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 roundupskip to bottom
Sipping from the Internet Firehose...
March 31, 2013
- Chuckles, COP19+, North Korea, WSF, PES, Sensitivity
- Missing Heat, Marcott, Warnings, Subsidies, HSBC, Cook
- Fukushima Note, Fukushima News
- Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Geopolitics, Antarctica
- Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food vs. Biofuel, GMOs, Food Production
- Hurricanes, Notable Weather, Extreme Weather, New Weather
- GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures, Aerosols, Paleoclimate, Historical Climate
- Solar, Oceans, Biosphere, Extinctions, Bees & CCD, Volcanoes
- Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Phenology
- Tornadoes, Wildfires, Corals, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Restoration, Adaptation
- Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, Free Science, Mann, Abraham, Borlaug
- International Politics: UN, Hormuz, South China Sea, Rare Earths, Misc
- Security, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Groundwater, Education, Statistics
- National Politics: Britain, Europe, Australia, Post-Spill, Election, MDBP, India, China, Asia, Africa
- Canada, Idle No More, NRTEE, UNCCD, Liberals, Northern Gateway, Kinder Morgan
- Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Canadiana
- America, BP Disaster, Post Sandy, Keystone, Carbon Tax, Birth Control
- Coal Exports, Sequestration, Monnett, Tier 3, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts
- Energy, Transitions, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Economy, Pipelines, Independence, Peak Oil
- Biofuel, Wind, Solar, Nukes, Hydrogen, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
- Business, Insurance, FAQs, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Misc, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig
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- 2013/03/31: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) The News
Looking ahead to COP19 and future international climate negotiations:
- 2013/03/26: RTCC: EU report: markets hold key to 2015 climate deal
A greater emphasis on pricing carbon and fewer United Nations summits could speed progress towards a legally binding climate deal in 2015, a European Commission (EC) report recommends. - 2013/03/26: RTCC: Small island states secure climate talks funding
Small island states at acute risk from climate change will have a stronger voice at the international climate talks after the European Union agreed to help cover some of their costs. The EU will also provide the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) with policy experts and ensure delegates can attend UN climate negotiations. - 2013/03/25: RTCC: Nine steps to unlock climate finance flows
- 2013/03/25: RTCC: World's poorest nations plan to 'take lead' at climate talks
The planet's Least Developed Countries (LDC) say they have lost patience with the glacial pace of the UN climate change talks and plan to set their own agenda. - 2013/03/06: PBS: Inside North Korea's Environmental Collapse
North Korea has been hiding something. Something beyond its prison camps, its nuclear facilities, its pervasive poverty, its aching famine, its lack of energy -- electrical, fossil, or otherwise. What the hermit kingdom has been covering up is perhaps more fundamental than all of those: an environmental collapse so severe it could destabilize the entire country. Or at least, it was hiding it. - Wiki: World Social Forum
- FSM: Forum Social Mondial Tunis 2013 - World Social Forum
- 2013/03/30: CCurrents: 'Together, We Can Change The Course Of History': World Social Forum In Tunis
- 2013/03/27: al Jazeera: World Social Forum opens in Tunisian capital
Thousands mark opening of five-day anti-globalisation event, the first to take place in an Arab country. - 2013/03/26: ABC(Au): Pacific urged to look to renewables
New Zealand's foreign minister says Pacific nations should be able to halve their reliance on non-renewable energy within the next four years. Murray McCully has hailed this week's Pacific Energy Summit in Auckland as a significant success. - 2013/03/29: JEB: Economist in making sense shocker
- 2013/03/28: TP:JR: As Scientists Predicted, Global Warming Continues
- 2013/03/28: SkS: Making Sense of Sensitivity - and Keeping It in Perspective by dana1981
- 2013/03/28: WtD: Shock! Prediction about global warming made in 1999 stunningly accurate
- 2013/03/27: Economist: A sensitive matter
The climate may be heating up less in response to greenhouse-gas emissions than was once thought. But that does not mean the problem is going away - 2013/03/27: NBF: Doubling CO2 May Cause 20-50% Less Warming
- 2013/03/27: Guardian(UK): Global warming predictions prove accurate
The missing heat:
- 2013/03/29: P3: Hiatus Paper # 1: Doubling down on our Faustian bargain - Hansen
- 2013/03/29: P3: Hiatus Paper # 2: Distinctive climate signals in reanalysis of global ocean heat content
- 2013/03/30: SimpleC: Diving deep into ocean data uncovers 'missing heat' treasure
- 2013/03/29: CPW: Global Warming Speeding Up, New Research Shows -- Scientists find 'missing heat' in deep ocean waters
That Marcott paper is still drawing comment:
- 2013/03/31: RealClimate: Response by Marcott et al.
- 2013/03/30: TheCanadian: 4,000 Years of Global Warming in 2 Decades: New Study
- 2013/03/27: VanObs: WTF? We just experienced 4,000 years of global warming in two decades
- 2013/03/27: ERabett: Bernard J Has Another Suggestion
- 2013/03/26: SkS: The two epochs of Marcott and the Wheelchair by JosHag
- 2013/03/25: ASI: Melting of the Arctic sea ice by Jos Hagelaars
- 2013/03/25: BVerheggen: Melting of the Arctic sea ice by Jos Hagelaars
What do we have for warnings this week?
- 2013/03/25: BBC: Prof Sir John Beddington warns of floods, droughts and storms
The UK government's chief scientist has said that there is already enough CO2 in the atmosphere for there to be more floods and droughts over the next 25 years. Prof Sir John Beddington said there was a "need for urgency" in tackling climate change. He said that the later governments left it, the harder it would be to combat. - 2013/03/29: TP:JR: Bombshell IMF Study: United States Is World's Number One Fossil Fuel Subsidizer
- 2013/03/27: TheHill:e2W: IMF: End fossil fuel subsidies, tax carbon
[...]
In 2011, nations doled out roughly $480 billion of "pre-tax" incentives, which are "when consumers pay less than supply cost of energy," Lipton explained. They are generally found in emerging economies, according to an IMF report released Wednesday. And "post-tax" subsidies - the sum of pre-tax and tax incentives - hit $1.9 trillion. About 40 percent of those subsidies were awarded in advanced economies, with the U.S. leading the way at $502 billion. - 2013/03/28: Grist: IMF says global subsidies to fossil fuels amount to $1.9 trillion a year - and that's probably an underestimate
- 2013/03/28: CCP: David Roberts: IMF says global subsidies to fossil fuels amount to $1.9 trillion a year … and that's probably an underestimate
- 2013/03/28: P3: International Monetary Fund calls missing carbon tax "Fossil Fuel Subsidy"
- 2013/03/28: CSM: IMF: End energy subsidies
- 2013/03/27: WaPo:B: IMF: Want to fight climate change? Get rid of $1.9 trillion in energy subsidies
What are the global financial institutions up to?
- 2013/03/27: Grist: Giant investment bank taken over by hippie alarmists
John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:
- 2013/03/31: SkS: The Scientific Method by rockytom
- 2013/03/30: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly News Roundup #13 by John Hartz
- 2013/03/29: SkS: Earth Encounters Giant Speed Bump on the Road to Higher Sea Level by Rob Painting
- 2013/03/28: SkS: Making Sense of Sensitivity - and Keeping It in Perspective by dana1981
- 2013/03/27: SkS: To frack or not to frack? by gws
- 2013/03/27: SkS: 2013 SkS News Bulletin #5: Alberta Tar Sands and Keystone XL Pipeline by John Hartz
- 2013/03/26: SkS: The two epochs of Marcott and the Wheelchair by JosHag
- 2013/03/25: SkS: New Research Confirms Global Warming Has Accelerated by dana1981
- 2013/03/24: SkS: Enhanced SkS Graphics Provide New Entry Point into SkS Material by LarryM
- 2013/03/24: SkS: 2013 SkS Weekly Digest #12 by John Hartz
A note on theFukushima disaster:
It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.] We'll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
Meanwhile...
It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of propagated information.
How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
Do they have an agenda?
Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
Do they want to write a good news story?
Do they want to write a bad news story?
Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:
- 2013/03/28: AR&I(via doi): (ab$) Observation of gamma-rays from fallout collected at Ibaraki, Japan, during the Fukushima nuclear accident by Jun Saegusa et al.
- 2012/08/17: Springer:JR&NC: (ab$) Airborne gamma-ray emitters from Fukushima detected in New York State by Michael E. Kitto et al.
- 2013/03/30: EneNews: Japan PM discusses restarting Fukushima Daiichi reactors -- Safety to be confirmed?
- 2013/03/28: Grist: You can tour a Fukushima ghost town on Google Street View
- 2013/03/28: TreeHugger: Fukushima ghost town now on Google Streetview
- 2013/03/27: GoogleBlog: Imagery on Google Maps of Fukushima Exclusion Zone Town Namie-machi
- 2013/03/27: Asahi: Rock shells disappearing on coast near Fukushima nuclear plant
- 2013/03/27: Express(UK): Two years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster is Japan facing a cancer time bomb?
- 2013/03/25: EneNews: Study: Air in New York after Fukushima disaster exceeded 3,400 ?Bq/m³ of Iodine-131 gas - Health impacts 'minimal' (map)
- 2013/03/25: EneNews: Tepco: Animal caused extended power outage at Fukushima Daiichi - Nearly a foot long (photo)
The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:
- 2013/03/31: Dosbat: Eurasian Snow Cover and Atmospheric Impacts
- 2013/03/30: ASI: Looking for winter weirdness 6
- 2013/03/29: IOTD: Extensive Ice Fractures in the Beaufort Sea
- 2013/03/29: Tamino: Easy Question
- 2013/03/29: Guardian(UK): Google Street View braves Canadian Arctic to chart little-known territory [Iqaluit]
- 2013/03/27: ERW: Satellite data give new insights into snow-melt dynamics
Ice layers, caused by short-lived melting and then re-freezing of snow, are having a marked effect on ecology and biology in Alaska's Yukon River Basin, according to researchers in the US and Austria. - 2013/03/27: CCurrents: Arctic Sea Ice Extent Sixth Lowest And Tomatoes Grow In The Arctic Circle
- 2013/03/26: CCentral: Arctic Ice Hits Annual Max and it's 6th Lowest on Record
- 2013/03/26: CCP: NSIDC: Arctic Sea Ice Report, March 25, 2013
- 2013/03/25: NSIDC: Annual maximum extent reached
As for the charismatic megafauna:
- 2013/03/27: BBC: Polar bears: An uncertain future
The great white bears of the frozen north may face a difficult future. Each summer, the sea ice on which they rely to hunt seals is getting thinner and smaller in extent - threatening to upset their way of life. - 2013/03/27: UFlorida: New bone survey method could aid long-term survival of Arctic caribou
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
- 2013/03/29: TheCanadian: Mother Nature, US Govt Chase Shell Out of Arctic
- 2013/03/28: CDreams: Despite 'Enormous Risk' White House Reaffirms Commitment to Arctic Drilling
- 2013/03/27: Guardian(UK): Greenland halts new oil drilling licences
Government reluctant to hand out new permits while exploration under existing licences will be subject to more scrutiny - 2013/03/25: BBerg: Russia Lets China Into Arctic Rush as Energy Giants Embrace
Russia's decision to give China a share of prized Arctic exploration licenses as part of a "breakthrough" deal signals how the world's largest oil and gas producer and the biggest energy consumer are redrawing the global energy map. - 2013/03/30: CCurrents: Longer Antarctica Summer Increases Ice Melting And Africa Farmers Face Slashed Yields
- 2013/03/27: RTCC: Summer melt increasing on the Antarctic Peninsula
The food crisis is ongoing:
- 2013/03/29: WSWS: US food stamp use swells to a record 47.8 million
- 2013/03/28: RealEconomics: The bill for the 2012 corn belt drought disaster
- 2013/03/28: ProMedMail: White nose syndrome, bats - North America (07): update
- 2013/03/28: ProMedMail: Schmallenberg virus - Europe (16): UK (Scotland) update
- 2013/03/27: BBC: Madagascar hit by 'severe' plague of locusts
A severe plague of locusts has infested about half of Madagascar, threatening crops and raising concerns about food shortages, a UN agency says. - 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): NZ drought could expose Pacific economies: ANZ
New Zealand's worsening drought could expose the Pacific region to food price inflation according to a report from the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited. The ANZ bank's latest forecast suggests Fiji and Samoa are the most likely to be affected by the New Zealand drought, the country's worst in 30 years. - 2013/03/27: BPA: Sixty-Eight Percent of U.S. Enrolled School Children Qualify for Free or Reduced-Rate Lunches
- 2013/03/26: UN: Over $41 million needed to end locust plague in Madagascar, says [FAO] UN agency
The state of the world's fisheries is a concern:
- 2013/03/26: EnvEcon: Quote of the Day: That about sums it up
- 2013/03/25: CSM: A better way to prevent overfishing
- 2013/03/25: Eureka: Predictions of climate impacts on fisheries can be a mirage
New mathematical tool developed by a Scripps scientist can help avoid misleading conclusions for species management - 2013/03/27: BBerg: Corn Supply Slumps Most Since '75 on Ethanol Profit: Commodities
Corn supplies in the U.S., the biggest grower, are shrinking at the fastest pace in almost four decades as improving demand from ethanol refiners drains reserves already diminished by drought. - 2013/03/31: ABC(Au): GMO ban debate
- 2013/03/30: CCP: Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) backroom deals Monsanto Protection Act into appropriations bill
- 2013/03/29: FDL: Monsanto Gets Its Very Own Law
- 2013/03/29: Eureka: Multi-toxin biotech crops not silver bullets, scientists warn
- 2013/03/29: Denialism: Anti-GMO writers show profound ignorance of basic biology and now Jane Goodall has joined their ranks
- 2013/03/29: Grist: Monsanto flirts with disaster, owns the world anyway
- 2013/03/28: S&R: Monsant-Oh No!
With every bill passed in Congress, there is good news and bad news. The good news of HR 933 passing the House: we avoided a government shutdown (for now). The bad news: Congress authorized a provision known as the "Monsanto Protection Act," protecting the agricultural giant from litigation. - 2013/03/27: Salon: How the Monsanto Protection Act snuck into law
A provison that protects the biotech giant from litigation passed Congress without many members knowing about it - 2013/03/26: UCSUSA:B: Biotech Rider a Threat to Farmers and the Environment
- 2013/03/26: RT: 'Monsanto Protection Act' slips silently through US Congress
The US House of Representatives quietly passed a last-minute addition to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for 2013 last week - including a provision protecting genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks. The rider, which is officially known as the Farmer Assurance Provision, has been derided by opponents of biotech lobbying as the "Monsanto Protection Act," as it would strip federal courts of the authority to immediately halt the planting and sale of genetically modified (GMO) seed crop regardless of any consumer health concerns. - 2013/03/26: BBC: Uganda's genetically modified golden bananas
And how are we going to feed 9 billion, 10 billion, 15 billion?
- 2013/03/27: FAO: Netting flies and mosquitoes protects livestock, boosts milk yields -- Insecticide-treated nets control pests in animal shelters, reduce mosquitoes in homes
- 2013/03/26: FAO: Madagascar needs more than $41 million to end locust plague -- Half of the country infested by locusts - food production seriously at risk
- 2013/03/25: FAO: FAO Director-General praises trend toward small-scale local food production -- Says that sustainability depends on the way food produced and consumed
- 2013/03/25: al Jazeera: Wasted food could feed billions
Wasted food around the world costs countries in excess of $600bn, and could feed billions if properly utilised. - 2013/03/25: NakedCapitalism: Pioneering Permaculture in Cyprus, Parts I and II
- 2013/03/24: JFleck: in praise of Juan Murrieta
- 2013/03/24: Eureka: Losing wetlands to grow crops
Another relatively quiet week in the hurricane wars with just some old news:
- 2013/03/26: Modis: Tropical Cyclone Tim (20P) in the Coral Sea [on March 17]
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2013/03/26: AFTIC: Dr. Jeff Masters: Katrina-level storm surges have more than doubled due to global warming
- 2013/03/25: Wunderground: Katrina-level storm surges have more than doubled due to global warming
This week in notable weather:
- 2013/03/30: Guardian(UK): Spring: where has it gone?
This long and bitter winter has tested the resilience of life all across the land, from lambing ewes to hatching birds and buds. But what of its toll on us? - 2013/03/28: DerSpiegel: White Easter: Germany Faces Coldest March Since 1883
Complaining about the weather has reached epidemic proportions in northern Germany this "spring." And with good reason. With Easter just around the corner, meteorologists are telling us this could end up being the coldest March in Berlin and its surroundings since records began in the 1880s. - 2013/03/28: al Jazeera: Digging out UK's livestock
UK farmers are scrambling to rescue any livestock that has survived this past week's heavy snowfall - 2013/03/28: al Jazeera: Frigid UK weather lights gas supply fears
Freezing temperatures mean storage tanks have only two days worth of gas supplies left, causing political anxiety. - 2013/03/25: BBC: Ukraine army tackles snow chaos amid Kiev emergency
Armoured personnel carriers are being used in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, to drag buses and other vehicles out of snowdrifts, amid a state of emergency. - 2013/03/25: al Jazeera: Winter drags on
British summer time starts this weekend, but winter remains in place, for the UK and much of the northern hemisphere - 2013/03/28: TheConversation: More angry, more often: March heatwave signals a new normal
- 2013/03/27: WtD: More angry, more often: March heatwave signals a new normal
Rossby Waves? Blocking Patterns? Arctic Oscillation? What is the Arctic melt doing to our weather?
- 2013/03/29: ERabett: Melting Ice and Cold Weather
- 2013/03/29: CCP: Stefan Rahmstorf: Arctic sea ice and cold weather in Northern Europe and Northeastern U.S.
- 2013/03/28: KSJT: (Updated*) Lots of Obscure Ink: Ice loss in Arctic is hitting US and Europe with more snow and cold? How's that work again?
- 2013/03/27: KSJT: Lots of Obscure Ink: Ice loss in Arctic is hitting US and Europe with more snow and cold? How's that work again?
- 2013/03/26: CCurrents: Arctic Sea Ice Loss Creates Frozen Spring In Europe And North America
- 2013/03/31: TP:JR: Must Read: Arctic Sea Ice Death Spiral And Cold Weather
- 2013/03/25: TMoS: A Warming Ocean and Albion Freezes
- 2013/03/26: ABC(Au): Northern blizzards linked to Arctic sea ice decline
Climate scientists say the massive snow storms to hit North America and Europe this year were linked to shrinking sea ice levels in the Arctic. Satellite pictures reveal the sea ice levels were the sixth lowest since satellite records began over 30 years ago. National Snow and Ice Data Centre's Walt Meier says the thickness of the sea ice is also a concern - 2013/03/28: Guardian(UK): UK's CO2 emissions up 4.5% in 2012 - Huge jump in coal use
- 2013/03/28: TP:JR: Are Exploding Manhole Covers In Washington DC Caused By Shocking Levels Of Leaking Natural Gas?
- 2013/03/27: QuarkSoup: US 2012 CO2 Emissions Down Almost 4%
- 2013/03/27: RTCC: US emissions decline, coal exports rise
- 2013/03/24: EconBrowser: Declining U.S. carbon dioxide emissions
- 2013/03/25: AutoBG: Volkswagen to use CO2 as future refrigerant for air conditioning systems
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2013/03/28: NatureN: Fungi and roots store a surprisingly large share of the world's carbon
Symbiotic organisms that envelope tree roots may play a bigger role in carbon cycle than decomposing leaves. - 2013/03/28: SciNews: Fungi pull carbon into northern forest soils
Organisms living on tree roots do lion's share of sequestering carbon - 2013/03/28: CCurrents: Global Warming Forecasts Proven Accurate
- 2013/03/27: RawStory: Climate change models predict remarkably accurate results
- 2013/03/26: WtD: Warming, not cooling: three recent graphs that conclusively show the planet heating
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
- 2013/03/27: IOTD: Dust Storm on the Arabian Peninsula
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2013/03/28: SciNews: Kansas was unbearably hot 270 million years ago
Temperatures soared to nearly 74 degrees Celsius, research suggests - 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Croc extinction led to dinosaur domination [200 mya]
- 2013/03/27: Eureka: CU study provides new evidence ancient asteroid caused global firestorm on Earth -- Fires would have burned every twig, bush and tree on Earth
- 2013/03/25: SciNow: Scientists Gauge Ancient Die-Off of Pacific Birds
- 2013/03/24: TP:JR: Doubling Of CO2 Levels In End-Triassic Extinction Killed Off Three Quarters Of Land And Sea Species
And in historical times:
- 2013/03/26: CCP: The characteristics and likely causes of the Medieval megadroughts in North America
- 2013/03/26: Resilience: Climate and the Khans
Regarding the solar hypothesis:
- 2013/03/29: GreenGrok: Update: Sunspot Cycle Approaches Halfway Point - An impressive cycle for its unimpressiveness
And the State of the Oceans:
- 2013/03/30: EneNews: CBS Los Angeles: "Dead sea lions everywhere" - Rescuer: I've never seen anything like this… we never would have imagined the numbers - Expert: No oceanographic explanation for what we're seeing (video)
- 2013/03/29: EneNews: "Manatees Dying in Droves on Both Coasts of Florida" - Deaths of pelicans, turtles, dolphins also increasing - "Scientists fear this is the beginning of a devastating ecosystem collapse"
- 2013/03/29: EneNews: TV: Dead dolphin spike in Gulf of Mexico - "We have been advised not to discuss our findings" - Mostly babies washing up (video)
- 2013/03/28: EneNews: Federal gov't declares rare Unusual Mortality Event in So. California - 70% of all newborn sea lions may be dying - Testing for toxins, infectious agents (video)
- 2013/03/28: EneNews: NBC: Sea mammal epidemic worsens in So. California - Now almost 1,000 have washed ashore - "Such an alarming rate" - Mostly born last summer
- 2013/03/27: NOAA:NMFS: FAQs on the California Sea Lion UME in California
- 2013/03/27: NOAA:NMFS: 2013 California Sea Lion Unusual Mortality Event in California
- 2013/03/20: WWLTV: Spike in marine mammal strandings documented along La., Miss. coast
What's new in Biodiversity?
- 2013/03/26: SciAm:RP: Two new species of mouse lemur found in Madagascar
And on the extinction front?
- 2013/03/30: SciAm:EC: Links from the Brink
- 2013/03/30: BBC: Black rhino threat: Poachers target Kent wildlife parks
Rare rhinos in wildlife parks may be under threat from poachers, police in Kent have warned. - 2013/03/29: al Jazeera: Diminishing ray of hope
We explore how the demand for manta gill plates is threatening the existence of one of the most graceful marine species. - 2013/03/29: ProMedMail: Undiagnosed die-off, manatee - USA: (FL) toxic algae suspected
- 2013/03/28: TheConversation: Australian endangered species: Red-finned Blue-eye
- 2013/03/27: ProMedMail: Devil facial tumor, Tasmanian devil - Australia : (TS) update
- 2013/03/27: Grist: China's finless porpoises are going extinct
- 2013/03/27: Grist: Man presumptuously kidnaps 13 percent of an entire turtle species [Astrochelys yniphora or ploughshare turtles]
- 2013/03/27: SciAm:EC: 'Extinct' Indian Gecko Rediscovered After 135 Years
- 2013/03/26: Grist: Scientists: To save the lions, fence them in
- 2013/03/26: Guardian(UK): Butterflies suffer devastating year after UK's wet summer
- 2013/03/26: Guardian(UK): Rare Australian possum could be continent's first climate change victim
- 2013/03/26: ABC(Au): Humans wiped out Pacific island birds
Mass extinction Human colonisation of the Pacific led to the loss of at least 1000 species of land birds or 10 per cent of global bird biodiversity. - 2013/03/26: BBC: Butterflies suffered in cold and wet 2012, says charity
Butterflies suffered in last year's wet and cold weather, having their worst year since 1976, a charity says. Only four of the 56 species studied in the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme saw an increase in population size. The relentless rain and cold of 2012 meant that in particular summer species struggled to find food, shelter and mating opportunities. - 2013/03/25: Eureka: What a bunch of dodos!
A catastrophic mass extinction of birds in the Pacific Islands followed the arrival of the first people - 2013/03/24: BBC: Why such a fuss about extinction?
What is wrong with extinction? I realise this question is the conservation equivalent of a landmine - or an elephant trap. And that it is likely to ruffle a lot of fur. - 2013/03/24: al Jazeera: Can shark conservation salvage the blue economy?
As long as there is a continuous demand for shark fin soup, the shark population will remain in danger. - 2013/03/29: Grist:Pesticide makers want you to save the bees
- 2013/03/29: CCP: Another disastrous year for honey bees: colony collapse disorder likely due to excessive use of neonicotinoid pesticides
- 2013/03/29: TCoE: On the educational value of a kick in the teeth
- 2013/03/29: HuffPo: Bee Deaths From Colony Collapse Disorder On The Rise As Researchers Point To Pesticides
- 2013/03/28: Reuters: Pesticide makers, facing ban, propose plan to help bees
Syngenta and Bayer, top producers of the pesticides blamed for a sharp fall in bee populations around the world, have proposed a plan to support bee health to try to forestall a European Union ban on the products. - 2013/03/28: NYT: Mystery Malady Kills More Bees, Heightening Worry on Farms
A mysterious malady that has been killing honeybees en masse for several years appears to have expanded drastically in the last year, commercial beekeepers say, wiping out 40 percent or even 50 percent of the hives needed to pollinate many of the nation's fruits and vegetables. - 2013/03/28: TreeHugger: Common pesticides cause brain-damage in bees
- 2013/03/28: NatureNB: UK study casts doubt on insecticide link to bee declines
- 2013/03/27: BBC: Neonicotinoid pesticides 'damage brains of bees'
Commonly used pesticides are damaging honey bee brains, studies suggest. Scientists have found that two types of chemicals called neonicotinoids and coumaphos are interfering with the insect's ability to learn and remember. Experiments revealed that exposure was also lowering brain activity, especially when the two pesticides were used in combination. - 2013/02/04: JEB: Exposure to multiple cholinergic pesticides impairs olfactory learning and memory in honeybees by Sally M. Williamson & Geraldine A. Wright
- 2013/03/27: Nature:Comm: (ab$) Cholinergic pesticides cause mushroom body neuronal inactivation in honeybees by Mary J. Palmer et al.
What's up with volcanoes this week?
- 2013/03/25: al Jazeera: Thousands flee Indonesian volcano [Sinabung]
Authorities issue "red alert" as Sumatra volcano erupts for first time in 400 years. - 2013/03/31: Guardian(UK): A glorious winter, but the Alps face a warmer world -- bringing huge change
- 2013/03/29: Grist: Climate change will give more people diarrhea
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2013/03/30: Tyee: 'Everywhere the Trees Were Dead'
Fuelled by climate change, the devastating pine beetle outbreak is a non-stop forest killer, shows new doc. - 2013/03/27: TheConversation: Which of our forests should be managed for carbon?
- 2013/03/26: Guardian(UK): Ecuador auctions off Amazon to Chinese oil firms
Indigenous groups claim they have not consented to oil projects, as politicians visit Beijing to publicise bidding process - 2013/03/27: OilChange: New Amazon Oil Threat
- 2013/03/27: TMoS: China Grabs Ecuadorean Amazon for Oil
- 2013/03/26: BBC: [UK] Government to plant 250,000 trees to beat ash dieback
- 2013/03/25: NewsOK: Peru declares Amazon oil contamination emergency
- 2013/03/25: BBC: Brazil supermarkets 'to avoid Amazon meat'
The main group representing supermarkets in Brazil says it will no longer sell meat from cattle raised in the rainforest. - 2013/03/29: DerSpiegel: Imprisoned, Tortured, Killed: Human Trafficking Thrives on Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula has become a prison and grave for thousands of African refugees. They are kidnapped, imprisoned and tortured to death even after their families have paid hefty ransoms. But Egypt refuses to act. - 2013/03/30: Wunderground: Nature's thermometers say spring is springing earlier by 3 days per decade
On the tornado front:
- 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Man gives terrifying account of tornado escape
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2013/03/31: MODIS: Fires in Indochina
- 2013/03/28: ABC(Au): Dry summer contributes to fire in western Victoria
- 2013/03/28: IOTD: Fires in Southeast Asia [on March 22nd]
- 2013/03/28: ABC(Au): Five homes confirmed lost in Dereel fire
- 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Murraylands blaze still out of control
- 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Victorian fires threaten homes
- 2013/03/26: ABC(Au): Total fire bans across most of Victoria
Wednesday is looking like the last really hot day for a while in Victoria... - 2013/03/30: CNN: Minesweeper lifted from Philippine reef
The grounded U.S. Navy minesweeper was removed from a Philippine reef Saturday - The Guardian is estimated to have damaged about 4,000 square meters of the reef - The USS Guardian ran aground on January 17 - 2013/03/28: ABC(Au): Fears of sea level rises
- 2013/03/25: NOAANews: NOAA, U.S. Census report finds increases in coastal population growth by 2020 likely, putting more people at risk of extreme weather
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2013/03/31: BBC: Deadly floods hit Mauritius capital Port Louis
At least 10 people have died after sudden rains caused flooding in the Mauritian capital Port Louis on Saturday, officials have said. - 2013/03/30: Xinhuanet: Persistent drought hits Yunnan [pix]
- 2013/03/28: ICN: With Drought Season Off to a Bad Start, Scientists Forecast Another Bleak Year
Current climate-induced drought is slipping into a trend that scientists say resembles some of the worst droughts in U.S. history, like the Dust Bowl. - 2013/03/28: BBerg: Drought Season's Early Start Presages Another Bleak Year -- Drought Season Off to a Bad Start
- 2013/03/28: TreeHugger: 2013 drought may be worse than 2012, says NOAA
- 2013/03/21: CBC: Fargo forecast to have one of top 5 floods in its history -- U.S. National Weather Service says Red River could top 11.6 metres
- 2013/03/26: al Jazeera: Deadly landslide hits Indonesia
Days of heavy rain have led to another landslide in Indonesia. There have been over 50 landslides here so far this year - 2013/03/24: McClatchyDC: In drought-ravaged plains, efforts to save a vital aquifer
Threatened by another summer of crop-shriveling drought, Kansans are watching a bold experiment unfold in Sheridan County, population 2,556, a sliver of the state's northwest corner. On lands dominated by agriculture, locals have agreed to across-the-board cuts to water use. - 2013/03/24: SeattlePI: Drought contributes to Neb. climate change debate
- 2013/03/25: CBC: Indonesia landslide kills at least 6 -- 18 missing after slide on main island of Java A government official says a landslide triggered by torrential rain has killed at least six people and left 18 others missing on Indonesia's main island of Java.
First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
Second, put a price on carbon
And elsewhere on the mitigation front: - 2013/03/29: TCoE: On the educational value of a kick in the teeth
- 2013/03/27: WaPo:B: IMF: Want to fight climate change? Get rid of $1.9 trillion in energy subsidies
Consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2013/03/27: AutoBG: US 'peak miles' may have happened five years ago, Americans still drive 3 trillion miles a year
- 2013/03/27: NYT:PK: Subways Pay
- 2013/03/27: NBF: Over 200 million electric bikes in China in 2013 and What to Look for in a $1000 E-bike
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2013/03/28: TreeHugger: LEED-Bashing: Florida dumps LEED certification over lumber certification
- 2013/03/28: TreeHugger: Put a cork in it: Natural renewable cork makes a comeback as home insulation
- 2013/03/26: Grist: Oklahoma man will pay you $100,000 to take his geodesic dome
- 2013/03/25: Stanford: New Type of Solar Structure Cools Buildings in Full Sunlight
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2013/03/28: Eureka: Study: 'Waste heat' may economize CO2 capture -- Rice U. team seeks to optimize CO2 removal from power plant emissions
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- The History of Weather Control
- 2013/03/20: EI-EU: Proposals on the International Governance of Geoengineering
- 2013/03/27: FA: The Truth About Geoengineering - Science Fiction and Science Fact
- 2013/03/27: CBC: Controversial ocean fertilization project defended by B.C. village
Dumping of iron-rich soil off Haida Gwaii still being investigated by Environment Canada The head of a small First Nations community in British Columbia plans to go ahead with a second controversial iron fertilization project in the North Pacific, despite an international outcry and ongoing investigation by Environment Canada. Ken Rea, chief councillor of the village of Old Massett in Haida Gwaii, told the fifth estate's Gillian Findlay in an exclusive interview that despite two UN resolutions banning iron fertilization and anti-dumping legislation in Canada, he would like to do it again and make it sustainable. - 2013/03/22: FTMag: Undercover economist: Geoengineering, a monster of our own making?
The core case against the science is a radical uncertainty about its consequences but it would likewise be irresponsible to turn our backs on it - 2013/03/25: Grist: Baby chicken whose father is a duck is either a new hope for extinct species or a sign of the End Times
While on the adaptation front:
- 2013/03/25: TreeHugger: Is xeriscaping "historically inappropriate" in water-challenged Dallas?
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2013/03/26: PNAS: (ab$) Model-free forecasting outperforms the correct mechanistic model for simulated and experimental data by Charles T. Perretti et al.
- 2013/03/26: PNAS: (ab$) Orbital-scale climate forcing of grassland burning in southern Africa by Anne-Laure Daniau et al.
- 2013/03/26: PNAS: (abs) Species distributions in response to individual soil nutrients and seasonal drought across a community of tropical trees by Richard Condit et al.
- 2013/03/26: PNAS: (abs) Shale gas development impacts on surface water quality in Pennsylvania by Sheila M. Olmstead et al.
- 2013/03/26: PNAS: (ab$) Governance regime and location influence avoided deforestation success of protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon by Christoph Nolte et al.
- 2013/03/26: PNAS: (ab$) Link between the double-Intertropical Convergence Zone problem and cloud biases over the Southern Ocean by Yen-Ting Hwang & Dargan M. W. Frierson
- 2013/03/26: PNAS: (letter) New Trans-Arctic shipping routes navigable by midcentury by Laurence C. Smith & Scott R. Stephenson
- 2013/03/26: PNAS: (letter) Multiple dimensions of resource limitation in tropical forests by Alan R. Townsend & Gregory P. Asner
- 2013/03/19: arXiv: Universal Doomsday: Analyzing Our Prospects for Survival by Austin Gerig et al.
- 2013/03/27: Nature: (abs) Scholarship: Beyond the paper by Jason Priem
- 2013/03/27: Nature: (abs) Licence restrictions: A fool's errand by John Wilbanks
- 2013/03/25: ACP: The global 3-D distribution of tropospheric aerosols as characterized by CALIOP by D. M. Winker et al.
- 2013/03/27: ACPD: Biomass burning contribution to Beijing aerosol by Y. Cheng et al.
- 2013/03/26: ACPD: A decadal satellite analysis of the origins and impacts of smoke in Colorado by M. Val Martin et al.
- 2013/03/25: ACPD: On the consistency between global and regional methane emissions inferred from SCIAMACHY, TANSO-FTS, IASI and surface measurements by C. Cressot et al.
- 2013/03/28: CCP: Hansen, Kharecha & Sato, ERL (2013), Climate forcing growth rates: doubling down on our Faustian bargain
- 2013/03/28: AR&I(via doi): (ab$) Observation of gamma-rays from fallout collected at Ibaraki, Japan, during the Fukushima nuclear accident by Jun Saegusa et al.
- 2013/02/04: JEB: Exposure to multiple cholinergic pesticides impairs olfactory learning and memory in honeybees by Sally M. Williamson & Geraldine A. Wright
- 2013/03/27: Nature:Comm: (ab$) Cholinergic pesticides cause mushroom body neuronal inactivation in honeybees by Mary J. Palmer et al.
- 2013/03/28: Science: (ab$) Photochemical Route for Accessing Amorphous Metal Oxide Materials for Water Oxidation Catalysis by Rodney D. L. Smith et al.
- 2013/03/28: BG: Radium-based estimates of cesium isotope transport and total direct ocean discharges from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident by M. A. Charette et al.
- 2013/03/27: BG: Forcing of dissolved organic carbon release by phytoplankton by anticyclonic mesoscale eddies in the subtropical NE Atlantic Ocean by S. Lasternas et al.
- 2013/03/27: BG: Baseline characteristics of climate, permafrost and land cover from a new permafrost observatory in the Lena River Delta, Siberia (1998-2011) by J. Boike et al.
- 2013/03/26: BG: Carbon sources in suspended particles and surface sediments from the Beaufort Sea revealed by molecular lipid biomarkers and compound-specific isotope analysis by I. Tolosa et al.
- 2013/03/25: BG: Multiple observation types reduce uncertainty in Australia's terrestrial carbon and water cycles by V. Haverd et al.
- 2013/03/28: BGD: Solubility of iron and other trace elements over the Southern Indian Ocean by A. Heimburger et al.
- 2013/03/28: BGD: A novel salinity proxy based on Na incorporation into foraminiferal calcite by J. C. Wit et al.
- 2013/03/28: BGD: Indications of nitrogen-limited methane uptake in tropical forest soils by E. Veldkamp et al.
- 2013/03/27: BGD: Long-term trends in ocean plankton production and particle export between 1960-2006 by C. Laufkötter et al.
- 2013/03/26: BGD: Indian Ocean Dipole and El Niño/Southern Oscillation impacts on regional chlorophyll anomalies in the Indian Ocean by J. C. Currie et al.
- 2013/03/25: BGD: The influence of food supply on the response of Olympia oyster larvae to ocean acidification by A. Hettinger et al.
- 2013/03/25: BGD: Distribution of ultraphytoplankton in the western part of the North Pacific subtropical gyre during a strong La Niña condition: relations with the hydrological conditions by M. Girault et al.
- 2013/03/27: CP: Impact of precipitation intermittency on NAO-temperature signals in proxy records by M. Casado et al.
- 2013/03/27: CPD: Stable isotope record of Eemian seasonal temperature from MIS 5e tufa stromatolite; Somme Basin, Northern France by J. Dabkowski et al.
- 2013/03/26: CPD: Long-term variations in Iceland-Scotland overflow strength during the Holocene by D. J. R. Thornalley et al.
- 2013/03/26: CPD: Evaluating the dominant components of warming in Pliocene climate simulations by D. J. Hill et al.
- 2013/03/25: CPD: LGM permafrost distribution: how well can the latest PMIP multi-model ensembles reconstruct? by K. Saito et al.
- 2013/03/25: CPD: Documentary-derived chronologies of rainfall variability in Antigua, Lesser Antilles, 1770-1890 by A. J. Berland et al.
- 2013/03/26: Geology: (ab$) Potentially induced earthquakes in Oklahoma, USA: Links between wastewater injection and the 2011 Mw 5.7 earthquake sequence by Katie M. Keranen et al.
- 2013/03/27: OSD: Mechanisms of AMOC variability simulated by the NEMO model by V. N. Stepanov & K. Haines
- 2013/03/28: TCD: Recent extreme light sea ice years in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: 2011 and 2012 eclipse 1998 and 2007 by S. E. L. Howell et al.
- 2013/03/27: TCD: Surface energy budget on Larsen and Wilkins ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula: results based on reanalyses in 1989-2010 by I. Välisuo et al.
- 2013/03/: ERL: Climate forcing growth rates: doubling down on our Faustian bargain by James Hansen et al.
- 2013/03/27: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Test of a decadal climate forecast by Myles R. Allen et al.
- 2013/03/26: GMD: A new method to diagnose the contribution of anthropogenic activities to temperature: temperature tagging by V. Grewe
- 2013/03/26: TC: Mechanisms causing reduced Arctic sea ice loss in a coupled climate model by A. E. West et al.
- 2013/03/26: TC: Boreal and temperate snow cover variations induced by black carbon emissions in the middle of the 21st century by M. Ménégoz et al.
- 2013/03/26: TC: Variations in snow and firn chemistry along US ITASE traverses and the effect of surface glazing by D. A. Dixon et al.
- 2013/03/25: TCD: Snow on the Ross Ice Shelf: comparison of reanalyses and observations from automatic weather stations by L. Cohen & S. Dean
- 2012/08/17: Springer:JR&NC: (ab$) Airborne gamma-ray emitters from Fukushima detected in New York State by Michael E. Kitto et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2013/03/28: CCPA: [link to 2.1 meg pdf] Closing the Loop - Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Zero Waste in BC by Marc Lee et al.
- 2013/03/26: PI: [link to 2.2 meg pdf] A Costly Diagnosis -- Subsidizing coal power with Albertans' health
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2013/03/29: VV: Special issue on homogenisation of climate series
- 2013/03/25: PhysicsWorld: Earth is closer to the edge of Sun's habitable zone
- 2013/03/28: ERabett: What Is Science?
- 2013/03/30: JEB: Decadal prediction stuff part 2
- 2013/03/28: JEB: Decadal prediction stuff part 1
- 2013/03/27: Grist: Melting ice is a boon for archaeology
- 2013/03/27: TreeHugger: Whale songs discovered in seismic recordings
- 2013/03/25: al Jazeera: Tinkering knowledge sharing, or why we need to hack science
Making sense of science at any age is an effort best created by the citizens who actively engage into science-doing. - 2013/03/25: JEB: Peer review problems at EGU journals?
- 2013/03/25: Eureka: Climate models are not good enough
What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?
- 2013/03/29: JEB: We-who-must-not-be-named -- Let's face it: pay-to-view scientific publishing is dead...
- 2013/03/29: JEB: Sham journals scam authors
- 2013/03/27: NatureN: Sham journals scam authors -- Con artists are stealing the identities of real journals to cheat scientists out of publishing fees
- 2013/03/27: NatureN: Publishing frontiers: The library reboot
As scientific publishing moves to embrace open data, libraries and researchers are trying to keep up. - 2013/03/27: NatureN: Open access: The true cost of science publishing
Cheap open-access journals raise questions about the value publishers add for their money. - 2013/03/27: NatureN: Investigating journals: The dark side of publishing -- The explosion in open-access publishing has fuelled the rise of questionable operators
- 2013/03/26: Verge: Entire library journal editorial board resigns, citing 'crisis of conscience' after death of Aaron Swartz
Publishers demanded $2,995 for each open-access article - 2013/03/27: TheScientist: Opinion: Life as a Target by Michael E. Mann
Attacks on my work aimed at undermining climate change science have turned me into a public figure. I have come to embrace that role. - 2013/03/27: CCP: Michael Mann: Life as a Target
Regarding Abraham:
- 2013/03/27: NakedCapitalism: Real Pragmatism for Real Climate Change: Interview with Dr. John Abraham
- 2013/03/26: CCP: Real Pragmatism for Real Climate Change: Interview with Dr. John Abraham
Regarding Borlaug:
- 2013/03/25: SciNow: Remembering a Man Who Saved Millions
Meanwhile at the UN:
- 2013/03/29: UN: UN calls Canada's pullout from drought convention 'regrettable'
On the international political front, tensions continue as the empire leans on Iran:
- 2013/03/29: TheHindu: India not to halt imports from Iran
- 2013/03/27: EarlyWarning: Iranian Oil Production
South [& East] China Sea tension persists:
- 2013/03/27: BBC: China 'fired flares' at Vietnam boat in South China Sea
China says it fired flares, not weapons, at a Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea last week. The defence ministry said the flares were fired after four boats near the disputed Paracel islands did not heed warnings to leave, Xinhua reports. - 2013/03/27: al Jazeera: Chinese navy exercises 'surprise' neighbours
Exercises in James Shoal include the landing of amphibious craft on Beijing's most southern territorial claim. - 2013/03/27: al Jazeera: China hunts for energy in stormy waters
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea likely to escalate after Beijing's recent expansion of deepwater assets. - 2013/03/24: Telegraph(UK): The dangerous drift towards world war in Asia
In the global competition for Rare Earths and other natural resources:
- 2013/03/25: NBF: Japan has found rare earth reserves in the Pacific Seabed that are 1000 times all land based deposits
- 2013/03/24: Telegraph(UK): Japan breaks China's stranglehold on rare metals with sea-mud bonanza
Japanese scientists have found vast reserves of rare earth metals on the Pacific seabed that can be mined cheaply, a discovery that may break the Chinese monopoly on a crucial raw material needed in hi-tech industries and advanced weapons systems. - 2013/03/31: al Jazeera: Philippines wants US payment over reef damage
US naval ship finally removed from reef ten weeks after running aground, but Manila demands financial compensation. - 2013/03/28: BRICS: Joint statement of the BRICS Business Forum 2013
- 2013/03/27: McClatchyDC: Iraqi oil: Once seen as U.S. boon, now it's mostly China's
- 2013/03/25: RTCC: China pulling away from EU in low-carbon competitiveness race
Asia is on track to replace Europe as the world's largest clean energy investment region, with more than one third of the world's clean energy investment in 2012. The latest Climate Institute/GE Low-Carbon Competitiveness Index ranks Japan, China and South Korea as three of the top countries for low-carbon development. - 2013/03/26: al Jazeera: BRICS wrangle over new development bank
Leaders of world's emerging economies gather in South Africa to discuss proposal to challenge World Bank domination. - 2013/03/28: RTCC: Security risks of climate change prompt military review
Over 100 countries now regard climate change as a national security concern and are taking steps to assess their ability to manage new threats. - 2013/03/25: CSM: Did climate change cause the Syrian uprising?
- 2013/03/25: TreeHugger: A drier Middle East means future water wars
What are the activists up to?
- 2013/03/29: CPW: Fossil fuel divestment necessary to avoid "carbon bubble", says study
- 2013/03/27: CleanBreak: Divestment fever spreads to Canada as students, doctors launch campaign against fossil-fuel holdings
- 2013/03/27: Resilience: The reasoning behind [fossil fuel] divestment
- 2013/03/26: Grist: What climate hawks can (and can't) learn from public-health campaigns
Polls! We have polls!
- 2013/03/28: NatureNB: Poll finds US support for adaptation to climate change
- 2013/03/28: TMoS: Americans Want Climate Change Protection, Just Not the Bill
- 2013/03/28: Guardian(UK): Americans believe in climate change risks but won't pay to fix them - survey
- 2013/03/23: USAToday: Poll questions shift public views on global warming
How you ask the question skews the results when it comes to public opinion on global warming, finds an analysis of hundreds of polls. The public mostly agrees on global warming's reality, it says. U.S. majorities have agreed on global warming being real for three decades, poll analysis says - Poll question wording has skewed survey answers, in some cases - After a dip in 2009, public agreement on climate change has resumed climbing toward 75% - 2013/03/30: al Jazeera: Where have all the rivers gone?
China's burgeoning demand for water is having a big impact on its waterways. - 2013/03/29: SciAm:Obs: Can the World Afford Cheap Water?
- 2013/03/28: JFleck: Water's for not fighting over?
- 2013/03/27: TreeHugger: 55 percent of U.S. rivers and streams are in poor condition, says EPA
- 2013/03/26: JFleck: Fixing Northern California's Delta: some process issues
- 2013/03/26: WaPo: EPA report: More than half nation's rivers in poor shape
- 2013/03/26: JFleck: Stuff I wrote elsewhere: Powell warned us
- 2013/03/25: RealEconomics: Perforated graphene and desalination
- 2013/03/24: JFleck: stuff I wrote elsewhere: drought hits New Mexico's famed Hatch Valley
And on the groundwater front:
- 2013/03/28: TheConversation: Water in, water out: assessing the future of the Great Artesian Basin
Regarding science education:
- 2013/03/25: al Jazeera: Tinkering knowledge sharing, or why we need to hack science
Making sense of science at any age is an effort best created by the citizens who actively engage into science-doing. - 2013/03/29: QuarkSoup: The Australian: How to Lie With(out) Statistics
- 2013/03/27: CCP: Jeff Masters: How to abuse statistics -- the false claim that global warming stopped in 1998
- 2013/03/27: Wunderground: How to Abuse Statistics: Claim Global Warming Stopped in 1998
While in the UK:
- 2013/03/30: al Jazeera: Aldermaston: the UK's nuclear legacy
As the British government looks to cut its spending, little sense exists in developing a new Nuclear weapons program. - 2013/03/29: BBC: Cash shortage stretches to sea bed
The government has admitted moving slowly to protect wildlife in the seas because of the cost. The environment minister Richard Benyon said that in the current financial squeeze he cannot designate as many areas for protection as he would like. - 2013/03/28: BBC: The Met Office has admitted issuing advice to government that was "not helpful" during last year's remarkable switch in weather patterns
- 2013/03/28: Guardian(UK): John Hayes move follows public rows at troubled [DECC] energy department
- 2013/03/28: Guardian(UK): How the government could end this long winter at a stroke
- 2013/03/28: Guardian(UK): What Michael Fallon can do to prove his green credentials
The new [DECC] energy minister can make a real impact by announcing his support for a 2030 decarbonisation target - 2013/03/28: Guardian(UK): Energy minister John Hayes switches to No 10 role in surprise reshuffle
- 2013/03/28: EurActiv: Big shale gas deal may not spark EU energy revolution
A major UK energy firm has struck a deal hailed by Prime Minister David Cameron as a step towards energy security but as the European Commission launches discussions on 2030 climate and energy policies opinions are divided as to which direction the EU should take the unconventional fossil fuel. - 2013/03/27: Guardian(UK): Rising energy bills will be reduced with climate policies, [UK Energy Secretary] Ed Davey says
- 2013/03/27: Guardian(UK): Will the UK's climate policies really help to lower energy bills?
- 2013/03/27: TMoS: Will Climate Change Drive Britain Back Into Recession?
- 2013/03/27: BBerg: Bulgaria to Suspend Up to 40% of Wind, Solar Power Capacity
Bulgaria may suspend as much as 40 percent of wind and solar power capacity as part of its effort to stem oversupply and stabilize electricity generation About 40 percent of wind and solar power producers aren't providing real-time information to the country's central electricity dispatcher, jeopardizing the safety of Bulgaria's transmission network, Energy Minister Asen Vasilev said in a document posted on the ministry's website. They will be temporarily disconnected, he said. - 2013/03/26: ScienceInsider: U.K. Report Offers Nuclear Research Road Map
- 2013/03/26: BBC: North Sea oil bonanza 'unlikely', says think tank CPPR
A think tank has rejected suggestions that Scotland could be on the brink of another oil bonanza. The Scottish government claimed that North Sea production could generate a great deal more in tax revenues than had been estimated. But a report by the Centre for Public Policy for the Regions (CPPR) said a return to the boom years was unlikely. It added that a more realistic scenario was that revenues would remain flat or fall slightly in real terms. - 2013/03/26: CCP: US shale gas to heat British homes within five years.
Deal struck by Centrica will see the first major exports of controversial shale gas - 2013/03/26: Guardian(UK): Key Cameron adviser blocks climate change from G8 agenda
- 2013/03/26: RTCC: Key Cameron advisor blocks climate change from G8 agenda
Reports that the UK's lead G8 negotiator is blocking efforts to add climate change to the agenda have struck another blow to David Cameron's ambition to lead the country's 'greenest government ever'. RTCC understands that the UK Prime Minister's Adviser for Europe and Global Issues Ivan Rogers has rejected moves from Germany and France to make the issue one of the meeting's key talking points. - 2013/03/26: BBC: Consent for a wind farm off Aberdeen which is opposed by Donald Trump has been granted by the Scottish government...
- 2013/03/26: BBC: Government to plant 250,000 trees to beat ash dieback
- 2013/03/25: LoE: Why we will probably fail to prevent catastrophe
And in Europe:
- 2013/03/29: EurActiv: Campaigners mourn missing heat in 2030 Green Paper
Efficiency campaigners have been left fuming after the EU's Green Paper on 2030 climate targets almost completely failed to address the role that heat savings can play in reducing carbon emissions. - 2013/03/28: EurActiv: Oettinger calls for no new taxes as talks begin on 2030 climate targets
There should be no new taxes on energy within the EU, and current taxes should not be raised, if prices are to be kept competitive with rivals fuelled by cheap shale gas in the US, the EU's energy chief has told the Guardian. - 2013/03/27: EurActiv: EU urged to fuel investment in carbon capture technology
The European Commission has been urged to start forcing energy-intensive industries to invest in carbon capture and storage (CCS) as it prepares to unveil plans to scale up the fledgling technology. - 2013/03/27: Guardian(UK): EU energy chief calls for no new taxes as talks begin on 2030 climate targets
- 2013/03/27: RTCC: EU proposes 40% emissions cut for 2030
- 2013/03/27: RTCC: Live reaction: EU 2030 climate targets
The EU today proposed increasing its emissions reductions target to 40% by 2030. - 2013/03/25: EurActiv: Poland unsure about its energy mix
Speakers at a conference held recently in Warsaw criticised EU energy policies especially those favouring expensive green energy, but also admitted that the country was not sure what kind of energy mix it wants. EurActiv Poland reports. - 2013/03/25: EurActiv: Ministers block EU proposal to limit some biofuels
Several European ministers are blocking the EU's proposal to curb the use of conventional biofuels, while some dispute claims the demand for crop-based oils drives deforestation and food insecurity in other parts of the world. - 2013/03/31: ABC(Au): Critical report on bushfire crisis
The first emergency agency to report on Tasmania's bushfire crisis has found communication failures and a lack of coordination and planning all contributed to the disaster. - 2013/03/31: ABC(Au): GMO ban debate
Tasmania's dairy farmers are warning the state's ban on genetically-modified organisms, or GMO's, could disadvantage the sector over the next few years. The Tasmanian moratorium on GMO's was extended five years ago. It's due to expire next year, and will be put up for review in the next few months. - 2013/03/29: TheConversation: Save now, pay later: the hidden costs of lower electricity bills
- 2013/03/28: ABC(Au): Cows rescued from island two months after flood
A two-month ordeal full of mud, sweat and tears has finally drawn to a close. Four of five Charolais cows stuck on a small island surrounded by deep mud near the Bundaberg port have been rescued. Floodwaters washed them about three kilometres from their home property and all efforts to recover them, including ferrying them out, failed. A novel plan to create a 25-metre bridge of carpet allowed the cattle to walk out to dry land at low tide. - 2013/03/28: ABC(Au): Tornado disaster declaration takes one week
There is dismay in southern New South Wales at the delay in announcing disaster relief for victims of tornadoes a week ago today. Severe storms left a path of damage in Mulwala and Barooga on the Murray River and tornados almost destroyed two caravan parks. - 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Solar leasing project pushes Australia towards capacity
- 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Firefighters injured, property lost in Vic fire
Four firefighters have been injured and at least one home has been destroyed as an out-of-control grass fire burns at Dereel, in western Victoria. The 1,300-hectare blaze is travelling in a southerly direction and is expected to burn through another 300 hectares tonight. - 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Solar leasing plan to fuel new industry boom
An Australian community group has launched a solar leasing initiative aimed at helping consumers avoid the often hefty upfront costs of converting to solar energy. It will allow customers to avoid the initial expense of installing solar panels and is designed to push Australia closer to achieving its solar energy target. - 2013/03/25: GReadfearn: Australia's new energy minister Gary Gray - a brief climate history
- 2013/03/25: TheConversation: States of decay: complementing the federal carbon policy
- 2013/03/25: TheConversation: Napthine should revisit Victoria's wind farm planning laws
- 2013/03/25: ABC(Au): [WA] Business lobby calls for electricity deregulation
- 2013/03/25: ABC(Au): [WA] Study to examine emissions from tractors
- 2013/03/25: ABC(Au): Perception of carbon tax hits more than hip pocket
A survey has revealed that most people believe the carbon tax is hitting their hip pockets far harder than official analysis suggests is actually the case. It is the latest evidence that the tax is damaging the Federal Government's re-election chances. - 2013/03/25: ABC(Au): Gray rules out changes to mining tax
The new Federal Resources Minister, Gary Gray, says the introduction of the mining tax could have been handled better, but has ruled out making any changes. With only five months in the job before the election, Mr Gray says it will be "business as usual". - 2013/03/28: ABC(Au): Fullerton Cove CSG gets go ahead [NSW]
- 2013/03/25: ABC(Au): Fears [NSW] councils may opt out of CSG rules
After the spill:
- 2013/03/28: ABC(Au):TDU: When you understand hate, you understand Rudd's fall
- 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): New-look Climate Change Department: What's ahead?
- 2013/03/26: ABC(Au): 'Appalling week' to blame for poll numbers
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says today's Newspoll showing the Labor Government is heading for a disastrous electoral defeat is the consequence of an "appalling week". Labor's primary vote has fallen to 30 per cent and satisfaction in Ms Gillard's performance has crashed six points to a 19-month low of 26 per cent. "I don't need a poll to tell me that last week the Labor Party had an appalling week," she told AM. - 2013/03/26: ABC(Au): Does a leadership spill 'clear the air'?
Simon Crean became the Federal Government's 'air freshener' last Thursday. "We needed clear air," he said. "We needed to bring these matters to a head." But will the leadership spill give Labor the clear air it needs to sell its message? Or will the subsequent resignations of competent, senior ministers contribute to its demise? - 2013/03/25: ABC(Au): Gillard keeps Albanese in Cabinet reshuffle
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a new frontbench she hopes will help the Government move on from last week's "appalling" and "self-indulgent" leadership dispute. - 2013/03/25: ABC(Au): Julia Gillard's reshuffle: Who's going where?
- 2013/03/25: ABC(Au): Combet issues warning on backstabbing as Gillard shuffles pack
As Prime Minister Julia Gillard prepares to announce her reshuffled frontbench today, her ally and senior minister Greg Combet has issued an angry warning to Labor MPs to stop the backstabbing. - 2013/03/28: ABC(Au): Carbon tax fears unfounded: Gujurat NRE
- 2013/03/26: NatureNB: Australian science embroiled in government leadership row
- 2013/03/26: WSWS: Australian PM announces new cabinet
- 2013/03/25: JQuiggin: Saving the Senate
After years of wrangling the Murray Darling Basin plan is in place. Now the real fight begins:
- 2013/03/29: ABC(Au): Basin plan delayed by lack of direction
The Murray Darling Basin Plan is being delayed by a lack of ideas on how to put it into practice, a report has found. The multi-billion-dollar plan for the river system was signed into law by the Federal Government in November and involves boosting environmental flows by up to 3200 gigalitres. But a report by the National Water Commission has found little work was done in mapping out how the plan will be delivered. - 2013/03/28: ABC(Au): SA-Victorian border zone still an issue for Draft Allocation Water Plan
- 2013/03/28: ABC(Au): Renewable energy drives up desal cost
A parliamentary committee has heard it will cost about $15 million more each year to power Adelaide's desalination plant with renewable energy than it would with fossil fuel. - 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Fears basin plan implementation slowing at outset
It took a century to reach agreement on the management of the Murray-Darling Basin but it's now feared the implementation of the plan might be faltering just as it begins. It's the role of the National Water Commission to audit the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the commission has just released its first report. It makes interesting reading. The report doesn't use the word 'stalled' but says the negotiating process has become 'fatigued'. - 2013/03/26: ABC(Au): Desalination plant opening renews debate
Adelaide's desalination plant has been officially opened 18 months after it started producing drinking water and almost six years after it was proposed. - 2013/03/29: CSM: India won't be 'the world's largest democracy' until it upholds human rights
And in China:
- 2013/03/30: al Jazeera: Dead animals in Chinese rivers raise alarm
Thousands of decaying pig carcasses have been scooped out of rivers, with the mystery setting off consumer concerns. - 2013/03/29: AutoBG: China will re-start plug-in vehicle subsidies, says BYD chair
- 2013/03/27: al Jazeera: Hundreds of dead ducks found in China river
Carcasses found in Nanhe river days after discovery of thousands of dead pigs dumped in waterway in Shanghai. - 2013/03/26: AutoBG: China mandates strict fuel-economy increase to 47 mpg by 2020
- 2013/03/26: TreeHugger: China increases 2020 fuel economy standard to 47 MPG
- 2013/03/26: IndiaTimes: Over 1,000 ducks found dead in Chinese river - cause of death unknown
And elsewhere in Asia:
- 2013/03/25: ABC(Au): Economic hopes as Kiribati signs solar deal
The President of Kiribati says an Australian-funded solar energy project could lead to a turnaround in the economic fortunes of the small Pacific nation. - 2013/03/25: Guardian(UK): UN report urges Africa's leaders to put environmental health policies first
Environmental factors contribute to 30% of Africa's disease burden and hinder the continent's development - 2013/03/25: EurActiv: Eastern Africa to become major player in energy geopolitics
Recently discovered gas in Mozambique could transform the country into a major player in the world LNG market, speakers said at a public event in Brussels. But some of them warned against high expectations of prosperity and warned that revenues won't come fast. - 2013/03/31: PaiD: More On Harper's Dereliction of Environmental Responsibilites
- 2013/03/30: NI: Dangerous charity caught in Harper Government web
- 2013/03/30: NorRe: The Emperor Of The North
- 2013/03/29: PostMedia: Federal environment policy may not be helping the oilpatch
- 2013/03/28: CBC: Chris Hall: Abortion politics masquerading as free speech -- Harper's 'rogue' MPs show caucus rift
- 2013/03/27: CBC: Anti-abortion motion reviewed in secret
Committee's decision on Mark Warawa's sex-selective abortion motion could be released Thursday - 2013/03/27: Rabble:DS: Does selling off our resources make us an energy superpower?
- 2013/03/26: NatPo: Backbench revolt the closest thing to a revolution Harper's seen yet
- 2013/03/24: BCLSB: Free the Canadian Archivist!
The IdleNoMore movement is still here:
- 2013/03/30: al Jazeera: Canada's indigenous thirsty for water rights
Plans to build port and sell lake water enrage First Nations community, who say they will not share in the benefits. - 2013/03/26: DeSmogBlog: Indigenous Rights are...Hey Look! A Panda!
- 2013/03/25: BBC: Seven Native Canadians finish arduous protest trek
Seven young Native Canadian men have finished a 1,600km (1,000-mile) trek to the Canadian capital in protest against living conditions on reserves. - 2013/03/25: CBC: Cree youth on final leg of Idle No More trek to Ottawa
Welcome ceremony scheduled this morning before final walk to Parliament Hill A group of young people from the James Bay Cree community of Whapmagoostui, Que., is expected to arrive in Ottawa today, marking the end of their 1,600-kilometre trek to the nation's capital. - 2013/03/24: CBC: Cree youth near Ottawa, end of Idle No More journey
22 walkers sought medical attention in Kitigan Zibi reserve in west Quebec, 3 more to hospital A group of young people from the James Bay Cree community of Whapmagoostui, Que., has arrived in the Ottawa-Gatineau region as they near the end of a 1,600-kilometre trek to the nation's capital. Six young people and a guide left their community in January to snowshoe to Ottawa in support of the Idle No More movement. They called the trek "The Journey of Nishiyuu," which means "The Journey of the People" in Cree. The group now numbers about 270, according to volunteers, after other children and youth from Cree and Algonquin communities joined them along the way. - 2013/03/26: CBC: Ottawa nixes former environment panel's data-sharing plan -- Environment Canada, not Sustainable Prosperity, to take over research data
Environment Minister Peter Kent asks that no new information be added to the website of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, even though two new documents were ready to be published.Environment Minister Peter Kent asks that no new information be added to the website of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, even though two new documents were ready to be published. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) The people who are winding down the controversial National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy say Environment Minister Peter Kent has nixed their plan to keep all their research public. The government pulled funding from the roundtable a year ago, giving the advisory body until this Friday to shut down. Acting chairman Robert Slater says the group had planned to hand over 25 years of research and analysis to think-tank Sustainable Prosperity to ensure it remained public. But he says Kent sent him a letter last week telling him that Environment Canada would take over the information instead. - 2013/03/26: DeSmogBlog: Leaked: National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy's Final Farewell Report
- 2013/03/28: PI:B: Farewell to National Round Table on Environment and Economy
The Blight struck again:
- 2013/03/30: TStar: [Editorial] Why is Canada the only country to quit UN anti-drought convention?
The Harper government's hostility to international co-operation and environmental science make quitting a UN convention on fighting drought a dubious distinction. - 2013/03/30: WpgFP: Desertification group laments losing Canada -- 'Regrettable' decision makes it only country not in the UN body
- 2013/03/29: ScienceInsider: Canada Pulls Out of U.N. Treaty to Combat Desertification
Any doubts that Canada is an "outlier" on climate change were dispelled this week, say critics, after the Conservative government announced it is withdrawing from a U.N. convention to combat desertification signed by 194 other nations. Green Party leader Elizabeth May decried the move as another sign of the Conservative's indifference to environmental protection. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is "making us a rogue nation. The North Korea of environmental law," she tweeted. - 2013/03/29: CBC: Canada's pullout of UN drought convention called 'regrettable'
- 2013/03/29: UN: UN calls Canada's pullout from drought convention 'regrettable'
- 2013/03/28: CBC: Conservatives defend withdrawal from UN drought 'talkfest'
- 2013/03/28: Global: Canada stands alone as only country outside of UN droughts and deserts convention
- 2013/03/29: MSimon: The Harper Cons Shame Canada Again
- 2013/03/29: CPW: Elizabeth May: Harper making Canada the North Korea of environmental law
- 2013/03/28: RTCC: Canada could leave UN climate talks after UNCCD exit
- 2013/03/28: TMoS: Turning Canada's Back on Our Warming World
- 2013/03/27: CBC: Canada quietly pulls out of UN anti-droughts convention
Canada is now only country not part of agreement - 2013/03/28: TStar: Canada saw bureaucracy and inefficiency in UN convention on deserts
- 2013/03/28: TStar: Canada stands alone on the environment - again: Tim Harper
As Canada tries to convince the U.S. it is a responsible environmental steward, it walks away from UN environmental convention. - 2013/03/28: WpgFP: Follow the leadership money: Murray emerges as primary challenger to Trudeau
- 2013/03/26: TStar: Liberal leadership candidate Joyce Murray: "Our numbers are higher than anyone else's"
The so-called cooperation candidate told the Star's editorial board she's going into the Liberal leadership race's final stretch with a lead in registered supporters. - 2013/03/29: al Jazeera: "It cannot happen here": Pipeline pushback attends Exxon Valdez anniversary
The Canadian government has joined oil giant Enbridge in a push for approval of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline. - 2013/03/26: CBC: B.C. First Nation takes Trans Mountain expansion to court
A First Nation from British Columbia's southern Interior is taking the federal government and an oil company to court over plans to almost triple the capacity of an oil pipeline that crosses its reserve. Documents filed in Federal Court by the Coldwater Indian Band argue the minister of Indian affairs is ready to consent to a plan that would see Kinder Morgan increase the amount of oil in the Trans Mountain pipeline near Merritt, B.C. - 2013/03/26: TStar: Exxon Valdez anniversary sparks renewed pipeline debate in B.C.: Tim Harper
National Resources Minister Joe Oliver courts controversy with blanket claim that Exxon Valdez-type spill could never happen here. - 2013/03/25: TheCanadian: International Indigenous Alliance Joins Forces to Battle Multiple Planned Tar Sands Pipelines
- 2013/03/25: TheCanadian: Harper Govt. Floats New Tanker Spill Response Measures, Oil Traffic Critics Unconvinced
- 2013/03/25: Grist: Protests against tar-sands pipelines heat up in U.S. and Canada
- 2013/03/25: CBC: Federal ad campaign driven by Northern Gateway criticism -- Document acknowledges negative media attention
One of the key concerns for the federal government in a multimillion-dollar Natural Resources advertising campaign was the negative publicity around the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, according to internal government documents. In particular, the statement of work provided to the ad company a year ago noted that media coverage had been critical of legislative changes that gave the federal cabinet power to override the National Energy Board recommendations on project approval. - 2013/03/24: CBC: Anti-tanker ad marks anniversary of Alaskan oil spill
The Exxon Valdez oil spill created an environmental disaster in Prince Wiliam Sound in 1989 The Exxon Valdez disaster of March 24, 1989 was one of history's worst oil spills, and twenty-four years later, a B.C. First Nations group is pointing to the tragedy as proof the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project should not go forward. - 2013/03/26: TheCanadian: BC First Nation Takes Govt, Pipeline Operator to Court Over Proposed Tripling of Trans Mountain Line
The ISA/PRV/IHN/Alpha virus in Canadian waters is potentially disastrous:
- 2013/03/28: WCEL: Privatizing Salmon Protection: The Failure of the Riparian Areas Regulation
- 2013/03/27: CBC: Money for aquaculture, but not wild salmon, critics note
MPs say federal budget fails to respond to Cohen report on B.C. salmon decline Money in this year's federal budget for aquaculture has critics wondering when Ottawa plans to speak up for wild salmon on the west coast. The government gave the Department of Fisheries and Oceans $57.5 million over five years "to enhance regulatory certainty" in the aquaculture industry, but it has yet to respond to the final report of the $26-million Cohen Commission, which was set up to look into the decline of sockeye salmon in the Fraser River. "How do you respond to the recommendations of Mr. Justice [Bruce] Cohen, specifically that there be a moratorium on new aquaculture development near the Discovery Islands [B.C.]," asked Green Party Leader Elizabeth May outside the House of Commons after Tuesday's question period. May added that there is a great deal of concern in B.C. that farmed salmon are harming the survival of wild stocks. - 2013/03/25: TheCanadian: Liberals Vow to Cap Salmon Farms in Discovery Islands; NDP Says Too Little, Too Late
- 2013/03/24: AlexandraMorton: AlexTalks #4
- 2013/03/23: CBC: Salmon farms near Campbell River capped for 7 years
Province agrees with intent of eight recommendations from the Cohen Commission - 2013/03/25: CBC: B.C. salmon-farm critics say committee will be upstream battle -- National aquaculture advisory committee to meet Wednesday in Richmond, B.C.
Critics of British Columbia's salmon-farming industry fear they could be "shouted down" and that their concerns will disappear into a "black hole" when a new committee meets to advise federal fisheries officials on aquaculture issues. The advisory committee, which is being set up by Fisheries and Oceans Canada as part of its Integrated Management of Aquaculture Plan, is expected to hold its first meeting on Wednesday in Richmond, B.C. - 2013/03/30: NI: BC Auditor General site down Mar 29-30
Since the website of the British Columbia Auditor General is inaccessible early morning March 30, and was down late March 29, I provide this access to recent reports from the Auditor General. - 2013/03/28: PEF: Closing the Loop: Zero Waste, GHG Emissions and Green Jobs in BC
- 2013/03/28: CCPA: [link to 2.1 meg pdf] Closing the Loop - Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Zero Waste in BC by Marc Lee et al.
- 2013/03/28: TheCanadian: Auditor General Fights Back Over Attempts to Derail Audit of Carbon Offset Scheme
- 2013/03/28: PI:B: Driving forward with electric vehicles in British Columbia
- 2013/03/27: TheCanadian: Oil Pipeline, Tanker Spills not a 'Risk' but a Certainty
- 2013/03/27: Tyee: Let My Report Go Free: Auditor General
Pacific Carbon Trust part of 'orchestrated campaign' to delay findings on offset issues: AG Doyle. - 2013/03/27: PostMedia: John Doyle blasts Pacific Carbon Trust over 'orchestrated' opposition to audit
Auditor general John Doyle blasted the management of the Pacific Carbon Trust Wednesday, saying the public organization at the centre of his damning audit on carbon neutrality actively worked to undermine his efforts. "Of all the reports I have issued, never has one been targeted in such an overt manner by vested interests, nor has an audited organization ever broken my confidence, as did the senior managers at PCT by disclosing confidential information to carbon market developers and brokers," Doyle wrote in a scathing introduction to his report. - 2013/03/27: CBC: Controversial ocean fertilization project defended by B.C. village
- 2013/03/27: NI: Failure perfectly OK with BC Liberals
- 2013/03/27: NI: From the audit of carbon neutral government
- 2013/03/25: NI: Torstar's 20% of Black Press valued at zero [BC pol]
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2013/03/30: TheCanadian: The Bitumen Cliff
- 2013/03/29: PostMedia: Governments to publish long-awaited environmental data on oilsands [next Wednesday]
- 2013/03/29: PostMedia: Pentagon officials tour oilsands as part of effort to recruit veterans to jobs - the "Helmets to Hard Hats" program
- 2013/03/29: P3: Oil Sands Limited by Transportation - We Should Keep It That Way
- 2013/03/28: BBerg: Total to Take $1.65 Billion Loss on Canada Oil-Sands Project
- 2013/03/27: TheCanadian: Suncor Downplays Impact of Industrial Waste Leak into Athabasca River
- 2013/03/27: CCP: Opposition To Keystone Pipeline, Stigmatization Of Tar Sands Increasing (Pictures)
- 2013/03/27: CBC: Suncor cancels proposed Voyageur upgrader
- 2013/03/27: CBC: Oil patch takeovers reach record
The value of takeovers in Canada's oil and gas industry hit a record high of $54.1 billion last year, according to Calgary-based mergers and acquisitions consultants Sayer Energy Advisors. - 2013/03/27: CBC: Wastewater leak from oilsands plant enters Athabasca River
Suncor has now confirmed that a wastewater leak from an outfall pond at its oilsands plant north of Fort McMurray, Alta., did enter the Athabasca River. - 2013/03/26: G&M: Alberta tests Athabasca River to gauge Suncor site leak's toxicity
More than a day after industrial waste water leaked from a Suncor Energy Inc. site into the Athabasca River, the oil-sands giant and the province were still trying to determine which, if any, toxic materials were carried into the major Alberta waterway. On Monday, staff at the Suncor oil-sands base plant north of Fort McMurray discovered a pipe carrying water that had been used in bitumen extraction and upgrading had frozen, cracked and was leaking into an outfall pond near the river for at least several hours. They were able to halt the flow at 4 p.m. the same day. - 2013/03/26: P3: Keeping the Cork in the Oil Sands Bottle
- 2013/03/25: PI:B: New oilsands mine to go ahead despite lack of promised Athabasca River protection
Also in Alberta:
- 2013/03/29: CBC: Alberta's Ralph Klein dead at 70 - Nil nisi bonum
- 2013/03/30: Tyee: 'Pipeline Company Bullies' -- A farmer's plea for protections against petro firms who 'take our lands.'
- 2013/03/29: Tyee: Alberta's Top Judge to Hear High Profile Fracking Case
Flaming tap water lawsuit by Jessica Ernst faced delay after previous judge promoted. - 2013/03/26: PI: New report shows health and climate impacts from coal power cost Alberta millions
- 2013/03/26: CBC: Coal plants cost Alberta $300M in health costs: report -- Report says Alberta burns more coal than the rest of Canada combined
- 2013/03/26: KSJT: Globe and Mail, etc: New report says Alberta's coal industry kills, public pays bills. But where are the questions?
- 2013/03/24: DeSmogBlog: Marking Up the Alberta Government's $30,000 Keystone XL Ad
In Manitoba, flooding is definitely possible. There is a lot of snow. It all depends on how fast it melts:
- 2013/03/26: CBC: Manitoba foresees moderate to major flood potential -- Water levels expected to be around 2009 levels, forecast says
- 2013/03/26: CBC: Manitoba communities ramp up flood prep ahead of forecast -- Province of Manitoba to release flood forecast on Tuesday
- 2013/03/21: CBC: Fargo forecast to have one of top 5 floods in its history -- U.S. National Weather Service says Red River could top 11.6 metres
Wynne is struggling to establish herself. Energy still looms large:
- 2013/03/28: BCLSB: Hudak Tories In Wind Waffle
While in la Belle Province:
- 2013/03/28: Tyee: Testing the Right to Frack
NAFTA investor lawsuit against shale gas moratorium adds reason to fear FIPA.
[...]
Last year, a U.S.-owned energy firm Lone Pine Resources sued Canada using investment rules in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The firm is challenging Quebec's 2011 moratorium on fracking in the St. Lawrence Valley, which was extended indefinitely by the new Parti Quebecois government - 2013/03/28: DtPB: ON NDP Stance on Funding for Public Transit
And on the American political front:
- 2013/03/15: Science: [Editorial] Am I Wrong? by Bruce Alberts
- 2013/03/28: NotEvenWrong: Are they wrong? US research funding
- 2013/03/28: OPS: He's Not Wrong: The US and Science Research
- 2013/03/27: QuarkSoup: The Building of Momentum on the Climate Issue
- 2013/03/26: G&M: U.S. Defence Department stands by its oil sands fuel
The U.S. Defence Department has rebuffed an environmentalist campaign to stop it from using fuel processed from oil sands crude, saying there would be no environmental benefit and such a move would be impractical. - 2013/03/28: TP:JR: Republican Mayor Leads City To First-Ever Solar Energy Mandate
- 2013/03/28: MWEN: Study: U.S. biofuels policy pushes GHG emissions overseas
- 2013/03/29: KSJT: What constitutes "industry ties"?
- 2013/03/28: Grist: Colorado lawmakers want to jack up ridiculously low oil-spill fines
- 2013/03/28: CSM: IMF: End energy subsidies
- USDA: SNAP - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
- 2013/03/29: WtD: The Billionaire's Tea Party: Video of the week
- 2013/03/27: RTCC: US plans major climate change awareness drive
- 2013/03/24: SeattlePI: Drought contributes to Neb. climate change debate
A harsh summer drought that threatened Nebraska farms and ranches has prompted lawmakers to take a fresh look at climate change, an issue that has gotten little traction in the Legislature. - 2013/03/27: TheConversation: Two years on: the legacy of the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Post-Sandy commentary and news:
- 2013/03/30: TMoS: Property Sales Heat Up Post-Hurricane Sandy
- 2013/03/28: Grist: How much is a beachfront home in the Sandy-ravaged Rockaways?
The Keystone XL saga grinds slowly. And it grinds woe:
- 2013/03/30: CPW: In Texas, An Activist Climbs Flagpole, Hangs Banner Denouncing Alberta Tar Sands
LyondellBasell recently announced its plans to nearly triple its tar sands refining capacity from the Keystone XL pipeline as protests escalate across the continent - 2013/03/29: CSW: Where are the Keystone XL pipeline whistleblowers?
- 2013/03/28: TP:JR: A National Security Pipe Dream, Part 1
- 2013/03/28: Grist: Keystone komics: The incredible, illustrated history of the Keystone XL oil pipeline
- 2013/03/27: CCP: Opposition To Keystone Pipeline, Stigmatization Of Tar Sands Increasing (Pictures)
- 2013/03/27: BBerg: State Department Won't Release Comments on Keystone Study
- 2013/03/26: CSM: Kansas House pushes for approval of Keystone XL pipeline
- 2013/03/26: CPW: 10 KXL Amendment Co-Sponsors Took $8 Million from Fossil Fuel Industry
- 2013/03/26: BCLSB: Sutter Strikes Out
- 2013/03/26: DeSmogBlog: State Department's Keystone XL Contractor ERM Green-Lighted BP's Explosive Caspian Pipeline That Failed To Live Up to Jobs Hype
- 2013/03/26: Macleans: Darryl Sutter [hockey coach]: Canada's newest oil sands ambassador
- 2013/03/25: Grist: Protests against tar-sands pipelines heat up in U.S. and Canada
- 2013/03/23: SLTrib: Utah protesters decry tar sands in Chevron refinery march
- 2013/03/25: ICN: Keystone Public Comments Won't Be Made Public, State Department Says
- 2013/03/25: TreeHugger: State Department hid ties between Keystone XL report and TransCanada
With the deficit hawks panicking about the fiscal cliff, there has been talk of a carbon tax solution:
- 2013/03/25: NYT:EconoMix: Our Carbon, Our Climate, Our Cash
The GOP War on Women continues. See also:
- 2013/03/30: PSinclair: Idahoans Threaten Science Teacher Who Teaches Science. He Said "vagina"...and "Climate change"
- 2013/03/29: WSWS: North Dakota enacts most restrictive abortion laws in US
- 2013/03/29: TP:JR: High School Science Teacher Investigated For Using Word 'Vagina', Showing Clip Of 'An Inconvenient Truth'
- 2013/03/29: RawStory: Mississippi governor [Phil Bryant (R)] appoints anti-choice activist to state health board
- 2013/03/28: Guardian(UK): North Dakota anti-abortion activists attempt to re-open Roe v Wade debate
America has no 'culture war' about legal abortion rights: only an extreme minority wants to replay the issue in the supreme court - 2013/03/27: RawStory: Idaho teacher investigated for saying 'vagina' during biology lesson
- 2013/03/26: BBC: North Dakota introduces toughest abortion law in US
North Dakota has banned abortion once a foetal heartbeat can be detected - as early as six weeks - in the most restrictive law of its kind in the US. Governor Jack Dalrymple [R] signed a second law banning abortions based on genetic abnormalities. He approved a third law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have hospital-admitting privileges. Correspondents say the laws are in part an effort to close the state's only abortion clinic, in the town of Fargo. The measures, which take effect on 1 August, make no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother. Gov Dalrymple said: "Although the likelihood of this measure surviving a court challenge remains in question, this bill is nevertheless a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of Roe v Wade." - 2013/03/26: al Jazeera: Violence Against Women Act reauthorised - what took you so long?
The VAWA will not solve every issue, but ensures that remedies are there when a woman makes a desperate plea for help. - 2013/03/26: QuarkSoup: Governors Cite Climate Change for Coal Export Review
- 2013/03/25: CCP: Washington governor Jay Inslee and Oregon governor John Kitzhaber ask Obama administration for full review of coal leasing and [export] on air quality and greenhouse gases
The impacts of the sequestration are starting to come home:
- 2013/03/27: Ph&Ph: 2013 US Spending Bill
- 2013/03/27: TP:JR: Sequestration Cuts Hit The National Parks Hard
- 2013/03/26: P3: NASA Clams Up Altogether
- 2013/03/25: QuarkSoup: NASA Suspends All Public Outreach [seq]
Surely this can't be the end of the Monnett saga:
- 2013/03/25: CCP: Charles Monnett permitted to return to his old job with a minor reprimand for following what was common practice (and signed off on by his superiors)
The EPA has finally proposed new Tier 3 emission rules:
- 2013/03/29: CSM: Clean fuel regulations: EPA, oil industry vie over effect on gas prices
- 2013/03/29: CSM: EPA further limits sulfur. Will higher gas prices follow?
- 2013/03/29: AutoBG: EPA proposes new Tier 3 emission rules, requiring cleaner cars and gasoline in 2017
- 2013/03/29: UCSUSA:B: Smog, Soot, and Sulfur, Oh My!
- 2013/03/29: UCSUSA: Lower Tailpipe Emissions Will Lead to Cleaner Air, More Jobs -- Wide Support for Reductions of Smog-Forming Exhaust
- 2013/03/29: TreeHugger: Obama's EPA to require better gasoline, cleaner air
- 2013/03/29: Grist: New gasoline rules are good for your lungs and bad for Big Oil
- 2013/03/29: TP:JR: New EPA Rules Would Make Your Car Run Better And Cleaner
- 2013/03/29: USAToday: EPA rule would cut smog-causing sulfur in gas
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed new rules today that will require lower-sulfur fuels to help reduce smog-causing emissions from cars and trucks beginning in 2017. The long-awaited rule would increase the price of gas by a penny a gallon or up to 9 cents, depending on whether analyses cited by EPA and environmental groups or the oil industry are to be believed. - 2013/03/28: CDreams: Despite 'Enormous Risk' White House Reaffirms Commitment to Arctic Drilling
- 2013/03/28: ScienceInsider: Mixed Reactions to White House Science Advisers' Suggestions for Obama's Climate Agenda
- 2013/03/26: TP:JR: Some Other Items for The President's Public Lands To-Do List
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2013/03/31: TP:JR: Administration Outlines Plan To Help Wildlife Adapt To Climate Change
- 2013/03/28: Bradenton: Court: EPA can stop some power plant modifications
Government regulators can try to halt construction projects at power plants if they think the companies didn't properly calculate whether the changes would increase air pollution, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday, marking the latest twist in a decades-long fight over the Clean Air Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sued Michigan-based DTE Energy in 2010, because the company was replacing key boiler parts at its Monroe Unit 2 coal-fired power plant without installing pollution controls. The EPA said the controls were required because the utility was performing a major overhaul, but DTE argued the $65 million project was only routine maintenance and was therefore exempt. A federal judge threw out the suit, saying the EPA went to court too soon. But the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision in a 2-1 ruling, saying the law doesn't block the EPA from challenging suspected violations of its regulations until long after power plants are modified. - 2013/03/27: Grist: Energy secretary nominee Ernest Moniz has deep ties to oil, gas, and nuclear industries
- 2013/03/26: DemNow: Energy Nominee Ernest Moniz Criticized for Backing Fracking & Nuclear Power; Ties to BP, GE, Saudis
- 2013/03/26: ERabett: Inside Baseball Memo War
- 2013/03/25: TheHill:RW: New panel to advise EPA on 'fracking'
- 2013/03/26: NOAANews: National strategy will help safeguard fish, wildlife and plants in a changing climate
- 2013/03/25: CCP: Leaked EPA Documents Expose Decades-Old Effort to Hide Dangers of Natural Gas Extraction
- 2013/03/25: TP:JR: Interior Department Finishes Look-Before-You-Leap Oil Shale Plan
- 2013/03/25: ICN: Analysis: Obama's climate agenda may face setbacks in federal court
President Barack Obama's plan to use federal agencies, and the Environmental Protection Agency in particular, to drive his second-term climate change agenda might be in peril if he cannot fill vacant seats on the federal court that has jurisdiction over major national regulations, legal experts say. - 2013/03/25: GCC: US DOI finalizes plan for oil shale and oil sands research, demonstration and development
- 2013/03/25: NOAANews: With support from NOAA, Woods Hole scientists see moderate spring, summer red tide for Gulf of Maine
- 2013/03/0: DemNow: Leaked EPA Documents Expose Decades-Old Effort to Hide Dangers of Natural Gas Extraction/A>
- 2013/03/13: GTM: FERC Proposes Reforms to Speed Interconnection of Renewables, Solar
Some hope for lowering the soft costs of solar projects by easing interconnection- 2013/03/21: WVGazette: Feds OK coal slurry dam expansion -- MSHA approves height taller than Hoover Dam
Federal regulators have approved Alpha Natural Resources' plan to expand one of the nation's biggest coal slurry impoundments to a height taller than the Hoover Dam. The plan will also increase the volume of waste it holds to 8.5 billion gallons. The Mine Safety and Health Administration confirmed the approval this week and provided The Associated Press a copy of a letter giving Virginia-based Alpha permission to expand the Brushy Fork impoundment near Whitesville in southern West Virginia.As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2013/03/13: GTM: FERC Proposes Reforms to Speed Interconnection of Renewables, Solar
- 2013/03/30: CCP: Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) backroom deals Monsanto Protection Act into appropriations bill
- 2013/03/29: FDL: Monsanto Gets Its Very Own Law
- 2013/03/29: UCSUSA: Ohio Senator [Bill Seitz] Opposes Renewable Energy Standard He Once Supported...
- 2013/03/28: S&R: Monsant-Oh No!
With every bill passed in Congress, there is good news and bad news. The good news of HR 933 passing the House: we avoided a government shutdown (for now). The bad news: Congress authorized a provision known as the "Monsanto Protection Act," protecting the agricultural giant from litigation. - 2013/03/28: GreenGrok: Congress's Affair With Ethanol: Love Gone Wrong?
- 2013/03/28: TP:JR: [Senator Ted] Cruz (R-Texas) Gets Senate To Censor Innocuous Mention Of 'Changes In Climate' In Resolution For International Women's Day
- 2013/03/28: RealEconomics: The bill for the 2012 corn belt drought disaster
- 2013/03/27: Salon: How the Monsanto Protection Act snuck into law
A provison that protects the biotech giant from litigation passed Congress without many members knowing about it - 2013/03/26: ScienceInsider: Congress Completes Work on 2013 Spending Bill
U.S. research agencies finally know what they have to spend for the rest of the 2013 fiscal year after Congress completed work today on a bill to fund the government through 30 September. - 2013/03/26: UCSUSA:B: Biotech Rider a Threat to Farmers and the Environment
- 2013/03/24: TP:JR: 7 Deadly Amendments That Would've Protected Dirty Energy And Trashed The Climate
- 2013/03/25: CPW: 'Senate's Big Oil Benefactors' Slammed for Keystone XL Vote
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2013/03/28: GaianEcon: Ecuador Leads the World
- 2013/03/27: OilDrum: Our Energy Predicament in [19] Charts
- 2013/03/26: Resilience: Three glimmers of hope for an economic transformation
- 2013/03/26: AlterNet: Why Is Socialism Doing So Darn Well in Deep-Red North Dakota?
North Dakota's thriving state bank makes a mockery of Wall Street's casino banking system -- and that's why financial elites want to crush it. - 2013/03/25: DemNow: Capitalism in Crisis: Richard Wolff Urges End to Austerity, New Jobs Program, Democratizing Work
- 2013/03/25: Resilience: The gross domestic problem
[...]
My question was: if GDP has so many flaws and numerous attempts were made at finding 'better' numbers, then why are we are still using GDP? Is it possible that there are specific interests supporting the nexus between GDP and policymaking? What are the political dimensions of this almighty number? So I set out to do my research on the history of GDP and realized that this story needed to be told. The story of GDP is the story of how we built the type of society we live in. It is the story of how economics took over all other sciences to become the servant of power. - 2013/03/24: P3: The 100 Year Starship
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2013/03/27: al Jazeera: State signs strictest abortion ban in US
Pro-choice groups vow to challenge North Dakota's controversial foetal heartbeat abortion law in court. - 2013/03/27: P3: Malthusianism from the Ehrlichs Redux
- 2013/03/27: CCurrents: Social Control In The 21st Century: Eugenics, The GM Sector And The Ideology Of The Rich
- 2013/03/26: SciAm:PI: What an 18th century treatise on population can teach us about energy resources
- 2013/03/25: Xinhuanet: Immortality in pill no longer science fiction: researcher
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2013/03/28: Stoat: Apocalypse perhaps a little later?
- 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Doomsday survival odds improve ... slightly
- 2013/03/25: RTCC: Why Russian doomsday climate predictions may prove prophetic
How do the media measure up?
- 2013/03/29: QuarkSoup: Spencer/Schmidt Not-a-Debate on John Stossel's Show
- 2013/03/29: QuarkSoup: More About Stossel's Set-Up
- 2013/03/29: QuarkSoup: The Australian: How to Lie With(out) Statistics
- 2013/03/28: FAIR: For NPR, Fracking Fight Is Between Farmers & Movie Stars
- 2013/03/27: RTCC: UK climate panel shreds Mail on Sunday 'great green con' story [by David Rose]
- 2013/03/25: CleanBreak: Clean Break column in Toronto Star ends a 10-year run...
- 2013/03/25: PSinclair: WSJ: Solar a "Mortal Threat" to Utilities
- 2013/03/25: WtD: Cut and cherry-paste: The Australian shamelessly cherry picking the words of scientists
Here is something for your library:
- 2013/03/25: EneNews: New Book: Shocking Hanford radiation experiments on prisoners -- Columbia River called most radioactive in world
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2013/03/30: PSinclair: The Weekend Wonk: Sea Level Potholes and Speedbumps
- 2013/03/30: NI: "Humans have never dealt with nature's complexity..."
- 2013/03/30: Tyee: 'Everywhere the Trees Were Dead'
Fuelled by climate change, the devastating pine beetle outbreak is a non-stop forest killer, shows new doc. - 2013/03/29: PSinclair: IceBreakers Might Rescue Ice - Mike MacCracken on Mitigating Arctic Melt
- 2013/03/29: TP:JR: Video: The Price OF Carbon Requires A Price ON Carbon
- 2013/03/29: WtD: The Billionaire's Tea Party: Video of the week
- 2013/03/27: PSinclair: New Video: Hunters, Anglers, and Climate Change
- 2013/03/27: TP:JR: Video: Hunters And Anglers See First-Hand The Impacts Of Manmade Climate Change
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2013/03/29: Tyee: Alberta's Top Judge to Hear High Profile Fracking Case
Flaming tap water lawsuit by Jessica Ernst faced delay after previous judge promoted. - 2013/03/28: RT: Koch Block: Alleged Anonymous hacker charged with shutting down billionaires' website
- 2013/03/28: RT: Fracking chemicals to stay 'trade secrets'
- 2013/03/27: DeSmogBlog: Another Judge Agrees: Atmosphere Should Be Protected As a Public Trust
- 2013/03/27: RT: Endless summer: Russian court rules against resuming Daylight Savings Time
- 2013/03/26: Grist: Wyoming and energy companies can keep fracking chemicals secret, court rules
- 2013/03/26: CNBC: Exxon fined $1.7 mln over Yellowstone River oil spill
- 2013/03/25: Time: Judge Sides with Wyoming in Fracking Chemical Suit
A judge in Casper has sided with the state of Wyoming and ruled against environmentalists who sought to make public the lists of ingredients that go into hydraulic fracturing fluids. - 2013/03/28: Grist: How to power America with renewables on the cheap: Build a shit ton of wind and solar capacity
- 2013/03/27: TP:JR: Learning From The German Transition To Renewable Energy
- 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Asia overtaking Europe in clean power [says Climate Institute report]
- 2013/03/26: Slate: Blue Sky Thinking
The entirely serious plan to collect solar energy by spaceship and beam it back to Earth with lasers. - 2013/03/27: CSM: Roads soak up the sun. Could we use that energy?
- 2013/03/26: CSM: Fuel from carbon dioxide: Is it too good to be true?
- 2013/03/25: CCurrents: 7 Sins Of Dams
- 2013/03/25: Grist:Can we shift to renewable energy? Yes. As to how ...
- 2013/03/23: NYT: Life After Oil and Gas
What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?
- 2013/03/26: PSinclair: German Renewables Still Busting Gas and Nuclear
- 2013/03/25: NBF: Uranium from Seawater is over 3000 times the energy of Methane Hydrate in the Ocean
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2013/03/30: CCP: Fracking's Latest Scandal? Earthquake Swarms Caused by Wastewater Injection Wells
- 2013/03/29: BBerg: U.S. January Gas Output Falls to 10-Month Low, EIA Data Show
- 2013/03/29: Grist: Gas fracked in America will help keep the British warm
- 2013/03/29: TreeHugger: Fracking explosion sends "Frac Stack" flying [photos]
- 2013/03/29: CSM: Where do you stand on fracking?
- 2013/03/28: Grist: Frackers dodge responsibility for earthquakes, science be damned
- 2013/03/28: NYT: As Fracking Proliferates, So Do Wastewater Wells
- 2013/03/28: NYT: Study Links 2011 Quake to [fracking] Technique at Oil Wells
- 2013/03/28: RT: Fracking chemicals to stay 'trade secrets'
- 2013/03/28: KSJT: AP, BBC, etc: Injection of oil waste water most likely caused a 5.6 mag quake in Oklahoma, biggest such temblor yet
- 2013/03/27: NBC: Oil extraction wastewater caused Oklahoma's biggest quake
- 2013/03/27: CCP: Oklahoma's largest ever earthquake found to be fracking related [Prague, OK, Nov 6, 2011, 5.7 magnitude, destroyed 14 homes, injured 2 people]
- 2013/03/27: TP:JR: Different Kind Of Boom: Replacing Extracted Oil And Gas With Toxic Wastewater Causes Earthquakes
- 2013/03/27: Grist: Oil industry likely triggered big 2011 Oklahoma earthquake, scientists find
- 2013/03/27: BBC: Fracking 'linked to biggest Oklahoma earthquake'
Scientists say wastewater injection from hydraulic fracturing was linked to a magnitude-5.7 earthquake that struck the US state of Oklahoma in 2011. - 2013/03/27: SciAm:Obs: Oil Addiction, Not Fracking, Caused the 2011 Oklahoma Earthquakes
- 2013/03/26: Grist: Wyoming and energy companies can keep fracking chemicals secret, court rules
- 2013/03/26: EneNews: Powerful M5.7 quake blamed on [fracking] oil industry - Felt across 14 States...
- 2013/03/26: OilChange: 40% of US Frack Gas Could be Exported
- 2013/03/25: TheHill:RW: New panel to advise EPA on 'fracking'
- 2013/03/25: CCP: Earthquakes: States deciding not to look at seismic risks of fracking
- 2013/02/26: NYT: Regulation Lax as Gas Wells' Tainted Water Hits Rivers
- 2013/03/21: CoB: Study: Shale Gas Fracking Taints Rivers in Pennsylvania
On the coal front:
- 2013/03/29: TP:JR: New EIA Data Reveal U.S. Coal Use Rising Again
- 2013/03/28: USGS: Proximity to Coal-Tar-Sealed Pavement Raises Risk of Cancer, Study Finds
On the gas and oil front:
- 2013/03/29: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
OIL (US$/bbl)
Dated Brent Spot....110.02
WTI Cushing Spot.....97.23 - 2013/03/29: EarlyWarning: Iraqi Oil Production
- 2013/03/27: EarlyWarning: Iranian Oil Production
- 2013/03/27: BBC: BP and partners announce $500m Clair field appraisal
A consortium of oil companies is to invest more than $500m (£330m) in an appraisal drilling programme which could lead to further development of a giant North Sea field. The BP-led consortium said drilling had already started on the first of five wells planned over the next two years at Clair, west of Shetland. - 2013/03/27: McClatchyDC: Iraqi oil: Once seen as U.S. boon, now it's mostly China's
- 2013/03/26: TP:JR: World's Most Powerful Private Supercomputer Won't Cure Cancer, But Will Find Oil Super Fast
- 2013/03/31: OilDrum: Tech Talk - Future Natural Gas Supplies and Cyprus
- 2013/03/31: al Jazeera: Gas from Israeli Tamar field starts flowing
Production could save Israel billions of dollars in annual costs and eventually turn country into an energy exporter. - 2013/03/25: OilDrum: Tech Talk - The ExxonMobil Future: A Review
Regarding oil and the economy:
- 2013/03/30: CSM: How high oil prices lead to financial collapse
- 2013/03/29: Resilience: Falling Gasoline Use Means United States Can Just Say No to New Pipelines and Food-to-Fuel
- 2013/03/25: NBC: Energy boom begins to ripple through US economy
And in pipeline news:
- 2013/03/31: LoE: Happy Easter from Exxon
- 2013/03/31: al Jazeera: 'Major spill' after Exxon pipe ruptures in US
Company shuts 1400km pipeline after thousands of barrels spill near the town of Mayflower in state of Arkansas. - 2013/03/30: CCP: Exxon/Enbridge Canadian tar sands dilbit Pegasus pipeline ruptures in Mayflower, Arkansas, forcing evacuation of 22 homes...
- Wiki: Shah Deniz gas field
- 2013/03/29: EurActiv: Communication crossfire signals high tension in pipeline race
Nabucco West and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the two companies competing for Azerbaijani gas projects, have issued simultaneous statements today (29 March) that they have submitted the final package supporting their bids. The Shah Deniz consortium will chose between the two in June. - 2013/03/27: ICN: Cleanup of 2010 Mich. Dilbit Spill Aims to Stop Spread of Submerged Oil
Enbridge agrees to comply with EPA order to dredge Kalamazoo River. Final cleanup costs could top $1 billion. - 2013/03/28: DeSmogBlog: Oil On The Tracks: Canadian Pacific Rail Spills 30,000 Gallons of Crude in Minnesota
- 2013/03/27: CBC: Crews bring CP Rail oil spill in U.S. under control
The 94-car train headed near Minnesota lost air pressure, went into emergency braking mode before 14 cars derailed - an estimated 75,600 to 113,400 litres of oil spilled - 2013/03/25: OilChange: "An oil spill is 'the sound of silence'"
- 2013/03/25: CfC: Hello darkness -- the powerful anti-pipeline commercial
A rush of American triumphalism pervades the energy independence PR campaign. Think it will last?
- 2013/03/29: TMoS: Natural Gas Is the Answer, Until the Truth Leaks Out
- 2013/03/28: ICN: Cheap Natural Gas Pumping New Life Into U.S. Factories
- 2013/03/28: DeSmogBlog: More Financial Worries Coming to Light in Domestic Shale Drilling Industry
- 2013/03/28: Resilience: 'The Shale Gale Is a Retirement Party'
- 2013/03/27: Tyee: 'The Shale Gale Is a Retirement Party' -- So concludes an expert analyst of the natural gas boom. Brace for bust
- 2013/03/26: CSM: Do high natural gas prices mean the shale boom is ending?
- 2013/03/25: Resilience: Awash in Misinformation: America's Domestic Tight Oil 'Bump'
- 2013/03/24: Resilience: Will the final blow for America's shale gas 'revolution' be high prices?
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2013/03/29: BizInsider: Peak Oil Is Dead
- 2013/03/26: HuffPo: The Reward for Being Right About Peak Oil: Scorn Heaped With Derision
- 2013/03/26: Resilience: The peak oil crisis: The Beijing Syndrome
- 2013/03/20: SP: Oil majors are whistling past the graveyard
The world's "supermajor" independent oil companies -- BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, and Total -- project a rosy future, assuring us that oil will be abundant for decades to come. But in fact they're spending record amounts to keep oil flowing, while their production is actually falling. - 2013/03/29: LBL: Making Do with More: Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Engineer Plant Cell Walls to Boost Sugar Yields for Biofuels
- 2013/03/28: GreenGrok: Congress's Affair With Ethanol: Love Gone Wrong?
- 2013/03/28: MWEN: Study: U.S. biofuels policy pushes GHG emissions overseas
- 2013/03/26: BPA: Revisiting the Energy Return and Merits of Soybean Biodiesel
- 2013/03/26: TP:JR: Heating Homes With Switchgrass Pellets Could Save Northeasterners Billions And Cut Their Carbon Emissions
- 2013/03/26: AutoBG: Renewable Fuels Association president makes ethanol case to environmentalists
The answer my friend...:
- 2013/03/28: TP:JR: Wind Power In The UK And Ireland: Growing, Reliable And Making Donald Trump's Hair Stand Up
- 2013/03/27: TP:JR: We're Number One: U.S. Installed Most Wind Power In 2012, U.S. Company GE Wind Is #1 Supplier
- 2013/03/27: Grist: Cape Wind wins billions in backing, launches offshore wind in the U.S.
- 2013/03/26: MWEN: In Iowa, another view on how to solve wind's variability
A groundbreaking renewable energy study is on the agenda this week at an annual gathering of the wind power industry in Iowa. The analysis, which was published in the Journal of Power Sources, challenges the common notion that wind and solar power need to be paired with fossil fuel or nuclear generators, so utilities can meet electricity demand when it's not windy or sunny. - 2013/03/27: TheConversation: What's going on with Chinese solar?
- 2013/03/27: ABC(Au): Solar leasing project pushes Australia towards capacity
- 2013/03/27: TreeHugger: 300,000 mirrors: World's largest thermal solar [Ivanpah] plant (377MW) under construction in the Mojave
- 2013/03/26: SciAm:PI: Saving Lives with a Solar Suitcase
- 2013/03/26: CSM: Will nanowires provide a breakthrough for solar power efficiency?
- 2013/03/26: Grist: What does the collapse of solar-panel giant Suntech mean? Pricier panels, probably
- 2013/03/26: TreeHugger: Philadelphia's solar-powered trash cans: Great green idea or flawed design?
- 2013/03/26: AutoBG: Bosch turns off light on money-losing solar power unit
- 2013/03/25: NBF: Nanowires are improving quantum dot solar cell efficiency towards minimum commercial viability
- 2013/03/24: TP:JR: Rising Solar Power Production In U.S. Likely To Make It Second-Largest New Source In 2013
- 2013/03/25: TreeHugger: Solar cells 'hairy' with nanowires could push back efficiency limits
- 2013/03/24: Eureka: Nanowire solar cells raise efficiency limit
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2013/03/29: NBF: New Nuclear Reactor Completions Expected Worldwide from 2013 to 2017
- 2013/03/28: PSinclair: Intermittent Power from "Baseload" Nuclear Plant Raises Prices for Consumers
- 2013/03/25: GreenGrok: Gnawing Concerns About Nuclear Power Plant Safety and Other Musings
- 2013/03/25: IndiaTimes: China defends deal to build 1000 MW nuclear plant for Pakistan
Like a mirage, the dream of a Hydrogen Economy shimmers on the horizon:
- 2013/03/28: Eureka: Picking apart photosynthesis -- New insights from Caltech chemists could lead to better catalysts for water splitting
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2013/03/29: NBF: China Spending $269 billion on High Voltage Direct Current Grid Construction from 2011 to 2015 as part of a massive Smart Grid and Home Automation Plan
- 2013/03/29: NBF: European High Voltage Direct Current Supergrid Roadmap
- 2013/03/29: Grist: Distributed energy: Driving the ghosts out of the machine
- 2013/03/29: Grist: Country's biggest utility power provider gets into the distributed-energy game
- 2013/03/27: NBF: Nebel making DC Transformer which can enable a worldwide electrical grid and eliminate energy storage for solar and wind power
- 2013/03/26: Reuters: France's electric car push presents power grid challenge
France's power grid, already under strain at peak periods, could struggle to cope if growing numbers of electric car owners all recharge their batteries when they sit down for dinner, power sector executives say. - 2013/03/25: TP:JR: LED Light Bulbs Are Increasingly Cheaper, Greener And Controllable
- 2013/03/24: Grist: The worst way to measure energy efficiency
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2013/03/28: AutoBG: SAE wants Combo fast charging, Nissan remains committed to CHAdeMO
- 2013/03/27: TP:JR: For Powering Cars, Solar-Electric Is 'Orders Of Magnitude' More Efficient Than Biofuels
- 2013/03/27: TreeHugger: Wireless charging for e-cars and buses is arriving
- 2013/03/25: TreeHugger: Getting to the bottom of Ford's hybrid fuel economy controversy
As for Energy Storage:
- 2013/03/30: NBF: Solid State Batteries will be the successor to Lithium ion Batteries
- 2013/03/29: CBC: Cheaper green energy storage solution invented by Calgary profs
Chat over beer generates lower-cost way to make hydrogen from water - 2013/03/29: AutoBG: Phinergy aluminum air battery good for 1,000-mile range
- 2013/03/27: BBC: Bacteria power 'bio-battery' breakthrough
Bacteria could soon be acting as microscopic "bio-batteries" thanks to a joint UK-US research effort. - 2013/03/24: TP:JR: New Ultra-Thin Solar Cell Could Massively Boost Battery Life Of Personal Mobile Devices
- 2013/03/24: NBF: First Commercial Products for Telecomm towers for rechargeable metal-air batteries
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2013/03/25: CSM: Why Google is spending billions on renewable energy
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
- 2013/03/28: BBerg: Insurance Industry Weathers Historic 2012 Disaster Losses
Natural catastrophes and human-induced disasters caused $186 billion in economic losses in 2012 and $77 billion in insured losses, making it the third-costliest year on record for insurers, according to a March 27 report by the reinsurance firm Swiss Re. Nine of the 10 most expensive events, in terms of insured losses, occurred in the United States in 2012, with Hurricane Sandy ranking as the most expensive event, according to Natural Catastrophes and Man-Made Disasters in 2012: A Year of Extreme Weather Events in the U.S. - 2013/03/28: FDL: Natural Disasters Cost Insurers $77 Billion In 2012
Who's fielding theFAQs?
- 2013/03/26: TheConversation: Explainer: what is photovoltaic solar energy?
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
- 2013/03/29: TP:JR: March 29 News...
- 2013/03/28: TP:JR: March 28 News...
- 2013/03/27: TP:JR: March 27 News...
- 2013/03/26: TP:JR: March 26 News...
- 2013/03/25: TP:JR: March 25 News...
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2013/03/24: BPA: Agricultural News from this Past Week
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2013/03/27: GLaden: Climate Change Denialism
- 2013/03/28: HotWhopper: On Plain Denial: Watts Dismisses His Own Evidence That is Counter to His Viewpoint
- 2013/03/27: ERabett:BSD: Laughing at those who laugh at science
- 2013/03/30: HotWhopper: Willis' Motivated Rejection of Science
- 2013/03/26: P3: "It is not science if it is established by consensus"
- 2013/03/26: HotWhopper: Watt a whopper of religious fervour
- 2013/03/30: AutoBG: Utah Earth Day poster contest dares ask, "Where would you be without fossil fuels?"
- 2013/03/30: CChallenge: Anthony, Watts Up With Those WUWT HotWhoppers? An Index
- 2013/03/31: HotWhopper: More denier weirdness for light relief
- 2013/03/30: DeSmogBlog: Utah's Students Forced to Push Fossil Fuel Propaganda for Earth Day
- 2013/03/25: DeSmogBlog: Dirty Energy Lobby Looking To NRA For Guidance
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2013/03/28: CCentral: Two Key Climate Change Concepts Are 'Misunderstood' - irreversibility & warming already in the pipeline
- 2013/03/26: TP:JR: Today's Quote, Via Jonathan Swift: "It Is Useless To Attempt To Reason A Man Out Of A Thing He Was Never Reasoned Into"
- 2013/03/30: JQuiggin: Another encouraging graph
- 2013/03/29: QuarkSoup: As They Say, Nature Always Bats Last
- 2013/03/25: TP:JR: Why We Must Put Nature Back To Work, Part 1
- 2013/03/26: TP:JR: Why We Must Put Nature Back to Work, Part 2
- 2013/03/26: ERabett: Should Eli Believe His Lying Eyes or Makarieva
- 2013/03/26: al Jazeera: Carbon footprint of my global justice soul
Climate has changed us already - we are not the same people anymore, "we learn to enjoy spending time, not wasting it". - 2013/03/30: Stoat: Unlocking the secrets of tomorrow's weather?
- 2013/03/25: Guardian(UK): Earth Hour 2013 celebrations around the world - in [18] pictures
- 2013/03/25: Wunderground:RR: Setting Up the Discussion: What Can I Do? (1)
- 2013/03/24: P3: Quote of the Week
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- The History of Weather Control
- Wiki: Shah Deniz gas field
- Wiki: RNA interference
- CAEPLA: Canadian Association of Energy and Pipeline Landowner Associations
- Wiki: World Social Forum
- FSM: Forum Social Mondial Tunis 2013 - World Social Forum
- USDA: SNAP - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
- Wiki: Eostre
- Wiki: Endling
- CITES: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
- The Daily Climate
- TIRN: Turtle Island Restoration Network
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>
-hetP.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.
"I could sum it up as: we need to fish less and in less destructive measures, waste less, pollute less and protect more." -Callum Roberts
- Global Warming Links
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- Energy News
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- H.E. Taylor (homepage)
Last modified March 31, 2013
Here's a chuckle for ya:
Ecological collapse in North Korea?
The World Social Forum met this week in Tunis:
Apparently there was a Pacific Energy Summit in Auckland this week. No mention in North American media that I noticed:
All of a sudden temperature trends and climate sensitivity are all in vogue:
Subsidies, tax exemptions, loan guarantees & grants weave a difficult to penetrate web:
While in Antarctica:
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
Regarding the genetic modification of food:
This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:
Meanwhile on the GHG front:
As for the temperature record:
The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern:
More GW impacts are being seen:
Climate refugees are becoming an issue:
Changes in natural cycles are showing up:
Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:
Sea levels are rising:
What's new in restoration?
Regarding Mann:
And in miscellaneous international political jousting:
Climate Change is a threat multiplier exacerbating existing conflicts in food, energy, water, race, resources, religion, ideology ... etc.:
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
Statistics? You want to argue about statistics?
Meanwhile in Australia:
It's a long way to the September election:
While in the Indian subcontinent:
While in Africa:
In Canada, neocon PM Harper, aka The Blight, pushes petroleum while ignoring climate change:
The Harper gang find it easy to slip into "don't tell them what we are doing" mode:
The Liberal party leadership vote is scheduled for April 14th:
The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:
And the Kinder Morgan expansion:
In BC, the stage is set for the May 14th election. Now what will Clark and Dix do?
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
The NorthWest coal export debate remains heated:
Now that he doesn't need their vote any more, how will Obama treat liberals and their policy issues?
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
Biofuel bickering abounds:
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
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