Another Week of GW News, December 4, 2011

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

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Another week of Climate Disruption News

Sipping from the Internet Firehose...

December 4, 2011

• Chuckles, COP18+, Durban Reports, Durban GCF, Durban Kyoto, Durban Protests, Durban Misc
• Horn of Africa, Bottom Line, GFIs, Crap Detector, Ecocide, Cook, Post CRU
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
• Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Report Card, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Food Prices, IP Issues, GMOs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Feedbacks, Aerosols, Paleoclimate
• ENSO, Climate Sensitivity, State of the Oceans, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Extreme Weather, Corals, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, DIY Science, Models, AGU
• International Politics: UN, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Bank Tax
• Gunboats, Solar Panels, Security, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Religioso, Predictions, Ethics
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Keystone XL, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Uranium Sales, Murray-Darling, India, China, Africa
• Canada, Post G20, Durban, Shame, Killing Kyoto, Pipelines, Polls
• CCPA, CWB, ISA, BC, Tar Sands, Manitoba, Quebec, North
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts, Courts
• Energy, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Pipelines, Peak Oil, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, FITs, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Fusion, LENR, Grid, Cars, Energy Storage
• Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• New Web Site, Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

The things that pass for humour nowadays:

1. 2011/12/01: TP:JR: (cartoon) Climate Science Email Humor
2. 2011/11/30: TP:JR: Toles Cartoons on Climate and the 1 Percent
3. 2011/11/29: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Egg Drop Soup
4. 2011/12/04: uComics: (cartoon - Trudeau) Politics As Usual

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

5. 2011/11/30: QuarkSoup: How Not to Report on Climate Change

   Looking ahead to COP18 and future international climate negotiations:

6. 2011/11/29: Guardian(UK): Qatar wins bid to host 2012 climate talks
   South Korea loses out in tussle to host UN COP18 meeting, but will be home to preparatory meeting
7. 2011/11/29: Google:AFP: UN climate talks move to oil-rich Qatar in 2012

   Durban - Reports:

8. COP17/CMP7 - Durban
9. UNFCCC: The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, COP 17 / CMP 7, 28 November - 9 December 2011
10. UNFCCC: Durban Climate Change Conference - November 2011
11. IISD: Durban Climate Change Conference -- 28 November - 9 December 2011 - Durban, South Africa
12. CAN: COP17/CMP 7 - Durban
13. AllAfrica: Topical Focus Page: Stage Set for Crucial Climate Talks in South Africa
14. 2011/12/02: Guardian(UK): Durban climate change conference in [18] pictures: week one
15. 2011/12/03: IISD: Durban Climate Change Conference - Coverage on Saturday, 3 December 2011
16. 2011/12/02: IISD: Durban Climate Change Conference - Coverage on Friday, 2 December 2011
17. 2011/12/01: IISD: Durban Climate Change Conference - Coverage on Thursday, 1 December 2011
18. 2011/11/30: IISD: Durban Climate Change Conference - Coverage on Wednesday, 30 November 2011
19. 2011/11/29: IISD: Durban Climate Change Conference - Coverage on Tuesday, 29 November 2011
20. 2011/11/28: IISD: Durban Climate Change Conference - Coverage on Monday, 28 November 2011
21. 2011/11/28: IISD: United Nations climate change conference in Durban
22. 2011/11/29: IISD: ENB - Durban Highlights

    Durban - GCF:

23. 2011/12/02: PlanetArk: Factbox: The Green Climate Fund
24. 2011/12/02: al Jazeera: Climate funds pledged for poor countries
    Rich nations pledge short-term funds to combat climate change in poor countries, but long-term funds remain doubtful.
25. 2011/12/02: Guardian(UK): Durban climate talks: meaningful progress can be made on finance
26. 2011/11/30: TimesLive(za): Climate Fund Board must get going: EU
    The EU wants the Green Climate Fund board to start working as soon as next year, a union representative said on Wednesday.
27. 2011/11/29: Yahoo:AFP: Financing battle emerges at climate change talks
28. 2011/11/29: WSJ: Climate Talks Open Amid Funding Spat
29. 2011/11/28: G&M: Canada adds its objections to $100-billion climate fund
30. 2011/11/27: NYT: A Pledge That Didn't Meet Its Potential

    Durban - Kyoto:

31. 2011/12/04: PostMedia: Canada accused of bullying countries -- Conference host says nation pushing others to support its anti-Kyoto stance
32. 2011/12/03: PostMedia: Canada's anti-Kyoto stance sours climate-change discussions in Durban
33. 2011/12/02: IrishTimes: China and Brazil threaten to block carbon offset trade
    [...] "You cannot think you can have the instruments of the Kyoto protocol without belonging to the Kyoto protocol." -Andre Correa do Lago, Brazil's chief envoy
34. 2011/12/02: ABC(Au):TDU: The coincidental coalition of Kyoto killers
35. 2011/12/02: Reuters: Japan says renewing Kyoto pledges is not enough
    Japan believes extending Kyoto Protocol emission cuts is not nearly enough to tackle the greenhouse gas blamed for global warming and is looking for a fresh deal that covers all major emitters, its climate envoy said Friday.
36. 2011/12/02: Guardian(UK): John Prescott: suspend the Kyoto protocol
    The former Labour minister says countries should 'stop the clock' on the agreement in order to continue negotiations on its future
37. 2011/12/01: Xinhuanet: Arguments to abandon Kyoto Protocol untenable
    As negotiators are gathering in Durban, South Africa, to push for new progress on global efforts to deal with climate change, divergent views emerge over the fate of Kyoto Protocol. As the cornerstone of the climate regime, Kyoto Protocol sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European Union to cut their emissions to an average of 5 percent against 1990 levels over the 2008-2012 period.
38. 2011/11/30: Guardian(UK): Why Durban is the Kyoto protocol's last chance
39. 2011/12/03: LFR: Durban hosts: Canada bullying poorer countries to abandon Kyoto
40. 2011/12/03: BBC: Lord Prescott: 'Conspiracy against poor' at climate talks
    Rich nations are trying to scupper a new climate deal, ex-deputy prime minister John Prescott has said. The Labour peer alleged a "conspiracy against the poor" was in danger of destroying attempts to get a successor to the 1997 Kyoto agreement. He said the current Kyoto provisions should be suspended instead of allowing them to expire in 2012.
41. 2011/11/30: ChinaDaily: China critical of Kyoto withdrawal plan
42. 2011/11/30: CE(cn): Fate of Kyoto Protocol in spotlight at talks
43. 2011/11/29: Yahoo:AFP: Kyoto pullout by Canada would hurt UN talks: African nations
44. 2011/11/30: TreeHugger: Archbishop Tutu, Other African Leaders Call on Canada to Fight Global Warming, Not Boost Tar Sands
45. 2011/11/29: G&M: Kent rejects climate 'guilt payment' to poorer countries
    The Kyoto Protocol is built on an outdated view of the developed and developing world and the unacceptable demand for climate reparations from poorer countries, Environment Minister Peter Kent says.
46. 2011/11/30: PostMedia: China decries Canada's "bad example" in climate talks
    Canada's failure to deny reports that it is about to ditch the Kyoto Protocol is "setting a bad example" to other developed nations as global climate change talks enter their third day, China's official news agency said on Wednesday. Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent said on Monday that Kyoto was "the past", but he would not confirm media reports that Ottawa was planning to formally withdraw from the treaty, one of the main topics of global climate talks now under way in Durban, South Africa.
47. 2011/11/29: AndrewLeach: Clarification on compliance and withdrawal
48. 2011/11/29: Maribo: Why would Canada withdraw from Kyoto before the end of the year?
49. 2011/11/29: Guardian(UK): Kyoto protocol may suffer fate of Julius Caesar at Durban climate talks
50. 2011/11/29: Guardian(UK): Kyoto protocol 'will be on life support' after Durban summit
51. 2011/11/29: CBC: Canada won't obstruct others from re-committing to Kyoto
52. 2011/11/28: PostMedia: Pope, Tutu urge climate-change deal -- Huge task ahead to save Kyoto treaty
53. 2011/11/28: TreeHugger: The Only Nations That Haven't Signed 1997's Global Climate Treaty are Afghanistan, Sudan & the U.S.A
54. 2011/11/28: CBC: Canada won't confirm Kyoto withdrawal
    Environment Minister Peter Kent wouldn't confirm or deny Monday that Canada plans to formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol, as talks on the accord's future got underway in Durban, South Africa.
55. 2011/11/28: BBC: Canada makes Kyoto climate strike
    Canada will not make further cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, and may begin formally withdrawing next month.
56. 2011/11/27: CTV: Canada to pull out of Kyoto Protocol next month
57. 2011/11/28: PlanetArk: Last Chance To Save Kyoto Deal At Climate Talks

    Durban - Protests:

58. 2011/12/04: ABC(Au): Climate demonstrators fill streets of Durban
59. 2011/12/04: ABC(Au): Thousands march in Durban for 'climate justice'
    Chanting "Amandla," the rallying cry of the South African anti-apartheid movement, thousands of people have marched through the streets of Durban calling for "climate justice". Their appeal was aimed at diplomats locked in negotiations under the 194-nation UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is tasked with beating back the ever-mounting threat of global warming. The crowd of around 6,500 snaked through the coastal city's downtown area shouting and singing against a backdrop of drums and vuvuzelas...
60. 2011/12/03: al Jazeera: Thousands rally in Durban for climate action
    Campaigners say they are frustrated by slow progress at the talks in the city and want more help for poorer nations.
61. 2011/12/03: AllAfrica:RDNA: Poland 'Disassociates' Itself From 'Shame and Blame' Fossil Award
    Poland's formal complaint to the Climate Action Network over its "logo" being used when it won a notoriety award for the "Fossil of the Day" drew howls of laughter at last night's award at the COP17 UN conference in Durban. There was more laughter at the hammed-up ceremony when 18-year-old Australian first-year drama student and announcer for the night, Isaac Astill, said Poland also "disassociated" itself from the award. However, it was no laughing matter when the cool, young and engaged crowd heard that the Canadian ruling party laughed in Parliament at receiving yet another "shame and blame" Fossil award - which Astill said seemed incongruous and unfeeling at time of climate change suffering for millions of people around the globe.
62. 2011/12/03: AllAfrica:RDNA: Colourful 'United but Diverse' Climate Change March Makes History in Durban
63. 2011/12/02: TP:JR: Rural Farmers Protest "Climate Apartheid" in Durban
64. 2011/12/03: AllAfrica:RNW: Police Block Climate Protests At UN Talks
65. 2011/12/03: IrishTimes: Protesters to tell rich nations to meet targets
66. 2011/12/03: BBC: Protests at climate change summit in Durban
67. 2011/11/28: NewInt: Challenging climate apartheid
68. 2011/11/28: CCP: Heather Libby, tcktcktck: As extreme weather destroys Durban slum, residents call for climate action
69. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): [The Trans African Climate Caravan of Hope] takes climate change message to Durban - in [17] pictures

    Durban - Misc:

70. 2011/11/30: Telegraph(UK): Durban Climate Change Conference: US refusal to negotiate carbon emissions cuts risks derailing summit
    US refusal to negotiate legally-binding carbon emissions cuts risks derailing a UN summit convened to tackle climate change, environmental groups have warned in a letter to Hillary Clinton.
71. 2011/12/04: TaiwanNews: Three biggest polluters US, China and India oppose EU new climate talks plan
72. 2011/12/04: PSinclair: Durban Update: China Might Deal. US a Drag?
73. 2011/12/03: TCoE: Breaking the Greenlock
74. 2011/12/02: TreeHugger: Durban Update: First US Press Briefing and a Letter to Hilary Clinton
75. 2011/12/02: PlanetArk: Angela Merkel: China, India, Brazil Must Cut CO2 Emissions
76. 2011/12/01: Grist: Durban dispatch: Canada blames Canada
77. 2011/12/01: Yahoo:AFP: Shifting geopolitics shake UN climate talks
78. 2011/12/01: Reuters: EU fights global warming in a cold climate
    Economics trumps environment in crisis - Modest steps still achieved in Europe - EU leading push to sign up to new Kyoto Protocol deal
79. 2011/11/28: PressEurop: Europe set for 'triple somersault' at Durban
80. 2011/12/02: Wunderground:RR: Durban - Conference of Parties - An Ethical Problem
81. 2011/12/03: al Jazeera: Deadlock in Durban
    Without practical expectations and penalties for countries who don't comply, the Convention on Climate Change will fail.
82. 2011/12/02: P3: Neville Chamberlain Only Went to Munich Once, or, Fool Me Seventeen Times, You Don't Get Fooled Again
83. 2011/12/02: KSJT: Not much newsy ink: Durban climate talks. But smart or sassy reporting is there and elsewhere
84. 2011/12/02: Grist: Durban dispatch: Climate deniers rip Tutu
85. 2011/12/03: AllAfrica:RDNA: USA Is Holding Up COP17 and Putting Humanity At Risk, Say Activists
86. 2011/12/03: AllAfrica:RDNA: Civils Snub Zuma's African Agri-Solution
    South African President Jacob Zuma's declaration on "climate smart and carbon markets" as a climate change solution for African agriculture has raised suspicions among roughly 100 civil society organisations at the COP17 conference in Durban. The host nation has been accused of playing against the rest of Africa, "it pretends to be for Africa but it's not, instead it is toeing the line of worst polluters," says Teresa Anderson of the Gaia Foundation at Friday's press conference.
87. 2011/12/02: Guardian(UK): COP17: Figueres makes an emotional plea for the low-carbon economy
88. 2011/12/02: IOL: Cities urged to upscale clean energy plans
    Cities around the world need to scale up their renewable energy projects to help to reduce emissions, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change secretary Christiana Figueres said on Friday. "There are many projects around the world and all we have to do now is to scale them up," she told delegates at a cities and local government convention in Durban.
89. 2011/12/03: Google:AP: UN official to AP: pledges to cut CO2 will go on
90. 2011/12/02: Google:AFP: A dozen heads of state to attend UN climate talks
91. 2011/12/02: TreeHugger: Al Gore: United States an "Obstacle to Progress" in Global Climate Talks
92. 2011/12/02: NatureNB: Bridging the gap: political science in Durban
93. 2011/11/28: PI: Pembina Institute representatives available for comment on UN climate change conference in Durban
94. 2011/12/02: 350orBust: Canada's Mandate At Durban Climate Talks Clear: Negotiate On Behalf Of Tar Sands, Not Canadians' Future
95. 2011/12/03: HotTopic: The counsel of failure: Greenhouse Policy Coalition on Durban
96. 2011/12/01: BBC: Climate deal pushed by poorest nations
    The world's poorest countries have asked that talks on a new climate deal covering all nations begin immediately. At the UN climate summit, the Least Developed Countries bloc and small island states tabled papers saying the deal should be finalised within a year.
97. 2011/12/01: Guardian(UK): UN climate talks see 'delayer countries' throw away the 2C goal
98. 2011/12/02: HotTopic: Call the COPs: Neville Chamberlain only went to Munich once
99. 2011/12/01: TreeHugger: Following the UN Climate Talks in Durban With a Top US Negotiator
100. 2011/12/01: BBC: Climate deal pushed by poorest nations
     The world's poorest countries have asked that talks on a new climate deal covering all nations begin immediately.
101. 2011/11/30: TheHill:e3W: Green groups blast Clinton's strategy in climate talks
     The leaders of the country's top environmental groups slammed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week over the Obama administration's negotiating strategy going into international climate talks in Durban, South Africa. "America risks being viewed not as a global leader on climate change, but as a major obstacle to progress," the top executives at the country's 16 major environmental groups said in a letter to Clinton Tuesday.
102. 2011/11/30: TP:JR: In Durban, Growing Criticism of Canada's Position on Kyoto and Push for Tar Sands
103. 2011/11/30: VOA: African Delegates Demand Immediate Action at Climate Conference
104. 2011/12/01: IndiaTimes: Developing countries may bargain with India over climate pact
105. 2011/11/30: BBC: Durban: The early skirmishes
     Like stags fighting, the first days of each annual UN climate summit start with delegations circling each other politically, looking for weaknesses, gauging strengths. The summit that began this week in Durban, South Africa, has been no different - and though it might seem that little has been accomplished so far, a number of blocs have at least made their positions clearer than ever before. And that's vital if effective negotiations are ever to happen.
106. 2011/11/30: Guardian(UK): EU takes hardline stance at UN climate talks
107. 2011/11/30: Guardian(UK): Barack Obama urged to change US stance at UN climate summit
108. 2011/12/03: CBC: Climate talks not looking good, says Kyoto expert -- Canadian with 1997 Kyoto delegation says situation too complex
109. 2011/11/30: TP:JR: Can the Durban Climate Negotiations Succeed?
110. 2011/11/30: PlanetArk: United Nations CO2 Scheme To Take Backseat In Climate-Aid Drive
111. 2011/11/30: AllAfrica:Monitor: The Decisions Africa Needs From Durban Climate Conference
112. 2011/11/29: IOL: Storm gives delegates a wake-up call
113. 2011/11/29: CSM: Durban climate change talks: Experts see warmer world as inevitable
114. 2011/11/28: OpenDem: Durban: failure will be success (again)
     There is no global deal nor any chance of one at Durban's COP17. Fortunately, "Plan B", predicted by the author after COP15, is looking feasible and even healthy. Welcome a profusion of national, regional and city initiatives to save us from devastating climate change
115. 2011/11/28: DVoice: Durban Climate Conference: Analysis of the Coming Failure
116. 2011/11/28: DerSpiegel: German Environment Minister Röttgen -- 'Our Lifestyle Has Revolved Around a Dangerous Egotism'
     In a Spiegel interview, German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen, 46, discusses the United Nations climate summit in Durban, South Africa, the West's ecological deficit and the halting efforts for Germany to abandon nuclear plants and shift almost entirely to renewable energy sources.
117. 2011/11/30: HotTopic: Lies, damned lies and brutal storms
118. 2011/11/29: EnergyBulletin: Darwin Comes to Durban: Overcoming "Survival of the Fittest" Mentality at UN Climate Talks
119. 2011/11/29: BBC: Warm blast hits UN climate summit
120. 2011/11/29: Guardian(UK): Congo's forests depend on Durban
121. 2011/11/29: KSJT: Lots of Ink, Not so much news: UN's Climate Talks on in Durban, So. Africa. Where to next?
122. 2011/11/29: SciAm:Obs: Are the Durban Climate Talks -- or Climate Talks in General -- Doomed?
123. 2011/11/29: UCSUSA: Annual U.N. Climate Meeting is a Fork in the Road
124. 2011/11/28: EUO: EU looks to 2020 for new pact on global warming
125. 2011/11/28: UN: UN climate change conference kicks off in Durban with call to action
126. 2011/11/28: NPR: Ahead Of Climate Talks, U.S. Leadership In Question
127. 2011/11/28: DIIN: Global warming 2°C target "no longer attainable"
128. 2011/11/29: PlanetArk: Small Island States "May Disappear If No Climate Deal"
129. 2011/11/29: PlanetArk: Global Climate Talks Wait For Zuma, Start Late
130. 2011/11/29: PlanetArk: EU Says Climate Pact Not Enough, Wants Deal By 2015
131. 2011/11/22: RS: U.N. Climate Talks Are Dead Before They Begin
132. 2011/11/28: AllAfrica:RNW: South Africa: UN Climate Talks Open
133. 2011/11/28: AllAfrica:BuaNews: South Africa: COP17 a Defining Moment - Zuma
134. 2011/11/28: M&G(za): COP17: Overcome 'trust deficit', says minister
135. 2011/11/29: BizDay: COP-17: Climate change talks are at a crossroads in Durban
136. 2011/11/28: Telegraph(UK): Durban Climate Change Conference 2011 opens in disarray
     The United Nations climate change summit opened in disarray after violent storms, the late arrival of the host president and a major rift emerging between some of the world's biggest polluters.
137. 2011/11/28: CSM: The climate news is bad, but prospects for climate talks may be worse
138. 2011/11/28: RStavins: Can the Durban Climate Negotiations Succeed?
139. 2011/11/28: JFrankel: How Negotiators at Durban Can Agree Emissions Targets
140. 2011/11/28: 350orBust: These Are Times That Try Our Souls
141. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): Durban and the climate change deniers
     A repeat of the failed Copenhagen summit is likely unless the global north is prepared to take its fair share of CO2 cuts
142. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): Durban climate talks: there is a feasible plan B to combat climate change
143. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): Jacob Zuma opens Durban climate negotiations with plea to delegates
144. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): Q&A: Durban COP17 climate talks
     Environment ministers will gather in Durban in late November to continue efforts towards a global climate deal. What can we expect from the talks?
145. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): How to break the deadlock in climate change negotiations
146. 2011/11/28: BBC: Big emitters aim at climate delay
147. 2011/11/28: BBC: Big emitters aim at climate delay
148. 2011/11/28: EurActiv: EU's chief negotiator sees Durban deal as possible
     A 2020 roadmap to a second Kyoto-style climate pact will need to be based on a timeline led by science, and on action to cut CO2 emissions long before then, the EU's chief climate negotiator, Artur Runge-Metzger, has told EurActiv in an exclusive interview. But he insisted that there was no 'Plan B'.
149. 2011/11/28: HotTopic: Vidal's voyage to Durban
150. 2011/11/28: PlanetArk: Time Running Out For Deal On Global Warming At Climate Talks
151. 2011/11/27: NYT: At Meeting on Climate Change, Urgent Issues but Low Expectations
152. 2011/11/28: TaiwanNews: In climate talks West would redefine rich and poor
153. 2011/11/28: Independent(UK): Sign climate deal or poorest will starve, summit told
154. 2011/11/27: SwissInfo: Swiss optimistic ahead of Durban climate talks
155. 2011/11/28: AllAfrica: COP 17, A Veil of Ignorance and Veiled Interests
156. 2011/11/27: CBC: 'Stakes are high' for UN climate talks
157. 2011/11/27: Guardian(UK): Is a global agreement the only way to tackle climate change?
     David King and Achim Steiner debate whether international climate treaties have become redundant

The Horn of Africa drought and famine continues to be a major disaster, with amazingly little coverage:

158. 2011/12/02: UN: Ethiopia opens additional camp for Somali refugees -UN agency
159. 2011/11/30: CSM: Somali Islamists ban aid groups, renewing famine concerns
160. 2011/11/29: al Jazeera: Horn of Africa Crisis: Somalia's Famine
     Have US counter-terrorism policies contributed to the deadly crisis in the Horn of Africa?
161. 2011/11/28: al Jazeera: Somali group bans aid organisations
     Al-Shabab blacklists NGOs for "illicit activities and misconducts", putting thousands of refugees at risk of starvation.
162. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): Al-Shabaab bans aid agencies in Somalia and raids offices
     Islamic group permanently revokes permission for organisations including Unicef and WHO to work in country amid famine crisis
163. 2011/11/28: BBC: Somalia's al-Shabab militants close UN aid offices
     Al-Shabab fighters have closed down several aid agencies working in famine-hit Somalia, including some from the UN, accusing them of political bias. Militants stormed aid offices in the towns of Baidoa and Beledweyne, which like many southern areas are controlled by al-Shabab, witnesses say. Al-Shabab has long restricted the work of international aid groups but on Monday banned 16 groups outright. Years of conflict mean Somalia is worst hit by the East African drought. The lack of rain is said to be the worst in 60 years.

And on the Bottom Line:

164. 2011/12/01: WMO: Investment in Climate Services Reaps Big Returns
165. 2011/11/30: USAToday: U.N. scientist: fighting climate change saves costs

     What are the global financial institutions up to?

166. 2011/12/01: TreeHugger: Chase Spends $22 Billion Annually on Coal, Tops List of '20 Climate Killing Banks'
167. 2011/12/01: EurActiv: Big banks still prefer dirty energy investments, research shows
     Major multilateral development banks have invested 64% more money in fossil fuel projects than in clean energy technologies over the last four years, according to research published on a new database. 'Shift the Subsidies', an interactive database financed by Oil Change International, says it has collated all known institutional loans, grants, and financial guarantees to the energy sector since 2008. It has found that that while over $40 billion has been made available to fossil fuel energy development, clean energy projects received $25.5 billion.
168. 2011/11/30: Reuters: Banks seen as climate culprits at global talks: report
     Major global banks are exacerbating the fight against global warming by supplying power utilities and mining firms with ample funds to build coal-fired plants, according to a report released by non-governmental groups at the climate talks in Durban. The study examined the portfolios of 93 major banks and found that coal financing supplied by those institutions to the coal industry totaled 232 billion euros ($309.4 billion) since 2005 when the Kyoto Protocol came into force.
169. 2011/11/30: CSM: Are banks to blame for climate change?
170. 2011/11/30: TP:JR: Are the World's Financial Markets Carrying a Carbon Bubble?
171. 2011/11/30: Grist: Giant banks screwing the economy are also screwing the climate, says report

     Now here's a thought. An automated Crap Detector:

172. 2011/11/22: NiemanLab: Bull beware: Truth goggles sniff out suspicious sentences in news
     A graduate student at the MIT Media Lab is writing software that can highlight false claims in articles, just like spell check.

The world inches toward creating a global legal framework for ecological crime:

173. 2011/12/01: al Jazeera: Famine as a crime against humanity
     Drought does not necessarily lead to famine: The catastrophe in Somalia was man-made.

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

174. 2011/12/04: SkeptiSci: La Niña reappears: still weak, but expected to slightly strengthen
175. 2011/12/02: SkeptiSci: Temporarily Frozen Planet, Permanently Frozen Objectivity by dana1981
176. 2011/12/02: SkeptiSci: Climategate 2.0 in Context - Solar Warming by dana1981
177. 2011/12/01: SkeptiSci: 2011: World's 10th warmest year, warmest year with La Niña event, lowest Arctic sea ice volume by John Hartz
178. 2011/12/01: SkeptiSci: Changing the Direction of the Climate by dana1981, Andy S
179. 2011/11/30: SkeptiSci: Peter Hadfield addresses the recent email release by Rob Honeycutt
180. 2011/11/30: SkeptiSci: Climate Solutions by Daniel Bailey
181. 2011/11/29: SkeptiSci: Klimafakten.de - Leveraging Skeptical Science content by BaerbelW
182. 2011/11/29: SkeptiSci: Economic Growth and Climate Change Part 2 - Sustainable Growth - An Economic Oxymoron? by perseus
183. 2011/11/28: SkeptiSci: Greenhouse Gas Concentrations Continue Climbing by John Hartz

     Post CRU-Two .... boredom:

184. 2011/11/30: CJR: UEA E-Mails Fail to Provoke -- Wary of "Climategate," reporters treat latest leak as minor news
185. 2011/11/29: Guardian(UK): Secret message hidden among fresh climate email files
186. 2011/11/28: AFTIC: SloppySecondsGate
187. 2011/11/27: WottsUWT: An Open Letter to Dr. Phil Jones of the UEA CRU

     A note on theFukushima disaster:

     It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. 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:

188. 2011/12/02: PSinclair: Tepco: Fukushima Accident Still Evolving, Still Dangerous
189. 2011/12/01: Google:AFP: Japan nuclear meltdown "maybe worse than thought"
     Molten nuclear fuel at Japan's Fukushima plant might have eaten two thirds of the way through a concrete containment base, its operator said, citing a new simulation of the extent of the March disaster. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said their latest calculations showed the fuel inside the No. 1 reactor at the tsunami-hit plant could have melted entirely, dropping through its inner casing and eroding a concrete base. In the worst-case scenario, the molten fuel could have reached as far as 65 centimetres (2 feet) through the concrete, leaving it only 37 centimetres short of the outer steel casing, the report, released Wednesday, said. Until now, TEPCO had said some fuel melted through the inner pressure vessel and dropped to the containment vessel, without saying how much and what it did to the concrete, citing a lack of data. "Almost no fuel remains at its original position," TEPCO said in the report.
190. 2011/12/02: Grist: Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown more terrifying than we thought
191. 2011/12/02: EneNews: Again: Tepco study says spent fuel in Reactor No. 4 narrowly avoided being exposed -- After claiming melted fuel stopped just short of burning through containment
192. 2011/12/01: EneNews: Reuters: Fukushima, Chernobyl show how vast areas can be turned into nuclear wastelands
193. 2011/12/01: EneNews: Tepco: 68 tons of nuclear fuel melted at Fukushima Reactor No. 1
194. 2011/12/01: EneNews: ABC(Au) Headline: "Fukushima fuel rods eating through solid concrete" -- Just 37 cm away from outer casing
195. 2011/12/01: EneNews: IEEE Headline: "Fukushima's Reactor 1 Meltdown Was Worse Than We Realized" -- Looking forward to finding out what TEPCO knew and when they knew it
196. 2011/12/01: EneNews: AP: New gov't study rasies possibility of "structural damage to reactor's foundation" -- Erosion of concrete could be deeper than Tepco claims
197. 2011/11/30: APR: Details of nitrogen injection at Fukushima Daiichi
198. 2011/11/30: APR: TEPCO reporting on vessel failure
199. 2011/12/03: PSinclair: Fukushima's Fishermen Net Fear, not Food
200. 2011/12/02: Guardian(UK): Fukushima fuel rods may have completely melted
     One of the plant's nuclear reactors was close to being breached as fuel rods bore through its concrete floor, says TEPCO
201. 2011/12/02: CCurrents: Fukushima Fuel Rods May Have Completely Melted
202. 2011/12/03: Google:AFP: Workers at Japan nuclear plant recall tsunami desperation
203. 2011/12/03: EneNews: Fukushima worker: Eerie, deep popping noise from bottom of reactor before boots melted -- Kyodo edits out important details
204. 2011/12/02: EneNews: Nuclear Experts: "We have to be prepared for the worst case scenario" -- 5-10 meter barrier must be installed beneath Fukushima reactors
205. 2011/12/02: EneNews: Russia's TASS: "Fukushima Falling Apart: The Guardian" -- Melted fuel has probably "completely destroyed the protective concrete cover"
206. 2011/12/02: EneNews: Guardian: Tepco now says concrete "could have been penetrated" -- Fukushima 'may' have narrowly averted China Syndrome
207. 2011/12/01: WSJ: Reactor Core Melted Fully, Japan Says -- Fuel Breached Vessel Floor, Operator Says, In Its Gravest Fukushima Status Report
     Japan's tsunami-stricken nuclear-power complex came closer to a catastrophic meltdown than previously indicated by its operator -- who on Wednesday described how one reactor's molten nuclear core likely burned through its primary containment chamber and then ate as far as three-quarters of the way through the concrete in a secondary vessel. The assessment -- offered by Japan's government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex -- marked Japan's most sobering reckoning to date of the nuclear disaster sparked by the country's March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
208. 2011/11/29: KSJT: IEEE Spectrum: The long agony at Fukushima -- why there was no way at all to stop radioactive gases from drifting far and wide.
209. 2011/11/28: ScienceInsider: In Wake of Fukushima Disaster, Japan's Scientists Ponder How to Regain Public Trust
210. 2011/11/28: EneNews: Report: TEPCO reveals Reactor No. 2 temperature has gone "over scale" -- "Unusual atmosphere" at press conference -- Japan journalists suspicious something crucial is being hidden (VIDEO)
211. 2011/11/28: TP:JR: Radiation Covers 8% of Japan, Fukushima Crisis "Stunting Children's Growth"
212. 2011/11/27: EneNews: Asahi: Gov't survey shows Fukushima fallout has spread throughout Japan -- Now confirmed at Okinawa 1,700 km away
213. 2011/11/27: EneNews: MOX Scandal: Japan Times on "latest revelation of attempts to rig public opinions on nuclear power" -- "Collusive ties" between gov't and nuke industry
214. 2011/11/27: APR: Erroneous readings at Fukushima Daiichi No. 2

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

215. 2011/12/02: EurActiv: Nuclear energy 'does not reduce the price of electricity'
     Nuclear power plants can be attractive for their owners but not necessarily for consumers as they hardly ever determine the price of electricity on the energy exchange, says Alois Tost, an independent energy consultant. In an interview with EurActiv.cz, the German expert also adivsed against solar photovoltaics to compensate for Germany's nuclear phase-out. Tost, a German consultant who advises energy firms in the Czech Republic, said the debate about the costs of the nuclear phase-out in Germany had been misled. Contrary to what has been claimed, the nuclear phase-out will not be felt on consumer prices, he said. This is because nuclear electricity is cheaper than gas, and therefore has no influence on price determination on the wholesale electricity market.
216. 2011/12/03: CCurrents: After Fukushima: Enough Is Enough by Helen Caldicott
217. 2011/12/01: TBAS: Fukushima and the inevitability of accidents
218. 2011/11/28: WNW: Japanese nuclear generation dwindles
     With the shutdown of unit 2 at Kansai Electric Power Company's (KEPCO's) Takahama nuclear power plant for a periodic inspection, less than 20% of Japan's nuclear generating capacity is now in operation.
219. 2011/11/28: CSM: Fukushima fallout: time to quit nuclear power altogether
     Experience in northern Japan illustrates that even incremental investment in nuclear power threatens human civilization. The Fukushima disaster should once and for all drive global society away from nuclear power, and toward renewable energy.
220. 2011/11/28: EneNews: Major US Paper: Time to quit nuclear power altogether -- "Threatens the very existence of human civilization as we know it"
221. 2011/11/28: EneNews: Daily Beast: "Nuclear power's future is literally headed south" post-Fukushima -- Developed countries are slowing or shuttering their programs
222. 2011/11/28: EneNews: World Health Organization "beholden" to IAEA since 1959 -- Can't release a report without their agreement -- "Like having Dracula guard the blood bank" (video)

     The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

223. 2011/12/01: AWI: Simultaneous ice melt in Antarctic and Arctic
     The end of the last ice age and the processes that led to the melting of the northern and southern ice sheets supply basic information on changes in our climate. Although the maximum size of the ice sheet in the northern hemisphere during the last ice age is relatively well known, there is little reliable data on the dimensions of the Antarctic ice sheet. A publication appearing in the journal "Science" on 1 December now furnishes indications that the two hemispheres attained their maximum ice sheet size at nearly the same time and started melting 19,000 years ago.
224. 2011/12/02: SciNews: Polar ice sheets are synchronized swimmers -- Glaciers in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres advance and retreat together
225. 2011/12/01: NOAANews: Arctic settles into new phase -- warmer, greener, and less ice
226. 2011/12/02: SciNews: Arctic has taken a turn for the warmer -- Scientists see pervasive and permanent changes in the last five years
227. 2011/12/02: Tamino: 1400+ Years of Arctic Ice
228. 2011/11/30: TP:JR: Arctic Sea Ice Hockey Stick: Melt Unprecedented in Last 1,450 Years

     As for the charismatic megafauna:

229. 2011/12/02: PlanetArk: Whales Win, Walruses Lose In Warmer Arctic: Report
230. 2011/12/01: Grist: The most heartbreaking polar bear picture, ever
231. 2011/12/03: ProMedMail: Die-off, marine wildlife - USA (04): (AK) seal, walrus, RFI
232. 2011/11/30: SciNow: Baby Seals Need the Nicest Ice
233. 2011/11/27: TreeHugger: Study Values Polar Bears at $420,000 Apiece
234. 2011/12/04: TP:JR: Rage Against the Machine: Heartbreaking Photo of Polar Bear vs. Icebreaker Ship

     Arctic Report Card:

235. 2011/12/01: NatureNB: 'Report card' documents the Arctic's new normal
236. 2011/12/03: CCP: Grim Report Card - Greenland Ice Sheet 2011 Update by NOAA...
237. 2011/12/02: CBC: Arctic Report Card shows worrisome 5-year thaw -- Much darker, warmer region since 2006, say scientists
238. 2011/12/02: TCoE: Doc alert: Arctic report card

     That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

239. 2011/12/02: KSJT: Wires, etc: New survey sees bad news in Arctic warming: Melting soil will add tens of billions of tons of methane to greenhouse Earth
240. 2011/12/01: CCurrents: Ticking Greenhouse Gas Time Bomb: Melting Permafrost
241. 2011/11/30: Yahoo:AP: Thawing permafrost vents gases to worsen warming
242. 2011/12/01: TP:JR: Nature Bombshell: Climate Experts Warn Thawing Permafrost Could Cause 2.5 Times the Warming of Deforestation!
243. 2011/12/01: P3: Climate Change: High risk of permafrost thaw
244. 2011/12/01: PSinclair: Arctic Methane: Even Worse than we thought?
245. 2011/12/01: Time:Ecocentric: An Arctic Wildcard Could Make the Climate Go Bust
246. 2011/11/30: CCP: "Rising methane emissions in response to climate change in Northern Eurasia during the 21st century," by Xudong Zhu et al., ERL 6 (2011); doi:10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/045211
247. 2011/11/30: CBC: Arctic permafrost thawing may speed warming, say scientists
248. 2011/11/30: BBerg: Permafrost Thaw May Emit More Than Deforestation, Study Says
249. 2011/11/30: CCP: "Climate change: High risk of permafrost thaw" by Edward A. G. Schuur & Benjamin Abbott, Nature 480 (December 1, 2011)
250. 2011/11/30: UAF: Abrupt permafrost thaw increases climate threat

     As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

251. 2011/11/30: BBerg: Cairn's $600 Million Greenland Oil Campaign Ends in Failure
252. 2011/12/01: CSM: Global warming: winners and losers in the Arctic's 'new normal'
253. 2011/11/30: BBC: No oil find for Cairn in Arctic
     Edinburgh explorer Cairn Energy has failed to make a commercial discovery of oil or gas in its Greenland campaign.
254. 2011/11/30: PostMedia: Scotland a player in Arctic, British MP says -- Another competitor added to list for Canada
     Canada's next Arctic rival: Scotland?!?
     The retreating sea ice and rising economic profile of the circumpolar world have, in recent years, stoked occasional tensions between Canada and fellow Arctic Ocean coastal states Russia and Denmark, underlined a long-running dispute with the United States over control of the Northwest Passage and fuelled concerns about China's growing interest in the region. Now add Scotland, the United Kingdom's northernmost realm, to the mix of Canada's potential competitors - or partners - in the Arctic.
255. 2011/12/01: CBC: Military turns to volunteers for Arctic rescues
256. 2011/11/30: CBC: Inuit sleds being built for Arctic sovereignty patrols -- Rangers have until Dec. 9 to build 30-plus qamutiks in Yellowknife
257. 2011/11/27: CBC: Ottawa moves ahead with High Arctic military centre -- Centre will focus on disaster training

     While in Antarctica:

258. 2011/12/01: ABC(Au): Atomic bombs help age slow growing moss
     Radioactive fallout from nuclear testing in the 1950s is helping Australian researchers track the impact of climate change in the Antarctica.
259. 2011/11/30: DM:80B: Atmospheric Remnants of Nuclear Tests Reveal Antarctica's Tiny "Old-Growth Forests"
260. 2011/11/29: Eureka: Climate change stunting growth of century-old Antarctic moss shoots -- Radiocarbon bomb pulse revelations

     The food crisis is ongoing:

261. 2011/12/02: GreenGrok: On Food, the Environment and Choices
262. 2011/11/30: NYT: Lines Grow Long for Free School Meals, Thanks to Economy
     Millions of American schoolchildren are receiving free or low-cost meals for the first time as their parents, many once solidly middle class, have lost jobs or homes during the economic crisis, qualifying their families for the decades-old safety-net program. The number of students receiving subsidized lunches rose to 21 million last school year from 18 million in 2006-7, a 17 percent increase, according to an analysis by The New York Times of data from the Department of Agriculture, which administers the meals program. Eleven states, including Florida, Nevada, New Jersey and Tennessee, had four-year increases of 25 percent or more, huge shifts in a vast program long characterized by incremental growth. The Agriculture Department has not yet released data for September and October.
263. 2011/12/01: AllAfrica: SW Radio: Zimbabwe: Maize Bags With Mugabe Picture Given to ZANU PF Members Only
264. 2011/11/30: PlanetArk: Dry, Warm Autumn Brings Risks For Western Europe Grains
265. 2011/11/30: Grist: Don't drink the weed killer: Atrazine taints rural groundwater
266. 2011/11/28: FAO: Scarcity and degradation of land and water: growing threat to food security
     New FAO report profiles the state of the natural resource base upon which world food production depends
267. 2011/11/29: KSJT: Wires: UN agency says exhausted lands, water shortages threaten global food supply
268. 2011/11/28: UN: Land degradation and water shortages threaten global food production - UN
269. 2011/11/29: PlanetArk: Increasingly Erratic Climate Menaces Africa's Cocoa
270. 2011/11/28: CBC: UN warns 25% of planet's land is highly degraded
     The United Nations has completed the first global assessment of the state of the planet's land resources, finding in a report Monday that a quarter of all land is highly degraded and warning the trend must be reversed if the world's growing population is to be fed.
271. 2011/11/27: CBC: More famine likely as climate warms, Oxfam warns

     Food Prices are still problematic:

272. FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
273. 2011/11/27: PostMedia: Extreme weather driving up food prices: report
     Extreme weather events caused by climate change are endangering global food supplies and driving up prices for consumers worldwide, says new research released Sunday by the humanitarian group, Oxfam.

Look out! the IP Rentiers are coming!

274. 2011/12/01: ABC(Au): IP presents 'barriers to climate action'
     Climate action This week's UN climate conference needs to tackle the contentious issue of intellectual property, which could prevent poor countries getting access to clean technology, says one Australian lawyer. Dr Matthew Rimmer of the Australian Centre for Intellectual Property in Agriculture in Canberra lays out his arguments in a new book titled Intellectual Property and Climate Change: Inventing Clean Technologies.

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

275. 2011/12/02: BBerg: Monsanto Corn May Be Failing to Kill Bugs, EPA Says
276. 2011/11/28: ScienceInsider: French Ban on Genetically Modified Corn Loses Another Round

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

277. 2011/12/02: FAO: FAO and ISESCO sign partnership agreement -- Will work together to protect agricultural heritage
278. 2011/12/02: FAO: FAO, IFAD and WFP reach 22 million people with massive EU investment in agriculture
     UN food agencies hail European Union Food Facility's impact on global food security
279. 2011/12/01: FAO: FAO moves to halt plant genetic erosion -- New impetus for global plant diversity
280. 2011/11/29: FAO: [lik to 1.9 meg pdf] "Energy-smart" agriculture needed to escape fossil fuel trap
281. 2011/11/28: FAO: [link to 3.4 meg pdf] The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture
282. 2011/11/28: FAO: The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture
283. 2011/12/04: BNC: Feeding 10 billion on a hotter planet (Part II)
284. 2011/12/02: Eureka: Climate-smart agriculture should be livelihood-smart too -- Encouraging climate-smart agriculture can lead to climate change adaptation
285. 2011/11/30: AlterNet: Can Ocean Farms Actually Be More Sustainable Than Even the Most Environmentally Sensitive Traditional Farms?
286. 2011/11/30: UN: UN food aid agency [WFP] helps create online game to fight hunger
287. 2011/11/30: UN: UN urges food sector to reduce fossil fuel use and shift to 'energy-smart' agriculture
288. 2011/11/30: CSM: Five innovations that boost soil fertility
289. 2011/11/30: PlanetArk: Bayer CropScience Targets Non-GMO Wheat Traits
290. 2011/11/29: BPA: The USDA's Report on Using Biochar to Enhance Soil Fertility
291. 2011/11/29: EnergyBulletin: Time, money, and the "$50 tomato"
292. 2011/11/29: Grist: Talking vertical farms: An interview with Dickson Despommier
293. 2011/11/21: NYT: A Quiet Push to Grow Crops Under Cover of Trees
294. 2011/11/23: Atlantic: The Coming Green Wave: Ocean Farming to Fight Climate Change
     Seaweed farms have the capacity to grow huge amounts of nutrient-rich food, and oysters can act as an efficient carbon and nitrogen sink

A quiet week in the hurricane wars with only retrospectives and analysis:

295. 2011/12/03: CSM: Atlantic hurricane season closes with 19 named storms
296. 2011/11/30: CBC: Irene effects linger as 2011 hurricane season ends -- 19 tropical storms recorded in 2011 Atlantic season
297. 2011/11/30: Wunderground: Hurricane Irene: New York City dodges a potential storm surge mega-disaster
298. 2011/11/28: NOAANews: Scientists link upward trend in pollution to increased intensity of Arabian Sea tropical cyclones
299. 2011/11/28: NOAANews: Active 2011 hurricane season breaks 'Hurricane Amnesia'
     Irene the first hurricane to hit U.S. in three years; Northeast reminded it's also vulnerable
300. 2011/11/28: Wunderground: The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season: another strangely active one
301. 2011/11/28: al Jazeera: Storm alert for Oman
     In the North Indian Ocean, the cyclone season continues until the end of December.

As for GHGs:

302. 2011/12/01: Yahoo:AFP: Half of greenhouse gases 'emitted by five nations'
     More than half of all carbon pollution released into the atmosphere comes from five countries, according to a national ranking of greenhouse gas emissions released Thursday. The first 10 countries on the list, made available during UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa, account for two-thirds of global emissions, said the report, compiled by British-based firm Maplecroft, specialists in risk analysis. China, the United States, India, Russia and Japan top the ranking, with Brazil, Germany, Canada, Mexico and Iran just behind.
303. 2011/12/02: TreeHugger: Britain Will Easily Exceed 34% CO2 Cuts by 2020, Says Government

     And the temperature record:

304. 2011/11/29: WMO: 2011: world's 10th warmest year, warmest year with La Niña event, lowest Arctic sea ice volume
305. 2011/11/29: WMO: 2011: world's 10th warmest year, warmest year with La Niña on record, second-lowest Arctic sea ice extent
306. 2011/11/30: PlanetArk: WMO: 2011 One Of Hottest Years On Record
307. 2011/11/29: CSM: Climate change: 2011 temperatures the hottest ever during La Nina
308. 2011/11/29: UN: This year will be world's tenth warmest on record, UN [WMO] report finds
309. 2011/11/29: ABC(Au): Scientists concerned by Southern Ocean warming
     Warming waters New research shows the Southern Ocean is storing more heat than any other ocean in the world.
310. 2011/11/29: ABC(Au): Last decade equals warmest on record: UN
311. 2011/11/29: ABC(Au): Scientists sound alarm over Southern Ocean warming
312. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): Despite warm autumn, 2011 temperatures fail to reach record highs
     This year was only the 11th warmest on record, but figures confirm overall warming trend
313. 2011/12/04: al Jazeera: Another hot year -- 2011 is one of the warmest on record

     Yes we have feedbacks:

314. 2011/11/28: TP:JR: Erratic, Extreme Day-to-Day Weather Puts Climate Change in New Light and Creates Potential New Amplifying Feedback

     Aerosols are making their presence felt:

315. 2011/11/27: Guardian(UK): Wood fires fuel climate change - UN
     Log burning and diesel vehicles two of the biggest culprits in developed world in generating pollution causing black carbon

And in the paleoclimate:

316. 2011/12/02: ABC(Au): CO2 plunge linked to Antarctic freeze [34 million years ago]
317. 2011/12/02: CSM: Algae helps explains Antarctic ice sheet formation
318. 2011/11/30: RPI: Setting the Stage for Life: Scientists Make Key Discovery About the Atmosphere of Early Earth
319. 2011/12/01: Eureka: Drop in carbon dioxide levels led to polar ice sheet [34 mya], study finds
320. 2011/12/01: Eureka: Plunge in CO2 put the freeze on Antarctica -- Plunge in atmospheric CO2 ~34 million years ago confirms its power to alter global climate
321. 2011/11/28: SciNews: Biology's big bang had a long fuse -- Animals started evolving long before showing up as fossils

     While on the ENSO front:

322. 2011/12/04: SkeptiSci: La Niña reappears: still weak, but expected to slightly strengthen
323. 2011/12/03: TP:JR: WMO: 2011 Is Warmest La Niña Year on Record and Science "Proves Unequivocally" It's "Due to Human Activities"

     Regarding Climate Sensitivity:

324. 2011/11/28: KSJT: Battling blogs and sedate news reports on new study of climate sensitivity -- or, how hot's it prob'ly gonna get?
325. 2011/11/28: RealClimate: Ice age constraints on climate sensitivity
326. 2011/11/28: ClassM: A hint that things may not be as bad as we thought

     And the State of the Oceans:

327. 2011/11/27: SF Gate: Algae blooms' sudden spread stumps scientists
     Marine scientists are trying to find out why previously unknown blooms of toxic algae are suddenly proliferating along the California coast, killing wildlife and increasing the risk of human sickness. The mysterious blooms have recently been bigger and have occurred more frequently than ever before, an alarming trend that a team of scientists led by UC Santa Cruz is attempting to figure out.

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

328. 2011/12/02: TreeHugger: NASA Satellites Reveal Decline in U.S. Coal Pollution
329. 2011/12/01: NASA: NASA Satellite Confirms Sharp Decline in Pollution from U.S. Coal Power Plants

     More GW impacts are being seen:

330. 2011/12/02: AllAfrica:RDNA: Climate Change Exacerbates Malaria Menace
331. 2011/12/01: Guardian(UK): From Cairo to the Cape, climate change begins to take hold of Africa
332. 2011/12/01: Guardian(UK): Climate change insight gleaned from Yellowstone wolves
333. 2011/12/01: Guardian(UK): Snow is a no-show at Swiss ski resorts
334. 2011/11/30: Eureka: British butterfly is evolving to respond to climate change -- Evolutionary change helps species track ongoing climate warming
335. 2011/11/29: TP:JR: Oxfam: Extreme Weather Has Helped Push Tens of Millions into "Hunger and Poverty" in "Grim Foretaste" of Warmed World
336. 2011/11/29: CNN: Kenya's Turkana people facing climate catastrophe
     Conservationist Richard Leakey has been working in Kenya's Turkana Basin for years - Leakey says fishermen have seen evidence of climate change in the water as levels recede 0 Potentially catastrophic as entire region is dependent on the lake for food and economic survival
337. 2011/11/29: TP:JR: Climate Change Boosts a Lethal Disease: Hendra Virus
338. 2011/11/30: ABC(Au): Report warns of deadly climate change
     A new report is warning Australians face dying in heatwaves and catching infectious diseases as a result of climate change. The Climate Commission says climbing temperatures will lead to more natural disasters and changing rainfall patterns, which will have an impact on people's health as much as on the environment.
339. 2011/12/03: Guardian(UK): Whales, dolphins, seals: newcomers crowd into British waters in pursuit of their prey
340. 2011/11/28: SciNow: Ladybugs Changed Color in Response to Climate Change
341. 2011/11/28: BBC: Thailand's factory output fell by 35.8% in October after the country's worst flooding for 50 years
342. 2011/12/04: Eureka: New reports identify impacts of climate change on world's highest mountains

     And then there are the world's forests:

343. 2011/12/02: 350orBust: Tar Nation: Haunting Photos Reveal Rape of Canada's Boreal Forest
344. 2011/12/02: PlanetArk: Vale Halts Dealings With Company Over Deforestation
345. 2011/12/03: SciAm:EC: Illegal Deforestation Threatens the Last 23 Hainan Gibbons
346. 2011/12/01: ABC(Au): Forest carbon survey
347. 2011/12/01: PlanetArk: Global Net Forest Loss Smaller Than Thought: FAO
348. 2011/11/30: FAO: [link to pdf] Satellite technology yields new forest loss estimates -- FAO uses remote sensing survey to track changes
349. 2011/11/30: UN: New UN satellite survey of forests charts extent of global deforestation
350. 2011/11/30: NatureN: Fighting for the forest: The roadless warrior
     To save the Amazon, Bruce Babbitt wants to isolate islands of oil and gas production amid a sea of trees.
351. 2011/11/29: Guardian(UK): Congo's forests depend on Durban

     Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

352. 2011/12/04: TreeHugger: Wild West Windstorm in Los Angeles Destroys More than 450 Trees
353. 2011/12/04: al Jazeera: Santa Ana winds cause chaos across California
     The Santa Ana brought damaging winds to parts of California late last week. Our gallery shows the devastation caused.
354. 2011/12/02: CSM: Santa Ana winds: How the West was hit by hurricane-speed winds
355. 2011/12/02: CBC: U.S. West hit by high winds
     Several overturned semis on a Utah highway. Hundreds of thousands without power in California. A wind gust reaching 200 km/h in Colorado. The powerful winds that tore across Western states Thursday created a path destruction that closed schools, left neighborhoods with a snarl of downed trees and power lines, and prompted some communities to declare emergencies.
356. 2011/12/02: CSM: Hurricane-force Santa Ana winds: Another sign of global warming?
357. 2011/12/02: BBC: Santa Ana winds cut power in western US
     Hundreds of thousands of people have been left without power after 48 hours of ferocious winds across a swathe of states in the western US.
358. 2011/11/28: CBC: Southern Alberta cleans up after gale-force winds
     Southern Alberta is cleaning up on Monday after a savage windstorm swept the region Sunday, prompting the City of Calgary to shut the downtown core to traffic as glass and debris rained down on the streets. A strong low-pressure system combined with a Chinook blowing east from the mountains produced sustained winds of 77 km/h, with gusts reaching 144 km/h in Claresholm, equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane, says CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe.
359. 2011/11/27: CBC: Calgary buildings damaged in storm -- Grass fire in Lethbridge brought under control
     Southern Alberta began picking up the pieces late Sunday after winds gusting as high as 130 km/h in some places roared through the area. In Calgary, winds that reached 91 km/h according to Environment Canada triggered the city's Municipal Emergency Plan. Officials had shut down the downtown core to traffic and pedestrians and suspended LRT services in that area.

This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

360. 2011/11/28: IrishTimes: Ever-worsening weather events lead to inescapable verdict on climate change

     Corals are dying:

361. 2011/11/28: Inhabitat: Scientists Planning to Cryo-Freeze Coral Samples to Preserve Endangered Species

     Sea levels are rising:

362. 2011/12/04: TreeHugger: Sea Levels Will Rise Much Faster Than Previously Predicted, Says New Report on Antarctic Polar Ice Melt
363. 2011/11/27: QuarkSoup: More on Tuvalu
364. 2011/11/27: QuarkSoup: Tuvalu Plans to Bring in a Mountain

     As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

365. 2011/12/04: CAbyss: Watching Those Records Fall -- The worst one-year drought on record for Texas shows no sign of letting up.
366. 2011/12/03: al Jazeera: Mexico's worst drought in 70 years
     Humans and animals are struggling to cope in the worst drought anyone in Mexico can remember.
367. 2011/12/03: Guardian(UK): In Klosters, three weeks before Christmas, only one thing is missing -- snow
     One of the favoured haunts of Britain's rich and famous is suffering, like the rest of the Alps, from mild weather. And with a strong Swiss franc, the cost of winter sports is soaring
368. 2011/12/03: BBC: Swiss ski resorts hit by drought
369. 2011/12/02: P3: Mexico is in Drought Too
370. 2011/11/30: NASA: Texas Drought Visible in New National Groundwater Maps
371. 2011/11/30: al Jazeera: Where is the snow?
     November has been too dry and too warm for the majority of the Alpine ski resorts
372. 2011/11/30: CCP: CBS: Historic Texas drought could leave lasting impact...
373. 2011/11/30: BBC: Drought fears after low winter rain levels
     The drought that has affected parts of England since June could last into next summer if there is insufficient winter rain, the Environment Agency has said.
374. 2011/11/30: TP:JR: Warming-Enhanced Texas Drought Is Once in "500 or 1,000 Years ... Basically Off the Charts," Says State Climatologist
375. 2011/11/30: BBC: More rain set to hit flood areas
     Forecasters are warning of more heavy rain in parts of Scotland which have already been affected by flooding.

Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

376. 2011/12/02: CSM: What a waste: Jonathan Bloom wants the US to reduce its food waste problem
377. 2011/11/28: TreeHugger: Is It Too Late To Stem A Worldwide Outbreak Of Rational Governance?
378. 2011/11/28: IIASA: Saving millions of lives and protecting our climate through clean cooking options
379. 2011/11/29: Bundanga: How much time do we have to cut CO2 emissions? 20 years and the budget could be all spent!

     Consider transportation & GHG production:

380. 2011/12/01: CalcRisk: U.S. Light Vehicle Sales at 13.6 million SAAR in November, Highest since Aug 2009
381. 2011/12/01: CBC: Canadian auto sales jump 4.4% in November
382. 2011/11/30: AllAfrica:BuaNews: Shipping Emissions Must Be Curbed
383. 2011/11/30: TreeHugger: Inefficient Planes and Rising Oil Prices Sunk American Airlines
384. 2011/11/28: NBF: High Speed Trains that make no Stops

     As for carbon sequestration:

385. 2011/12/01: Eureka: AGU meeting: Stanford scientists subject rocks to hellish conditions to combat global warming
386. 2011/11/30: Guardian(UK): Largest carbon capture plant in UK opens in Yorkshire
387. 2011/11/28: Eureka: ISGS-led consortium begins injection of CO2 for storage at Illinois Basin -- Decatur Project -- First US large demonstration-scale injection of CO2 from a biofuel facility begins

     Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

388. 2011/12/02: CBC: Artificial cooling of Earth could reverse global warming -- But risks unknown; discussion and governance needed, [RS] report finds
389. 2011/12/01: RS: [link to 1.5 meg pdf] Solar radiation management: the governance of research
390. 2011/12/03: PeakEnergy: Who's watching the weather makers?
391. 2011/12/01: Guardian(UK): Geoengineering techniques need more study, says science coalition
     The Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative says geoengineering could be 'plan B' for climate change
392. 2011/11/30: CBC: 'Planet hacking' to control climate sparks controversy
393. 2011/11/29: CNN: Whitening mountains: A new effort to save Peruvian Andes glaciers
     Mountains in Peruvian Andes that used to be covered with ice are now barren - Mountain communities that depend on water from glaciers are threatened - Engineer and self-described inventor wants to bring ice back to the mountains - His solution: A mixture that turns mountain rocks white, lowers their temperature

While on the adaptation front:

394. 2011/12/02: Wunderground: The City That Plans to be Flooded

     Meanwhile in the journals:

395. 2011/12/02: Science: (ab$) The Role of Carbon Dioxide During the Onset of Antarctic Glaciation by Mark Pagani et al.
396. 2011/12/02: Science: (ab$) Interhemispheric Ice-Sheet Synchronicity During the Last Glacial Maximum by Michael E. Weber et al.
397. 2011/11/30: Nature: (ab$) The case against climate regulation via oceanic phytoplankton sulphur emissions by P. K. Quinn & T. S. Bates
398. 2011/11/29: ESD: Jet stream wind power as a renewable energy resource: \newline little power, big impacts by L. M. Miller et al.
399. 2011/12/02: CP: Past surface temperatures at the NorthGRIP drill site from the difference in firn diffusion of water isotopes by S. B. Simonsen et al.
400. 2011/11/29: CP: Spring-summer temperatures reconstructed for northern Switzerland and southwestern Germany from winter rye harvest dates, 1454-1970 by O. Wetter & C. Pfister
401. 2011/11/29: CP: Heinrich event 1: an example of dynamical ice-sheet reaction to oceanic changes by J. Ãlvarez-Solas et al.
402. 2011/12/02: CPD: Hydrological evidence for a North Atlantic oscillation during the Little Ice Age outside its range observed since 1850 by C. MartÃn-Puertas et al.
403. 2011/12/01: CPD: Volcanic synchronisation between the EPICA Dome C and Vostok ice cores (Antarctica) 0-145 kyr BP by F. Parrenin et al.
404. 2011/12/02: ACP: A multi-angle aerosol optical depth retrieval algorithm for geostationary satellite data over the United States by H. Zhang et al.
405. 2011/12/02: ACP: Using surface remote sensors to derive radiative characteristics of Mixed-Phase Clouds: an example from M-PACE by G. de Boer et al.
406. 2011/12/02: ACPD: The impact of Great Basin Desert dust on the summer monsoon system over southwestern North America by C. Zhao et al.
407. 2011/12/02: ACPD: The equilibrium response to idealized thermal forcings in a comprehensive GCM: implications for recent tropical expansion by R. J. Allen et al.
408. 2011/12/02: ACPD: Variability of aerosol, gaseous pollutants and meteorological characteristics associated with continental, urban and marine air masses at the SW Atlantic coast of Iberia by J.-M. Diesch et al.
409. 2011/12/02: GMD: Towards an online-coupled chemistry-climate model: evaluation of trace gases and aerosols in COSMO-ART by C. Knote et al.
410. 2011/11/30: OS: Wind forcing of salinity anomalies in the Denmark Strait overflow by S. Hall et al.
411. 2011/12/01: OSD: Arctic Ocean circulation and variability -- advection and external forcing encounter constraints and local processes by B. Rudels
412. 2011/12/02: TC: Glacier contribution to streamflow in two headwaters of the Huasco River, Dry Andes of Chile by S. Gascoin et al.
413. 2011/12/03: TCD: Recent acceleration of ice loss in the Northern Patagonia Icefield based on an updated decennial evolution by P. López & G. Casassa
414. 2011/12/02: TCD: Seasonal variations of glacier dynamics at Kronebreen, Svalbard revealed by calving related seismicity by A. Köhler et al.
415. 2011/11/30: TCD: Albedo of the ice-covered Weddell and Bellingshausen Sea by A. I. Weiss et al.
416. 2011/12/01: ACP: Observations of in-situ generated gravity waves during a stratospheric temperature enhancement (STE) event by A. J. Gerrard et al.
417. 2011/12/01: ACPD: Arctic clouds and surface radiation - a critical comparison of satellite retrievals and the ERA-interim reanalysis by M. Zygmuntowska et al.
418. 2011/12/01: ACPD: Vertical mixing in the lower troposphere by mountain waves over Arctic Scandinavia by M. Mihalikova & S. Kirkwood
419. 2011/12/01: ACPD: Dust aerosol impact on North Africa climate: a GCM investigation of aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions using A-Train satellite data by Y. Gu et al.
420. 2011/11/30: ACP: Analysis of coherent structures and atmosphere-canopy coupling strength during the CABINEX field campaign by A. L. Steiner et al.
421. 2011/11/29: ACP: Anthropogenic radiative forcing time series from pre-industrial times until 2010 by R. B. Skeie et al.
422. 2011/12/01: AGWObserver: Papers on 1940s dip in atmospheric CO2
423. 2011/12/01: Nature: (ab$) Climate change: High risk of permafrost thaw by Edward A. G. Schuur & Benjamin Abbott
424. 2011/11/18: GRL: (ab$) Direct and indirect effects of sea spray geoengineering and the role of injected particle size by Antti-Ilari Partanen et al.
425. 2011/11/19: GRL: (ab$) Stratospheric heating by potential geoengineering aerosols by Angus James Ferraro et al.
426. 2011/11/29: PNAS: (ab$) Reduced impact logging minimally alters tropical rainforest carbon and energy exchange by Scott D. Miller et al.
427. 2011/11/29: PNAS: (ab$) Transcriptomic resilience to global warming in the seagrass Zostera marina, a marine foundation species by Susanne U. Franssen et al.
428. 2011/11/29: PNAS: (ab$) Nonlinear response of summer temperature to Holocene insolation forcing in Alaska by Benjamin F. Clegg et al.
429. 2011/11/29: PNAS: (letter$) Reply to Sugihara et al: The biology of variability in fish populations by Andrew O. Shelton & Marc Mangel
430. 2011/11/29: PNAS: (letter$) Are exploited fish populations stable? by George Sugihara et al.
431. 2011/11/20: NatureCC: (ab$) Long-term climate implications of twenty-first century options for carbon dioxide emission mitigation by P. Friedlingstein et al.
432. 2011/11/29: OS: Usefulness of high resolution coastal models for operational oil spill forecast: the "Full City" accident by G. Broström et al.
433. 2011/11/29: GMD: Simulating the mid-Pliocene climate with the MIROC general circulation model: experimental design and initial results by W.-L. Chan et al.
434. 2011/11/28: GMDD: Influence of parallel computational uncertainty on simulations of the Coupled General Climate Model by Z. Song et al.
435. 2011/11/28: GMDD: A contrail cirrus prediction model by U. Schumann
436. 2011/11/28: TC: Spatial and temporal variability of snow accumulation rate on the East Antarctic ice divide between Dome Fuji and EPICA DML by S. Fujita et al.
437. 2011/11/28: TCD: Sensitivity of a distributed temperature-radiation index melt model based on a four melt season AWS record from Hurd Peninsula glaciers, Livingston Island, Antarctica by U. Y. Jonsell et al.
438. 2011/11/20: NatureCC: (ab$) Support for climate policy and societal action are linked to perceptions about scientific agreement by Ding Ding et al.
439. 2011/11/28: AGWObserver: New research from last week 47/2011

     And other significant documents:

440. 2011/12/01: RS: [link to 1.5 meg pdf] Solar radiation management: the governance of research
441. 2011/12/01: SH4S: [link to 618k pdf] Canadian Cover-Up on Infectious Salmon Virus
442. 2011/11/29: FAO: [link to 1.9 meg pdf] "Energy-smart" agriculture needed to escape fossil fuel trap
443. 2011/11/28: FAO: [link to 3.4 meg pdf] The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture
444. 2011/11/29: PI: [link to 2.6 meg pdf] Pipeline and tanker trouble
     The impact to British Columbia's communities, rivers, and Pacific coastline from tar sands oil transport
445. 2011/11/30: FAO: [link to pdf] Satellite technology yields new forest loss estimates -- FAO uses remote sensing survey to track changes
446. 2011/11/29: NRDC: [link to 2.6 meg pdf] Pipeline and Tanker Trouble
     The Impact to British Columbia's Communities, Rivers, and Pacific Coastline from Tar Sands Oil Transport
447. 2011/11/23: GreenPeace: [link to 3.6 meg pdf] Who's holding us back? How carbon-intensive industry is preventing effective climate change legislationThe corporations most responsible for contributing to climate change emissions and profiting from those activities are campaigning to increase their access to international negotiations and, at the same time, working to defeat progressive legislation on climate change and energy around the world.

As for miscellaneous science:

448. 2011/12/02: EUO: EU set for massive increase in research spending
449. 2011/12/01: SEasterbrook: The joys of chasing research funding
450. 2011/11/30: NatureN: European Commission announces E80-billion plan for research -- Programme for 2014-20 prioritizes excellent research
451. 2011/11/30: ScienceInsider: On the Horizon? European Commission Outlines E80 Billion Resarch Budget
452. 2011/11/28: Eureka: The shadows in a city reveal its energy flow
453. 2011/11/27: CSW: The collision of climate science and politics, part 2 - lecture at American University, November 2011
454. 2011/11/27: CSW: The collision of climate science and politics, part 1 - lecture at American University, November 2011

     More DIY science:

455. 2011/12/03: moyhu: Google Maps display of GHCN stations, with Javascript

     What's new in models?

456. 2011/12/02: Eureka: Powerful mathematical model greatly improves predictions for species facing climate change

     Regarding AGU:

457. 2011/11/29: ClimateSight: AGU 2011
458. 2011/12/01: Eureka: AGU meeting: Stanford scientists subject rocks to hellish conditions to combat global warming

     While at the UN:

459. 2011/11/28: UN: Global green economy has become a reality, UN official says

     And on the carbon trading front:

460. 2011/11/30: Guardian(UK): Peruvian Amazon could become global centre of 'carbon piracy': report [by Peruvian group Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP)]
     Warnings that illiterate communities are being pressured to sign up to offsetting schemes in the rush to tap into the potentially vast new global carbon market for forest-rich countries
461. 2011/11/29: PlanetArk: Can Carbon For The Price Of A Pizza Save The Planet?

     The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

462. 2011/11/30: Impolitical: Canadians support carbon tax

     The Robin Hood tax, aka the Tobin tax, aka the Bank tax, aka the Financial Transaction tax keeps coming up:

463. 2011/11/30: AlterNet: Thanks to Nurses Union and Occupy Wall Street, Pressure for Wall Street Speculation Tax Grows

     Wrangling over the South China Sea continues:

464. 2011/11/29: PeakEnergy: A New Era of Gunboat Diplomacy

     And China and the USA are arguing about solar panels and protectionism:

465. 2011/12/03: CSM: Renewable energy: US probe 'protectionism,' China says
     China criticized a U.S. decision to investigate whether Chinese companies are harming the American solar panel industry, saying it was made without sufficient evidence and highlights a strong U.S. tendency for protectionism. The U.S. International Trade Commission voted Friday to investigate a complaint by seven U.S. solar companies that Chinese competitors are selling solar products on global markets at unfairly low prices. The vote does not impose any penalties but says there is reason to believe that Chinese imports harm or threaten to harm the U.S. solar panel industry.
466. 2011/11/29: OilPrice: China Solar Manufacturers Decry U.S. "Dumping"
467. 2011/11/28: Oregonian: Asian solar manufacturers eyeing Oregon as refuge from SolarWorld trade fight with China
     SolarWorld's complaint against China could generate a windfall for Oregon: Asian manufacturers starting solar factories here to gain refuge from a trade war.

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

468. 2011/12/02: UN: UN official underlines link between food security and climate change
469. 2011/12/02: al Jazeera: Kenyan farmers fighting over scarce land
     Conflicts frequently erupt over grazing land and water as droughts take their toll.
470. 2011/11/29: France24: Climate change now seen as a question of global security

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

471. 2011/11/28: PlanetArk: Peru Police Break Up Protest At Newmont Mine

     What are the activists up to?

472. 2011/11/30: Yahoo:AP: Indian farmers dump bags of snakes in tax office
473. 2011/12/01: Guardian(UK): Anti-fracking campaigners climb Lancashire rig again
474. 2011/11/28: DerSpiegel: Radioactive Cargo Delayed -- Thousands of Protesters Obstruct Nuclear Waste Transport
     Massive protests are putting the brakes on a train carrying radioactive waste from France to Germany. The annual shipment, always a focal point for protesters, has never before taken this long to reach its destination. Anti-nuclear demonstrators are gathering to impede the controversial convoy on its final stretch.

Polls! We have polls!

475. 2011/12/02: BBickmore: Poll: Republicans Coming Around on Global Warming
476. 2011/12/02: TCoE: Poll results: Good thing Americans are less than 5% of the world
477. 2011/12/02: Guardian(UK): Changing climate of Republican opinion doesn't agree with Tea Party
     Nearly two-thirds of moderate or liberal Republicans believe there is solid evidence for global warming, Pew poll finds
478. 2011/11/30: G&M: Support for climate action still strong in Canada, poll finds

     Regarding Water Politics and Business:

479. 2011/12/03: JFleck: Bay-Delta salinity -- a brief history
480. 2011/12/03: JFleck: Yo! Over here! Not much water in the Colorado River! What should we do?
481. 2011/11/30: CBC: Clean running water still a luxury on many native reserves -- About 39% of First Nations water systems deemed 'high risk'
482. 2011/11/28: JFleck: Does access to water make you more vulnerable to drought?

     Among the world's religions:

483. 2011/11/29: TP:JR: Pope Benedict Calls for "Credible" Action at Durban Talks to Address "Disturbing" Climate Change

     Who's making predictions this week?

484. 2011/12/01: CBC: West cold and East warmer in winter forecast
     The western provinces, Far North and some other areas of the country can expect a colder-than-average winter, according to Environment Canada's latest seasonal outlook. The weather office says British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the most western part of Northern Ontario and much of Labrador can expect below seasonal temperatures through December, January and February. But areas around the Great Lakes, southern Quebec and the eastern Maritimes will be above seasonal, Environmental Canada says.
485. 2011/11/30: WiC: World on track for nearly 11-degree temperature rise, energy expert says
486. 2011/11/29: TreeHugger: World Now Heading for 11 Degree Temperature Rise [says IEA's Fatih Birol]
487. 2011/11/28: STimes: International energy official sees climate 'catastrophe'
     The chief economist for the International Energy Agency (IEA) [Fatih Birol] said Monday that current global energy-consumption levels put the Earth on a trajectory to warm by 10.8 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels by 2100, an outcome he called "a catastrophe for all of us."

Ethics? You want to talk about ethics?

488. 2011/11/29: ERabett: Jolly Hockey Sticks
489. 2011/11/28: Stoat: Architecture and morality

     And on the American political front:

490. 2011/12/01: Grist: Yet more evidence that shutting down coal plants will not threaten reliability
491. 2011/12/01: GreenGrok: The American Battle Over Environmental Regulations Rages On
492. 2011/12/02: TP:JR: Koch-Fueled Denial Backfires: Independents, Other Republicans Split With Tea-Party Extremists on Global Warming
493. 2011/12/02: CSW: Public review comment on the USGCRP draft Strategic Plan
494. 2011/11/29: Grist: Once more, from the top: Shutting down dirty coal plants won't cause blackouts
495. 2011/11/29: MoJo: Breaking: America Still a Huge Importer of Energy
496. 2011/11/29: Grist: America's energy future: iPads vs. typewriters with guns
497. 2011/11/28: TreeHugger: Bill Gates: U.S. Should More Than Triple Energy R&D Budget to $16 Billion
498. 2011/11/28: CCP: And Some Wonder Why Americans Are So Dumbed Down?
499. 2011/11/27: AlterNet: To Conservatives, Climate Change is Trojan Horse to Abolish Capitalism

     The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

500. 2011/12/02: ProMedMail: Undiagnosed dolphin die-off - USA: (MS, AL)

     On the 2012 campaign trail:

501. 2011/12/01: DerSpiegel: The Republicans' Farcical Candidates -- A Club of Liars, Demagogues and Ignoramuses
     The US Republican race is dominated by ignorance, lies and scandals. The current crop of candidates have shown such a basic lack of knowledge that they make George W. Bush look like Einstein. The Grand Old Party is ruining the entire country's reputation.
502. 2011/11/30: AlterNet: Why Does the GOP Base Embrace Wacky Intellectual Lightweights Like Herman Cain?
503. 2011/12/03: Guardian(UK): Herman Cain suspends campaign for Republican presidential nomination
504. 2011/12/03: BBC: US presidential hopeful Herman Cain has said he is suspending his campaign for the Republican nomination
505. 2011/12/03: al Jazeera: Herman Cain 'suspending' US nomination race
     US presidential contender says he is suspending his Republican nomination campaign. Herman Cain, the US presidential contender, says he is suspending his Republican nomination campaign after allegations of infidelities and sexual harassment. "I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family," he told supporters in Atlanta, Georgia.
506. 2011/11/28: Grist: Mitt vs. Mitt, flip-flopping on climate change and much else
507. 2011/11/28: Grist: Newt Gingrich will never be president; I will never stop loving this video
508. 2011/11/28: Salon:DS: Why young voters love Ron Paul
     It's not because they're potheads. It's because they're sick of America's militaristic misadventures
509. 2011/11/28: OilDrum: A Reality Check on Oil Supply For Newt Gingrich

     Keystone XL is in the news because the GOP are using it to restrict Obama's options (& talking points):

510. 2011/12/03: CCurrents: Lawmakers Push Disastrous Legislation On Keystone XL
511. 2011/11/28: CER:RRapier: Pipelines and Tar Sands: Cure the Disease Not the Symptoms
512. 2011/12/01: PlanetArk: Republicans Make [K XL] Pipeline Jobs Issue For Obama

     The Obama chatter is nonstop:

513. 2011/12/02: TreeHugger: Obama Announces $4 Billion Initiative to Upgrade Energy Efficiency of Nation's Buildings
514. 2011/11/30: TreeHugger: No Wonder Obama Is Cool To Climate Action
515. 2011/11/29: Grist: Behind closed doors, Obama administration politicizes the regulatory process
516. 2011/11/29: TreeHugger: Obama Administration Just As Bad On Environment As Bush, Says New Report
517. 2011/11/29: Grist: Can Obama go back to political base(ics)?

     The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

518. 2011/12/01: NatureNB: Group claims political meddling over grazing data in western US
519. 2011/11/29: BBerg: EPA Said to Give Power Companies Options to Delay Pollution Rule
520. 2011/12/01: PlanetArk: U.S. Moves Ahead With Rule To Cut Boiler Emissions
521. 2011/11/30: NatureNB: [Arun] Majumdar nominated for senior US energy post [Undersecretary of Energy at the US Department of Energy]
522. 2011/11/30: CSW: Draft federal climate research plan gives new emphasis to 'decision support,' sustained assessments, and communications

     As for what is going on in Congress:

523. 2011/12/02: TP:JR: North American PV Installs Set to Double in 2011. Will Congress Let the Successful Grant Program End?
524. 2011/12/02: TreeHugger: Boehner to Accelerate Keystone XL Pipeline As Part of Payroll Tax Bill
525. 2011/12/01: UCSUSA: UCS Urges Congress to Oppose Bills that Block Agencies from Making Science-Based Rules
526. 2011/11/30: CBC: Senators push Obama for Keystone action
     Republicans ratcheted up the pressure on U.S. president Barack Obama on Wednesday by introducing a bill that would force him to OK the Keystone XL oil pipeline project within 60 days. Led by Mitch McConnell, a phalanx of Republican senators announced the North America Energy Security Act at a press conference on Wednesday.
527. 2011/11/30: AutoBG: Darrell Issa asks 15 automakers if higher CAFE level might hurt sales, safety
528. 2011/11/29: DM:BA: Congressional funding disaster
529. 2011/11/29: Grist: Crop Insurance: This year's Farm Bill frontier

     While in the UK:

530. 2011/12/03: Guardian(UK): Britain can't afford to go cool on climate change
     The chancellor believes we cannot save the planet until we save the economy. He is wrong on many counts
531. 2011/12/02: PlanetArk: UK "On Track" For 2020, Maps Out 2050 Climate Cost
532. 2011/12/02: TreeHugger: Britain Will Easily Exceed 34% CO2 Cuts by 2020, Says Government
533. 2011/12/02: Guardian(UK): If George Osborne and co forget the common good, the planet will fry
     As Durban limps towards failure, it seems the west's leaders, bankers and citizens refuse to take a lead on climate change
534. 2011/12/01: BBC: Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has insisted that plans to cut Britain's carbon emissions are on track
535. 2011/12/01: Guardian(UK): George Osborne -- a greener, bolder alternative is right behind you
     It's official, we only have five years to take action on climate change, yet still the chancellor favours a heavy, dirty economy
536. 2011/12/01: Guardian(UK): UK carbon-cutting targets exceeded, government research claims
537. 2011/12/01: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Climate change must stay on the agenda
538. 2011/11/29: NatureNB: UK pumps £200m back into scientific infrastructure
539. 2011/11/30: Guardian(UK): Green-o-meter: Is the government keeping its green promises?
540. 2011/11/29: EurActiv: UK secretly helping Canada push its oil sands project
541. 2011/11/28: TreeHugger: UK Government Secretly Promotes Canadian Tar Sands, Fights EU Legislation
542. 2011/11/28: LFR: Brit government playing Harper's poodle on tar sands?
543. 2011/11/28: CBC: U.K. supports Canada on oilsands -- British government supports fight against penalties on Alberta fuel
544. 2011/11/28: BBC: The UK's oldest environmental charity faces closure
     The UK's oldest environmental charity faces closure because its income has been hit by cuts to local authority budgets. Environmental Protection UK was originally established in 1898 as the Coal Smoke Abatement Society. It says it will stop functioning as a fully staffed and funded organisation in March 2012.
545. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): Royal Bank of Scotland cancels climate change campaign sponsorship
     RBS ends sponsorship of Climate Week following accusations of 'corporate greenwash' due to its financing of polluting industries
546. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): Government moves to calm carbon capture funding fears
     Department of Energy and Climate Change insists £1bn still available for pioneering projects despite earlier comments from the Treasury
547. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): Climate change: brownfield thinking
     It is remarkable how quickly a government founded on the innovative principle of peacetime coalition can slide back into clapped-out thinking
548. 2011/11/28: OilChange: Tar Sands: Britain is "Canada's Partner in Crime"
549. 2011/11/27: CCP: UK secretly helping Canada push its oil sands project
550. 2011/11/27: Guardian(UK): UK secretly helping Canada push its oil sands project
     Canadian interests and oil lobby win coalition's support for highly polluting process in runup to European fuel quality vote
551. 2011/11/27: Guardian(UK): Britain's promotion of Canada's tar sands oil is idiotic
     A deal to sell tar sands oil in Europe would outweigh any good the UK might do with all its other climate change measures

And in Europe:

552. 2011/12/02: EurActiv: Organic farmers defend EU's 'green revolution'
     Outgunned by large industrial farm lobbying groups, organic producers, supported by conservation organisations, have risen up to defend some of the European Commission's proposals for a 'greener' Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Leading farmers' organisations and some farm ministers have criticised European Commission proposals for a greener agricultural policy, fearing new bureaucratic hurdles and a decline in yields at a time of rising global food demand. But for organic farmers, the Commission's proposed changes to the Common Agricultural Policy are positive - if tepid - steps toward more sustainable farming practices.
553. 2011/12/02: EUO: EU set for massive increase in research spending
554. 2011/12/02: EUO: The fishy bail-out
555. 2011/12/02: Reuters: Coal-reliant Poland says apt to lead EU at Durban
556. 2011/12/01: EurActiv: WWF gives Europe 'E' for effort on climate
     A new report commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund on EU climate policies condemns what it sees as a "standstill in long-term strategies". It cites in particular a decline in support for renewable energy sources in the course of the financial crisis.
557. 2011/11/30: EurActiv: Polish EU presidency in row over coal conference
     A Polish EU Presidency logo that has appeared on posters for a coal lobbyist's conference has sparked furious reaction in Brussels, just a day after the UN Climate Change Summit opened in Durban, South Africa.
558. 2011/11/30: EurActiv: Mayors showcase energy savings despite stalled EU talks
     Over 3,000 mayors teamed up yesterday (30 November) in efforts to demonstrate that energy efficiency targets could be implemented through a bottom-up approach, despite stagnating talks on a proposed EU energy efficiency directive.
559. 2011/11/30: NatureN: European Commission announces E80-billion plan for research -- Programme for 2014-20 prioritizes excellent research
560. 2011/11/30: ScienceInsider: On the Horizon? European Commission Outlines E80 Billion Resarch Budget
561. 2011/11/28: Guardian(UK): We're all paying for Europe's gift to our aristocrats and utility companies
     Dukes, water companies and wildlife charities will be relieved to know their plunder of farm subsidies under the common agricultural policy can last until at least 2020
562. 2011/11/29: NatureN: Outcry over EU budget plan -- Costly Earth-monitoring and fusion-energy projects could be stripped from main budget
563. 2011/11/29: PeakEnergy: Denmark aims for 100 percent renewable energy in 2050
564. 2011/11/29: EurActiv: UK secretly helping Canada push its oil sands project
565. 2011/11/28: TreeHugger: UK Government Secretly Promotes Canadian Tar Sands, Fights EU Legislation

     Meanwhile in Australia:

566. 2011/12/01: ABC(Au): Green group says CSG report a wake-up call
567. 2011/11/29: NatureN: Australia's marine plans questioned -- Ocean reserves offer inadequate protection, critics say
568. 2011/11/28: ABC(Au): Goldfields' green [CPV] energy potential touted
569. 2011/12/02: ABC(Au): Abbott's anti-carbon tax tour

     What me worry? Those damned peacemongers are an impediment to business!

570. 2011/12/04: CBC: Australia reverses ban on uranium exports to India
     Australia's ruling party voted Sunday to overturn a long-standing ban on exporting uranium to India, despite fierce opposition from critics who argued such sales are unsafe because India has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Prime Minister Julia Gillard urged members of her center-left Labor Party during its annual conference to allow the exports in the interest of the national economy, arguing there are safeguards in place to ensure the uranium would be used for peaceful purposes.
571. 2011/12/03: BBC: Australia's Labor party backs uranium sales to India
     Australia's governing Labor party has voted to overturn its long-standing ban on exporting uranium to India. Australia, which holds an estimated 40% of the world's uranium, already exports it to China, Japan, Taiwan and the US. The country has excluded sales to India because it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
572. 2011/12/04: al Jazeera: Australia approves uranium exports to India
     Labor Party conference approves PM's plan, despite Delhi not being signatory of nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
573. 2011/11/30: al Jazeera: Want Australian uranium? Join the NPT
     Australia may begin exporting uranium to India, but proponents have hijacked what is primarily an arms control debate.

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan controversy continues:

574. 2011/12/02: ABC(Au): Basin authority to get environmental watering plan
     Water Commissioner David Harriss says New South Wales will put its environmental watering plan to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority as soon as possible.
575. 2011/12/02: ABC(Au): Desal delay proves costly for builder
     The builder of Adelaide's desalination plant will be fined by SA Water for failing to deliver the first water on time.
576. 2011/12/01: ABC(Au): Pipeline pipe-dream hopes to be on the money
     A company keen to build a water pipeline from the Ord River in Western Australia's Kimberley region to South Australia says money set aside for Murray-Darling buy-backs could instead be used to make the project viable. Land Access and Management Services has suggested the project and has support from SA independent MP Geoff Brock.
577. 2011/12/01: ABC(Au): Murray-Darling group urges end to 'hysteria'
     An organisation representing 90 councils and communities throughout the Murray-Darling Basin believes a consensus is possible over the new water management plan. The release of the draft Murray-Darling Basin plan identifies a cut of 2,750 gigalitres to annual water consumption and is being criticised by both irrigators and conservationists. The Murray-Darling Association's Ray Najar says the objectives and details of the plan are being clouded by interest groups beating the drum on water buybacks.
578. 2011/12/01: ABC(Au): Murray plan urged to tackle evaporation losses
579. 2011/12/01: ABC(Au): Whyalla desalination plant now operational
580. 2011/11/30: ABC(Au): Riverland meeting on Murray water worries
581. 2011/11/30: ABC(Au): Residents fear increased Menindee flows
582. 2011/12/01: JQuiggin: Sausages, legislation and the Draft Basin Plan
583. 2011/11/29: ABC(Au): Greens criticise lack of basin plan adjustment funds
584. 2011/11/29: ABC(Au): Good and bad seen in bigger Menindee flows
     The plan for more releases from the Menindee Lakes could better secure Broken Hill's water supply but at a cost. The draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan, released yesterday, proposes significantly increasing flows from the Menindee Lakes.
585. 2011/11/29: ABC(Au): Basin board member says draft plan balanced
     The Riverina Member of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's board says the basin plan does deliver a balance between environmental, economic and social needs. Junee Reefs' economist Dianna Gibbs has confirmed she will meet local stakeholders during the 20-week consultation period.
586. 2011/11/28: ABC(Au): Murray-Darling plan: how to manage competing interests
587. 2011/11/28: ABC(Au): Greens threaten to stifle Murray-Darling plan
588. 2011/11/28: ABC(Au): Basin plan draws criticism from all sides
589. 2011/11/28: ABC(Au): Lower Murray remains at risk, say experts

     And in the Indian subcontinent:

590. 2011/12/02: HindustanTimes: Cabinet nod to India's tough stance at climate talks

     While in China:

591. 2011/11/29: NBF: Power Generation Costs in China

     And Africa:

592. 2011/11/21: AlterNet: The New Wild West: Will Citizens and the Environment Suffer as an Oil Rush Engulfs West Africa?

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

593. 2011/12/03: DeSmogBlog: New Franke James Video: Give Harper the Call
594. 2011/11/29: POGGE: Streamline? Or gut like a fish?
     The Globe and Mail's headline on yesterday evening's story was "Ottawa wants to streamline environmental reviews".
595. 2011/11/28: MSimon: The Burning Planet and the Icy Hand of the Cons
596. 2011/11/27: SSM: Do We Need More Proof That Harper Doubts Global Warming?
597. 2011/11/28: MWatch: Greenpeace Brands the Harper Government a "Climate Fail" on Parliament Hill

     The G8/G20 controversy lingers:

598. 2011/12/03: LinchPin: Statement of Solidarity with the G20 Defendants [Common Cause]
599. 2011/12/02: MediaCoop: The G20 Papers: Links to articles based on summit security Documents
600. 2011/12/02: SNeigh: Journalism and the Toronto G20
601. 2011/11/29: MediaCoop: Download the G20 Papers
602. 2011/11/28: CBC: Man arrested during G20 settles lawsuit against police
     A Toronto man who was arrested on his way to church has settled a financial claim against the police. Jason Wall, 25, was walking along Yonge Street by himself on the morning of June 27, 2010, when he was swarmed by as many as 20 Toronto police officers and taken into custody. The police were part of the detail that was providing security for the G20 summit taking place that weekend in the city. Wall says he was arrested because he was wearing a bandana around his neck.
603. 2011/11/28: TStar: Man settles G20 lawsuit, claims police brass ordered false arrests
604. 2011/11/28: DtPB: Toronto G20 Protests - Police Officers Were Given Orders to Make Illegal Arrests

     Canada's name is mud at Durban:

605. 2011/12/04: PostMedia: Canada accused of bullying countries -- Conference host says nation pushing others to support its anti-Kyoto stance
606. 2011/12/03: LFR: Durban hosts: Canada bullying poorer countries to abandon Kyoto
607. 2011/12/03: PostMedia: Canada's anti-Kyoto stance sours climate-change discussions in Durban
608. 2011/12/01: Grist: Durban dispatch: Canada blames Canada
609. 2011/12/02: 350orBust: Canada's Mandate At Durban Climate Talks Clear: Negotiate On Behalf Of Tar Sands, Not Canadians' Future
610. 2011/12/01: CBC: Greens' May tries to join Tuvalu at climate talks
611. 2011/11/29: G&M: Kent rejects climate 'guilt payment' to poorer countries
     The Kyoto Protocol is built on an outdated view of the developed and developing world and the unacceptable demand for climate reparations from poorer countries, Environment Minister Peter Kent says.
612. 2011/11/30: TreeHugger: Archbishop Tutu, Other African Leaders Call on Canada to Fight Global Warming, Not Boost Tar Sands
613. 2011/11/29: PostMedia: Archbishop Tutu challenges Canada to stop protecting big oil
     Archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu is challenging the Canadian government's support for the oil and gas industry, while urging it to start leading the world in addressing climate change as it did in opposing the "whites-only" rule that plagued South Africa in the 1980s. "Canada, you were once considered a leader on global issues like human rights and environmental protection," says a new statement signed by Tutu and other South African leaders that was published in newspapers Tuesday. "Today you're home to polluting tarsands oil, speeding the dangerous effects of climate change."
614. 2011/11/30: PostMedia: China decries Canada's "bad example" in climate talks
     Canada's failure to deny reports that it is about to ditch the Kyoto Protocol is "setting a bad example" to other developed nations as global climate change talks enter their third day, China's official news agency said on Wednesday. Canadian Environment Minister Peter Kent said on Monday that Kyoto was "the past", but he would not confirm media reports that Ottawa was planning to formally withdraw from the treaty, one of the main topics of global climate talks now under way in Durban, South Africa.
615. 2011/11/29: CBC: Canada won't obstruct others from re-committing to Kyoto
616. 2011/11/28: G&M: Canada adds its objections to $100-billion climate fund
617. 2011/11/27: CBC: Kent takes tough tone on Durban talks
     Environment Minister Peter Kent is only half-joking when he says he wants to bring home fewer fossil-of-the-day-awards from upcoming global talks on climate change than his predecessors.
618. 2011/12/04: PushedLeft: Durban Climate Conference Tells Peter Kent to Stay Home. I Wish He Would Just go Away!

     Canada's shame:

619. CAN: Fossil of The Day awards
620. 2011/11/28: 350orBust: These Are Times That Try Our Souls
621. 2011/11/28: ScottsDiatribe: It's tough to be an environmentally conscious Canadian right now
622. 2011/11/29: DeutscheWelle:B: Fossil of the Day Award
     Fossil Of The Day LogoIt's been a bad day for Canada at the COP17 yesterday -- since it's been awarded the first Fossil of the Day Award in Durban.
623. 2011/11/30: CAN: Canada wins a Fossil of the Day award for failing to understand the fundamental principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibility
624. 2011/11/30: CUPE: Canada wins "Fossil of the Day" award
625. 2011/12/01: CBC:Q&QB: Canada an embarrassment at climate talks
626. 2011/12/02: NUPGE: Canada sweeps Fossil of the Day awards (with some help from the UK)
627. 2011/12/04: THW: Canada Moving Years Back!

     This is the way it is done. First, you leak a policy you know will be unpopular to let people get used to the idea, then, when no one is paying attention (during a holiday or at 17:00 on a Friday), you do the dirty deed. Presto! Changeo! Who cares what people think?

628. 2011/11/27: CTV: Canada to pull out of Kyoto Protocol next month
629. 2011/11/28: CBC: Canada won't confirm Kyoto withdrawal
     Environment Minister Peter Kent wouldn't confirm or deny Monday that Canada plans to formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol, as talks on the accord's future got underway in Durban, South Africa.
630. 2011/11/28: BBC: Canada makes Kyoto climate strike
     Canada will not make further cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, and may begin formally withdrawing next month.
631. 2011/11/29: AndrewLeach: Clarification on compliance and withdrawal
632. 2011/11/29: Maribo: Why would Canada withdraw from Kyoto before the end of the year?

     The battle over the Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipelines rages on:

633. 2011/11/29: NRDC: [link to 2.6 meg pdf] Pipeline and Tanker Trouble
     The Impact to British Columbia's Communities, Rivers, and Pacific Coastline from Tar Sands Oil Transport
634. 2011/12/02: PlanetArk: Natives To Oppose West Coast Oil Pipelines
635. 2011/11/29: PI: New report highlights dangers associated with tar sands pipeline to British Columbia
     Report warns that corrosive oil, dangerous pathway and treacherous seas make Northern Gateway project an unnecessary threat
636. 2011/11/29: PI: [link to 2.6 meg pdf] Pipeline and tanker trouble
     The impact to British Columbia's communities, rivers, and Pacific coastline from tar sands oil transport
637. 2011/12/02: CBC: B.C. First Nation backs Northern Gateway pipeline
     A B.C. First Nation has announced it's backing the Northern Gateway pipeline project to ship oilsands crude to the West Coast, despite fierce opposition from dozens of other groups in the area. Chief Elmer Derrick said the hereditary chiefs of the Gitxsan have accepted Enbridge Inc.'s offer of an equity stake in the $5.5-billion project. He expects the deal will provide at least $7 million of net profit to his people. The announcement comes a day after opponents said they would not allow the proposed Enbridge and KinderMorgan pipelines to cross their unceded territory, saying they will stand in front of bulldozers if they have to. Derrick said the Gitxsan believe the project is important to the economic future of their group and the country.
638. 2011/12/01: CBC: B.C. First Nations form 'united front' against pipelines
     Leaders vow to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in front of bulldozers to halt construction First Nations leaders will not allow the proposed Enbridge [Northern Gateway] and KinderMorgan pipelines to cross their unceded territory, saying they will stand in front of bulldozers if they have to. The pipelines would run from Alberta's oilsands to the B.C. coast, carrying oil to tankers for export to the US and Asia.
639. 2011/11/29: CBC: Northern [Gateway] pipeline plan too risky, report says
640. 2011/11/30: PlanetArk: Oil Sands Opponents Turn Focus To Enbridge [Northern Gateway] Project
641. 2011/11/29: DeSmogBlog: Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline: New Report Spotlights Incredible Threats
642. 2011/11/29: CBC: Northern pipeline plan too risky, report says
     A pipeline that would move heavy bitumen to the northern British Columbia coast from Alberta's oilsands carries unacceptable risks, Canadian and American environmental groups say. The proposed route for Enbridge Inc.'s $5.5-billion pipeline passes through rivers and sensitive habitat, and a spill of heavy bitumen of the type it would carry would be devastating to the region, groups including Canada's Pembina Institute and the Natural Resources Defence Council in the United States say in a new report.
643. 2011/11/29: Grist: Hey, other tar-sands pipelines also suck!
644. 2011/11/27: EnergyBulletin: Why isn't the Keystone pipeline extension going to eastern Canada?

     Do you think Harper cares about these polls?

645. 2011/11/30: G&M: Support for climate action still strong in Canada, poll finds
     Canadians want Ottawa to be part of an international treaty to combat climate change, and would even support carbon taxes as a means of meeting the country's emission reduction targets, a new poll suggests. Support for action on climate change has slipped from five years ago, but it remains high on the list of Canadians' concerns, according to the survey by Environics Research Group, released to The Globe and Mail on Wednesday.
646. 2011/11/30: Impolitical: Canadians support carbon tax

     A timely report from the CCPA:

647. 2011/11/29: CCPA: [link to 439k pdf] Peddling Greenhouse Gases - What is the Carbon Footprint of Canada's Fossil Fuel Exports? by Marc Lee, Amanda Card
648. 2011/11/29: CCPA: Canadian fossil fuel exports threaten climate

     Meanwhile in the CWB saga:

649. 2011/11/28: PSAC: PSAC and Council of Canadians granted intervener status in Canadian Wheat Board case
650. 2011/12/02: G&M: It hurts dancing to supply management's tune
651. 2011/11/29: G&M: Ottawa strips Wheat Board of control over grain sales
652. 2011/11/28: CBC: MPs vote to kill wheat board monopoly
     The House of Commons has voted to strip the Canadian Wheat Board of its monopoly on western wheat and barley. The House, led by the majority Conservatives, voted 153-120 on Monday evening to support a bill that ends the board's control. The bill now moves to the Senate, where it will face three rounds of votes, plus committee examination, before it becomes law.

The ISA virus in BC waters is potentially disastrous:

653. 2011/12/03: AlexandraMorton: Media on ISA virus cover up
654. 2011/12/03: NI/P: Future of wild salmon depends on volunteers
655. 2011/12/01: PostMedia: Unpublished DFO report finds 100% of Cultus Lake sockeye found with deadly salmon virus
     A seven-year-old unpublished report indicates 100 per cent of a sample of Cultus Lake sockeye salmon tested positive for a potentially deadly salmon virus. The undated report (likely from 2004) produced at a Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) station in Nanaimo, tested wild Pacific - sockeye, chinook and pink - from various locations, including Cultus Lake. Twenty-two per cent of the salmon, or 117 out of more than 500 samples tested positive for ISA, with more than half of the positive tests from the Fraser River. And more than half of all the positive test results came from the 64 out of 64 samples of Cultus Lake sockeye found with ISA virus.
656. 2011/12/02: NatureNB: More salmon shenanigans in British Columbia
657. 2011/11/30: SH4S: Canadian Cover-Up on Infectious Salmon Virus - Leaked report reveals over 100 positive ISA cases in farmed and wild salmon
658. 2011/12/01: SH4S: [link to 618k pdf] Canadian Cover-Up on Infectious Salmon Virus
659. 2011/12/01: NI/P: "No ISA in BC" says BC Liberal Don McRae
660. 2011/12/02: CBC: B.C. salmon virus unconfirmed says food agency
     The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it has been unable to confirm the presence of a potentially lethal fish virus in B.C. salmon, despite previous findings by a world renowned expert on the virus. Infectious salmon anemia, or ISA, was first detected in wild B.C. salmon two months ago by Simon Fraser University Prof. Rick Routledge, putting the federal food agency and B.C.'s fish farming industry on high alert. But Cornelius Kiley, a spokesperson for the Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), says the federal government's lab has been unable to duplicate the results using the same samples.
661. 2011/11/29: STimes: Canada kept detection of salmon virus secret
     A decade before this fall's salmon-virus scare, a Canadian government researcher [Molly Kibenge] said she found a similar virus in more than 100 wild fish from Alaska to Vancouver Island. But Canadian officials never told the public or scientists in the United States about those tests.
662. 2011/11/28: al Jazeera: Deadly virus found in wild Pacific salmon
     Killer virus which spreads like wildfire is causing concern among US scientists and fishermen.

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

663. 2011/12/02: PostMedia: The environmental costs of B.C.'s logging war on pine beetles
     The plan was simple: Log and sell as much dead pine as possible before it decayed or burned. But the environmental costs of the large-scale salvaging of Interior forests are still being tallied
664. 2011/11/30: Tyee: Is BC's Public Sector Really 'Carbon Neutral'? Not everyone's buying the math the government uses to make its claim
665. 2011/12/01: Tyee: 'Carbon Neutral' Goal Spurs Projects
     Whatever its flaws, BC's quest for carbon neutrality is getting some things done in the public sector.
666. 2011/11/29: PostMedia: Forestry, tourism and clean energy part of B.C. deal with Island First Nations
667. 2011/11/28: Tyee: Why BC Isn't Rushing to 'Cap and Trade' Carbon -- California beckons with new market for emissions offsets. Will we join soon?

     Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

668. 2011/11/30: Tyee: Canada's Oil Sands Kill Africans, Says Greenpeace Leader
     Rich nations owe 'climate debt' to poorer countries hit by drought, wars: [Kumi] Naidoo.
669. 2011/11/30: EmbassyMag: Scrap 'ethical oil' for 'conscientious' approach, Canada told
     After Obama's involvement in the Keystone XL pipeline delay, analysts say the Harper government should instead promote Canada's democracy, governance structure and environmental safeguards. But proponents are sticking with their slogan...
670. 2011/12/01: PostMedia: High production costs pose risk to oilsands sector: economist
     Alberta's oilsands companies have become a relatively high-cost producer of oil, which puts them - and the province's economy - at risk if the world goes into recession and prices plummet, a U of A energy economist says.
671. 2011/11/29: BBC: Oil sands battle between Canada and EU [Joe Oliver interview]
672. 2011/11/30: PEF: Canada's Petro-Recovery
673. 2011/11/30: OilChange: Tar Sands: "No Safe Way to Market"
674. 2011/11/29: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Tar sands issue needs closer examination
675. 2011/11/28: PostMedia: Ottawa, Alberta caught flat-footed by EU oilsands policy: documents
     The Alberta and federal governments weren't prepared for the European Union's proposed fuel quality standard that labels the oilsands a dirtier crude, according to British government documents that also suggest Canada didn't have a strategy to respond to it. The new U.K. documents from high-level officials, obtained in Britain by environmental advocates under access to information, also show the provincial and federal Tory governments welcomed a "compromise position" on the fuel standard that was proposed by the British government. In October, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, approved placing a higher carbon-emissions value on bitumen-derived fuel than on conventional oil under the Fuel Quality Directive.
676. 2011/11/28: CBC: U.K. supports Canada on oilsands -- British government supports fight against penalties on Alberta fuel
677. 2011/11/28: OilChange: Tar Sands: Britain is "Canada's Partner in Crime"
678. 2011/11/27: Guardian(UK): UK secretly helping Canada push its oil sands project
     Canadian interests and oil lobby win coalition's support for highly polluting process in runup to European fuel quality vote
679. 2011/11/27: Guardian(UK): Britain's promotion of Canada's tar sands oil is idiotic
     A deal to sell tar sands oil in Europe would outweigh any good the UK might do with all its other climate change measures

In Manitoba:

680. 2011/12/02: CBC: Chief disputes relocation of flood victims
     A plan to move flooded residents of Lake St. Martin closer to home is in jeopardy over a dispute between the chief and the provincial government.

While in la Belle Province:

681. 2011/12/05: PostMedia: Quebec on track to reduce emissions
     Environment Minister Pierre Arcand says Quebec is on track to meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals, even if the government does not strengthen the cap and trade program set to launch in the new year. Environmental groups welcomed Arcand's announcement last July of a program that would put a price on carbon pollution by limiting the amount of greenhouse gases that big industry could emit. When the program is fully operational in 2013, companies that exceed their allowable pollution limits will have to buy credits from those who stay under their cap.

In the North:

682. 2011/12/01: CBC: Military turns to volunteers for Arctic rescues
683. 2011/11/30: CBC: Inuit sleds being built for Arctic sovereignty patrols -- Rangers have until Dec. 9 to build 30-plus qamutiks in Yellowknife
684. 2011/11/27: CBC: Ottawa moves ahead with High Arctic military centre -- Centre will focus on disaster training

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

685. 2011/12/02: CCurrents: Common Ground: Securing A Future For All Who Share Our Planet's Resources
686. 2011/12/02: CCurrents: Climate Justice Requires A New Paradigm by Vandana Shiva
687. 2011/12/01: EnergyBulletin: Climate justice requires a new paradigm by Vandana Shiva
688. 2011/12/01: EnergyBulletin: Common Ground: Securing a future for all who share our planet's resources
689. 2011/11/28: CCurrents: A Mindful Path To A Steady State Economy
690. 2011/11/28: TP:JR: Let's Talk About The Future We Want [Becker]
691. 2011/11/29: OilChange: A Culture Beyond Oil
692. 2011/11/29: SkeptiSci: Economic Growth and Climate Change Part 2 - Sustainable Growth - An Economic Oxymoron? by perseus
693. 2011/11/28: EnergyBulletin: A mindful path to a steady state economy

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

694. 2011/11/28: BobPark: What's New?
     1. Birth Control: It's now part of our national health policy.
695. 2011/12/02: GuyMcpherson: Global warming, population growth, and food supplies: When will Americans finally "get it"?
696. 2011/12/02: Guardian(UK): Taming the wild west of family planning
     Experts back birth control in sub-Saharan Africa, where 43% of people are under 15
697. 2011/12/01: Guardian(UK): Siri's abortion bias embarrasses Apple as it rues 'unintentional omissions'
698. 2011/12/01: BBC: Apple denies claims that Siri is anti-abortion
699. 2011/11/29: AlterNet: Why Is IPhone's Siri Hiding Abortion Info? 10 Things the Device Will Help You Get Instead of Abortion

     Apocalypso anyone?

700. 2011/12/01: TreeHugger: Financial Meltdown, Peak Oil, Global Warming: Are We in a Crisis of Civilization? (Video)
701. 2011/12/01: Grist: Stop your crying: Environmental tales don't have to read like 'The Lorax'

     How do the media measure up?

702. 2011/12/02: Guardian(UK): The Spectator runs false sea-level claims on its cover
703. 2011/11/29: SP: Why energy journalism is so bad
704. 2011/12/02: EnergyBulletin: De-constructing the WSJ's front page story, "U.S. nears milestone: net fuel exporter"
705. 2011/11/29: MoJo: Breaking: America Still a Huge Importer of Energy
706. 2011/12/01: PeakEnergy: Why energy journalism is so bad
707. 2011/11/30: P3: Good News, Bad News (Malthusian Stench Department)
708. 2011/12/03: TP:JR: Washington Post Edits Out Climate Change from Its Sea-Level Rise Story
709. 2011/11/28: DeSmogBlog: Do Developing Nation Journalists Cover Climate Science Better (or at Least Better Than U.S. and U.K. Papers)?
710. 2011/11/28: CCP: And Some Wonder Why Americans Are So Dumbed Down?
711. 2011/11/27: TP:JR: Media Misleads On Flawed Climate Sensitivity Study: Avoiding "Drastic Changes Over Land" Requires Emissions Cuts ASAP

     Here is something for your library:

712. 2011/11/30: DeSmogBlog: The Science of Debiasing: The New "Debunking Handbook" Is a Treasure Trove For Defenders of Reason

     And for your film & video enjoyment:

713. 2011/12/01: TreeHugger: Documentary Takes Aim at Belo Monte Dam
714. 2011/11/29: P3: Durban in Three Minutes
715. 2011/12/03: DeSmogBlog: New Franke James Video: Give Harper the Call
716. 2011/11/30: PSinclair: Maddow: Interview with Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator
717. 2011/11/29: Grist: Documentary on end of world as we know it is surprisingly uplifting
718. 2011/11/27: Deltoid: On the trick to hide the context
719. 2011/11/27: P3: Lost in Deep Time - Richard Alley, a leading paleoclimatologist
720. 2011/11/27: PSinclair: Potholer on "Climate-gate 2" Claptrap
721. 2011/11/27: HCorner: Climategate 2.0 Has Potholer nailed it?

     As for podcasts:

722. 2011/11/29: TP:JR: Podcast: Former Climate Czar Carol Browner on Obama's Environmental Record

     Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

723. 2011/12/03: AutoBG: Medium-duty truck fuel regulations under legal fire
724. 2011/11/30: Guardian(UK): Alaskan community revives legal bid for global warming damages
     Native American people in Kivalina want to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for alleged destruction of their village
725. 2011/11/27: KQED:B: Suit Returns to San Francisco Courtroom -- Alaskan village blames oil & power companies for rising seas
     The coastal hamlet of Kivalina, Alaska, is already known for literally making a federal case out of rising sea levels. The village of about 400 residents sits exposed on a barrier island in the Chukchi Sea. In 2008, local officials filed a federal lawsuit against about two dozen corporate entities, including ExxonMobil, BP and San Ramon-based Chevron Corp., claiming that coastal erosion was forcing the town to relocate. The original case was dismissed -- but on Monday, the case lands in San Francisco's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where the town's lawyers will again argue that major oil and power companies are responsible for the threatening rise in sea level, as the result of their collective greenhouse gas emissions.

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

726. 2011/12/02: SciAm:PI: Duking It Out Over Southern Electricity
727. 2011/12/02: TP:JR: Dirty Utilities Cry Wolf on Electricity Reliability to Block Health Protections
728. 2011/11/30: CCurrents: Why Energy Use And CO2 Emissions Are Rising As Fast As GDP
729. 2011/11/30: EnergyBulletin: MPG of a human
730. 2011/11/30: TP:JR: Clean Energy Standards Can Scale Renewables and Reduce Pollution at No Cost to the Economy, Study Finds
731. 2011/11/30: Grist: The problem with renewables and 'cost parity'
732. 2011/11/29: NBF: Power Generation Costs in China
733. 2011/11/30: BNC: Solar combined with wind power: a way to get rid of fossil fuels?
734. 2011/11/29: Grist: America's energy future: iPads vs. typewriters with guns
735. 2011/11/28: Grist: Renewables in the U.S.: Growing fast, but not fast enough
736. 2011/11/28: Grist: Renewables trump fossil fuels for first time ever
737. 2011/11/28: TreeHugger: Investment in Renewables Trumps Fossil Fuels for First Time Ever
738. 2011/11/27: NBF: Major IAA Space Based Solar Power Report

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

739. 2011/12/01: CJR: The Landman Cometh -- Innovation Trail and other New York outlets help readers prepare for fracking prospectors
740. 2011/12/02: DeSmogBlog: Smeared But Still Fighting, Cornell's Tony Ingraffea Debunks Gas Industry Myths
741. 2011/12/01: ABC(Au): Green group says CSG report a wake-up call
742. 2011/12/01: PlanetArk: New York City Fracking Hearing Draws Opposition
743. 2011/11/30: HuffPo: Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., Natural Gas Driller, To Stop Water Deliveries To Dimock, Pennsylvania
744. 2011/11/30: PlanetArk: Debate On Halting NY Fracking Ban Reaches Endgame
745. 2011/11/29: TruthOut: Kasich, Koch and Big-Industry Bucks: Why Ohio Is the Next Fracking Frontier
746. 2011/11/29: WiC: Kasich, Koch and big-industry bucks: Why Ohio is the next fracking frontier
747. 2011/11/28: AlterNet: Josh Fox: Are We About to Witness the Liquidation Sale of New York and its Drinking Water?
748. 2011/11/28: DeSmogBlog: Are New York Lawmakers Poised To Throw Upstate Residents Under The Fracking Bus?

     On the coal front:

749. 2011/12/01: PeakEnergy: Why we won't need coal in future
750. 2011/11/29: Grist: Once more, from the top: Shutting down dirty coal plants won't cause blackouts

     On the gas and oil front:

751. 2011/12/02: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
     OIL (US$/bbl)
     Nymex Crude Future...100.96
     Dated Brent Spot.....110.35
     WTI Cushing Spot.....100.96
752. 2011/12/03: AutoBG: Nome, Alaska facing possiblity of $9 gallons of gas this winter
753. 2011/12/01: DeSmogBlog: LNG Groundhog Day: Cheniere Energy Signs Yet Another Gas Export Deal on Gulf Coast
754. 2011/12/01: CBC: BP sells Canadian natural gas unit for $1.6B
755. 2011/11/30: OilDrum: Countdown to $100 Oil - High Energy Prices Suppressing Growth?
756. 2011/11/30: MoJo: Saudi Arabia Finally Gives Up
757. 2011/11/28: PlanetArk: Analysis: Chevron Spill Lifts Cover On Brazil Oil Risks
758. 2011/11/28: PlanetArk: Petrobras Spilled Twice The Oil Than Chevron In 2010: Report

     And in pipeline news:

759. 2011/12/02: OilDrum: Pipeline changes to fix WTI /Brent spread are likely to add new problems
760. 2011/12/01: TreeHugger: Tar Sands Crude Spills Into Denver's Water Supply
761. 2011/12/01: TP:JR: Suncor Tar Sands Refinery Leaks Crude into South Platte River
762. 2011/11/30: DeSmogBlog: Suncor Refinery Spill Threatens River Supplying Denver Drinking Water
763. 2011/11/28: PlanetArk: Alberta Study Disputes Oil Sands Corrosion Claims

     Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

764. 2011/11/30: CCurrents: The IEA's Warning: Our Last Chance?
765. 2011/11/29: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: the IEA's road show

     Biofuel bickering abounds:

766. 2011/11/29: Eureka: OSU study questions cost-effectiveness of biofuels and their ability to cut fossil fuel use
767. 2011/11/28: TP:JR: Researchers Genetically Engineer Algae to Increase Oil Yields by Up to 50%: Should We Be Concerned?
768. 2011/11/28: AutoBG: Ethanol company Corn Plus fined $760,000 for lying to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

     The answer my friend...:

769. 2011/11/28: ERW: Floating-axis wind turbine could cut offshore costs
770. 2011/11/29: TP:JR: Offshore Wind Could Meet 14% of Europe's Energy Demand by 2030, Leveraging $193 Billion in Investments
771. 2011/11/28: BCLSB: How Loud Are Wind Turbines?

     Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

772. 2011/12/02: TP:JR: North American PV Installs Set to Double in 2011. Will Congress Let the Successful Grant Program End?
773. 2011/12/02: NBF: Thermophotovoltaic devices without mirrors to concentrate sunlight to 1000 degrees celsius and 37% overall system efficiency
774. 2011/12/01: TP:JR: One Third of World's Energy Could Be Solar by 2060, Predicts Historically Conservative IEA
775. 2011/11/30: CNN: Solar landfill provides a shining example
     Former landfill in the U.S. using solar sheets to power local homes - Ten acres of plastic sheets fitted with photovoltaic cells - Waterproof sheets also trap methane which is also collected - EPA estimate there are 100,000 closed landfills in the U.S.
776. 2011/11/29: CleanBreak: Oil and gas delivery giant Enbridge Inc. makes first solar tech investment, throws $10 million into Morgan Solar
777. 2011/11/29: NBF: Space Based Solar Power Status
778. 2011/12/04: TP:JR: Solar Power is Contagious

     Feed-In-Tariffs are being variously implemented around the world:

779. 2011/11/28: TreeHugger: Why Hasn't America Embraced Feed-In Tariffs?

     The nuclear energy controversy continues:

780. 2011/12/02: EurActiv: Nuclear energy 'does not reduce the price of electricity'
781. 2011/12/01: CCurrents: Nuclear Dichotomy
782. 2011/11/30: NBF: Australian and Czech project to make Throium molten salt reactor
783. 2011/11/29: BBC: North Korea says nuclear plant is 'progressing apace'
     The building of a nuclear reactor in North Korea is "progressing apace", officials say, in a further snub to the US and South Korea. State media quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying low-enriched uranium was being produced for the reactor. North Korea said earlier this month the facility would be up and running soon.
784. 2011/11/28: PlanetArk: Special Report: In Chernobyl, A Disaster Persists
785. 2011/11/28: PlanetArk: Special Report: The Nuclear Industry's Trillion Dollar Question
786. 2011/11/27: NBF: IEEE Spectrum on China's Nuclear Energy Programme

     Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

787. 2011/12/01: BBC: Sellafield waste reactor proposed to convert plutonium
     Plans to build a new reactor at Sellafield in Cumbria to convert waste plutonium into electricity have been proposed by energy company GE Hitachi. The multi-billion pound reactor would recycle waste from the UK's nuclear plants, currently stored at Sellafield. The government spends £2bn a year managing it and is looking at options including reprocessing or storage.
788. 2011/11/27: EneNews: NYT on Spent Fuel Pools: Nuke promoters admit "it's just gone on for so long, and there's so much of it" in UK
789. 2011/11/27: NYT: A New Urgency to the Problem of Storing Nuclear Waste

     Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:

790. 2011/12/02: NatureNB: EU deal cuts ITER E1.2 billion deficit by E840 million, while sparing research budget
791. 2011/12/02: ScienceInsider: Europe Finds E1.3 Billion Needed for ITER Overruns
792. 2011/12/02: NBF: Australian Star Scientific is probably the claimant of the 1 megawatt nuclear fusion device
793. 2011/12/01: NBF: New Extraordinary claims of a nuclear fusion breakthrough in Australia

     The Rossi Energy Catalyzer keeps coming up:

794. 2011/11/30: NBF: Praxen-Defkalion reveals technical specification sheet for pre-industrial Hyperion product
795. 2011/11/30: EnergyBulletin: No miracles in science: The story of the "energy catalyzer"
796. 2011/11/29: NBF: Rossi electricity generation claim is based on getting steam up to 450 celsius with Energy Catalyzer
797. 2011/11/29: NBF: Defkalion has Rossi's formula

     More people are talking about the electrical grid:

798. 2011/12/01: CNN:Fortune: Is it time to bury our power lines?
     A series of severe storms this year has left millions without electricity. An affordable solution may exist.

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

799. 2011/12/02: CBC: GM willing to buy back Chevy Volts -- Company will purchase electric car from owners afraid it will catch fire
800. 2011/12/03: PeakEnergy: Volt is drivers' favorite, topping even Porsche
801. 2011/12/02: CSM: Chevy Volt: Worried about fire? Sell it back.
802. 2011/12/01: BBC: Toyota and BMW in green agreement
     Japanese carmaker Toyota and Germany's BMW are to work together on environmental-friendly motoring technology.
803. 2011/11/30: Grist: Electric car ad from 1912
804. 2011/11/29: SciAm:Obs: Could Chevy Volt Lithium-Ion Battery Fires Burn Out Interest in EVs and Hybrids?
805. 2011/11/28: AutoBG: Mazda reveals i-ELOOP capacitor-based regenerative braking system
806. 2011/11/29: PSinclair: Graph of the Day: Mapping a Post-Auto Economy

     As for Energy Storage:

807. 2011/12/02: Eureka: Cheap beads offer alternative solar-heating storage
808. 2011/12/02: NBF: Cheap beads offer alternative solar-heating storage
809. 2011/11/29: PeakEnergy: BrightSource Strikes World's Biggest Solar Energy Storage Deal [using a molten salt system called SolarPLUS]

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

810. 2011/12/02: TP:JR: December 2 News...
811. 2011/12/01: TP:JR: December 1 News...
812. 2011/11/30: TP:JR: November 30 News...
813. 2011/11/29: TP:JR: November [29] News...
814. 2011/11/28: TP:JR: November 28 News...

     Other (weekly) lists:

815. 2011/12/02: EnergyBulletin: ODAC Newsletter
816. 2011/11/28: BPA: Agriculture News

     The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

817. 2011/12/03: WottsUWT: Hiding the decline down under -- inconvenient papers censored
818. 2011/12/02: ITracker: Data socialists
819. 2011/12/02: BBickmore: Global Warming and the Mobs
820. 2011/12/01: WottsUWT: Stupid: Oregon Museum of Science and Industry cancels climate talk due to skeptics being on panel
821. 2011/12/03: P3: Scientists Cope with Personal Attacks
822. 2011/11/30: CCP: On Roy Spencer's unscientific methods
823. 2011/11/30: BBickmore: Roy Spencer the Anti-Scientist
824. 2011/11/30: HotTopic: Put it there pal: the real story of Chris de Freitas and Climate Research
825. 2011/11/30: DeSmogBlog: Skeptics Prefer Pal Review Over Peer Review: Chris de Freitas, Pat Michaels And Their Pals, 1997-2003
826. 2011/11/29: QuarkSoup: Climate Panel Cancelled For Lack of Balance
827. 2011/11/29: Deltoid: McKitrick's quote mining
828. 2011/11/28: TP:JR: Koch-Fueled Americans for Prosperity Spends $2.4 Million on Solyndra Attack Ad (video)
829. 2011/11/28: Grist: Study: Climate skepticism leads directly to climate inaction
830. 2011/11/28: TreeHugger: Scientific Study Reveals Link Between Skepticism and Inaction. Or, Why Koch & Exxon Spread Climate Lies
831. 2011/11/28: QuarkSoup: Who Knows How Deep This Goes?
832. 2011/11/28: DeepClimate: McKitrick hides the context
833. 2011/11/28: HC: Laframboise's reviews on Amazon falsely inflated
834. 2011/11/27: AlterNet: To Conservatives, Climate Change is Trojan Horse to Abolish Capitalism
835. 2011/11/27: QuarkSoup: Fred Singer's Silence on Request for Data
836. 2011/11/27: CCP: Support for climate policy and societal action are linked to perceptions about scientific agreement, by Ding Dng et al., Nature Climate Change

     Not quite denial; just woefully misleading:

837. 2011/12/02: Grist: Economist: We'll just move to Siberia to escape climate change
838. 2011/12/02: DeSmogBlog: Old Talking Points Die Hard: "Climate Change Is Beneficial" Edition

     Let us be clear about motivation:

839. 2011/12/04: WesternStar: The twisted logic, and ethics, of nature's opponents
     In a puzzling appeal to anti-American sentiment, some industry supporters claim that U.S. foundations are threatening Canadian policy by donating money to environmental groups here. These arguments have appeared in publications such as the Vancouver Sun and Calgary Herald, and on Sun TV. Greenpeace has released research that points in a different direction, one that seems more logical. The Greenpeace report, "Who's Holding Us Back?", shows that multinational and U.S. corporations in the oil, mining, and chemical sectors, among others, have been spending money and using industry trade associations, think-tanks, lobbying, and revolving doors between government and industry to block action on climate change and influence resource policy in Canada and elsewhere.
840. 2011/11/23: GreenPeace: [link to 3.6 meg pdf] Who's holding us back? How carbon-intensive industry is preventing effective climate change legislation
     The corporations most responsible for contributing to climate change emissions and profiting from those activities are campaigning to increase their access to international negotiations and, at the same time, working to defeat progressive legislation on climate change and energy around the world.
841. 2011/12/01: DSuzuki: The twisted logic, and ethics, of nature's opponents

     As for climate miscellanea:

842. 2011/12/02: PlanetArk: Timeline: How The World Discovered Global Warming
843. 2011/12/02: ABC(Au):TDU: Climate change: greater the uncertainty, greater the risk
844. 2011/11/29: GreenGrok: Climate Change Goings On: Post-Turkey Day
845. 2011/11/28: DIIN: Global warming 2°C target "no longer attainable"
846. 2011/12/02: Guardian(UK): The environment in 2017: a polluted wasteland hit by floods and droughts
     Pollution and climate change create misery with petrol and energy prices at record levels and flooding rife
847. 2011/11/30: PlanetArk: Asia Must Address Climate Issues Fast: ADB
848. 2011/11/29: P3: The Main Difference Between Science and Politics
849. 2011/11/29: QuarkSoup: When Elephants Fight

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

850. SRMGI: Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative
851. Salmon Are Sacred - Calling the Wild Salmon People
852. Super Heroes 4 Salmon
853. NOAA: Arctic Report Card
854. Draw the Line at Tar Sands
855. WMO: Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW)
856. Permafrost Carbon Network
857. CAN: Fossil of The Day awards
858. CTW: Carbon Trade Watch
859. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
860. World Radiation Centre
861. NGDC.NOAA: Solar Irradiance Data
862. Exxpose Exxon
863. IPCC: National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme

     ---

     Low Key Plug

     New Web Site:

     I have a new website. Everything that was on Autobahn has been ported over. I have 100 megs to play with here, so the Archives will get deeper.

     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.

     <regards>
     

     -het

     P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.

     I notice moyhu has set up a monster index to old AWoGWN on AFTIC.

     ---

     "There is no Planet B." -Seen on a protest poster

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