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  2. Another Week of Anthropocene Antics, October 20, 2013

Another Week of Anthropocene Antics, October 20, 2013

By illconsidered on October 21, 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

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Sipping from the Internet Firehose...

October 20, 2013

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We are definitely back in the black humour zone:

Looking ahead to COP19 at (Warsaw) and future international climate negotiations:

What other ideas are out there?

  • 2013/10/16: RTCC: Green growth: lessons in climate resilience from world's poorest
    As the world waited for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to release its latest report last month, the climate economist Lord Nicholas Stern emphasized that: "It cannot be a case of either achieving growth or tackling global warming. It must be both." In rejecting a trade-off between addressing climate change and securing growth and development, Stern supports a low-carbon resilient development approach, which brings together three traditionally separate goals: the reduction of climate change emissions (climate change mitigation), adaptation to the effects caused by climate change and economic and social development.
  • 2013/10/16: RTCC: Former WTO chief calls for 'G90? to tackle climate change
    An influential group of global leaders have accused modern politics of displaying 'short-termism', preventing effective action from being taken on tackling climate change. A report published today by Oxford Martin School at Oxford University brings together a group of eminent leaders, chaired by former World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy, including Lionel Barber, Lord Patten and Lord Stern. It is the product of a year-long process of research and debate on the successes and failures in tackling climate change in recent decades. The report argues for 'serious and urgent' reform that will create a long-term vision for politics, breaking through the stagnation in politics.

Still some discussion and analysis post-AR5:

The Overseas Development Institute released a report on climate chnage and poverty:

The Maldives saga oscillates between tragedy and farce with a "We'll-keep-voting-until-we-get-the-result-we-want" theme:

Note the BBC is up to their olde rewrite articles with same URL tricks again:

  • 2013/10/19: BBC: Police stop Maldives presidential election from going ahead
    Police in the Maldives have stopped a presidential election from going ahead on Saturday, plunging the country into fresh political uncertainty. Electoral commission head Fuwad Thowfeek said police had entered his offices and were stopping officials distributing election materials.
  • 2013/10/18: BBC: Maldives to hold presidential election as scheduled
    A presidential election in the Maldives will go ahead as scheduled on Saturday, the electoral commission has said. The last-minute announcement comes despite attempts by two of the candidates to delay it.

    • Here's something to plague your long sleepless nights:

    How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

    And on the Bottom Line:

    What are the global financial institutions up to?

    So, If we put a price on nature, will it deal with externalities and lead to greater conservation
    or will it lead to greater exploitation or what?

    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:

    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. See also:

    The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

    Regarding the genetic modification of food:

    Regarding labelling GM food:

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

    Currently in the Western Pacific, Typhoon Francisco looks to be headed for Japan:

    Currently in the Eastern Pacific, (unreported) Tropical Storm Raymond [17E] looks to be headed for Mexico City:

    Earlier in the Eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Octave [which I mistakenly called Gustave last week] crossed the Baja and faded:

  • 2013/10/17: Eureka: Tropical Storm Octave makes landfall in western Mexico
  • 2013/10/14: CSM: Tropical storm Octave approaches Baja California: Arriving tomorrow?

    Earlier in the week, Typhoon Nari crossed the South China Sea and zapped Vietnam:

  • 2013/10/17: Xinhuanet: Typhoon Nari kills 9 Vietnamese
  • 2013/10/16: al Jazeera: Typhoon Nari slams into Vietnam -- Asia's active storm season continues unabated
  • 2013/10/15: ABC(Au): Typhoon Nari kills five people in Vietnam as thousands are evacuated
  • 2013/10/14: ABC(Au): Thousands evacuated as Typhoon Nari set to hit Vietnam
  • 2013/10/14: IndiaTimes: Mass evacuations in Vietnam for typhoon Nari
  • 2013/10/14: al Jazeera: More typhoons threaten East Asia
    Two mayor tropical cyclones [Nari & Wipha] are likely to cause disruption across the region in the coming days.

    • Also in the Western Pacific, Typhoon Wipha zapped Japan:

  • 2013/10/18: NASA: Satellite Sees Extra-Tropical Typhoon Wipha Affecting Alaska
    Powerful Typhoon Wipha never made landfall in the northwestern Pacific but affected several land areas there as seen by NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. By Oct. 18, extra-tropical storm Wipha moved into the Bering Sea and was bringing rains, warmer temperatures and gusty winds to Alaska.
  • 2013/10/18: Xinhuanet: Typhoon Wipha causes deadly destruction on Japan [pix]
  • 2013/10/17: IndiaTimes: Typhoon [Wipha], mudslides kill 18 in Japan, 45 missing
  • 2013/10/17: BBC: Rescuers in Japan worked overnight and into Thursday looking for survivors of Typhoon Wipha, which has killed at least 18 people
  • 2013/10/17: CBC: Japanese mayor sorry for not ordering Typhoon Wipha evacuation
    [...]
    "There is concern that perhaps more lives could have been saved if there had been an evacuation. We have concluded this and must apologize," Mayor Masafumi Kawashima said at a news conference. "It's my deepest regret and I will not forget this."
  • 2013/10/16: TP:JR: 17 Dead, 50 Missing After Deadly Typhoon [Wipha] In Japan
  • 2013/10/16: CSM: Typhoon Wipha triggers mudslide, leaving 17 dead in Japan
  • 2013/10/16: Xinhuanet: Powerful typhoon hits Japan, leaving 14 dead
  • 2013/10/16: PLNA: Typhoon [Wipha] Leaves 17 Fatalities and Missing People in Japan
  • 2013/10/16: BBC: Japan Typhoon Wipha kills 17 people
  • 2013/10/16: BBC: In pictures: Typhoon Wipha hits Japan
  • 2013/10/16: Wunderground: Typhoon Wipha's 33 Inches of Rain Kills 17 in Japan
  • 2013/10/16: CNN: Typhoon Wipha hits Tokyo area, killing at least 17
    At least 17 people have died as Typhoon Wipha hits the Tokyo area - Oshima, a small island south of Tokyo, has been hardest hit - More than 500 domestic and international flights were canceled - The typhoon is moving north along the Pacific coast of Japan
  • 2013/10/16: CBC: Japan's Typhoon Wipha leaves 14 dead, dozens missing
  • 2013/10/16: al Jazeera: Deadly typhoon lashes Japan's east coast
    At least 14 people killed on Japanese island as Typhoon Wipha triggers landslides and destroys homes.
  • 2013/10/15: AlterNet: Once-A-Decade Typhoon Threatens Already-Leaking Fukushima Nuclear Plant
  • 2013/10/15: ABC(Au): Strong typhoon [Wipha] heads for Japan's nuclear plant
  • 2013/10/15: Wunderground: Dangerous Typhoon Wipha Drenching Japan
  • 2013/10/15: Xinhuanet: Typhoon Wipha approaches Japan, may make landfall Wednesday morning
  • 2013/10/15: IndiaTimes: Once in a decade typhoon heads for Japan nuclear plant
    Tokyo: A typhoon, described as the "strongest in 10 years," was closing in on Japan Tuesday, on a path that will take it towards the precarious Fukushima nuclear power plant. Typhoon Wipha, packing winds of nearly 200 kilometres (125 miles) per hour near its centre and bringing heavy rains, was in the Pacific south of Japan on Tuesday evening and moving north at 35 kilometres per hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. It was forecast to reach an area off the Tokyo metropolitan area by early Wednesday and later in the day would be off the coast of Fukushima where the crippled nuclear power plant sits.

    • Cyclone Phailin smashed into India causing widespread damage, but killing only a few:

  • 2013/10/18: Xinhuanet: Cyclone Phailin floods parts of eastern Indian state Odisha [pix]
  • 2013/10/17: PLNA: Dissolved Phailin Cyclone Still Wreaking Havoc in India
  • 2013/10/17: al Jazeera: Millions affected by east India cyclone flood
    Emergency services are struggling to deliver aid to eastern India as rising water levels sweep away roads.
  • 2013/10/17: DD: Cyclone Phailin impact spreads, thousands stranded by floods - 'The paddy crop has been destroyed completely'
  • 2013/10/16: RT: India counts cost of cyclone Phailin [pic]
    Damaged huts and lashed boats are pictured after Cyclone Phailin made landfall at Padampeta Village, (about 200km south from the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar). It will be the poorest people living in the less well built homes and who have fewer resources, who will pay the heaviest price.
  • 2013/10/15: ABC(Au): Floods kill five in India after Cyclone Phailin
  • 2013/10/15: al Jazeera: Floods hit Indian state in wake of cyclone
    Heavy rains in Phailin's wake cause river to overflow, flooding two districts in eastern Odisha state.
  • 2013/10/15: BBC: India's Cyclone Phailin: Thousands marooned by floods
    Workers are battling to rescue tens of thousands of people marooned by rising flood waters in Orissa, after the state was hit by the strongest cyclone in 14 years. Flood waters have left nearly 100,000 people stranded in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts, officials say. The death toll from the cyclone has risen to 27 in Orissa, with four people killed in the floods.
  • 2013/10/14: Guardian(UK): Cyclone Phailin leaves trail of destruction - in [13] pictures
  • 2013/10/14: Wunderground: Heavy Damage in India From Phailin, but a Low Death Toll
  • 2013/10/13: DD: Cyclone Phailin leaves widespread damage in India - Hundreds of thousands of homes washed away - 'There are no farms left. Everything has disappeared into the water.'
  • 2013/10/14: Wunderground: Powerful Cyclone Phailin not a Mega-Disaster for India
  • 2013/10/14: IndiaTimes: Cyclone Phailin aftermath: East Coast Railway train services resume after two days
  • 2013/10/14: IndiaTimes: Cyclone leaves trail of destruction in Odisha town
  • 2013/10/14: IndiaTimes: Cyclone Phailin results in floods, two districts badly hit in Odisha
  • 2013/10/14: BBC: India's Cyclone Phailin: Hundreds of thousands return home
    Hundreds of thousands of people who were evacuated before Cyclone Phailin crashed into eastern India have begun returning to their homes. But many will remain in shelters as their homes and businesses were wrecked by the strongest cyclone in 14 years.
  • 2013/10/14: CBC: Cyclone Phailin death toll hits 23 in India -- Crew of doomed ship rescued by coast guard
  • 2013/10/14: al Jazeera: Multiple deaths reported in cyclone-hit India
    At least 17 people are reported dead in two eastern states in India following cyclone Phailin's destructive landfall.
  • 2013/10/13: CCurrents: United India Responds To Phailin, Major Calamity Averted
  • 2013/10/13: CSM: In India, Cyclone Phailin's devastation tempered by planning
  • 2013/10/13: BBC: India's Cyclone Phailin leaves trail of destruction

    While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

  • 2013/10/17: NASA: Tropical Storm Priscilla's Short Life
  • 2013/10/16: MODIS: Typhoon Fitow (22W) over China and Taiwan [on Oct 6]
  • 2013/10/14: ABC(Au): Australia can expect 11-cyclone season, Bureau of Meteorology says
    Australians can expect 11 cyclones to hit the region this season, with four crossing the coast, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The forecast makes for a near-average year, bureau regional director Rob Webb told ABC radio. The forecast for the cyclone season, measured from November 1 to April 30, is due to a neutral outlook for El Nino and La Nina weather events in the tropical Pacific Ocean.
  • 2013/10/14: ABC(Au): Bureau of Meteorology forecasting average cyclone season
  • 2013/10/13: PSinclair: Satellite view, October 12, 2013. Nothing to See here, move along..

    This week in notable weather:

    As for GHGs:

    And in the carbon cycle:

    Aerosols are making their presence felt:

    What's new in the Weather Machine?

    Regarding Climate Sensitivity:

    Clouds are one of the major uncertainties in climate. Much research revolves around them:

    Regarding ozone:

    And on the ENSO front:

    While in the paleoclimate:

    What's the State of the Oceans?:

    And on the extinction watch:

    How are the Insects doing?

    More GW impacts are being seen:

    And then there are the world's forests:

    Climate refugees are becoming an issue:

    On the tornado front:

    As for heatwaves and wild fires:

    Just a couple of articles about fires elsewhere:

  • 2013/10/18: NASA: Agricultural Fires in India
  • 2013/10/18: NASA: Fires in China

    Acidification is changing the oceans:

    Glaciers are melting:

    Sea levels are rising:

    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:

    What's new in conservation?

    What's new in restoration?

    While on the adaptation front:

    Meanwhile in the journals:

    And other significant documents:

    As for miscellaneous science:

    In the science organizations:

    More DIY science:

    What's new in models?

    What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

    Meanwhile at the UN:

    And on the carbon trading front:

    This version of the Robin Hood tax, aka the Tobin tax, aka the Bank tax, aka the Financial Transaction tax, is not aimed at clean energy funding, but it is still drawing fire:

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

    South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

    Who is serious about reducing airline carbon emissions?

    • 2013/10/17: EurActiv: EU aviation carbon charge compromise draws industry fire
      The European Commission yesterday (16 October) revived a proposal to charge foreign airlines for emissions over European airspace, drawing the ire of airline groups who say it goes against the spirit of a recent global aviation deal and could reignite trade tensions. The proposal, which would cover the 2014-2020 period, represents a retreat from an existing - though frozen - EU law that requires all planes using the bloc's airports to pay through an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for emissions over the full duration of their flights. But airline groups said that it threatened to unravel a fragile agreement cobbled together during two weeks of tough negotiations at the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao) in Montreal, which ended this month.
    • 2013/10/17: EUO: EU revisits emissions tax on air traffic
    • 2013/10/16: RTCC: Flights in EU airspace could face new carbon levy from 2014
      All flights inside Europe will be covered by the EU's emissions trading scheme from the start of 2014 according to proposals published today.

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

    And in miscellaneous international political jousting:

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

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

    What are the activists up to?

    Is the Climate Movement anything more than a fantasy?

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

    Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:

    And on the groundwater front:

    So what's new in science education?

    Think you can innovate your way out of the Long Emergency?

    While in the UK:

    And in Europe:

    Meanwhile in Australia:

    Now we get to watch the suppository of wisdom destroy what little Australia has done to fight climate change:

    Labour's first major test arises. Abbott has posted his draft legislation to kill the carbon price:

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

    • 2013/10/16: ABC(Au): South East water set to flow
      After months of delays the red tape has been finally cleared for the South East Irrigation Scheme in Tasmania to go ahead.
    • 2013/10/15: ABC(Au): Basin authority's plan won't flood homes
      The Murray-Darling Basin Authority is touring the region trying to convince farmers it will not flood their homes. It comes after the release of the constraints strategy by the authority which explains how rules need to change so that the all the water that has been procured for the environment can be delivered to where it needs to go. CEO of the MDBA Rhonda Dickson says the authority can guarantee those living in the basin that environmental watering won't flood their homes.
    • 2013/10/14: ABC(Au): Murray management plan revealed
      The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has released a plan to better coordinate Murray River bridge access and downstream flows. The authority is working with river communities to change the way the river is managed, as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

    New South Wales bushfires are bad. See also:

    While in China:

    While in Japan:

    While in Africa:

    And South America:

    In Canada, neocon PM Harper, aka The Blight, pushes petroleum while ignoring the climate and ecology:

    The Lac Mégantic tragedy drags on:

    Another rail car derailment and fire, in Alberta this time:

    The Mi'kmaq protest against fracking on their land was assaulted by the police this week:

    Parliament reopened. The Speech from the Throne was uninspiring. Harper took off to Europe to avoid questions:

    We haven't been hearing much from the Greens lately:

    The West-East pipeline is suddenly a focus of much dispute:

    And the Kinder Morgan expansion:

    The Tories have signed CETA - a draft free trade treaty with Europe. See also:

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

    Now that Christy Clark has a mandate, what will she do?

    Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

    Also in Alberta:

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

    And on the American political front:

    The BP disaster continues to twist US politics. See also:

    Post-Sandy commentary and news:

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

    The Mayflower oil spill and its ramifications just keep dragging on:

    The NorthWest coal export debate remains heated:

    The Shutdown is over, temporarily. The world is not amused:

    Here's something to lively-up the 2016 race:

    • 2013/10/18: PageSix: Arnold lobbies for White House run
      Action star and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been lobbying for support to change the law to allow him to run for president in 2016, Page Six has exclusively learned. We're told Ahnold has been openly talking about his political ambitions while in New York to promote his new movie ...

    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:

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

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

    Apocalypso anyone?

    How do the corporate media measure up?

    While activists search for effective communication techniques:

  • 2013/10/18: Guardian(UK): Climate change: just 'don't be a dick'
  • 2013/10/14: CD: The new climate starts in 2047 - a promising new narrative

    Here is something for your library:

    And for your film & video enjoyment:

    As for podcasts:

    Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

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

    Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

    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:

    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?

    Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

    Biofuel bickering abounds:

    The answer my friend...

    Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

    The nuclear energy controversy continues:

    Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:

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

    More people are talking about the electrical grid:

    How are the utilities adjusting (or not)?

    And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

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

    As for Energy Storage:

    Meanwhile in the "every problem is an opportunity in disguise" crowd:

    Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

    What do we have in (weekly) lists?

    The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

    As for climate miscellanea:

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

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    I thought that photo at the top of the page looked like it was from an old source, so I tried to track it down.

    Seems it was from 1932. We have come a long way in 80 years haven't we?

    Yes, the more things change the more they stay the same. I have always found it ironic how from the time of Arrhenius to Hansen's 1988 testimony to the IPCC's latest, the magnitude of predicted warming has been remarkably consistent. As time as passed it has turned out earlier predictions were perhaps right for the wrong reasons, but the warnings have all been about the same.

    And all thanks for the weekly GW News need to go to het, my part takes me all of 7 minutes!