Another Week of Climate Chaos News, March 24, 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 Chaos News

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

March 24, 2013

• Chuckles, Equinox, COP19+, WWD, Earth Hour, Marcott, Grinsted
• World Bank, Cook, Weathermen
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News
• Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food vs. Biofuel, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
• Hurricanes, Monsoon, Notable Weather, New Weather
• GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Aerosols, Paleoclimate
• ENSO, Oceans, Biosphere, Extinctions, Bees & CCD, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Desertification, Disease
• Tornadoes, Wildfires, Glaciers, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation, Transportation, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Conservation, Restoration
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, DIY Science, Free Science
• International Politics: UN, Carbon Trade, Hormuz, South China Sea, EU ETS & Airlines
• Rare Earths, FQD , Misc., Security, Law & Activism, Activism, H2O Biz, Education, Statistics
• National Politics: Britain, Europe, Australia, ALP, Election, Murray-Darling, China
• Canada, Idle No More, Muzzling, Liberals, Northern Gateway, East-West
• BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Sask, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, North, Canadiana
• America, BP Disaster, Post Sandy, Keystone, Carbon Tax, Birth Control, 2016, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Rose Coloured, Media, Video, Courts, BP Trial
• Energy, Transitions, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Oil & the Economy
• Pipelines, Energy Independence, US Tar Sands, Peak Oil, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Nuclear Fusion, FITs, Hydrogen, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
• Business, Insurance, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

 

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

• 2013/03/24: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) Mud Thing
  

  And then there is the real news --- funny, ludicrous and surreal:

• 2013/03/23: JEB: What's in a name?
• 2013/03/22: BBC: Punxsutawney Phil 'indicted' in Ohio over late-spring prediction
  Authorities in the US state of Ohio have issued an "indictment" against Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog famed for predicting spring's arrival, after he got it wrong this year. The groundhog forecast an early spring when he did not see his shadow as he emerged from hibernation on 2 February. But tongue-in-cheek prosecutors in Ohio's Butler County accuse the rodent of deliberately misleading the public.
• 2013/03/22: BBC: Power in MPs' 'hot air' weighed up
  Students at the University of Leicester have calculated the power available from the "hot air" produced by MPs. As part of a fourth-year project, students determined that 650 MPs produce more than 10kW of heat just through "prolonged speaking".
• 2013/03/22: NYPost: Death to Phil, that lying rat!
  Capital punishment for a bad weather forecast? Why not? An Ohio county prosecutor has filed an "indictment" against Punxsutawney Phil for "misrepresentation of early spring."
• 2013/03/20: RawStory: Texas state senator: Close abortion clinics because sometimes men have anal bleeding
  

  Happy Equinox and Welcome to Spring, however you find it:

• USNO: Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion, 2000-2020
• 2013/03/20: QuarkSoup: Please Adjust Your Climate Accordingly
• 2013/03/19: CBC: Canadians brace for a cold spring coast to coast
  Forecasters predict a grim spring across the country to top off a long, long winter
• 
  

  Looking ahead to COP19 and future international climate negotiations:

   

• 2013/03/22: RTCC: World's poorest countries meet for Kathmandu climate summit
  Representatives from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group are meeting in Kathmandu to discuss their plans to raise ambition at the UN climate talks. The three-day strategy event will see around 20 key members discuss their strategy for the COP19 UN talks in Warsaw at the end of the year as well as plans for a global climate deal in 2015.
• 2013/03/21: RTCC: Green Climate Fund faces more delays after inconclusive meeting
  The UN's main climate finance initiative concluded its latest board meeting last week with initial progress overshadowed by lingering questions over transparency, deadlock on a timeline for donations and the long running debate on the role of the private sector.
• 2013/03/21: RTCC: South Africa calls on world leaders to engage in UN climate talks
  World leaders need to re-engage with climate change this year in order that plans to agree a legally binding deal in 2015 remain on course. That's the stark warning from South Africa climate Ambassador Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko, speaking at a Chatham House event in London last week.
• 2013/03/21: NakedCapitalism: BRICs Cook the Climate (Part One)
• 2013/03/23: NakedCapitalism: BRICs Cook the Climate (Part Two)
• 2013/03/21: Guardian(UK): Nations urged to combine environmental and development goals
  

  March 22nd was World Water Day:

• 2013/03/22: UN Water: World Water Day
• 2013/03/22: UN: World Water Day: UN urges greater cooperation on common and fragile resource
• 2013/03/22: CNN: World Water Day: An end to global thirst is in sight
  Chief Exec of NGO WaterAid says clean water for everyone on planet achievable by 2030 - Clean water a "foundation of human development" says Barbara Frost - New WaterAid interactive explores how clean water can transform communities - Interactive visits Alakamisy, a remote area of Madagascar that WaterAid helped in 2010
• 2013/03/22: WMTC: world water day
• 2013/03/22: 350orBust: [slyt] There Is No Life Without Water
• 2013/03/22: al Jazeera: World Water Day marked with 'toilet campaign'
  United Nations launches campaign to lift deadly taboo on talking about toilets and "open defecation" in poor nations.
• 2013/03/22: UCSUSA:B: Happy World Water Day! (Celebrate by Saving Energy!)
• 2013/03/22: Guardian(UK): World water day: water stress in Sudan - in [9] pictures
  

  Apparently Earth had an Hour:

• 2013/03/23: BBC: Sydney dims down for Earth Hour climate change protest
  Australia's biggest city, Sydney, has switched off its lights for an hour as the Earth Day climate change protest gets under way across the globe.
• 2013/03/23: CBC: 4 facts about Earth Hour
• 2013/03/23: al Jazeera: Millions to switch off for 'Earth Hour'
  Lights in cities around the world to be turned off in symbolic show of support for campaign against climate change.
• 2013/03/23: CBC: Vancouver leads Canada as Earth Hour 'capital'
• 2013/03/23: CSM: Earth Hour 2013: Does it really save energy?
• 2013/03/22: Guardian(UK): Earth Hour: millions prepare to switch off the lights
• 2013/03/19: Guardian(UK): Count down to Earth Hour with lessons on climate change
• 2013/03/18: SlashDot: Why Earth Hour Is a Waste of Time and Energy
  

  That Marcott paper is still drawing comment:

• 2013/03/23: Tamino: Regional Marcott
• 2013/03/19: Moyhu: An active viewer for Marcott et al proxies
• 2013/03/23: Moyhu: Proxy viewer with choice of dating and range
• 2013/03/23: P3: Tamino on the Marcott Uptick Issue
• 2013/03/22: Tamino: The Tick
• 2013/03/21: Tamino: Global Temperature Change - the Big Picture
• 2013/03/20: PeakEnergy: Marcott's Climate Reconstruction For the past 11,000 Years
• 2013/03/19: BVerheggen: The two epochs of Marcott by Jos Hagelaars
• 2013/03/19: SciAm:PI: Earth has been this warm before- what's different now?
• 2013/03/19: ERabett: The Wheelchair
• 2013/03/19: Stoat: Man slumped after hitting wall
• 2013/03/09: Atlantic: We're Screwed: 11,000 Years' Worth of Climate Data Prove It
• 2013/03/18: TP:JR: Must-Have High-Resolution Charts: 'Carbon Pollution Set To End Era Of Stable Climate'
• 2013/03/18: PSinclair: Welcome to the Anthropocene: Extending the New Climate Data
• 2013/03/17: ERabett: Going Vertical
  Jos Hagelaars has spliced together Shakun et al, Marcott et al, HadCRUT4 and the A1B scenario
• 
  

  It looks like Grinsted et al. are bringing us the latest iteration of the Hurricane Wars:

   

• 2013/03/14: PNAS: (ab$) Projected Atlantic hurricane surge threat from rising temperatures by Aslak Grinsted et al.
• 2013/03/20: CCentral: Warming Has Doubled Risk of Katrina-like Storm Surges
• 2013/03/19: CCurrents: The Future Holds Ten Times More Hurricane Surges, Finds Research
• 2013/03/19: TP:JR: Five Katrinas A Decade? Warming Projected To Boost Extreme Storm Surges Ten-Fold [Grinsted]
• 2013/03/18: Reuters: Warming temperatures could multiply Katrina-like hurricanes : study [Grinsted]
• 2013/03/18: SciNews: Extreme storm surges may occur more often -- Global temperature increases could boost hurricane-caused flooding [Grinsted]
• 2013/03/18: UCopenhagen:NBI: More hurricane surges in the future
  By examining the frequency of extreme storm surges in the past, previous research has shown that there was an increasing tendency for storm hurricane surges when the climate was warmer. But how much worse will it get as temperatures rise in the future? How many extreme storm surges like that from Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. coast in 2005, will there be as a result of global warming? New research from the Niels Bohr Institute show that there will be a tenfold increase in frequency if the climate becomes two degrees Celcius warmer.
• 2013/03/18: Grist:Climate change could mean seven times as many Katrinas
  

  What's the World Bank up to?

• 2013/03/21: ABC(Au): World Bank condemns 'business as usual' approach to climate change
• 2013/03/21: ABC(Au): Pacific to suffer worst climate change impacts
  The World Bank is urging the international community to heed the plight of Pacific island countries and take action on climate change.
• 
  

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

   

• 2013/03/23: SkS: Arctic freezing season ends with a loud crack by Neven
• 2013/03/23: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #12 by John Hartz
• 2013/03/21: SkS: Recursive Fury: Facts and misrepresentations by John Cook, Stephan Lewandowsky
• 2013/03/21: SkS: Tung and Zhou circularly blame ~40% of global warming on regional warming by Dumb Scientist
• 2013/03/20: SkS: The (New!) Abridged Skeptical Science Quick Reference Guide by Daniel Bailey
• 2013/03/20: SkS: 2013 SkS News Bulletin #4: Alberta Tar Sands and Keystone XL Pipeline by John Hartz
• 2013/03/19: SkS: David Rose Hides the Rise in Global Warming by dana1981, John Russell, John Mason
• 2013/03/18: SkS: New Study, Same Result - Greenhouse Gases Dominate Global Warming by dana1981
• 2013/03/17: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly Digest #11 by John Hartz
  

  TV Meteorologists typically follow the corporate media line, but not always:

• 2013/03/21: Grist: Here are a couple of weather experts who actually believe in climate change
  

  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:

   

• 2013/03/22: Springer:JR&NC: (ab$) The ambient gamma dose-rate and the inventory of fission products estimations with the soil samples collected at Canadian embassy in Tokyo during Fukushima nuclear accident by Weihua Zhang et al.
• 2013/03/23: EneNews: 16,000,000 Bq/liter of Cesium-137 in Fukushima Daiichi Spent Fuel Pool No. 1 - More than in June 2011 - Almost 5,000 times higher than in Unit 4 pool
• 2013/03/23: EneNews: Study: Up to 900 trillion becquerels of strontium-90 into ocean from Fukushima plant - "Direct discharges of cooling water"
• 2013/03/23: EneNews: Japan Journalist: Situation at Fukushima Daiichi "way worse than officially announced" - Nuclear workers think Fukushima can't be settled - "They have problems everywhere" (video)
• 2013/03/22: Asahi: Prometheus Trap - 'Shadow units' (9): SDF members told to hold their ground
• 2013/03/22: Grist: Fukushima nuclear power plant shutdown was caused by a rat
• 2013/03/21: EneNews: Fukushima nuclear materials reported off China coast near Taiwan...
• 2013/03/21: EneNews: Expert: Areas in Fukushima are recontaminated within 24 hours of being 'cleaned up' - Will have to be permanently evacuated
• 2013/03/21: ABC(Au): 'Rat-like animal' blamed for Fukushima power cut
• 2013/03/20: Guardian(UK): Rat may have caused Fukushima blackout, say officials
• 2013/03/20: BBC: Fukushima: Rat linked to outage at Japan nuclear plant
• 2013/03/20: Yomiuri: TEPCO yet to learn from nuclear disaster / Problematic 'makeshift' power panel was exposed to elements, in use since initial crisis response
• 2013/03/20: RT: One step from meltdown: Fukushima NPP avoids another crisis
  A blackout of unknown origin that put all Fukushima NPP cooling systems out of action has finally been resolved.
• 2013/03/20: NYT: Rat at Fukushima Plant May Have Caused Blackout
• 2013/03/20: ABC(Au): Power restored at Fukushima after scare
• 2013/03/19: EneNews: Power still not restored at Fukushima Unit 3 fuel pool and Common Fuel Pool - No fresh cooling water for over a day...
• 2013/03/19: EneNews: Temperatures rise in Fukushima fuel pools after nearly 20 hours without power...
• 2013/03/19: BBC: Power at Fukushima nuclear fuel ponds 'partially restored'
  Cooling systems to spent fuel ponds at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant have been partially restored after a power failure, operator Tepco says.
• 2013/03/19: CBC: Power partially restored at crippled Japanese nuclear plant -- Fuel storage pool temperatures are within safe levels, operator says
• 2013/03/19: al Jazeera: Power cut strikes Fukushima nuclear plant
  Storage pools at tsunami-hit Japan plant without fresh cooling water for 15 hours but officials say no immedate danger.
• 2013/03/18: CCurrents: Fukushima: It Isn't Over
• 2013/03/18: CCurrents: Record Radiation Found In Fukushima Fish
• 2013/03/18: TreeHugger: Fish caught near Fukushima contains record levels of radioactive cesium
• 2013/03/18: CBC: Crucial system fails at Japan's quake-damaged nuclear plant
  Workers at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant scrambling to fix broken cooling system in 3 reactors
• 2013/03/17: EneNews: Reuters: Can't stop groundwater from flowing into Fukushima reactors - 4 years to fix?
• 2013/03/18: EneNews: AP: Fukushima Daiichi blackout has continued for hours - 3 fuel pools without fresh cooling water
• 2013/03/17: EneNews: CBS: Those Fukushima reactors are still releasing radioactive material into ocean -Expert (video)
• 2013/03/18: EneNews: Japan Diplomat: We don't know what's happening underground of Fukushima reactors - Potential accident remains now (audio)
  

  The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

• 2013/03/24: ASI: Arctic freezing season ends with a loud crack
• 2013/03/23: PSinclair: NOAA Video Confirms Early Breakup
• 2013/03/23: GLaden: Arctic Sea Ice Cracking Thing
• 2013/03/23: TP:JR: Ice Breaking News: This Is Your 2013 Arctic Freezing Season On Crack
• 2013/03/22: ArcticNews: Arctic Ice Breaks Up in Beaufort Sea
• 2013/03/22: ASI: Looking Forward, Looking Back
• 2013/03/20: ASI: Max reached (?)
• 2013/03/21: IOTD: Greenland Melt Ponds [during summer 2010]
• 2013/03/20: NASA: NASA Begins New Season of Arctic Ice Science Flights [Operation IceBridge]
• 2013/03/20: QuarkSoup: The Greening Arctic
• 2013/03/19: Dosbat: What caused the volume loss in 2010: Part 2
• 2013/03/18: ArcticNews: Huge patches of warm air over the Arctic
• 2013/03/18: Stoat: When will the Summer Arctic be Nearly Sea Ice Free?
• 2013/03/18: Wunderground: A dramatic greening of the Arctic over the past 30 years
• 2013/03/18: Eureka: Significant contribution of Greenland's peripheral glaciers to sea-level rise
• 2013/03/17: QuarkSoup: Outflow
  

  As for the charismatic megafauna:

• 2013/03/20: CSM: Warming Arctic: Receding ice leaves Hudson Bay polar bears less time to eat
• 2013/03/20: Eureka: For polar bears, it's survival of the fattest
  

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2013/03/21: TP:JR: Adding Fuel to the Fire: The Climate Consequences of Arctic Ocean Drilling
• 2013/03/21: NOAANews: NOAA considers effects of Arctic oil and gas activities on marine mammals and Alaska native communities
• 2013/03/21: ASI: The Climate Consequences of Arctic Ocean Drilling
• 2013/03/19: EUO: Fears of Arctic conflict are 'overblown'
• 2013/03/18: Guardian(UK): China pours cash into melting Arctic in bid to win influence
• 2013/03/16: RT: 'US anti-missile reshuffle, really, aimed at control over Arctic resources'
  

  While in Antarctica:

• 2013/03/24: IOTD: Icebergs and Sea Ice off the Mawson Coast [on March 15th]
  

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2013/03/23: al Jazeera: Ancient aqueducts give Iraq a trickle of hope
  A millennia-old labyrinth of underground canals may help solve the Middle East's water crisis, say experts. In the windswept plateaus of northern Iraq, unseen aqueducts which have channelled water to arid settlements for centuries are running dry. Experts say the wide-scale demise of these ancient water systems is an ominous sign of how scarce water in the region will soon become, and the humanitarian disasters that could follow.
• 2013/03/22: Grist: Drought that ravaged U.S. crops likely to worsen in 2013, forecast warns
• 2013/03/21: DerSpiegel: Fieldwork: Aerial Photographs Highlight Global Food Issues
  After taking aerial shots in more than 100 countries over the last 50 years, photographer Georg Gerster's work in being celebrated with a new exhibition. The selection of works takes a look at how the global food supply and its problems appear from above.
• 2013/03/21: RTCC: Warmer wasps could mean fewer figs
  High temperatures could have devastating effects on some of the most important trees in tropical ecosystems.
• 2013/03/20: Guardian(UK): Swaziland government sells maize donated by Japan and banks the cash
  Government sold 12,000 tonnes of maize and deposited money in central bank, even though Swaziland has not been able to feed itself since 1970s
• 2013/03/19: Grist: Farmland prices soar - along with farm debt
• 2013/03/19: Guardian(UK): Bakers become latest victims of Egypt subsidy cuts
  Economists warn that restrictions on bread sales could trigger a 'revolution of the hungry'
• 2013/03/18: Reuters: U.S. Northern Plains sees corn boom, aided by ethanol, climate
  

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

• 2013/03/22: CNN: Overfished and under-protected: Oceans on the brink of catastrophic collapse
  Healthy species-abundant oceans key to long-term human survival - Overfishing and climate change threaten to trash ocean eco-system - Bottom-trawling considered a highly damaging practice by marine scientists - Ocean acidification caused by climate change threatening to kill off vital coral reefs
• 2013/03/20: DerSpiegel: 'Thrown Away by the Ton': EU Takes On Wasteful Fishing Methods
  Each day, fishermen throw away countless tons of unintentionally caught marine animals, many of them dead or dying. As the European Union prepares to ban the practice, biologists are developing methods of reducing what's known as by-catch.
• 2013/03/18: TreeHugger: By targeting bigger fish, we are breeding populations of smaller and weaker fish
• 2013/03/18: BBC: Big fish catches mean smaller fish - Bangor scientists
  Scientists have warned that a fishing rethink is needed after finding that catches of big fish trigger a rapid change in the gene pool of fish stocks.
• 2013/03/18: TP:JR: Sore Mussels? More Evidence Climate Change Is Dooming Ocean Bivalves
  

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2013/03/19: UCSUSA:B: Great Scott! The Consequences of Accelerating the Mandate for Food-Based Advanced Biofuels
  

  So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

• 2013/03/22: CNN: Are African land grabs really water grabs?
  Large-scale land deals in Africa can be seen as "water grabs, write three researchers - Taking land for development often has implications for for local people's water rights - Jennifer Franco, Lyla Mehta and Gert Jan Veldwisch ask: Who has the right to the water in a river?
• 
  

  Regarding the genetic modification of food:

   

• 2013/03/21: Grist: Major grocers on frankenfish: 'Hell no, we won't sell that!'
• 2013/03/19: QuarkSoup: Oregon could ban genetically engineered fish, require labeling of genetically modified foods
• 2013/03/15: AlterNet: How Monsanto Outfoxed the Obama Administration
  

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

• 2013/03/22: TreeHugger: Solar technology for farming and urban gardening
• 2013/03/22: WFP: WFP To Provide Technical Advice In Support Of Mexico's "National Crusade Against Hunger"
• 2013/03/22: WFP: Britain Supports School Meals In Areas Affected By Food Shortages In Malawi
• 2013/03/20: WFP: Brazil Contributes Rice To WFP Valued At US$1 Million For Refugees In Uganda
• 2013/03/21: RTCC: Forests hold key to feeding Earth's growing population
• 2013/03/18: UN: Head of UN food aid agency urges support for Mali and entire Sahel region
  

  A relatively quiet week after Tropical Cyclone Tim faded:

• 2013/03/21: ABC(Au): Ex-cyclone crosses far north Qld coast
  Ex-tropical Cyclone Tim has crossed the coast near Innisfail in far north Queensland overnight.
• 2013/03/20: ABC(Au): Winds to ease from ex-cyclone Tim
  The weather bureau says strong winds along Queensland's north and central coast will ease later today as ex-tropical cyclone Tim continues to weaken. The low-pressure system is about 260 kilometres east of Townsville.
• 2013/03/18: Eureka: NASA sees remnants of Cyclone Tim fading near southeastern Queensland
• 2013/03/18: MODIS: Tropical Cyclone Tim (20P) in the Coral Sea [on Feb 14th]
  

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2013/03/23: SimpleC: Climate change set to bring Western Europe more hurricanes
• 2013/03/19: MODIS: Tropical Cyclone Sandra (19P) in the Coral Sea [on March 11th]
  

  As for the Monsoon:

• 2013/03/20: Eureka: Natural climate swings contribute more to increased monsoon rainfall than global warming [Bin Wang]
  

  This week in notable weather:

• 2013/03/23: CSM: Winter storm dumps snow on Great Plains, Midwest
• 2013/03/23: Xinhuanet: New round of hailstorms affect 838,000 people
• 2013/03/23: BBC: Power problems remain after severe cold cuts supplies
  Thousands of homes around the UK remain without electricity after severe weather disrupted supplies. Up to 18,000 properties in Northern Ireland, 10,000 in Scotland and 2,000 in Wales have been without power overnight despite efforts by energy firms to reconnect them. Weather warnings also remain in place across much of the UK after two days of wintery conditions. Two people are known to have died - one in Lancashire and one in Cornwall.
• 2013/03/23: RT: APC's deployed on Kiev streets, emergency as record snowfall turns Ukraine into chaos (photos)
• 2013/03/23: al Jazeera: Winter's over, but the winter weather isn't
  One of the coldest March weekends across the UK in decades has caused widespread disruption
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Wild weathers hits Mount Gambier
  Lightning caused 30 fires throughout south-east South Australia yesterday, as wild weather swept through the region.
• 2013/03/22: BBC: Heavy snow is causing disruption to transport and schools across the UK, with heavy rainfall bringing flooding to the south-west of England
• 2013/03/22: al Jazeera: China's wintry start to spring
  Snow blankets northern China as tropical downpours bring thunder, hail damaging winds and even a tornado to the south
• 2013/03/22: al Jazeera: One "hail" of a storm
  While winter keeps a tight grip to the north, the southern U.S. enters severe weather season
• 2013/03/19: CSM: Late snowstorm hits winter-weary Northeast
• 2013/03/19: CBC: Quebec snowstorm forces mass school closures -- Winter storm hits Eastern Canada on the last day of winter
  

  Rossby Waves? Blocking Patterns? Arctic Oscillation? What is the Arctic melt doing to our weather?

• 2013/03/21: TP:JR: Weather Extremes: Atmospheric Waves And Climate Change
• 2013/03/20: Wunderground: Where's spring? 2nd most extreme March jet stream pattern on record extends winter
  

  As for GHGs:

• 2013/03/22: TheConversation: Reducing methane from dairy cows: it's all in the oil
• 2013/03/20: NatureN: Oil boom raises burning issues
  Unburned methane could be adding to the environmental impact of gas flares in North Dakota.
• 2013/03/20: TP:JR: NOAA: 'Robust, Unambiguous' Independent Evidence Confirms The Recent Global Warming Measured By Thermometers
  

  And in the carbon cycle:

• 2013/03/22: NERC:PE: Icelandic volcano's ash led to more CO2 being absorbed by oceans
• 2013/03/21: SciNow: Warming World Caused Southern Ocean to Exhale
• 2013/03/21: SciNow: Warming World Caused Southern Ocean to Exhale
• 2013/03/17: Eureka: Ocean plankton sponge up nearly twice the carbon currently assumed -- Famed marine principle refuted by UCI-led study
  

  As for the temperature record:

• 2013/03/23: ERabett: Have some denial spaghetti
• 2013/03/21: QuarkSoup: New GISS Data Just In
• 2013/03/22: Moyhu: February GISS Temp down by 0.11°C
• 2013/03/18: Slate:BA: No, Global Warming Has NOT Stopped
  

  Aerosols are making their presence felt:

• 2013/03/23: MODIS: Gobi dust over central China
• 2013/03/21: MODIS: Gobi dust over central China
  

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2013/03/22: CBC: Atlantic Canadian mega-volcanoes blamed in mass extinction
  End Triassic extinction wiped out half the world's species 200 million years ago The major extinction that paved the way for the rise of the dinosaurs was caused by the eruption of massive volcanoes in what is now Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, the northeastern U.S. and Morocco, a new study says.
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Mega eruptions caused mass extinction
  A mass extinction event 200 million years ago that wiped out half of all species on Earth was caused by volcanic activity, a new study says. The finding reported today in the journal Science, provides the tightest link yet between the release of huge amounts of volatile gases during a series of mega-eruptions and a global die-off of marine and terrestrial species known as the end-Triassic-extinction.
• 2013/03/21: SciNow: Clocking the Human Exodus Out of Africa
• 2013/03/21: Eureka: Megavolcanoes tied to pre-dinosaur mass extinction -- An apparent sudden climate shift could have analog today
• 2013/03/21: MIT: Huge and widespread volcanic eruptions triggered the end-Triassic extinction
  Some 200 million years ago, an increase in atmospheric CO2 caused acidification of the oceans and global warming that killed off 76 percent of marine and terrestrial species on Earth.
• 2013/03/18: Eureka: Earth's interior cycles contributor to long-term sea-level & climate change, scientists conclude
  

  And on the ENSO front:

• 2013/03/21: GreenGrok: El Nino, La Nina and Global Warming
  

  What's the State of the Oceans?

• 2013/03/23: EneNews: CNN airs troubling images of ill California sea lions - "Like walking skeletons" - Unprecedented crisis, exponentially higher numbers - 700 rescued recently (video)
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Millions of prawns wash up on Chilean beach
  Millions of small prawns have washed up on beaches in southern Chile in a case which has experts scratching their heads.
• 2013/03/21: ProMedMail: Die-off, marine wildlife - USA: (CA) sea lions, emaciation
• 2013/03/17: EneNews: TV: Historic number of sea lions washing up in S. California - Has reached "epidemic proportions" - Center declares state of emergency - Feds: "There's something going on oceanographically" (video)
  

  And the State of the Biosphere:

• 2013/03/18: CCurrents: Privatization Leads To Catastrophic Loss Of Cambodia's Tropical Flooded Grasslands
• 2013/03/17: CCurrents: Counting Species: What It Says About Human Toll On Wildlife
  

  What's new on the extinction front?

• 2013/03/22: CBC: Why the monarch butterfly migration may be endangered -- Record low numbers 'symbolic of environmental degradation'
• 2013/03/22: TheConversation: Another link between CO2 and mass extinctions of species
• 2013/03/21: NatureN: Triassic extinction tied to massive lava spills
• 2013/03/21: TheConversation: Australian endangered species: Christmas Island Frigatebird
• 2013/03/21: TreeHugger: 86 elephants, 33 pregnant, slaughtered in one night
• 2013/03/20: SciAm:EC: 5 Turtles from Nearly Extinct Species Fly Home to Hong Kong
• 2013/03/20: al Jazeera: Poachers in Chad slaughter 89 elephants
  Pregnant females and calves among those killed for tusks, as African governments prepare to hold anti-poaching talks.
• 2013/03/19: TheConversation: Small win for big fish: convention moves to protect sharks
  

  The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern:

• 2013/03/22: CDreams: EPA Favors 'Bee-Toxic Pesticides' Over Future of Food, Groups Charge
• 2013/03/21: UCSUSA:B: The Birds and the Bees...and the Neonicotinoids
  

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2013/03/22: IOTD: First View from the New Landsat Satellite
• 2013/03/21: NASA: A Closer Look at [Landsat Data Continuity Mission] LDCM's First Scene
• 2013/03/21: USGS: First Images Released From Newest Earth Observation Satellite
  

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2013/03/22: BBC: Cold-tolerant wasp spiders spread to northern Europe
  Temperature tolerance is key to the spread of wasp spiders into northern Europe, according to scientists. Since the 1930s the distinctive spiders have expanded their range from the Mediterranean coast to Norway.
• 2013/03/22: UnderTheBanyan: If we cook these tiny wasps, we put the heat on hundreds of other species
• 2013/03/18: ABC(Au): Scientist tips trees on Monaro as climate warms
• 2013/03/19: Grist: Summer rains in Southwest arriving late because of climate change
• 2013/03/18: CCurrents: Climate Crisis Shortens Korea's Winter
• 2013/03/18: Grist: A cool new way climate change is killing bivalves
• 2013/03/19: UCSUSA: Warmer Springs Mean Less Snow Cover, Disruptions for Plants and Animals, and More Allergies, Scientists Say
  

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2013/03/20: ABC(Au): Tree clearing laws relaxed in Queensland
• 2013/03/20: LundU: Hunting for meat impacts on rainforest
• 2013/03/19: UnderTheBanyan: A bit naughty? Secret filming exposes murky world of rainforest politics
  

  Desertification looms as a threat:

• 2013/03/22: TreeHugger: Allan Savory shows us how to combat desertification and fix climate change
• 2013/03/19: EpochTimes: Drought in China Turns Vast Tracts of Land to Desert
  

  Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:

• 2013/03/21: Stanford: Biodiversity does not reduce transmission of disease from animals to humans, Stanford researchers find
  New analysis pokes holes in widely accepted theory that connects biodiversity abundance with a reduced disease risk for humans.
• 
  

  On the tornado front:

   

• 2013/03/24: CBC: Tornado rips through Bangladesh villages leaving 20 dead -- Government official says at least 200 injured
• 2013/03/23: IndiaTimes: Death toll in Bangladesh tornado climbs to 23
• 2013/03/23: WtD: Tornadoes devastate Northern Victoria: hundreds homes destroyed, dozens injured
• 2013/03/23: ABC(Au): Tornado kills at least 20 in Bangladesh
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Tornadoes wreak havoc on Vic/NSW border
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Witnesses say tornado was like bomb going off
  Witnesses who saw two tornadoes that tore through communities in north-eastern Victoria say it was like a bomb went off. At least 20 people were taken to hospital, two in a critical condition, after the tornadoes touched down in a line stretching from Cobram to Rutherglen just after 7:00pm yesterday. Authorities say it will take days to clean up the damage.
• 2013/03/21: ABC(Au): Tornadoes tear through Victorian towns - 19 injured
• 2013/03/21: Wunderground: An unusually quiet March for tornadoes--only 6 so far
• 2013/03/21: IndiaTimes: 24 dead as tornado, hailstorms lash south China
• 2013/03/15: AP: Could global warming change tornado season, too?
  

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2013/03/24: ABC(Au): Destructive Tasmanian fires finally extinguished
  Two bushfires that destroyed more than 100 homes and devastated parts of the Tasman Peninsula have been finally extinguished. The fire, which started in Forcett on January 3, tore through tore through the towns of Dunalley, Boomer Bay and Murdunna. It destroyed 100 homes, and thousands of residents and tourists were evacuated by boat.
• 2013/03/18: Grist: Colorado wildfires get an early start this dry year
  

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2013/03/18: FaGP: Obersulzbach Glacier Retreat, Austria
  

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): NZ drought spreads to South Island
  New Zealand's worst drought in decades has officially expanded to the South Island. The usually rain-soaked north-west of the South Island was included in the drought listing today. Last week the government declared the entire North Island drought stricken.
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Drought hits New Zealand
  A drought has struck what is usually one of the wettest parts of New Zealand. The president of the New Zealand's Farmers Federation says the dry spell is so unusual it's about as likely as having a snowstorm in Darwin. Last week, the government declared the entire North Island as drought-stricken. Today, the north-west of the South Island officially joined the big dry as well.
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Burnett towns devastated three times
  The towns of Tansey and Booubyjan have been flooded three times since Australia Day and many farmers in the region believe they can't recover.
• 2013/03/22: Wunderground: Modest Midwest drought improvements, limited major flooding expected this spring
• 2013/03/22: CDreams: A Growing Drought for Some, Flood Warnings for Others, says New Report
• 2013/03/21: Guardian(UK): Drought that ravaged US crops likely to worsen in 2013, forecast warns
• 2013/03/21: WSWS: Severe drought threatens new recession in New Zealand
• 2013/03/20: al Jazeera: Rio's grand rainfall
  Massive downpours have caused deadly mudslides in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro.
• 2013/03/18: CAbyss: The Drought, Still
• 2013/03/18: BBC: At least 16 people have been killed in landslides in a mountainous area north of Rio de Janeiro, after heavy rains
• 2013/03/18: al Jazeera: Rain stops play - not drought
  Despite a washout at the Test Match, New Zealand is in grip of an extended dry spell.
• 2013/03/17: Eureka: When it rains these days, does it pour? Has the weather become stormier as the climate warms?
  

  First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
  Second, put a price on carbon
  And elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2013/03/19: Eureka: Greenhouse gas policies ignoring gap in household incomes: University of Alberta study
  

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2013/03/21: Grist: Beyond widgets: Envisioning a real transportation revolution
• 2013/03/19: TreeHugger: 'SuperTruck' has 54% better fuel economy than the average long-haul truck
  

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2013/03/15: InnovatEUK: The Negative Emission Technologies Community Launch Event
• 2013/03/20: Eureka: A milestone for new carbon-dioxide capture/clean coal technology
  

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2013/03/22: Guardian(UK): Why geoengineering has immediate appeal to China
• 2013/03/20: ETCGroup: Geoengineering - The Opium of the People? Pain-killer, Plane-chiller, Plane crasher
• 2013/03/17: TUM: Geoengineering I - Notes on the Science
  

  What's new in conservation?

• 2013/03/22: CSM: How efforts to save itty-bitty endangered frogs paid off
• 2013/03/19: ABC(Au): NZ and US push for world's biggest marine reserve
  New Zealand and the United States want to make the Ross Sea the world's biggest marine reserve and Australia have backed the plan. The reserve would cover 1.6 million square kilometres of ocean and protect another 1.9 million square kilometres of coastline. The proposal for the two sanctuaries will be considered at a meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources in Germany in July. The Ross Sea is home to an estimated 16,000 species.
• 
  

  What's new in restoration?

   

• 2013/03/20: ABC(Au): 'Kimberley Ark' gene bank to save species from toad plague
  There are fears for the ongoing survival of the diverse wildlife of Western Australia's Kimberley, as the dreaded cane toad crosses borders and moves into the region. Scientists are urgently calling for a gene bank to be established to store the genetic data of at-risk animals until the toad threat can be dealt with.
• 2013/03/20: NatureN: Will we kill off today's animals if we revive extinct ones?
  De-extinction hopes to revive mammoths, gastric frogs and other missing species, but it might undermine the conservation of creatures that still survive.
• 2013/03/19: CBC: Reviving extinct species within reach, says researcher
  McMaster scientist speaks at TEDx event billed as first-ever public exploration of reviving extinct species
• 
  

  Meanwhile in the journals:

   

• 2013/03/19: PNAS: (ab$) Historical changes in northeastern US bee pollinators related to shared ecological traits by Ignasi Bartomeus et al.
• 2013/03/19: PNAS: (ab$) Evidence for a persistent microbial seed bank throughout the global ocean by Sean M. Gibbons et al.
• 2013/03/19: PNAS: (abs) Modeling integrated photovoltaic-electrochemical devices using steady-state equivalent circuits by Mark T. Winkler et al.
• 2013/03/19: PNAS: (ab$) A post-Kyoto partner: Considering the stratospheric ozone regime as a tool to manage nitrous oxide by David Kanter et al.
• 2013/03/19: PNAS: (letter$) Climate change as an intergenerational problem by Carl Wunsch et al.
• 2013/03/14: USydney:SeS: Spatio-temporal differences in the history of health and noise complaints about Australian wind farms: evidence for the psychogenic, "communicated disease" hypothesis. by Simon Chapman et al.
• 2013/03/19: ERL: Cold winter extremes in northern continents linked to Arctic sea ice loss by Qiuhong Tang et al.
• 2013/03/18: ESDD: The sensitivity of the energy budget and hydrological cycle to CO2 and solar forcing by N. Schaller et al.
• 2013/03/20: ACP: The role of the global cryosphere in the fate of organic contaminants by A. M. Grannas et al.
• 2013/03/18: ACP: Comparison of improved Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer CO2 with HIPPO and SGP aircraft profile measurements by S. S. Kulawik et al.
• 2013/03/18: ACP: Investigating relationships between aerosol optical depth and cloud fraction using satellite, aerosol reanalysis and general circulation model data by B. S. Grandey et al.
• 2013/03/21: ACPD: A global historical ozone data set and signatures of El Niño and the 11-yr solar cycle by S. Brönnimann et al.
• 2013/03/14: PNAS: (ab$) Projected Atlantic hurricane surge threat from rising temperatures by Aslak Grinsted et al.
• 2013/03/22: BGD: Stable isotope and modelling evidence for CO2 as a driver of glacial-interglacial vegetation shifts in southern Africa by F. J. Bragg et al.
• 2013/03/20: BG: Global ocean carbon uptake: magnitude, variability and trends by R. Wanninkhof et al.
• 2013/03/20: BG: Impact of an abrupt cooling event on interglacial methane emissions in northern peatlands by S. Zürcher et al.
• 2013/03/20: BG: A survey of carbon monoxide and non-methane hydrocarbons in the Arctic Ocean during summer 2010 by S. Tran et al.
• 2013/03/19: BG: The impact of sea-level rise on organic matter decay rates in Chesapeake Bay brackish tidal marshes by M. L. Kirwan et al.
• 2013/03/19: BG: Oxygen and indicators of stress for marine life in multi-model global warming projections by V. Cocco et al.
• 2013/03/22: BGD: Mean age of carbon in fine roots from temperate forests and grasslands with different management by E. Solly et al.
• 2013/03/21: BGD: Light absorption and partitioning in Arctic Ocean surface waters: impact of multi year ice melting by S. Bélanger et al.
• 2013/03/21: BGD: Deep CO2 soil inhalation/exhalation induced by synoptic pressure changes and atmospheric tides in a carbonated semiarid steppe by E. P. Sánchez-Cañete et al.
• 2013/03/21: BGD: Changes in soil carbon stocks in Brazil due to land use: paired site comparisons and a regional pasture soil survey by E. D. Assad et al.
• 2013/03/22: CP: Mismatch between the depth habitat of planktonic foraminifera and the calibration depth of SST transfer functions may bias reconstructions by R. J. Telford et al.
• 2013/03/22: CP: Controls of Caribbean surface hydrology during the mid- to late Holocene: insights from monthly resolved coral records by C. Giry et al.
• 2013/03/21: CP: Mass-movement and flood-induced deposits in Lake Ledro, southern Alps, Italy: implications for Holocene palaeohydrology and natural hazards by A. Simonneau et al.
• 2013/03/21: CP: Skill and reliability of climate model ensembles at the Last Glacial Maximum and mid-Holocene by J. C. Hargreaves et al.
• 2013/03/20: CP: Influence of Last Glacial Maximum boundary conditions on the global water isotope distribution in an atmospheric general circulation model by T. Tharammal et al.
• 2013/03/20: CP: Deglacial and Holocene vegetation and climatic changes in the southern Central Mediterranean from a direct land-sea correlation by S. Desprat et al.
• 2013/03/19: CP: Direct linking of Greenland and Antarctic ice cores at the Toba eruption (74 ka BP) by A. Svensson et al.
• 2013/03/22: CPD: The faint young Sun problem revisited with a 3-D climate-carbon model - Part 1 by G. Le Hir et al.
• 2013/03/21: CPD: Late Cenozoic continuous aridification in the western Qaidam Basin: evidence from sporopollen records by Y. F. Miao et al.
• 2013/03/20: CPD: A comparative study of large scale atmospheric circulation in the context of future scenario (RCP4.5) and past warmth (Mid Pliocene) by Y. Sun et al.
• 2013/03/21: Science: (ab$) Zircon U-Pb Geochronology Links the End-Triassic Extinction with the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province by Terrence J. Blackburn et al.
• 2013/03/21: WoL:GRL: (ab$) Distinctive climate signals in reanalysis of global ocean heat content by Magdalena A. Balmaseda et al.
• 2013/03/04: ACS: (ab$) Assessment of Effluent Contaminants from Three Facilities Discharging Marcellus Shale Wastewater to Surface Waters in Pennsylvania by Kyle J. Ferrar et al.
• 2013/03/19: OS: Long-term monitoring programme of the hydrological variability in the Mediterranean Sea: a first overview of the HYDROCHANGES network by K. Schroeder et al.
• 2013/03/19: AGWObserver: New research from early 2013 [211 papers]
• 2013/03/22: GMD: The Norwegian Earth System Model, NorESM1-M - Part 2: Climate response and scenario projections by T. Iversen et al.
• 2013/03/21: OSD: The Mediterranean Sea system: a review and an introduction to the special issue by T. Tanhua et al.
• 2013/03/22: TC: A new bed elevation dataset for Greenland by J. L. Bamber et al.
• 2013/03/21: TCD: Recent mass balance of Purogangri ice cap, central Tibetan Plateau, by means of differential X-band SAR interferometry by N. Neckel et al.
• 2013/02/12: WoL:JGR:A: (ab$) Attribution of observed historical near surface temperature variations to anthropogenic and natural causes using CMIP5 simulations by Gareth S. Jones et al.
  

  And other significant documents:

• 2013/03/17: JFleck: [link to 3.8 meg pdf] River Beat: The "Severe Sustained Drought" study
  

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2013/03/23: QuarkSoup: Missing Energy Claimed to be Found
• 2013/03/22: CSM: Scientists ventured to Himalaya for climate change study
• 2013/03/22: ERabett: The Egg Was First, No, the Chicken, No Never Mind
• 2013/03/22: ScienceInsider: New French Science Law Falls Short of Expectations
• 2013/03/22: NatureN: Canada puts commercialization ahead of blue-sky research
• 2013/03/21: NatureNB: French scientists protest against research bill
  A number of higher-education unions and the campaign group Let's Save Research called a strike today demanding withdrawal of a bill, adopted yesterday by the French cabinet, to reform higher education and research. The bill is aimed to remedy flaws in a 2007 law (loi relative aux libertés et responsabilités des universités; LRU), but has been described by the protestors as being more of the same. "As in Quebec, Great Britain and Chile, French universities are being deliberately driven to bankruptcy by laws," they said in a joint statement.
• 2013/03/19: PSinclair: Measuring Temps -- No Thermometers
  

  More DIY science:

• 2013/03/21: Moyhu: Code for the spaghetti plot active viewer
  

  What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

• 2013/03/21: ERabett: Good Tidings
• 2013/03/16: RePEc: BEPress Journals Are Not Open Access Anymore
• 2013/03/17: EnvEcon: RePEc blog: BEPress Journals Are Not Open Access Anymore
  

  Meanwhile at the UN:

• 2013/03/21: WMO: Global Atmosphere Watch: Science for Service
• 2013/03/21: FAO: FAO calls for 'Zero Illegal Deforestation' target -- Mediterranean forests risk being hit hard by climate change - new FAO report
• 2013/03/10: WaPo: Can the world fight climate change and energy poverty at the same time?
  The United Nations has set two huge energy-related goals for the coming century. The first is to bring electricity to the 1.3 billion people who still don't have it. The second is to curtail fossil fuel use and keep global warming below 2°C. Those are daunting goals. They're also in somewhat awkward tension with each other. The first requires increasing the amount of energy the world uses, including fossil fuels. The second requires harnessing cleaner power sources, using energy more efficiently, and even conserving power. So is it possible to do both at once?
• 
  

  And on the carbon trading front:

   

• 2013/03/22: RTCC: Voluntary carbon markets offer hope for climate challenge
• 2013/03/20: RTCC: China postpones launch of national carbon market to post-2015
  China's proposed national carbon market will not launch in 2015 as originally suggested after the country told the World Bank it will not begin work on it for another two years.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/03/21: Asia Times: US maintains pressure on Iran
• 2013/03/18: Guardian(UK): Surgeons struggle in Iran as sanctions squeeze drug supplies
  

  South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

• 2013/03/22: CSM: Japan warms to Taiwan, isolates China, in territorial sea dispute
• 2013/03/21: IndiaTimes: US, Japan review worst-case plans for [Senkaku/Diaoyu] island dispute
  

  Now that the EU-ETS for airlines is in year long limbo, will it ever be resurrected?

• 2013/03/22: EurActiv: Low-fare airlines to sue EU for 'stopping the clock' on ETS
  The European Low Fares Airline Association says it will file a lawsuit against the European Commission's proposed one-year suspension of the Emissions Trading System's (ETS) application to airlines if the measure is approved.
  [...]
  The EU's temporary halt to the ETS was intended to allow time for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to devise a global alternative. But in the meantime, international airlines which bitterly attacked the cap and trade scheme at every turn will be exempted from it, while intra-European airlines, which had supported it, will not.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/03/20: EurActiv: Chinese envoy defends limits on rare earths
  A top Chinese diplomat on Tuesday (19 March) defended his country's efforts to curb exports of rare earth metals and other vital industrial raw materials to Europe, saying extensive mining had caused environmental problems.
• 
  

  Regarding the EU FQD: Fuel Quality Directive:

   

• 2013/03/18: EurActiv: EU must play hardball on tar sands, says Canadian chief [Bill Erasmus]
  A Canadian indigenous chief is urging the European Union to resist Canada's efforts to soften European legislation that would label tar sands as more polluting than conventional oil, saying the burgeoning energy industry threatens the country's northwest indigenous people. The Canadian government is pursuing a policy of oil extraction from tar sands - also known as oil sands - in western provinces that are believed to contain the world's largest source of oil after Saudi Arabia. Ottawa has stepped up lobbying efforts in the EU, aimed in part at quashing pending legislation it says could hurt the tar sands industry. Under proposed amendments to the Fuel Quality Directive, the EU would label the unconventional oil as some 20% more polluting than other fuel sources. "We can't deny that climate change is occurring. We can't deny that the future of Mother Earth is in question," said Chief Bill Erasmus, the northwest regional leader of the Assembly of First Nations, Canada's body for its indigenous populations. "And so the European Union is now saying that places like the tar sands can no longer continue as they have in the past," he told EurActiv in an interview. "We're very happy this is occurring. We know that Canada is lobbying against that."
• 
  

  And in miscellaneous international political jousting:

   

• 2013/03/22: CSM: Why natural gas will determine the future of Cyprus
• 2013/03/18: OilChange: Is Oil One Reason For Genocide of Rohingya in Burma?
• 2013/03/17: al Jazeera: Chronicle of a referendum foretold: What next for the Malvinas/Falklands?
  The latest referendum shows that posturing alone won't end the dispute between Argentina and the British.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/03/22: P3: Did Global Warming Spark the Syrian War?
• 2013/03/22: CDreams: Climate Change Now Seen as Security Threat Worldwide
• 2013/03/21: ASP: The Global Security Defense Index on Climate Change: Preliminary Results
  

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

• 2013/03/20: ACLU: Human Rights Organizations From Across the Globe Call on U.N. to Protect Human Rights in the Context of Social Protest
  

  What are the activists up to?

• 2013/03/22: Resilience: Can a Divestment Campaign Move the Fossil Fuel Industry?
• 2013/03/22: P3: Civil Disobedience and Climate Disruption
• 2013/03/21: CCP: How to get started on getting your city to divest from fossil fuels (and your museums, churches, foundations)
• 2013/03/19: TreeHugger: How can civil disobedience best help the climate?
  

  Regarding Water Politics and Business. See also:

• 2013/03/23: JFleck: water conservation diaries: it's about making more food
• 2013/03/23: al Jazeera: Developing water and sanitation for a better future
  Addressing the water and sanitation crisis is more than just charity, it is an opportunity.
• 2013/03/22: Eureka: 'Water Security': Experts propose a UN definition on which much depends
  [...]
  UN-Water, the United Nations' inter-agency coordination mechanism for all water-related issues, says water security should be defined as:
  "The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability."
• 2013/03/22: BBC: Advert turns air into drinking water
  Just outside Lima, Peru, a billboard provides drinking water to whomever needs it - mainly, its neighbours.
• 2013/03/21: CCurrents: Water Activists Need To Get Main Space In Policy making For A Better 'Water Policy'
• 2013/03/21: EurActiv: Millions won't be celebrating World Water Day
  Half of humans lack safe drinking water, while competition for water from agriculture and industry could put more people at risk in years to come, says a Portuguese lawyer who is the United Nations' independent advocate for the right to water.
• 2013/03/20: CCurrents: 2.8 Billion People Face Water Shortage
• 2013/03/20: Grist: Watch a 9-year-old activist speak out against corporate interests taking over his town's water
• 2013/03/20: JFleck: BDCP rollout: did anyone say anything that surprised you?
• 2013/03/19: TCoE: The Looming Threat of Water Scarcity
• 2013/03/18: PSinclair: Graphene May Solve Fresh Water Shortages
  

  Regarding science education:

• 2013/03/20: BorealCitizen: Can reason and secularism protect kids from anti-science rhetoric (and build a better society)? [educ]
  

  Statistics? You want to talk about statistics?

• 2013/03/24: VV: New article on the multiple breakpoint problem in homogenization
• 2013/03/19: DebunkingD: The Statistical (but not Scientific) Ignorance of Phil Plait
• 2013/03/19: ERabett: Rose gets stuck on statistical significance
  

  While in the UK:

• 2013/03/22: RTCC: WWF: UK government stuck on a 'brown economy'
• 2013/03/22: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Our children need to learn about climate change
• 2013/03/21: Grist: This 15-year-old won't let the British government cut climate change education
• 2013/03/21: Guardian(UK): Thousands sign school climate change petition started by 15-year-old
  Esha Marwaha from west London says she is outraged that climate change has been scaled back in national curriculum
• 2013/03/20: Guardian(UK): Budget 2013: Defra facing £37m budget cut by 2015
• 2013/03/20: Guardian(UK): Budget 2013: green measures at a glance
  George Osborne announces plans for infrastructure spending, low-carbon energy, shale gas and fuel duty
• 2013/03/20: BBC: Green campaigners dismayed by Budget
  The chancellor's promise to deliver tax breaks for shale gas and the oil industry has angered environmentalists.
• 2013/03/20: NatureNB: UK budget leaves science funding falling slowly
• 2013/03/20: RTCC: UK Budget 2013: renewables miss out as shale subsidies rise
  In short, UK Chancellor George Osborne's 2013 Budget promises little for climate campaigners.
• 2013/03/19: Guardian(UK): Geography taught me climate change is unjust -- and inspired me to fight
  Previous generations' ignorance led to global warming. To change the curriculum now is an outrageous backward step
• 2013/03/19: Guardian(UK): New nuclear power station gets planning consent
  Energy secretary Ed Davey grants EDF permission to build and run two reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset
• 2013/03/19: Guardian(UK): Climate change: our sin of omission
  Removing climate change from the curriculum denies children the right to participate in the debate about their own future
• 2013/03/18: Guardian(UK): UK should use shale gas to cut emissions, [Grantham Institute] report says
• 2013/03/18: Guardian(UK): Teachers should be given free rein to teach climate change in schools
• 2013/03/18: Guardian(UK): Move to drop debate on climate change in schools faces backlash
• 2013/03/18: TCoE: The insanity of a dash for gas
• 2013/03/18: RTCC: Climate debate cut from England & Wales curriculum for children up to 14
• 2013/03/17: Guardian(UK): Climate debate cut from national curriculum for children up to 14
  New draft guidelines for key stages 1 to 3 criticised by scientists for 'abdicating duty to future generations'
• 
  

  And in Europe:

   

• 2013/03/22: RTCC: Polish government accused of gagging anti-fracking groups
• 2013/03/22: EurActiv: Debate rages as Brussels fires starting gun on 2030 energy strategy
  The European Commission has drawn up battle lines for the debate on 2030 climate and energy targets with a Green Paper that sidelines energy efficiency and signposts possible shifts to sectoral goals, regulatory measures and increased use of carbon market funds.
• 2013/03/22: EurActiv: Study: Weak rules put building efficiency off track
• Without further guidance, EU countries may mismanage their energy efficiency commitments and risk missing their energy savings' target, says a report by the Buildings Performance Institute Europe.
• 2013/03/21: EurActiv: German insurers urge easing green energy investment rules
  Germany's insurers want politicians and regulators to ease rules restricting their ability to invest in renewable energy and infrastructure, insurance trade body GDV said on Wednesday (20 March). "Long-term insurance business fits well with investments in ecologically and economically sustainable energy and infrastructure projects," GDV Managing Director Jörg von Fürstenwerth said in a statement.
• 2013/03/21: EurActiv: Jeremy Rifkin warns Europe: Don't repeat Obama's mistakes
  A leading climate analyst and adviser to world governments has warned the EU that its environmental goals will become meaningless unless the bloc learns from US President Barack Obama's mistakes, and makes a supergrid the 'nervous system' of its energy policy.
• 2013/03/20: EurActiv: Slovakia, Slovenia refuse to sign off on CAP deal
  Agriculture ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday (19 March) forged an incomplete compromise farm policy ahead of key negotiations on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), with Slovakia and Slovenia refusing to sign off on the deal.
• 2013/03/20: EUO: EU ministers hail 'watershed' agreement on farm policy
• 2013/03/18: DerSpiegel: Funding Shortfall: Germany Forced to Cancel Climate Programs
  As prices for carbon emissions continue to languish, Berlin is planning to cancel some key subsidy programs aimed at increasing reliance on renewable energies. Germany and other European countries seem uninterested in fixing the problem.
• 2013/03/20: BBC: New EU farm subsidy plan criticised by green groups
  Farmers will be paid twice by taxpayers for the same work if Europe's farm ministers get their way over subsidies. Ministers have backed double payments for environmental activities - even though the EU Commission and MEPs warn this would be wasteful and illegal. They also watered down the Commission's plan to oblige farmers to deliver some public benefit for their 58bn-euro (£50bn; $75bn) annual subsidies. The Irish EU presidency praised the outcome. But green groups are outraged.
• 2013/03/21: DerSpiegel: Bogus Bloc: Why Joint European Votes Are Bad for Wildlife
  Earlier this month, an abstention by EU member countries was a factor in the scuppering of a global ban on the trade of polar bear products. Under muddled EU bloc voting guidelines, Denmark and Greenland, a satellite state with 55,000 residents succeeded in holding the vote hostage.
• 2013/03/19: EUO: European energy security is not up to Europe
• 2013/03/19: EUO: Farm talks continue amid major divisions
• 2013/03/18: EurActiv: Report: Tough EU fuel economy rules could create 443,000 jobs
  Robust fuel efficiency standards for cars could create up to 443,000 new jobs by 2030 and add €16 billion per year to Europe's GDP, according to the first economic study of the effects of CO2 legislation on the auto-industry.
• 2013/03/18: EurActiv: EU must play hardball on tar sands, says Canadian chief [Bill Erasmus]
• 2013/03/17: BBC: Car drivers 'will save cash thanks to CO2 rules'
  Drivers will save £3,300 (E3,800) over the lifetime of their cars if the EU imposes strict new standards on manufacturers, a report claims.
• 
  

  Meanwhile in Australia:

   

• 2013/03/24: ABC(Au): Napthine won't confirm extra tornado assistance
  Victorian Premier Denis Napthine has refused to confirm if his Government will offer financial assistance to people whose homes were destroyed when tornadoes hit the state's north-east.
• 2013/03/21: TheConversation: Three major floods, four reviews, but still lessons to learn
• 2013/03/21: ABC(Au): Flood damage report informs further funding
  The NSW Department of Primary Industries has prepared a preliminary report on the the effect of last month's floods on the mid north coast's primary producers. The report has been compiled via information received on the Damage Hotline as well as industry reports and assessments by DPI staff. The information will be considered by the state and commonwealth governments to determine whether further assistance will be offered to the region.
• 2013/03/21: ABC(Au): No link found between CSG and health complaints
  The Queensland Government says a report has found no link between coal seam gas and health complaints. Health Minister Lawrence Springborg has tabled a report in Parliament, prompted by complaints from areas like Tara on the Western Downs.
• 2013/03/21: ABC(Au): Qld health report says CSG not making people sick in Tara
• 2013/03/20: ABC(Au):TDU: Reducing carbon emissions in the scorched north
  The introduction of the carbon tax can support Aboriginal people in resuming traditional burns and retaking responsibility for their land, writes Kim Courtenay.
• 2013/03/19: TheConversation: Australia is not ready for the next big dry
• 2013/03/18: ABC(Au): Queensland pushes ahead with uranium mining
• 2013/03/18: ABC(Au): Forestry Tas keeps production forests
  Forestry Tasmania will retain control of production forests under the Government's restructure of the state-owned company. The company will be split in two, transferring control of national parks and reserves to a new statutory authority to be created within the Parks and Wildlife Department.
• 
  

  The Labor Party has had a 'spill' ie. a mjor internecine fight over leadership:

   

• 2013/03/24: ABC(Au): Conjecture begins as PM considers new frontbench
• 2013/03/24: ABC(Au): Albanese rejects calls to quit ministry over spill
  Federal Cabinet minister Anthony Albanese says he will not bow to internal pressure to resign over last week's failed Labor leadership coup. Mr Albanese has also denied being a key supporter of the plan to overthrow Julia Gillard as Prime Minister.
• 2013/03/23: ABC(Au): Gillard prepares for frontbench shake-up
  Prime Minister Julia Gillard is working on drastic changes to her frontbench after losing four experienced ministers in the wake of a botched attempt to unseat her. Chris Bowen, Martin Ferguson and Kim Carr resigned yesterday over their support for former leader Kevin Rudd, and will join Simon Crean on the backbench. Federal Transport Minister and Leader of the House Anthony Albanese is also under pressure to consider his future.
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au):TDU: Gillard's leadership victory comes at a heavy cost
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Labor woes may stifle Gillard's hopes for clear air
  Senior Labor ministers are hoping this week's leadership spill and subsequent resignations will give Julia Gillard clear air to sell the party's message. But some supporters say uniting a divided party will be extremely difficult this close to an election, and analysts are predicting more leadership troubles if the party slips further in the polls. The Prime Minister is facing a major a reshuffle of her frontbench after the resignations of some of Labor's most senior ministers in the wake of Thursday's spill. Three ministers, including two from Cabinet, are heading to the backbench and Kevin Rudd has vowed there were no circumstances under which he would return as Labor leader.
• 2013/03/23: WSWS: Behind the failed political coup against Australian PM
• 2013/03/22: Guardian(UK): Australian ministers resign over leadership showdown
• 2013/03/22: WSWS: Australian government crisis deepens after leadership turmoil
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Ferguson, Carr resign as Labor spill casualty list grows
  Government ministers Martin Ferguson and Kim Carr have become the latest casualties in the wake of yesterday's abortive Labor leadership spill. Both quit over their support for Kevin Rudd, who says he did not challenge Julia Gillard because he did not have the numbers to win.
• 2013/03/22: Xinhuanet: Another Kevin Rudd supporter quits Australian ministerial job
  The aftermath of Australian Labor Party (ALP) leadership spill further unfolded on Friday as Teritiary Education Minister Chris Bowen, a Kevin Rudd supporter, resigned from Julia Gillard's cabinet following the leadership showdown.
• 2013/03/22: Xinhuanet: Australian Energy Minister Martin Ferguson resigns
  Australia's ruling party leadership battle took a new toll as Minister for Resources, Energy and Tourism Martin Ferguson resigned from Prime Minister Julia Gillard's cabinet.
• 2013/03/22: CNN: Embattled Australian PM losing allies despite vote win
  PM Julia Gillard was unopposed as a leadership content was held - Several members of her government resign 24 hours later - Gillard was expected to face a challenge from the man she ousted as PM - Kevin Rudd said the vote would have split an already unpopular ruling party
• 2013/03/22: ABC(Au): Rudd gives up hope of return to Labor leadership
  Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has issued a statement ruling out ever being Labor leader again. Mr Rudd decided not to run in yesterday's abortive Labor leadership spill, leaving Prime Minister Julia Gillard to be re-elected unopposed. This morning a statement was posted on Mr Rudd's website, conceding that his leadership hopes were now over. But he said he still planned to stand again for Labor at September's federal election.
• 2013/03/21: BBC: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard declared the Labor party leadership conclusively settled, after Kevin Rudd shunned a party vote
• 2013/03/21: ABC(Au): Gillard survives day of leadership turmoil
  At the end of a remarkable day in federal politics, Julia Gillard has declared the party's leadership ructions "completely at an end". She emerged from the third leadership spill in less than three years still Prime Minister - re-elected unopposed and unanimously by a caucus which has once again revealed just how deep its divisions run.
• 2013/03/21: CBC: Julia Gillard remains Australian prime minister -- Rival declined to challenge her in ballot
• 2013/03/21: al Jazeera: Australia PM prevails in leadership vote
  Julia Gillard retains Labor's top job after former leader Kevin Rudd decides not to challenge her.
• 2013/03/21: ABC(Au): Disunity is killing Labor, says Crean
  Labor party elder Simon Crean has launched an extraordinary intervention in the Government's leadership dilemma, criticising the tactics of the current leaders and calling for an end to the "stalemate". He has also urged those MPs agitating for a spill to "pull back" and stop destabilising the Government. Some MPs have been urging former prime minister Kevin Rudd to "make himself available" to once again challenge Julia Gillard. But Mr Crean says the government must be unified.
• 2013/03/20: WSWS: Australian Labor government embroiled in leadership crisis
• 2013/03/20: ABC(Au): Fitzgibbon confirms Labor leadership discussions
  Chief Government whip and key Kevin Rudd supporter Joel Fitzgibbon has confirmed that Labor MPs are discussing the leadership - adding to rumours that a challenge is brewing against the Prime Minister. Criticism of Julia Gillard's handling of the contentious media laws and her continued poor polling has triggered the latest round of speculation.
• 
  

  No matter who leads Labor, it's still a long way to the September election:

   

• 2013/03/21: Guardian(UK): Australians don't know how lucky they are
  A leadership threat to Julia Gillard seemed churlish, given the strong economy -- but disgruntled Australians are a common breed
• 2013/03/19: ABC(Au):TDU: Early election announcement breeds toxic politics
• 2013/03/18: TheConversation: The only way is up? The northern Australian food bowl fantasy
  

  After years of wrangling the Murray Darling Basin plan is in place, but the water management fights are far from finished:

• 2013/03/18: ABC(Au): New row over Namoi Water Study
  A coal economist who's issued a scathing review of Scenario Seven of the Namoi Water Study has conceded water is not his area of expertise. The Scenario contemplates the rapid development of eight coal seam gas fields and at least 24 mines in the Namoi catchment, extracting up to 160-million tonnes of coal per annum
• 2013/03/18: ABC(Au): Mal Peters "insulted" over Namoi WS review
  The Chair of the Ministerial Oversight Committee of the Namoi Water Study, Mal Peters, says he's insulted by the NSW government's review of Scenario Seven of the Study. The "worst-case" Scenario Seven assumes at least 24 coal mines operating together in the Namoi catchment along with eight coal seam gas fields. Coal economist, Dr Don Barnett, reviewed the Study describing its hypothetical coal production levels as "implausible", "over the top" and "unrealistic".
• 
  

  And in China:

   

• 2013/03/22: Guardian(UK): Why geoengineering has immediate appeal to China
• 2013/03/19: RawStory: Number of dead pigs in Shanghai river approaches 15,000
• 2013/03/18: TheConversation: Pigs and pollution: China can't keep ignoring the environment
• 2013/03/18: ABC(Au): Dead pigs found in Chinese river exceeds 13,000
• 2013/03/18: ABC(Au): Fallout in China over delegates' pollution revolt
  The fallout is being felt in China after an open revolt over air pollution at the country's annual session of parliament. In a dramatic shift from what is normally expected at a rubber-stamp Congress, a third of delegates rejected the new make-up of a key environmental pollution committee when they were asked to endorse it.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/03/22: ScienceInsider: Canadian Budget Targets Industrial Applications
• 2013/03/22: NatureN: Canada puts commercialisation ahead of blue-sky research -- Federal budget boosts clean-energy research and university infrastructure
• 2013/03/22: TRN: Canadian Government Fights US Opposition to Tar Sands Pipeline
• 2013/03/21: PostMedia: Federal budget cuts $100 million from fisheries and oceans over three years
  The Harper government took another axe to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Thursday's budget. The department will have to cut spending by $33 million a year starting in 2015-16 -- the year the government vows to balance the budget.
• 2013/03/21: CBC: Budget offers little new on the environmental front
• 2013/03/21: TheCanadian: Rafe: We Continue to go Backwards at an Unsustainable Rate
• 2013/03/21: PI: Pembina reacts to release of the 2013 federal budget
• 2013/03/21: TheCanadian: Globe and Mail Op-ed: Oliver's Attempt to Pitch "Green" Tar Sands an Orwellian Fib
• 2013/03/19: CBC: Envoy to deal with First Nations concerns on pipelines
  Vancouver lawyer Doug Eyford to submit preliminary report to Harper by June Prime Minister Stephen Harper has named an envoy to defuse the tension between First Nations and the energy and pipeline industry that threatens his plan to quickly develop Canada's natural resources. Vancouver-based lawyer Doug Eyford will focus on energy infrastructure in Western Canada and submit a preliminary report directly to Harper by the end of June and a final report by the end of November.
• 2013/03/19: MSimon: Thomas Mulcair and the Attack of the Oil Pimps
• 2013/03/17: PostMedia: Federal budget cuts undermine Environment Canada's mandate to enforce clean air regulations: emails
  The Harper government's budget cuts to scientific research at Environment Canada have compromised the department's capacity to crack down on cancer-linked pollution and its mandate to enforce clean air regulations, say enforcement officers in a collection of internal emails obtained by Postmedia News.
• 
  

  The IdleNoMore movement is changing:

   

• 2013/03/23: CPW: Journey of Nishiyuu: A quest to solidify bonds between First Nations
  A quest undertaken by the youth of Great Whale to solidify the traditional bonds between First Nations by Chief Stan George
  Accompanied by one experienced guide, 6 youths from the community of Great Whale, located in Northern Quebec on the shores of Hudson's Bay, have commenced a sacred quest that is intended to unite the different First Nations of Canada. They will walk from Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuaraapik to Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a journey totalling over 1500 kilometres, to deliver a strong message to other First Nations across Canada that the Cree Nation of Quebec are not sell-outs but true keepers of their language, culture, traditions and, more importantly today, that the Cree Nation continues to respect the sacred laws of our ancestors.
• 2013/03/23: Tyee: Idling No More -- Changing the course of Canada, and the planet -- before it's too late
• 2013/03/22: CBC: Cree Idle No More walkers near end of 1,600 km trek to Ottawa -- Group of seven left James Bay community in January
• 2013/03/21: iPolitics: The Harper government is radicalizing First Nations
  Brace yourself for the Indian Wars, Stephen Harper style.
  This federal government doesn't give a flying fornication about indigenous issues, and the way the stars are lining up, there will be a price to pay for their disdain.
• 2013/03/21: CPW: First Nations chief urges Jeannette Pilot to end hunger strike
• 2013/03/21: CPW: Solidarity spring: A Call to action from Idle No More & Defenders of the Land
• 2013/03/21: Guardian(UK): Canadian and US aboriginal groups vow to block oil pipelines [KSL & Norgate]
• 2013/03/18: CBC: Oil patch eyes uptick in business receivership -- Many firms 'quietly shopping' to be taken over
• 2013/03/18: CBC: HudBay sues First Nation over Idle No More blockade
• 2013/03/18: CBC: Logging permits can be issued on First Nations land: court
  Ruling overturns 2011 supreme court decision that sided with Grassy Narrows First Nation
• 
  

  The Harper gang is still muzzling those pesky scientists:

   

• 2013/03/21: CBC: Experimental Lakes scientists kept in dark on facility's future
  Researchers forced to call Department of Fisheries and Oceans to confirm closure Scientists with ongoing projects at the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario had to contact the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to find out they would not be allowed to work at the facility this summer. Principal researchers on a mercury contamination study in the area initiated and arranged a conference call with David Gillis, director general of the Ecosystem Science Directorate at DFO. The scientists say they had only heard about the cancellation of the 2013 field season through rumours, gossip and the media but nothing officially from the DFO. They were confused about why the government would mothball the facility for the summer when DFO only gives up control on Sept. 1.
• 2013/03/21: CCP: Meanwhile, in Canada: government scientists muzzled, Dr Kristi Miller prohibited from being interviewed about her article in the journal Science, and further, Canadian scientists are prohibited from applying for research grants without prior consent
• 2013/03/20: CSW: New report on Harper government interference with science communication in Canada
• 2013/03/20: WpgFP: Ottawa bars freshwater research -- Experimental Lakes Area work fully funded
  The Harper government is refusing to permit fully funded freshwater research to take place this summer at the remote Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario. A group of researchers from Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., was told this week they are barred from the site, despite starting their work last summer and spending thousands of dollars on an approved trip to one of the ELA lakes as recently as last month.
• 2013/03/19: CBC: Experimental Lakes closure risks federally funded research
  Trent University water scientist worries delay or cancellation will leave questions about nano-materials A scientist with an $800,000 federal grant will not be able to conduct his research due to the shuttering of the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in northern Ontario. Dr. Chris Metcalfe, who was set to contaminate a lake with nanosilver and document its effects on the lake's ecosystem, will have to put his experiment on hold. The grant for Metcalfe, of Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., came from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, a branch of the federal Department of Industry.
• 2013/03/18: TheCanadian: Harper Government Takes Muzzling Scientists to New Extreme
  

  Another one drops out of the Liberal leadership vote scheduled for April 14th:

• 2013/03/24: CPW: Joyce Murray: Electoral cooperation in Labrador by-election guarantees progressive win and Harper fail
• 2013/03/23: CBC: Federal Liberals hold final leadership debate - 6 candidates will face off in Montreal
• 2013/03/21: CBC: Bertschi dropping out of Liberal leadership race - 6 candidates remain...
• 2013/03/19: CBC: Joyce Murray savours late momentum in Liberal race -- Leadership hopeful's electoral cooperation plan picks up steam
  

  The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

• 2013/03/22: WTY: CoastalTarSands.ca Launching Today
• 2013/03/21: CBC: Oil recovery vessel ran aground en route to federal tanker announcement
  An oil spill recovery vessel ran aground en route to a federal announcement on oil tanker safety in Vancouver on Monday, officials have confirmed. The vessel was making a 12-hour trip from its base in Esquimalt to Vancouver for a tanker safety announcement by Federal Transport Minister Denis Lebel and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver when it struck an uncharted sandbar near Sandheads at the mouth of the Fraser River near Steveston.
• 2013/03/21: CCP: Canadian First Nations leaders vow to do what it takes to stop the Northern Gateway, Enbridge and TransCanada [Keystone XL]
• 2013/03/20: CBC: First Nations say they will fight oilsands, pipeline
  Minister of Natural Resources says pipeline projects are in First Nations' economic interest An alliance of First Nations leaders is preparing to fight proposed new pipelines in the courts and through unspecified direct action. Native leaders from Canada and the United States were on Parliament Hill on Wednesday to underline opposition to both the Northern Gateway and Keystone XL pipelines.
• 2013/03/20: G&M: Buoyancy of oil sands bitumen raises spill concerns
  Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver this week told a Vancouver audience that British Columbians have nothing to fear from Pacific exports of Canadian oil sands crude. "We have taken significant measures to protect against a spill," the minister said. But one of the country's top oil spill experts says exports of heavy crude pose added risks to the West Coast, since some oil sands blends are likely to sink in the case of a spill, complicating potential cleanup efforts.
• 2013/03/20: Maribo: Is opposition to new pipelines distracting from broader climate policy concerns?
• 2013/03/17: CBC: Northern Gateway panel tangled in web of aboriginal interests
  First Nations lawyers have pressed Enbridge for detailed answers about title and rights
  A top Northern Gateway Pipelines official says the company is trying to balance the many competing interests in the project, and realizes it may be impossible to satisfy them all. Federal review hearings into the $6-billion pipeline project continue Monday in Prince Rupert, B.C., where the three-person panel has been hearing about the company's aboriginal engagement and public consultation.
• 
  

  As for the fabled West-East line:

   

• 2013/03/22: Rabble:CoC: National Energy Board's 'List of Issues' in Line 9B hearings excludes important issues
  

  In BC, the stage is set for the May 14th election. Now what will Clark and Dix do?

• 2013/03/23: TheCanadian: BC's Fossil Fuel Folly
• 2013/03/22: Tyee: Video: Vancouver's Dilbit Dilemma
• 2013/03/19: Tyee: Kitimat Refinery Project Demands Transparency
  David Black's gambit is turning into a big election issue, but what do we know about its financial backers?
• 2013/03/20: PostMedia: Repairs to damaged run-of-river project expected to take months, cost $10 million -- Slide at Montrose Creek wipes out 300 metres of piping
• 2013/03/21: TheCanadian: Sunshine Coast Private River Power Project Rocked by Landslide
• 2013/03/17: MCrawford: Dix Will Flip-Flop on the Northern Gateway Pipeline
  

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2013/03/22: CBC: Higher Alberta oil costs drag CNOOC profit 9% lower
• 2013/03/22: BCLSB: CNOOC Loses On Tar Sands Investment
• 2013/03/22: Tyee: Another Alberta Family Flees Oil Sands Pollution
  Mother who left her Peace River region home behind could 'smell the bitumen.'
• 2013/03/22: OilChange: The Tar Sands Refugees
• 2013/03/21: CCP: German Scientific Association Drops Tar Sands Research Project Over 'Reputational Problems'
• 2013/03/21: ScienceInsider: German Researchers Withdraw From Canadian Oil Sands Project
• 2013/03/20: Guardian(UK): German institute pulls out of Canadian tar sands project
  Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres drops out of research into tar sands impact over fears of reputational impact
• 2013/03/19: DeSmogBlog: A Short History of Greenwashing the Tar Sands, Part 1
• 2013/03/19: CBC: German scientists quit oilsands research program -- Opposition over oilsands prompts move by Helmholtz Association
• 2013/03/19: EurActiv: German research institute pulls out of Canadian tar sands project
  Germany's largest and most prestigious research institute has pulled out of a Canadian government-funded CAN$25 million research project into sustainable solutions to tar sands pollution, citing fears for its environmental reputation.
• 2013/03/19: BCLSB: The Germans Think We Are Bad For Their Rep
  

  Also in Alberta:

• 2013/03/19: PostMedia: Redford urges national carbon levy -- Premier wants Canada to follow Alberta's lead
  Alberta Premier Alison Redford says the federal government should follow her province's lead of introducing a carbon price on greenhouse gas emissions for large industrial emitters.
• 2013/03/18: G&M: Pipeline denial would 'fundamentally change' relations with U.S.: Redford
  Alberta Premier Alison Redford has warned that rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline by the Obama administration would undermine the economic relationship between the countries, and strengthen Canada's resolve to look for new markets for its resources. During a visit to Ottawa Monday, Ms. Redford painted the Keystone project as vital not only to Alberta but to Canada's national interest - and slammed federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair, saying he had betrayed those Canadian interests when he talked down the pipeline proposal during a trip to Washington last week. Federal and provincial leaders have launched an intense lobbying campaign to win approval from President Barack Obama for the controversial pipeline...
• 2013/03/18: CBC: Mulcair's Washington trip a 'betrayal of Canada,' Redford says
• 2013/03/18: DeSmogBlog: Parsing Redford's Little Black Lies, Part 3
• 2013/03/17: CBC: Alberta lobbies for Keystone XL in New York Times ad
  

  And in Saskatchewan:

• 2013/03/19: CSM: Canadian coal plant retrofit could be a 'game changer'
  A recent story from E&E reported on the progress of Canadian utility SaskPower's 43-year-old coal plant at its Boundary Dam Power Station. The facility is being retrofitted to capture roughly 90 percent of its carbon dioxide emissions and store the gas deep underground. The Boundary Dam Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Demonstration Project will see Unit #3 at a coal-fired power plant located at Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada, rebuilt with a fully-integrated carbon capture and storage (CCS) system. It will be the first commercial-scale power plant equipped with a fully integrated CCS system. Operations are expected to begin in 2014.
• 2013/03/18: Buckdog: Calling Out Brad Wall's Phony Contrived Outrage At Mulcair
• 2013/03/23: NBF: New Uranium rush in Saskatchewan, Canada
  

  Also in Saskatchewan, that IPAC-CO2 scandal continues to fester:

• 2013/03/20: CBC: Mystery company uncovered by U of R raises 'serious concerns'
  Five professors created for-profit research firm CBC News has obtained a confidential report prepared for University of Regina officials which outlines "serious concerns" over a mysterious company that has been linked to litigation involving the school. In November, the university sued two private companies for allegedly misappropriating carbon capture technology developed at the institution. In its statement of defence, one of those companies -- HTC Purenergy -- references a research program called Gen Five Carbon Capture Research. That was a funding proposal attempting to secure $7.75 million dollars in research funding from Doosan, the other company named in the U of R lawsuit. That proposal appears to have caused significant confusion and friction between the university and the private companies. Lawyers for the university submitted a report to administration about the matter, in May 2011.
• 
  

  In Manitoba, flooding is possible. There is a lot of snow and it depends on how fast it melts:

   

• 2013/03/23: CBC: Lake Manitoba flood victims launch $260 million lawsuit
  Lake Manitoba flood victims have launched a $260 million lawsuit against the province claiming too much water was sent into the area, flooding already saturated land. People involved in the lawsuit owned homes, cottages, businesses or farms in the Twin Beaches region.
• 2013/03/21: NWS: National Hydrologic Assessment
• 2013/03/21: RRBDIN: Major Flood Risk along entire Red River Mainstem
• 2013/03/18: ManitobaGovt: Spring Flood update
• Red River of the North and Devils Lake flood information portal
  

  Wynne is struggling to establish herself. Energy still looms large:

• 2013/03/22: CBC: Online game depicting pipeline bombing sparks controversy
• 2013/03/23: CBC: Suzuki charity denies benefit from game with pipeline bombs
  Ontario taxpayer-funded 'Pipe Trouble' has raised serious concerns about advocating violence The developer of a controversial video game that included depictions of pipeline bombings had said a portion of any proceeds of the game would go to the David Suzuki Foundation, but the organization has denied any relationship with the game maker. The game Pipe Trouble lets players build pipelines to move gas across landscapes, while balancing costs and potentially angering farmers and environmentalists. It was paid for by Ontario taxpayers and posted on the website of the province's public broadcaster, TVO, as a companion to a documentary about local opposition to pipelines in northeastern B.C. and northwestern Alberta. Pop Sandbox game developer Alex Jansen said the game is meant to be a learning experience.
• 
  

  While in la Belle Province:

   

• 2013/03/17: CBC: Quebec Liberals choose Philippe Couillard as leader
  

  In the North:

• 2013/03/21: CBC: Thawing permafrost a growing problem for Iqaluit airport
  

  As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

• 2013/03/20: CTV: Canada's nuclear waste cleanup liability up $2.4 billion: AECL
  The federal government's anticipated cost for cleaning up its nuclear program has soared by $2.4 billion to a total of $5 billion.
• 2013/03/20: TheCanadian: Big-picture Thinking Needed to Protect Nature [Suzuki]
• 2013/03/20: TheCanadian: Big-picture Thinking Needed to Protect Nature [Suzuki]
  

  And on the American political front:

• 2013/03/22: TreeHugger: Clean energy under attack from ALEC-backed fake freemarketeers
• 2013/03/21: P3: Conservative Environmentalism
• 2013/03/21: Grist: Maryland pushing ahead on offshore wind farm
• 2013/03/21: ICN: Scientist to Policymakers: Clean Energy Could Fuel New York by 2050
• 2013/03/21: TreeHugger: What does conservative environmentalism look like?
• 2013/03/21: TP:JR: Theda Skocpol Doubles Down With Self-Contradictory, Blame-The-Victim Misanalysis Of Cap-And-Trade Failure
• 2013/03/20: Grist: Bipartisan support for distributed clean energy, in Iowa of all places
• 2013/03/20: Grist: More coal-fired idiocy and mendacity in Nevada
• 2013/03/20: TP:JR: Utah Schoolchildren Asked To Celebrate Fossil Fuels And Mining On Earth Day
• 2013/03/17: P3: Plus ca Change
• 2013/03/22: TreeHugger: Maryland moves one step closer to 200MW offshore wind farm
• 2013/03/23: WSWS: US agribusiness seeks to outlaw filming of farming practices
• 2013/03/20: WashingtonsBlog: Action Alert: We Have 1 Week Or Less to Stop Genetically Engineered Foods and Destruction of the Separation of Powers
• 2013/03/19: BBerg: Los Angeles Halts Using Electricity From Coal Plants
  Los Angeles's municipal utility will stop buying electricity generated from coal and increase its use of renewable energy sources in a bid to cut greenhouse- gas emissions linked to climate change. The city's Department of Water and Power, the nation's largest municipal-owned utility, will phase out the electricity it imports from the Navajo Generating Station in Arizona and Intermountain Power in Utah, according to a statement today. The two plants provide 39 percent of the city's power. "The era of coal is over," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said today in a statement. "By divesting from coal and investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, we reduce our carbon footprint and set a precedent for the national power market."
• 2013/03/19: ICN: Renewable Energy Standards Target of Multi-Pronged Attack
  Forty bills and two major court cases are alive that would repeal RPS targets fully or partially, as public support for renewables grows.
• 2013/03/19: UCSUSA: Scientists Urge Ohio Senators to Continue Clean Energy Standards
• 2013/03/08: TruthOut: Clean-Car Battle Shows How to Fight for Emissions Reduction
• 2013/03/18: SciAm:PI: The Reign of Error, Renewable Energy Edition
• 2013/03/18: SlashDot: As US Cleans Its Energy Mix, It Ships Coal Problems Overseas
• 2013/03/17: BBerg: California Fracking Fight Has $25 Billion Taxes at Stake
  

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2013/03/18: Grist: BP can bid on new Gulf drilling leases, but will it be allowed to drill?
• 2013/03/18: NOAANews: NOAA proposes plan to address environmental injuries from 2005 Gulf oil spill -- Public comment period open through April 15
  

  Post-Sandy commentary and news:

• 2013/03/20: Grist: Post-Sandy, green groups at loggerheads with plans to rebuild Jersey's boardwalk empire
  

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

• 2013/03/23: Grist: Let's count the ways Keystone approval helps us
• 2013/03/22: TRN: Canadian Government Fights US Opposition to Tar Sands Pipeline
• 2013/03/22: GLaden: Senate Vote on Keystone Imminent
• 2013/03/22: OilChange: Statement on Hoeven pro-Keystone XL amendment
• 2013/03/22: OilChange: Oily Keystone XL amendment expected today in the Senate
• 2013/03/21: CCP: State Dept. Hid Contractor's Ties to Keystone XL Pipeline Company
• 2013/03/21: Grist: State Dept. hid contractor's ties to Keystone XL pipeline company
• 2013/03/21: P3: Keystone Pipeline -- A Texan's View
• 2013/03/21: PSinclair: Climate Denier Rethinks after Being Clobbered by Keystone
• 2013/03/20: ICN: Furor Over Keystone Pipeline Caught U.S. and Canada Flat-Footed on Climate Change
  Despite climate sweet talk from Alberta now, Keystone is a saga of missed opportunity and diplomatic failure, experts say.
• 2013/03/21: MoJo: State Dept. Hid Contractor's Ties to Keystone XL Pipeline Company
  A top expert who helped write the government's latest Keystone report previously consulted on three different TransCanada projects -- a fact the State Department tried to hide.
• 2013/03/21: DeSmogBlog: Keystone XL Scandal: Obama State Dept. Hid Contractor's TransCanada Ties
• 2013/03/21: FDL: State Department Hid Contractor's Ties To Keystone XL Pipeline Company
• 2013/03/19: TP:JR: John Kerry Says 'The Science Is Screaming At Us' But Would Approving Keystone Destroy His Climate Credibility?
• 2013/03/19: OilChange: The Billionaire Against Big Oil
• 2013/03/18: G&M: Billionaire joins fight against Keystone XL
  The Keystone XL pipeline faces a new, formidable and deep-pocketed foe: Tom Steyer, a California billionaire, has targeted the controversial Canadian project to funnel Alberta's landlocked heavy crude to Texas refineries on the Gulf Coast. For Mr. Steyer, Keystone "has become the defining issue in the climate change fight of our times," said Chris Lehane, Mr. Steyer's authorized spokesman.
• 2013/03/18: WaPo: Keystone XL heats up MA Senate primary
• 2013/03/18: NatJo: Approving the Keystone Pipeline Won't Bring Obama Bipartisan Goodwill
• 2013/03/17: CBC: Alberta lobbies for Keystone XL in New York Times ad
  

  With the deficit hawks panicking about the debt, the sequester...whatever is handy, the carbon tax solution arises:

• 2013/03/19: GreenGrok: Climate Chatter: What's All This Talk About a Carbon Tax?
• 2013/03/17: EnvEcon: Replace the sequester with a carbon tax
• 2013/03/18: ICN: Oregon Showing Interest in BC's Carbon Tax
  

  The GOP War on Women continues. See also:

• 2013/03/18: ACLU: North Dakota Doctors Call on Governor to Veto Abortion Ban
  Medical Professionals Urge Legislature Not to Pass Any Further Bills Blocking Access to Women's Health Services
• 
  

  Looking forward to 2016?

   

• 2013/03/23: CSM: Rand Paul rising: 2016 in sight?
  

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

• 2013/03/22: WhiteHouse:B: PCAST Releases New Climate Report
  Today the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released a letter to the President describing six key components the advisory group believes should be central to the Administration's strategy for addressing climate change.
• 2013/03/18: TP:JR: Obama: 'Let's Keep Moving Forward On An All-Of-The Above Energy Strategy - Where We Produce More Oil & Gas Here….'
• 2013/03/18: Grist: Obama: Let's fund clean car technology with oil and gas royalties
• 2013/03/18: DeSmogBlog: Obama's Energy Strategy -- Too Little, Too Late?
  

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2013/03/22: TheHill:e2W: Obama taps nuke safety chief Macfarlane for new term
  President Obama has nominated Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairwoman Allison Macfarlane to a five-year term at the agency that oversees the nation's nuclear power plants.
• 2013/03/22: CDreams: EPA Favors 'Bee-Toxic Pesticides' Over Future of Food, Groups Charge
• 2013/03/22: ScienceInsider: NSF Responds to Antarctic Logistics Report
• 2013/03/21: NOAANews: NOAA predicts mixed bag of drought, flooding and warm weather for spring
• 2013/03/21: TP:JR: How The EPA Could Help Cut Carbon Emissions 17% By 2020
• 2013/03/20: ProPublica: Drilling Deeper: The Wealth of Business Connections for Obama's Energy Pick [Moniz]
• 2013/03/20: NatureNB: Investigation clears US interior-department staff of misconduct
• 2013/03/20: ScienceInsider: DOE Science Chief [William Brinkman] to Step Down
• 2013/03/20: UCSUSA:B: Who Keeps an Eye on EPA Science?
• 2013/03/19: BBerg: NRC Delays Action on Vent Plan While to Study Options
  U.S. nuclear regulators delayed action on a recommendation that utilities install radiation filters at 31 U.S. reactors, a victory for the industry that estimated the proposal may cost as much as $20 million per unit. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday said its staff should consider other approaches that would block release of radiation during an accident. The standards, developed in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, must be in place by March 2017, according to a commission statement.
• 2013/03/18: ABC(US): NRC pushes back decision on restart of California's San Onofre nuclear power plant
• 2013/03/18: AutoBG: Automakers tell EPA it's highly unlikely they can hit California ZEV mandate
• 2013/03/15: AlterNet: How Monsanto Outfoxed the Obama Administration
• 2013/03/18: EnvEcon: Old and dirtier or new and cleanlier
  

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2013/03/23: Grist:Senate gives a big, fat thumbs-up to Keystone XL
• 2013/03/23: AutoBG: Lawmakers ask EPA to look into gas price increase as ethanol credits rise
• 2013/03/22: TP:JR: Senate Gone Wild: Vote To Approve Keystone Passes, Decision Still Lies With White House
• 2013/03/22: TheHill:e2W: GOP lawmaker wants Senate on record about carbon taxes
  Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) might put lawmakers on the record, indirectly at least, about whether they support taxing industrial carbon emissions to help confront climate change. Blunt has filed an amendment to the Senate Democrats' budget plan that would require a 60-vote threshold for any legislation that imposes a federal carbon tax or fee.
• 2013/03/22: TP:JR: When Reality Is Biased, Get New Facts: Draft Bill Would Interfere With EPA Science Board
• 2013/03/22: TP:JR: GOP Voting For House Budget's Big Oil Giveaway Receive $38 Million In Oil Cash
• 2013/03/21: QuarkSoup: First they Came for the Political Scientists...
• 2013/03/20: Salon: Climate science-denying GOPer to head climate subcommittee
  Another day, another anti-science move by the House Science Committee
• 2013/03/20: TheHill:e2W: Senate rejects amendment gutting military biofuels program by 40-59 vote
• 2013/03/20: TP:JR: Climate Science Denier [Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT)] Leads House Science Subcommittee
• 2013/03/20: Wonkette: End Times Fetishist Congressman To Chair Climate Committee, Murder All Your Animals For Freedom
• 2013/03/19: SLTrib: Utah's [Rep. Chris] Stewart (R) skeptical about climate change threat
• 2013/03/19: TP:JR: The Clean Murray Budget Versus The Dirty Ryan Budget
• 2013/03/18: TheHill:RW: Coal state Dems press Obama to scale back EPA emissions rules
• 2013/03/18: TheHill:e2W: Senator [Roy Blunt (R-Mo)] places hold on EPA nominee [Gina McCarthy]
  Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Monday that he would place a procedural hold on President Obama's pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Blunt threatened to block the confirmation of Gina McCarthy, who currently heads EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, until he gets an update on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to repair a levee on the Mississippi River system.
• 
  

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

   

• 2013/03/22: CDreams: Fortune's Fools: Individual Calling at the Cusp of Ecological Catastrophe
• 2013/03/19: Resilience: Is open source the solution to global warming?
• 2013/03/19: Resilience: Three (more) things they don't tell you about capitalism
• 2013/03/22: CCurrents: Fortune's Fools: Individual Calling At The Cusp Of Ecological Catastrophe
• 2013/03/21: CCurrents: Sustainable Development Goals Must Sustain People And Planet
  

  And in the Transition movement:

• 2013/03/21: Resilience: the darkness around us is deep
  

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

• 2013/03/21: BBC: Brazil doctors' council backs abortion reform
  As the Senate in Brazil debates reform of abortion laws, the body that regulates medical practice has for the first time backed the legalisation of abortion on request.
• 2013/03/19: al Jazeera: Violence Against Women Act and the US Catholic bishops
  Bishops are attacking a major social justice document that does not even threaten the values they are trying to uphold.
• 2013/03/18: Guardian(UK): The UN Commission on the Status of Women unmasks equality's enemies
  

  Apocalypso anyone?

• 2013/03/21: TheCanadian: Rafe: We Continue to go Backwards at an Unsustainable Rate
  

  Please adjust your rose coloured glasses as required:

• 2013/03/21: WtD: Climate change: is victory at hand?
• 2013/03/21: Guardian(UK): Real market forces now drive action on climate change
  After years of frustration, circumstances are shifting from a global climate treaty serving as the sole impetus
• 2013/03/20: Resilience: Victory at Hand for the Climate Movement?
  There are signs the climate movement could be on the verge of a remarkable and surprising victory. If we read the current context correctly, and if the movement can adjust its strategy to capture the opportunity presented, it could usher in the fastest and most dramatic economic transformation in history. This would include the removal of the oil, coal and gas industries from the economy in just a few decades and their replacement with new industries and, for the most part, entirely new companies. It would be the greatest transfer of wealth and power between industries and countries the world has ever seen.

  To understand this incredible potential we first have to step back and understand the unique structure of this social change movement, which may rank among the most influential in history. It is simplistic to characterise it as an alliance of grass roots organisations and activists pitched against a rich and well connected adversary. While that is part of the story, it is more accurately understood as an idea whose tentacles reach into every tier of government, the world's largest companies and financial institutions, and throughout the academic and science communities.

  Because of this, it is winning the battle from within: Its core arguments and ideas are clearly right; being endorsed by the world's top science bodies and any significant organisation that has examined them.

• 
  

  How do the media measure up?

   

• 2013/03/23: KSJT: NBC science correspondent Robert Bazell leaving after 38 years
• 2013/03/22: EnvEcon: I wonder if I violated this court ruling by posting this story
• 2013/03/22: KSJT: Washington Post moves a sports editor/fitness columnist to the environment beat
• 2013/03/22: CJR: 'The Finkbeiner Test' - Seven rules to avoid gratuitous gender profiles of female scientists
• 2013/03/20: Guardian(UK): My response to the Mail on Sunday's 'great green con' article
  The David Rose who wrote this piece is unrecognisable from the real man -- and I have been grossly misrepresented too
• 2013/03/20: QuarkSoup: "We Didn't Tax CFCs"
• 2013/03/20: QuarkSoup: Who Cares What Daily Mail Readers Think?
• 2013/03/20: CChallenge: Global Warming Still Hasn't Stopped. Says who?
• 2013/03/19: CJR: All thumbs, none green - Environment coverage is down at the Times, even if it wasn't supposed to be
• 2013/03/19: QuarkSoup: Again With the David Rose Hole
• 2013/03/19: JEB: Another interview!
• 2013/03/18: AutoBG: EDTA: Wall Street Journal attacked plug-in vehicles with "fuzzy math"
  

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2013/03/21: TreeHugger: Reggie Watts explains why we need a price on carbon
• 2013/03/21: NBF: Stewart Brand: The dawn of de-extinction
• 2013/03/21: GLaden: A brief history of climate science
• 2013/03/19: P3: Climate Change and the Future [John Beddington]
  

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2013/03/22: Grist: EPA sued over failure to protect bees from pesticides
• 2013/03/22: CDreams: EPA Favors 'Bee-Toxic Pesticides' Over Future of Food, Groups Charge
  The EPA has refused to protect bees, "so we've been compelled to sue," said food safety group Arguing that the Environmental Protection Agency has failed in its obligation to protect the nation's bee population -- one of the Earth's most vital pollinators -- from dangerous pesticides, a group of beekeepers and environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court saying the EPA's inaction is causing great harm to biodiversity and the future of food in the U.S.
• 2013/03/22: EurActiv: Low-fare airlines to sue EU for 'stopping the clock' on ETS
• 2013/03/21: CFS: Beekeepers and Public Interest Groups Sue EPA Over Bee-Toxic Pesticides
• 2013/03/20: BBerg: Pennsylvania Judge Orders Records Opened in Fracking Case
  A Pennsylvania judge, handing a victory to local media and health groups, ordered documents unsealed in a settlement between gas-drillers and homeowners who accused the companies of contaminating their water. Common Pleas Court Judge Debbie O'Dell-Seneca said in a ruling today that the natural-gas drillers failed to overcome the presumption that the records should be open unless the companies, including Fort Worth, Texas-based Range Resources Corp. (RRC), showed they'd suffer harm to trade secrets or reputation.
• 2013/03/19: TP:JR: If An Oil And Gas Company Wants To Drill In A Forest, Can We Know Their Name?
• 2013/03/19: TheHill:e2W: Manufacturers sue EPA over soot rule
  The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is challenging the stronger standards on fine particulate matter, or soot, that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued in December. NAM filed the lawsuit Friday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The EPA rule that manufacturers are challenging would lower the annual exposure standard for soot to 12 micrograms per cubic meter, down from 15.
• 
  

  It looks like this BP trial over the Gulf oil spill is going to take a long while:

   

• 2013/03/19: CBC: Transocean CEO says Gulf rig workers should have done more
• 2013/03/19: BBC: Transocean 'could have done more' to detect oil rig problems
  Transocean could have done more to detect problems before the fatal Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster in 2010, the company's chief executive has said. But Steven Newman said the company was not responsible for safety on the Deepwater Horizon rig, which was operated by oil giant BP. An explosion on the rig killed 11 people and led to one of the worst oil disasters in history.
• 2013/03/18: BBerg: BP Loses Bid to Dismiss Gross Negligence in Spill Trial
  

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

• 2013/03/22: Resilience: Why Energy Experts Get Things Wrong So Often
• 2013/03/22: Grist: Measuring renewable energy 'reserves'
• 2013/03/21: ICN: Scientist to Policymakers: Clean Energy Could Fuel New York by 2050
• 2013/03/20: TheConversation: Counting the hidden costs of energy by Barry W. Brook
• 2013/03/20: TP:JR: Clean Energy Trends: The Future Is All About Deployment
• 2013/03/20: NBF: Periodic heating Can Double the Efficiency of Materials to Convert Heat to Electricity from 15% to 30% and Other Advances to Capturing 50% of all Wasted Heat and Tens of Billions in Market Potential
• 2013/03/20: Tyee: Why Energy Experts Get Things Wrong So Often
• 2013/03/19: SciAm:PI: Methane hydrates - bigger than shale gas, "game over" for the environment? [JOCMEG]
  

  What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?

• 2013/03/20: TP:JR: China's Wind Power Production Increased More Than Coal Power Did For First Time Ever In 2012
  

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

• 2013/03/22: Grist: Ohio fracking boom has not brought jobs
• 2013/03/22: Grist: Environmentalists and gas companies sing Kumbaya, create voluntary fracking standards
• 2013/03/21: CSM: Energy firms, environmentalists agree on 'fracking' standards
• 2013/03/21: SacBee: Sierra Club blasts new plan to improve fracking
• 2013/03/20: BBerg: Pennsylvania Judge Orders Records Opened in Fracking Case
• 2013/03/20: PennLive: Both sides agree on tough new fracking standards
  Some of the nation's biggest oil and gas companies have made peace with environmentalists, agreeing to a voluntary set of tough new standards for fracking in the Northeast that could lead to a major expansion of drilling. The program announced Wednesday will work a lot like Underwriters Laboratories, which puts its familiar UL seal of approval on electrical appliances that meet its standards. In this case, drilling and pipeline companies will be encouraged to submit to an independent review of their operations. If they are found to be abiding by a list of stringent measures to protect the air and water from pollution, they will receive the blessing of the new Pittsburgh-based Center for Sustainable Shale Development, created by environmentalists and the energy industry.
• 2013/03/19: TP:JR: Long-Term Costs Of Fracking Are Staggering
• 2013/03/18: ACS:C&EN: Sewage Plants Struggle To Treat Wastewater Produced By Fracking Operations
  Environment: Water used in natural gas production may still contain high levels of contaminants, even after going through wastewater treatment plants
• 2013/03/07: TheDiplomat: What Fracking Means for Southeast Asia
• 2013/03/18: Grist: 10 reasons why fracking for dirty oil in California is a stupid idea
  

  On the coal front:

• 2013/03/20: PSinclair: No Dang Commie is Going to Blow Up Our Mountains. That's Our Job.
• 2013/03/22: TreeHugger: Coal company kicks 10,000 workers off health care
• 2013/03/19: CSM: Canadian coal plant retrofit could be a 'game changer'
• 2013/03/19: WSWS: Fifth West Virginia miner killed in as many weeks
• 2013/03/17: BBerg: America's Dirtiest Coal Company
• 2013/03/18: SlashDot: As US Cleans Its Energy Mix, It Ships Coal Problems Overseas
  

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2013/03/22: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Dated Brent Spot....107.66
  WTI Cushing Spot.....93.71
• 2013/03/21: NYT:EconoMix: The Hard Math on Fossil Fuels
• 2013/03/20: NatureN: Oil boom raises burning issues
• 2013/03/20: IOTD: Baytown, Texas
  

  Regarding energy and the economy:

• 2013/03/22: EIA:TiE: U.S. economy and electricity demand growth are linked, but relationship is changing
• 2013/03/21: OilDrum: The Connection of Depressed Wages to High Oil Prices and Limits to Growth
• 2013/03/19: CSM: Even with high gas prices, will drivers budge from oil?
  

  And in pipeline news:

• 2013/03/21: BCLSB: Enbridge Leaks
• 2013/03/20: G&M: Enbridge [Kalamazoo] cleanup may cost $1-billion, company warns
• 2013/03/20: Grist: Beaver dams block Chevron oil spill in Utah
  

  Marvelous. Now the USA have their own Mechanical Mordor:

• 2013/03/18: EIA: North Dakota oil production reaches new high in 2012, transported by trucks and railroads
  

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

• 2013/03/21: RT: America's shale energy revolution is another Ponzi fraud [Engdahl]
• 2013/03/21: CT: One big fracking mess
• 2013/03/19: CSM: Is the US oil boom coming to an end?
• 2013/03/17: BillingsGazette: [The Heath oil field] Shale formation in Montana frustrates oil drillers
  

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2013/03/20: Resilience: Iraq war and its aftermath failed to stop the beginning of peak oil in 2005
• 2013/03/17: Resilience: Depletion: The one word oil optimists refuse to utter
  

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2013/03/22: CSM: Refiners hit 'blend wall' with ethanol. Now what?
• 2013/03/20: SciAm:GB: Are Algae Biofuels a Realistic Alternative to Petroleum?
• 2013/03/19: UCSUSA:B: Great Scott! The Consequences of Accelerating the Mandate for Food-Based Advanced Biofuels
• 2013/03/19: CER:RRapier: First Commercial Cellulosic Ethanol Plant in US Goes Bankrupt
• 2013/03/18: TP:JR: High Corn Prices and Dropping Demand Are Eating Away At The Biofuel Industry
• 2013/03/18: UCSUSA:B: The Future of Biofuels in 10 Charts and Maps
  

  The answer my friend...:

• 2013/03/21: RealEconomics: Xcel hits Upper Midwest wind power record
• 2013/03/20: UCSUSA:B: The Future of Biofuels Part 3: Biodiesel
• 2013/03/19: Grist: Researchers find that 'wind turbine syndrome' is bogus
• 2013/03/14: USydney:SeS: Spatio-temporal differences in the history of health and noise complaints about Australian wind farms: evidence for the psychogenic, "communicated disease" hypothesis. by Simon Chapman et al.
• 2013/03/18: PSinclair: Wind Turbine Syndrome is Bullshit
• 2013/03/18: TreeHugger: "Windfarm sickness" caused by propaganda, not windfarms
  

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2013/03/24: HotWhopper: Green with Envy
• 2013/03/22: EarlyWarning: Some Solar Power Considerations
• 2013/03/22: G&M: Germany's Bosch to abandon solar, says no way to make it competitive
• 2013/03/21: UCSUSA:B: Sun Shining Bright: A Record-breaking Year for U.S. Solar Installations
• 2013/03/21: CNN: Top solar panel maker goes bankrupt
  Suntech Power Holdings has said its main subsidiary in China is bankrupt - Until recently Suntech was the world's largest producer of solar panels - Stark illustration of the declining fortunes of the global solar industry
• 2013/03/21: Xinhuanet: Solar panel giant [Suntech] declares bankruptcy
• 2013/03/20: Guardian(UK): Suntech's troubles cast a shadow over the green tech industry
• 2013/03/20: BBerg: Biggest Solar Collapse in China Imperils $1.28 Billion: Energy
  Investors stand to lose most of the $1.28 billion they put into Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP) after the solar manufacturer said it wouldn't resist a bankruptcy petition filed in China. The company, based in Wuxi, outside Shanghai, had more than $2 billion in debt and defaulted on $541 million in bonds due on March 15, prompting eight Chinese banks to ask a local court to push Suntech's main unit into insolvency.
• 2013/03/20: Xinhuanet: China's solar panel maker giant [Suntech] declares bankruptcy
• 2013/03/19: CSM: Suntech Power defaults. Solar troubles reach China
• 2013/03/19: TP:JR: Kyocera Solar And VGI Energy Team Up To Provide Solar Power For Chicago Affordable Housing
• 2013/03/19: TheDiplomat: On the Brink? China's Solar Industry Debt Drama
• 2013/03/19: TreeHugger: World's tallest solar tower (750 feet) to be erected in California... Twice
• 2013/03/18: TreeHugger: World's largest concentrated solar power station (100 MW) begins operations in Abu Dhabi
• 2013/03/18: BBC: China's Suntech Power in $541m debt default
  China's Suntech Power Holdings, the world's biggest solar panel maker, has defaulted on its debt.
• 2013/03/18: Xinhuanet: UAE launches [100-megawatt] world's largest concentrated solar power plant
  

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2013/03/23: IndiaTimes: China, Pakistan conclude secret deal on nuclear reactor
• 2013/03/22: APR: SCE Considers Futher License Amendment for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station [Press Release]
• 2013/03/21: Grist: Construction begins on new [Vogtle] nuclear reactors in Georgia
• 2013/03/20: CJR: Nuclear knowledge - Reams of useful data now flowing from global monitoring system designed to detect weapons tests
• 2013/03/19: NRC: Offsite notification due to radioactive release onsite
• 2013/03/18: ABC(US): NRC pushes back decision on restart of California's San Onofre nuclear power plant
• 2013/03/18: APR: Palisades and Pressurized Thermal Shock: 3/18 Entergy Statement [Press Release]
• 2013/03/18: APR: SoCal Ed submits Operational Assessment Requested by NRC [Press Release]
• 2013/03/18: BBC: Hinkley nuclear plant set to get go-ahead
  Planning permission is expected to be given later for French firm EDF Energy to build the first new nuclear power plant in the UK for generations. The proposed £14bn power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset would be capable of powering five million homes.
• 
  

  Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

   

• 2013/03/22: PostMedia: Trans-border nuclear waste shipment meeting increased resistance
  Activists are mobilizing on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border to block a proposed plan to secretly transport truckloads of intensely radioactive liquid waste through Eastern Ontario to South Carolina.
  [...]
  Pending final federal approvals, about 23,000 litres of nitric acid solution containing highly enriched uranium (HEU) is to be transported under armed guard from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.'s Chalk River nuclear laboratories to the U.S. government's Savannah River Site in South Carolina for reprocessing. A U.S. official says the Crown corporation has agreed to pay the $60 million cost.
• 2013/03/20: CTV: Canada's nuclear waste cleanup liability up $2.4 billion: AECL
  The federal government's anticipated cost for cleaning up its nuclear program has soared by $2.4 billion to a total of $5 billion.
• 
  

  Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:

   

• 2013/03/20: NRL: NRL Nike Laser Focuses on Nuclear Fusion
• 2013/03/12: CNN: Nuclear fusion is the 'perfect energy source'
  

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

• 2013/03/19: RTCC: Africa renewable energy potential 'can drive growth'
  

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

• 2013/03/20: Eureka: Thin films of nickel and iron oxides yield efficient solar water-splitting catalyst
  Basic University of Oregon research shows promise in efforts to get hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water
• 
  

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

   

• 2013/03/21: TreeHugger: New York Times' David Pogue: Start buying LED bulbs!
• 2013/03/20: WaPo:B: How to cut U.S. gasoline use in half by 2030
• 2013/03/18: NAS: Petroleum Use, Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Automobiles Could Drop 80 Percent by 2050; Efficiency, Alternative Fuels, and Strong Government Policies Will Be Needed
• 2013/03/18: UCSUSA: National Research Council Study Charts Course to a Half the Oil Future
• 2013/03/18: Eureka: Petroleum use, greenhouse gas emissions of automobiles could drop 80 percent by 2050
• 2013/03/17: RealEconomics: Energy efficiency -- low hanging fruit?
  

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

• 2013/03/20: TCoE: Some transportable thoughts
• 2013/03/19: AutoBG: EV grin on early adopters can fade after buying electric vehicle
• 2013/03/19: CSM: US cars in 2050 could be using 80 percent less gasoline
• 2013/03/18: TreeHugger: U.S. fuel economy shows biggest gain since 1975
• 2013/03/18: AutoBG: Automakers tell EPA it's highly unlikely they can hit California ZEV mandate
• 2013/03/18: AutoBG: EDTA: Wall Street Journal attacked plug-in vehicles with "fuzzy math"
  

  As for Energy Storage:

• 2013/03/19: OilDrum: Death of a Battery
• 2013/03/18: SciAm:SaH: Should You Add Backup Batteries to Your Grid-Tied Solar Array?
  

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2013/03/23: TP:JR: Apple's Data Centers Reach 100% Renewable Power, Their Facilities Worldwide Hit 75%
• 2013/03/21: TreeHugger: Apple now uses renewable energy for 75% of its needs
• 2013/03/20: Eureka: Greening the blues -- what business can learn from Avatar -- Learning the lessons of sustainability and corporate ethics at the movies
  

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2013/03/22: DeSmogBlog: Excerpt from Bill Hewitt's A Newer World: The Insurance Industry's Response to Climate Change
  

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

• 2013/03/22: TP:JR: March 22 News...
• 2013/03/21: TP:JR: March 21 News...
• 2013/03/20: TP:JR: March 20 News...
• 2013/03/19: TP:JR: March 19 News...
• 2013/03/18: TP:JR: March 18 News...
  

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2013/03/23: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #12 by John Hartz
• 2013/03/20: Stoat: Misc
• 2013/03/18: BPA: Agriculture News
  

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2013/03/21: CSW: The connection between climate change denial books and right-wing think tanks
• 2013/03/20: DeSmogBlog: Research Reveals Almost All Climate Science Denial Books Linked To Conservative Think Tanks
• 2013/03/21: QuarkSoup: How Deniers Enforce Solidarity
• 2013/03/22: HotWhopper: Anthony Watts tries for world's dumbest blog
• 2013/03/22: CDL: Piers Forster
• 2013/03/21: DeSmogBlog: Climate Denial Think Tank's Plans To Abolish Climate Change Departments in Australia
• 2013/03/20: P3: Promising Crop of Climate Denial BS for 2013
• 2013/03/23: DeSmogBlog: Pot Meet Kettle: Oil Executive Says "Misinformation And Fear" Hurting Fracking Efforts
• 2013/03/22: WtD: Stormy teacups: misrepresenting Recursive Fury
• 2013/03/18: CSW: German public television story on German corporate support for the denial machine
• 2013/03/19: UKISS: The gifts that keep on giving -- deniers' conspiracy ideation
• 2013/03/18: CCP: No, Global Warming Has NOT Stopped
• 2013/03/18: QuarkSoup: Feptic Falsehoods About "Global Warming"
• 2013/03/17: DeSmogBlog: Kochtopus Tentacles Reaching For Media Outlets
  

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2013/03/19: Grist: Two reasons climate change is not like other environmental problems
• 2013/03/21: Brown: CO2 may be cheaper source of valuable chemicals
• 2013/03/17: QuarkSoup: Global Warming Causing Sinkholes (Really??)
• 2013/03/17: PSinclair: Shhhh...Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet...
• 2013/03/17: P3: Truth Has Nice Boots
  

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

• Red River of the North and Devils Lake flood information portal
• 2013/03/22: UN Water: World Water Day
• CFS: Center for Food Safety
• WMO:GOS: Global Observing System
• WMO:GAW: Global Atmosphere Watch
• Coastal Tar Sands
• EDTA: Electric Drive Transportation Association
• IAEA:PRIS: World Statistics - Operational & Long-Term Shutdown Reactors
• IAEA:PRIS: Country Nuclear Power Profiles
• An Eccentric Anomaly - Ed Davies's Blog
• International Day of Forests
• NASA: About Derechos
• NOAA: Storm Surge and Coastal Inundation
• CJFAS: Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• MDPI - Open Access Publishing

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 era of coal is over. By divesting from coal and investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, we reduce our carbon footprint and set a precedent for the national power market." -Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

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