Laws that Protect Our Water and Air
• 2011/08/05: PSinclair: Bachman, Barton, Bulb Bill Buffoons Flog Fictitious Fascism Fantasies
• 2011/08/05: LA Times: GOP vs. Mother Nature
  Dozens of proposals by the House GOP would encourage deadly pollution of the air and water.
• 2011/08/03: Guardian(UK): The EPA: the Tea Party's next target
  House Republicans aim to defund the Environmental Protection Agency, rolling back 40 years' progress on clean air and water
• 2011/08/03: NYT:GW: Senate Democrats Confident They Can Keep Anti-EPA Bills at Bay in Fall
• 2011/08/02: Grist: Storm chaser: Sen. [Dick] Durbin (D-Ill.) carries on lonely fight against climate change
• 2011/08/02: ScienceInsider: A First Look at the Debt Agreement and U.S. Research
• 2011/08/02: Time: The GOP's Hidden Debt-Deal Agenda: Gut the EPA
• 2011/08/03: Yahoo:Time: The GOP's hidden debt-deal agenda: Gut the EPA
• 2011/08/03: TreeHugger: Rep. Steve King: Covering Birth Control Is "Orwellian" (video)
• 2011/08/02: DVoice: A Republican War on the Environment
• 2011/08/02: KSJT: Lots of Inside Ink: The drive to gut the EPA and other enviro regulators
• 2011/08/02: OilChange: Congress is "Most Anti-Green" in History
• 2011/08/01: NYT: Energy Subsidy Battle Reignites as Debt Deal Preserves Tax Breaks
• 2011/08/01: TP:JR: The Green Scare: GOP's Issa Wants to Investigate Obama's Fuel Economy Deal, Which Will Save Consumers $1.7 Trillion
• 2011/08/01: Grist: [Rep. Darrell] Issa (R-Calif) wants cheaper cars, more climate change
• 2011/08/01: Grist: Republicans voted against environmental protections 110 times in six months
• 2011/07/31: TP:JR: The GOP War Against Climate Adaptation

  What are the lobbyists pushing?

• 2011/08/01: Grist: Fossil-fuel industries push for a Great Outdoors Giveaway

  While in the UK:

• 2011/08/06: BBC: Anti-fracking protesters target Blackpool Tower
• 2011/08/05: Guardian(UK): CBI: Energy-intensive companies should be exempt from carbon floor price
  Britain's largest business lobby says forcing heavy industry to pay a set carbon price will drive businesses out of the country
• 2011/08/05: Guardian(UK): Insulated Britain - how many homes have been treated? Over 2.6m homes...
• 2011/08/05: BBC: E.On raises cost of energy bills
  E.On has become the fourth of the big six energy companies to put up its gas and electricity prices. Its gas tariffs will rise by 18% from 13 September, while electricity bills will go up by 11%. Like the other firms, E.On blamed the increases on the 30% rise in wholesale energy prices this year.
• 2011/08/02: Guardian(UK): Can the 'nudge' agenda help the UK's businesses cut emissions?
• 2011/08/02: Guardian(UK): Drax coal power station 'could be transformed to produce biomass fuel'
• 2011/08/02: TreeHugger: UK Solar Deployed at "Breakneck Speed", 30MW in One Month

  And in Europe:

• 2011/08/03: DerSpiegel: ThyssenKrupp CEO on Germany's Energy Revolution -- 'An Effort Comparable to Reunification'
  In a Spiegel interview, ThyssenKrup CEO Heinrich Hiesinger discusses his plans to radically restructure the steelmaking firm. He says the traditional German company is deeply concerned about the European debt and currency crisis as well as Chancellor Angela Merkel's expensive plans for an energy revolution.

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2011/08/04: PlanetArk: PCs Another Pest For Australian Wheat Growers
• 2011/08/03: ABC(Au): Turnbull decries war on climate science
  Opposition frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull has hit out against climate change sceptics on his side of politics, saying there has been a "war on science" that contradicts common sense.
• 2011/08/03: ABC(Au): Greens demand action on Sumatra logging claims
  The Greens say the ACCC needs to investigate whether paper products being sold in Australian stores are the result of logging in Indonesian forests.

Now that the Australian carbon plan has been released, the wrangling is moving into high gear:

• 2011/08/04: ABC(Au): Report predicts carbon tax chaos for NSW
  The New South Wales Government says a review by the state's Treasury has found the carbon tax will cost NSW at least 31,000 jobs and more than $3.5 billion each year. Premier Barry O'Farrell had already claimed the tax would be a disaster for the state, but says he now has proof.
• 2011/08/04: JQuiggin: Believing Barry O'Farrell could cost you "up to" 100 IQ points

  After a 10 year drought and recent massive flooding, water usage planning is controversial and difficult:

• 2011/08/05: ABC(Au): Firm fined $11K for illegal water drilling
• 2011/08/04: ABC(Au): Money found for Murray flow restrictor's removal
  Work is expected in the next few months on the final removal of the Clayton flow regulator across the lower Murray. It was built two years ago as an emergency drought measure to help stop soil acidification due to low river flow.
• 2011/08/03: ABC(Au): Murray water reform delay under fire
  South Australia's Water Minister Paul Caica has been critical of a decision by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to further delay release of its draft plan. There have already been several delays and the draft had been expected to be released this month. But it has now been pushed back again, to about the middle of October. The Authority said the decision was made after a meeting with state ministers, who suggested more time was needed to work out the water use plan. But Mr Caica thinks the Authority needs to get on with the job.
• 2011/08/01: ABC(Au): Still waiting for desalinated water: Opposition
  The Opposition says the Government is misleading South Australians on the progress with Adelaide's desalination plant.
• 2011/08/01: JQuiggin: Benefits of hindsight [Brisbane floods]

  And in New Zealand:

• 2011/08/05: HotTopic: The NZ ETS Review 2011 and the Minister's Kyoto Chartjunk

  While in the Indian subcontinent, a new session of parliament introduced a breath of fresh air:

• 2011/08/02: CCurrents: No Boundaries: An Extended Chronicle Of India's Land Acquisition
• 2011/08/03: BBC: Karnataka mining scandal: Yeddyurappa faces probe
  The governor of India's Karnataka state has ordered a criminal investigation against a former chief minister indicted in a mining scandal. BS Yeddyurappa of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) quit as chief minister on Sunday.
• 2011/08/01: CSM: Arab Spring, Indian Summer?
• 2011/08/01: BBC: New session of Indian parliament hit by graft row
  The new session of the Indian parliament has shut down within hours of opening as opposition politicians shouted angry anti-corruption slogans. Corruption and rising food prices are expected to dominate the monsoon session which began in Delhi on Monday.
• 2011/08/01: BBC: Karnataka 'mining scam' leader Yeddyurappa quits
  The chief minister of the southern Indian state of Karnataka has resigned days after an anti-graft panel indicted him in an illegal mining scandal. BS Yeddyurappa quit on Sunday following a decision by the leaders of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The anti-corruption report alleges the scam cost the exchequer more than $3bn (£1.8bn) from 2006-2010.
• 2011/07/31: BBC: India will pay oil bills owed to Iran, avoiding cut off

  And in China:

• 2011/08/05: PlanetArk: China Set To Cap Energy Use In National Low-Carbon Plan
• 2011/08/04: Guardian(UK): China to cap energy use in national low-carbon plan
• 2011/08/04: NBF: China talks about new limits on coal and carbon but 2015 targets are weaker than last year targets

  While in Africa:

• 2011/08/05: TreeHugger: Congo Seeks $2.6 Billion To Replant Its Forests

  And South America:

• 2011/08/04: NatureN: Brazil promises 75,000 scholarships in science and technology -- 3-billion-real investment aims to support students at home and abroad

  In Canada, neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:

• 2011/08/05: Enviralment: Canada Unlikely To Meet 2020 Emission Targets
• 2011/08/04: SSM: Science versus Photo Ops
• 2011/08/04: PEF: Canada's GHG commitment problem
• 2011/08/03: DeSmogBlog: Canadians Embarrassed (Again) After Government Overestimates Its Carbon Reductions
• 2011/08/02: POGGE: Mostly competent government
  The Harper Government - has been doing such an awesome job of protecting the endangered woodland caribou in northeastern Alberta that a Federal Court has decided to step in and order the Environment Minister to actually do his job.
• 2011/08/01: PostMedia: Bureaucrats urged Kent to take global warming seriously
  Global warming is the world's greatest environmental challenge and Canada is falling behind the United States in reducing the pollution from industry that is causing the problem, say newly released briefing notes prepared for Environment Minister Peter Kent. The warnings, submitted to Kent in January when he took over the environment portfolio in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, say global warming will have significant social, political and economic implications, putting Canada on the hot seat over its own record and commitments.
• 2011/08/02: PostMedia: Canada trails many of its peers in reducing environmental impact
  When it comes to moderating the impact of its citizens on the environment, Canada trails many peer countries, to the point of sometimes going backwards while others move forward, according to a Conference Board analysis. The report card, posted on the Conference Board website in July, says Canada's performance has improved in some areas and deteriorated in others when it comes to air quality, natural resource management and energy efficiency. But Canada must do more "in an economically feasible way" to lower greenhouse gas emissions, to use freshwater resources more wisely and to reduce waste, it said.
• 2011/08/01: CO2Art: Scientist, You May Speak Freely
• 2011/07/30: PostMedia: Canadian environmental policies may not be so green
  The Conservative government is overestimating the effectiveness of some of its environmental policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and is nowhere near being able to meet its 2020 emissions target, according to an analysis published last week. The report, produced by an independent arm's-length agency, broke out eight specific federal policies and their estimates, and found that the government made reliable estimates for only three. The other five were "likely overestimated," according to the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

The G20 controversy lingers:

• 2011/08/03: PaiD: G20 Police Abuse Reaches The Stage

  The Tories are laying off significant numbers at Environment Canada, ostensibly for austerity reasons:

• 2011/08/05: TaxFairness: Who deserves additional public financial support: Corporate Canada or Environment Canada?
• 2011/08/05: PlanetArk: Canada To Slash Environment Jobs, Critics Fume
• 2011/08/05: CBC: Environment Canada cuts worry ecology group
  Job cuts at Environment Canada will weaken environmental protection in Nova Scotia, the Ecology Action Centre warns. Mark Butler, the centre's policy director, said about 80 jobs will disappear from Environment Canada's Dartmouth office, including jobs related to protecting air and water quality. "Environment Canada is already down on the ground and bleeding, and this is just another kick to the body," Butler said. "As long as you breathe air and drink water and enjoy nature you should be very concerned about these cuts."
• 2011/08/04: PostMedia: Environment Canada to slash 776 jobs
• 2011/08/04: CBC: Environment Canada job cuts raise concerns
• 2011/08/04: TreeHugger: Canadian Government Fires Environment Ministry Scientists and Meteorologists, Hires Oil Lobbyists
• 2011/08/03: TStar: 700 Environment Canada jobs on the chopping block
  Meteorologists, scientists, chemists and engineers are among more than 700 Environment Canada employees on the chopping block as the department launches sweeping cuts to cope with federal belt-tightening

It will be interesting to see if the Tories continue their 'match the Americans policy' with this CAFE regulation:

• 2011/08/02: PI: Can Obama help us cut our gas bills?
  [...]
  The new American regulations would require new cars and light trucks to achieve an average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. For us Canucks, that's 4.3 litres per 100 kilometers. [...]
  Friday's announcement poses an obvious question to our government: will Canada commit to matching the U.S. goal?

An intimation of what awaits Canadian wheat farmers:

• 2011/08/04: PlanetArk: PCs Another Pest For Australian Wheat Growers
  Outback Australian farmers - hardened from dealing with extreme weather, fires and pests - now have to wrestle with modern trading tools and technology after a tough day tilling the land as they adapt to the rigours of a deregulated market. For many, especially older farmers facing a bewildering host of new choices, the changes mean they may miss out on the best prices or even come under pressure to sell up to bigger farmers or foreign investors. Farmers visited during a Reuters crop tour in eastern Australia last month had mixed feelings on the ending of the monopoly held by the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), which meant they now had to keep close tabs on day-to-day global prices.

Unreported radiation spikes across the country post Fukushima:

• 2011/08/05: Straight: Japan's Fukushima catastrophe brings big radiation spikes to B.C.
  After Japan's Fukushima catastrophe, Canadian government officials reassured jittery Canadians that the radioactive plume billowing from the destroyed nuclear reactors posed zero health risks in this country. In fact, there was reason to worry. Health Canada detected massive amounts of radioactive material from Fukushima in Canadian air in March and April at monitoring stations across the country. The level of radioactive iodine spiked above the federal maximum allowed limit in the air at four of the five sites where Health Canada monitors levels of specific radioisotopes.

Tar sands PR is still in the spotlight:

• 2011/08/04: PostMedia: Friends of Earth accuse Canada of misleading EU on oilsands
  Canada is acting like the tobacco industry in its "secret" and "unprecedented" bid to undermine the European Union's effort to pass legislation targeting oilsands imports, according to a new report. The Canadian and Alberta governments, working with energy industry giants in North America and Europe, have orchestrated 110 lobbying events in less than two years - roughly one a week - in hopes of derailing the EU initiative, according to a report Thursday from Friends of the Earth Europe. "This is possibly the most vociferous public relations campaign by a foreign government ever witnessed in the EU, and is reminiscent of the tobacco industry in its attempt to delay action on health," Friends of the Earth Europe spokesman Darek Urbaniak said in a statement.
• 2011/08/05: PostMedia: Canada accused of oilsands lobbying
  Canada is acting like the tobacco industry in its "secret" and "unprecedented" bid to undermine the European Union's effort to pass legislation targeting oilsands imports, according to a new report. The Canadian and Alberta governments, working with energy industry giants in North America and Europe, have orchestrated 110 lobbying events in less than two years - roughly one a week - in hopes of derailing the EU initiative, according to a report Thursday from Friends of the Earth Europe.
• 2011/08/04: Guardian(UK): Canadian government accused of 'unprecedented' tar sands lobbying
  Friends of the Earth Europe claims ministers have attempted to undermine European fuel legislation that would affect exports
• 2011/08/04: PostMedia: Oilsands cleaning up their image
  They have their work cut out for them in the U.S., where the anti-Keystone XL pipeline campaign is in full swing
• 2011/07/31: G&M: The oil-diamond analogy [Velshi]

  In BC, the stage is set. Now what will Clark and Dix do?

• 2011/08/05: PostMedia: Bioenergy projects approved for Interior -- Aids regions hit by pine beetles, U.S. crisis
  BC Hydro has approved $300 million in bioenergy projects in the Interior and north-central B.C., regions hard hit by the mountain pine beetle epidemic and the U.S. housing collapse. The projects will help better utilize the abundant waste wood in the areas, B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Rich Coleman said Thursday. The four projects will also help generate economic activity and jobs, he said in an interview.
• 2011/08/01: Tyee: Unlike BC, Wyoming Won't Allow Fracking Secrets

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2011/08/05: PI:B: Why the oilsands matter to climate policy in Canada

  Also in Alberta:

• 2011/08/02: PI: Alberta Utilities Commission faces court challenge over approval of Milner coal plant expansion
  Failure to hold public hearing, expedited approval sparks lawsuit
• 2011/08/05: G&M: Greenpeace activists fined for Calgary Tower mischief
  Seven Greenpeace activists have been fined for the mischief they caused when they rappelled from the top of a tourist attraction and hung a banner criticizing the oil industry. The aerial acrobatics last August at the Calgary Tower began when the protesters draped a banner that said "Separate Oil And State" from the bulbous observation deck. Police cordoned off several blocks around the downtown site.
• 2011/08/05: CBC: Greenpeace protesters fined for Calgary Tower stunt
  A judge has hit several Greenpeace protesters with $2,000 fines for unfurling a banner off the Calgary Tower a year ago. Seven of nine people originally charged in connection with the Aug. 3, 2010, incident were sentenced in Calgary provincial court on Friday.
• 2011/08/03: CBC: Slave Lake to get $189M for fire rebuild

  In Saskatchewan (and elsewhere in the prairies):

• 2011/08/04: CBC: $448M promised for flood-weary Prairie farmers
  Farmers who were unable to plant a crop this year due to flooding are being promised special relief in a $448-million aid package from the federal government and the Prairie provinces.

In Manitoba:

• 2011/08/02: CBC: Manitoba First Nation seeks new home
  Members of the Lake St. Martin First Nation hope a meeting held Tuesday with Manitoba officials is the first step toward finding a new place to call home. The band's reserve, about 280 kilometres north of Winnipeg, has been plagued by flooding for decades, but this year's disaster has doomed the site. About 600 residents were forced from their homes in May, and provincial officials say the reserve is beyond reclamation.

In Ontario, upcoming election issues are appearing:

• 2011/08/04: CleanBreak: Never a dull week in Ontario energy politics
• 2011/08/04: CleanBreak: Ontario pulls rabbit from hat: Toyota to build Tesla-boosted RAV4 electric in Woodstock
• 2011/08/04: CBC: McGuinty deflects Harper jab
  Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty says he's not offended that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is calling for his defeat in the Oct. 6 provincial election. The Liberal premier, who has taken a few shots himself at the federal Conservatives over the last few weeks, is shrugging off the latest snub.
• 2011/08/04: Enviralment: Ontario Green Energy Deal Cheaper But Delayed
• 2011/08/03: CBC: Ontario renegotiates Samsung deal
  Ontario's Liberal government has renegotiated its $7-billion green energy deal with Korean giant Samsung, saving taxpayers money and getting new manufacturing plants built faster.
• 2011/08/02: G&M: Ontario Liberals make it harder to cancel green energy programs ahead of election
  The Ontario government is taking steps to protect its flagship job creation program by making it more difficult to cancel hundreds of clean-energy projects in various stages of development. The changes, announced on Tuesday, are aimed at providing stability for renewable energy developers at a time when the opposition parties' election campaign pledges are creating uncertainty throughout the sector.

In the Maritimes:

• 2011/08/02: CBC: Gas shortages in N.S. may continue
• 2011/08/01: DeSmogBlog: In Gas Driller's Canadian East Coast Heartland, A Day Of FRACtion

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

• 2011/08/04: EnergyBulletin: Good news: Economic recovery stalls!
• 2011/08/03: CCurrents: How Change Happens: A Three-Fold Strategy
• 2011/08/02: EnergyBulletin: How to start a worker co-op

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

• 2011/08/06: Grist: Environmentalists need to care about abortion [video]
• 2011/08/03: TreeHugger: Rep. Steve King: Covering Birth Control Is "Orwellian" (video)
• 2011/08/02: Grist: Free birth control ruling is preventive care for the Earth
• 2011/08/01: ACLU: HHS Ensures Affordable Contraception -- ACLU Hails Decision to Counteract Discriminatory Practices for Essential Services

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2011/08/05: OnlineOpinion(Au): Panem et Circenses: The insidious nature of social decline
• 2011/08/02: SArbesman: The Life-Spans of Empires
• 2011/08/04: DM:GNXP: The fall of empires as an exponential distribution
• 2011/08/03: TCoE: Organized and unified and hell-bent

  As for how the media handles science:

• 2011/08/04: CJR: LifeStraw Coverage Divided -- Carbon-credit, health angles illustrate global priorities
• 2011/08/05: Guardian(UK): Why can't the Daily Mail make up its mind on green taxes?
• 2011/08/04: TP:JR: SpongeBob Squarepants, Cartoon Invertebrate, Is Smarter Than Murdoch's Fox News Hominids
• 2011/08/04: Grist: Fox News public enemy No. 1: Spongebob Squarepants
• 2011/08/04: TreeHugger: Fox News Manufactures SpongeBob Global Warming 'Controversy' (Video)
• 2011/08/03: FAIR: The Fires This Time -- In coverage of extreme weather, media downplay climate change
• 2011/08/03: CDreams: The Fires This Time: In Coverage of Extreme Weather, Media Downplay Climate Change
• 2011/08/03: HuffPo: Fox's Latest Assault on Climate Science: Attack SpongeBob by Peter H. Gleick
• 2011/08/03: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science 65 : Stuart Rintoul misrepresents a scientific paper (continued)
• 2011/08/02: JQuiggin: Meltdown at the Oz: Quiggin edition
• 2011/08/02: HotTopic: Lessons from the Murdoch saga
• 2011/08/01: KSJT: NYT - Public Editor scolds editors and reporters again on that big fracking story
• 2011/08/01: Deltoid: Kudos to John Quiggin

  Here is something for your library:

• 2011/08/04: NWF: [Book Review] _Polar Bears: The Natural History of a Threatened Species_ by Ian Stirling
• 2011/08/01: HuntingtonNews: [Book Review] _Clean Energy Nation_ by Jerry McNerney & Martin Cheek
• 2011/08/02: HotTopic: [Book Review] _America's Climate Problem: The Way Forward_ by Robert Repetto

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2011/08/07: SkeptiSci: Climate Denial Video #3: Polluters Use Same Tactics As Tobacco Industry
• 2011/08/06: SkeptiSci: Climate Denial Video #2: Failed at Science? Attack the Scientists by dana1981 & John Cook
• 2011/08/04: SkeptiSci: Climate Denial Video #1: The Difference between Skepticism and Denial by dana1981 & John Cook
• 2011/08/06: CCP: Arne Gundersen: ... Lethal Levels of Radiation at Fukushima: What Are the Implications?
• 2011/08/06: PSinclair: The Weekend Wonk: Amory Lovins
• 2011/08/03: TP:JR: Coal: A Love Story -- Must-Watch Journalism
• 2011/08/04: Grist: Scenes from the DeChristopher sentencing [video]
• 2011/08/03: ERabett: We Got Film
• 2011/08/03: TreeHugger: Is the End of Fossil-Fueled Economic Growth Upon Us? (Video)
• 2011/08/03: 350orBust: A Requiem For Planet Earth -- And Ourselves
• 2011/08/03: PSinclair: Bonehead Barton Bulb Bill Bulletin: Lighting Leader Lauds 'Lectric Luminary Law
• 2011/08/02: Grist: Mayor of Vilnius takes out Mercedes parked in bike lane -- with a tank [video]

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2011/08/03: DeSmogBlog: Federal Government Asks Judge To Dismiss New York State Fracking Lawsuit
• 2011/08/02: BBerg: New York State's Fracking Lawsuit Barred by Law, U.S. Says
  The U.S. government said it will ask a judge to dismiss a New York lawsuit that seeks to force a fuller environmental review of how natural-gas extraction could affect 9 million water drinkers in the state. The U.S. plans to ask U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn, New York, to dismiss the case on the grounds that the state can't prove injury and doesn't have the right to sue federal agencies, according to a letter filed with the court yesterday.
• 2011/08/03: AutoBG: Diesel engine manufacturers react to Navistar's Clean Air Act lawsuit
• 2011/08/02: CCP: Court settlement will force [WVDEP] West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection to properly treat water pollution at old mine sites

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

• 2011/08/05: BNC: Hansen warns not to drink sustainable energy Kool-Aid
• 2011/08/02: RFF: Near-Term Opportunities for Integrating Biomass into the U.S. Electricity Supply: Technical Considerations
• 2011/08/02: TreeHugger: Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Large Hydropower Reservoirs Far Lower Than Currently Assumed
• 2011/08/01: Eureka: Greenhouse gas impact of hydroelectric reservoirs downgraded -- Site design and location can minimize carbon dioxide, methane emissions
• 2011/08/01: PeakEnergy: Tidal Power Coming To Wales, Thanks To E.U.

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

• 2011/08/06: BBC: Anti-fracking protesters target Blackpool Tower
• 2011/08/04: ProPublica: Does an Old EPA Fracking Study Provide Proof of Contamination?
• 2011/08/05: TP:JR: Stunning Analysis: U.S. Shale Gas Reserves May Be Over Stated at Least 100 Percent
• 2011/08/05: Grist: EPA found over 20 years ago that fracking contaminates water
• 2011/08/04: SciAm:Obs: EPA Study from 1980s Linked Fracking to Fouled Drinking Water
• 2011/08/05: OilDrum: U.S. Shale Gas: Less Abundance, Higher Cost
• 2011/08/04: BoiseWeekly: Does an Old EPA Fracking Study Provide Proof of Contamination?
• 2011/08/03: CNN: A warning for shale gas investors
  Recent reports of an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into whether shale gas companies are overstating their gas reserves highlights the challenges investors face in navigating this emerging sector.
• 2011/08/04: DM:CCM: A Fracking Contamination Case is Revealed -- From 1984
• 2011/08/03: DeSmogBlog: Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission Bans Fracking Disposal Wells Due to Earthquakes
• 2011/08/03: DeSmogBlog: Environmental Working Group Reveals EPA Knowledge of Water Contamination From Fracking
• 2011/08/02: TP:JR: Olivia Newton-John is Not Hopelessly Devoted to Fracking
• 2011/08/01: DeSmogBlog: In Gas Driller's Canadian East Coast Heartland, A Day Of FRACtion
• 2011/08/01: Tyee: Unlike BC, Wyoming Won't Allow Fracking Secrets
  Here, you don't have to reveal chemicals you use in shale gas extraction. Not so, south of the border.
• 2011/08/01: OPB: Natural Gas Drillers Eye the Northwest

  On the coal front:

• 2011/08/06: Grist: As summer temperatures rise, so does deadly coal pollution
• 2011/08/03: OilDrum: The future of cheap energy: Underground Coal Gasification
• 2011/08/01: NBF: Siemens to supply eight 500 MW coal gasifiers to China

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2011/08/05: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Nymex Crude Future...86.88
  Dated Brent Spot....109.76
  WTI Cushing Spot.....86.88

In the gas and oil corps:

• 2011/08/02: SlashDot: Are We Seeing the End of Big Oil?
• 2011/08/01: RRapier: 'Tis the Season for Oil Company Misinformation
• 2011/08/01: OilChange: BP Accused of "Backroom Dealings" in Iraq

  And in pipeline news:

• 2011/08/05: ProPublica: Feds Say Major New York Gas Pipeline Poses Safety Risk
• 2011/08/05: WaPo: Clinton says TransCanada working to upgrade safety of oil pipeline from Canada to Texas
• 2011/08/05: PostMedia: U.S. to rule on Canadian pipeline by year's end -- Keystone conduit would run to Texas
• 2011/08/04: al Jazeera: New pipeline to challenge Obama's promises
  Obama finally has the opportunity to make good on his environmental promises, but will he?
• 2011/07/27: Cryptome: Pipeline Hazards Caused by Flooding

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2011/08/05: CCurrents: The Peak Oil Crisis: Parsing The GDP
• 2011/08/05: EnergyBulletin: Why you can't fight climate change without peak oil
• 2011/08/05: JQuiggin: Peak oil point falls flat
• 2011/08/02: CG: Oil's Well that Doesn't End Well
• 2011/08/04: EnergyBulletin: The Peak Oil Crisis: Parsing the GDP
• 2011/08/02: CCurrents: When Oil And Gas Are Depleted
• 2011/08/02: EnergyBulletin: When oil and gas are depleted
• 2011/07/27: E&C: Peak Oil: When Saudi Spare Capacity Falls Short

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2011/08/04: OPB: Richland Reseachers Develop Biofuel Catalyst
• 2011/08/03: NBF: The Extraordinary Collapse of Jatropha as a Global Biofuel
• 2011/08/02: PlanetArk: Malaysia Plans Green Palm Oil Certification Scheme: Report
• 2011/08/01: Eureka: A new catalyst for ethanol made from biomass -- Researchers potentially find a renewable path to fuel additives, rubber and solvents

  The answer my friend...:

• 2011/08/05: Grist: By God, Donald Trump will not let this wind farm stand
• 2011/08/05: PlanetArk: Blackstone To Invest Billions In German Wind Farm: Report
• 2011/08/04: TreeHugger: UK Erects 94% of All European Offshore Wind Turbines in First Six Months of 2011
• 2011/08/04: TreeHugger: Hippy Dropout Becomes Wind Energy Mogul
• 2011/08/03: EurActiv: Half of EU electricity from wind by 2050
  Half of the EU's electricity requirements could be fuelled by wind power by 2050 according to a report by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), which has renewed calls for the Commission to impose a target for renewable energy beyond 2020. Wind energy currently meets 5.3% of the EU's electricity consumption. EWEA's report -- called "Pure Power" -- claims that figure could more than treble by 2020 arriving at 18.4% of EU electricity demand.

Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2011/08/07: Grist: Concentrated solar power plants are all wet
• 2011/08/01: ERW: Artificial leaves make fuel from sunlight
• 2011/08/05: CleanTechnica: When Picking Solar Power Options, It's the Water, Stupid
• 2011/08/05: TreeHugger: Japan's Internet Giants "Clash" Over Solar. Everybody Wins.
• 2011/08/04: TreeHugger: IKEA USA Installs 30,000 Sq Ft Solar Array. 11 More Planned.
• 2011/08/03: TP:JR: A Little Night Solar: BrightSource Energy Offers Multi-Hour Thermal Storage
• 2011/08/02: Eureka: Scientists probe the energy transfer process in photosynthetic proteins
• 2011/08/02: TP:JR: MIT Creating 24-Hour Solar Power on the Cheap?
• 2011/08/02: TreeHugger: UK Solar Deployed at "Breakneck Speed", 30MW in One Month
• 2011/08/01: NBF: MIT team designs concentrated solar thermal system that could store heat in vats of molten salts
• 2011/08/01: PlanetArk: Weak Solar Casts Shadow Over Bekaert H1

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2011/08/03: PlanetArk: Vermont Finds Contaminated Fish As Nuclear Debate Rages
  Vermont health regulators said on Tuesday they found a fish containing radioactive material in the Connecticut River near Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant which could be another setback for Entergy to keep it running. The state said it needs to do more testing to determine the source of the Strontium-90, which can cause bone cancer and leukemia.
• 2011/08/03: NatureNB: UK closes key nuclear reprocessing plant - the Mixed Oxide fuel fabrication facility at Sellafield.
• 2011/08/02: Yahoo: Is Nuclear Power Destined for Oblivion?
• 2011/08/02: Guardian(UK): Philippines' nuclear white elephant becomes anti-nuclear tourist attraction
  Completed in 1985, the Philippines' Bataan nuclear power plant has never been used -- and now activists hope to turn it into an eco tourism destination
• 2011/08/01: UCSUSA: NRC Should Move Swiftly to Implement Task Force Recommendations, but Agency Needs to Do More to Protect Public
• 2011/08/02: NBF: N.R.C. Lowers Estimate of How Many Would Die in Meltdown

  The Rossi Energy Catalyzer keeps coming up:

• 2011/07/31: NBF: Steven B. Krivit has a new scientific analysis of the Rossi Focardi Energy Catalyzer
• 2011/07/31: NBF: Highlights of the Krivit's third report on Rossi-Focardi Energy Catalyzer

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

• 2011/08/05: AutoBG: REV says EVs will "store more total energy than the U.S. grid presently produces" in 2020
• 2011/08/04: AutoBG: Nissan unveils Leaf-to-house electricity system
• 2011/08/04: SlashDot: Smart Power Grid Could Wreak Havoc On Itself
• 2011/08/03: Grist: Nissan wants you to power your house with your electric car
• 2011/08/01: PeakEnergy: Power companies overstate cost of smart meters

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2011/08/04: SciAm:PI: Energy Efficiency for Economic Strength
• 2011/08/03: G&M: Setsuden [power conservation] poised to replace nuclear power in Japan
• 2011/08/01: SMandia: LED Me Tell You About My Light-er Electric Bill

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

• 2011/08/05: AutoBG: FedEx to double the size of its electric vehicle fleet
• 2011/08/05: AutoBG: Study: Worldwide sales of electrified vehicles to hit 32.1 million in 2025
• 2011/08/03: AutoBG: Auto engineers skeptical of meeting 2025 CAFE targets... are you?
• 2011/08/02: AutoBG: Study: Electric vehicles are way too dirty in China
• 2011/08/02: NBF: Protean Wheel Motors and batteries provides easy retrofit of vans and cars to plug in hybrid
• 2011/08/01: EnergyBulletin: 100 MPG on gasoline: Could we really?
• 2011/08/01: PlanetArk: Analysis: Gas Engines At Center Of Fuel Efficiency Drive
  Automakers have agreed to produce by the quarter-century mark the most fuel- efficient cars and trucks ever that will leverage new designs and technology, but still rely heavily on gasoline engines.

Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2011/08/06: CDreams: Why The Insurance Industry Gets Climate Change
• 2011/08/03: NOAA:NCDC: Billion Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters
• 2011/08/03: Grist: The new normal: billion-dollar disasters

  Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:

• 2011/08/06: TP:JR: August 6 News...
• 2011/08/04: TP:JR: Global News Roundup...
• 2011/08/04: TP:JR: August 4 News...
• 2011/08/03: TP:JR: August 3 News...
• 2011/08/02: TP:JR: August 2 News...
• 2011/08/01: TP:JR: August 1 News...

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2011/08/01: BPA: Agriculture News

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2011/08/05: OilChange: Jilted by another smooth-talking oilman
• 2011/08/05: CurryQ: Curry on Carbon Cycle
• 2011/08/05: DM:CCM: More Thoughts on the Conservative White Male Effect and Climate Change
• 2011/08/04: RAN:UnderStory: Tar Sands Pipeline Backers Resort to Fake Twitter Accounts To Show "Grassroots" Support
• 2011/08/04: Deltoid: Murray Salby and conservation of mass
• 2011/08/04: HuffPo: An Echo Chamber of Climate Change Denial
  There was a startling demonstration last week of how quickly messages of climate change denial can spread from the United States to the United Kingdom. The initial trigger was the publication of a paper by Roy Spencer and Danny Braswell...
• 2011/08/04: DeseretNews: Stick to the actual climate scientists
• 2011/08/04: TWTB: My apologies to Judith Curry
• 2011/08/04: ClimateSight: Who are the Skeptics?
• 2011/08/04: Grist: How do you solve a problem like conservative white men?
• 2011/08/04: TreeHugger: Polluters & Climate Change Deniers Use Same Tactics As The Tobacco Industry (Video)
• 2011/08/04: DeSmogBlog: Denial Down Under With The Galileo Movement
• 2011/08/03: ITracker: Threats against climate scientists -- a glossary
• 2011/08/02: Grist: Stuff white people like: denying climate change
• 2011/08/02: MediaMatters: Climate Skeptics Can't Get On TV, Says Climate Skeptic On TV
• 2011/08/02: TreeHugger: What's the Difference Between Climate Skepticism & Climate Denial? It's Important (Video)
• 2011/08/02: DeSmogBlog: What's Up With Conservative White Men and Climate Change Denial?
• 2011/08/01: ITracker: Idiot post of the week: Blackboard edition
• 2011/07/31: TP:JR: Steve Milloy, Anti-Science Tobacco Apologist, Now Denies Coal Plant Pollution Kills People
• 2011/07/31: QuarkSoup: Housekeeping Re: Watts

  A curious incident in the Chronicle of Higher Education:

• 2011/08/04: CHE: Bottling Nonsense, Misusing a Civil Platform
• 2011/08/04: Deltoid: John Mashey replies to Peter Wood's hit piece
• 2011/08/04: CCP: John R. Mashey & Robert S. Coleman: "Bottling Nonsense, Misusing a Civil Platform"
  ...Peter Wood's misuse of The Chronicle of Higher Education to post amazingly wrong and misleading statements about climate change scientists...
• 2011/08/03: WottsUWT: New term from the Chronicle: "Climate Thuggery"
• 2011/08/02: DeSmogBlog: NAS [Nat Assoc of Scholars] President Peter Wood: wrong, dishonest or hopelessly compromised?

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2011/08/06: Tamino: Bag of Hammers II
• 2011/08/06: ERabett: Asteroidgate
• 2011/08/05: Maribo: The complexity of climate change policy
• 2011/08/01: GreenGrok: Winning Climate Hearts and Minds: Two Out of Three Definitely Not Enough
• 2011/08/03: GreenGrok: Global Warming in the 2000s: Pit or Pendulum?
• 2011/08/04: GreenGrok: Climate Change's Stubborn Fat Tail
• 2011/08/05: TP:JR: Taming the Fire of the Rising Dragon: America Needs to Help China Avoid Environmental Disasters
• 2011/08/04: TCoE: Death, taxes, and climate change
• 2011/08/04: SciAm:NC: What is: ScienceBlogging.org?
• 2011/08/03: SaskBoy: Nuclear Insurance Fraud
• 2011/08/03: MTobis: The Rolling Urgency Paradox
• 2011/08/01: CCurrents: World Rapidly Running Out Of Time To Cease Greenhouse Gas Pollution [Polya]
• 2011/08/02: KlimaZwiebel: Bray and von Storch on Tollefson's piece in nature
• 2011/08/01: Grist: The new abnormal: look who's talking about climate and weird weather
• 2011/07/31: JFleck: Earth, air, fire and water
• 2011/07/31: EnergyBulletin: Can taxation speed our energy transition?

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

• Rural Climate Change Policy -- A web resource on climate change policy for rural communities and landscapes in the Western U.S.
• TCN: Texas Climate News
• L&P: Land and People - A source on food, farming and rural society
• ScienceBloggingOrg - Blogging Networks and Collectives
• STW: Shaping Tomorrow's World
• CTC: Carbon Tax Center
• The Venus Project
• BiofuelWatch(UK)
• GreenWoodUSA
• Early Warning -- Risks to Global Civilization
• TPL: She Wonk
• Wiki: Milankovitch cycles
• Wiki: Criticism of the IPCC AR4
• Wiki: Climate sensitivity
• GMDD: Geoscientific Model Development - Papers in Open Discussion

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(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.

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're running the planet like a company in liquidation." -Al Gore

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