By illconsidered on August 19, 2013.

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

Another Week of Climate Instability News

Information Overloadis Pattern Recognition

August 18, 2013

Chuckles, COP19+, Texas Water, Yasuni, Soot & Methane
Bottom Line, GFIs, Thermodynamics, Cook
Fukushima: Note, News, Policies, Related Papers
Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food: Crisis, Fisheries, Food & Revolution, GMOs, Production
Hurricanes, Monsoon, Notable Weather, Extreme Weather, New Weather
GHGs, CO2 Fertilization, Temperatures, Feedbacks, Paleoclimate
Solar, Oceans, Biosphere, Extinctions, Bees & CCD
Impacts, Forests, Climate Refugees, Disease
Wildfires, Corals, Glaciers, Sea Levels, GW Deluge, Floods & Droughts
Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, Science Orgs, Advocacy
International Politics: IPCC, Carbon Tax, South China Sea, Nile Water
Treaties, Law & Activism, Activism, Divestment, H2O Biz, Groundwater
National Politics: Britain, Europe, Australia, Election, MDBP, New Zealand
India, China, Asia, Africa, South America, Canada, ForestEthics, Lac-Mégantic
Nestle, West-East, NorGate, Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Ontario, North
America, BP Disaster, Keystone, Mayflower, Solar Panels, Unicorns
Fracking Gag, 2016, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Video, Courts, BP Trial
Energy, Transitions, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Pipelines, Oil Transportation, Independence, Peak Oil, Biofuel
Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Hydrogen, Grid, Cars, Gee Whiz, Energy Storage
Business, Insurance, FAQs, Other Lists, Carbon Lobby, Greenwashing, Misc., Useful Links
Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

2013/08/12: DailyKos: (cartoon - TomTom) Republicanado!

And for those who enjoy challenging Poe's Law:

2013/08/16: Wonkette: Fox News: These Polar Bears Aren't Starving Fast Enough! Starve, Polar Bears, Starve!

Looking ahead to COP19 and future international climate negotiations:
It will be instructive to see how Texas resolves this conflict over water:
- 2013/08/15: CDreams: Out of Our Fracking Minds
- 2013/08/15: Grist: Fracking company wants to build new pipeline -- for water
- 2013/08/14: TMoS: Climate Wars - Ranchers Versus Frackers in West Texas
- 2013/08/12: TP:JR: Fracking Vs. The Drought: They Call It Texas Tea, But You Can't Drink Oil
- 2013/08/13: TreeHugger: Texas town runs out of water after using it for fracking
- 2013/08/13: PeakEnergy: A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water
- 2013/08/11: Guardian(UK): A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water
  Fracking boom sucks away precious water from beneath the ground, leaving cattle dead, farms bone-dry and people thirsty
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has reneged on the Yasuni petroleum reserve plan:
- 2013/08/16: BBC: Ecuador approves Yasuni park oil drilling in Amazon rainforest
  Ecuador has abandoned a conservation plan that would have paid the country not to drill for oil in previously untouched parts of Yasuni National Park in the Amazon rainforest.
  President Rafael Correa said rich nations had failed to back the initiative, leaving Ecuador with no choice but go ahead with drilling.
  The park is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world.
- 2013/08/16: BBerg: Ecuador Plans to Tap Crude From Amazon Reserve as Economy Slows
  Ecuador, where the rights of nature are recognized in the constitution, plans to develop crude deposits in an Amazon area declared a biosphere reserve by the United Nations as existing fields age and economic growth slows.
  President Rafael Correa will ask the country's congress to allow drilling in the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini oil fields located in eastern Ecuador's Yasuni National Park, he said today in a speech broadcast live on public television station ECTV.
  The decision reverses a policy to preserve nature in an area eight times bigger than Los Angeles, estimated today by Correa to have 920 million barrels of crude, or about 20 percent of Ecuador's reserves. The proposal to develop the area comes as economic growth is forecast to slow a third year.
- 2013/08/16: Reuters: Ecuador to open Amazon's Yasuni basin to oil drilling
- 2013/08/16: Guardian(UK): Yasuni: Ecuador abandons plan to stave off Amazon drilling
- 2013/08/16: CBC: Ecuador approves oil drilling in Amazon rainforest park -- President abandons plan to conserve forest in return for cash
- 2013/08/16: Guardian(UK): Ecuador approves Yasuni national park oil drilling in Amazon rainforest
  Environmentalists devastated as president blames lack of foreign support for collapse of pioneering conservation plan
I'm guessing the CCAC is not happy to see this:
And on the Bottom Line:
- 2013/08/15: EconBrowser: Some Economic Implications of Global Climate Change
What are the global financial institutions up to?
- 2013/08/15: OilChange: [EBRD] European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Draft Energy Policy continues Support for Dirty Coal
- 2013/08/14: RTCC: European development bank's coal funding under fire
- 2013/08/12: NatJo: Why the World Bank Is Taking On Climate Change
  The organization believes that increased drought, extreme storms, and rising sea levels are significant threats to economies worldwide.
Delving into the laws of thermodynamics this week:
- 2013/08/15: ERabett: Criticize and Correct
John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:
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.]
And the IAEA is now saying 40 years too.
[Now some people are talking about a century or more. Sealing it in concrete for 500 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:
- 2013/08/17: EneNews: Editorial: West coast of N. America under threat from Fukushima spent fuel - A global crisis...
- 2013/08/17: JapanTimes: [Letter] Clean up Fukushima or else
- 2013/08/17: RT: Fukushima apocalypse: Years of 'duct tape fixes' could result in 'millions of deaths'
  Even the tiniest mistake during an operation to extract over 1,300 fuel rods at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan could lead to a series of cascading failures with an apocalyptic outcome, fallout researcher Christina Consolo told RT.
  Fukushima operator TEPCO wants to extract 400 tons worth of spent fuel rods stored in a pool at the plant's damaged Reactor No. 4. The removal would have to be done manually from the top store of the damaged building in the radiation-contaminated environment.
- 2013/08/17: RT: Japan looks to Nagasaki atom bomb maker [Hanford Engineer Works] for lessons on Fukushima cleanup
- 2013/08/17: Asahi: [Editorial] Clearer government role needed for Fukushima cleanup
- 2013/08/16: RT: Mission Impossible? Fukushima scientists brace for riskiest nuclear fuel clean-up yet
  Scientists at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant are preparing for their toughest clean-up operation yet - two and a half years after three of the plant's reactors suffered a meltdown in Japan's worst-ever nuclear power disaster.
  The operation, to remove 400 tons of highly irradiated spent fuel beneath the plant's damaged Reactor No. 4, could set off a catastrophe greater than any we have ever seen, independent experts warn.
- 2013/08/16: PeakEnergy: Japan considers mile-long ice wall to stop radiation leaks from Fukushima
- 2013/08/16: GLaden: Fukushima Update
- 2013/08/16: Asahi: Cesium levels in Fukushima water 8 times higher than after disaster
- 2013/08/16: EneNews: CNBC: "Cow terrorism" from government's push to restart reactors - Nuclear power is unwelcome, Japan public fearful and resentful (video)
- 2013/08/16: EneNews: Highest contamination levels yet in seawater off Fukushima plant -- 3,800 Bq/liter of tritium
- 2013/08/15: EneNews: Bloomberg: Tepco now in talks to cover Fukushima reactors with concrete for next 75 years - Officials reviewing plan in U.S.
- 2013/08/15: EneNews: Nuclear Experts: One century before Japan tries to deal with Fukushima's melted cores? - "More likely what's left of reactors will be left in situ for 100 years or more" (video)
- 2013/08/15: BBerg: Nagasaki Bomb Maker Offers Lessons for Fukushima Cleanup
- 2013/08/14: CDreams: Dangerous Operation at Fukushima's Reactor No. 4 Could Ignite "Atomic Chain Reaction"
- 2013/08/14: Reuters: Insight: After disaster, the deadliest part of Japan's nuclear clean-up
  The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is preparing to remove 400 tons of highly irradiated spent fuel from a damaged reactor building, a dangerous operation that has never been attempted before on this scale.
- 2013/08/14: EneNews: Tepco: "Significant density" of Alpha radiation leaking from Unit 3 at Fukushima - Steam seen at reactor building "likely to be leaked" from containment vessel
- 2013/08/14: BBerg: Japan Studies Ice Wall to Halt Radioactive Water Leaks
- 2013/08/14: EneNews: Reuters: Corrosion is weakening Unit No. 4 at Fukushima - Concern quake to 'topple' bulging structure...
- 2013/08/13: TheCanadian: Fukushima still leaking radioactive water into Pacific Ocean
- 2013/08/13: Atlantic: How to Build an Ice Wall Around a Leaking Nuclear Reactor
  Believe it or not, it's what Japan is planning to do to prevent further contamination at Fukushima. Can it really be done?
- 2013/08/13: DD: Workers reveal Fukushima plant spilling contaminated water into the sea since 2011 meltdowns...
- 2013/08/13: EneNews: MSN: Nuclear experts call for testing U.S. West Coast waters and Pacific seafood for Fukushima contamination...
- 2013/08/13: EneNews: Tokyo Professor on CBC: Latest Fukushima crisis is threatening public health - Gov't response "totally abysmal" (audio)
- 2013/08/12: EneNews: Radiation Expert: Enormous amount of contamination flowing from Fukushima will probably imperil entire Pacific Ocean...
- 2013/08/12: EneNews: AP: 'Time bomb' in leaking Fukushima trenches - If Tepco removes extremely contaminated water as planned, it will only make more flow in since reactor buildings connect to trenches
- 2013/08/12: CSM: Fukushima nuclear plant: 10 workers exposed to radiation
- 2013/08/12: EneNews: TEPCO: Trench connected to Unit No. 2 is what's contaminating groundwater at Fukushima - Has extremely high levels of over 3 billion Bq/liter of radioactive substances - Probably from damaged reactor core (video)
- 2013/08/12: ABC(Au): Nuclear watchdog describes Fukushima contaminated water leaks as a 'state of emergency'
- 2013/08/11: EneNews: Korea Times: Quarter-billion liters of Fukushima contaminated water flowed into Pacific - Japan cover-up could violate international law - Hid global issue of environmental concern?
- 2013/08/12: BBerg: Fukushima Workers Exposed to Radiation From Spray
- 2013/08/11: PSinclair: Fukushima Water Leak Out of Control
- 2013/08/12: ABC(Au): Fukushima plant spilling contaminated water into the sea 'for years'
Post Fukushima, nuclear policies are in flux around the world:
What do we have for Fukushima related papers this week?
The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:
That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:
As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:
- 2013/08/18: Guardian(UK): China's voyage of discovery to cross the less frozen north
  Global warming means that the Arctic's fabled Northern Sea Route could soon be ice-free in summer, slashing journey times for cargo ships sailing from the Far East to Europe. Which is why the Yong Sheng, a rust-streaked Chinese vessel, is on a truly historic journey
- 2013/08/15: WpgFP: Winter warfare centre in High Arctic quietly unveiled by Harper government
- 2013/08/11: CDreams: Chinese Ship's Historic Route Marks Sign of Warming Times
  A 19,000-tonne Chinese cargo ship has become the country's first to use the Northeast Passage to travel to Europe.
While in Antarctica:
- 2013/08/16: NSF: Antarctic ice core sheds new light on how the last ice age ended -- Changes in Earth's orbit appear to be key to Antarctic warming
- 2013/08/15: SciNews: Antarctic waters may shelter wrecks from shipworms
  Ocean currents and polar front form 'moat' that keeps destructive mollusks at bay
The food crisis is ongoing:
- 2013/08/17: WSWS: Food stamps to be cut for 1.8 million people in Pennsylvania
  1.8 million in people in Pennsylvania will have their food stamp benefits cut in November when cuts made by the Obama administration and Congress take effect. Another 112,215 families have been completely denied benefits since an asset test was implemented in May 2012.
  In 2012, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett instituted an asset test for people to receive food stamps. Under the plan a family is not allowed to have more than $5,500 in total assets in order to qualify.
- 2013/08/15: NatureN: Climate change threatens crunchy, tart apples
  Warmer temperatures mean varieties such as Fuji are softer and sweeter than 40 years ago.
- 2013/08/15: RTCC: Will climate change hit maize and wheat production?
The state of the world's fisheries is a concern:
- 2013/08/16: EUO: Faroe Islands take EU to UN tribunal [in relation to disputed Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries]
- 2013/08/15: TP:JR: Two Mexican Towns Try To Save Fishing -- By Banning Fishing
- 2013/08/15: EUO: Researchers find record large mackerel stocks
- 2013/08/14: ABC(Au): Fears for Pacific tuna stocks amid record 2012 catch
- 2013/08/12: NOAANews: Commerce Secretary Pritzker declares fisheries disaster for Florida oyster fishery
- 2013/08/12: ABC(Au): Huge Chinese subsidies shock Pacific tuna industry
  There are claims that multi-million dollar subsidies by the Chinese Government are behind a dramatic increase in the number Chinese tuna boats fishing in the Pacific.
  Numbers started to increase about six years ago and now hundreds of new boats are fishing in the southern albacore tuna fishery.
- 2013/08/11: CSM: Lobster shell disease moves toward Maine
Regarding the food factor in the ongoing revolutions:
- 2013/08/15: Grist: The people are hungry: The link between food and revolution
- 2011/08/11: arXiv: The Food Crises and Political Instability in North Africa and the Middle East by Marco Lagi et al.
Regarding the genetic modification of food:
And how are we going to feed 9 billion, 10 billion, 15 billion?
After hitting the Philippines, Typhoon Utor slammed China. TDs 12W (Trami) and 13W are unreported as of yet:
- 2013/08/18: Xinhuanet: Dozens dead as floods, typhoon [Utor] ravage China
- 2013/08/18: IndiaTimes: Death toll in China's floods rises to 43
- 2013/08/18: al Jazeera: Floods and typhoon kill dozens in China
  Typhoon Utor has triggered floods and landslides in China, while other parts of the country suffers from drought.
- 2013/08/15: al Jazeera: China braces for Typhoon Utor
  More than 158,000 people in southern coast relocated as authorities in Guangdong and Hainan prepare for its arrival.
- 2013/08/15: Xinhuanet: Guangdong battered as typhoon [Utor] makes landfall
- 2013/08/15: Xinhuanet: Typhoon Utor drowns south China, causing casualities
- 2013/08/15: IndiaTimes: Typhoon Utor hits China coast: One killed, five missing
- 2013/08/14: CSM: Typhoon Utor: Hong Kong hunkers down as deadly typhoon passes
- 2013/08/14: Xinhuanet: Red wave alert maintained as Typhoon Utor nears
- 2013/08/14: Xinhuanet: 158,000 evacuated as S China braces for Typhoon Utor
- 2013/08/14: PLNA: China on Alert for Typhoon Utor
- 2013/08/14: CBC: Typhoon lashes Hong Kong with wind, rain -- Chinese commercial hub shuts down as Typhoon Utor passes nearby
- 2013/08/14: al Jazeera: Typhoon Utor lashes Hong Kong
  Typhoon makes landfall in city with wind and rain, forcing stock market shutdown and cancellation of flights.
- 2013/08/14: Wunderground: Caribbean Disturbance 92L Organizing; Typhoon Utor Hits China
- 2013/08/13: ABC(Au): Soldiers join rescue effort after deadly Typhoon Utor slams Philippines
- 2013/08/13: Wunderground: Utor Pounds China; Japan Breaks All-Time Heat Record; Caribbean Disturbance
- 2013/08/13: NASA: NASA Identifies Heavy Rainfall in South China Sea's Typhoon Utor
- 2013/08/13: Xinhuanet: China continues alert on Typhoon Utor
- 2013/08/13: BBC: Typhoon Utor displaces thousands in the Philippines
- 2013/08/13: IOTD: Super Typhoon Utor [on Aug 12]
- 2013/08/12: CBC: Strong typhoon [Utor] batters northern Philippines -- Storm kills at least 1 and leaves 45 fishermen missing
- 2013/08/12: al Jazeera: Typhoon Utor batters northern Philippines
  At least one killed and 13 missing after powerful typhoon strikes Pacific nation, triggering landslides and floods.
- 2013/08/12: TP:JR: The Planet's Strongest Storm So Far This Year Just Tore Through The Philippines, And Isn't Done Yet
- 2013/08/12: ABC(Au): One dead, 23 missing as Typhoon Utor hits Philippines
  The strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year has flattened houses and triggered landslides in remote towns, killing at least one person and leaving 23 others missing.
  With wind gusts of 200 kilometres per hour, authorities said they feared many people may have died as Typhoon Utor swept across coastal and mountainous regions of the northern Philippines.
- 2013/08/12: Wunderground: Typhoon Utor Pounds Phiippines, Heads for China
- 2013/08/12: BBC: Fishermen missing as Typhoon Utor hits Philippines
- 2013/08/11: Wunderground: Category 4 Super Typhoon Utor Bearing Down on the Philippines
In the Central Pacific, a passel of TDs have spun up:
2013/08/18: MODIS: Two potential tropical storms southwest of Hawaii
2013/08/16: NASA: NASA Sees Tropical Storm Pewa Develop in Central Pacific

Ditto in the Eastern Pacific:
2013/08/12: NASA: NASA Saw Henriette Fading and Two Struggling Lows Behind

In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Erin has formed by Africa. A TD threatens in the Caribbean:
2013/08/17: Wunderground: Gulf of Mexico Disturbance 92L Less Organized; Erin No Threat to Land
2013/08/16: Wunderground: 92L Poised to Develop in Gulf of Mexico; Erin Struggling in Far Eastern Atlantic
2013/08/16: NASA: Erin Weakens to a Tropical Depression Over Eastern Atlantic
2013/08/15: Wunderground: Caribbean Disturbance 92L Moving Over the Yucatan; Erin Forms Off of Africa
2013/08/15: BBerg: Tropical Depression Five Passes South of Cape Verde Islands

While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
2013/08/15: CSM: Energy braces for Atlantic hurricane season

And on the Monsoon front:
- 2013/08/16: IndiaTimes: Pakistan monsoon flood death toll rises to 96
- 2013/08/14: MODIS: Deadly Monsoon Floods in Pakistan [on Aug 5]
This week in notable weather:
- 2013/08/17: ABC(Au): Emergency crews work to clean up debris after severe winds across Victoria
- 2013/08/12: ABC(Au): Strong winds cause havoc across Sydney and surrounds
This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:
Rossby Waves? Blocking Patterns? Arctic Oscillation?
What is the Arctic melt doing to our weather?
- 2013/08/14: RScribbler: Mangled Jet Stream to Collide with Tropical System over Southeastern US for Major Rain Event?
As for GHGs:
- 2013/08/17: SimpleC: Continuing the fight for CO2 monitoring
- 2013/08/14: DD: Greenhouse 100 Polluters Index: Top U.S. companies responsible for greenhouse emissions...
What's new in CO2 fertilization?
- 2013/08/16: ERW: How does carbon fertilization affect crop yield?
How is the temperature record?
Yes we have feedbacks:
- 2013/08/14: CCentral: Can Extreme Weather Make Climate Change Worse?
- 2013/08/15: Nature: (ab$) Climate extremes and the carbon cycle by Markus Reichstein et al.
- 2013/08/14: Eureka: Extreme weather, climate and the carbon cycle
- 2013/08/08: NSF: Seasonal carbon dioxide range expanding as more is added to Earth's atmosphere
  Northern Hemisphere land-based ecosystems "taking deeper breaths," scientists find
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2013/08/15: CSM: New Antarctic ice core reveals secrets of climate change
- 2013/08/15: SciAm:TZ: Extinction: Not the End of the World - at London's Natural History Museum
- 2013/08/15: TheConversation: Last Antarctic ice age melt began earlier than first thought
- 2013/08/14: CSM: Antarctica: How current ice melts follow past patterns
- 2013/08/14: TheConversation: Megafauna extinction affects ecosystems 12,000 years later
- 2013/08/12: RScribbler: A Deadly Climb From Glaciation to Hothouse - Why the Permian-Triassic Extinction is Pertinent to Human Warming
- 2013/08/12: BBC: Big animal extinction 'severed nutrient arteries'
  The demise of big animals in the Amazon region 12,000 years ago cut a key way that nutrients were distributed across the landscape, a study has suggested.
  Researchers say animals such as huge armadillo-like creatures would have distributed vital nutrients for plants via their dung and bodies.
  The effects, still visible today, raise questions about the impact of losing large modern species like elephants.
- 2013/08/01: NSF: Back to the future: Scientists look into Earth's "Deep Time" to predict future effects of climate change
Regarding the solar hypothesis:
- 2013/08/14: Guardian(UK): A grand solar minimum would barely make a dent in human-caused global warming
What's the State of the Oceans?:
And the Biosphere?
- 2013/08/12: Rice: Ecosystems change long before species are lost
  Rice U. researchers take detailed look at how biodiversity within species impacts communities
- 2013/08/12: ABC(Au): Megafauna dung key to soil health
- 2013/08/11: BBC: Late autumn 'to bring bumper fruit crop' for wildlife
  A late autumn is set to bring a bumper crop of fruits and berries for wildlife in the UK countryside, experts say.
And on the extinction watch:
- 2013/08/16: BBC: Illegal palm oil developments force monkeys to down tools
  Macaque monkeys that have developed the ability to use stone tools to open shellfish are in danger of losing the skill because of human development.
- 2013/08/15: TheConversation: Australian endangered species: Leatherback Turtle
- 2013/08/15: SciAm:EC: Rare Monkey Population up 50 Percent in China and Tibet - black snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti)
- 2013/08/14: ABC(Au): Vic govt declines to comment on possum extinction
- 2013/08/13: BBC: Endangered white rhino shot and killed in brazen raid by poachers in Nairobi national park...
- 2013/08/13: DD: Endangered chimps and forest elephants found in rainforest to be logged for palm oil...
- 2013/08/12: TreeHugger: Every 15 minutes, an elephant dies at the hands of poachers
- 2013/08/12: GreenGrok: Statistically Speaking: Elephants by the Numbers
The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern.
And then, there are the Neonicotinoids:
More GW impacts are being seen:
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2013/08/16: ABC(Au): Laser vision reveals Queensland forests in new detail
  International scientists have converged on a Brisbane forest to test the ability of new laser technology to measure vegetation and help calculate carbon absorption.
- 2013/08/15: TP:JR: So Far, The World's Tallest Trees Are Handling Climate Change OK -- But They Aren't Out Of The Woods Yet
- 2013/08/15: Eureka: Huge owls need huge trees
- 2013/08/13: BBC: Computer game added to armoury in ash dieback fight
  The public are being asked to help in the fight against ash dieback by playing a computer game that analyses genetic data on the disease.
  The Facebook game aims to use the power of social media to find a scientific solution to protecting ash trees from the Chalara fraxinea fungus.
  Many of the UK's 80m ash trees are threatened by ash dieback.
- 2013/08/12: TheConversation: How to get sustainable forestry right
Climate refugees are becoming an issue:
- 2013/08/15: Guardian(UK): Italy sees summer surge in migrant boat landings
Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:
- 2013/08/13: CCurrents: Irrigation In Arid Regions Can Increase Malaria Risk For A Decade
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2013/08/18: ABC(Au): Bushfires in Idaho, United States force residents to evacuate
  Authorities in the United States have ordered the forced evacuation of people from 2,250 homes in two towns in the state of Idaho, because of a fast moving bushfire.
  Blaine County Sheriff Gene Ramsey has told those affected to leave without delay.
  The fire has burned more than 37,000 of hectares of sagebrush, pine forests and canyons west of a highway that connects the towns of Hailey and Ketchum.
- 2013/08/17: al Jazeera: Report: Heatwave impacts to quadruple by 2040
  The coldest summer months by the end of the century will be hotter than the hottest experienced today in many regions.
- 2013/08/17: MODIS: Heat Intensifies Siberian Wildfires
- 2013/08/16: AlterNet: Extreme Heat Waves to Quadruple by 2040, According to New Study
- 2013/08/16: CCurrents: Heat Waves To Quadruple By 2040, Regardless Of Emissions Cuts
- 2013/08/16: NASA: Fires in Eastern Russia - Urals and Siberia
- 2013/08/16: NASA: Agricultural Fires in Mozambique and Malawi
- 2013/08/16: DD: Video: Namibians face starvation in worst drought in a generation - Elephants and other desperate wildlife gather around remaining puddles and faucets in human camps
- 2013/08/16: DD: Asia heatwaves strain power, health sectors...
- 2013/08/16: IOTD: Heat Wave in China [on Aug 5 - 12]
- 2013/08/15: CDreams: Hot Century Ahead: Study Finds Onslaught of Heat Waves Now Inevitable
- 2013/08/15: Eureka: Trio of fires in Northern California
- 2013/08/15: MODIS: Oregon Burning [on Aug 5]
- 2013/08/15: ABC(Au): August winds keep fire-fighters busy in NSW south east
- 2013/08/14: RScribbler: A Song of Flood and Fire: One Million Square Kilometers of Burning Siberia Doused by Immense Deluge
- 2013/08/14: CCP: China and Japan suffer unprecedented heat waves
- 2013/08/14: TMoS: Another "New Normal" - Western Wildfires
- 2013/08/14: UKISS: and more records go...Northeast Asia suffers under severe heat wave
- 2013/08/14: IOTD: Lightning Fires in Central Idaho [on Aug 10]
- 2013/08/13: CDreams: As Heatwave Grips Northeast Asia, 'A Major Catastrophe' Underway
- 2013/08/13: CBC: Record heat wave bakes Canada's North
  Temperatures 10 degrees above normal across Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories
- 2013/08/13: CNN: Northeast Asia suffers under severe heat wave
  The high temperature in a Japanese city sets a new national record - South Korea orders government offices to turn off air-conditioning -
  The heat is putting extra strain on the country's struggling power grid - Scorching temperatures continue to afflict Shanghai after a brutal July
- 2013/08/13: RScribbler: China Falls Under Suspicion of Covering Up Deaths as Ocean Heat Dome Expands to Blanket Korea and Japan
- 2013/08/13: P3: China Heat Wave Attains Historic Proportions
- 2013/08/13: NASA: Wildfires in Central Canada
- 2013/08/12: NASA: Gold Pan Complex Fire [Idaho]
- 2013/08/12: NASA: Two Wildfires in Idaho
- 2013/08/12: ArcticNews: More on Wildfires
- 2013/08/12: Wunderground:WH: Japan Breaks National Heat Record. Chinese Heat Wave Continues
- 2013/08/13: BBerg: Dozens Die in North Asia Heat Wave as Power Supply Strained
- 2013/08/12: ABC(Au): Japan heatwave sees temperature hit record 41 degrees
- 2013/08/12: Xinhuanet: Heatwave continues in S China, rainstorms to sweep NE
- 2013/08/11: CBC: Japan heat wave kills at least 4
Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:
- 2013/08/13: CoralCOE: Baby corals pass the acid test
Glaciers are melting:
Sea levels are rising:
- 2013/08/16: ABC(Au): Fiji villages face relocation as sea levels rise
  People living in 34 coastal villages in Fiji face upheaval in the next few years as they relocate their homes because of rising sea levels.
- 2013/08/15: RealClimate: The inevitability of sea level rise
- 2013/08/13: TCoE: Holding back the ocean
- 2013/08/13: UCSUSA: New Report Highlights Increasing Risks to Coastal Homes from Sea Level Rise And Storms
- 2013/08/12: NYT: Timing a Rise in Sea Level
- 2013/08/12: CCP: Justin Gillis, NYT: Timing a Rise in Sea Level
- 2013/08/12: TheConversation: The inevitability of sea level rise
These extreme rainfall events are becoming all too frequent:
- 2013/08/14: P3: Heavy Rain Sets New Seasonal Record in Philadelphia
- 2013/08/13: CapClimate: Super Summer Soaker Phloods Philadelphia Rainfall Record -- Second Extreme in 3 Years
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2013/08/18: IOTD: Unusual Rains from Oklahoma to Tennesse
- 2013/08/17: CNN: Perilous floods prompt tens of thousands to scramble in Russia's Far East
  3 regions in Russia's Far East suffer catastrophic flooding - A government ministry says at least 18,000 are affected - Authorities set up 166 shelters, ship in emergency aid, state news reports
- 2013/08/17: IndiaTimes: Russia floods could see up to 100,000 evacuated: Minister
  Moscow: More than 17,000 people have been evacuated in Russia's flood-hit Far East, a minister said on Saturday, warning this figure could reach 100,000 as floodwaters wreak havoc across the region.
  The deluge has been declared a natural disaster in the worst-affected regions of Amur and Khabarovsk, where Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the army to participate in rescue operations.
  Minister of regional development Viktor Ishayev said more than 17,000 people had been evacuated and "in the worst-case scenario up to 100,000 people could be evacuated."
- 2013/08/17: BBC: Yemen wedding party swept away in floods
  At least 27 members of a Yemeni wedding party have died after the vehicles they were travelling in were swept away by heavy floods, local officials say.
- 2013/08/17: ABC(Au): Floods sweep away wedding party in Yemen; 27 dead and 41 missing
- 2013/08/17: Xinhuanet: Forces sent for flood relief in NE China
- 2013/08/17: Xinhuanet: Floods kill 25 in [Jilin Provinc] NE China
- 2013/08/16: MODIS: Floods in Myanmar
- 2013/08/15: Grist: Australian floods lowered worldwide sea levels
- 2013/08/15: Xinhuanet: Drought affects 6.38 mln hectares of farmland
- 2013/08/12: BBC: In pictures: Namibia's worst drought for 30 years
- 2013/08/12: TP:JR: 'The Era Of The Lawn In The West Is Over' As Drought-Weary Cities Urge Residents To Save Water
- 2013/08/12: UN: Sudan: UN and partners coordinate aid for 150,000 people affected by flooding
- 2013/08/12: UN: UNICEF steps up support as Namibia grapples with worst drought in decades
- 2013/08/11: RT: Gone with the water: Floods in Russia's east cause over $30 mn in damages
  Devastating floods that hit Russia's Far East as a result of heavy rains have caused at least one billion rubles (over US$32 million) in damages. Meanwhile, the water keeps rising in several regions.
- 2013/08/11: al Jazeera: Uganda town submerged by floodwater
  Thousands of people are displaced and five have been killed in the northern town of Elegu.
- 2013/08/11: CSM: Missouri, Kansas flooding: three fatalities, one missing
- 2013/08/11: Xinhuanet: Droughts affect 1.17 mln central Chinese
First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
Second, put a price on carbon
Third, begin to reduce the human population
And elsewhere on the mitigation front:
Consider transportation & GHG production:
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2013/08/16: TreeHugger: Passive House movement gets noticed by the New York Times
As for carbon sequestration:
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2013/08/16: GEP: GeoMIP Publishes First Results
- 2013/08/16: MIT: Future of solar geoengineering far from settled
  MIT event brings together geoengineering experts to debate the use of solar radiation management for preventing climate change.
- 2013/08/15: RtS: Antacid for our Oceans
  An electrolysis method that removes CO2 from seawater could be affordably scaled up for commercial carbon sequestration.
- 2013/08/14: CBrief: We need a global geoengineering watchdog, researchers say
- 2013/08/13: GOC: Geoengineering and the Humanitarian Challenge: What Role for the Most Vulnerable? (Opinion Article)
- 2013/08/13: USA Today: Dangers of trying to set Earth's thermostat...
- 2013/08/12: RTCC: Geoengineering 'parasols' could protect world's coral reefs
Meanwhile in the journals:
And other significant documents:
- 2013/08/13: UCSUSA: [link to 2.6 meg pdf] Overwhelming Risk: Rethinking Flood Insurance in a World of Rising Seas
  Our coasts face growing risks from sea level rise. Today's flood insurance system encourages development that increases these risks -- and taxpayers nationwide pay the price.
- 2013/08/12: DOE: [link to 724k pdf] Economic Benefits of Increasing Electric Grid Resilience to Weather Outages
- 2013/07/12: DOE: [link to 4.3 meg pdf] U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather
As for miscellaneous science:
In the science organizations:
- 2013/08/14: NatureN: Russia pins hopes on science city -- But sceptics question prospects for Skolkovo commercial park
- 2013/08/14: ABC(Au): Report finds no widespread bullying issue at CSIRO despite more than 100 allegations
Regarding Advocacy:
The Fifth IPCC report is coming up:
The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:
- 2013/08/14: GreenGrok: On Carbon Taxes and Competition
On the international political front, South [& East] China Sea tension persists:
- 2013/08/18: IndiaTimes: Japanese activists sail near disputed islands
The Egypt vs Ethiopia tussle over Nile water just got more complicated:
These 'free trade' treaties feature fundamentally anti-democratic dispute resolution mechanisms:
- 2013/08/16: NakedCapitalism: How the Pending Trans-Pacific Partnership and EU-US Trade Deals Will Gut National Regulations, Hurt Budgets, and Undermine Sovereignity
- 2013/08/14: WCEL: Don't let Canada become a NAFTA Pollution Haven
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
What are the activists up to?
- 2013/08/16: RTCC: Giant polar bear heads to London for Arctic parade
The move to divest from fossil fuel investments is growing slowly:
- 2013/08/14: TP:JR: Students Fight To Kick Carbon Off Campuses
- 2013/08/12: Resilience: [McKibben interview] 'Breaking the power of the fossil fuel industry is going to be the real key'
Regarding Water Politics and Business; Seealso, another and yet another:
- 2013/08/17: ScienceInsider: Warning Sign on the Colorado River
  In an ominous precedent, dam operators on the Colorado River will cut the amount of water released over next year from Lake Powell, a massive reservoir in the Western United States. The river flows through the Grand Canyon, eventually supplying millions of homes in Las Vegas and large farms in Arizona and California.
  The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced today it will reduce the flow out of Glen Canyon Dam by 9% starting in October. Homeowners and farmers will still get the same amount as they do now, but the decision highlights the likelihood of future shortages.
- 2013/08/16: CSM: Colorado River: Is historic cut in water release the new normal?
  Fourteen years of drought in the West and a revised rule book on allocating water along the Colorado River have prompted the US Bureau of Reclamation to make the deepest cut in water released from Lake Powell in the reservoir's 46-year history.
  Lake Powell is second-largest engineered reservoir in the United States by capacity, bested only by Lake Mead, more than 200 miles downstream.
  The bureau formally announced the cut Friday. The amount of water that the bureau will release from the lake starting Oct. 1 will be some 10 percent less than the amount released in the prior 12 months - some 7.48 million acre-feet of water during the 2014 water year, compared with 8.23 million acre-feet during the current water year, which ends Sept. 30.
- 2013/08/16: JFleck: The case for the Lake Powell announcement being no big deal
- 2013/08/16: JFleck: Stuff I wrote elsewhere: Shortage on the Colorado
- 2013/08/14: PostMedia: Nestle bottles millions of litres of Canadian water -- and pays nothing
  Billion-dollar company extracting B.C.'s drinking water for free, then selling it back to Canadians
- 2013/08/14: JFleck: Shortage on the Colorado River
- 2013/08/13: P3: The Colorado System Runs Dry
- 2013/08/12: TP:JR: How Two Reservoirs Have Become Billboards For What Climate Change Is Doing To The American West
- 2013/08/12: TreeHugger: Breakthrough water tech uses electrical pulses to clean and sanitize water
And on the groundwater front:
- 2013/08/14: ERW: Transboundary aquifers feel the strain
While in the UK:
- 2013/08/17: BBC: Balcombe oil drilling: Anti-fracking march planned
  Anti-fracking protesters are to march on a site in West Sussex where test drilling for oil is taking place.
- 2013/08/16: BBC: Fracking: RSPB objects to Cuadrilla plans for two sites
- 2013/08/16: BBerg: Cuadrilla Halts Well in Southern England on Anti-Shale Protests
- 2013/08/16: RTCC: Biofuels could increase UK motor costs by £224 million per year
- 2013/08/16: Guardian(UK): Fracking protesters gather for six-day camp as Balcombe drilling suspended
  Cuadrilla scales back operation on advice of police, with up to 1,000 more campaigners expected in West Sussex
- 2013/08/15: Guardian(UK): Businesses urged to brace for extreme heatwaves in UK
- 2013/08/15: BBC: Fracking firm scaling back operation at Balcombe
  Energy firm Cuadrilla has said it is scaling back work at an exploration site in West Sussex on police advice.
- 2013/08/15: Monbiot: Return of the Native -- Why are almost all the trees that councils plant exotic species?
- 2013/08/14: Guardian(UK): Fracking protesters in court over [Balcombe] disruption - unconditional bail until pre-trial review
- 2013/08/14: RTCC: Cuadrilla "unlikely" to produce oil at Balcombe fracking site
- 2013/08/13: NakedCapitalism: Ilargi: London Is Fracking, And I Live By The River
- 2013/08/13: RTCC: Cameron's fracking push ignores UK's binding climate targets
  Prime Minister's support for fracking does not explain how it can be reconciled with UK decarbonisation targets
- 2013/08/12: BBC: Fracking should get public support, says David Cameron
And in Europe:
- 2013/08/16: EUO: New state aid rules for nuclear projects disputed
- 2013/08/16: EUO: Faroe Islands take EU to UN tribunal [in relation to disputed Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries]
- 2013/08/16: PSinclair: Amory Lovins on The Big Lies about Germany's Transition
- 2013/08/14: BBC: RWE to close or idle power plants
  German power giant RWE says it will mothball or shutdown some of its gas and coal-fired power stations because of an increase in renewable energy.
  The company said a boom in solar energy meant many of its power stations were no longer profitable.
  A total of 3,100 megawatts of generating capacity will be taken off line, representing about 6% of RWE's total capacity.
- 2013/08/13: TreeHugger: Honeywell defends R1234yf refrigerant against Daimler
- 2013/08/12: AutoBG: Europe ready to sunset support for CHAdeMO DC fast chargers in 2018
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2013/08/17: ABC(Au): Coal industry lobby rejects coal train cover up recommendation
- 2013/08/16: PeakEnergy: 100% of new Australian power plants are wind or solar
- 2013/08/16: ABC(Au): Federal senate report calls for tougher restrictions on the NSW coal industry
  A Federal Senate committee's released a report calling for much tougher restrictions on the coal industry to reduce air pollution.
  The committee, chaired by the Greens, calls for all coal wagon fleets to be covered and health impact assessments compiled for all new developments.
- 2013/08/15: ABC(Au): August winds keep fire-fighters busy in NSW south east
- 2013/08/14: TheConversation: Government department commits to science-based policy
- 2013/08/14: ABC(Au): Farmers, environmentalists protest against coal expansion in NSW
- 2013/08/14: ABC(Au): CSIRO to release bullying review findings
- 2013/08/13: TP:JR: Australian State Gives Energy Companies Easy Access To Resources By Gutting Social and Environmental Approval Processes
- 2013/08/12: ABC(Au): MP fears carbon plan a threat to landowners' property rights
  The Member for Murray-Wellington, Murray Cowper, says he is fighting for property rights of landowners while opposing a Western Australian Government plan to reduce carbon emissions.
- 2013/08/12: ABC(Au): WA Government backflips on solar subsidy cuts
  People power has prevailed in Western Australia, with the State Government backflipping on a decision to slash the solar panel subsidy.
  In last week's budget, the WA Treasurer Troy Buswell, said the rooftop solar subsidy would be halved. That caused tension within the ruling Liberal Party and some MPs publicly labelled the move unethical and atrocious.
  But that decision has now been abandoned.
Just three short hectic weeks to the September 7th election:
- 2013/08/18: BBerg: Rudd Faces Election Defeat as Polls Show Marginal Seat Losses
- 2013/08/16: Guardian(UK): Australia's One Nation under climate science denial
  Fringe and extremist political groups in Australia are pushing climate science denial soundbites
- 2013/08/16: WtD: One Nations conspiracy world view (and more thread)
- 2013/08/16: ABC(Au): Greens ahead of Labor, Liberals on ACT ballot paper
- 2013/08/16: ABC(Au): Mixed response to northern development plans
- 2013/08/16: ABC(Au): Labor announces floating research centre for oil and gas
- 2013/08/16: TheConversation: Dam it all? River futures in northern Australia
- 2013/08/16: TheConversation: Coalition's carbon budget shortfall will be $4 billion, unless ...
- 2013/08/15: ABC(Au):TDU: Climate policies all at sea
  Both major parties have work to do before their policies effectively address climate change and clean energy development. But so far the Government is ahead and new research suggests Coalition policy faces a $4 billion black hole, argues John Connor.
- 2013/08/15: Guardian(UK): Labor down in NSW central coast seats, Newspoll shows
- 2013/08/15: Guardian(UK): Western Sydney poll shows huge swing towards Coalition
- 2013/08/15: ABC(Au): Greg Hunt rejects 'silly' Climate Institute report on direct action policy
  A Climate Institute report criticising the Coalition's plan to cut carbon emissions has been rejected in total by Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt as "one of the silliest reports" he has ever seen.
- 2013/08/15: ABC(Au): Election 2013: Peter Slipper to seek re-election as leaders unveil economic plans for NT, Tasmania
- 2013/08/15: Guardian(UK): What's so wrong with coalition governments?
- 2013/08/15: Xinhuanet: News Analysis: Australian Greens faces uphill fight in upcoming election
- 2013/08/15: TheConversation: Comparing the parties' climate change and renewables policies
- 2013/08/15: RTCC: Tony Abbott's climate policy likely to blow Oz emission targets
- 2013/08/14: BBC: Australia election: Tony Abbott 'sex appeal' comments under fire
- 2013/08/14: TheConversation: Election 2013 Issues: The ground beneath our feet
- 2013/08/14: ABC(Au): Tony Abbott makes 'captain's call' to preference Labor over Greens; move will put pressure on Adam Bandt
- 2013/08/14: Guardian(UK): Sexygate: how Tony Abbott should have complimented Fiona Scott
- 2013/08/14: Guardian(UK): Tony Abbott's climate plan has $4bn funding gap, new modelling shows
  Devastating analysis shows Coalition will have to stump up extra cash - or break pledge to cut emissions by 5% by 2020
- 2013/08/13: TheConversation: We need a smarter debate on developing northern Australia
- 2013/08/13: TheConversation: Putting a foot in it: an election that ignores ecology
- 2013/08/12: CNN: Australia's Tony Abbott makes 'suppository of all wisdom' gaffe
  "No one ... is the suppository of all wisdom," Tony Abbott says at an event - "There was an audible gasp," a reporter at the event says -
  The hashtag #suppository starts trending on Twitter in Australia - Abbott is campaigning for national elections next month
- 2013/08/12: UKISS: A vote for the Coalition is immoral
- 2013/08/12: RTCC: Tony Abbott accused of 'wilful blindness' on climate in first debate
  John Connor from Australia's Climate Institute says opposition's climate denial is a matter for concern
- 2013/08/12: WSWS: Australian election "debate": A stage-managed farce
- 2013/08/12: ABC(Au): Federal Election: Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott make their case in the first leaders' debate
- 2013/08/12: Guardian(UK): Election debate: blather, evasion, and a pathetic lack of answers
After years of wrangling, the Murray Darling Basin Plan is in place, but the water management fights are far from finished:
- 2013/08/16: ABC(Au): Support aired for Great Artesian Basin bores scheme
- 2013/08/15: ABC(Au): MDBA says residents should prepare for flooding
  The Murray Darling Basin Authority says flood releases from Hume and Dartmouth dams are looking more likely.
  Both storages are almost full, and with more rain expected this week and into the weekend the authority has told people in flood prone areas such as along the Murray river, downstream of Lake Hume, to prepare for possible flooding.
- 2013/08/15: ABC(Au): Graziers welcome drought assistance savings
- 2013/08/15: ABC(Au): Reduced water usage doesn't mean cheaper bills [in WA]
- 2013/08/15: ABC(Au): Downpour leaves farmland 'sea of water' - in Port MacDonnell
- 2013/08/14: ABC(Au): 'High chance' of dam flood releases
  The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) says flood releases from Hume and Dartmouth dams are looking more likely.
  Both storages are almost full and with more rain expected this week and into the weekend the authority has told people in flood-prone areas to prepare for possible flooding.
- 2013/08/14: ABC(Au): Au$100 million for Victorian irrigators
  Victorian irrigators have been handed Au$100 million to upgrade their irrigation equipment on farm.
  Under a deal announced today by the Commonwealth and Victorian water Ministers, irrigators can get upgrades on their farm paid for in return for 55 per cent of any water saved.
  State water Minister Peter Walsh says the deal means there will be no more Commonwealth water buyback in his part of the Murray-Darling Basin.
And in New Zealand:
While in the Indian subcontinent:
And in China:
- 2013/08/17: Xinhuanet: China plans cooperative, coordinated pollution control
  China is planning a centrally-administered effort to control air pollution by documenting goals and responsibilities of provincial governments, and evaluating their progress.
- 2013/08/16: Guardian(UK): China's one-child policy's human cost fuels calls for reform
- 2013/08/16: NBF: China has started buying high speed rail equipment again and is taking $8.2 billion in bids
- 2013/08/15: Xinhuanet: Family policy deserves a rethink
- 2013/08/13: TheCanadian: The Economist: China's going green...but is it fast enough?
- 2013/08/13: RTCC: China to 'urgently' invest in green technologies
- 2013/08/13: Xinhuanet: Greener path ahead
  The pledge to accelerate investment in technology to save energy and tackle pollution symbolizes a fundamental change toward more sustainable development, a change that is desperately needed in the world's second-largest economy.
  The State Council said on Sunday that environmental protection has been elevated to a "pillar industry" and it will receive government support in the form of tax breaks. According to a three-year plan, the environmental protection industry is to grow by 15 percent a year and will generate 4.5 trillion yuan (735 billion U.S. dollars) by 2015.
- 2013/08/13: ABC(Au): China to invest more in clean technologies
- 2013/08/12: Xinhuanet: New green policy gives industries a big boost
And elsewhere in Asia:
- 2013/08/16: ABC(Au): Action plan for climate change in the Pacific
  Consultants looking at the issue of climate change in the Pacific have drawn-up an action plan for Nauru to try to help it access funding.
  The study has been circulated to other Pacific governments so they too can tap into the billions of dollars promised by the international community to address the impacts of climate change.
  The Nauru case study says that funding to help developing countries tackle climate change is going to increase dramatically in the coming year.
- 2013/08/16: EurActiv: Turkmenistan to build Caspian energy port
  Energy-rich Turkmenistan yesterday (15 August) launched a $2 billion project to build a new port on the Caspian Sea designed to boost exports.
  Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdog(an took part in a ground-breaking ceremony in the western town of Turkmenbashi where the new port will be built by Turkish construction firm Gap Insaat.
  An 800-km pipeline is already being built from the country's giant Galkynysh gas field, the world's second-largest natural gas deposit, to Turkmenbashi to lessen dependence on exports to Russia.
- 2013/08/15: CleanTechnica: Mauritius Signs Deals Worth $65 Million To Add Renewable Energy Capacity
- 2013/08/13: ABC(Au): Fiji community relocation guidelines to spotlight climate impacts
  Fiji's Climate Change Unit hopes to finalise its guidelines on relocating local communities under threat from the impacts of climate change.
  The relocation guideline is being featured at the country's national climate change summit this week in Nadi.
  The Director of the unit, Esala Nayasi, told Radio Australia the manual will lead to better coordination among government and non-government agencies in addressing climate change.
While in Africa:
- 2013/08/16: DD: Military crackdown worsens pollution in Nigeria oil region...
- 2013/08/16: EurActiv: Chinese company investigated for Chad environmental disaster
  Chad has ordered an environmental audit of all crude oil explorations in the country after suspending operations at a China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) unit for violating environmental standards, its oil minister said yesterday (15 August).
- 2013/08/14: RTCC: Great Rift Valley summit set to unlock clean energy investment
  Experts estimate Great Rift Valley could generate 15,000MW from geothermal sources alone
  The rise in geothermal energy in Africa's Great Rift Valley will be discussed by government ministers and business leaders at a conference to address the energy crisis in the region.
- 2013/08/14: BBC: Chad suspends China firm CNPC over oil spill
  Chad has suspended all operations of a Chinese state-run oil firm for causing environmental damage, Chad's oil minister has told the BBC.
  Djerassem Le Bemadjiel said the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) was to blame for an oil spill in several sites near a forest.
  He said the situation was "intolerable" but did not make it clear how long the suspension would last. The company also runs an oil refinery in the capital, N'Djamena.
And South America:
- 2013/08/16: CSM: Mexico aims to open oil industry to private investment
- 2013/08/15: BBC: Paraguay's President Horacio Cartes sworn in
  Multi-millionaire businessman Horacio Cartes has been sworn in as the president of Paraguay in a ceremony in the capital, Asuncion.
  In his inaugural speech, Mr Cartes, of the centre-right Colorado Party, promised to wage war on poverty.
- 2013/08/15: BBC: Brazil Congress backs oil royalties bill
  Brazil's Congress has approved a bill that designates all royalties from newly discovered oil fields to education and healthcare.
- 2013/08/15: WSWS: Mexican government introduces bill to open up oil industry to foreign companies
- 2013/08/13: UDW: A Deal with the Devil? Argentina Reaches a Fracking Agreement with Chevron
In Canada, neocon PM Harper, aka The Blight, pushes petroleum while ignoring the climate and ecology:
- 2013/08/16: CBC: PM Harper to visit North next week
- 2013/08/14: EmbassyMag: Putting 'responsibility' back into corporate social responsibility
  A recent court decision opens the door to foreign litigants being able to sue a Canadian company in a Canadian court for harm that took place in a foreign country.
- 2013/08/14: TheCanadian: Canada's Green Economy needs public investment
ForestEthics is suing the Harper gang:
The Lac-Mégantic tragedy slowly plays out:
- 2013/08/17: CTV: Transportation agency reverses decision, will let MMA railway operate
  The railway at the centre of last month's Lac-Megantic train crash will be allowed to continue operations into the fall.
  The Canadian Transportation Agency announced the decision late Friday, reversing a move made earlier in the week.
  The arm's length federal regulator had suspended Montreal, Maine & Atlantic's certificate of fitness after ruling it didn't have sufficient third-party liability insurance.
  That decision was overturned after the agency determined that the railway had sufficient coverage to operate in the short-term.
  The railway's licence is now valid until Oct. 1.
- 2013/08/17: CBC: MM&A railway may continue to run in Canada until October
- 2013/08/17: CBC: Lawyers for Lac-Mégantic victims pursue CP Rail
- 2013/08/15: CBC: CP Railway refuses to pay for Lac-Mégantic cleanup -- Railway rejects legal demand from province to cover costs
- 2013/08/15: BBerg: CP Rail Says It Will Fight Inclusion in Quebec Cleanup
- 2013/08/14: Guardian(UK): Canada train crash company shut down
  Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway loses licence after oil tanker disaster that killed 47 in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec
- 2013/08/14: CDreams: Revealed: Carcinogens in Lac-Mégantic Waters 400,000 Times Govt Limit
  Groups slam Canadian government for slow response, downplaying environmental impact
- 2013/08/14: CBC: Quebec seeks Lac-Mégantic cleanup cash from CP Railway
- 2013/08/14: CBC: Lac-Mégantic water quality returning to normal, province says
- 2013/08/13: CSM: US-based rail company will lose license after Quebec explosion
- 2013/08/13: PostMedia: NDP Leader Tom Mulcair draws link between Lac-Megantic disaster and government deregulation
- 2013/08/13: CBC: Pollution in Lac-Mégantic at high levels, study says -- Potential carcinogen found at 394,444 times above normal limit
- 2013/08/13: CBC: Lac-Mégantic disaster railway can no longer operate in Canada -- Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway granted bankruptcy protection last week
- 2013/08/13: BBC: Lac-Megantic train blast: Canada revokes rail firm licence
- 2013/08/12: WSWS: Railroad files for bankruptcy after Quebec oil train disaster
Oh look what Nestle is doing:
- 2013/08/16: CDreams: In the 'Wild West' of Water, Nestlé Gets Free Pass to Bottle the Commons
- 2013/08/15: CBC: Nestlé's Guelph-area water permit to get environment review
  Hearings won't prevent five-year permit but will look into need for drought clauses
- 2013/08/14: PostMedia: Nestle bottles millions of litres of Canadian water -- and pays nothing
  Billion-dollar company extracting B.C.'s drinking water for free, then selling it back to Canadians
The West-East pipeline is suddenly a focus of much dispute:
- 2013/08/15: CBC: [Ontario Premier Kathleen] Wynne says she'll address concerns before pipeline reversal
  Pipeline subject of protests this week
- 2013/08/15: CBC: First Nations chiefs worried about west-east pipeline terminal
  Express 'serious concerns' about possible environmental impact of marine terminal in Saint John
- 2013/08/15: BCLSB: The Line 9 Reversal
- 2013/08/14: CBC: Enbridge protesters disrupt Hamilton court, multiple scuffles as police move in
  The first court appearance of the Enbridge protesters was abruptly halted when scuffles broke out between police and the supporters of the protesters.
  The hearing was for 13 people charged after an occupation of the company's Westover pumping station in late June.
- 2013/08/14: CBC: Enbridge protesters shut down Hamilton court hearing, several detained
- 2013/08/14: BFCB: My take on Line 9
The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:
- 2013/08/10: G&M: How Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline lost its way
The ISA/PRV/IHN/Alpha virus in Canadian waters is potentially disastrous:
- 2013/08/14: TheCanadian: BC Herring being killed by mystery disease
- 2013/08/13: G&M: Disease killing Pacific herring threatens salmon, scientist warns
  Independent fisheries scientist Alexandra Morton is raising concerns about a disease she says is spreading through Pacific herring causing fish to hemorrhage.
  Ms. Morton has called on the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to investigate, saying it could cause large-scale herring kills and infect wild salmon, which feed heavily on herring.
- 2013/08/13: AlexandraMorton: Dear BC Minister of Agriculture
- 2013/08/11: AlexandraMorton: Bleeding Herring
Now that Christy Clark has a mandate, what will she do?
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
Also in Alberta:
- 2013/08/16: CBC: Alberta flood relief concert raises $1.5M
- 2013/08/15: CBC: Nickelback, Jann Arden headline Alberta flood relief concert
In Ontario, Wynne is struggling to establish herself. Energy still looms large:
- 2013/08/15: CBC: Nestlé's Guelph-area water permit to get environment review
  Hearings won't prevent five-year permit but will look into need for drought clauses
- 2013/08/15: WpgFP: Wynne promises to address environmental concerns before reverse flow of pipeline
- 2013/08/14: CBC: Toronto's July storm cost insurers $850M
In the North:
- 2013/08/14: TheCanadian: Water concerns spur Yukon First Nation's opposition to fracking
- 2013/08/15: WpgFP: Winter warfare centre in High Arctic quietly unveiled by Harper government
And on the American political front:
- 2013/08/15: Slate: This Amazing Map Shows Every Person in America
  Segregation, diversity, and clustering become very clear when every human becomes a dot.
- 2013/08/17: WSWS: Food stamps to be cut for 1.8 million people in Pennsylvania
  1.8 million in people in Pennsylvania will have their food stamp benefits cut in November when cuts made by the Obama administration and Congress take effect. Another 112,215 families have been completely denied benefits since an asset test was implemented in May 2012.
  In 2012, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett instituted an asset test for people to receive food stamps. Under the plan a family is not allowed to have more than $5,500 in total assets in order to qualify.
- 2013/08/16: MoJo: Oregon's GOP Chair Wants to Sprinkle Nuclear Waste From Airplanes -- Meet Art Robinson
- 2013/08/16: Grist: Can climate science be rendered conservative-friendly?
- 2013/08/16: TexasTrib: Businesses Back Greenhouse Gas Emissions Law
- 2013/08/16: TP:JR: Republicans Gripe About Former EPA Administrator's Private E-Mail Addresses, Ignore Bush Appointee's
- 2013/08/15: AutoBG: Big Oil takes a stand against rise in 2014 biofuel mandate
- 2013/08/15: UCSUSA:B: Climate Reality Must Win Out Over Political Attacks on Science
- 2013/08/15: CleanTechnica: California Senate To Decide Future Of Low-income Solar Programs
- 2013/08/14: Grist: Kochs must move their massive piles of tar-sands waste, Detroit mayor says
- 2013/08/14: TP:JR: MSNBC's Chris Hayes On Why So Many Conservatives Deny The Climate Problem: They Hate The Solution
- 2013/08/12: P3: Main Promoter of Bogus Oregon Petition to Lead Oregon Republicans, Main Inquisitor of Mike Mann Running for Governor of Virginia
- 2013/08/12: Grist: Climate-denier politicians under attack by new ad campaign
- 2013/08/12: Grist: Carbon offsets plan stirs up controversy in California
- 2013/08/12: P3: Woodie Guthrie, Big Government, Renewable Power, and Prairie Populism
- 2013/08/12: FuelFix: Florida residents angered over scrapped nuke plant [that they still have to pay for]
- 2013/08/09: TheHill:BB: Group to launch $2M ad campaign targeting climate change skeptics
  The League of Conservation Voters is launching a $2 million national advertising campaign next week targeting four climate change skeptics in Congress.
- 2013/08/12: Grist:A Tea Party leader explains why she's teaming up with the Sierra Club to push for solar power
- 2013/08/11: DeSmogBlog: Kentucky Lawmakers Still Fighting Nonexistent War On Coal
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics. See also:
- 2013/08/13: CSM: BP oil spill cleanup: US says the coast is nearly clear. Is it?
The Keystone XL wheel grinds slowly. And it grinds woe:
- 2013/08/15: DeSmogBlog: Mark Fiore Unveils "Keystone Clones" Cartoon on Keystone XL Corruption Ring
- 2013/08/15: SacBee: Keystone XL foes to build barn in pipeline's path
- 2013/08/15: TheHill:e2W: Keystone XL foe [350 Org] uses solar panels to put heat on Obama
- 2013/08/15: ICN: Keystone Decision Seen as Climate Change Test for Obama Abroad
  'Any move he makes will be carefully analyzed by the European Union and China to see what it says about his willingness to fight hard on climate change.'
- 2013/08/15: DeSmogBlog: Keystone XL Influence Peddling Web Extends into PA Governor's Race Via Katie McGinty
- 2013/08/15: CBC: Keystone XL opponents to take message to U.S. airwaves -- Anti-pipeline group makes $1M advertising buy for U.S. TV
- 2013/08/13: CBC: Keystone XL critic challenges TransCanada boss to debate
  Democratic financier Tom Steyer looks to debate merits, faults of controversial pipeline
- 2013/08/13: TreeHugger: Keystone XL "will likely leak", warns TransCanada whistleblower
- 2013/08/13: Grist: Undercover agents infiltrate anti-Keystone protests
- 2013/08/12: EIJ: Undercover Agents Infiltrated Tar Sands Resistance Camp to Break up Planned Protest
- 2013/08/12: CPW: Sixty Activists Risk Arrest at State Department in Protest of the Keystone XL Pipeline
The Mayflower oil spill continues to weigh heavily on the Keystone decision:
Obama made a gesture to placate the gullible:
Behold! The Silver Unicorn award:
- 2013/08/14: DD: Unicorn trophy tweeted to Republican climate science deniers
  "Members of Congress won't be able to sweep their extreme, anti-science voting records under the rug"
- 2013/08/13: TP:JR: In Homage To Their Fictional Beliefs, Group Presents Silver Unicorn Awards To Climate Deniers
- 2013/08/15: TP:JR: VIDEO: Constituents Give GOP Congressman A [Silver Unicorn] 'Climate Denial Award'
Those kids getting the fracking gag still grates:
- 2013/08/13: TheCanadian: Pennsylvanian children get lifetime ban on talking about fracking
Looking forward to the 2016 election:
- 2013/08/14: FAIR: What's the Message of Clinton's Noncampaign for the Office She Might Run for in Three Years?
At what point do you stop listening to the pretty lies and realize you've been had?
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2013/08/17: PSinclair: Crikey! Clueless Congressman Creates New Climate Crock from Whole Cloth
- 2013/08/16: CleanTechnica: New Hydropower Laws Could Add 60 GW Of Clean Energy To US Grid
- 2013/08/16: HillHeat: Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) Thinks Global Warming Comes From The Earth's Core
- 2013/08/16: PSinclair: New LCV Ad Targets Yet Another Denialist Rep
- 2013/08/16: UCSUSA:B: When "Sound Science" Isn't
- 2013/08/15: DD: Video: Florida congressman Jeff Miller says climate change from God, not humans - 'I will defund the E.P.A.'
- 2013/08/14: DD: U.S. Republican congressman challenges Sen. Barbara Boxer to debate to prove climate change 'is a total fraud'
- 2013/08/14: RawStory: Republican congressman explains climate change: God did it
- 2013/08/14: TP:Econ: Three Republicans Who Opposed Sandy Relief Now Demand Disaster Aid For Arizona
  Arizona Republicans Sen. Jeff Flake, Sen. John McCain, and Rep. Paul Gosar all voted against emergency relief funding after SuperStorm Sandy ravaged much of the New Jersey and New York area earlier this year.
  Now, following an Arizona wildfire, the same trio is vocally complaining that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is not doing enough to aid their state.
- 2013/08/13: P3: Lamar Smith vs NSF
- 2013/08/13: ScienceInsider: Will House Science Panel Need an Ethical Review?
- 2013/08/12: TheHill:ItN: House Republican [Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif)]: Global warming a 'fraud' to help 'create global government'
- 2013/08/12: FDL: Congressman Rohrabacher [R-Calif] Calls Global Warming A 'Total Fraud'
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2013/08/16: TP:JR: A Conservative Legal Group Is Petioning The Energy Department To Rethink The Social Cost Of Carbon
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2013/08/12: Resilience: Information, preferences, knowledge and belief
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology]
raised its head once again:
Apocalypso anyone?
- 2013/08/15: TMoS: Three Centuries of Drought Brought Down the Cradle of Civilization
- 2013/08/15: Guardian(UK): Are you ready to embrace the apocalypse?
  Facing up to the slow collapse of our planet is hard, but thinking apocalyptically could help us prepare for the crises to come
- 2013/08/15: TheConversation: Climate change hastened ancient civilisations' collapse: study
How do the corporate media measure up?
- 2013/08/16: TreeHugger: Chris Hayes to report on politics of power and global climate change
- 2013/08/12: CJR: Ambivalent coverage of climate change's 'new normal'
  Considering the importance of the information, the mainstream press provided surprisingly limited analysis [of the NOAA State of the Climate report]
- 2013/08/13: TP:JR: Media Slammed For 'Surprisingly Limited Analysis' Of Major Report On Climate Change's 'New Normal'
- 2013/08/12: Stoat: Economist watch: still no sops to the denialists
- 2013/08/12: P3: New York Times AWOL on Climate
- 2013/08/12: OParachute: News media influences public trust in science
And for your film & video enjoyment:
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2013/08/17: BBerg: Luminant Sued by EPA Over Texas Clean Air Violation Claims
  Luminant Generation Co., the largest power generator in Texas, was sued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to meet air-pollution standards at two power plants, the Sierra Club said in a statement.
  The enforcement action, which was filed under seal in federal court in Dallas, follows two earlier EPA notices of violations of the U.S. Clean Air Act by the Big Brown plant in Freestone County and the Martin Lake plant, located in Rusk and Panola counties.
- 2013/08/15: Grist: Vermont can't shut down nuke plant, court says
- 2013/08/15: NatureNB: Indian court halts [hydroelectric] projects in wake of calamitous monsoon
- 2013/08/14: BBerg: Vermont Can't Shut Entergy Nuclear Plant, Court Rules
- 2013/08/13: NYT: Government Must Continue Review of [Yucca] Nevada Nuclear Waste Site, Court Says
- 2013/08/13: CSM: Yucca Mountain waste site: Court orders nuclear agency to get back to work
- 2013/08/13: ABC(US): Appeals Court: Obama Violating Law on Nuke Site
  Federal appeals court orders White House to move forward on Yucca Mountain nuclear dump
- 2013/08/13: TP:JR: Appeals Court Says It's Time To Approve Or Deny Yucca Mountain Once And For All
It looks like this BP trial over the Gulf oil spill is going to take a long while:
- 2013/08/15: BBerg: BP Asks Judge to Deny Bid for Class-Action Investor Suit
  BP Plc asked a federal judge to deny U.S. investors the right to pursue a class action, or group, lawsuit claiming the company misled them before and after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
  The investors, led by the New York and Ohio pension funds, sued BP and certain officers in 2010, alleging violations of U.S. securities laws.
  The investors claim the company lied about the size of the worst offshore spill in U.S. history and its ability to contain a deep-water blowout to prop up its share price.
- 2013/08/14: CSM: Gulf oil spill: BP sues US government over federal contracts
- 2013/08/14: TP:JR: Sick Of The Deepwater Horizon Disaster, BP Gets Aggressive With Lawsuits
- 2013/08/13: Grist: BP whines some more about how rough life is
- 2013/08/14: WSWS: BP reneges on claims as environmental devastation persists in Gulf of Mexico
  Energy giant BP is continuing its fight in court against billions of dollars worth of claims related to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In its latest action, the company has filed a suit in federal court accusing the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of improperly halting contracts with the company last year.
- 2013/08/13: BBC: BP sues US government over federal contracts ban
  BP is suing the US government for barring the company from obtaining new federal contracts.
  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned BP last November blaming the firm's "lack of business integrity" after the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
- 2013/08/13: BWeek: BP Is Rapidly Becoming One Giant Law Firm
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
- 2013/08/16: PeakEnergy: The LCOE [Levelised Cost Of Energy] Of Renewable Energy
- 2013/08/16: PeakEnergy: OTEC Ahoy - Atoll nations at cutting edge of climate and clean energy
- 2013/08/16: PeakEnergy: Eight Alternative Energy Charts
- 2013/08/16: PeakEnergy: 100% of new Australian power plants are wind or solar
- 2013/08/16: DeSmogBlog: Study Finds Utility Decoupling is Gaining Traction
- 2013/08/14: TreeHugger: Better short-time local weather prediction = cheaper renewable energy
- 2013/08/14: WBUR:H&N: Analyst: Utilities Challenged By Spread Of Solar
- 2013/08/13: CleanTechnica: Cutting Renewables Could Increase Electricity Bills
  A new report from global research house Bloomberg New Energy Finance has punctured the rhetoric from incumbent fossil fuel generators, saying that cutting the renewable energy target would lead to an increase in electricity bills for consumers, not a reduction.
- 2013/08/12: CleanTechnica: The Intermittency of Wind and Solar: Is It Only Intermittently a Problem?
- 2013/08/07: Atlantic: The U.S. Energy Picture: A Backgrounder
- 2013/08/07: Atlantic: A Very Short History of How Americans Use Energy at Home
- 2013/07/25: Spectrum: Lockheed Martin Pioneers Ocean Energy in China -- A 10-megawatt ocean thermal energy conversion plant is under way
What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifers for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
On the coal front:
On the gas and oil front:
- 2013/08/16: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Dated Brent Spot....110.40
  WTI Cushing Spot....107.46
- 2013/08/18: OilDrum: Tech Talk - Oil Supply, Oil Prices and Saudi Arabia
- 2013/08/15: RT: Oil soars on Egypt turmoil, tops $110 per barrel
  Brent oil jumped to a four -- month high on Thursday on fears a new wave of political turmoil in Egypt could disrupt supplies through the Suez Canal.
- 2013/08/15: PeakEnergy: [gfx] Global oil production by discovery date
- 2013/08/14: Atlantic: Turning Crude Oil Into the Stuff We Use
- 2013/08/14: EarlyWarning: Saudi Arabian Oil Production
- 2013/08/14: Grist: A royal(ty) scam: How oil and gas companies shortchange landowners
- 2013/08/14: CCurrents: Libyan Oil Workers' Strike Pushes World Oil Prices Up
- 2013/08/13: CSM: IEA: After years of decline, US oil demand back on the rise
- 2013/08/13: EarlyWarning: Monthly Oil Supply Update
- 2013/08/13: ABC(Au): China's oil imports overtake the US
- 2013/08/12: BBC: Mexico opens oil sector to private sector investment
- 2013/08/10: G&M: China set to become world's biggest oil importer
And in pipeline news:
Ships and boats and trains -- How to tranport the stuff:
A rush of American triumphalism pervades the energy independence PR campaign. Think it will last?
- 2013/08/15: PeakEnergy: Commodity supercycle in rude health despite shale oil
- 2013/08/14: CSM: Energy independence in the age of natural gas exports
- 2013/08/11: RI: America: Exporting our way to energy independence?
- 2013/08/07: SP: Trouble in fracking paradise
  The shale revolution is "a little bit overhyped," Shell CEO Peter Voser said last week as his company announced a $2.1 billion write-down, mostly owing to the poor performance of its fracking adventures in U.S. "liquids-rich shales." Which of its shale properties have underperformed, Shell didn't say, but CFO Simon Henry admitted that "the production curve is less positive than we originally expected."
- 2013/08/12: NakedCapitalism: U.S. Energy Independence Doesn't Mean a Thing
- 2013/08/11: OilDrum: Tech Talk - A Cautionary Tale Evolves over Shale Gas
- 2013/08/11: Resilience: America: Exporting our way to energy independence?
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
Biofuel bickering abounds:
The answer my friend...
- 2013/08/13: RTCC: World's highest wind farm [15MW] completed in Tibet
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:
- 2013/08/13: NYT: Government Must Continue Review of [Yucca] Nevada Nuclear Waste Site, Court Says
- 2013/08/13: TP:JR: Appeals Court Says It's Time To Approve Or Deny Yucca Mountain Once And For All
Like a mirage, the dream of a Hydrogen Economy shimmers on the horizon:
- 2013/08/14: Eureka: Electrochemical step towards a better hydrogen storage
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
This week in the Gee Whiz File:
- 2013/08/14: Nature:(ab$) Tunable near-infrared and visible-light transmittance in nanocrystal-in-glass composites by Anna Llordés et al.
- 2013/08/16: RTCC: Smart windows could spark energy efficiency revolution
  Window coating can stop around 50% of heat and 70% of visible light, generating huge energy savings
  A window spray has been developed in the USA to respond to changing weather conditions, reducing the need for heating and air conditioning.
  Scientists say tiny crystals applied to windows and activated by a small electric charge can either block radiation from outside or inside.
- 2013/08/15: ABC(Au): Window coating blocks heat and light
  Scientists say they have created a window coating that can be switched electrically to regulate the amount of heat and light that enters a building.
As for Energy Storage:
Meanwhile in the "every problem is an opportunity in disguise" crowd:
- 2013/08/15: Grist: Defense contractor Raytheon: Climate change could create "business opportunities"
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
- 2013/08/14: CBC: Toronto's July storm cost insurers $850M
- 2013/08/13: UCSUSA:B: Rising Seas and Worsening Storms Require Rethinking Flood and Wind Insurance
Who's fielding theFAQs?
- 2013/08/14: TheConversation: Explainer: what is floating liquefied natural gas?
What do we have in (weekly) lists?
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

Note: You may notice my denialist coverage flagging. I am finding it
increasingly difficult to give any attention to these people.
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
- 2013/08/15: Resilience: The great biofuel greenwash
- 2013/08/13: DeSmogBlog: Greenwashing Concerns Mount as Evidence of Fracking's Climate Impact Grows
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2013/08/14: Moyhu: Temperature drives CO2?
- 2013/08/14: TreeHugger: App uses smartphone batteries to gather site-specific weather information
- 2013/08/13: Guardian(UK): Sustainable urban development: it's time cities give back
  With dwindling natural resources to feed cities, urban planning needs to be regenerative from the start
- 2013/08/15: HotWhopper: Climate change is like a nice warm bubble bath? [W.Pearce]
- 2013/08/15: Guardian(UK): Could climate bonds pave the way to a low-carbon economy?
  They're still a niche product with a reputation for attracting 'tree huggers' but climate bonds are gaining mainstream momentum
- 2013/08/16: BPA: Look at the Appreciation of Irrigated Farmland Last Year
- 2013/08/16: TheCanadian: We can't ignore the little things that keep us alive [Suzuki]
- 2013/08/12: DeSmogBlog: Could Lead Paint Lawsuit Pave Way For Class Action Against Coal Industry?
- 2013/08/11: CCentral: Scientists Say Nature 'Is Better at Carbon Farming'
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
Low Key Plug

My first novel _Water_ was published in May 2007.
An Introduction is available.
My most recent novel _The Bottleneck Years_ is being serialized online atmy siteand on AFTIC at Table of Contents
If you want further information, see A Gentle Introduction.
If you want a copy, see The Deal.
An overview of my writing is available here.

A Simple Plea

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

<regards>

-het

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

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

"The day that we ran out of water I turned on my faucet and nothing
was there and at that moment I knew the whole of Barnhart was down
the tubes. I went: 'dear God help us.' "
-Beverly McGuire
Last modified August 18, 2013

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August 18, 2013

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

And for those who enjoy challenging Poe's Law:

Looking ahead to COP19 and future international climate negotiations:

It will be instructive to see how Texas resolves this conflict over water:

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has reneged on the Yasuni petroleum reserve plan:

I'm guessing the CCAC is not happy to see this:

And on the Bottom Line:

What are the global financial institutions up to?

Delving into the laws of thermodynamics this week:

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

A note on theFukushima disaster:

Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

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

What do we have for Fukushima related papers this week?

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

While in Antarctica:

The food crisis is ongoing:

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

Regarding the food factor in the ongoing revolutions:

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

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

After hitting the Philippines, Typhoon Utor slammed China. TDs 12W (Trami) and 13W are unreported as of yet:

In the Central Pacific, a passel of TDs have spun up:

Ditto in the Eastern Pacific:

In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Erin has formed by Africa. A TD threatens in the Caribbean:

While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

And on the Monsoon front:

This week in notable weather:

This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

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

As for GHGs:

What's new in CO2 fertilization?

How is the temperature record?

Yes we have feedbacks:

While in the paleoclimate:

Regarding the solar hypothesis:

What's the State of the Oceans?:

And the Biosphere?

And on the extinction watch:

The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern. And then, there are the Neonicotinoids:

More GW impacts are being seen:

And then there are the world's forests:

Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:

As for heatwaves and wild fires:

Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

Glaciers are melting:

Sea levels are rising:

These extreme rainfall events are becoming all too frequent:

As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels Second, put a price on carbon Third, begin to reduce the human population And elsewhere on the mitigation front:

Consider transportation & GHG production:

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

As for carbon sequestration:

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

Meanwhile in the journals:

And other significant documents:

As for miscellaneous science:

In the science organizations:

Regarding Advocacy:

The Fifth IPCC report is coming up:

The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

On the international political front, South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

The Egypt vs Ethiopia tussle over Nile water just got more complicated:

These 'free trade' treaties feature fundamentally anti-democratic dispute resolution mechanisms:

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

What are the activists up to?

The move to divest from fossil fuel investments is growing slowly:

Regarding Water Politics and Business; Seealso, another and yet another:

And on the groundwater front:

While in the UK:

And in Europe:

Meanwhile in Australia:

Just three short hectic weeks to the September 7th election:

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

The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern.
And then, there are the Neonicotinoids:

First, stop subsidizing fossil fuels
Second, put a price on carbon
Third, begin to reduce the human population
And elsewhere on the mitigation front:

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