Another Week of GW News, Feruary 3, 2013

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup

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Another Week of Climate Disruption News

Sipping from the Internet Firehose...

February 3, 2013

• Chuckles, COP19+, Clean Air, Australian Floods, Tyee, Nigeria & Shell, Oh Oh Squad
• MDGs, GW & Rain, Bottom Line, IMF, Thermodynamics, Crap Detection, Cook
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
• Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food vs. Biofuel, GMOs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, Attribution, Climate Sensitivity, Biosphere
• Extinctions, Bees & CCD, Anthropocene, Proxies, Biomimicry, Volcanoes, Satellites
• Weather Machine, Notable Weather, Wacky Weather, Extreme Weather
• Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Desertification, Disease
• Tornadoes, Wildfires, Corals, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, DIY Science, Free Science
• International Politics: Kyoto, Carbon Trade, Bank Tax, Hormuz, South China Sea
• Rare Earths, FQD, Comparisons, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Oracles
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, Post Sandy, Keystone
• Carbon Tax, Birth Control, Chu, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Carbon Law, Election, MDBP, India, China, Asia, Africa
• Canada, Idle No More, No Confusion, Offshore Drilling, CNOOC, Liberals, Northern Gateway, Kinder Morgan
• East-West, Abortion Rights, Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Maritimes, Canadiana
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Fixes, Media, Books, Video, Courts, Betting
• Energy, Transitions, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Fossil Fuel Corps, Oil & the Economy
• Pipelines, Energy Independence, US Tar Sands, Peak Oil, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Hydrogen, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
• Insurance, FAQs, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Misc., Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

No matter how dark things seem, there are always bad jokes:

• 2013/01/30: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Sandy Relief
• 2013/01/31: JoeMohrToons: (cartoon - Mohr) Hank D and the Bee: The Defenestrator and The Exfoliator -- Dynamic Duo?
• 2013/02/02: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) Happy Groundhog Day
• 2013/02/02: TP:JR: (cartoon - McFadden) The Rich and Poor Victims of Climate Change
• 2013/01/28: XKCD: (cartoon - Munro) Argument
• 2013/01/28: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Global Climate Change Response
  

  Oh the irony department:

• 2013/01/29: PSinclair: Republican River Runs Dry. No -- Really.
  

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

• 2013/02/03: al Jazeera: An alternative way to forecast the weather
  Punxsutawney Phil has been predicting the onset of spring for years, but is he any good?
• 
  

  Looking ahead to COP19 and future international climate negotiations:

   

• 2013/01/29: RTCC: What can UN climate talks learn from mercury agreement?
• 2013/01/28: Guardian(UK): Could China and its fellow BRICs nations lead the way on climate change?
• 2013/01/28: RTCC: Russia threatens 'radical measures' in response to Kyoto Protocol extension
  Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan have agreed what they term a "series of measures" in response to an agreement at the UN climate talks in Doha last December to extend the Kyoto Protocol.
• 
  

  There seems to have been a lot of chatter about clean air and the lack of it this week:

   

• 2013/02/03: OilDrum: Tech Talk - Coal power and air pollution
• 2013/02/01: EurActiv: WHO air pollution review prompts new EU policy promises
  The European Commission has promised a review of the EU's clean air standards later this year after new research by the World health Organization (WHO) suggested links between air pollution and health conditions ranging from neurodevelopment disorders to cardiovascular and respiratory deaths.
• 2013/01/31: TP:JR: Chart Of The Week: China's Pollution Crisis Is Worse Than Living In A Smoking Lounge
• 2013/01/31: al Jazeera: Beijing issues new smog warning
  Authorities temporarily shut down over 100 factories to try and tackle extreme air pollution in the Chinese capital.
• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): Beijing authorities issue pollution warnings as smog stays
• 2013/01/31: QuarkSoup: China's Smog, and Pennsylvania's
• 2013/01/29: Guardian(UK): China's air pollution again at danger levels
• 2013/01/29: CBC: Hong Kong's shipping industry seeks rules to curb pollution -- A haze of smog often hangs over the picturesque Victoria Harbour
  

  Let's see. Australia has had bake, burn, tornado & flood --- what's next? Locusts? Raining blood? An election?

• 2013/02/03: ABC(Au): North Bundaberg residents face 'impossible task' [pix]
• 2013/02/02: ABC(Au): Faces of the east coast floods
• 2013/02/02: ABC(Au): North Bundaberg residents return home
  There have been emotional scenes in North Bundaberg as hundreds of residents return briefly to their homes. The suburb has been hard hit by the flooding with ten homes destroyed and 30 severely damaged. Roads, power, water and sewerage lines have been washed away and an exclusion zone is still in place.
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Fitzroy nears peak in Rockhampton
  The Fitzroy River is slowly nearing an expected flood peak in the central Queensland city of Rockhampton. The river has risen to 8.4 metres this morning and is with the latest weather bureau revision is now expected to peak at 8.5 metres overnight.
• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au): Troops lend muscle to Queensland's flood recovery
• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au): Flood waters head for the cotton fields
  It's a wait and see game for cotton growers on the Queensland-NSW border as floodwaters from Queensland move south, inundating paddocks and some farmhouses.
• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au): Frustration grows as flooded communities clean-up [pix]
  Frustration is rising in parts of flood-affected Queensland, over a lack of assistance to deal with the aftermath of the deluge. In Gayndah south-west of Bundaberg, many residents have been without power and waiting for help since Sunday.
• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): Queensland [flood] death toll rises to six
• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): Clean-up begins as NSW floodwaters recede
  As floodwaters begin to recede in parts of northern New South Wales, hundreds of people are turning their attention to recovery. Vast areas of land are underwater in the state, but many communities appear to have escaped the worst of the floods.
• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): Focus shifts to recovery as floodwaters recede [pix]
  Australian Defence Force personnel are heading to the flooded Queensland city of Bundaberg, as the search continues for two men missing in the state's floodwaters. As the floods recede, Brisbane residents are being warned they could run out of water in the next few hours and isolated towns across much of the state say they could run out of essential supplies.
• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): Your say: Ipswich mayor attacks insurance industry
  Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale has accused the insurance industry of trying to evade its responsibilities in the wake of disasters like the floods in Queensland and New South Wales. Last night the Insurance Council of Australia's Rob Whelan told Lateline that governments should spend millions of dollars on more efficient infrastructure to protect flood-prone towns.
• 2013/01/29: RawStory: Military called in as deadly floods batter Australia
• 2013/01/29: WtD: The New Normal: stunning images taken from space of Bundaberg flooding
• 2013/01/28: DD: Australia rainfall records tumble as storm heads south - Winds whip up bushfires in Victoria
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Muddy waters threaten Brisbane's water supply
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): 41,000 isolated by floodwaters in NSW
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Floods raise questions of insurance cover costs
  Rob Whelan, the CEO of the Insurance Council of Australia discusses the cost of insuring against floods
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Thousands flee record floods
  The worst floods on record in Bundaberg in Queensland and Grafton in northern NSW have caused the evacuation of thousands of people.
• 2013/01/29: Google:AFP: Australian troops called in to deal with floods
• 2013/01/29: BBC: Australia battles floods in two states
  Australia is battling flooding in two states, as rescue teams worked to evacuate people from inundated areas. In Queensland, more than 1,000 people were plucked to safety in the city of Bundaberg as the Burnett River burst its banks, flooding 2,000 homes. In New South Wales there are concerns that the Clarence River, at a record high, could flood the city of Grafton. Tropical Cyclone Oswald, which triggered the flooding, is now heading out to sea south of Sydney.
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Thousands displaced as flood threat continues
  The flood emergency in eastern Australia has spread with vast areas in two states underwater and thousands of people evacuated from their homes. Record flooding has hit northern New South Wales where large tracks of land are underwater and a natural disaster has been declared, while communities in Queensland wait for water to recede to begin the clean-up.
• 2013/01/29: WSWS: Four dead in severe floods across eastern Australia
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Live: Flooding disaster hits Australia's east coast
• 2013/01/28: CBC: Australia floods kill 4, soak thousands of homes
  Heavy rain stops, but several Queensland towns left flooded and without electricity
• 2013/01/28: DD: Four dead, two missing as heavy rain ravages Australia coast...
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Disaster Management Director gives Queensland floods overview
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Live: Brisbane, Bundaberg brace for peaks
  A fourth person has died in the flooding disaster hitting southern Queensland and New South Wales, as Brisbane and Bundaberg brace for river peaks.
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Threat shifts in flood valley
  Flood waters in the Lockyer Valley are starting to recede this afternoon but communities downstream are preparing for conditions to worsen.
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Brisbane, Logan prepare for flood
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Storms head south -- The flooding rains which have sweep across Queensland are now hitting New South Wales
• 2013/01/27: CBC: Several Australian towns flooded, 3 people killed -- Hundreds of properties flooded by record-high waters
• 2013/01/28: al Jazeera: Floods worsen in eastern Australia
  Thousands of homes inundated in eastern cities after torrential rain leads to deaths of three people over the weekend.
• 2013/01/28: al Jazeera: A weeks worth of flooding
  The remnants of Cyclone Oswald still brought destructive flooding and strong winds for Queensland and New South Wales
• 2013/01/27: BBC: Hundreds of homes have been flooded and several people are reported missing in the Australian state of Queensland after heavy rains brought by Tropical Cyclone Oswald
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Live: Flood disaster unfolds as weather wreaks havoc
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Hundreds cut off as storm moves south to NSW
  Winds of up to 140 kilometres per hour are adding to the havoc caused by heavy rain and flooding in northern New South Wales, as ex-tropical cyclone Oswald moves south.
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Flood alert issued for Ipswich residents
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Blackouts could last days: Energex
  Energex is warning that some homes in south-east Queensland could be without power until Wednesday. More than 225,000 homes are in the dark today after 2,000 wires were blown down in high winds yesterday. The outages extend from Gympie to Coolangatta on the Gold Coast.
• 
  

  Tyee finished up their 8 part climate change course:

   

• 2013/01/28: Tyee: Tyee's Climate Change Crash Course: Part 4 -- Why warming the atmosphere doesn't just cause weather to get hotter.
• 2013/01/29: Tyee: Tyee's Climate Change Crash Course: Part 5 -- How our fossil fuel craze affects species, and makes for a radically different Earth.
• 2013/01/30: Tyee: Tyee's Climate Change Crash Course: Part 6 -- Overflowing our carbon sinks, on land and sea, takes its toll.
• 2013/01/31: Tyee: Tyee's Climate Change Crash Course: Part 7 -- Why scientists can be certain, while not exact, about climate change and its impacts.
• 2013/02/01: Tyee: Tyee's Climate Change Crash Course: Part 8 -- How much reduction in fossil fuel use is needed to avert disaster?
• 2013/02/01: Tyee: Tyee's Climate Change Crash Course Quiz -- You've taken the course. Now test your knowledge. And earn a diploma.
  

  That Dutch court mostly let Shell off the hook, but it did establish the principle of corporate liability:

• 2013/01/30: DerSpiegel: Dutch Ruling: Shell Mostly Cleared in Nigeria Oil Spills
  A closely watched environmental lawsuit against oil giant Shell has ended in mixed results. A court in The Hague cleared the company of wrongdoing in oil spills in the Niger Delta, but ordered its subsidiary to compensate one farmer for revenue lost because of the damage.
• 2013/01/30: DD: Shell not liable for most Nigeria oil spill claims, Dutch court rules - 'We're flabbergasted and the people have not seen justice'
• 2013/01/30: OilChange: Legal Precedent Set as Shell Found Guilty in the Hague
• 2013/01/29: DerSpiegel: Battling Big Oil: How Four Nigerian Villagers Took Shell to Court
  Four Nigerian villagers from the Niger River delta have challenged mighty Shell in a Dutch court. They complain that the oil giant has caused environmental devastation and ruined their homes. A verdict in the unprecedented case is expected on Wednesday.
• 2013/01/30: BBC: A Dutch court has rejected four out of five allegations against Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell over oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta region
• 2013/01/30: CBC: Dutch court rejects Nigerian farmers' claims against Shell
  A Dutch court has rejected most of a landmark case brought by Nigerian farmers and environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth against Royal Dutch Shell for poisoning their fish ponds and farmland with leaking pipelines. In its ruling Wednesday, the Hague Civil Court saying the leaking pipelines were was caused by saboteurs, not Shell negligence.
• 2013/01/29: al Jazeera:Shell oil pollution ruling due in Dutch court
  Activists say case could set a precedent for damage claims related to the foreign activities of multinational companies. A Dutch court is set to rule on whether Royal Dutch Shell is responsible for pollution in Nigeria, a case activists say could set a precedent for damage claims related to the foreign activities of multinational companies. A verdict in the unprecedented case is expected on Wednesday.
• 
  

  This week in the 'Oh Oh Squad":

   

• 2013/01/28: TP:JR: Nicholas Stern: 'I Got It Wrong On Climate Change ... It's Far, Far Worse,' An 'Existential' Threat For Many
• 2013/01/28: ClimateShifts: "I Got it Wrong on Climate Change ... it's Far, Far Worse" -Nicholas Stern
  

  Remember the Millennium Development Goals?

• 2013/01/31: al Jazeera: The Millennium Development dilemma: What to target after 2015
  To end poverty in Liberia, good governance and anti-corruption must be guiding principles. My country Liberia is about to play host to global leaders and thinkers, including the United Kingdom Prime Minister and the Queen of Jordan, as they discuss what priority issues to include once the current Millennium Development Goals (MDG) expire in 2015.
• 
  

  Don't you just love contradictory theses?! Let's see. We have theory vs. measurements. Which do you trust?

   

• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au): Warmer Earth will be drier model predicts
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Rain getting heavier as temperatures rise
  A review of worldwide rainfall data has found the intensity of the heaviest downpours is increasing across the globe as temperatures rise. The research collated data from more than 8000 observation stations in the period from 1900 to 2009 and was led by the University of Adelaide's Dr Seth Westra. The study involved adding up rainfall totals from the heaviest downpours and comparing that information with changes in the mean global temperature. Dr Westra says the research revealed a 7 per cent increase in the amount of rain for every 1C increase in temperature. "In the tropics it's actually about double that number, close to 15 per cent and then in the northern hemisphere we're also seeing an increase," he said. Dr Westra says the results mean devastating floods are more likely if climate change continues as predicted.
• 2012/12/14: AMS:JC: (ab$) Global increasing trends in annual maximum daily precipitation by Seth Westra et al.
• 2013/02/01: Eureka: Increases in extreme rainfall linked to global warming
• 2013/01/30: SciNews: Warmer is not always wetter
  Compared to global warming caused by solar radiation, global warming caused by greenhouse gases results in less rainfall, simulations suggest
• 
  

  And on the Bottom Line:

   

• 2013/01/29: OilChange: Bankers Warn Oil is "Unburnable Carbon"
  

  A stark warning from the IMF of all places:

• 2013/02/01: G&M: 'Roasted, toasted, fried and grilled': climate-change talk from an unlikely source
  This past little while has seen some statements from unlikely sources about the critical economic importance of dealing quickly with climate change. President Barack Obama led off the batting with his inaugural address, calling on Americans to take the lead in developing the technologies necessary for the emerging low-carbon economy. He pointed to the drought and Hurricane Sandy as the most recent evidence that our climate is changing for the worse. But the most startling statements came from the heads of those bastions of economic orthodoxy: the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the IMF and a former finance minister in the conservative government of Nicolas Sarkozy, pointed to critical pivot points for the economic future. Her final pivot: "Increasing vulnerability from resource scarcity and climate change, with the potential for major social and economic disruption: This is the real wild card in the pack." She went on to call climate change "the greatest economic challenge of the 21st century." This from the head of the IMF.
• 
  

  Delving into the laws of thermodynamics this week:

   

• 2013/02/02: TSoD: Kiehl & Trenberth and the Atmospheric Window
• 2013/01/30: TSoD: Visualizing Atmospheric Radiation - Part Twelve - Heating Rates
  

  An old favourite:

• 2009/06/30: NewsTrust: Crap Detection 101 by Howard Rheingold
• How's yer crap detector?
  

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2013/02/02: SkS: The Climate Show #32: a Cook's tour of the Aussie heat by Gareth
• 2013/02/02: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #5 by John Hartz
• 2013/02/01: SkS: Introducing Climate Change Science to College Students by rockytom
• 2013/02/01: SkS: Glaciers still shrinking in 2011, how have contrarians claimed the opposite? by MarkR
• 2013/01/30: SkS: New Research Finds that Most Monthly Heat Records Today are Due to Global Warming by dana1981
• 2013/01/30: SkS: Climate Scientists Erring on the Side of Least Drama by dana1981
• 2013/01/29: SkS: Australia's Great Barrier Reef: Last Chance to See? by Rob Painting
• 2013/01/28: SkS: Climate Sensitivity Single Study Syndrome by dana1981
• 2013/01/27: SkS: Meteorologists, Climatologists Featured in New '2013 Climate' Video by greenman3610
• 2013/01/27: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly Digest #4 by John Hartz
  

  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. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.] We'll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
  Meanwhile...
  It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of propagated information.
  How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
  Do they have an agenda?
  Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
  Do they want to write a good news story?
  Do they want to write a bad news story?
  Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
  Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
  One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
  If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

• 
  

  Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

   

• 2013/02/02: DD: Could scientists have prevented the Fukushima meltdowns?
• 2013/02/02: Asahi: Photos show workers' eye views of Fukushima disaster aftermath
• 2013/02/01: Asahi: Prometheus Trap (3): Japanese ambassador felt something not right before State Department meeting
• 2013/01/30: Asahi: Prometheus Trap (2): U.S. officials feared for loved ones still in Japan
• 2013/01/28: Asahi: Prometheus Trap (1): U.S. frustrated with Japan's initial response to Fukushima
• 2013/01/31: CCurrents: The Legacy Of Fukushima: Two Years On
• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au): Gangster accused of cashing in on Fukushima disaster
  A member of Japan's yakuza mafia has been arrested for illegally sending workers to Fukushima to do nuclear decontamination work. The gangster from the Sumiyoshi-kai yakuza group is accused of sending three workers to perform decontamination work in Fukushima.
• 2013/01/31: Resilience: The legacy of Fukushima: Two years on
• 2013/01/31: Asahi: Gangster illegally hired workers for decontamination projects
• 2013/01/30: EneNews: Journalism Professor: Goebbels would smile in his grave to see how nuclear establishment handled disaster - Lots around world will die from Fukushima contamination (audio)
• 2013/01/30: EneNews: Jiji: Japan plummets in [RSF] press freedom list - "Almost zero respect for access to information related to Fukushima... Should sound an alarm" -Group
• 2013/01/29: EneNews: Police arrest animal rescuers inside Fukushima evacuation zone - "They cannot be contacted and are being charged with crimes"
• 2013/01/29: EneNews: Tepco working on pumping Fukushima groundwater into ocean - Drilling wells just outside reactor buildings (photos)
• 2013/01/28: EneNews: Fukushima workers drill new hole in Unit 2 torus - Tepco to check for melted nuclear fuel (photo)
  

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

• 2013/01/29: Asahi: New [Nuclear Regulation Authority] rules tough on tsunami, could delay reactor restarts
  The nuclear industry watchdog is pitching new safety standards on earthquake and tsunami preparedness, which could substantially delay restarts of some idled nuclear plants. The draft outline of the new standards, presented on Jan. 29 by an expert panel of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, calls for broad measures against the highest possible tsunami.
• 2013/01/28: NBF: Restarting half of Japan's nuclear reactors could save $20 billion per year
  

  The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

• 2013/01/31: ASI: 2012 record not due to GAC-2012
• 2013/01/31: PSinclair: Jason Box: Can We Save Greenland?
• 2013/01/27: MeltFactor: icy contenders weigh in
• 2013/01/31: UWashington: Cyclone did not cause 2012 record low for Arctic sea ice
• 2013/01/30: Dosbat: Cumulative Volume and Area: 2012
• 2013/02/02: DD: An Arctic CSI case: Cyclone is absolved in record sea ice melt
• 2013/01/28: ArcticNews: How unique in history is the current situation in the Arctic?
• 2013/01/28: ArcticNews: Further feedbacks of sea ice decline in the Arctic
• 2013/01/29: ArcticNews: The tragic failure of the scientific community to issue adequate warning re: The Arctic tipping point emergency
• 2013/02/01: CCP: Dr Mark Serreze speaks about melting Arctic Sea ice
• 2013/01/27: TP:JR: New Arctic Death Spiral Feedback: Melt Ponds Cause Sea Ice To Melt More Rapidly
  

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2013/02/01: ArcticNews: Dramatic increase in methane in the Arctic in January 2013
  

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2013/01/31: EurActiv: EU hopes for Arctic observer status 'around summer'
  The European Union is intensifying its campaign to join the Arctic Council, hoping to wield greater influence over a region thought to hold huge undiscovered oil and gas reserves.
• 2013/01/28: EUO: Greenland sees no preferential treatment for EU [over China in exploiting the country's rare earths deposits.]
• 2013/01/29: EurActiv: Danish U-turn clears way for uranium mining in Greenland
  A majority in the Danish parliament signalled their readiness to allow extraction and exports of uranium from Greenland, marking a historical shift in Danish foreign policy after 30 years of opposition to nuclear power.
• 2013/01/27: TMoS: Did Harper Give China a Toehold to Canada's Arctic Resources?
  

  While in Antarctica:

• WISSARD: Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling
• 2013/02/01: SciNews: Life found deep below Antarctic ice -- U.S. team drills through half-mile-thick sheet of ice to turn up cells
• 2013/01/28: ScienceInsider: U.S. Team Retrieves Samples From Buried Antarctic Lake
• 2013/01/28: NatureNB: Antarctic [Whillans] lake mission reports historic breakthrough
• 2013/01/27: ScienceInsider: No Survivors in Antarctic Plane Crash
• 2013/01/28: BBC: An American attempt to bore down into Lake Whillans, a body of water buried almost 1km under the Antarctic ice, has achieved its aim
  

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2013/01/31: S&R: China changes its mind on food
  In something of a Big Deal, it has emerged that China no longer will pursue the goal of being self-sufficient in food. According to the South China Morning Post, Chen Xiwen, who is the director of the rural affairs policy-making committee of the Communist Party, and who therefore presumably knows a thing or two, the policy of self-sufficiency laid out with great fanfare in 1978 won't work anymore.
• 2013/01/30: ProMedMail: Schmallenberg virus - Europe (10): int'l impact, certification
• 2013/01/31: CBC: Big 3 potash miners to pay around $100M to settle U.S. antitrust cases -- PotashCorp, Agrium, Mosaic deny any wrongdoing
• 2013/01/17: EPI: Global Grain Stocks Drop Dangerously Low as 2012 Consumption Exceeded Production
• 2013/02/01: UN: Somalia: UN relief official cautions against complacency on food security
• 2013/01/31: Reuters: U.S. spring crop season jeopardized as drought persists
  Severe drought still grips 87 pct of High Plains - Worst January in at least 13 years - Nebraska the most drought-stricken state
• 2013/01/30: BPA: Input Costs are Going Up and Farmers are Borrowing More to Cover Them
• 2013/02/01: CCurrents: Feeding China
• 2013/01/31: CCurrents: Global Grain Stocks Drop Dangerously Low As 2012 Consumption Exceeded Production
• 2013/01/31: WtD: The new normal: hottest January on record; record high and low rainfalls; Queensland farmers backs to the wall
• 2013/01/29: CCurrents: Syria Conflict: Food Production Drops By Half
• 2013/01/29: CCurrents: Mali Conflict: Hunger Haunts Millions
• 2013/02/02: CCP: Kansas and South Dakota winter wheat severely damaged by drought
• 2013/01/29: NatureN: Coffee rust regains foothold
  Researchers marshal technology in bid to thwart fungal outbreak in Central America.
• 
  

  The state of the world's fisheries is a concern:

   

• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Study finds fish worldwide are shrinking in size
• 2013/01/30: TreeHugger: Overfishing Threatens a Critical Link in the Food Chain
• 2013/01/31: TheConversation: Ghostnets fish on: marine rubbish threatens northern Australian turtles
• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): Shrinking fish more at risk from predators
• 2013/02/02: DD: Collapse of New England cod fishery forces historic fishing cuts in catch rates - 'We're doomed, as they say'
• 2013/02/02: CSM: New England fishermen doomed?
• 2013/01/30: NatureN: Ocean conservation: A big fight over little fish
  Size limits have been a part of fisheries management for decades, but some fear that they are doing more harm than good.
• 
  

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

   

• 2013/01/31: UCSUSA: New EPA Rules Use Food Crop Biofuels to Make up for Cellulosic Shortfall
  EPA Should Wait for Cleaner Fuels that Don't Compete with Food
• 
  

  Regarding the genetic modification of food:

   

• 2013/02/01: BBC: Hot potatoes! BASF drops GM spud plans in EU
  The ever changing story of Europe's relationship with biotechnology took another twist recently when the giant German chemical firm BASF announced it was halting the development of all its GM potato varieties in Europe. The company was approved to grow a commercial GM potato called Amflora in 2010. This variety had been modified to produce more of a type of starch that is useful for papermaking and other industrial processes. But from the start, Amflora potatoes struggled to gain market share and just a year after getting the green light, they were only being grown on a two-hectare site in Germany.
• 2013/01/30: GreenPeace: [link to 1 meg pdf] Analysis of the data submitted by Monsanto to the Indian authorities on genetically engineered maize MON89034 x NK603
• 2013/01/30: CCurrents: Monsanto's GM Corn Biosafety Data Raises Serious Concerns: Report
  

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

• 2013/01/30: TP:JR: How Electricity, Water And Food Could Be Produced In Desert Areas With Minimal Ecological Footprint
• 2013/01/30: FAO: Angola announces it will contribute to African-led food security fund -- President of Angola meets with FAO's Graziano da Silva
• 2013/01/: Tufts:GDaE: [links to many pdfs] Resolving the Food Crisis: Research for Global Policy Reform
• 2013/01/30: al Jazeera: Resolving the food crisis: The need for decisive action
  Global leaders squandered 2012, but prospects for resolving the food crisis in 2013 seem better.
• 2013/01/29: UN: As peace returns to Somali town, UN food relief agency resumes assistance
• 2013/01/28: UJena: Soya protein can be replaced by rapeseed protein -- Nutritionists point out an additional dietary protein source for humans
  

  A relatively quiet week except for Cyclone Felleng which brushed Madagascar heading South:

• 2013/01/29: NASA: NASA Sees Some Powerful "Overshooting Cloud Tops" in Cyclone Felleng
  

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2013/01/29: HKO: Experts from typhoon warning authorities meet in Hong Kong
  

  As for GHGs:

• 2013/01/30: RTCC: Russia emissions expected to peak by 2030
  Greenhouse gas emissions in Russia apparently will peak between 2020-2030 somewhere below the 1990 levels, according to forecasts prepared by the national Ministry of Economic Development
• 2013/01/30: Eureka: In beef production, cow-calf phase contributes most greenhouse gases
• 2013/02/01: Guardian(UK): US carbon emissions fall to lowest levels since 1994
  Energy-saving technologies and a doubling in renewables led to the reduction in climate pollution, new figures show
• 
  

  And the temperature record:

   

• 2013/02/01: BOM: Significant Weather Media Release -- Hottest month on record, final figures highlight climate extremes
• 2013/02/01: WtD: January 2013: hottest month on record [in Australia]
• 2013/02/01: GLaden: Global Temperatures since 1850
• 2013/01/29: CAbyss: Global Temperature Anomaly Forecasts, January 2013
• 2013/01/30: Wunderground: Record January warmth and moisture fueling April-like severe weather
• 2013/01/28: CapClimate: January Heat Records Krushed in Kansas
  

  Aerosols are making their presence felt:

• 2013/01/29: MODIS: Dust storm in Colorado and Kansas
  

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2013/01/30: Eureka: Study rebuts hypothesis that comet attacks ended 9,000-year-old Clovis culture
• 2013/02/01: FuturePundit: Clovis People Not Wiped Out By Comet
  

  In the attribution debate:

• 2013/01/29: WtD: Climate change blamed for Australia's extreme weather
• 2013/01/29: DD: Climate change blamed for Australia's extreme weather - 'The frequency of more intense events is going to increase'
  

  Regarding Climate Sensitivity:

• 2013/02/01: JEB: A sensitive matter
• 2013/02/02: Stoat: Here comes a border collie
• 2013/01/28: SkS: Climate Sensitivity Single Study Syndrome by dana1981
  

  And the State of the Biosphere:

• 2013/01/28: TheConversation: Birds, dams and people: biodiversity in China
  

  What's new on the extinction front?

• 2013/02/01: CSM: Climate change's latest victim: the wolverine
  The tenacious wolverine, a snow-loving carnivore sometimes called the "mountain devil," is being added to the list of species threatened by climate change -- a dubious distinction that puts it in the ranks of the polar bear and several other animals that could see their habitats shrink drastically due to warming temperatures. U.S. wildlife officials on Friday will propose Endangered Species Act protections for the wolverine in the contiguous 48 states, a step denied under the Bush administration. The Associated Press obtained details of the government's long-awaited ruling on the rare, elusive animal in advance of the announcement. It's likely to mean an end to trapping the animals for their fur.
• 2013/02/01: TheConversation: Why did the Tasmanian tiger [thylacine] go extinct?
• 2013/02/01: SciAm:EC: Yaks Are Returning to Tibet, but Does Climate Change Pose Further Risks?
• 2013/01/31: Eureka: Vultures foraging far and wide face a poisonous future
• 2013/01/31: TheConversation: Australian endangered species: Western Swamp Tortoise
• 2013/01/30: SciAm:EC: New Zealand Farmer Helps Save Rare Penguin from Extinction
• 2013/01/31: CBC: Borneo elephants found dead possibly poisoned
  14 elephants found in forests that were being converted for plantations, wildlife group says More than a dozen pygmy elephants found dead and possibly poisoned in Malaysian forests were in reserves slated to be converted into plantations, the wildlife group WWF has said, raising the prospect that they were deliberately killed by humans taking over their habitat. Authorities found the carcass of another endangered Borneo pygmy elephant late Wednesday, believed to have been dead for two weeks, in the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve late Wednesday, marking the 14th such death since December.
• 2013/01/31: al Jazeera: Rare pygmy elephants found dead in Malaysia
  Carcasses of at least 14 endangered elephants found this month, as officials say pesticides likely reason for deaths.
• 2013/02/01: BBC: UK moth numbers suffer crash, 40-year study shows
  Two-thirds of Britain's 337 species of common larger moths have experienced a substantial decline over the past four decades, a survey has shown. The V-moth (Marcaria wauaria), once a common sight in gardens, recorded a 99% fall in numbers from 1968-2007. Habitat loss and deteriorating land are thought to be behind the decline.
• 2013/01/30: CCurrents: Climate Crisis: Bengal Tigers And The Sundarbans Face Extinction
• 2013/01/30: CBC: 3 more rare Borneo elephants mysteriously found dead -- 13 deaths this month, suspiscions of poisoning
• 2013/01/29: Guardian(UK): Tigers under threat from disappearing mangrove forest
  Report shows vast forest, shared by India and Bangladesh, is being rapidly destroyed by environmental change
• 2013/01/29: BBC: Rare pygmy elephants 'poisoned' in Borneo
  Ten endangered pygmy elephants have been found dead in a reserve in Malaysia, with officials saying they may have been poisoned.
• 2013/01/29: CBC: Rare Borneo elephants found dead in suspected poisoning
  10 endangered pygmy elephant carcasses discovered in Malaysian forest
• 
  

  The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant worry:

   

• 2013/02/01: EurActiv: Plan Bee: Brussels pitches two-year pesticide ban
  The EU has launched a rescue plan for Europe's dwindling honeybee colonies: a 24-month ban on three widely-used neonicitinoid pesticides that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says pose "high acute risks" to pollinators.
• 2013/02/01: EUO: EU wants partial ban on bee-killing pesticides
• 2013/01/31: BBC: EU says pesticides linked to bee decline should be restricted
  The European Commission has proposed that member states restrict the use of certain classes of pesticide that are believed to be harmful to bees. Sprays that use neonicotinoid chemicals should only be used on crops that are not attractive to the insects they said. The sale of seeds treated with these chemicals should also be prohibited.
• 2013/01/31: ScienceInsider: European Commission Wants to Restrict Potentially Bee-Harming Pesticides
  

  Oh look! The Anthropocene came up again:

• 2013/02/02: JFleck: Anthropocene Diaries: Searsville Dam
• 2013/01/31: ERabett: Explain the Universe. Give Two Examples
  

  What's new in proxies?

• 2013/01/29: JFleck: The Tree Rings' Tale, as told by olives
  

  And in biomimicry?

• 2013/01/28: CleanBreak: Firefly belly inspires way to enhance LED brightness by 55 per cent
  

  What's up with volcanoes this week?

• 2013/01/31: DerSpiegel: Four at Once: Volcano Quartet Erupts on Kamchatka
  A unique show is taking place on Kamchatka these days: Four separate but nearby volcanoes are erupting simultaneously on the Russian peninsula. A Moscow film crew has produced an awe-inspiring 360-degree video of the natural fireworks.
• 2013/01/31: IOTD: Volcanic Fertilizer - Aerosols from Kasatochi - North Pacific Chlorophyll Anomaly
  

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2013/01/29: BBC: SSTL to build weather satellite constellation
  British satellite manufacturer SSTL will build the follow-on spacecraft for an innovative weather forecasting system run by Taiwan and the US. The Cosmic constellation derives information about the atmosphere from the way it disturbs GPS signals.

• Wait and see on the DSCOVR [Deep Space Climate Observatory]:

• 2013/02/01: ERabett: Scheduled For Release Friday, 5 PM [DSCOVR]
  

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2013/01/30: TP:JR: America's Plants, Fish And Wildlife Are Already Facing A Climate Crisis
• 2013/01/31: Eureka: New study highlights impact of environmental change on older people
• 2013/01/29: DD: NOAA, USGS: Climate change impacts to U.S. coasts threaten public health, safety, and economy
• 2013/01/28: USDA:SRS: Climate Change Projected to Alter Indiana Bat Maternity Range
• 2013/01/28: NOAANews: NOAA, USGS: Climate change impacts to U.S. coasts threaten public health, safety and economy
  

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2013/02/01: DerSpiegel: 'The Last Bit of Paradise': Giant [Belo Monte] Dam Threatens Brazilian Rainforest
  The construction of a giant dam in the Amazon region of Brazil is threatening parts of the world's largest rainforest. But the indigenous tribes living here are keeping quiet in return for millions of dollars in promises.
• 2013/01/29: DD: NASA data registers strong deforestation signals in Sumatra, Borneo, Brazil, Gabon
• 2013/01/27: Guardian(UK): Brazil plans Amazon tree census to assess deforestation
  

  Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

• 2013/02/01: ERW: Migration: from drought to flooding?
  In the developing world, people are moving out of drylands and mountainous areas towards large coastal cities. That is according to scientists from Columbia University, US, and Ecologic, Germany, who have modelled net migration patterns.
• 
  

  Desertification looms as a threat:

   

• 2013/01/28: CSM: The man who stopped the desert
  

  Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:

• 2013/02/02: SimpleC: Mild winters raise risk of flu epidemics
• 2013/01/29: TP:JR: Climate Change And The Flu: Warm Winters Followed By Severe Flu Seasons
• 2013/01/28: Eureka: Study shows climate change could affect onset and severity of flu seasons
  

  What's new in the Weather Machine?

• 2013/02/01: SciNow: California Irrigation Changing Weather Patterns in American Southwest
• 2013/01/31: CCurrents: Hot Cities Make Environment Hotter
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Cities affect weather over long distances
• 2013/01/28: Eureka: Study finds energy use in cities has global climate effects
  Researchers find that heat given off by metropolitan areas can lead to continental-scale winter warming in high latitudes
• 2013/01/28: UCI: Central Valley irrigation intensifies rainfall, storms across the Southwest
• 2013/01/27: CSM: New York's heat may be warming Siberia
• 2013/01/27: Guardian(UK): Heat from North American cities causing warmer winters, study finds
  Researchers say extra heat generated by huge cities explains additional warming not explained by existing climate models
• 
  

  This week in notable weather:

   

• 2013/01/31: CBC: Wind storm pummels Quebec, Atlantic Canada -- Low pressure system tracking towards Newfoundland and Labrador
• 2013/01/26: NASA:EO: Snow across Great Britain
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Wild weather strikes Port Macquarie
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Serious storms head south down Australian east coast
  

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2013/01/31: DD: Record precipitable water measured in Michigan and Illinois -- 'What planet is this?'
• 2013/02/02: PSinclair: Not My Father's Ground Hog's Day
  [...] If we're already having july-in-january thunderstorms in Michigan, can there really be 6 more weeks of winter?
• 2013/02/02: TP:JR: Groundhog Decade: We're Stuck In A Movie Where It's Always the Hottest Decade On Record
• 2013/01/29: Wunderground: April in January: spring-like severe weather and record warmth in the Midwest
• 2013/01/28: Wunderground: Is it spring or is it winter? Wild roller coaster of temperatures for the U.S.
  

  This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

• 2013/01/30: NASA: Satellite Image Shows Eastern U.S. Severe Weather System
• 2013/01/30: BBC: Storms leave two dead in Georgia and Tennessee
  A sprawling storm system has brought havoc to a swathe of the US, leaving two people dead and thousands of households without electricity.
• 2013/01/30: CBC: Deadly storms, tornadoes hammer southeast U.S. -- At least 2 dead as storms destroy buildings, flip vehicles
• 2013/02/01: Wunderground: Wild weather week ends; Mississippi River rises out of danger zone
• 2013/01/30: ArcticNews: Extreme Weather Warning
  

  On the tornado front:

• 2013/01/31: CCentral: Deadly Georgia [EF-4] Tornado First in a Record 220 Days
• 2013/01/30: Wunderground: First tornado death of 2013 ends record 219-day streak without a tornado death
• 2013/01/30: CNN: High winds, tornado trap residents, turn over cars
  About 20 are injured in Georgia; several are trapped for a time - Georgia TV news crew sees tornado form; damage reported in Adairsville - A man dies in a building collapse as storm hits Bartow County, Georgia, official says - A Tennessee man dies when a tree falls on his home, emergency managers say
• 2013/01/29: CSM: Tornado threat: How are January tornadoes possible?
  

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2013/01/30: GLaden: Are we having more forest fires in the US?
• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au): Emergency alert for Victorian alpine bushfire
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Firefighters still tackling Boho bushfire
  A large bushfire is still burning out of control near Violet Town in north-east Victoria.
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Blaze burning through scrub in Victoria's north
  

  Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): UNESCO given Barrier Reef protection report
• 2013/02/01: Eureka: How do corals survive in the hottest reefs on the planet?
• 2013/01/29: RawStory: Coral reefs going through 'extremely alarming' decline in the Caribbean
• 2013/01/28: SciNews: Caribbean's coral reefs approach tipping point -- Survey of 19 colonies finds many may soon begin to shrink
• 2013/01/29: Eureka: New evidence highlights threat to Caribbean coral reef growth
  Many Caribbean coral reefs have either stopped growing or are on the threshold of starting to erode, new evidence has revealed
• 
  

  Glaciers are melting:

   

• 2013/01/31: FaGP: Narssap Sermia Retreat, SW Greenland
• 2013/01/27: CCurrents: 50% of The Andean Glaciers Melted Down
  

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2013/02/01: TP:JR: Manmade Carbon Pollution Has Already Put Us On Track For 69 Feet Of Sea Level Rise
• 2013/01/31: MGS: Sea level's climate time scale
• 2013/01/29: RawStory: NOAA: Coastal effects of climate change threaten 50 percent of Americans
• 2013/01/28: USGS: USGS-NOAA: Climate Change Impacts to U.S. Coasts Threaten Public Health, Safety and Economy
• 2013/01/29: Guardian(UK): Sea change: the Bay of Bengal's vanishing islands
  

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2013/01/30: al Jazeera: Nearly 150,000 displaced by Mozambique floods
  Aid agencies struggle to help communities inundated for almost a week, as death toll rises to 80.
• 2013/01/31: JFleck: Drought at my house
• 2013/01/30: Eureka: Understanding the historical probability of drought
• 2013/01/30: AllAfrica:IRIN: Flash Flooding Strikes Dry Areas
  Flash flooding across Zimbabwe's Masvingo and Matabeleland provinces, normally dry areas, has caused substantial damage to infrastructure. While more than 4,000 people across the country are in need of humanitarian assistance following heavy rains.
• 2013/01/30: al Jazeera: Floods and fires in Southern Africa [pix only]
  Mozambique and South Africa have recently seen flooding, now fires have broken out towards the southern Cape.
• 2013/01/30: IOTD: Close-up of Flooding in Mozambique [on Jan 25]
• 2013/01/29: AbqJournal: Where Drought Hits N.M. the Hardest
• 2013/01/29: JFleck: Stuff I wrote elsewhere: where the water will run out
• 2013/01/29: al Jazeera: Mozambique floods displace thousands
  More than 40 people dead and almost 150,000 residents forced to flee to higher ground by rains and overflowing rivers.
• 2013/01/29: al Jazeera: State of Emergency declared in the Seychelles
  Flooding and landslides have destroyed well over a hundred houses on the main island of Mahe.
• 2013/01/29: al Jazeera: Deadly floodwaters rise in eastern Australia
  At least four people dead as torrential rains severely flood several cities and towns on country's east coast.
• 2013/01/28: DD: Drought seen worsening in U.S. Plains and west Midwest - 'There's not a whole lot of relief seen'
• 2013/01/28: TP:JR: Red State Blues: In 2012 Nebraska Saw Its Hottest, Driest Year On Record --- And The Republican River Ran Dry!
• 2013/01/28: BBerg: Mozambique Floods Death Toll Rises to 69 as More Funds Needed
• 2013/01/27: BBC: Canoeist dies as thaw brings flooding
  More than 80 flood warnings and nearly 300 alerts are in place across Britain as thawing snow and heavy rain push river levels higher.
• 
  

  On the mitigation front, consider transportation & GHG production:

   

• 2013/02/01: CalcRisk: U.S. Light Vehicle Sales at 15.3 million annual rate in January
• 2013/01/28: UCSUSA:B: Car Sharing Going Mainstream: Will Electric Cars Go Along for the Ride?
  

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

• 2013/01/29: TreeHugger: The Dark Money Behind The Latest LEED-Bashing
  

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2013/02/01: Eureka: New protocol recommendations for measuring soil organic carbon sequestration
• 2013/01/29: GasWorld: Air Products' Carbon Capture Project onstream
  

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2013/01/31: IOTD: Volcanic Fertilizer - Aerosols from Kasatochi - North Pacific Chlorophyll Anomaly
• 2013/01/02: PLoS One: How Deep-Sea Wood Falls Sustain Chemosynthetic Life by Christina Bienhold et al.
• 2013/02/01: PhysicsToday: Scientists alarmed by rapidly shrinking Arctic ice cap
  With summertime disappearance of polar sea ice expected as early as this decade, various geoengineering schemes have been proposed for mitigation. But each carries baggage.
• 2007/11/13: WHOI: Fertilizing the Ocean with Iron
• 2013/01/25: Vice:MBrd: To Revive Dying Oceans, Try Sinking a Bunch of Trees
• 2013/01/29: GEP: Obama Administration Considering Possible Research Funding [for geoengineering]
• 2013/01/28: GEP: ETC Group Warns of "SRM Wars"
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Indonesia seeding clouds to prevent flooding
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Doubt over Jakarta cloud-seeding
• 2013/01/28: CHE: As Temperatures Keep Rising, Geoengineering Gets a Closer Look
• 2013/01/24: DigInfo: Artificial Photosynthesis System as efficient as plants and can reduce CO2 levels
  

  And on the adaptation front:

• 2013/01/31: TheConversation: Why move back? Floods and the difficulty of relocation
• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au):TDU: Smart planning for urban growth can minimise flood risks
  As communities across eastern Australia begin the flood clean-up, it's clear we are not managing the impacts of extreme weather. Better planning of urban growth could help to minimise the damage in future. Barbara Norman focuses on what measures can be taken to minimise risk to current and future coastal communities.
• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): Flood lessons must be learnt: Jakarta business
  

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2012/09/: RSTA: Exploring early public responses to geoengineering by Nick Pidgeon et al.
• 2013/01/29: PNAS: (ab$) Frequency and intensity of productivity regime shifts in marine fish stocks by Katyana A. Vert-pre et al.
• 2013/01/29: PNAS: (abs) Filling the Eastern European gap in millennium-long temperature reconstructions by Ulf Büntgen et al.
• 2013/01/29: PNAS: (abs) Legacy of a half century of Athabasca oil sands development recorded by lake ecosystems by Joshua Kurek et al.
• 2013/01/29: PNAS: (abs) Biogeochemistry of beetle-killed forests: Explaining a weak nitrate response by Charles C. Rhoades et al.
• 2013/01/29: PNAS: (ab$) Centennial-scale fluctuations and regional complexity characterize Pacific salmon population dynamics over the past five centuries by Lauren A. Rogers et al.
• 2013/01/29: PNAS: (abs) Plant invasions and extinction debts by Benjamin Gilbert & Jonathan M. Levine
• 2013/01/29: PNAS: (letter$) History of environmental contamination by oil sands extraction by Peter V. Hodson
• 2013/01/29: PNAS: (letter$) Coral calcification feels the acid by Alexander C. Gagnon
• 2013/01/29: PNAS: (letter$) Reply to Gange et al.: Climate-driven changes in the fungal fruiting season in the United Kingdom by Håvard Kauserud et al.
• 2013/01/29: PNAS: (letter$) Mushroom phenological changes: A role for resource availability? by Alan C. Gangea et al.
• 2013/01/28: ACP: A single parameter representation of hygroscopic growth and cloud condensation nucleus activity - Part 3: Including surfactant partitioning by M. D. Petters & S. M. Kreidenweis
• 2013/01/30: ACPD: Aerosol effects on the cloud-field properties of tropical convective clouds by S.-S. Lee & G. Feingold
• 2013/01/30: ACPD: The influence of cruise ship emissions on air pollution in Svalbard - a harbinger of a more polluted Arctic? by S. Eckhardt et al.
• 2013/01/30: ACPD: Satellite observation of lowermost tropospheric ozone by multispectral synergism of IASI thermal infrared and GOME-2 ultraviolet measurements by J. Cuesta et al.
• 2013/01/02: PLoS One: How Deep-Sea Wood Falls Sustain Chemosynthetic Life by Christina Bienhold et al.
• 2013/01/28: ESD: The support of multidimensional approaches in integrate monitoring for SEA: a case of study by C. M. Torre & M. Selicato
• 2013/01/31: ESDD: A theoretical framework for the net land-to-atmosphere CO2 flux and its implications in the definition of "emissions from land-use change" by T. Gasser & P. Ciais
• 2013/01/31: CP: What could have caused pre-industrial biomass burning emissions to exceed current rates? by G. R. van der Werf et al.
• 2013/01/30: CP: Tephrostratigraphic studies on a sediment core from Lake Prespa in the Balkans by M. Damaschke et al.
• 2013/01/30: CP: Reconstruction of northeast Asia spring temperature 1784-1990 by M. Ohyama et al.
• 2013/01/30: CP: A biomarker record of Lake El'gygytgyn, Far East Russian Arctic: investigating sources of organic matter and carbon cycling during marine isotope stages 1-3 by A. R. Holland et al.
• 2013/01/29: CP: Palynological evidence for gradual vegetation and climate changes during the African Humid Period termination at 13°N from a Mega-Lake Chad sedimentary sequence by P. G. C. Amaral et al.
• 2013/01/28: CP: Tree-ring-based summer mean temperature variations in the Adamello-Presanella Group (Italian Central Alps), 1610-2008 AD by A. Coppola et al.
• 2013/02/01: Science: (ab$) Recent Changes in the Ventilation of the Southern Oceans by Darryn W. Waugh et al.
• 2012/12/14: AMS:JC: (ab$) Global increasing trends in annual maximum daily precipitation by Seth Westra et al.
• 2013/02/01: SD:GEC: (ab$) Climate change prediction: Erring on the side of least drama? by Keynyn Brysse et al.
• 2013/02/01: NERC:NORA: Improved confidence in regional climate model simulations of precipitation evaluated using drought statistics from the ENSEMBLES models by Cathrine Fox Maule et al.
• 2013/01/31: NERC:NORA: Grounding-line retreat of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet from inner Pine Island Bay by Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand et al.
• 2013/01/31: NERC:NORA: When did modern rates of sea-level rise start? by W. Roland Gehrels et al.
• 2013/01/30: NERC:NORA: Sea level changes at Ascension Island in the last half century by P.L. Woodworth et al.
• 2013/01/30: NERC:NORA: Methane indicator values for peatlands: a comparison of species and functional groups by Alan Gray et al.
• 2013/01/29: NERC:NORA: Comparison of the structure and function of Southern Ocean regional ecosystems: The Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia by E.J. Murphy et al.
• 2013/01/29: NERC:NORA: The role of site surveys in carbon capture and storage by D. Long & M. Akhurst
• 2013/01/29: NERC:NORA: Variable behavior in pycnocline mixing over shelf seas by Matthew Robert Palmer et al.
• 2013/01/28: NERC:NORA: On the statistical significance of surface air temperature trends in the Eurasian Arctic region by C. Franzke
• 2013/02/01: ACPD: Investigating the influences of SO2 and NH3 levels on isoprene-derived secondary organic aerosol formation using conditional sampling approaches by Y.-H. Lin et al.
• 2013/01/31: GMD: Optimising the FAMOUS climate model: inclusion of global carbon cycling by J. H. T. Williams et al.
• 2013/02/01: TC: Analysis of the snow-atmosphere energy balance during wet-snow instabilities and implications for avalanche prediction by C. Mitterer & J. Schweizer
• 2013/02/01: TC: Brief Communication "Expansion of meltwater lakes on the Greenland Ice Sheet" by I. M. Howat et al.
• 2013/02/01: TC: Effect of higher-order stress gradients on the centennial mass evolution of the Greenland ice sheet by J. J. Fürst et al.
• 2013/02/01: TCD: A combined approach of remote sensing and airborne electromagnetics to determine the volume of polynya sea ice in the Laptev Sea by L. Rabenstein et al.
• 2013/01/30: OS: Liquid export of Arctic freshwater components through the Fram Strait 1998-2011 by B. Rabe et al.
• 2013/01/31: TC: Environmental controls on the thermal structure of alpine glaciers by N. J. Wilson & G. E. Flowers
• 2013/01/30: TC: The impact of heterogeneous surface temperatures on the 2-m air temperature over the Arctic Ocean under clear skies in spring by A. Tetzlaff et al.
• 2013/01/30: TC: An estimate of global glacier volume by A. Grinsted
• 2013/01/30: TCD: Alpine permafrost thawing during the Medieval Warm Period identified from cryogenic cave carbonates by M. Luetscher et al.
• 2013/01/30: Nature: (ab$) Divergent global precipitation changes induced by natural versus anthropogenic forcing by Jian Liu et al.
• 2013/01/30: ASA: Comparison of Drought Probability Assessments Based on Atmospheric Water Deficit and Soil Water Deficit by Guilherme M. Torres et al.
• 2012/12/01: SD:MG: (ab$) Seismic-scale funnel-shaped collapse features from the Paleocene-Eocene of the North West Shelf of Australia by Patrice Imbert
• 2013/01/: SciD:AE: (ab$) Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean: Role of shielding and consumption of methane by Xin He et al.
• 2013/01/28: T&FOnline: Opening up the societal debate on climate engineering: how newspaper frames are changing by Samantha Scholte et al.
• 2013/01/29: GMD: CLM4-BeTR, a generic biogeochemical transport and reaction module for CLM4: model development, evaluation, and application by J. Y. Tang et al.
• 2013/01/29: GMD: Using multi-model averaging to improve the reliability of catchment scale nitrogen predictions by J.-F. Exbrayat et al.
• 2013/01/28: GMD: Towards a publicly available, map-based regional software tool to estimate unregulated daily streamflow at ungauged rivers by S. A. Archfield et al.
• 2013/01/29: GMDD: Numerical issues associated with compensating and competing processes in climate models: an example from ECHAM-HAM by H. Wan et al.
• 2013/01/29: GMDD: A site-specific agricultural water requirement and footprint estimator (SPARE:WATER 1.0) for irrigation agriculture by S. Multsch et al.
• 2013/01/29: OS: Salinity in the Sicily Channel corroborates the role of the Adriatic-Ionian Bimodal Oscillating System (BiOS) in shaping the decadal variability of the Mediterranean overturning circulation by M. Gaceic' et al.
• 2013/01/29: OSD: Assessment of MERIS ocean color data products for European seas by G. Zibordi et al.
• 2013/01/28: TC: Ice tectonic deformation during the rapid in situ drainage of a supraglacial lake on the Greenland Ice Sheet by S. H. Doyle et al.
• 2013/01/28: TC: Calving on tidewater glaciers amplified by submarine frontal melting by M. O'Leary & P. Christoffersen
• 2013/01/28: PLoS:Currents;Influenza: Climate change and influenza: the likelihood of early and severe influenza seasons following warmer than average winters by Sherry Towers et al.
• 2013/01/04: WOL:GRL: (ab$) Cirrus Cloud Seeding has Potential to Cool climate by T. Storelvmo et al.
• 2013/01/21: SD:GEC: (ab$) Living the global social experiment: An analysis of public discourse on solar radiation management and its implications for governance by Phil Macnaghten et al.
• 2013/01/28: UHeidelberg: The Intergenerational Transfer of Solar Radiation Management Capabilities and Atmospheric Carbon Stocks by Timo Goeschl et al.
• 2013/01/28: AGWObserver: Has global warming stopped?
• 2013/01/22: Nature:Comm: (ab$) High heat flow and ocean acidification at a nascent rift in the northern Gulf of California by Rosa Ma Prol-Ledesma et al.
• 2013/01/27: Nature:CC: (ab$) Energy consumption and the unexplained winter warming over northern Asia and North America by Guang J. Zhang et al.
• 2013/01/27: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Palaeoclimate: Weathering away warmth by Brian A. Haley
• 2013/01/27: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Antarctic weathering and carbonate compensation at the Eocene-Oligocene transition by Chandranath Basak & Ellen E. Martin
  

  And other significant documents:

• 2013/01/28: PI: [link to 3.1 meg pdf] Beneath the Surface -- A review of key facts in the oilsands debate
• 2013/01/30: GreenPeace: [link to 1 meg pdf] Analysis of the data submitted by Monsanto to the Indian authorities on genetically engineered maize MON89034 x NK603
• 2013/01/: Tufts:GDaE: [links to many pdfs] Resolving the Food Crisis: Research for Global Policy Reform
  

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2013/02/02: CCP: Ozone hole over Antarctica causing circumpolar winds to speed up and move polewards
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Ozone hole changes ocean flow
• 2013/02/01: AMAWr: Virtually Reality
• 2013/01/31: CSM: Are human-caused and natural global warming different? Study says yes. [Jian Liu]
• 2013/01/30: NatureN: 'Asian Nobels' will bring prize-giving up to date
  The founder of the Tang Prizes explains why scientists will be making the selections.
• 2013/01/30: Eureka: New research shows complexity of global warming
• 2013/01/29: USGS: Lake Mead Aquatic-Science Research Documents Substantial Improvements in Ecosystem
• 2013/01/28: SciNow: Microbes Survive, and Maybe Thrive, High in the Atmosphere
• 2013/01/28: NatureN: Australian science agency may face more questions on alleged bullying
• 2013/01/28: NatureN: High-flying bacteria spark interest in possible climate effects
  Microbes found at extreme altitudes could influence precipitation and cloud density.
• 2013/01/27: Noahpinion: Bayesian vs. Frequentist: Is there any "there" there?
• 2013/01/28: ScienceInsider: Taiwanese Billionaire Establishes Richer-Than-Nobel Prizes
  

  More DIY science:

• 2013/02/01: Moyhu: More on SST movies
  

  What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

• 2013/01/30: NatureNB: UK research councils relax open-access push
  Under an open-access policy, how many months should elapse before a published paper is made open for anyone to read? The UK's government (and the US National Institutes of Health) think a year is enough -- or two years in the case of arts and humanities. Publishers say that time period is long enough for them to sell access to a paper and turn a profit. But the country's research funding agencies have been pushing for a stricter, shorter embargo: six months for science and a year for arts subjects. Yesterday, Research Councils UK confirmed it would back down to the government's view, at least for the next half-decade.
• 2013/01/24: Cryptome: Guerilla Open Access Cookbook
  

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

• 2013/01/30: RTCC: Kyoto Protocol's CDM passes 6000 project mark
  The Kyoto Protocol's troubled Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) passed the 6000 project mark this week, despite a collapse in the price of carbon.
• 
  

  And on the carbon trading front:

   

• 2013/01/30: EurActiv: Power chief: Carbon credits face a 'junk bond' future
  Europe is staring at a 'lost decade' that will make decarbonisation impossible and reduce carbon credits to the value of 'junk bonds' unless politicians back a carbon market reform package, the head of Europe's electricity industry association has told EurActiv.
• 2013/01/30: EUO: EU carbon prices at historic low - E3.99 a metric tonne for December
  

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

• 2013/01/31: EUO: EU finance tax to reap billions
  An EU-wide tax on financial transactions covering 11 eurozone countries could raise up to €35 billion a year, reports AFP, citing an unnamed EU source.
• 
  

  On the international political front, tensions continue as the empire leans on Iran:

   

• 2013/01/31: FT via Archive: Pakistan to build $1.5bn Iran pipeline
  

  South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

• 2013/02/02: BBC: Chinese boat 'illegally fishing in Japanese waters'
  Japanese coastguards have detained a Chinese boat for allegedly fishing in a Japanese exclusive economic zone illegally, officials say, amid an ongoing row over disputed islands. The boat with a crew of at least 12 was fishing for coral near Miyako island in the Okinawa chain. The incident occurred about 150km (95 miles) from the disputed islands.
• 2013/01/31: WSWS: The Philippines takes South China Sea dispute to UN tribunal
  

  In the global competition for Rare Earths and other natural resources:

• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): Lynas Corporation says High Court dismisses appeal
  Lynas Corporation says the High Court in Malaysia has denied an application by a protest group to prevent it from operating its rare earths plant.
• 2013/01/29: RTCC: Report: Planet facing consumption time bomb
  The world will be sitting on a 'consumption time bomb' by 2030 unless efforts to recycle raw materials are increased.
• 2013/01/28: EUO: Greenland sees no preferential treatment for EU [over China in exploiting the country's rare earths deposits.]
• 2013/01/28: TreeHugger: Boom in Mining Rare Earths Poses Toxic Risks
• 2013/01/27: BBC: Savings needed to meet future demand for resources
  Governments need to spark a lightweight revolution in the way things are made so the world can keep up with the demand for resources, say scientists. They say homes will have to be built with less cement; cars with less steel; and gadgets with less plastic. And it will need to be done in a way that radically cuts emissions from producing the materials, they add.
• 
  

  Looks like the EU has made up its mind about the Fuel Quality Directive:

   

• 2013/01/30: Reuters: EU executive thwarts Canada lobby on tar sand oil
  European Commission not shifting on polluting label [Fuel Quality Directive]
• 
  

  And in miscellaneous international political jousting:

   

• 2013/01/30: UKISS: Political Comparisons Australia and the United States
  

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

• 2013/01/29: ICN: Keystone Pipeline Pact Reached Between TransCanada, Protesters
• 2013/01/26: HoustonChronicle: [Injunction] could halt Keystone XL pipeline protests
  [...] The Longview News-Journal reported Saturday ... that lawyers for TransCanada obtained a permanent injunction against Tar Sands Blockade, Rising Tide North America, Rising Tide Texas and others on Friday in Wood County District Court.
• 
  

  What are the activists up to?

   

• 2013/01/28: Grist: A chat with the Sierra Club's Michael Brune about civil disobedience
  

  Polls! We have polls!

• 2013/01/31: PSinclair: U.S. voters favor carbon tax by 4-to-1 margin
• 2013/01/29: TP:JR: Yale Poll Finds Climate Change Action Is A Political Winner
  

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2013/02/01: DD: A one-stop shop for water worries: Aqueduct's global water risk mapping tool - 'For us, water is a strategic issue'
• 2013/01/31: ICN: Water Demand for Energy to Double by 2035
• 2013/01/31: TreeHugger: New Fabric Absorbs 340% of Its Weight in Water from Fog or Mist
• 2013/01/31: TP:JR: Study: Energy Industry Water Use Set To Double By 2035
  

  Personally I am skeptical, but the idea has potential. [Your robot master will tell you the truth?]

• 2013/01/31: KSJT: The Truth Teller: Can software do real-time, automated fact-checking?
  

  And on the American political front:

• 2013/01/31: DeSmogBlog: Three States Pushing ALEC Bill To Require Teaching Climate Change Denial In Schools
• 2013/01/31: PolicyMic: 3 States Are Pushing a Bill to Require Teaching Climate Change Denial in Schools
• 2013/01/30: CSM: Georgia nuclear power plant could be Solyndra redux, report says
• 2013/01/31: al Jazeera: Let's not learn to love disaster
  Although many thought Hurricane Sandy was a sufficient alarm, the West simply keeps pushing the snooze button.
• 2013/01/30: TP:JR: ALEC Loses Two Big Names In Clean Power Over Opposition To Renewable Energy Standards
• 2013/01/31: Mercury: Chevron and its allies take aim at California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard
  [...] Chevron and its allies, including the Western States Petroleum Association, are trying to undermine the standard by rallying opposition, financing critical studies and lobbying the Democratic-controlled Legislature, state agencies and Gov. Jerry Brown.
• 2013/01/31: PolicyMic: 3 States Are Pushing a Bill to Require Teaching Climate Change Denial in Schools
• 2013/02/01: Grist: Harvard professor [Theda Skocpol] has it right: U.S. climate push requires intense grassroots support around 'cap-and-dividend' bill
• 2013/01/29: Grist: The unsophisticated reply to the 'sophisticated objection'
• 2013/01/29: BBickmore: Utah Republican Legislator Floats Climate Change Bill...!!!
• 2013/01/29: UPI: Climate change exposes U.S. coastal woes
• 2013/01/28: Grist: Missing the point of the cap-and-trade defeat
• 2013/01/28: CSW: New National Climate Assessment draft report a reminder of the first NCA and the Bush White House denial machine
• 2013/01/28: TP:JR: Thoughts On Energy And Climate Policy In Obama's Second Term by Robert Stavins
• 2013/01/16: MSNBC: Creationism spreading in schools, thanks to vouchers
• 2013/01/27: TMoS: GOP Won't Bend on Climage Change
• 2013/01/26: RSN: Reporting Factory Farms Abuses to Be Considered "Act of Terrorism" If New Laws Pass
• 2013/01/30: CCP: Witch hunt of Charles Monnett, polar bear researcher, still ongoing?
  

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2013/01/31: DeSmogBlog: Record Fines For BP In Gulf Disaster Deal
• 2013/01/29: al Jazeera: US court approves $4bn BP criminal penalty
  The British oil giant must pay another record settlement for it role in the massive oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
• 2013/01/29: USDOJ: BP Exploration and Production Inc. Pleads Guilty, Is Sentenced to Pay Record $4 Billon for Crimes Surrounding Deepwater Horizon Incident
  Court Accepts Guilty Plea to Felony Manslaughter, Environmental Crimes and Obstruction of Congress Prior to Imposing Historic Sentence
• 2013/01/28: EneNews: Video: Huge slick at site of BP disaster in Gulf of Mexico - Visible rainbow sheen and weathered oil not seen for months
  

  Post-Sandy commentary and news:

• 2013/01/29: UCSUSA:B: Rebuilding for Climate Resilience in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy
• 2013/01/29: al Jazeera: US senate passes Sandy aid bill
  Long-delayed $50bn package for victims of last year's storm now goes to President Obama to be signed into law.
• 2013/01/29: TP: 31 Senate Republicans Opposed Sandy Relief After Supporting Disaster Aid For Home States
• 2013/01/29: Wonkette: Senate Approves Sandy Relief, Senate Still Littered With Bastards
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Congress passes $50.5 billion Sandy aid bill
  A long-delayed $US50.5 billion aid package for victims of Superstorm Sandy has finally cleared the United States Senate.
• 2013/01/28: KSJT: Three months after Sandy: What are we supposed to call it?
  

  The Keystone XL saga grinds slowly. And it grinds woe:

• 2013/01/31: ICN: Pressure Builds for Obama to Link Oil Sands Pipelines to Climate Change
• 2013/02/01: BCLSB: Obama Delays Keystone XL Decision
• 2013/02/02: BCLSB: More On Obama Delaying Keystone
• 2013/01/30: ICN: State Dept's Keystone XL Review Will Face EPA Scrutiny a Third Time
  The EPA found serious flaws in two earlier environmental reviews. Soon it will have another opportunity to weigh in, with climate impacts a major concern.
• 2013/01/29: OilChange: Latest pro-Keystone XL letter from Congress once again awash with oil money
• 2013/01/29: TP:JR: Confirmation Of Climate Hawk Kerry As Secretary Of State May Doom Dirty Keystone XL Pipeline
• 2013/01/29: Omaha: Native American groups protest Keystone XL pipeline
• 2013/01/29: Grist: TransCanada accidentally starts building Keystone XL on land it doesn't own
• 2013/01/28: DeSmogBlog: New Video: Keystone XL the "Lynchpin" for Tar Sands Growth
• 2013/01/26: HoustonChronicle: [Injunction] could halt Keystone XL pipeline protests
  [...] The Longview News-Journal reported Saturday ... that lawyers for TransCanada obtained a permanent injunction against Tar Sands Blockade, Rising Tide North America, Rising Tide Texas and others on Friday in Wood County District Court.
• 2013/01/31: CCP: Faulty welds in Keystone XL show DAYLIGHT!!! Put into ground with no further inspection!
  

  With the deficit hawks panicking about the debt, the fiscal cliff, whatever is handy ... there has been talk of a carbon tax solution:

• 2013/01/31: EnvEcon: Conservative economists heart carbon taxes
• 2013/01/31: PSinclair: U.S. voters favor carbon tax by 4-to-1 margin
• 2013/01/31: PSinclair: Carbon Tax Idea Takes Hold in Heartland. Great Minds thinking Alike? or Emerging Strategery? [US pol]
  

  The GOP War on Women continues. See also:

• 2013/02/01: BBC: White House unveils new contraception opt-out
• 2013/02/01: Guardian(UK): Obama compromises with religious leaders over contraception coverage
• 2013/02/01: ACLU: Obama Administration Issues Proposed Contraception Rule
• 2013/01/30: MoJo: Arkansas Advances Anti-Abortion "Heartbeat" Bill -- The bill could effectively criminalize all abortions in the state
• 2013/01/30: RawStory: Plan B Vending Machines Approved By FDA
• 2013/01/29: RawStory: Caught Attacking Rape Victims, Rep. Cathrynn Brown Claims She Only Meant to Punish Those Who Help Rape Victims
  

  DOE head Steven Chu has resigned:

• 2013/02/02: PSinclair: "..we don't want our children to ask, "What were our parents thinking? Didn't they care about us?" Stephen Chu's Farewell
• 2013/02/01: Ph&Ph: Steven Chu Resigns
• 2013/02/01: DOE: Letter from Secretary Steven Chu to Energy Department Employees Announcing His Decision Not to Serve a Second Term
• 2013/02/01: NatureNB: Steven Chu to step down from energy post
• 2013/02/01: ScienceInsider: Steven Chu Resigns as U.S. Energy Secretary
• 2013/02/01: SciAm:Obs: What Will Steven Chu's Energy Legacy Be?
• 2013/02/01: TreeHugger: U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu Steps Down
• 2013/02/01: CCP: Secretary Chu warns we must confront climate change -- Departing Energy secretary offers climate warning
• 2013/02/01: TP:JR: Chu Resigns, Writes Of Our 'Moral Responsibility' For Action Amid Growing Evidence We're Making Weather More Extreme
  

  Now that Obama doesn't need their vote any more, how will Obama treat liberals and their policy issues?

• 2013/01/30: GreenGrok: Obama and Keystone XL: The Moment of Truth?
• 2013/02/01: TP:JR: Inside the President's Climate Toolbox, Part 1
• 2013/01/30: TP:JR: Al Gore Says Obama Could Have Had A Climate Bill, Warns Shale Gas 'May Be A Bridge To Nowhere'
• 2013/02/02: GLaden: The Earth's Climate Does Not Care ... what political party you are a member of...
• 2013/01/28: Grist: What it looks like when Obama's passion spurs him to defy the political odds
• 2013/01/29: NatureN: Obama rekindles climate hopes -- President will use regulations to sidestep stalled Congress
• 2013/01/29: al Jazeera: How serious is Obama about climate change?
  In order to combat climate change, Obama will first have to win support at the national level.
• 2013/01/28: HillHeat: To Deserve Comparisons To Lincoln, Obama Must Confront The Carbonocracy
• 2013/01/28: al Jazeera: Deeds over words: Why Obama's inaugural fell short
  As a speech, Obama's second inaugural address stood out from the historical norm -- but his actions lag far behind.
• 2013/01/27: EconView: Climate Policy in Obama's Second Term
  

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2013/01/30: TheHill:e2W: White House targets oil-and-gas tax breaks as part of plan to replace sequester
  The White House took jabs at oil-and-gas subsidies Wednesday, calling for an end to the incentives as part of a deal to avoid automatic spending cuts from sequestration. "The idea that you need to subsidize an industry that has enjoyed record profits -- that taxpayers have to subsidize it -- just doesn't make sense in a time when we have to make choices about how best to use our resources," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday.
• 2013/01/31: BBerg: EPA Seeks to Increase Renewable Fuel Mandate by 8.9% for 2013
• 2013/01/30: TheHill:e2W: White House targets oil-and-gas tax breaks as part of plan to replace sequester
• 2013/01/31: CSW: Recalling an exchange with Sen. John Kerry about climate change and the Bush White House
• 2013/01/31: UCSUSA: New EPA Rules Use Food Crop Biofuels to Make up for Cellulosic Shortfall
  EPA Should Wait for Cleaner Fuels that Don't Compete with Food
• 2013/02/02: SciAm:Obs: President Obama Awards National Medals of Science and Technology at the White House
• 2013/02/01: ETI:RRapier: EPA Doubles Down on Unicorns
• 2013/02/02: CSW: "Penny-wise and pound-foolish": Weather Service regional director fired after talking about harmful budget cuts
• 2013/01/29: CBC: John Kerry confirmed as U.S. secretary of state
  

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2013/01/30: DeSmogBlog: All Three Senators Who Voted Against John Kerry Are Pro-Keystone XL, Anti-Science, Climate Deniers
• 2013/01/29: TheHill:e2W: Senior GOP lawmakers demand private emails from EPA official
• 2013/01/30: ICN: Dems Plan to Attack Oil Subsidies in Sequester Fight
• 2013/01/28: Grist: Marco Rubio: 'Changing the weather' isn't something government can do
• 2013/01/29: DeSmogBlog: Congressmen Supporting LNG Exports Received $11.5 Million From Big Oil, Electric Utilities
  

  While in the UK:

• 2013/02/01: Guardian(UK): Al Gore attacks George Osborne's 'short-sighted' approach to climate
  Former US vice president says the chancellor is wrong on rhetoric that business and environment are in conflict
• 2013/01/31: RTCC: Al Gore: UK leaders 'seriously misinformed' about climate change
• 2013/01/31: BBC: 'No sell-off' for public forests
  [Public opposition to plans to sell off forests forced the government to withdraw its proposals] The government has announced that it will not sell off publicly owned forests in England. It says it will create a new public body that will hold in trust the nation's forests for future generations. Environment Secretary Owen Paterson was responding to a report that called the estate a "national asset" that should not be sold off.
• 2013/01/31: BBC: A select committee of MPs has said the government needs to take urgent action to reduce the impact of flooding
• 2013/01/31: Guardian(UK): 60 years since devastation in East Anglia, we face a new risk from the sea
• 2013/01/31: Guardian(UK): Devastation on England's east coast after 1953's 'Big Flood' - in [22] pictures
• 2013/01/30: BBC: Cumbria nuclear project rejected by councillors
• 2013/01/29: RTCC: Scotland the brave reveals new climate targets
  Scotland has announced a series of ambitious climate change targets including an 80% decarbonisation goal for the electricity production.
• 2013/01/28: BBC: 'Energy efficiency' Green Deal launched by government
• 2013/01/28: BBC: Cumbria nuclear waste dump: What are councils considering?
  Britain needs to find a site for the long-term underground disposal of high-level radioactive waste. With some of it staying dangerous for up to 100,000 years, the government's agreed solution is to bury it - permanently. Three Cumbria councils are due to vote on Wednesday on whether to proceed to the next stage in the process of investigating whether such a facility would be possible - and safe - in the county.
• 2013/01/28: BBC: HS2: High-speed rail route phase two details announced
  

  And in Europe:

• 2013/02/01: EurActiv: Romania reverses course on shale gas
  In a widely expected U-turn, Romanian authorities yesterday (31 January) gave the American energy giant Chevron the certificates it needed to start exploring for shale gas in the eastern part of the country.
• 2013/02/01: EurActiv: WHO air pollution review prompts new EU policy promises
  The European Commission has promised a review of the EU's clean air standards later this year after new research by the World health Organization (WHO) suggested links between air pollution and health conditions ranging from neurodevelopment disorders to cardiovascular and respiratory deaths.
• 2013/02/01: ScienceInsider: Fully Fund Research, European Industrial Leaders Say
• 2013/01/31: ScienceInsider: European Commission Wants to Restrict Potentially Bee-Harming Pesticides
• 2013/01/30: Guardian(UK): Lights out - France to force shops and offices to go dark overnight
• 2013/02/01: RTCC: EU chief Barroso eyes 40% emissions reductions target
• 2013/01/29: DerSpiegel: Risky Investments : Berlin Wants To Cap Renewables Subsidies
  Environment Minister Peter Altmaier wants to limit the cost of Germany's green energy revolution by capping subsidies for renewable energy. The plan, aimed at halting a recent surge in electricity bills, faces likely rejection from a political opposition that views the move as a clever ploy to win votes in the next election.
• 2013/01/28: DerSpiegel: Stuttgart 21 May Yet Fail : Berlin Alarmed at Surging Cost of Rail Project
  After news that a massive new train station in Stuttgart would come in at more than 2 billion euros over budget, the German government is now questioning whether the much-contested project can even be concluded.
• 2013/01/29: NatureNB: Bulgarian science minister fired over mismanagement scandal
• 2013/01/29: ScienceInsider: Top Bulgarian Science Officials Sacked
• 2013/01/28: EurActiv: Offshore wind farm plans blown off course by recession
  Europe's new offshore wind farm builds are nearly 1,000 megawatts (MW) behind targets, the equivalent of 330 turbines, an industry report says.
• 2013/01/28: EurActiv: Brussels mandates roll-out of electric-car 'recharging points'
  The EU has pledged a huge expansion of infrastructure for electric vehicles with binding targets to multiply the number of Europe's charging stations, part of a new strategy to kickstart Europe's low-carbon automotive industry.
• 2013/01/28: BBerg: Germany Breaks Clean-Energy Taboo in Attack on Power Price Surge
  

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2013/02/03: ABC(Au): Qld needs 'good investments' in flood mitigation
• 2013/02/03: JQuiggin: Emergencies and luxuries
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Flood-hit Queenslanders may be moved to higher ground
  The Queensland Government has raised the prospect of abandoning some flood-prone areas and relocating residents and businesses to higher ground. It was a strategy employed in the Lockyer Valley town of Grantham, where the 2011 floods claimed more than a dozen lives.
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Power price deregulation comes into effect
  The South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) has cautiously welcomed further deregulation of the electricity market that has come into effect today. The state's energy watchdog, the Essential Services Commission (ESCOSA), no longer has the power to control the standing contract price for electricity and gas. In December, the Government announced it would allow default retailer AGL and Origin Energy to set prices, in return for AGL dropping legal action against the commission.
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): [NSW] PAC approves Tarrawonga expansion
  The Planning Assessment Commission has approved the expansion of the Tarrawonga Coal Mine near Boggabri. Tarrawonga is a joint-venture between Whitehaven Coal and Idemitsu. The mining companies have received approval to extract an extra one-million tonnes of coal per year from their open-cut operation, raising the annual total to three-million tonnes. The life of the mine has also been extended to 2030, with the mine allowed to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Bundaberg residents hear flood update
  Some North Bundaberg residents will be allowed to inspect their flood-ravaged homes and businesses this afternoon. Almost 1,000 people attended this morning's meeting at the Moncrief Theatre to hear the latest update from the Bundaberg disaster committee. Residents living in North Bundaberg have been told the flood damage in the area is dire.
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Unions say job cuts hobbled flood response
  Unions say public sector job cuts have hindered the flood disaster response. The Electrical Trades Union says power could have been restored earlier in many places if Ergon and Energex had more staff. Paramedics and firefighters say more staff are needed to deal with the emergency demand. John Oliver of the United Firefighters' Union says the flooded communities need more emergency workers.
• 2013/01/31: PlanetJ: Liberals Part 5: Are they hiding a radical agenda?
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): More coal exports out of Bunbury
  There are plans for more than a million tonnes of extra coal to be shipped out of Bunbury port in Western Australia over the next few years. If the proposal goes ahead, Indian mining company Lanco Infratech will start exporting from Collie as early as April. Lanco, which owns Griffin Coal, plans to spend $1.2 million developing the rail, shipping and export infrastructure at the port. About 3 million tonnes of coal is mined at Collie per year and used locally for power generation, but the company plans to ramp output up to 20 million tonnes by 2017.
• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au): Police arrest MP Craig Thomson on fraud charges
• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au): PM tours flooded Bundaberg as clean-up continues
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Black Saturday south-west compo looms
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Greens call for permanent disaster fund
  Greens leader Christine Milne is urging the Government to establish a permanent disaster recovery fund, arguing that extreme weather events will become more frequent because of climate change. Recent bushfires across several states and severe flooding in Queensland and New South Wales have caused extensive damage to homes and buildings as well as road infrastructure. Treasurer Wayne Swan says it is too early to calculate the cost of dealing with the latest natural disasters because authorities are still dealing with the emergency situation facing several communities. Queensland Premier Campbell Newman yesterday suggested a flood levy, similar to the one introduced after the 2011 floods, may need to be considered. But Senator Milne is pushing for a more long-term solution.
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Ethanol plant plans
  Tasmania could become home to Australia's first commercial plant converting trees into the biofuel, ethanol.
• 2013/01/28: ABC(Au): Climate science has already proved its worth
  Research into Australia's unique climate has proven invaluable in dealing with bushfires and other extreme weather threats, writes Fred Hilmer. Shouldn't we also listen to what it says about global warming?
• 
  

  The carbon bill is law. The Aus-EU ETS is codified. Now come the practicalities...and the finagling:

   

• 2013/02/01: TheConversation: Fact check: is Australia destroying its economy by going it alone on carbon pricing?
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Businesses overestimate carbon tax costs
  A survey has found many businesses believe the carbon tax has increased their costs by far more than it actually has.
• 
  

  Well Julia called an election for next September and a couple ministers resigned:

   

• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): Julia Gillard calls September 14 federal election
• 2013/02/02: BBC: Two senior Australian ministers have announced surprise resignations, only days after Prime Minister Julia Gillard called early elections
• 2013/02/03: ABC(Au): Gillard's new frontbench set to be sworn in
• 2013/02/02: ABC(Au): PM announces reshuffle after Evans, Roxon quit
• 2013/02/02: ABC(Au): Live coverage: Roxon, Evans quit Gillard's Cabinet
  Attorney-General Nicola Roxon and Senate leader Chris Evans have stood down from their portfolios, triggering a major Cabinet reshuffle eight months out from the federal election. Ms Roxon will move to the backbench until the election then leave politics, creating a vacancy in her safe Melbourne seat of Gellibrand, while Senator Evans says he will leave the Senate within months. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been forced to reshuffle the Cabinet, moving Mark Dreyfus into the Attorney-General's role. She told reporters in Canberra this will be the team she takes to the September 14 election.
• 2013/02/02: ABC(Au): Roxon, Evans expected to quit politics
  Senate leader Chris Evans is reportedly set to resign from Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Cabinet, while Attorney-General Nicola Roxon is expected to announce she will retire from politics after the September election. The shock revelations, set to trigger a Cabinet reshuffle, come just two days after the Prime Minister announced the federal election would take place on September 14.
• 2013/02/01: WSWS: Australian opposition leader commits to austerity election campaign
  Opposition leader Tony Abbott delivered a speech at the National Press Club yesterday, effectively launching the Liberal-National coalition's campaign for the September 14 federal election. His address, following on from the speech delivered by Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the same venue a day earlier, made clear that the unprecedented seven-month election campaign will be dominated by the major parties' plans to slash public spending, eliminate social programs, and advance the ruthless austerity agenda demanded by the financial elite.
• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): 2013 Australian federal election: When is it?
• 2013/02/03: ABC(Au): Albanese defends Government after dramatic week
  Transport Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the stability of the Government after a dramatic week which has seen resignations, an election announcement and the arrest of former Labor MP Craig Thomson.
• 
  

  After years of wrangling the Murray Darling Basin plan is in place. Now the real fight begins:

   

• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Flood communities could follow Grantham and relocate
  In Queensland, the Government has raised the prospect of abandoning some flood prone areas and relocating residents and businesses to higher ground. It was a strategy employed in the Lockyer Valley town of Grantham, after the 2011 floods claimed more than a dozen lives there.
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): New SA water minister blames NSW for Basin Authority cuts
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Murray-Darling floodplains struggling to recover from dry weather
• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au): Mayor wants superpipe turned back on
  Moorabool Mayor Pat Toohey is calling for the Goldfields Superpipe to be turned back on, to increase flows into the Moorabool River. The $180 million superpipe links Ballarat to the Goulburn River system through Bendigo and was completed in 2008. It was turned off in 2010 because of adequate rainfall but councillor Toohey says parts of the river are currently dry.
• 2013/01/30: TheConversation: Queensland floods: motivation to get flood planning right
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): MP concerned over Menindee Lakes draw-down
  A local Nationals MP [John Williams] says Menindee is being damaged by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority taking over management of the Menindee Lakes.
• 2013/02/02: ABC(Au): Rain ends dry spell for wetlands
  The recent rain in northern New South Wales couldn't have come at a better time for the region's wetlands. After a hot, dry summer they were empty and in desperate need of water.
• 
  

  And in India, note the use of the duplicitous concept "emissions intensity":

   

• 2013/01/31: Yahoo:ANI: India to meet domestic mitigation goal of reducing emissions by 2020: PM
  Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday said India is committed to meeting its domestic mitigation goal of reducing the emissions intensity of our GDP by 20-25 percent by 2020.
• 2013/02/01: DD: January 2013 may be worst Beijing smog ever recorded - New Delhi air pollution exceeds even Beijing's
  

  While in China:

• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Calls for action on Beijing's hazardous air
• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): Beijing's toxic smog at dangerous levels
• 2013/01/31: S&R: China changes its mind on food
  In something of a Big Deal, it has emerged that China no longer will pursue the goal of being self-sufficient in food. According to the South China Morning Post, Chen Xiwen, who is the director of the rural affairs policy-making committee of the Communist Party, and who therefore presumably knows a thing or two, the policy of self-sufficiency laid out with great fanfare in 1978 won't work anymore.
• 2013/01/29: CNN: Beijing choking on thick smog -- again
• 2013/01/29: RTCC: Beijing business leaders call for clean air act
• 2013/01/29: CBC: Beijing smog prompts warnings, flight cancellations
• 2013/01/28: DD: China's environment: An economic death sentence
  

  And elsewhere in Asia:

• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Tonga looks to 50 per cent renewables [by 2020]
  

  While in Africa:

• 2013/02/01: Guardian(UK): Mali conflict with Islamists halts climate adaptation projects
  

  In Canada, neocon PM Harper pushes petroleum while ignoring climate change:

• 2013/02/01: MSimon: Stephen Harper and the Con Deniers
• 2013/02/01: TheCanadian: Environment Canada Lets Polluters Off the Hook with Warnings
• 2013/01/31: TMoS: The Mental Illness of Canada's Parliament
  Anyone who believes that selling the world's most carbon-intensive petroleum is a good thing must embrace certain irrational beliefs or suffer the pangs of cognitive dissonance.
• 2013/01/30: TMoS: Is Harper Begging for Trouble?
• 2013/01/29: G&M: Environment Canada on chopping block, Elizabeth May says
  Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says senior sources who would lose their jobs if they went public have told her that the Conservative government is planning to eliminate the federal environment department and merge any remaining functions with Natural Resources Canada. The government categorically denied the suggestion.
• 2013/01/28: HarperWatch: Harper Watch January 22 to 28, 2013
• 2013/01/29: TRN: Global Mining and Tar Sands Oil Drive Canadian Foreign Policy
• 2013/01/28: TheCanadian: Environmental 'Process' a Myth in Stephen Harper's Canada
• 2013/01/28: HillTimes: Environment commissioner 'spinning wheels' in top post, quits two years early
  Canada's Environment Commissioner Scott Vaughan is being praised for professionalism, but colleagues say a lack of federal engagement on environmental issues contributed to early departure.
• 2013/01/27: TMoS: Did Harper Give China a Toehold to Canada's Arctic Resources?
  

  The IdleNoMore movement is changing:

• 2013/02/02: CBC: Young members of Cree community make long trek to Ottawa [in support of the Idle No More movement]
• 2013/02/01: CPW: First Nations' statement of assertion of Aboriginal rights and title
• 2013/02/01: PostMedia: Idling Harper
  [...]
  The Idle No More activists are correct in claiming that their protests are not just for themselves but for all Canadians. The omnibus measures in C-38 and C-45 that show a contemptuous and autocratic disregard for legally binding treaty obligations parallel the Prime Minister's disregard for Canada's democratic and parliamentary traditions, a matter that should be of concern to every citizen of this country.
  The Idle No More movement is so diverse and amorphous that it will be difficult to control by the Prime Minister and his powerful PMO. Such a vague and unfocused opponent will be an elusive target for Stephen Harper's vindictiveness. A restless and evolving movement with a wide range of demands will be impossible to manipulate with his secretive strategies. So Stephen Harper's suspicious nature will be forced to confront a dilemma of his own making. Charisma is not going to solve this problem. And if frustration should activate the morose streak in his character, he can stew in it until the end of First Nations' patience - which could be a very long time.
• 2013/01/31: LoE: Not the Serenity Prayer
• 2013/02/01: CPW: Fractured Land: A Dene warrior battles Big Oil and neo-colonialism
• 2013/02/02: CPW: CASWE and CASW joint statement supporting Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island
• 2013/01/28: TheCanadian: Elizabeth May, Grand Chief Phillip, Damien Gillis Talk Enbridge, Energy Issues in Kelowna
• 2013/01/30: al Jazeera: 'Idle No More' and colonial Canada
  Activists call to reenvision Canada's relations with its indigenous people.
• 2013/01/28: CPW: "Common Causes" launches with actions in 25 Canadian cities, support for Idle No More
• 2013/01/28: CBC: House returns as Idle No More protesters gather
  

  Just so there is no confusion what the Harper gang really thinks of the IdleNoMore movement:

• 2013/01/30: TStar: Conservative MP [Royal Galipeau (Ottawa-Orleans)] and Senator [Patrick Brazeau] belittle Chief Theresa Spence, Idle No More movement
  Two members of Stephen Harper's Conservative caucus -- an elected MP and a senator -- publicly disparaged the Idle No More movement and Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence at a fundraising dinner for a provincial candidate Tuesday.
• 2013/01/31: NorRe: A Man Of His Word?
• 2013/01/31: TStar: Conservatives sidestep criticism about mocking of Chief Theresa Spence
• 2013/01/31: BuckDog: It Starts ... Harper And The Conservatives Get Back At Aboriginal And First Nations People For Acting Up ...
• 2013/01/31: TheCanadian: Idling Harper: Why First Nations Movement Poses Genuine Threat to PM
  

  Questions and debate about offshore and Arctic drilling continue:

• 2013/01/30: CBC: Polluters to face greater liability for offshore drilling spills
  

  Remember CNOOC?

• 2013/01/29: CBC: 3 Conservative MPs raised concerns about CNOOC-Nexen deal -- MP Harold Albrecht called sale 'an example of the most unfair trade possible'
  Three Conservative MPs wrote to the prime minister and the industry minister to raise concerns about the contentious takeover of Calgary-based oil and gas producer Nexen by a Chinese state-run company, the CBC has learned. Documents obtained by CBC News Network's Power & Politics through Access to Information reveal strong opposition to the $15.1 billion deal from key industry people and the Conservative backbenches.
• 
  

  The Liberal party leadership race is getting louder:

   

• 2013/01/31: PunditsGuide: Trudeau Q4 Fundraising Juggernaut Signals Beginning of the End of the Liberal Leadership Race
• 2013/01/29: PostMedia: Justin Trudeau backs Alberta's call for Canadian energy strategy -- Grit leadership hopeful wants all provinces at the table
  Liberal leadership candidate Justin Trudeau said Monday he's in favour of a pan-Canadian energy strategy to develop the country's resources. The Papineau MP joked with a Calgary crowd he "won't use the words national, energy or program" - referring to the reviled National Energy Program of his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau. But Trudeau said Alberta Premier Alison Redford was on the right track with her call for a Canadian energy strategy that would involve provinces co-operating in areas such as research and development, regulation and the opening of new markets.
• 
  

  The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

   

• 2013/02/02: NI: 16 year-old talks to NEB Enbridge hearings
• 2013/02/01: PostMedia: CN's crude oil-by-rail plan increases risk of spills, fatalities, say opponents
  Opponents of the Northern Gateway pipeline are threatening to turn their sights on CN Rail, as at least one Alberta oil company explores the possibility of transporting oilsands crude to the B.C. coast by rail car. Sixteen environmental groups signed a letter sent to Canadian National CEO Claude Mongeau this week to express opposition to any plans to ship product from the Alberta oilsands west by rail.
• 2013/01/31: CBC: Kalamazoo spill was 'most disgusting thing,' says Michigan resident
• 2013/01/31: MetroNews:Van: Kalamazoo River spill survivor testifies at Vancouver Enbridge hearings
• 2013/02/01: BCLSB: An Oil Spill Will... Pt II
• 2013/01/31: BCLSB: An Oil Spill Will...
• 2013/02/02: DeSmogBlog: 16 Year Old Testifies on Northern Gateway: What the Hell Were You Thinking?
• 2013/01/28: ICN: Enbridge Resisting Final Clean-Up of Its Michigan Oil Spill
  EPA demands some dredging of Kalamazoo River, but the Canadian company responsible for the million gallon spill is objecting. Clean-up is in its 3rd year.
• 2013/01/28: BCLSB: Enbridge Tries To Screw Kalamazoo
  

  And the Kinder Morgan expansion:

• 2013/01/29: TMoS: Kinder Morgan's Bold Play - to triple its existing pipeline capacity
  

  And on the fabled West-East line:

• 2013/02/02: WpgFP: Energy minister [Oliver] solidifies federal acceptance of west-to-east oil pipeline
• 2013/02/02: CBC: Ottawa gives nod to west-to-east oil pipeline -- Pipeline could benefit Irving refinery in Saint John
  The federal government is firming up its support of two projects that would see oil from Alberta piped to Atlantic Canada. Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said he gave a tentative nod to one proposal in a meeting with industry giant Irving Oil.
• 
  

  Backbenchers? Is this orchestrated?

   

• 2013/02/01: SixthEstate: Conservatives Launch New Assault on Abortion Rights
• 2013/02/01: WpgFP: Back door to abortion debate closed -- PM decries Tory MPs' call for homicide probe
• 2013/02/01: CPW: The Ugly Canadian: Three Male Anti-Women's Rights Harper Conservative MPs
  

  The ISA/PRV/IHN/Alpha virus in Canadian waters is potentially disastrous:

• 2013/02/01: TStar: Infected salmon declared fit for human consumption by Canadian Food Inspection Agency
  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has approved a quarter million Nova Scotia salmon infected with the ISA virus for human consumption, but the U.S. won't take the fish.
• 2013/02/01: AlexandraMorton: ISA virus on your table - an act of desperation
• 2013/01/31: CBC: Deadly fish [ISA] virus renews calls for land-based farming -- Virus is highly contagious but not a threat to human health
  There are renewed calls for land-based salmon farming following a controversial decision by federal authorities to allow an open-pen fish farm to continue raising salmon infected with a highly contagious fish disease. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency recently allowed Cooke Aquaculture to continue to raise open-pen salmon after they contracted infectious salmon anemia (ISA). The Atlantic Salmon Federation says due to the contagious nature of the disease, the decision poses a risk to wild salmon in the region. Bill Taylor, the federation's president, said in the absence of strict guidelines to eradicate ISA in Atlantic waters, the next best option is to move farmed fish to land-based tanks.
• 2013/01/30: AlexandraMorton: The CFIA ALMOST released news that ISA virus is in BC
• 2013/01/28: AlexandraMorton: CFIA loses control of ISA virus in eastern Canada
• 2013/01/28: CBC: CFIA switches gears to preventing deadly salmon virus
  Infectious salmon anemia is deadly to fish, but is not a risk to human health The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has determined it cannot eradicate infectious salmon anemia in Atlantic waters, leading officials to start stressing the importance of preventing the deadly virus.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/02/02: TheCanadian: Rafe's Welcome Letter to New Sun & Province Publisher
• 2013/01/30: CBC: BC Hydro backs down on smart meter installation -- Crown corporation says it will work with remaining 85,000 hold-outs
• 2013/01/29: CBC: Chinese miners sent home in B.C. workers dispute -- HD Mining says it has also delayed plans to bring more miners from China
  

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2013/02/01: CBC: Kearl oilsands project price tag increases by $2B
  The first phase of Imperial Oil Ltd.'s Kearl oilsands mine will cost $2 billion more than previously expected as the company faced issues transporting Korean-made modules to the mine site in northern Alberta and contended with harsh weather during startup. The first 110,000-barrel-per-day phase will now cost $12.9 billion, up from a previous estimate of $10.9 billion.
• 2013/02/01: CBC: Canadian diplomats defend oilsands at Maine municipal meetings
  Boston Consul General Pat Binns made a presentation on a Portland city council resolution
• 2013/01/31: PostMedia: After a harsh lesson in crude economics, new pipelines now biggest issue for country, says Enbridge CEO
  The current rock-bottom price for Canadian crude in the U.S. market is the No. 1 challenge facing the country today, leaving governments short of revenue and possibly leading to a big slowdown in future oilsands investment, the head of pipeline-builder Enbridge said Wednesday.
• 2013/02/01: BWeek: Why Canada Oil-Sands Industry Wants CO2 Tax Harper Hates: Energy
• 2013/01/31: CBC: Science journal offers support for Keystone XL pipeline
• 2013/01/31: PI: Vanquishing the "bitumen bubble" will require fresh ideas, not business as usual
• 2013/01/28: PI: [link to 3.1 meg pdf] Beneath the Surface -- A review of key facts in the oilsands debate
• 2013/01/29: TheCanadian: Economist Robyn Allan Burst Tar Sands Boosters' Bitumen Bubble
• 2013/01/29: Tyee: Canadian Oil Producers' Crocodile Tears -- Two reasons why claims that pipeline resistance hurts their bottom line are, well, crude at best
• 2013/01/29: DeSmogBlog: Ethical Oil Doublespeak Is Polluting Canada's Public Square
  

  Also in Alberta:

• 2013/01/30: TheCanadian: Oil, China and Why David Emerson Wants Alberta to Start Paying Taxes
  

  In Manitoba:

• 2013/01/28: BRitholtz: 27 Below 0°F; 45 Below 0°F Wind Chill
  

  Dalton is gone. Wynne is in. Now what happens?

• 2013/01/30: TStar: Scary: Toronto Councillor Norm Kelly doesn't believe in climate change
  That Norm Kelly still doesn't believe in climate change might be funny if he wasn't in charge of directing the city's plans to mitigate against itits effects.
• 2013/01/29: NatPo: Climate-change believers clash with skeptics as city hall plans for 'volatile' weather of the future
• 2013/01/29: BCLSB: T.O. Weather, Circa 2040
• 2013/01/27: Guardian(UK): Canadian woman makes history as first gay province leader
  Kathleen Wynne's successful bid to become Ontario premier means country's four most powerful provinces are female-led
• 
  

  In the Maritimes:

   

• 2013/01/30: CBC: Lobster size not a conservation issue: DFO -- New Brunswick fishermen want to increase minimum size of lobster
• 2013/02/01: CBC: Alward commits $80M for innovation agenda -- Premier David Alward pitches national pipeline in state of the province speech
• 2013/01/31: CBC: Discovery of Labrador deep-water basins announced -- News may spur new oil and gas exploration off remote coast Nalcor Energy is excited about the discovery of three new deep-water basins in the Labrador Sea -- basins that could contain oil.
  

  As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2013/02/02: CPW: Sierra Club Canada statement on civil disobedience
  

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

• 2013/01/30: P3: Gore on the Obsolescence of Work-Based Income
• 2013/01/31: CCurrents: Against Growth: A Conversation With Economist Joshua Farley
  Given the relation between economic production and ecological degradation, Joshua Farley is convinced that economic growth must stop. It is just a question of when. And whether cooperation will displace competition as the dominant concept in the economic paradigm.
• 2013/01/29: Grist: The secret to the sharing economy: 'You don't want the drill ... you want the hole'
• 2013/01/27: GreenLeft: Earthworker: Workers create climate solutions
• 2013/01/27: NakedCapitalism: Brian Fey "Solving the Human Problem on Earth" with Permaculture in the Bosque Village
  

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

• 2013/02/01: Guardian(UK): Turkish law will make legal abortion impossible, say campaigners
• 2013/01/29: BPA: PNAS Study: Population Growth Will be Constrained by the Limits of Trading Virtual Water (Food)
  

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2013/02/02: ERabett: The Bitch Always Gets Her Money Back
• 2013/02/01: NorRe: A Time For Sublime Madness
  

  So what do we do?

• 2013/01/28: CassandrasLegacy: Plant trees, disband the army, work together: the Tuscan way of escaping the growth trap
  

  How do the media measure up?

• 2013/02/02: CCP: [New York Times reporter] Justin Gillis speaks of need for more climate change reporting
• 2013/02/02: JEB: Putting the "die" into "dialogue"
• 2013/02/01: CJR: Sheen before green -- Entertainment news outstrips environment news 3-to-1
• 2013/01/27: TP:JR: Shameless Flameout: Washington Post Once Again Publishes George Will's Anti-Scientific Nonsense
• 2013/01/27: Tamino: Willful Ignorance
• 2013/01/29: MediaMatters: Fox Promotes Debunked Claim That Scientists Exaggerated Climate Change
  

  While activists search for effective communication techniques:

• 2013/01/29: JFleck: advice for climate communicators
• 2013/01/28: TreeHugger: Why Environmentalists Need to Talk More About the Basics and Stop Skipping Steps
  

  Here is something for your library:

• 2013/01/27: Resilience: Energy literacy through an astonishing coffee table book
  [Book Plug] _Energy: Overdevelopment and the Delusion of Endless Growth_ edited by Tom Butler & George Wuerthner
• 
  

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

   

• 2013/01/31: PSinclair: Jason Box: Can We Save Greenland?
• 2013/01/31: PSinclair: Stop Subsidizing Coal Barons
• 2013/01/30: AFTIC: Martian melting
• 2013/01/29: Grist: Colbert skewers the climate fatalism caucus
• 2013/02/02: GLaden: The Earth's Climate Does Not Care ... what political party you are a member of...
• 2013/02/02: NI: 16 year-old talks to NEB Enbridge hearings
• 2013/01/28: CCP: NRDC: New video explains the climate threat from the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline
• 2013/01/29: Tamino: Just say NO to Keystone XL Pipeline
• 2013/01/29: PSinclair: Video: Stop the Keystone Pipeline. Stop Tar Sands Development.
• 2013/01/29: PSinclair: The Sahara Forest Project
• 2013/01/28: GLaden: Weekly Weather Roundup
• 2013/01/27: GLaden: Jennifer Francis at the Weather and Climate Summit
• 2013/01/27: CCP: Jennifer Francis Unchained, Breckenridge, January 2013
  

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent. See also:

• 2013/01/31: CBC: Big 3 potash miners to pay around $100M to settle U.S. antitrust cases -- PotashCorp, Agrium, Mosaic deny any wrongdoing
• 2013/01/28: Reuters: Former Ecuador judge on Chevron case says plaintiffs bribed court
  Chevron uses ex-judge's statement in US court challenge - Oil company says Ecuadorean judgment obtained through fraud - Plaintiff's attorney calls ex-judge "scoundrel" paid by Chevron
• 2013/01/28: ScienceInsider: Court Strikes Down EPA Renewable Fuel Rule
  

  Among the non-members of Gamblers Anonymous:

• 2013/02/01: TMoS: In Britain, They're Betting on Extinction [of certain fish stocks]
  

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

• 2013/02/01: TheConversation:Hard habit to break: getting out of our energy wasting ways
• 2013/01/30: Grist: The cost of not using renewable energy
• 2013/01/29: TBAS: Reality check
• 2013/01/31: PeakEnergy: Geothermal plant cost potentially cut by 50% [by shifting to a single well model]
• 2013/01/29: TheConversation: Living off-the-grid is possible, but it's not enough to fix climate change
• 2013/01/28: CSM: Energy literacy: visualizing the impacts of unlimited growth
  

  What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?

• 2013/01/29: TP:JR: New ERCOT Report Shows Texas Wind And Solar Are Highly Competitive With Natural Gas
  

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

• 2013/02/01: EurActiv: Romania reverses course on shale gas
• 2013/01/29: EgyptIndependent: Is fracking responsible for the flooding of an Upper Egyptian village?
• 2013/01/29: TimesUnion: Faith leaders join the fight against fracking
• 2013/01/30: CCP: MoJo: The surprising connection between fracking and food
  

  On the coal front:

• 2013/02/01: ABC(Au): [NSW] PAC approves Tarrawonga expansion
• 2013/01/31: Resilience: The Beehive Collective creates a buzz about the true costs of coal
• 2013/01/29: Grist: Almost half of all coal burned in the world is burned in China
  

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2013/02/01: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Dated Brent Spot....116.50
  WTI Cushing Spot.....97.77
• 2013/01/30: EarlyWarning: 2012 Liquid Fuel Supply
  We now have December data for global liquid fuel production, which allows us to see the whole year. What has been striking about 2012 is that oil production has been remarkably flat, with no significant rise across the year...
• 2013/01/30: OilDrum: Oil Watch: Drill Baby Drill
• 2013/01/29: ABC(Au): Shell plans US export of gas to Asian markets
• 2013/01/28: CSM: Dow Chemical withdraws from natural gas export project
• 2013/01/28: CSM: Why the premium for Brent oil won't last
• 2013/01/22: Zawya: Saudi Aramco plans record rig count this year -sources
  Saudi Aramco plans use a record number of rigs this year, more than 170, to search for unconventional gas while drilling for oil needed to maintain the world's biggest spare capacity cushion, three industry sources in Saudi Arabia said.
• 2013/01/28: ICN: Refiners Reap Gains of U.S. Shale Oil Boom
• 2013/01/28: NatureN: Minor oil spills are often bigger than reported
  Remote imaging finds official number of Gulf of Mexico slicks is correct, but size not always is.
• 
  

  In the gas and oil corps:

   

• 2013/02/01: TP:JR: Exxon, Chevron Made $71 Billion Profit In 2012 As Consumers Paid Record Gas Prices
• 2013/01/31: TP:JR: Follow The Money: Royal Dutch Shell And ConocoPhillips Made A Whopping $35 Billion In 2012
• 2013/01/31: BBC: Royal Dutch Shell profits hit by oil price volatility
  Annual profits at Royal Dutch Shell have fallen to $27bn (£17bn), from $28.6bn in 2011.
• 2013/02/01: BBerg: Chevron Fourth-Quarter Profit Hits Record as Refining Surges
  Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. energy company, said fourth-quarter profit increased 41 percent to a record $7.25 billion as it reported stronger refining results and a gain from an Australian natural gas field swap.
• 
  

  Regarding oil and the economy:

   

• 2013/01/28: OilDrum: Ten Reasons Why High Oil Prices are a Problem
  

  And in pipeline news:

• Wiki: Trans Adriatic Pipeline
• Wiki: Nabucco Pipeline
• 2013/01/31: EurActiv: Race between Nabucco and TAP pipeline hots up
  Representatives of Nabucco and TAP, the rival pipelines planned to carry gas from the Shah Deniz II offshore field in Azerbaijan, both told EurActiv they were in a better position to obtain the contract. A decision by Azerbaijan is expected in June.
• 2013/01/31: FT via Archive: Pakistan to build $1.5bn Iran pipeline
  Pakistan has decided to go ahead with a controversial $1.5bn pipeline to import Iranian gas, a senior government official has said, in a move that risks alienating the US. "A decision has been made that we can't delay this project for any longer. This is Pakistan's essential lifeline. We are going ahead with this project," the official ...
• 2013/02/02: CSM: How do you spot a leaking oil pipeline?
• 2013/01/28: BCLSB: Enbridge Tries To Screw Kalamazoo
  

  Marvelous. Now the USA can have their own Mechanical Mordor:

• 2013/02/01: Resilience: Gas flaring at Bakken and Eagle Ford
• 2013/01/28: OilChange: US Gas Flaring Visible from Space
  

  A rush of American triumphalism pervades the energy independence PR campaign. Think it will last?

• 2013/02/01: DerSpiegel: Full Throttle Ahead: US Tips Global Power Scales with Fracking
  The United States is sitting on massive natural gas and oil reserves that have the potential to shift the geopolitical balance in its favor. Worries are increasing in Russia and the Arab states of waning influence and falling market prices.
• 
  

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

   

• 2012/10/04: EngineeringNews: Opec believed to overstate oil reserves by 70%
  

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2013/01/31: USDA:ARS: Corn Cobs Eyed for Bioenergy Production
• 2013/01/31: AutoBG: Audi to produce e-gas, its own synthetic fuel using wind, solar and captured CO2
• 2013/01/30: CSM: Unicorns and biofuels: the case against EPA ethanol mandates
• 2013/01/29: ETI:RRapier: Why I Don't Ride a Unicorn to Work
• 2013/02/01: ETI:RRapier: EPA Doubles Down on Unicorns
• 2013/01/30: LBL: Biofuels Blend Right In -- Researchers Show Ionic Liquids Effective for Pre-Treating Mixed Blends of Biofuel Feedstocks
  

  The answer my friend...:

• 2013/01/31: TP:JR: Filling The Sails Of Offshore Wind Energy
• 2013/01/29: SciAm:PI: The Quest for Vertical Axis Wind Turbines Despite Failures
• 2013/01/28: EurActiv: Offshore wind farm plans blown off course by recession
  

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2013/02/01: IOTD: Solar Farm in Dunhuang
• 2013/01/30: TreeHugger: How the Rural Poor Are Becoming a Market for Solar Power
• 2013/01/30: NBF: Trapping sunlight with microbeads for thinner and cheaper solar cells
• 2013/01/28: KSJT: Grist: This just in - spinning conical solar modules could out-do coal as cheap electrical source. Hmmm - heard this before?
• 2013/01/29: TreeHugger: Using Darwin to Develop More Efficient Solar Panels
• 2013/01/28: TreeHugger: New Silicon Crystal Process Could Be Breakthrough for Cheaper Solar Energy
  

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2013/01/30: CSM: Georgia nuclear power plant could be Solyndra redux, report says
• 2013/02/02: APR: SCE provides response to NRC questions
• 2013/01/29: EneNews: Analyst: "The Slow Demise of U.S. Nuclear Power" -- 40 reactors could be closed
• 2013/01/29: APR: NGNP [Next-Generation Nuclear Plant] Alliance receives DOE contract
• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): China to be third largest nuclear power
  China's rapid rollout of nuclear power may have slowed since the Fukushima crisis in Japan, but there is enough reactor construction in the pipeline to make it the world's third-largest nuclear-powered nation in the next three years.
• 2013/01/21: Cryptome: Pantex Megadeath Nuclear Plant Safety Culture
  

  Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

• 2013/01/30: BBC: Cumbria nuclear project rejected by councillors
  Plans to look for a site for a £12bn underground nuclear waste store in Cumbria have been rejected. Cumbria County Council vetoed an advanced "stage four" search for a site for the radioactive waste facility.
• 2013/01/28: BBC: Cumbria nuclear waste dump: What are councils considering?
  

  Like a mirage, the dream of a Hydrogen Economy shimmers on the horizon:

• 2013/01/30: Princeton:B: Researchers harness nature to produce the fuel of the future
  

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2013/01/30: QuarkSoup: The Cost of Pilot Lights
• 2013/01/31: TreeHugger: Samsung 13-Watt 900 Lumens LED Lightbulb Review
  

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

• 2013/02/02: Grist: Turn on, plug in, drop out: An electric car manifesto
• 2013/02/01: TreeHugger: Nissan to Build 500 EV Fast-Charge Stations in U.S. Within 18 Months
• 2013/01/30: SciAm:PI: Fuel Cell Vehicles Coming Off the Bench? Maybe. Maybe Not.
• 2013/01/30: AutoBG: Toyota loans two hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles to DOE
• 2013/01/28: TreeHugger: The Prius was California's Best-Selling Car in 2012
• 2013/01/28: AutoBG: Daimler, Ford and Nissan to collaborate on fuel cell tech
• 2013/01/28: GreenGrok: Electric Vehicles Rev into the Future
• 2013/01/28: AutoBG: CHAdeMO 'disappointed' by European Commission's fast charging decision
• 2013/01/28: Daimler: The strategic cooperation between Daimler and the Renault-Nissan alliance forms agreement with Ford to accelerate commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicle technology
• 2013/01/28: BBC: Toyota reclaims world's top vehicle maker title - 9.75 million vehicles in 2012
• 2013/01/28: BBC: Ford, Renault-Nissan and Daimler have agreed to jointly develop a fuel cell system to try to speed up the availability of zero-emission vehicles
  

  As for Energy Storage:

• 2013/01/30: TreeHugger: Boeing's 787 Lithium-ion Batteries are Inherently Unsafe, Says Elon Musk
• 2013/01/30: AutoBG: A123 sale to Wanxiang Group approved by US government
• 2013/01/31: AutoBG: Tesla's Musk calls Boeing 787 Dreamliner batteries 'fundamentally unsafe'
• 2013/01/29: BBC: China's Wanxiang Group has won the approval of US authorities to buy battery maker A123 Systems
• 2013/01/28: TP:JR: A Safer And More Efficient Lithium Battery Could Boost Low-Carbon Transportation
• 2013/01/28: SciAm:PI: Nanoparticle Leads to World Record for Battery Storage
• 2013/01/28: BBC: Dreamliner: No fault found with Boeing 787 battery
  Airline safety inspectors have found no faults with the battery used on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, Japan's transport ministry has said. The battery was initially considered the likely source of problems on 787s owned by two Japanese airlines. It has raised fears that there will be no quick fix to a problem that meant all 50 787s in service were grounded. Attention has now shifted to the electrical system that monitors battery voltage, charging and temperature.
• 
  

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

   

• 2013/01/30: ABC(Au): Your say: Ipswich mayor attacks insurance industry
  Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale has accused the insurance industry of trying to evade its responsibilities in the wake of disasters like the floods in Queensland and New South Wales. Last night the Insurance Council of Australia's Rob Whelan told Lateline that governments should spend millions of dollars on more efficient infrastructure to protect flood-prone towns.
• 
  

  Who's fielding theFAQs?

   

• 2013/01/31: Guardian(UK): Carbon tax v cap-and-trade: which is better?
  

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

• 2013/02/01: TP:JR: February 1 News...
• 2013/01/31: TP:JR: January 31 News...
• 2013/01/30: TP:JR: January 30 News...
• 2013/01/29: TP:JR: January 29 News...
• 2013/01/28: TP:JR: January 28 News...
  

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2013/02/02: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #5 by John Hartz
• 2013/01/28: BPA: Small, Local Farms Find Foes in Government Agencies. Plus, More Agriculture News This Week
• 2013/01/27: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly Digest #4 by John Hartz
  

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2013/01/30: Tamino: Spreading like Wildfire
• 2013/01/30: Stoat: Its all about me (again, yawn)
• 2013/01/31: CPI: Koch brothers pour more cash into think tanks, ALEC
• 2013/01/31: Mercury: Chevron and its allies take aim at California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard
  [...] Chevron and its allies, including the Western States Petroleum Association, are trying to undermine the standard by rallying opposition, financing critical studies and lobbying the Democratic-controlled Legislature, state agencies and Gov. Jerry Brown.
• 2013/01/31: ERabett: Nothing, Nothing At All
• 2013/01/31: S&R: Heartland's Taylor fails to discredit authors of National Climate Assessment
• 2013/01/31: CSW: James Taylor's deceptive attempt to discredit National Climate Assessment experts
• 2013/02/02: PNT: PNS is not an excuse to legitimize crank arguments
• 2013/01/27: CCurrents: Oil Billionaires Back Climate Crisis Deniers: Koch Connection And $500m
• 2013/02/03: HotWhopper: No more floods because CO2 is pressing on the walls of the sky
• 2013/01/29: QuarkSoup: Scientists' Dueling Letters to the Editor Re: Warming
• 2013/01/28: PSinclair: Shocker? Psychotic Billionaires Fund Climate Denial
• 2013/01/28: TP:JR: NASA Retirees Who Have No Climate Expertise Try To Debunk NASA Scientists Who Do
• 2013/01/27: TreeHugger: A Picture is Worth: Agenda 21 and The Green Movement as Marxist Plot
• 2013/01/27: CChallenge: "They can't even predict the weather 5 days in advance..."
• 2013/01/30: CCP: George F. Will's Pants on Fire Lies about U.S. wildfires
• 2013/01/30: CCP: Donald A. Brown: The Climate Change Disinformation Campaign: What Kind Of Crime Against Humanity, Tort, Human Rights Violation, Malfeasance, Transgression, Villainy, Or Wrongdoing Is It? Part One: Is The Disinformation Campaign a Crime Against Humanity or A Civil Tort?
  

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2013/01/: WEForum: Global Risks 2013 - X Factors
  #1 Runaway Climate Change
  #3 Rogue Deployment of Geoengineering
• 2013/01/31: KSJT: Norway news release: global warming less than feared. Some say it means warming NoBigDeal. Maybe paper is NBD.
• 2013/01/31: ABC(Au): How do high and low weather systems work?
• 2013/01/30: QuarkSoup: Where the Heat Went
• 2013/02/01: LoE: The CO2 Fairy does not exist (yet)
• 2013/02/01: GreenGrok: Climate Change Chatter, Issue 2.0 [quotes]
• 2013/02/01: 350orBust: A Fresh Look At The War On Terra
• 2013/01/29: SciNews: Cats kill more than one billion birds each year
  New estimate suggests hunting felines take bigger bite than expected out of wildlife
• 2013/01/30: BBC: Cats are one of the top threats to US wildlife, killing billions of animals each year, a study suggests
• 2013/01/29: APSmith: No more comments
• 2013/01/28: SpaceRevu: Rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock ... and global warming policy choice
• 2013/01/28: SciNow: How to Survive a Siberian Winter
  

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

• GasWorld
• Wiki: Social Credit
• Wiki: Trans Adriatic Pipeline
• Wiki: Nabucco Pipeline
• Real Economics
• Wiki: Anthropocene
• Energy Skeptic
• Ethics & Climate - Donald Brown
• Aqueduct - Measuring, mapping, and understanding water risks around the globe
• Unahi Mindanao - Preserving Phiippines' virgin rainforest and Higaonon tribal culture
• The Climate Show
• Wiki: Lago Agrio oil field
• WISSARD: Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling
• Clean Technica
• UKansas: Sea Level Rise Maps
• MiningWatch
• Vaclav Smil
• USGS: Groundwater-Quality Trends
• Wiki: Corium (nuclear reactor)

Low Key Plug

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

A Simple Plea

Webmasters, web coders and content providers have mercy on your low bandwidth brethren. Because I am on dial-up, I am a text surfer -- no images, no javascript and no flash. When you post a graphic, will you please use the alt text field ... and when you embed a youtube/vimeo/flash video, please add some minimal description. Thank you.

<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.

"...the nub of it.
We're not delaying action on climate change because we don't know what causes it.
We're not stalling because we don't know what to do.
We're not barreling along the business-as-usual path because we don't have any viable alternatives.
We're not switching to clean energy because Americans don't support it.
We're headed for the cliff, with our foot stomped down on the accelerator, because fossil fuel interests still control the energy agenda in Washington D.C., preserving the status quo at our expense." -Hunter Cutting

• Global Warming Links
• Global Warming News Archive
• Energy
• Energy News
• Environmental Issues
• ---
• H.E. Taylor (homepage)

Last modified February 3, 2013