Another Week in the Ecological Crisis, January 26, 2014

By illconsidered on January 27, 2014.

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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Information Overload is Pattern Recognition

January 26, 2014

Chuckles, EU Climate Goals, WEF, WFES, POGO, Potash, Smog, Energiewende
Bottom Line, Subsidies, Cook, Shrinkology
Fukushima: Note, News, Policies
Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Tele-connections, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food: Crisis, Fisheries, GMOs, GMO Labelling, Production
Hurricanes, Notable Weather, Abrupt CC, Extreme Weather, New Weather
GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Solar, Aerosols, ENSO
Temperatures, Satellites Paleoclimate, Historical Climate
Oceans, Ocean Currents, Biosphere, Extinctions, Bees & CCD
Impacts, Forests, Smog & Health, Wildfires, Corals, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
Transportation, Buildings, Geoengineering, Conservation, Adaptation
Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, Science Orgs, DIY Science, Models, Advocacy, Dessler
International Politics: UN, Carbon Trade, Optimal Strategy, Hormuz, South China Sea
FQD, Treaties , Misc., Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz, Education
National Politics: Britain, Europe, Australia, Abbott, MDBP, China, Japan, Asia, Middle East, Africa, South America
Canada, Lac-Mégantic, Libricide, Opposition, East-West, Northern Gateway
Kinder Morgan, Energy Policy, Young, Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Manitoba
America, BP Disaster, Keystone, Birth Control, Sequestration, West Virginia, 2014, Obama, USAdmin, Congress, Lobbyists
Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Video, Courts, Mann Suit, BP Trial
Energy, Transitions, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Oil & the Economy
Pipelines, Oil Transportation, Energy Independence, Peak Oil, Wind, Solar
Nukes, LENR, Hydrogen, Grid, Utilities, Cars, Energy Storage
Business, Insurance, Other Lists, Carbon Lobby, Curry, PRP, Intimidation, Misc., Useful Links
Shameless Self Promotion, A Simple Plea, .sig

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

The European Commission proposed a 40% GHG reduction, with a renewables target of 27% and lots of wriggle room. See also:

2014/01/22: EC: [links to several pdfs] Energy and climate goals for 2030
On 22 January 2014 the Commission proposed energy and climate objectives to be met by 2030. The objectives send a strong signal to the market, encouraging private investment in new pipelines and electricity networks or low-carbon technologies. The targets must be met if the EU is to keep its promise to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% by 2050.
2014/01/23: Grist: Europe wimps out on climate and clean energy
2014/01/23: RTCC: Canada tar sands set to benefit from EU 2030 climate plan
2014/01/23: EurActiv: EU sets out 'walk now, sprint later' 2030 clean energy vision
The European Commission set out its goal Wednesday (22 January) of a Europe which, by 2030, emits 40% less carbon dioxide than it did in 1990, uses renewables for 27% of its energy, and employs a reserve mechanism to regulate its carbon market.
2014/01/23: EUO: EU climate policy - too early to celebrate
There is no doubt that the European Commission's decision to propose adopting a binding 40 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction by 2030 relative to 1990 is a victory for the greener side of EU politics. Chapeau! However, it is not yet the time to uncork the champagne bottles. Experience from recent years tells us that member states and parliament cannot necessarily be counted on to support an ambitious climate policy. Moreover, it will, at best, be in late 2015 that one can hope for the policy to be cast in stone in the form of formally agreed legislation. In the meantime much energy will be expended on watering down the proposals.
2014/01/23: CleanTechnica: EU Sets Binding Renewable Energy Targets After Tough Negotiations
2014/01/23: RTCC: EU climate & energy plan diluted by US fracking revolution
2014/01/23: RTCC: Developing nations express dismay at "disappointing" EU climate package
Small Island States and Least Developed Countries say science demands higher level of ambition than 40% target
2014/01/22: NatureN: 'Modest' EU climate targets criticized -- Planned greenhouse-gas cuts for 2030 might not be enough to avoid disastrous temperature rises
2014/01/22: RTCC: EU 2030 climate and energy package - all the reactions
2014/01/22: CarbonBrief: In brief: The EU's new 2030 climate and energy package

The World Economic Forum went down in Davos:

2014/01/24: RTCC: Ban Ki-moon: Davos summit can set tone for UN climate talks
2014/01/24: UN: Davos Forum: Ban again urges business to play its part in tackling climate change
2014/01/24: RTCC: Davos delegates warned of imminent oil crisis
Some of the planet's richest nations are to hear a warning that a global oil crisis could happen as early as next year A British businessman, Jeremy Leggett, will tell world leaders meeting in Switzerland today that it is dangerous to argue that fracking for shale oil and gas can help to avert a global energy crisis.
2014/01/24: RTCC: OECD proposes plan for 'zero emissions' at Davos
Introducing a price for carbon and phasing out fossil fuel subsidies are two vital measures that can help the planet address climate change.
2014/01/24: Guardian(UK): Davos 2014: climate change and sustainability - day three live
2014/01/24: WFP: Global Leaders From Business And Civil Society Sign Zero Hunger Challenge At Davos
2014/01/24: RTCC: Al Gore: world close to a 'political tipping point' on climate change
Recent storms and droughts raising profile of climate threats says former US VP, as leaders discuss solutions in Davos The levels of public and political agreement that climate change needs to be addressed are higher than ever before, Al Gore told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
2014/01/24: CBC: Global bloc aims for free trade on environmental goods
2014/01/23: UN: In Davos, Ban urges action on climate change, spotlights 'girl power' as crucial to reach global development goals
2014/01/23: Guardian(UK): Davos 2014: business and sustainability - day two as it happened
2014/01/22: RTCC: Davos to discuss climate as UN makes new push for cuts
2014/01/22: WFP: WFP Attending World Economic Forum In Davos, Switzerland, For Tenth Year

The World Future Energy Summit went down in Abu Dhabi this week:

World Future Energy Summit 2014 -- 20-22 January 2014 - Abu Dhabi
2014/01/21: RTCC: World can double renewables share at low cost, says report
Renewable energy lobby says the world can double use of wind, solar and other low carbon sources A strong carbon price and removal of subsidies could help double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix to 30% at almost no extra net cost, supporters of solar, wind and hydro told a clean energy summit today.
2014/01/21: RTCC: Abu Dhabi makes $41m clean energy pledge to developing countries [WFES: World Future Energy Summit]
2014/01/26: CleanTechnica: Wind For Prosperity Is No Charity Or PR Campaign - This Is About Business (Videos)
2014/01/20: Xinhuanet: World Future Energy Summit opens in Abu Dhabi

A Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans meeting went down in Hobart this week:

POGO: Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans
Wiki: Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans
2014/01/23: ABC(Au): Scientists probe ocean depths
2014/01/22: ABC(Au): Scientists seek to improve climate change data from developing countries
The world's leading ocean researchers are worried about a lack of climate change data from developing countries. Scientists from 21 countries and 39 separate institutes have converged on Hobart for the annual meeting of the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO).

Another move in the potash wrangle came up this week:

2014/01/20: CBC: Uralkali inks Chinese potash deal at $305 a tonne
[...]
In its third quarter results last fall, PotashCorp revealed that the average price it received for a tonne of potash fell by more than a quarter to $307 a tonne, down from $429 a year ago. The original Uralkali agreement had set the floor price of potash at around $400 a tonne. The new deal is well below that but is nonetheless seen by some as positive news for potash as it sets a floor price and ending uncertainty.

The idea of California smothered in Chinese pollution seemed to catch on:

How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

2014/01/21: NYT: German Energy Official Sounds a Warning
Germany's new energy minister on Tuesday struck a sobering tone about the country's ambitious goals for making its energy sector more reliant on renewable sources, saying that rising costs risked losing public support and jeopardizing the powerful German industrial base. The minister, Sigmar Gabriel, in his first major policy speech, said at an annual energy conference organized by the publication Handelsblatt in Berlin that annual consumer costs for renewables of about 24 billion euros, or about $32.5 billion, were already pushing the limits of what the German economy, Europe's most powerful, could handle. "We need to keep in mind that the whole economic future of our country is riding on this," said Mr. Gabriel, who is responsible for the Energiewende, or energy transformation.
2014/01/22: RNE: Will Germany meet its renewable energy targets?

And on the Bottom Line:

2014/01/25: CCurrents: Message To World Elites: Don't Bet On Coal And Oil Growth
2014/01/24: Guardian(UK): More global warming will be worse for the economy, says the Copenhagen Consensus Center [Lomborg]
2014/01/23: RTCC: Pipelines, coal terminals and climate chaos: is this the future we want?
Experts from the Stockholm Environment Institute argue the social costs of fossil fuels are underestimated
2014/01/20: RTCC: Value of coal assets 'could be halved' if world goes low-carbon
2014/01/20: RNE: HSBC says $20bn market value of coal assets at risk

Who's getting the subsidies?

2014/01/23: CCurrents: Hefty Subsidies Prop Up Unsustainable Energy System

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

Various psychological angles arise in considerations of the ecological crisis:

2014/01/24: Guardian(UK): What effect does cold weather have on people's views on climate change?

A note on theFukushima disaster:

It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.]
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:

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

2014/01/21: BBerg: Tepco Wins Approval for Post-Disaster Plan to Rebuild
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) won the support of the government and banks for a plan to rebuild its business, the latest step in the recovery from the nuclear disaster three years ago that almost destroyed the company. The agreement between the utility, now under government control, and its biggest lenders includes more than 1 trillion yen ($9.6 billion) in cost cuts. The plan hinges on the restart of two reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, the world's biggest, as early as July. Most of the public oppose restarting Japan's 48 reactors, which are all offline for safety checks.

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

As for the charismatic megafauna:

2014/01/24: Eureka: Biomarker for stress hormones in polar bears, wildlife affected by global climate change
Chemical analyses by neuroscientist Jerrold Meyer and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are helping to establish hair cortisol concentration (HCC) as an important new biomarker for stress in wild animals facing global climate change.
2014/01/21: Eureka: Polar bear diet changes as sea ice melts

The tele-connection of Antarctic, North and tropical climates is notable:

2014/01/22: NSF: Analysis indicates that North and tropical Atlantic warming affects Antarctic climate

That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

2014/01/25: ArcticNews: Higher Altitude Methane Rise
2014/01/23: UMU: Arctic inland waters emit large amounts of carbon
Geoscientist Erik Lundin shows in his thesis that streams and lakes of Northern Sweden are hotspots for emissions of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

2014/01/23: Reuters: U.S. appeals court throws Arctic drilling into further doubt
Juneau, Alaska - A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Interior Department wrongly awarded offshore oil leases in the Chukchi Sea near Alaska in 2008 without considering the full range of environmental risks posed by drilling in the Arctic. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals shttp://www.noaa.gov/newsarchive.htmlent the on-going dispute - pitting environmental groups and Native Alaska tribes against the federal government and energy companies - back to U.S. District in Anchorage, Alaska. It was not immediately clear what the decision would mean for the oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its plans, revealed in December, to resume exploratory drilling this coming summer in the Chukchi.
2014/01/23: TP:JR: Shell's Arctic Offshore Drilling Ambitions Stymied In Appeals Court
2014/01/22: WaPo: Arctic lease sale flawed, appeals court rules
2014/01/21: G&M: New deal nears on 'polar code' to regulate Arctic shipping
Talks are accelerating on binding pollution and safety rules for shipping through Arctic waters, a long-delayed objective that could assuage Canadian concerns as climate change makes the Northwest Passage increasingly attractive to foreign vessels. A draft of this polar code should be completed shortly by members of the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, and take effect as early as 2016, shipping associations in Norway and Canada predict. Russia's Northern Sea Route and Canada's Northwest Passage are two Arctic thoroughfares that can cut shipping time for foreign vessels travelling between Asia and Europe. Shrinking summer sea ice, a consequence of global warming, is expected to make transits through both routes easier in the decades ahead.
2014/01/21: NatureN: Polar drilling problems revealed
Report into failings of expedition to explore Antarctic lake finds equipment to blame -- but complications can be fixed.
2014/01/20: EurActiv: Oil firms cool over Greenland oil drilling
None of the oil companies that have a license to drill in the seas surrounding Greenland have applied for one in 2014, according to the environment NGO Greenpeace.

While in Antarctica:

2014/01/24: ABC(Au): 'Global hub' for Antarctic research opens in Hobart
The new home of Hobart's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) has been officially opened. It has been more than four years since the previous federal government committed to build the $45 million centre on the waterfront. The IMAS was federally-funded on land donated by the Tasmanian Government.
2014/01/23: BBC: Antarctic ice line patterns [sastrugi] detected by Cryosat spacecraft
The persistent wind blowing across the high Antarctic plateau sculpts striking waves and curves in the ice surface, and it seems their signature can be detected in satellite data.
2014/01/22: Eureka: North and Tropical Atlantic Ocean bringing climate change to Antarctica, NYU researchers find
2014/01/21: CBC: Sea anemones found living beneath Antarctic ice shelf
New tentacled species discovered in habitat thought to be too cold to support life

The food crisis is ongoing:

2014/01/26: ABC(Au): Stock being off-loaded in large numbers as drought tightens grip
2014/01/24: Grist: Jon Stewart rips into factory farming while talking about the spreading pig virus
2014/01/24: ColumbusDispatch: About 10,000 Ohioans lose food stamps
2014/01/23: Guardian(UK): China could lose millions of hectares of farmland to pollution
2014/01/23: TP:Econ: New York City Pantries Ran Out Of Food After Food Stamps Were Cut
2014/01/21: ABC(Au): Bushfire devastates olive grove
2014/01/20: BBerg: Climate Proofing of Farms Seen Too Slow as Industry Faces Havoc
Climate change will play havoc with farming, and policy makers and researchers aren't fully aware of the significance on food supply, according to the World Bank.
2014/01/20: TheConversation: Grasslands under pressure -- will agriculture pull through?

The state of the world's fisheries is a concern. See also, and:

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

2014/01/24: BBC: Genetically-modified purple tomatoes heading for shops
2014/01/24: Grist: OK, GMOs matter - but the noisy fight over them is a distraction
2014/01/24: BBC: 'Fish oil' GM plant trial application submitted
An application to conduct field trials of a genetically modified crop containing Omega-3 fatty acids normally found in oily fish has been submitted. If approved by the government, the trials could begin at Rothamsted Research agricultural institute in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, this year. The initial aim of the crop is to benefit the fish farming industry, the researchers said. But in a decade it could end up in food products, such as margarine.
2014/01/23: EurActiv: GMO activists stage protest outside Greenpeace's Brussels office
GMO activists have launched a campaign to get EU approval for genetically engineered crops, staging a protest outside the Brussels office of environmental group Greenpeace today (23 January). The protesters gathered outside the Greenpeace offices in the heart of Brussels' political centre at 11 a.m. and held up banners describing the environmental group's position against GM crops as a "crime against humanity". The protest was led by Patrick Moore...
2014/01/23: JQuiggin: Greenpeace splits on GM sabotage
2014/01/23: CI: Farmers Abandoning GMO Seeds and the Reason Will Surprise You
2014/01/22: Grist: Why GMOs matter -- especially for the developing world
2014/01/21: Grist: Canada sued over approval of "toxic" GMO salmon
2014/01/21: Grist: Crop flops: GMOs lead ag down the wrong path
2014/01/21: ERW: Is demand for non-GM soy boosting 'green agriculture' in the Amazon?

Regarding labelling GM food:

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

A mercifully relatively quiet week in the hurricane wars:

2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Norfolk Island buffeted by 100 km winds from ex Cyclone June

Some say a stalled Lingling, some say Tropical Depression Agaton, at any rate the Philippines got soaked, again:

2014/01/24: RScribbler: The Neverending Deluge: Pacific Heat + Fixed Jet Stream Parks Anomalous January Cyclone Lingling Over Philippines For Two Weeks
2014/01/22: CNN: 45 dead, more than 260,000 displaced in Philippines flooding
Flash floods and landslides have left 45 dead in the Philippines in recent days - More than 55,000 families, or 260,000 people, have been displaced by the storm - Most of the deaths were by drowning or in landslides - The heavy rains were brought by tropical depression Agaton, which has now dissipated
2014/01/21: ABC(Au): Super typhoon victims flee again as rains flood southern Philippines
Emergency workers in the Philippines have evacuated thousands of people across the country's south after three days of rain-flooded towns and farmland. Hundreds of the evacuees are still recovering after Super Typhoon Haiyan swept across the region in November, marking as one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall. Now, tropical depression Agaton is wrecking havoc on the eastern central island of Samar, destroying emergency shelters set up by the humanitarian agency Oxfam.
2014/01/20: Oxfam: Storms wreak havoc in typhoon-hit Philippines
Disaster on top of catastrophic disaster for millions displaced by Typhoon Haiyan, Oxfam warns Thousands of people have been evacuated from collapsed tents and fragile makeshift shelters or are living in flooded shelters in disaster hit areas of the Philippines after the six month rainy season turned into vicious storms this week.
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
2014/01/24: ABC(Au): The Bureau of Meteorology says a cyclone could form off the Pilbara coast as early as next week
2014/01/23: UKISS: Growing threats
2014/01/23: ERW: Predicting inland flood damage from hurricanes

This week in notable weather:
- 2014/01/26: al Jazeera: Snow returns across Europe [pix]
  After a relatively mild start to January, cold air is returning with plenty of wintry precipitation.
- 2014/01/24: TreeHugger: Cold waves used to be more frequent, and now that we're not used to them, they seem worse
- 2014/01/24: MODIS: Storm over central Australia [on Jan.17]
- 2014/01/24: CNN: Snow, ice freezes Deep South -- Cold and icy, Texas and Louisiana deal with winter
  State of emergency declared in Louisiana because of cold and ice - Two dead in weather-related Louisiana traffic accidents, state police say - "If you don't need to be on the roads, stay off them," Houston official says - Many South Texas and southern Louisiana schools closed
- 2014/01/23: al Jazeera: In Pictures: More wintry weather for US
  Another storm brings heavy snow across parts of North America
- 2014/01/22: CTV: High winds, heavy snow hammer Atlantic Canada
- 2014/01/22: CBC: Winter storm dumps heaps of snow on northeast U.S.
- 2014/01/22: CBC: Winter storm blankets U.S. under heaps of snow -- Schools closed, thousands of flights cancelled
- 2014/01/22: CNN: More cold coming: This freeze will stick
  The blizzard warnings are expiring, but more cold is on the way - Some areas saw up to 18-inch snowdrifts Several governors issue states of emergency - More than 1,400 flights were canceled Wednesday
- 2014/01/22: Wunderground: Heavy Snows Hit Northeast, Mid-Atlantic: 13.5 Inches for Philadelphia
- 2014/01/21: Wunderground: Return of the Polar Vortex
- 2014/01/22: CBC: Schools closed as blizzard hits Nova Scotia
- 2014/01/22: al Jazeera: Another winter storm slams the US
  Cold air plunges across North America bringing more heavy snow to the Eastern Seaboard.
- 2014/01/21: BBC: US east coast hit with heavy snow and bitter cold
- 2014/01/21: CBC: Polar vortex freeze is back for Central, Atlantic Canada -- Wind chill feels like -30 in Ontario, Quebec
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): Winter storm returns to US east coast as snow disrupts travel across region
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): Winter storm blasts north-east US with snow and freezing temperatures -- live
- 2014/01/21: CBC: Polar vortex freeze is back for Central, Eastern Canada -- Wind-chill values dip below -30 C in Ontario, Quebec
- 2014/01/20: CBC: Polar vortex brings cold back to Central, Eastern Canada
- 2014/01/20: Guardian(UK): Another Arctic blast sends US into single-digit and sub-zero temperatures
Abrupt Climate Change put in an appearance:
- 2014/01/19: Eureka: The water cycle amplifies abrupt climate change
This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:
- 2014/01/24: Guardian(UK): Al Gore: 'extreme weather has made people wake up to climate change'
- 2014/01/23: RScribbler: Arctic 'Heat Wave' to Rip Polar Vortex in Half, Shatter Alaska's All-Time Record High for January?
- 2014/01/19: PSinclair: More Evidence on Increasing Extreme Weather Impacts
Polar Vortex? Rossby Waves? Blocking Patterns? Arctic Oscillation? What is the Arctic melt doing to our weather?
- 2014/01/25: GLaden: Climate Matters: Weather Systems Stalling
- 2014/01/22: PSinclair: Think on These Things
Meanwhile on the GHG front:
- 2014/01/23: CriticalAngle: Talking Trash on Emissions
- 2014/01/21: TreeHugger: Thousands of natural gas leaks from pipelines under Washington D.C.
- 2014/01/19: Guardian(UK): CO2 emissions are being 'outsourced' by rich countries to rising economies
And in the carbon cycle:
- 2014/01/20: TreeHugger: Fungi sequester more carbon than leaf litter
Regarding the solar hypothesis:
- 2014/01/21: FuturePundit: Earth Going To Cool From Low Sunspot Activity?
- 2014/01/19: Guardian(UK): A grand solar minimum would barely make a dent in human-caused global warming
  Research has shown that a grand solar minimum would offset no more than 0.3°C of global warming
Aerosols are making their presence felt:
- 2014/01/26: IOTD: Haze in the Sichuan Basin [on Jan.23]
- 2014/01/25: MODIS: Dust storm over the Mediterranean Sea [on Jan.20]
- 2014/01/23: Eureka: Changing climate: How dust changed the face of the earth
  The journal Science publishes results from a Polarstern expedition in the mostly unexplored South Pacific
And on the ENSO front:
- 2014/01/23: NatureN: El Niño monitoring system in failure mode
- 2014/01/23: Guardian(UK): What will happen to global warming when we get the next big El Niño?
- 2014/01/21: Grist: Get ready for more "extreme" El Niños
- 2014/01/20: RTCC: Scientists warn of El Nino 'devastation' if global temperatures rise
- 2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Extreme El Nino events set to double
- 2014/01/20: RNE: Climate change could double likelihood of super El Ninos
- 2014/01/19: Eureka: Get used to heat waves: Extreme El Nino events to double
  Rain pattern research confirms the impacts of unusuala and extreme El Nino events
- 2014/01/19: NatureN: Frequency of extreme El Niños to double as globe warms
  Climate models agree on projections of changing rainfall patterns from future warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean.
- 2014/01/19: Guardian(UK): Unchecked global warming 'will double extreme El Niño weather events'
  Research shows world's most devastating global weather phenomenon will occur once a decade under current emissions scenario
As for the temperature record:
- 2014/01/25: Wunderground: December 2013: Earth's 3rd warmest December on Record
- 2014/01/23: QuarkSoup: HadCRUT4: 2013 Was 8th Warmest Year
- 2014/01/23: QuarkSoup: Is Ocean Heat Content Accelerating?
- 2014/01/23: Moyhu: December GISS Temp down by 0.18°C
- 2014/01/22: Grist: Last year was the fourth hottest on record, or maybe the seventh
- 2014/01/22: ABC(Au): Climate records for 2013 show no let-up in global warming trend
  The Bureau of Meteorology says 2013 was Australia's hottest on record, and data just released indicates the year was one of the hottest ever for the globe. US scientists say that for the 37th year in a row, last year's global temperatures were above average. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says 2013 was the world's fourth warmest on record.
- 2014/01/22: KSJT: 2013: It was a very warm year.
- 2014/01/22: ABC(Au): 2013 fourth hottest year on record for planet: reports
- 2014/01/21: UCSUSA:B: The Slow Burn Continues: 2013 Ranks in the Top 10 Warmest Years on Record
- 2014/01/21: Wunderground: 2013: Earth's 4th Warmest Year on Record
- 2014/01/22: RNE: Groundhog Day: 2013 is fourth warmest year on record
- 2014/01/22: IOTD: 2013 Continued the Long-Term Warming Trend
- 2014/01/21: CCP: [link to 1.4 meg pdf] James Hansen et al: Global Temperature Update Through 2013
- 2014/01/21: RScribbler: 2013 4th Hottest Year on Record, Deep Ocean Warming Fastest, NASA, NOAA Find No Pause in Long-Term Warming Trend
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): NOAA: 2013 tied for fourth-warmest year on record
- 2014/01/21: CBC: Climate change: 2013 ranked 4th warmest year -- NASA and NOAA update global temperatures from last 134 years
- 2014/01/20: Wunderground: Nine Nations or Territories Set All-Time Heat Records in 2013
- 2014/01/20: QuarkSoup: Yet Another Large Jump in Ocean Warming
- 2014/01/19: CapClimate: Omaha Crushes 119-Year Temperature Record
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2014/01/23: TP:JR: NASA Announces 5 New Missions To Study Earth From Orbit In 2014
And in the paleoclimate:
- 2014/01/23: Eureka: Scientists reveal why life got big in the Earth's early oceans
- 2014/01/23: EGU: [Press Release] Ancient forests stabilised Earth's CO2 and climate
And in historical times:
- 2014/01/22: APOD: The Upper Michigan Blizzard of 1938
What's the State of the Oceans?:
- 2014/01/23: ABC(Au): Mass oyster deaths leave Port Stephens industry and scientists shell-shocked
  Oyster farmers in the NSW Hunter region's Port Stephens estuary are in limbo after a mystery kill wiped out millions of their oyster crop. Several hatcheries of Pacific oysters have been hit and some have perished altogether. Geoff Diemar has worked in the industry for more than six decades. He has lost about 10 million oysters, including all of next year's crop.
- 2014/01/22: EneNews: TV: Problems with killer whales local to West Coast - Only baby born in 2013 died - Just two born in 2012 - Depleted fish supply blamed
- 2014/01/22: NatureN: Ecology: Protect the deep sea
  Edward B. Barbier and colleagues call for governance and funds for deep-sea reserves and the restoration of ecosystems damaged by commercial interests.
As for Ocean Currents:
- 2014/01/20: Guardian(UK): Atlantic current changes could bring drier summers to the UK
What's new in Biodiversity?
- 2014/01/23: BBC: Plant-killing fungi 'drive rainforest biodiversity'
  Pathogenic fungi, normally associated with killing plant life, could play a key role in driving biodiversity in tropical rainforests, a study suggests. Researchers found that the presence of fungal pathogens limited the growth of dominant species, allowing other plants to become established.
- 2014/01/23: BBC: Brazil dolphin is first new river species since 1918
  Araguaia river dolphin is the first new river dolphin species described since 1918
- 2014/01/22: SciNow: New Dolphin Discovered in Brazil
- 2014/01/22: NatureN: Plant killers protect rainforest diversity -- Fungi that feed on vegetation can keep any one species from dominating
- 2014/01/19: SciAm:EC: Sunday Species Snapshot: Gulf Coast Jaguarundi
- 2014/01/19: JFleck: The snow goose problem
And on the extinction watch:
- 2014/01/25: Tyee: A New Era of Extinction Is Here
- 2014/01/24: Salon: South African rhinos being slaughtered in record numbers
  As many as 1000 were slaughtered in 2013 -- a significant jump from 668 the year before
- 2014/01/22: TheConversation: Sharks and rays threatened worldwide - overfishing to blame
- 2014/01/21: NatureNB: One-quarter of shark and ray species are in trouble
- 2014/01/21: NatureN: Yellowstone grizzlies face losing protected status
  Conservationists protest after panel recommends ending bears' endangered-species listing.
- 2014/01/21: SciAm:EC: 30 Percent of Sharks, Rays and Related Species at Risk of Extinction
- 2014/01/21: SFU: Study: sharks/rays globally overfished
  One quarter of the world's cartilaginous fish, namely sharks and rays, face extinction within the next few decades, according to the first study to systematically and globally assess their fate.
- 2014/01/21: IUCNRedList: A quarter of sharks and rays threatened with extinction
The bees and Colony Collapse Disorder are a constant concern. And then, there are the Neonicotinoids:
- 2014/01/21: Grist: Plant STD linked to honeybee collapse
- 2014/01/21: Eureka: Pathogenic plant virus jumps to honeybees
  A viral pathogen that typically infects plants has been found in honeybees and could help explain their decline.
- 2014/01/20: Guardian(UK): Pesticides 'making bees smaller'
  Bumblebees exposed to a widely-used [pyrethroid] pesticide produced workers with lower body mass, scientists find
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2014/01/23: ABC(Au): Heatwave blamed for large spike in the number of deaths in Victoria last week
  [...] More than 203 deaths were reported to the coroner, more than twice the average.
- 2014/01/23: Eureka: Climate change threatens Winter Olympics -- Only 6 of previous Winter Games venues to be cold enough by late-century
- 2014/01/23: Wunderground: California's Record Warmth and Drought Won't Stop Outdoor NHL Hockey
- 2014/01/22: TP:JR: What Is The Most Dangerous Impact Of Climate Change?
- 2014/01/20: CCP: Climate change's new menace: mountain tsunamis
And then there are the world's forests:
- 2014/01/24: Eureka: Rainforests in Far East shaped by humans for the last 11,000 years
- 2014/01/24: BBC: Citizen science charts horse chestnut tree pest spread
- 2014/01/23: TreeHugger: Unlike humans, old trees grow faster than young ones, new study shows
- 2014/01/23: Maribo: Older, wiser and better at accumulating carbon?
- 2014/01/21: al Jazeera: India's forest man
  Lauded for growing an entire forest over thirty years, Jadav Payeng shows the way forward to afforestation. Thirty-four years ago when he began to plant trees, no one, including him, had the slightest idea that his effort would give birth to an entire forest. It all began with a dream he had in 1979 to plant trees on barren land for small animals and birds to build their homes on the tree tops. Chasing his dream, Jadav Payeng, then a young lad, belonging to the Mishing tribal community in Jorhat district, in the north eastern state of Assam, began to plant trees regularly. Decades later, the trees have transformed into a lush forest covering 55 hectares of land, home to wild elephants, tigers, rhinos and deer.
Aerosols affect the climate, but they also affect people's health:
- 2014/01/22: HelmholtzZM: Particulate Air Pollution Leads to Increased Heart Attack Risk
- 2014/01/22: Eureka: More diseases from air pollution uncovered by improved data material
- 2014/01/21: BBC: EU air pollution target 'still too high' for heart health
  A study confirming a link between atmospheric pollution and heart-attack risk strengthens the EU case for tougher clean-air targets, experts say. Research in the BMJ looking at long-term data for 100,000 people in five European countries found evidence of harm, even at permitted concentrations.
As for heatwaves and wild fires:
- 2014/01/23: ABC(Au): Wollemi fire continues to smoke out neighbours
- 2014/01/23: Moyhu: Heat Wave in Victoria
- 2014/01/23: MODIS: Colby fire in southern California (morning overpass)
- 2014/01/22: ABC(Au): Fire burns on at Sheepskin Complex
- 2014/01/21: ABC(Au): Victorian fire fighters battling a number of grassfires
- 2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Bushfire alert still in place for Riverslea blaze
- 2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Cost of SA's bushfires estimated at $10 million as farmers face scorched fields, dead livestock and ruined homes
- 2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Firefighters work to contain a blaze that has destroyed five houses in NSW
  Firefighters are working to contain a blaze that has destroyed five houses near the South Wales Wales town of Humula about an hour south of Wagga Wagga. Lightning sparked several fires in the Riverina on the weekend which have been difficult to fight.
- 2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Crews fight hills blazes and contain bushfire threatening Ellenbrook homes
Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:
- 2014/01/20: Maribo: Corals in Motion! Time-lapse video of tropical corals
Glaciers are melting:
- 2014/01/21: BBC: Scotland had a glacier up to 1700s, say scientists
- 2014/01/21: FaGP: Koge Bugt Outlet Glacier, Southeast Greenland
Sea levels are rising:
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2014/01/26: ABC(Au): More deaths in Indonesia as flooding continues
  Two people have died and a further 27 people are missing after a flash flood surged down a mountain causing a boat to capsize off the coast of a northern Indonesian island.
- 2014/01/25: BBC: Further UK flood warnings as heavy rainfall forecast
- 2014/01/23: IOTD: All Dry on the Western Front
- 2014/01/23: JFleck: Southwest drought risk
- 2014/01/23: ABC(Au): Emergency services brace for more Kimberley flooding
- 2014/01/23: ABC(Au): Flash-flooding and commuter chaos in Brisbane as storms drench south-east Queensland
- 2014/01/22: UCSUSA:B: Water Woes: Dramatic Increase of Droughts in California Is a Bellwether of Future Climate Impacts
- 2014/01/22: UCSUSA: California Governor Says Drought is a "Stark Warning" of What is to Come with a Changing Climate
- 2014/01/22: CSM: Historic California drought called a red flag for future of US
- 2014/01/22: ABC(Au): Flooding closes two major highways and number of roads stranding drivers in WA's Pilbara and Goldfields
- 2014/01/21: al Jazeera: Floods hit Italian and French Rivieras [pix]
  Mediterranean regions of both countries have been badly affected by days of torrential rain.
- 2014/01/20: Xinhuanet: Drought is drying out Poyang Lake
- 2014/01/20: al Jazeera: California faces long battle against drought
  The US's most populous state is dealing with the effects of an unparalleled water shortage.
- 2014/01/19: LeDaro: California: Instead of rain or snow the state is getting wildfires in the dead of winter
- 2014/01/19: BBC: France floods: Deaths as Var inundated
  Two people have died and more than 150 people have been airlifted to safety after floods hit south-eastern France, local authorities say.
On the mitigation front, consider transportation & GHG production:
- 2014/01/23: BBC: Toyota retains number one slot in global car sales
  Japan's Toyota has kept its position as the world's largest carmaker by sales.
  Toyota sold 9.98 million vehicles during 2013...
  [...]
  GM sold 9.71 million vehicles last year, while Germany's Volkswagen came in third with sales of 9.5 million.
- 2014/01/21: UCSUSA:B: Moving California Forward: Cleaning up Freight in the Golden State
- 2014/01/21: UCSUSA: New Report Sets a Course for Cleaner Freight Transportation in California
  Electrification is a key strategy for reducing air pollution that harms health and contributes to climate change.
- 2014/01/21: CleanTechnica: FlexSys' 1 Piece Wings Improve Fuel Efficiency by 12%
- 2014/01/21: NCSU: Study: Electric Drive Vehicles Have Little Impact on U.S. Pollutant Emissions
- 2014/01/20: TreeHugger: Since 1997, Toyota has sold 6 million hybrids (1 million of those just in the past 9 months)
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2014/01/21: TreeHugger: A Passive House is built on stilts
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2014/01/22: CSW: Reducing greenhouse gas pollution is the cheapest path in a warming world
- 2014/01/21: NatureN: Rock's power to mop up carbon revisited -- Experts push for more research into olivine weathering
- 2014/01/20: Reuters: Focus on Poverty: geoengineering isn't worth the risk - Roger Williamson
- 2014/01/20: CleanTechnica: Gore Rejects Geoengineering As Climate Change Panacea
- 2014/01/20: RTCC: Geoengineering lacks popular support say researchers
What's new in conservation?
- 2014/01/25: CCurrents: A Decade Of Vulture Conservation In India
While on the adaptation front:
- 2014/01/24: RtS: The Coffee Grower's Paradox
- 2014/01/23: TP:JR: How Phoenix Is Getting Ready For 100-Degree Nights
- 2014/01/22: WMO: Initiatives to increase coastal resilience
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): Climate change: don't get scared, get ready
- 2014/01/20: CleanTechnica: California Is Officially In A Drought: Is Desal An Answer?
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2014/01/21: PNAS: (ab$) Species interactions and the structure of complex communication networks by Joseph A. Tobias et al.
- 2014/01/21: PNAS: (abs) Molecular insight into bacterial cleavage of oceanic dimethylsulfoniopropionate into dimethyl sulfide by Chun-Yang Li et al.
- 2014/01/21: PNAS: (letter$) Reply to Iglesias-Prieto et al.: Combined field and laboratory approaches for the study of coral calcification by Adina Paytan et al.
- 2014/01/21: PNAS: (letter$) Attributing reductions in coral calcification to the saturation state of aragonite, comments on the effects of persistent natural acidification by Roberto Iglesias-Prieto et al.
- 2014/01/03: ACS:ES&T: (ab$) How Much Do Electric Drive Vehicles Matter to Future U.S. Emissions? by Samaneh Babaee et al.
- 2014/01/23: ACP: Establishing the contribution of lawn mowing to atmospheric aerosol levels in American suburbs by R. M. Harvey et al.
- 2014/01/22: ACP: New approach to monitor transboundary particulate pollution over Northeast Asia by M. E. Park et al.
- 2014/01/22: ACP: Observation and a numerical study of gravity waves during tropical cyclone Ivan (2008) by F. Chane Ming et al.
- 2014/01/20: ACP: On the consistency between global and regional methane emissions inferred from SCIAMACHY, TANSO-FTS, IASI and surface measurements by C. Cressot et al.
- 2014/01/20: ACP: Two hundred fifty years of aerosols and climate: the end of the age of aerosols by S. J. Smith & T. C. Bond
- 2014/01/23: ACPD: Modeling and sensitivity analysis of transport and deposition of radionuclides from the Fukushima Daiichi accident by X. Hu et al.
- 2014/01/21: ACPD: Long term halocarbon observations from a~coastal and an inland site in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo by A. D. Robinson et al.
- 2014/01/20: ACPD: Overview of the Manitou Experimental Forest Observatory: site description and selected science results from 2008-2013 by J. Ortega et al.
- 2014/01/21: eLife: Extinction risk and conservation of the world's sharks and rays by Nicholas K Dulvy et al.
- 2014/01/23: BG: Weathering by tree-root-associating fungi diminishes under simulated Cenozoic atmospheric CO2 decline by J. Quirk et al.
- 2014/01/22: PLoS One: A New Species of River Dolphin from Brazil or: How Little Do We Know Our Biodiversity by Tomas Hrbek et al.
- 2014/01/08: Springer:CC: Public perception of cold weather events as evidence for and against climate change by Stuart Bryce Capstick & Nicholas Frank Pidgeon
- 2014/01/23: BG: Regional variability of acidification in the Arctic: a sea of contrasts by E. E. Popova et al.
- 2014/01/22: BG: Meiofauna winners and losers of coastal hypoxia: case study harpacticoid copepods by M. Grego et al.
- 2014/01/22: BG: Change in tropical forest cover of Southeast Asia from 1990 to 2010 by H.-J. Stibig et al.
- 2014/01/23: BGD: The influence of the geo-morphological and sedimentological settings on the distribution of epibenthic assemblages on a flat topped hill on the over-deepened shelf of the Western Weddell Sea by B. Dorschel et al.
- 2014/01/23: BGD: Future climate variability impacts on potential erosion and soil organic carbon in European croplands by M. van der Velde et al.
- 2014/01/22: BGD: An ensemble approach to simulate CO2 emissions from natural fires by A. V. Eliseev et al.
- 2014/01/23: CP: Late Pliocene lakes and soils: a global data set for the analysis of climate feedbacks in a warmer world by M. J. Pound et al.
- 2014/01/21: CP: An inter-laboratory investigation of the Arctic sea ice biomarker proxy IP25 in marine sediments: key outcomes and recommendations by S. T. Belt et al.
- 2014/01/20: CP: Limited response of peatland CH4 emissions to abrupt Atlantic Ocean circulation changes in glacial climates by P. O. Hopcroft et al.
- 2014/01/22: CPD: Constraining Holocene hydrological changes in the Carpathian-Balkan region using speleothem ?18O and pollen-based temperature reconstructions by V. Dragusin et al.
- 2014/01/21: CPD: Millennial Minimum Temperature Variations in the Qilian Mountains, China: evidence from Tree rings by Y. Zhang et al.
- 2014/01/20: CPD: Southern high-latitude terrestrial climate change during the Paleocene-Eocene derived from a marine pollen record (ODP Site 1172, East Tasman Plateau) by L. Contreras et al.
- 2014/01/19: Nature: (ab$) A nanophotonic solar thermophotovoltaic device by Andrej Lenert et al.
- 2014/01/22: Nature: (ab$) Pathogens and insect herbivores drive rainforest plant diversity and composition by Robert Bagchi et al.
- 2014/01/23: CP: Holocene sub-centennial evolution of Atlantic water inflow and sea ice distribution in the western Barents Sea by S. M. P. Berben et al.
- 2014/01/24: ACP: A new method for evaluating the impact of vertical distribution on aerosol radiative forcing in general circulation models by M. R. Vuolo et al.
- 2014/01/24: ACP: Stratospheric ozone trends and variability as seen by SCIAMACHY from 2002 to 2012 by C. Gebhardt et al.
- 2014/01/24: ACPD: Radiative signature of absorbing aerosol over the Eastern Mediterranean Basin by A. K. Mishra et al.
- 2014/01/24: ACPD: Climatic controls on water vapor deuterium excess in the marine boundary layer of the North Atlantic based on 500 days of in situ, continuous measurements by H. C. Steen-Larsen et al.
- 2014/01/24: ACPD: CarbonTracker-CH4: an assimilation system for estimating emissions of atmospheric methane by L. M. Bruhwiler et al.
- 2014/01/22: OSD: Modelling Seasonal Circulation and Thermohaline Structure of the Caspian Sea by M. Gunduz & E. Özsoy
- 2014/01/24: TC: A double continuum hydrological model for glacier applications by B. de Fleurian et al.
- 2014/01/22: TC: Updated cloud physics in a regional atmospheric climate model improves the modelled surface energy balance of Antarctica by J. M. van Wessem et al.
- 2014/01/24: TCD: An improved CryoSat-2 sea ice freeboard and thickness retrieval algorithm through the use of waveform fitting by N. T. Kurtz et al.
- 2014/01/24: TCD: Initial results from geophysical surveys and shallow coring of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream (NEGIS) by P. Vallelonga et al.
- 2014/01/23: TCD: Insights into ice stream dynamics through modeling their response to tidal forcing by S. H. R. Rosier et al.
- 2014/01/23: TCD: Estimating the avalanche contribution to the mass balance of debris covered glaciers by A. Banerjee & R. Shankar
- 2014/01/23: TCD: Projected changes of snow conditions and avalanche activity in a warming climate: a case study in the French Alps over the 2020-2050 and 2070-2100 periods by H. Castebrunet et al.
- 2014/01/23: TCD: Hybrid inventory, gravimetry and altimetry (HIGA) mass balance product for Greenland and the Canadian Arctic by W. Colgan et al.
- 2014/01/22: TCD: A statistical approach to represent small-scale variability of permafrost temperatures due to snow cover by K. Gisnås et al.
- 2013/06/07: arXiv: Indication of anomalous heat energy production in a reactor device by Giuseppe Levi et al.
- 2014/01/21: OSD: Residual circulation and fresh-water transport in the Dutch Wadden Sea: a numerical modeling study by M. Duran-Matute et al.
- 2014/01/21: TCD: Dynamic response of Antarctic ice shelves to bedrock uncertainty by S. Sun et al.
- 2014/01/21: mBio: Systemic Spread and Propagation of a Plant-Pathogenic Virus in European Honeybees, Apis mellifera by Ji Lian Li et al.
- 2014/01/19: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Delayed hydrological response to Greenland cooling at the onset of the Younger Dryas in western Europe by O. Rach et al.
- 2014/01/19: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Significant contribution of authigenic carbonate to marine carbon burial by Xiaole Sun & Alexandra V. Turchyn
- 2014/01/19: Nature:CC: (ab$) Increasing frequency of extreme El Niño events due to greenhouse warming by Wenju Cai et al.
And other significant documents:
- 2014/01/21: CCP: [link to 1.4 meg pdf] James Hansen et al: Global Temperature Update Through 2013
- 2014/01/22: EC: [links to several pdfs] Energy and climate goals for 2030
  On 22 January 2014 the Commission proposed energy and climate objectives to be met by 2030. The objectives send a strong signal to the market, encouraging private investment in new pipelines and electricity networks or low-carbon technologies. The targets must be met if the EU is to keep its promise to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95% by 2050.
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2014/01/23: Eureka: Carbon dioxide paves the way to unique nanomaterials
- 2014/01/23: ATTPh: Illustrating error analysis
- 2014/01/23: TSoD: Ghosts of Climates Past - Thirteen - Terminator II
- 2014/01/23: ABC(Au): Ex-military spy drone to conduct NASA climate tests in Australian airspace
  US space agency NASA is preparing to launch drone missions high in Australian skies during the next six weeks.
  [...]
  NASA announced that one of two ex-military Global Hawk it operates will conduct scientific missions from the US Pacific Island territory of Guam, "to track changes in the upper atmosphere and help researchers understand how these changes affect Earth's climate". NASA says scientists have installed 13 different instruments on the Global Hawks to capture air samples, and analyse clouds, gases and solar radiation for the Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment (ATTREX) flights.
- 2014/01/23: ERW: Quantized vibrations are essential to photosynthesis, say physicists
- 2014/01/21: ATTPh: Elements of truth
- 2014/01/20: Stoat: Peer review
- 2014/01/19: BackReaction: Trouble in the Ivory Tower: Not an academic problem
In the science organizations:
- 2014/01/24: ABC(Au): 'Global hub' for Antarctic research opens in Hobart
- 2014/01/22: ScienceInsider: Putin Decree Shakes Up Russian Science Funding
- 2014/01/20: NatureN: Budget offers recovery hope -- US physical sciences benefit more than biomedical research
More DIY science:
- 2014/01/24: BBC: Citizen science charts horse chestnut tree pest spread
  A citizen science study, involving more than 3,500 people, has revealed the spread and establishment of the horse chestnut leaf-miner in the UK.
- 2014/01/19: Moyhu: Generic code for WebGL Earth data plotting
What's new in models?
- 2014/01/24: ATTPh: Climate models
- 2014/01/21: Eureka: Princeton model anticipates ecological impacts of human responses to climate
Regarding Advocacy:
- 2014/01/21: TP:JR: If You See Something, Say Something: Another Top Climatologist On The Necessity Of Speaking Out
- 2014/01/20: QuarkSoup: Why Shouldn't Scientists Express Their (Informed) Opinions?
Regarding Dessler:
- 2014/01/20: SkS: Climate scientist Dessler to US Senate: 'Climate change is a clear and present danger' by dana1981
- 2014/01/19: BVerheggen: Andrew Dessler's testimony on what we know about climate change
Meanwhile at the UN:
- 2014/01/22: UN: UN-backed website aims to aid 'green'-minded governments
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2014/01/23: EnvEcon: How cap-and-trade might work
- 2014/01/21: EurActiv: Europe opts for 'auto-backload' of carbon markets
  Europe's depressed carbon markets are to be given an automatic 'market reserve' facility allowing at least 100 million carbon allowances - or 12% of the market - to be withheld or released to buoy prices, according to a document set for release on 22 January.
The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, cap and trade, cap and dividend, tradable energy quotas and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:
On the international political front, tensions continue as the empire leans on Iran:
- 2014/01/26: AntiWar: US 'Dismantling' Rhetoric Ignores Iran's Nuclear Proposals
- 2014/01/24: UN: UN atomic watchdog endorses plan to ensure peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme
- 2014/01/24: Asia Times: The Roving Eye - Rouhani and the 1914 remix
- 2014/01/24: BBC: US says businesses should be 'cautious' over Iran
  US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew : "I think it would be a big mistake for companies to over-read how open for business [Iran is]
- 2014/01/23: BBerg: Iran's Rouhani Invites Oil Companies to Invest as Sanctions End
- 2014/01/23: AntiWar: Iran President Talks Nuclear Deal, Courts Foreign Investment -- Netanyahu: Iranians Never Changed
- 2014/01/23: AntiWar: Kerry Threatens to Attack Iran If Deal Violated -- Can't Get Through Defense of Nuclear Deal Without Talking Up War
- 2014/01/23: al Jazeera: Rouhani reaches out to Western countries
  Iranian President tells World Economic Forum meeting that the will for a final deal is strong.
- 2014/01/23: Guardian(UK): Davos 2014: Iran ready to engage with the world, says Rouhani
- 2014/01/21: al Jazeera: EU and US ease some sanctions against Iran
  Measure comes after Tehran started to shut down its most sensitive nuclear work, as part of deal with West.
- 2014/01/20: AntiWar: Deal in Place, Iran Halts 20 Percent Uranium Enrichment -- First Sanctions Relief Begins Under P5+1 Interim Pact
- 2014/01/20: RFERL: As Sanctions Are Relaxed, Western Businesses Look To Iran
- 2014/01/20: CBC: Iran begins implementing nuclear deal
  International inspectors were present for Iran's 1st steps under historic deal
- 2014/01/20: al Jazeera: Iran starts curbing uranium enrichment
  Halting most sensitive uranium enrichment work is the first step towards a deal to end the nuclear stand-off.
- 2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Iran slows nuclear program, United Nations says, paving way for easing of sanctions
South [& East] China Sea tension persists:
- 2014/01/24: NBF: China warns foreign planes entering defense zone
- 2014/01/21: NatureN: Sea drilling project launches
  International expedition hopes to unravel mysteries of the South China Sea, one of the world's most geologically important seas.
- 2014/01/18: IPSNews: Japan Cuts Some Distance From Its Military Days
Regarding the EU FQD: Fuel Quality Directive:
- 2014/01/24: Grist: Canadian tar-sands oil could start flooding into Europe
- 2014/01/24: EurActiv: European tar sands imports set for steep rise, US study says
  A new study by the US Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) today (23 January) warns that imports of tar sands into Europe are likely to skyrocket if the block does not take measures.
  Tar sands imports to Europe are set to rise dramatically, to over 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2020, up from 4,000 bpd in 2012, according to the study. This, it says, would result in an emission increase in transport equivalent to six million additional cars on European roads.
  The EU's current Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) aims to reduce greenhouse gas intensity by 6% by 2020, but the NRDC report suggests that rising tar sands imports will lead to a 1.5% increase of greenhouse gas intensity.
  Tar sands are considered 23% more carbon intensive than conventional oil, experts say. An EU review of the FQD currently underway will soon decide exactly what carbon intensity label should be applied to tar sands. But under a new climate package unveiled yesterday, the FQD's writ will run out in 2020, a development that will please Canada.
- 2014/01/23: RTCC: Canada tar sands set to benefit from EU 2030 climate plan
- 2014/01/22: ICN: EU May Scrap Green Fuel Law in Boon for Tar Sands Industry
  Phasing out the Fuel Quality Directive after 2020 would throw a bone to Canada, whose government has waged a high-powered lobbying campaign to derail it.
- 2014/01/20: EurActiv: Strange bedfellows unite to defend Fuel Quality Directive
  Environmental pressure groups and biofuels trade associations have joined forces to call on the European Commission to save the Fuel Quality Directive, as rumours grow that it will be terminated by a passage in the 2030 White Paper.
These 'free trade' treaties are a stealth corporate takeover with anti-democratic dispute resolution mechanisms:
- 2014/01/24: MacroBiz: US trade shocker [TPP] one step closer to reality
  I have written previously about the risks posed to Australia's sovereignty and consumer welfare from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). If the TPP goes ahead, it will establish a US-style regional regulatory framework that meets the demands of major US export industries, including pharmaceutical and digital. The draft chapter on intellectual property rights, revealed by WikiLeaks, included a "Christmas wishlist" for pharmaceutical companies, including the proposal to extend patent protection and strengthen monopolies on clinical data. As part of the deal, the US is reportedly seeking patents for "new forms" of known substances, as well as on new uses on old medicines - a proposal which would lead to "evergreening", whereby patents can be renewed continuously. The pact poses a huge risk to Australia's world class public health system, which faces cost blowouts via reduced access to cheaper generic drugs and reduced rights for the government to regulate medicine prices. It also risks stifling innovation in the event that patent terms are extended too far.
- 2014/01/23: UNZ: "Free" Trade: Undermining Defense, Sovereignty, and the American Job Market -- Nothing To Do with Either Freedom or Trade
- 2014/01/23: DerSpiegel: Corporation Carte Blanche: Will US-EU Trade Become Too Free?
  Opposition to the planned new trans-Atlantic free trade agreement is growing. So far, criticism has focused on the fact that the deal seems directed exclusively at economic interests. Now fears are growing that corporations will be given too much power.
- 2014/01/22: BBC: Free trade: EU halts investment talks with US
  The European Commission has suspended talks on part of a far-reaching EU-US free trade deal amid concern that hard-won social protections in Europe might be undermined.
As for miscellaneous international political happenings:
- 2014/01/20: NBF: Nicaragua canal project is gathering momentum to start construction in late 2014
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
- 2014/01/25: BBC: A Chinese court has sentenced prominent human rights activist Xu Zhiyong to four years in prison
- 2014/01/25: BBC: Cuban leading activist Jose Ferrer 'arrested' in Havana
- 2014/01/23: Guardian(UK): China puts two more activists on trial
- 2014/01/22: BBC: Drax protesters' undercover police case convictions quashed
  Twenty-nine people sentenced after a power station protest at which an undercover police officer was working have had their convictions quashed.
- 2014/01/22: CBC: China puts grassroots citizen activists on trial
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): [Editorial] Secret policing: open justice
  Appeal court quashes convictions of environmental activists who ambushed train carrying fuel to Drax power station
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): Are you opposed to fracking? Then you might just be a terrorist
  From North America to Europe, the 'national security' apparatus is being bought off by Big Oil to rout peaceful activism
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): Drax coal protesters to appeal over Mark Kennedy spying
  Court to rule whether undercover police officer's involvement means coal activists should have convictions dropped
What are the activists up to?
Polls! We have polls!
- 2014/01/25: CTV: CTV Poll: 69 per cent believe pipelines are best way to ship crude oil
- 2014/01/24: Grist: Poll finds that Latinos overwhelmingly support climate action
- 2014/01/23: TP:JR: For Latino Voters, Climate Change Is Almost As Important An Issue As Immigration
- 2014/01/20: RTCC: Geoengineering lacks popular support say researchers
Regarding Water Politics and Business; See also:
- 2014/01/25: JFleck: Has California's probability density function changed?
- Wiki: Probability density function
- 2014/01/25: JFleck: "practicably irrigable" -- I'm on the hunt for the origins of the phrase "practicably irrigable".
- 2014/01/25: JFleck: California's drought: this is a test
- 2014/01/25: SimpleC: Planners must be alert to CO2 impact on water supplies
- 2014/01/24: JFleck: Vegas: It's easier to conserve water if you've been wasting a lot to begin with
- 2014/01/24: al Jazeera: Celebrating water cooperation: Red Sea to Dead Sea
  Israel-Palestine Joint Water Committee's work has been referred to as 'water apartheid', and 'pretence of cooperation'.
- 2014/01/23: al Jazeera: Gulf states try to tackle water woes
  GCC countries plan to build a 2,000 kilometre pipeline costing $10.5bn to move water from Oman to Kuwait.
- 2014/01/22: Guardian(UK): Climate change: 'water supply at risk from back-to-back extreme events'
- 2014/01/22: JFleck: Stuff various people wrote elsewhere: Colorado's ESA obligations on the Rio Grande
- 2014/01/21: JFleck: "running water which is salty"
Regarding science education:
While in the UK:
- 2014/01/24: BBC: Somerset floods: 'Major incident' declared
  A "major incident" has been declared in flooded areas in Somerset following warnings of further heavy rain. Many villagers are already cut off by floods and Sedgemoor District Council declared the major incident so it can mobilise extra support. The area's MP said there was a risk of catastrophic flooding unless action was taken and he asked for government help. The village of Muchelney has been cut off for almost a month while roads around Langport are expected to flood.
- 2014/01/24: BBC: Shale gas extraction through fracking can boost the economy and encourage businesses to come back to the UK, Prime Minister David Cameron has said
- 2014/01/24: BBC: Flood defence response 'disappoints'
  The head of the Environment Agency has been criticised for failing to provide a breakdown of his floods budget when questioned by MPs on Wednesday.
- 2014/01/23: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Opposing fracking is not extremism - it's our duty
- 2014/01/23: BBC: Britain should turn swathes of its upland pastures into woodland to help prevent flooding, according to a former environment minister
- 2014/01/23: Guardian(UK): Cuadrilla scraps plan to frack at Balcombe site
- 2014/01/22: BBC: Flood funds gap 'puts 250,000 homes at risk'
  A quarter of a million more homes are expected to face significant flooding by 2035 because of a shortfall in funding, an independent committee says. The Committee on Climate Change's (CCC) report says that government is not raising spending in line with projected changes in our climate.
- 2014/01/22: BBC: HS2 legal bid rejected by Supreme Court
  The Supreme Court has rejected a legal bid by objectors to the HS2 high-speed rail link to force further scrutiny of the government's plans.
- 2014/01/21: RTCC: UK budget cuts could lead to flooding damage worth £3bn
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): Flood defence cuts will cost £3bn in damages, say UK climate advisers
- 2014/01/21: RTCC: Lord Browne: fracking is 'not going to go away' in the UK
  Cuadrilla chairman and former BP chief says shale gas can help UK meet climate targets and boost energy security
- 2014/01/20: Guardian(UK): Some green extremists 'close to Trotskyites,' says [Committee on Climate Change chair, John Gummer]
- 2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Gloucester residents push for fracking project to be scrapped
  Coal seam gas opponents at Gloucester say they have sent the new Resources Minister Anthony Roberts a clear message to scrap a fracking project planned for the region.
And on mainland Europe:
- 2014/01/25: Lenz: German Federal Administrative Law Court on Nuclear Shutdown
- 2014/01/24: GET: EEG 2.0: Further Information on Key Points of Reform of German Renewables Law
- 2014/01/23: GET: Commission Proposes 40% Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Target for 2030 - Renewables Target without Individual Member Country Target
- 2014/01/23: WaPo: No one tries harder than Europe to fight climate change. The recession is testing that.
- 2014/01/23: TheConversation: Scrapping EU renewable targets after 2020 makes no sense
- 2014/01/23: BBC: 'Lame duck versus laggards' in battle for EU climate future
  The actions of a lame duck, said one critic. "Burnt out", said another. The EU commissioners, who leave office in November, were never going to please everyone with their new goals on climate and energy policy unveiled in Brussels this week.
  [...]
  Under the new plan, there will no longer be binding renewables targets for individual countries. There will be a big effort made to revitalise the EU emissions trading scheme. Much to the delight of the UK, there will be minimal rules on shale gas fracking. But at the very least, the EU stuck with a solid 40% target for emissions reduction by 2030.
- 2014/01/23: Guardian(UK): EU 2030 climate deal meets UK's core demands of ambitious cuts and choice
- 2014/01/23: HotWhopper: How much CO2 can the atmosphere take?
- 2014/01/23: EUO: EU vetoes Faroes Islands WTO panel [on fishing dispute]
- 2014/01/22: WNN: Greenhouse gas leads new European targets
  The European Commission's policy framework for energy and climate in 2030 mandates a 40% reduction in emissions and grants member states significant freedom in achieving it in a more 'Europeanised' energy system.
- 2014/01/22: GET: First Information on Key Points of Reform of German Renewables Law
- 2014/01/22: TP:JR: Europe Just Set Out To Cut Its Carbon Emissions 40 Percent By 2030
- 2014/01/22: ITracker: EU backs off rigid renewable targets
- 2014/01/22: CBC: EU goes slow on renewable energy amid sluggish economy
  Target is 27% renewable energy, 40% reduction in carbon by 2030, with no binding targets
- 2014/01/22: TRR: Europe looks to coal to reduce electricity prices
- 2014/01/22: Guardian(UK): EU to cut carbon emissions by 40% by 2030
  UK overruled in landmark climate deal that requires bloc to produce 27% of its energy from renewable sources
- 2014/01/22: Guardian(UK): EU 2030 climate action: a big step that is not enough
- 2014/01/22: ScienceInsider: European Commission Dampens Climate Ambitions
- 2014/01/22: RTCC: Live coverage: EU 2030 climate and energy package
- 2014/01/22: RTCC: EU proposes 40% carbon pollution cut by 2030 - renewables target of 27%
- 2014/01/22: EurActiv: Efficiency and renewables make Europe competitive, EU study says
  European industry has maintained its global market position thanks to relatively low energy intensity levels and high renewables penetration, according to a study into the continent's competitiveness due to be released by the European Commission as part of its clean energy package today (22 January).
- 2014/01/22: EUO: EU proposes 'affordable' climate targets
  The European Commission on Wednesday (22 January) proposed new greenhouse gas targets which it said would see the EU remain the global leader on climate change action, without damaging the bloc's fragile economy. Under the proposals, the EU would curb its CO2 emissions by 40 percent - compared to 1990 levels - by 2030 and obtain "at least" 27 percent of its energy from renewable sources by the same year. Both figures were disputed until the last minute.
- 2014/01/22: EUO: EU ditches plan to regulate on shale gas
- 2014/01/22: CleanTechnica: EU Carbon Emissions Could Be Cut By 40% By 2030 Using Only Low-Cost Measures
- 2014/01/22: Guardian(UK): EU sets targets of 40% carbon cut and 27% share of renewables by 2030 - live
- 2014/01/22: BBC: EU outlines 2030 climate goals
  The European Commission has outlined its plans for climate and energy policy until 2030. The Commissioners want a binding target to reduce carbon emissions by 40% from 1990 levels. Renewables will need to provide 27% of EU energy by 2030, but while the target will be binding at EU level there will be no mandatory targets for member states. The policy proposals are subject to review by heads of government.
- 2014/01/21: BBC: EU air pollution target 'still too high' for heart health
- 2014/01/21: BBC: 'Burnt out' EU likely to curb climate goals
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): Row simmers over EU's 2030 carbon targets hours before deadline
  EC president may ditch plans for renewables goal to broker a deal on 40% cut in greenhouse gas emissions
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): Row over renewable energy holds up EU greenhouse gas emissions deal
- 2014/01/21: EurActiv: EU to take legal action against Germany in Daimler coolant spat
  The European Commission is expected to launch legal action against Germany over Daimler's refusal to remove a banned refrigerant [R134a] from new cars, EU sources said on Monday (20 January).
- 2014/01/21: RTCC: EU bickering continues over 2030 climate targets
- 2014/01/21: RNE: France and Germany contemplate an "Airbus" of solar
- 2014/01/20: Guardian(UK): Europe must set a new renewable energy target
- 2014/01/20: EurActiv: EU action plan for ocean energy set to make waves
  The European Commission will today (20 January) announce an ocean energy action plan to set an energy forum and strategic roadmap in place by 2016, and ready a European Industrial Initiative for implementation by 2020.
- 2014/01/20: CleanTechnica: European Commission Blames Taxes And Levies For High Energy Prices
- 2014/01/19: RTCC: EU set to propose 40% carbon reduction target for 2030
Meanwhile in Australia:
- 2014/01/26: ABC(Au): Honoured researchers urge colleagues to fight anti-science
  Australian honours Scientists need to fight against a growing anti-science sentiment worldwide by joining the debate, say two researchers acknowledged in today's Australia Day Honours. Professors Bruce McKellar and Sam Berkovic, both associated with the University of Melbourne, received the nation's highest honour when they were appointed Companions in the General Division of the Order of Australia.
- 2014/01/26: ABC(Au): Stock being off-loaded in large numbers as drought tightens grip
  The Tamworth Regional Livestock Exchange has seen its second largest sale since the unveiling of the new yards late last year. Manager of the Exchange, Tim Hollis, says cattle numbers were just shy of 2,900 last Monday. He says producers are taking whatever price they can get, no matter how low, to avoid feeding starving animals.
- 2014/01/25: ABC(Au): Firefighters battle fatigue during a long season
  It's been a harrowing bushfire season in Australia with two deaths and more than 200 homes lost.
- 2014/01/25: ABC(Au): Australia Day honours for solar pioneers
  Two Australian scientists who have paved the way for solar thermal power plants worldwide have been honoured with Australia Day medals. A world powered by solar energy is inevitable according to two distinguished scientists being honoured this Australia Day. Dr Graham Morrison, Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of New South Wales and Dr David Mills, formerly a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, have been awarded Member of the Order of Australia medals for their services to science in the field of applied physics, particularly in the research and development of renewable energy and solar thermal technologies.
- 2014/01/24: Guardian(UK): Australian Industry Group fails to back Coalition's Direct Action climate policy
- 2014/01/23: RNE: Graph of the Day: How AEMO [Australian Energy Market Operator] saw rooftop solar in heatwave
- 2014/01/23: RNE: Abbott urged [by utilities and generators] to cut rooftop solar in national renewables revamp
- 2014/01/22: ABC(Au): ACT utilities call for higher electricity prices to fuel competition
- 2014/01/22: ABC(Au): Uriarra residents fail to heritage list village, stop solar farm
  A second attempt by residents in Uriarra, west of Canberra, to have their village and its surrounds heritage listed has failed. It was the latest move in a long-running protest against a controversial 26,000 panel solar farm proposed for the area.
- 2014/01/22: UKISS: Change in law could halt challenges on sensitive projects - Sunshine Coast Daily
- 2014/01/21: TheConversation: Bushfire planning leaves behind people with disabilities
- 2014/01/22: ABC(Au): After the fires: South Australia moves into bushfire recovery
- 2014/01/21: TheConversation: It's time for Australia to change its attitude to extreme heat
- 2014/01/21: ABC(Au): Gas-fired power use soars during heatwaves in SA and Victoria
- 2014/01/21: ABC(Au): Bushfire devastates olive grove
  Farmers in the Grampians region are still taking stock of what the bushfire in their area will mean for production. Deirdre Baum owns an olive grove at Laharum, about 35 kilometres east of Horsham. While her house and restaurant were saved from the fire, she says almost all of her 11 000 olive trees were burnt.
- 2014/01/20: PeakEnergy: WA Election Setback Awaiting Abbott?
- 2014/01/20: RNE: Can one day make or break an energy source?
- 2014/01/20: RNE: UNSW wins top solar prize as ARENA boosts solar R&D
- 2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Milder conditions just in time for exhausted fire fighters in NSW, Vic and SA [pix]
- 2014/01/19: Guardian(UK): Are most Australians really climate 'agnostics'?
  Former Prime Minister John Howard claimed Australians had "settled into a state of sustained agnosticism" on climate change. Is this true?
Now we get to watch the suppository of wisdom destroy what little Australia has done to fight climate change:
- 2014/01/24: ABC(Au): Researchers left waiting for funding announcement
  Federal funding for 12 research proposals was supposed to announced in December. However the researchers are still waiting for news.
- 2014/01/23: TheConversation: Australia's climate plan: are you serious?
- 2014/01/23: RNE: Academics say Direct Action will create "subsidy culture"
- 2014/01/23: BBC: The Australian government has rejected reports its navy mistreated asylum-seekers, but offered to co-operate with an Indonesian investigation
- 2014/01/22: JQuiggin: Putting their worst foot forward
- 2014/01/20: RNE: Direct Action may bury carbon farming, report finds
- 2014/01/19: Guardian(UK): It's time for UN sanctions on Australia. Our government deserves nothing less
After years of wrangling, the Murray Darling Basin Plan is in place, but the water management fights are far from finished:
- 2014/01/23: ABC(Au): Drought bad but not a 'disaster': [John] McVeigh
  The Queensland Agriculture Minister has responded quickly to claims the additional drought aid announced by his government this week is "too little, too late".
- 2014/01/23: ABC(Au): Fast-tracking drought support decision?
  Members of the Regional Assistance Advisory Committee on a tour of western NSW have been surprised by how bad the drought is in western NSW. Committee member Kym Turner told the ABC that the current situation is critical, in some cases worse than the millennium drought.
- 2014/01/22: ABC(Au): Drought meeting in the Marra
  More than 20 people from the region attended a drought consultative meeting at The Marra Hall this week, meeting with the Regional Assistance Advisory Committee to discuss possible drought relief measures. Carinda grazier Peter McLelland says things are dire and his neighbours are hoping some help will be forthcoming, after the committee has reported its findings to the NSW Government.
- 2014/01/21: ABC(Au): Water licensing delays dampen Top End farm growth
- 2014/01/21: ABC(Au): Water trading in the Murray-Darling Basin
- 2014/01/20: TheConversation: Murray River water sales: better for farmers and the environment
- 2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Murray-Darling water allocations to be sold back to farmers after years of environmental buy-backs
While in China:
- 2014/01/24: NBF: China will double its high speed rail network by the end of 2015 to about 12000 miles...
- 2014/01/24: TreeHugger: China added more solar capacity in 2013 than any other country ever has in a single year (12GW)
- 2014/01/24: ABC(Au): Beijing vows to cut emissions, but economists predict coal power stations will continue to thrive
- 2014/01/24: BBerg: China to Cut Dependence on Coal for Energy as Smog Chokes Cities
- 2014/01/22: Grist: Beijing bans new power plants to help clear the air
- 2014/01/22: RNE: China lifts 2014 solar PV installation target to 14GW
And in Japan:
And elsewhere in Asia:
- 2014/01/20: FPIF: Typhoons and Tigers: Why Taiwan Has Outpaced the Philippines
In the Middle East:
While in Africa:
- 2014/01/23: TreeHugger: 4 signs Africa could leapfrog fossil fuels (and 1 that it won't)
- 2014/01/21: Guardian(UK): New, privatized African city heralds climate apartheid
  Nigeria's Eko Atlantic augurs how the super-rich will exploit the crisis of climate change to increase inequality and seal themselves off from its impacts
- 2014/01/21: TreeHugger: Kenya to get 50% of electricity from solar by 2016
And South America:
- 2014/01/25: CensoredNews: Ecuador abandoning high standard of defending Rights of Nature
In Canada, neocon PM Harper, aka The Blight, pushes petroleum while ignoring the climate and ecology:
- 2014/01/22: TMoS: E.U. Confirms 40% Emissions Cuts by 2030. Canada Heads In Opposite Direction.
- 2014/01/23: CBC: Organic test results not sent for followup, CFIA admits
  Test results of pesticide contamination not sent to organic certification bodies. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has yet to begin sending pesticide residue test results to organic food certification bodies for followup, despite repeatedly stating it does so, CBC News has learned. The CFIA repeatedly told CBC News in emails, documents and in a phone interview last month that it sent the test data to certification bodies so that they could investigate the source of contamination. The agency now concedes the data is still being analyzed and test results have not yet been sent to the certification bodies for followup.
- 2014/01/19: NorRe: A Canadian Snow Job
Resonances of the Lac Mégantic tragedy linger:
- 2014/01/23: CBC: Lac-Mégantic crash railway MM&A has $17M sale approved
- 2014/01/23: NNW: Board calls for tougher rules for tank cars
- 2014/01/23: CBC: Lac-Mégantic disaster: Rail watchdog wants tougher tank car standards -- July 6 derailment, explosion in Quebec town killed 47 people
- 2014/01/21: CBC: Lac-Mégantic disaster's MM&A sold to Florida Great Lakes Partners
- 2014/01/21: CBC: Lac-Mégantic disaster's MM&A Railway up for auction today
  Initial bid set at $15.7M for Montreal, Maine & Atlantic's 770 kilometres of railroad track
The outrage over the Harper gang's libricide continues:
- 2014/01/24: Resilience: Scientists speak out against Canada's 'war on science'
- 2014/01/22: TFTJO: The war against science: launching a full scale attack against scientific knowledge
- 2014/01/21: CSW: The assault on knowledge: more on anti-science policymaking in Canada
- 2014/01/21: Creekside: Steve & Bibi : Book burning and honorary degrees
- 2014/01/21: MSimon: Stephen Harper's Goons Go After Our Medical Libraries
- 2014/01/20: CBC: Health Canada library changes leave scientists scrambling
  Main Health Canada research library closed, access outsourced to retrieval company
- 2014/01/20: TMoS: First They Came For DFO's Libraries, Now They're Shutting Down Health Canada's
What's up with the Opposition parties:
- 2014/01/24: TMoS: Why Do Trudeau and Mulcair Want to Govern Canada?
- 2014/01/24: BCLSB: Justin Trudeau On Pipelines
- 2014/01/22: NNW: Green party's deputy leader [Adriane] Carr steps down
- 2014/01/22: Metro: Justin Trudeau talks politics, pipelines and pot with Metro Calgary
The West-East pipeline is suddenly a focus of much dispute:
- 2014/01/21: CBC: Enbridge launches hundreds of digs for cracks in Line 9 -- Oil giant says pipeline is safe, but activists remain unconvinced
- 2014/01/20: TStar: All along the pipeline [east-west]
  It has flowed quietly beneath our feet for nearly 40 years, carrying the oil used to power our lives. But a plan to reverse and increase the flow of oil in Line 9 has thrust the 30-inch pipeline into the spotlight, sparking fears of catastrophe, and promises of prosperity
The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:
- 2014/01/24: Tyee: Are Police Ready for a Fierce Northern Gateway Battle?
- 2014/01/24: VanObs: Chuck Strahl resigns as Canada's top spy watchdog
- 2014/01/24: OpenMedia: Strahl resignation underlines need for total overhaul of spy agency oversight
- 2014/01/24: CBC: Chuck Strahl steps down as spy watchdog amid lobbying questions
- 2014/01/24: TMoS: The Tyee Asks: Are the RCMP Ready for the Battle of The Northern Gateway?
- 2014/01/20: Tyee: Why NEB's Gateway Report Is Vulnerable to Legal Assault
  Enbridge, federal government complicit in flawed Joint Review Panel finding
And the Kinder Morgan expansion:
- 2014/01/25: TheCanadian: NEB shuts down Kinder Morgan pipeline hearing website for "maintenance"
About that Canadian Energy Policy...:
- 2014/01/24: PCat: First Nations and the Development of our Energy Resources: Some Principles
Neil Young still has the fossil fools tied in knots:
- 2014/01/25: LFR2: Updated: Ethical Oil calls Neil Young 'IndianIgnorant'
- 2014/01/25: CfC: Most offensive hashtag ever
- 2014/01/25: LFR2: Ethical Oil calls Neil Young 'IndianIgnorant'
- 2014/01/24: CBC: Cenovus CEO defends tarsands in wake of Neil Young crusade
- 2014/01/21: TheCanadian: "I stand with Neil": Prominent Canadians backing Young on Tar Sands
- 2014/01/20: CBC: Prominent Canadians support Neil Young's anti-oilsands campaign -- Neil Young's tour raised more than $500,000
- 2014/01/20: PostArctica: Courage, Neil Young, And The Future
- 2014/01/19: PSinclair: Neil Young on the Tour Against Tar Sands
- 2014/01/19: CTV: Neil Young 'does not have his facts right' about oilsands: Joe Oliver
- 2014/01/19: NNW: Rocker's anti-oilsands tour hits Alberta
- 2014/01/19: CBC: Neil Young concert tour surpasses anti-oilsands fund goal
- 2014/01/19: SotS: Neil Young is Right
What's the state of the West Coast salmon fishery?
- 2014/01/21: TheCanadian: Canada taken to court over approval of GMO farmed salmon
- 2014/01/21: TheCanadian: Fisheries minister responds to salmon farm concerns...sort of
Meanwhile in BC:
- 2014/01/21: Tyee: Earthquakes Versus Pipelines -- Are we ready for an oil spill in the Fraser River?
- 2014/01/23: WCEL: BC government's forestry inspections target the little guy
- 2014/01/23: TheCanadian: Gitga'at First Nation challenges Enbridge panel ruling in court
- 2014/01/23: TheCanadian: Site C review panel changes mind, asks for Agricultural Land Commission's input on farmland
- 2014/01/22: TheCanadian: Clark's transit referendum going off the rails
- 2014/01/22: TheCanadian: Geoscientist's report undermines BC Government's LNG figures
- 2014/01/19: TheCanadian: Shale gas expert drills 50,000 holes in BC LNG plans
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2014/01/23: Tyee: The Tarsands-Inspired Creation that Looms in Washington
- 2014/01/22: Rabble: The 'Petroleum Party' in full cry about Neil Young; and what Northwestern Alberta doctors fear
- 2014/01/21: TheCanadian: Alberta doctors avoid linking health issues to Tar Sands: report
- 2014/01/21: OilChange: Doctors "afraid to diagnose health conditions linked to the oil and gas industry" [tarsands]
- 2014/01/21: Global: Residents, industry face off over Alberta oilsands health concerns
- 2014/01/20: G&M: Help Fort McMurray by slowing down oil-sands development, ex-MP says
  The pace of new oil-sands development should be slowed so governments can focus on an infrastructure shortage in Fort McMurray, the region's ex-MP [Brian Jean (Conservative)] says.
- 2014/01/20: CCP: Canadian doctors afraid to speak out about health impacts of toxic tar sands emissions and even refuse care in Peace River, Alberta
- 2014/01/20: G&M: Report on Alberta doctors' reluctance on oilpatch illnesses has opposition worried
  Opposition politicians are raising concerns over a report done for Alberta's energy regulator that suggests doctors are reluctant to draw links between health problems and the energy industry.
- 2014/01/19: TRC: The unholy trinity of the Alberta tarsands industry...
Also in Alberta:
- 2014/01/23: Reuters: Enbridge says U.S. permit for Alberta Clipper expansion likely delayed
- 2014/01/22: CD: If every Norwegian's a millionaire, why's Alberta in hock? Norway cut a proper deal with oil corporations. Canadians got screwed
In Manitoba:
- 2014/01/23: CBC: Angry protesters force First Nations leader off university stage -- Phil Fontaine's speaking engagement at University of Winnipeg rescheduled
And on the American political front:
- 2014/01/24: Guardian(UK): Al Gore: 'extreme weather has made people wake up to climate change'
- 2014/01/24: ColumbusDispatch: About 10,000 Ohioans lose food stamps
  More than 10,000 poor Ohioans have lost food stamp benefits this month for failing to meet newly enforced work requirements. That's 7 percent of the roughly 140,000 able-bodied adults ages 18 to 50 without dependent children who are now required to spend at least 20 hours a week working, training for a job, attending class or volunteering to receive assistance, according to figures provided by state officials. Human-services officials and advocates for the poor expect the number to increase sharply in February and the following months.
- 2014/01/23: TP:Econ: New York City Pantries Ran Out Of Food After Food Stamps Were Cut
  After food stamps were reduced at the beginning of November, New York City food pantries and soup kitchens ran out of food, turned people away, and reduced the meals they handed out after experiencing a surge of demand, according to a new report from Food Bank For New York City. The organization surveyed 522 food pantries and 138 soup kitchens and found that in November 2013, nearly half had either run out of food altogether or the particular kinds of food they need to make adequate meals. About a quarter had to turn people away since they didn't have enough food, and another quarter had to reduce the number of meals they provided.
- 2014/01/24: Grist: Illinois petcoke rules coming, but not as fast as governor wants
- 2014/01/24: TP:JR: Pollution From Koch-Funded Petcoke Piles Not An 'Emergency,' Illinois Regulators Rule
- 2014/01/24: Grist: Christie administration stiffed blacks and Latinos on Sandy relief money
- 2014/01/24: Grist: Poll finds that Latinos overwhelmingly support climate action
- 2014/01/24: DeSmogBlog: Citing DeSmogBlog Series, "FrackNation" Screening Cancelled by MN Film Festival
- 2014/01/23: CDreams: Lawmakers Defy Public Opinion, Imperil GMO Labeling Push in Northeast -- GMO labeling bill defeated in the New Hampshire's House of Representatives
- 2014/01/23: Grist: Key enviro law [California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)] suspended in California under drought emergency
- 2014/01/23: Grist: Enviros step up fight over oil shale mine in Utah
- 2014/01/23: TP:JR: For Latino Voters, Climate Change Is Almost As Important An Issue As Immigration
- 2014/01/22: RealEconomics: We still don't get it on climate change
- 2014/01/22: WSWS: Detroit's "urban farming" scheme: A cover for a corporate land grab
- 2014/01/22: Grist: Texans want frackers to stop causing earthquakes
- 2014/01/22: GCT: [Press Release] Controversial Utah Oil Shale Project atop Utah's Book Cliffs Challenged
- 2014/01/22: MoJo: This New World Order Conspiracy Theorist Is Advising Republicans on Environmental Policy
  By day, Doyel Shamley helps congressional staffers understand natural-resource law. By night, he's an Illuminati conspiracy theorist.
- 2014/01/22: CleanTechnica: California PUC Commissioner Mark Ferron's Solar Energy Legacy
- 2014/01/22: CleanTechnica: Massachusetts Invests $50 Million In Grid, Coastal Climate Resiliency
- 2014/01/21: Resilience: Drought Emergency Declared in California as Residents Urge Halt to Fracking
- 2014/01/21: CCP: Google And Facebook Keep Supporting Laws That Gut Their Own Renewable Energy Investments - And they refuse to explain why.
- 2014/01/20: RealEconomics: A Tale of Two Cities: America's Bipolar Climate Future
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics. See also:
- 2014/01/22: Eureka: Deepwater Horizon: Identifying harmful elements of persisting oil
- 2014/01/22: Wonkette: Hero Judge: Hasn't Halliburton Dude Who Destroyed Gulf Oil Spill Evidence Suffered Enough?
The Keystone XL wheel grinds slowly. And it grinds woe:
- 2014/01/24: DeSmogBlog: Keystone XL Could Boost Global Oil Consumption By 500K Barrels A Year
- 2014/01/24: TruthOut: TransCanada's Keystone XL South Pipeline Begins Operations
- 2014/01/23: Grist: Crude awakening: As Keystone opens in Texas, neighbors fight to protect their water
- 2014/01/22: BBerg: Total CEO Urges Keystone Approval to Unplug Alberta Bottleneck
- 2014/01/22: FinPo: U.S. delays push up Keystone XL pipeline costs again, TransCanada says
- 2014/01/21: WaPo: Keystone pipeline's southern leg to begin transporting oil to U.S. Gulf Coast
- 2014/01/22: DeSmogBlog: State Dept's Keystone XL Contractor, ERM Group, Also OK'd Controversial Pebble Mine in Alaska
- 2014/01/22: DeSmogBlog: TransCanada's Keystone XL South Pipeline Set To Begin Operations Today
- 2014/01/19: NorRe: A Canadian Snow Job
The GOP War on Women continues. See also:
- 2014/01/26: CBC: Marlise Munoz's life support removal order mulled by hospital
  Texas woman was 14 weeks pregnant when blood clot left her unconscious in November Executives from a Texas hospital conferred with the county district attorney's office Saturday to determine their next step, after a judge ordered the hospital to remove a pregnant, brain-dead woman from life support.
- 2014/01/24: TRP: Ten Other Relatives Mike Huckabee Wants Women to Avoid
- 2014/01/24: CNN: Huckabee's 'libido' comment chilling for women
  Cecile Richards: Mike Huckabee caused uproar with clueless comments about birth control
  He said women told they need government "Uncle Sugar" to pay for their birth control
  Richards: His words show political agenda to deny women contraceptive coverage
  Richards: Birth control key in women's lives, health. Next election, issue will be in balance
- 2014/01/24: S&R: Huckabee's botched Jedi mind trick on women and reproductive rights
- 2014/01/24: Guardian(UK): Texas hospital acknowledges brain-dead status of pregnant woman
  Fort Worth hospital keeping Marlise Munoz alive despite family's wishes heads to court but admits fetus is no longer viable
- 2014/01/24: CBC: Life support for pregnant woman ordered removed by Texas judge
  Marlise Munoz, kept alive in Fort Worth hospital against her family's wishes
- 2014/01/23: Wonkette: GOP Congressman Has Thoughtful Plan To End War On Women: Have The Women Surrender Unto Him
- 2014/01/23: TRP: Our Neverending Abortion War: The Obscene Horror Show Playing Out in Texas
- 2014/01/22: PewResearch: 5 facts about abortion
The impacts of the sequestration are starting to come home:
The West Virginia chemical spill keeps getting more complicated:
- 2014/01/24: UCSUSA:B: West Virginia Scientists to EPA, CDC: Allow Your Scientists to Speak
- 2014/01/24: UCSUSA: West Virginia Scientists Call on Federal Agencies to Stop Blocking Information Requests on Chemical Spill
- 2014/01/24: Grist: East Rockaway teen pays forward Sandy aid by bringing water to West Virginia
- 2014/01/24: KSJT: West Virginia water: CDC acknowledges missteps in informing the public
- 2014/01/23: BBerg: A Second Chemical Spilled in West Virginia, and the Company Said Nothing Until Now
- 2014/01/23: Wonkette: Freedom Industries Would Love To Tell You About The Other Chemical They Spilled, But Sorry, 'Trade Secret'
- 2014/01/23: WSWS: West Virginia water crisis continues as second chemical is identified
- 2014/01/22: TP:JR: What Freedom Industries' Bankruptcy Really Means For Those Harmed By The Chemical Spill
- 2014/01/22: CleanTechnica: 12 Days After West Virginia Chemical Spill, Company Admits To Another Chemical
- 2014/01/20: WaPo: Washington is silent on W.Va.'s chemical spill
- 2014/01/22: QuarkSoup: Zip Codes and Chemical Spills
- 2014/01/21: TP:JR: West Virginia Governor On Safety Of Water Supply: 'It's Your Decision... I'm Not A Scientist'
- 2014/01/21: KSJT: Feds still dodging Charleston Gazette's requests for information on W.V. water spill
- 2014/01/21: WVGazette: Elk River leak included another chemical
- 2014/01/21: DeSmogBlog: West Virginian Communities Still In Need After Coal Chemical Spill
- 2014/01/21: UCSUSA:B: Is the Water Safe? The West Virginia Chemical Spill and the Importance of Scientists' Speaking to the Media
- 2014/01/21: WSWS: Problems remain as water is restored in West Virginia
- 2014/01/20: TruthDig: West Virginia Toxic Disaster Requires More Than Silence
- 2014/01/20: WSWS: Company responsible for West Virginia chemical spill declares bankruptcy
- 2014/01/19: BBerg: Freedom Industries Chapter 11 Filing Reveals Owners' Strategy
- 2014/01/19: DeSmogBlog: West Virginia Polluter Freedom Industries Files For Bankruptcy To Halt Lawsuits
- 2014/01/19: TP:JR: Chemical-Related Hospital Admissions In West Virginia Have Doubled Since Water Deemed Safe
- 2014/01/19: ColumbusDispatch: More water pollution can be blamed on coal
  The chemical spill that contaminated water for hundreds of thousands in West Virginia was only the latest and most high-profile case of coal sullying the nation's waters. For decades, chemicals and waste from the coal industry have tainted hundreds of waterways and groundwater supplies, spoiling private wells, shutting down fishing and rendering streams virtually lifeless, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal environmental data. But because these contaminants are released gradually and in some cases not tracked or regulated, they attract much-less attention than a massive spill.
- 2014/01/19: Salon: Thirsty in West Virginia
Looking ahead to the 2014 elections:
- 2014/01/24: Wonkette: Crazy Rightwing 2014 Fringe Candidates Already Dropping Like Flies
At what point do you stop listening to the pretty lies and realize you've been had?
- 2014/01/24: Grist: Will Obama allow fracking to endanger his own water supply?
- 2014/01/24: UCSUSA:B: President Obama's State of the Union: Will Climate Change Get Left Out in the Cold?
- 2014/01/24: TP:JR: This Is President Obama's Plan To Get The World On Board The Fight Against Climate Change
  [...] to show good faith on the issue to China and the rest of the world, and thus build cooperation for a much bigger international push.
- 2014/01/23: TheHill:e2W: Obama: Fossil fuels are here to stay, so let's clean them up
- 2014/01/22: TP:JR: Experts Tell President Obama To Support 'Best Of The Above' Energy -- Not 'All Of The Above'
- 2014/01/21: HillHeat: Commentary: Obama Does Not Believe Global Warming a Civil-War or World-War-II Scale Crisis
- 2014/01/21: RTCC: Obama: China and India carbon emissions could leave US "underwater"
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
- 2014/01/24: BBerg: EPA Defends Three Fracking Investigations, Will Work With States to Prevent Pollution
- 2014/01/23: CleanTechnica: $50 Million For Advanced EV Tech And More
- 2014/01/22: UCSUSA:B: Scientific Advice for the New EPA Carbon Emissions Standards: Let's Clear the Air
- 2014/01/22: Grist: Tough love: Can a local leader save the EPA's troubled southeast region?
- 2014/01/22: LA Times: Proposed fracking in national forest meets broad opposition
  The U.S. Forest Service considers allowing hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in George Washington National Forest in Virginia, stirring concern about risks to drinking water in the Washington, D.C., area.
- 2014/01/21: TCoE: The missing urgency over climate change
- 2014/01/21: Grist: Oil (drilling) and climate action don't mix [admin]
- 2014/01/21: UCSUSA:B: Companies, Trade Groups, and Climate Change: Why We Need an SEC Rule on Corporate Political Disclosure
- 2014/01/20: NatJo: Clean Energy Experts to Offer Obama a Path Forward Without Congress
  A new report will suggest 200 executive actions on climate and energy.
- 2014/01/20: CSW: Moving White House regulatory review away from political roadblocks
- 2014/01/20: RTCC: US committed to cutting fossil fuel use despite shale oil boom
  US energy secretary Ernest Moniz promises new age of innovation in energy efficiency Booming levels of oil production from shale formations will not affect the country's commitment to cutting its carbon footprint, US energy secretary Ernest Moniz has told a London audience.
As for what is going on in Congress:
- 2014/01/22: TP:JR: Senator Mark Begich (D-AK): Proposed Pebble Project Is 'Wrong Mine, Wrong Place'
- 2014/01/21: ICN: Republicans' Strategy on New EPA Coal Rule: Kill It Now Before It's Finalized
  The unusually early challenges to EPA's power plant regulations could complicate the Obama administration's attempt to complete them this year.
- 2014/01/20: Guardian(UK): Climate scientist to US Senate: 'Climate change is a clear and present danger'
What are the lobbyists pushing?
- 2014/01/24: HillHeat: Google's Republican Lobbyists and Representatives
- 2014/01/23: DeSmogBlog: Tricks of the Trade: How Big Polluters Hide Climate Lobbying Behind Trade Groups
- 2014/01/22: BBerg: Keystone Builder's 2013 U.S. Lobbying Topped $1 Million
  TransCanada Corp., the Calgary-based company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, spent $1.05 million to lobby Congress and the administration last year, about 24 percent more than it spent in 2012, records filed with the U.S. Senate show.
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2014/01/23: Resilience: "Endless Growth" Is the Plan & There Is No Plan B
- 2014/01/22: RScribbler: Growth Shock and How the Gods of Our Greed Continue to Fail Us
- 2014/01/22: BLongstaff: Capitalism -- an irrational system in an age of climate change
- 2014/01/21: FergusB: It's a new day, it's a new dawn... We need a new Discourse of the future
- 2014/01/20: Resilience: Co-operatives need to embrace a new kind of governance
- 2014/01/24: Resilience: Crash on Demand: Energy Descent Scenarios by David Holmgren
- 2014/01/20: Resilience: Crash on Demand: Welcome to the Brown Tech Future by David Holmgren
- 2014/01/20: Resilience: What is David Holmgren Really Telling Us?
- 2014/01/20: PeakEnergy: Holmgren's 'Crash on Demand': be careful what you wish for
- 2014/01/19: Resilience: Is "the environment" now obsolete?
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2014/01/23: NBF: China Urbanization and Hukou Reform and the One Child Policy Reforms are keys to China's Demographic Future
- 2014/01/22: ABC(Au): Population is not the problem
  Population growth is often nominated as the mother of all environmental problems. But it's not so simple.
Apocalypso anyone?
How do the corporate media measure up?
- 2014/01/24: TMoS: Is Rex Murphy CBC's In-House Tipping Point?
- 2014/01/23: TP:JR: Washington Post Drops Climate Hawk Ezra Klein, Adds Climate Confusionist Blog Volokh Conspiracy
- 2014/01/21: Atlantic: U.S. Court: Bloggers Are Journalists
- 2014/01/20: TreeHugger: iSeeChange turns climate reporting on its head
- 2014/01/20: RNE: Fox News chief revealed: Anti science and anti-clean energy
While activists search for effective communication techniques:
2014/01/24: GreenGrok: Art Makes Environmental Change Real

Here is something for your library:
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2014/01/26: CleanTechnica: Wind For Prosperity Is No Charity Or PR Campaign - This Is About Business (Videos)
- 2014/01/24: DemNow: Romantic Comedy "Obvious Child" Offers Groundbreaking Cinematic Take on Abortion
- 2014/01/24: ATTPh: Climate models
- 2014/01/23: QuarkSoup: Ken Caldeira Sets Lou Dobbs Straight
- 2014/01/22: TreeHugger: NASA crammed 130 years worth of temperature anomalies in one video
- 2014/01/22: Grist: Watch the earth get hotter and hotter in NASA's new animation
- 2014/01/19: PSinclair: Dr. Mauri Pelto Interview: Part 2
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2014/01/23: Reuters: U.S. appeals court throws Arctic drilling into further doubt
  Juneau, Alaska - A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Interior Department wrongly awarded offshore oil leases in the Chukchi Sea near Alaska in 2008 without considering the full range of environmental risks posed by drilling in the Arctic. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals shttp://www.noaa.gov/newsarchive.htmlent the on-going dispute - pitting environmental groups and Native Alaska tribes against the federal government and energy companies - back to U.S. District in Anchorage, Alaska. It was not immediately clear what the decision would mean for the oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its plans, revealed in December, to resume exploratory drilling this coming summer in the Chukchi.
- 2014/01/23: TP:JR: Shell's Arctic Offshore Drilling Ambitions Stymied In Appeals Court
- 2014/01/22: WaPo: Arctic lease sale flawed, appeals court rules
- 2014/01/21: TheCanadian: Canada taken to court over approval of GMO farmed salmon
- 2014/01/20: GreenGrok: A Look at Environmental Justice in U.S.A. Today
The Michael Mann defamation suit is exercising the peanut gallery:
- 2014/01/25: PSinclair: That's Entertainment: More on the Mann Defamation Suit
- 2014/01/25: CSW: Defendants' appeal in Michael Mann defamation case further delays discovery process
- 2014/01/24: TP:JR: Judge Says Websites Must Face Defamation Lawsuit For Calling Climate Scientist A 'Fraud'
- 2014/01/24: WottsUWT: Mark Steyn makes motion to dismiss Mann's libel claim
- 2014/01/24: MoJo: A Win for the Climate Scientist Whom Skeptics Compared to Jerry Sandusky
  As the judge green-lights his libel suit, the defendants' lawyers jump ship.
- 2014/01/24: QuarkSoup: Who Knew? Judges Don't Appreciate Insults From Defendants
- 2014/01/24: ERabett: Steyn vs. Steyn - Don't Miss Any Updates From Richard Troll
- 2014/01/23: CSW: DC judge denies defendants' motion to dismiss Michael Mann's defamation complaint
- 2014/01/23: PNT: Rhetorically hyperbole? Or reckless disregard for truth?
- 2014/01/23: PSinclair: Michael Mann Closing in on Deniers in Court
- 2014/01/22: QuarkSoup: Judge Denies Steyn Motion to Dismiss
- 2014/01/22: ERabett: Mann vs Steyn Lurches Forward
It looks like this BP trial over the Gulf oil spill is going to take a long while:
- 2014/01/22: TheCanadian: Halliburton manager destroys Gulf spill evidence, gets probation
- 2014/01/21: BBC: BP Deepwater oil spill: Ex-Halliburton manager sentenced
  A former manager at US energy services giant Halliburton who admitted destroying evidence in an inquiry into the largest oil spill in US history has been sentenced to a year's probation. Anthony Badalamenti, 62, pleaded guilty in a US district court in October.
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
- 2014/01/24: Resilience: Crash on Demand: Energy Descent Scenarios by David Holmgren
- 2014/01/23: CCurrents: Hefty Subsidies Prop Up Unsustainable Energy System
- 2014/01/23: TreeHugger: First ever 'magma-enhanced' geothermal system created in Iceland, breaks record for geothermal heat
- 2014/01/23: Eureka: World's first magma-enhanced geothermal system created in Iceland
- 2014/01/23: CleanTechnica: 7 Things IRENA Is Doing To Advance Renewable Energy
- 2014/01/22: UCSUSA:B: Frozen: The Cost of Electricity Soars as Wires and Pipelines Fail to Meet Demand
- 2014/01/22: PSinclair: You See Where this is Going, Right?
- 2014/01/21: GET: IRENA: Global Renewable Energy Share Can Reach and Exceed 30% by 2030 at No Extra Cost
- 2014/01/21: OFW: Ten Reasons Intermittent Renewables (Wind and Solar PV) are a Problem
- 2014/01/20: CleanTechnica: Cogeneration Goes Global
- 2014/01/20: CleanTechnica: NewCO2Fuels Uses Sunlight To Make New Fuels From Old Emissions
- 2014/01/20: RTCC: Pentland Firth tidal stream could provide half Scotland's energy
  Installation of tidal turbines in water between mainland Scotland and Orkney could help government achieve 100% renewables by 2020
- 2014/01/19: Eureka: [Pentland Firth] Island channel could power about half of Scotland, studies show
- 2014/01/17: Slate: Clean Tech Is Not Dead -- In fact, it's booming like never before
What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?
- 2014/01/23: Grist: Can clean energy replace a shuttered nuke plant in California?
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifers for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
- 2014/01/24: Grist: Will Obama allow fracking to endanger his own water supply?
- 2014/01/23: Guardian(UK): Cuadrilla scraps plan to frack at Balcombe site
- 2014/01/23: CCP: Fracking, Keystone, tar sands news from rjs, week of January 21, 2014
- 2014/01/22: Grist: Texans want frackers to stop causing earthquakes
- 2014/01/22: TP:JR: Shaken By 'Frackquakes,' Texans Demand Halt On Wastewater Injection Wells
On the coal front:
- 2014/01/23: RealEconomics: Making progress against the dirtiest fuel ever
- 2014/01/20: RNE: Big Coal's annus horribilis
- 2014/01/20: RNE: HSBC says $20bn market value of coal assets at risk
On the gas and oil front:
- 2014/01/24: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Dated Brent Spot....107.88
  WTI Cushing Spot.....96.64
- 2014/01/25: TheCanadian: Gas prices heat up as homes, shale gas wells face record chill
- 2014/01/24: BBerg: WTI-Brent Spread Near Narrowest in Two Months on Keystone
  Brent crude fell a second day, narrowing its premium to West Texas Intermediate to the least in two months following the start of a pipeline carrying crude out of the U.S. storage center in Cushing, Oklahoma.
- 2014/01/23: G&M: Why the oil industry wants the U.S. to export crude
Regarding oil and the economy:
- 2014/01/25: CassandrasLegacy: Italy's slow collapse: how declining energy consumption affects GdP
- 2014/01/17: WaPo: Can we sever the link between energy and economic growth?
And in pipeline news:
- 2014/01/22: DeSmogBlog: TransCanada's Keystone XL South Pipeline Set To Begin Operations Today
- 2014/01/22: TP:JR: Oil Starts Flowing Through The Keystone XL Pipeline's Southern Leg Today
- 2014/01/22: ICN: Pipeline Leak Detection Still Doesn't Work
  The Wall Street Journal's repeat of a 2012 ICN investigation shows that for all the passage of time, the problem of how to detect pipeline leaks endures.
- 2014/01/22: BBerg: Koch Ends Plans for Pipeline to Illinois From Bakken
  Koch Pipeline Co. called off plans to build a 250,000-barrel-a-day crude line to Illinois from North Dakota's Bakken formation, where a shale boom has helped lift domestic production to the highest in a quarter-century. The indirect subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc., one of the largest private companies in the U.S., is no longer developing the so-called Dakota Express pipeline, Jake Reint, a Koch spokesman, said by e-mail yesterday. He didn't provide a reason for the decision.
- 2014/01/21: TP:JR: Only You Can Discover Oil Pipeline Spills, Since 80 Percent Of The Time The Companies Miss Them
- 2014/01/21: DeSmogBlog: Wall Street Journal Investigation: High-Tech Oil Pipeline Monitors Catch Less Than 20 Percent Of Leaks
- 2014/01/19: CBC: Alberta Clipper pipeline restarted after oil spill south of Regina
Ships and boats and trains -- How to tranport the stuff?
- 2014/01/26: NNW: U.S. study warns of risks and unknowns in shipment of Alberta oilsands products
- 2014/01/24: Vice: 2013 Was the Biggest Year for Exploding Oil Trains in Four Decades
- 2014/01/24: Grist: U.S. and Canadian safety officials are freaked out about exploding trains
- 2014/01/23: DeSmogBlog: David Suzuki: Rail Versus Pipeline Is The Wrong Question
- 2014/01/23: NNW: Board calls for tougher rules for tank cars
- 2014/01/21: TP:JR: Train Derailment In Philadelphia Leaves Crude Oil Car Dangling Over Schuylkill River
- 2014/01/22: Grist: Oil spillage from freight trains hit record high in 2013
- 2014/01/22: OilChange: "We came within a hair's breadth of a calamity"
- 2014/01/20: OilChange: Industry Has 30 Days to Improve Oil By Rail Safety
A rush of American triumphalism pervades the energy independence PR campaign. Think it will last?
- 2014/01/24: AlterNet: Radioactive Waste Dumped by Oil Companies Is Seeping out of the Ground in North Dakota
- 2014/01/23: CCP: Fracking won't avert energy crisis, Davos is told
- 2014/01/20: PostCarbon: America's Feel-Good Oil Bonanza
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2014/01/23: CassandrasLegacy: The other side of the peak: Italy's collapse of oil and gas consumption
- 2014/01/20: PeakEnergy: Think "peak oil" is a discredited idea? Think again
The answer my friend...
- 2014/01/24: ABC(Au): Foundations poured for NSW biggest renewable energy project
  Foundations have begun to be laid at the Monaro site in the New South Wales south east of what will become the State's biggest wind farm project. Two of the foundations for the 67 wind turbines have been poured this week at Boco Rock, between Nimmitabel and Bombala. Wind Prospect Continental Wind Partners' head of development, Ed Mounsey, says the first turbine should be in place later this year. He says the project will be fully operational by next February.
- 2014/01/22: UCSUSA:B: The Effect of Wind Turbines on Property Values: A New Study in Massachusetts Provides Some Answers
- 2014/01/21: CleanTechnica: Loch Ness Wind Farm To Proceed - 180 MW, 32 turbines
- 2014/01/21: IOTD: The London Array
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2014/01/19: Nature: (ab$) A nanophotonic solar thermophotovoltaic device by Andrej Lenert et al.
- 2014/01/25: Grist: Seashore solar comes to Japan
- 2014/01/25: CleanTechnica: Color This New Solar Cell Efficiency Breakthrough Blue
- 2014/01/25: TMoS: Solar Panels Endanger Firefighters?
- 2014/01/24: TreeHugger: China added more solar capacity in 2013 than any other country ever has in a single year (12GW)
- 2014/01/24: CleanTechnica: China's Solar Market Beat All Expectations For 2013
- 2014/01/24: RealEconomics: Solar is more than photovoltaic cells
- 2014/01/23: NBF: Solar thermovoltaics could ultimately reach 80% efficiency while current solar power is limited to 33.7%
- 2014/01/23: RNE: Global utility-scale solar capacity climbs through 21GW in 2013
- 2014/01/22: CleanTechnica: SolarCity Kick-starts New Financial Solar Venture
- 2014/01/22: CleanTechnica: Lessons from Minnesota -- An Unexpected Solar Success
- 2014/01/22: RNE: Graph of the Day: Rooftop solar returns outstrip stocks, property
- 2014/01/21: CleanTechnica: 4,000 MW Of New Solar PV Capacity Added In Japan
- 2014/01/21: TP:JR: India Almost Doubled Its Solar Power In 2013 With Big Plans For More
- 2014/01/21: PeakEnergy: India Is Building The World's Largest Solar Plant For $4.4 Billion
- 2014/01/21: RNE: Utilities should curb heavy air con use, not solar PVs
- 2014/01/21: RNE: Solar PV clipped peak demand by 4.6pct during heatwave
- 2014/01/20: Grist: Solar wins: How sunshine will save the planet, really, we have hope
- 2014/01/19: MIT: How to tap the sun's energy through heat as well as light
- 2014/01/19: Eureka: Solar-power device would use heat to enhance efficiency
  New approach developed at MIT could generate power from sunlight efficiently and on demand
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2014/01/25: Lenz: German Federal Administrative Law Court on Nuclear Shutdown
- 2014/01/24: FukuLeaks: GE Hitachi Settlement With US Dept. Of Justice Over Falsified Reactor Design
- 2014/01/23: NBF: Kazakhstan uranium production at 22500 tons in 2013 and preliminary world numbers 58,800 tons in 2013
- 2014/01/22: SwissInfo: More Swiss to get nuclear accident safeguard
  The government has decided to extend the distribution of iodine tablets to protect residents in case of a serious accident at one of Switzerland's five nuclear power plants.
- 2014/01/21: DeSmogBlog: In Push For Nuclear Power, Climate Change Concerns Overlooked
Low energy nuclear keeps coming up:
- 2013/06/07: arXiv: Indication of anomalous heat energy production in a reactor device by Giuseppe Levi et al.
- 2014/01/24: NBF: Industrial Heat acquired Rossi's Low Energy Nuclear Reaction technology
Like a mirage, the dream of a Hydrogen Economy shimmers on the horizon:
- 2014/01/22: NCSU: Atomic-Scale Catalysts May Produce Cheap Hydrogen
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2014/01/24: CleanTechnica: Forget Intermittency: NREL Says Wind Energy Can Boost Grid Reliability
How are the utilities adjusting (or not)?
- 2014/01/20: PSinclair: California Utility Commissioner: Utilities Would "Strangle Solar" if They Could
- 2014/01/19: CleanTechnica: Xcel Fiction: Four Lies My Utility Told Me
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2014/01/23: CleanTechnica: Specifications For EREV London Cab Revealed
- 2014/01/21: PeakEnergy: Nissan Sells 100,000 LEAFs, Captures 48% Of Worldwide Market To Date
As for Energy Storage:
- 2014/01/23: TP:JR: Could Sugar-Filled Batteries And 'Sweet Crude' Help Combat Climate Change?
- 2014/01/22: VTNews: Environmentally friendly, energy-dense sugar battery developed to power the world's gadgets
- 2014/01/21: ClimateShifts: Science with a Smile:) Could Rhubarb Revolutionize Renewable Energy?
- 2014/01/21: Eureka: Virginia Tech researcher develops energy-dense sugar battery
- 2014/01/21: RNE: Victoria network operator [SP Ausnet] to install 1MWh battery storage facility
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2014/01/25: TMoS: Global Warming Reaches the Factory Floor
- 2014/01/24: Guardian(UK): Food companies must stand up to the fossil fuel sector on climate change
  Their bottom line is threatened by extreme weather events and resource scarcity, they need to stop sitting on the sidelines and use their corporate power to demand action
- 2014/01/24: RTCC: Coca Cola installs one millionth HFC-free drinks cooler
- 2014/01/23: NYT: Industry Awakens to Threat of Climate Change
  Coca-Cola has always been more focused on its economic bottom line than on global warming, but when the company lost a lucrative operating license in India because of a serious water shortage there in 2004, things began to change. Today, after a decade of increasing damage to Coke's balance sheet as global droughts dried up the water needed to produce its soda, the company has embraced the idea of climate change as an economically disruptive force.
Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:
- 2014/01/21: TP:JR: Extreme Weather In Canada Last Year Cost Insurers Billions
- 2014/01/20: CBC: Extreme weather cost Canada record $3.2B, insurers say
- 2014/01/20: ABC(Au): Cost of SA's bushfires estimated at $10 million as farmers face scorched fields, dead livestock and ruined homes
- 2014/01/19: GLaden: Billion Dollar Weather Disasters
What do we have in (weekly) lists?
- 2014/01/25: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly News Roundup #4B by John Hartz
- 2014/01/22: SkS: 2014 SkS Weekly News Roundup #4A by John Hartz
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.
- 2014/01/22: ABC(Au):TDU: Wasting energy on climate change sceptics
  It's a pity that climate change scientists have to spend so much time debunking falsehoods - especially when those spouting them have already made their minds up, writes Greg Jericho.
- 2014/01/23: Wonkette: Glenn Beck Logic Time: Creationists Are Galileo, And Bill Nye, 'Science' Guy, Is The Catholic Church Inquisitioning Them
- 2014/01/23: DeSmogBlog: Tricks of the Trade: How Big Polluters Hide Climate Lobbying Behind Trade Groups
- 2014/01/23: CCP: New Zealand deniers cause tax payers more than $100,000: An insiders guide to white-anting climate science
- 2014/01/23: SMandia: Three perfect grade debunkings of climate misinformation
- 2014/01/23: Tamino: True Lies
- 2014/01/23: TheConversation: An insider's story of the global attack on climate science
- 2014/01/23: TWC: Startling Number of Scientific Papers Disputed Human-Caused Global Warming Last Year [one]
- 2014/01/25: PSinclair: The Weekend Wonk: Tamino on Denialist Testimony
- 2014/01/24: DeSmogBlog: Dirty Energy Job Numbers Don't Add Up
- 2014/01/21: UKISS: dodgy survey
- 2014/01/26: ATTPh: Expertise
- 2014/01/20: Guardian(UK): Weatherwatch: The dark money that feeds climate change confusion
- 2014/01/19: PSinclair: Climate Denier's Bombshell Discovery: Extreme Weather Because of Gay Marriage
A lot of people are wasting time on the Curried climate confusionist:
2014/01/22: ATTPh: Judith Curry and the Ocean Heat Content
2014/01/24: V V: Interesting what the interesting Judith Curry finds interesting
2014/01/24: Tamino: The Rise and Fall of Judith Curry
2014/01/23: ATTPh: I also don't get Judith's logic
2014/01/21: Tamino: (One of) the Problem(s) with Judith Curry
2014/01/20: PSinclair: Judith Curry's Testimony: Where There's Smoke...
2014/01/20: ERabett: Curry vs. Curry
2014/01/20: HotWhopper: Is Judith Curry a [sky dragon] "slayer"?
2014/01/19: ATTPh: Some comments on Judith Curry's EPW testimony

The Pattern Recognition In Physics farrago continues:
2014/01/24: HotWhopper: Twisting Patterns of Peer Review
2014/01/22: Tamino: Strange Bedfellows
2014/01/23: Tamino: When you think you've hit rock bottom ...
2014/01/20: NatureNB: Climate comments push open-access publisher to terminate journal
2014/01/19: WottsUWT: The Copernicus-PRP fiasco: predictable and preventable

This week in intimidation:
2014/01/22: CCP: Targets of climate hate mail rally to support one another
2014/01/21: CCP: Climate scientists, facing skeptics' demands for personal emails, learn how to cope

As for climate miscellanea:
- 2014/01/21: CChallenge: NASA explains the climate issue
- 2014/01/22: QuarkSoup: Who Makes Policy if Not the Policy Maker?
- 2014/01/22: CD: The greening of Noam Chomsky: a conversation
- 2014/01/24: QuarkSoup: Met Office Predicted 2013's Temperature
- 2014/01/23: Guardian(UK): Nick Stern: I should have been fiercer in climate change review
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- POGO: Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans
- Wiki: Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans
- ATTREX: Airborne Tropical TRopopause EXperiment
- Index Mundi - country profiles
- World Future Energy Summit 2014 -- 20-22 January 2014 - Abu Dhabi
- MBio - open access journal - microbiology and allied fields
- Climate Bonds - Mobilizing investment for a rapid global transition to a low-carbon economy
- Wiki: Probability density function
- Wiki: Walker circulation
- Wiki: Equatorial Rossby wave
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.

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<regards>

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

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

"The worst thing that can happen during the 1980s is not energy depletion, economic collapse, limited nuclear war, or conquest by a totalitarian government. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired within a few generations. The one process ongoing in the 1980s that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly that our descendents are least likely to forgive us." -E.O. Wilson, 1985
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Last modified January 26, 2014

Another Week in the Ecological Crisis, January 26, 2014

Information Overload is Pattern Recognition

January 26, 2014

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

The European Commission proposed a 40% GHG reduction, with a renewables target of 27% and lots of wriggle room. See also:

The World Economic Forum went down in Davos:

The World Future Energy Summit went down in Abu Dhabi this week:

A Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans meeting went down in Hobart this week:

Another move in the potash wrangle came up this week:

The idea of California smothered in Chinese pollution seemed to catch on:

How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

And on the Bottom Line:

Who's getting the subsidies?

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

Various psychological angles arise in considerations of the ecological crisis:

A note on theFukushima disaster:

Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

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

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

As for the charismatic megafauna:

The tele-connection of Antarctic, North and tropical climates is notable:

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, and:

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

Regarding labelling GM food:

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

A mercifully relatively quiet week in the hurricane wars:

Some say a stalled Lingling, some say Tropical Depression Agaton, at any rate the Philippines got soaked, again:

While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

This week in notable weather:

Abrupt Climate Change put in an appearance:

This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

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

Meanwhile on the GHG front:

And in the carbon cycle:

Regarding the solar hypothesis:

Aerosols are making their presence felt:

And on the ENSO front:

As for the temperature record:

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

And in the paleoclimate:

And in historical times:

What's the State of the Oceans?:

As for Ocean Currents:

What's new in Biodiversity?

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:

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]:

On the mitigation front, consider transportation & GHG production:

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

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:

More DIY science:

What's new in models?

Regarding Advocacy:

Regarding Dessler:

Meanwhile at the UN:

And on the carbon trading front:

The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets, auction vs. allocation, cap and trade, cap and dividend, tradable energy quotas and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

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

South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

Regarding the EU FQD: Fuel Quality Directive:

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

As for miscellaneous international political happenings:

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