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  2. Another Week of Anthropocene Antics - November 10, 2013

Another Week of Anthropocene Antics - November 10, 2013

By illconsidered on November 11, 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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Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

November 10, 2013

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Live and direct from the black humour department:

And if your taste leans toward the surreal:

  • 2013/11/06: Wonkette: Weird 'Historian' David Barton Has Science Figured Out: Abortion Did Climate Change

    Looking ahead to COP19 at (Warsaw Nov.11-22) and future international climate negotiations:

    Regarding the WG2 leak:

    One of the strongest typhoons ever recorded -- 300+ kph winds -- has struck the Philippines.
    Much more here:

    At the Fukushima nuclear plant, TEPCO is just beginning a very dangerous procedure -- pick up nuclear sticks. Much more here:

    • 2013/11/07: Telegraph(UK): Decommissioning Fukushima: how Japan will remove nuclear fuel rods from damaged reactor
      Experts say no one has ever attempted such a procedure before and that a mistake could be disastrous
      [...]
      "Did you ever play pick up sticks?" asked a foreign nuclear expert who has been monitoring Tepco's efforts to regain control of the plant. "You had 50 sticks, you heaved them into the air and than had to take one off the pile at a time.
      "If the pile collapsed when you were picking up a stick, you lost," he said. "There are 1,534 pick-up sticks in a jumble in top of an unsteady reactor 4. What do you think can happen?
      "I do not know anyone who is confident that this can be done since it has never been tried."
      Even now, it is not clear whether any of the rods, containing transuranic and transplutonic elements, are cracked, he said.
    • 2013/11/07: Guardian(UK): Fukushima nuclear clean-up enters critical phase
      Tokyo Electric Power to begin removing more than 1,500 fuel assemblies from spent fuel pool in unprecedented operation

    The Maldives have voted (again) but the Supreme Court intervened (again) to postpone the runoff vote:

    How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

    And on the Bottom Line:

    Who's getting the subsidies?

    What are the global financial institutions up to?

    John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

    Various psychological angles arise in considerations of the ecological crisis:

    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:

    As for the charismatic megafauna:

    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:

    Food Prices are still problematic:

    Regarding the genetic modification of food:

    Regarding labelling GM food:

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

    In the Western Pacific, Super Typhoon Haiyan [31W] hammered the Philippines and headed for Vietnam:

    In the South China Sea, Tropical Storm 30W zinged Southern Vietnam; died unnamed:

  • 2013/11/06: Eureka: NASA sees Tropical Depression 30W stretching out, fading
  • 2013/11/05: NASA: NASA Sees Warm Sea Surface Helped Strengthen Tropical Storm 30W
  • 2013/11/04: Eureka: NASA sees Tropical Depression 30W affecting central Philippines

    A numbered storm in the Arabian Sea is headed for Somalia:

  • 2013/11/09: al Jazeera: Another tropical cyclone develops -- This time it's Somalia in the firing line

    Earlier in the Eastern Pacific:

  • 2013/11/04: Wunderground: Tropical Storm Sonia Hits Mexico; Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season Likely Over
  • 2013/11/04: NASA: NASA Video Shows Birth and Death of Tropical Storm Sonia [18E]
  • 2013/11/05: al Jazeera: More mayhem in Mexico
    Tropical Storm Sonia makes its way into western Mexico with the possibility of further flooding and damaging winds
  • 2013/11/05: MODIS: Hurricane Raymond (17E) off Mexico [on Oct.27]
  • 2013/11/03: CSM: Tropical Storm Sonia gains strength, takes aim at Mexico

    While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

  • 2013/11/09: ABC(Au): World's worst recent super storms
  • 2013/11/05: Eureka: Hurricane Sandy's impact measured by millions of Flickr pictures
  • Wiki: Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale
  • Wiki: Hurricane Severity Index
  • Wiki: Tropical cyclone scales
  • 2013/11/04: NASA: NASA Saw Heavy Rain in Typhoon Krosa [29W] Before it Hit Wind Shear

    This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

    Meanwhile on the GHG front:

    And in the nitrogen cycle:

    Regarding the solar hypothesis:

    Regarding the cosmic ray hypothesis:

    Aerosols are making their presence felt:

    What's up with volcanoes this week?

    And on the ENSO front:

    As for the temperature record:

    The cliff, aka tipping points, aka planetary boundaries, put in an appearance:

    In the attribution debate:

    What's the State of the Oceans?:

    And on the extinction watch:

    And for the people who do not understand or accept the epithet "top predator":

  • 2013/11/07: BLongstaff: We were hell on other species before we were even us

    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:

    Aerosols affect the climate, but they also affect people's health:

    As for heatwaves and wild fires:

    Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

    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:

    Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation has somehow seemed chimeric:

    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?

    While on the adaptation front:

    Meanwhile in the journals:

    And other significant documents:

    As for miscellaneous science:

    In the science organizations:

    What's new in models?

    Regarding James and Jules:

    Regarding Mann:

    Regarding Bolin:

    Meanwhile at the UN:

    And on the carbon trading front:

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

    South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

    Who's teed off at the NSA this week?

    Negotiations over damming the Nile are not quite starting:

    • 2013/11/06: al Jazeera: Ethiopia: Egypt objections delaying dam panel
      Differences between two countries over panel's composition persist, with Egypt fearing reduction of its water supply. Egyptian objections are delaying formation of a committee to implement expert recommendations on an Ethiopian dam project, Ethiopia's water minister says. Egypt fears the 6,000 MW Grand Renaissance Dam, which will be Africa's largest when completed in 2017, could diminish its water supply, At a one-day meeting in Khartoum, the water ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed to form the panel, Alemayehu Tegenu said on Tuesday. "But we didn't agree about the composition of this committee," he said. "We have differences with Egypt."

    These 'free trade' treaties are a corporate wet-dream with anti-democratic dispute resolution mechanisms:

    As for miscellaneous international political happenings:

    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?

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

    Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:

    Among the world's religions:

    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:

    The carbon laws remain a matter of contention:

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

    And in the Indian subcontinent:

    While in China:

    And in Japan:

    While elsewhere in Asia:

    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:

    The New Bruinswick fracking protestors aren't going away:

    The Commissioner of the Environment delivered a bad news report this week:

    Further examples of mismanagement by the Harper gang:

    These billion dollar cats are zapping insurance companies. Expect rates to rise:

    • 2013/11/06: CBC: Intact Financial takes insurance losses from flooding
      Profit halved to $47M as flooding, hail and Lac-Mégantic lead to $201M in losses Canadian insurer Intact Financial Corp. has seen its latest quarterly profit cut nearly in half compared with a year ago as the insurer by losses due to major rain and hail storms in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta as well as the Lac-Mégantic tragedy. The company reported Wednesday a profit of $47 million, or 32 cents per share, down from $92 million, or 67 cents per share, a year ago.

    Looks like Trudeau's pro-tarsands stance is drawing fire:

    Well, well ... Christy Clark is finally showing her colours:

    Meanwhile in BC:

    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:

    While in la Belle Province:

    In the Maritimes:

    As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

    And on the American political front:

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

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

    The GOP War on Women continues. See also:

    The GOP are foolishly trying to direct research:

    There were a variety of state and local elections across the nation Tuesday:

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

    The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

    As for what is going on in Congress:

    What are the lobbyists pushing?

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

    In nature, there is no garbage:

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

    Apocalypso anyone?

    How do the corporate media measure up?

    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:

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

    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:

    In the gas and oil corps:

    Regarding oil and the economy:

    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:

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

    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:

    The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

    Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

    Who's fielding theFAQs?

    What do we have in other (weekly) lists?

    The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

    Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:

  • 2013/11/04: TP:JR: Coal Mine Muck Spills, Dumping 264 Million Gallons Into Canadian Waterways

    So why is nothing getting done?

    As for climate miscellanea:

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

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