Sipping from the internet firehose…
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
August 24, 2008
- Top Stories:Ghana, Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Arctic Geopolitics, Grumbine, World Water Week
- Food Crisis, Food vs. Biofuel, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, ENSO, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Satellites
- Impacts, Forests, Wildfires, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
- Journals, Misc. Science, Hanson, Pielke
- UN, Carbon Trade International Politics, Security
- Politics: America, Britain, Europe, Australia, Japan, Peru, Canada
- Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Courts, An International Environmental Court?
- Energy, High Cost Impacts, Solar, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Greenwashing
- Carbon Lobby, The Usual, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
- 2008/08/24: uComics: (cartoon – Toles) On the credit card
The UNFCCC met again this week in Accra, Ghana:
- 2008/08/: UNFCCC: Accra Climate Change Talks 2008
- 2008/08/21: IISD: Earth Negotiations Bulletin [Ghana]
- 2008/08/22: Reuters: Pressure on to reach emissions agreement
- 2008/08/22: EurActiv: UN climate talks to seek speed amid discord
- 2008/08/23: Reuters: UN climate talks split over deforestation funds
- 2008/08/21: UN: UN climate change talks kick off in Ghana
- 2008/08/22: IHT: Climate conference makes progress on key dispute
Accra, Ghana: Delegates at a key U.N. climate conference moved forward Friday on a plan to encourage developing countries to regulate carbon emissions by focusing on their largest industries. The so-called “sectoral approach” sidesteps objections from countries like India and China, which refuse to accept national targets for the overall emission of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
- 2008/08/21: BizGreen: Logging and sectoral targets to dominate UN talks — As Ghana’s president urges action not rhetoric, delegates remain divided on key issues
- 2008/08/21: AHN: Quest For New Kyoto Protocol Resumes In Ghana Climate Change Meet
- 2008/08/22: C411: The Climate Change Talks in Ghana Begin
- 2008/08/22: Xinhuanet: Tuvalu official calls for international efforts to cope with climate change
- 2008/08/21: CBC: 1,000 meet in Ghana for climate change talks
- 2008/08/21: Reuters: U.N. Ghana climate talks start, time said short
- 2008/08/20: CNN: Climate chief [IPCC head, Rajendra Pachauri] warns against ‘tragic’ inaction [by developed countries]
Comments come as talks resume to negotiate a new climate treaty — The weeklong Ghana talks are the next step in setting new emission targets
- 2008/08/21: Google:AP: Delegates told to speed up talks on climate change
Africa already is suffering from “climate shocks,” the president of Ghana told a 160-nation climate conference Thursday, joining a chorus of calls to speed up the pace of talks on a new agreement to rein in carbon emissions. More than 1,600 delegates and environmental experts began a week of tough U.N.-sponsored negotiations, hoping to start drafting language for a treaty due to be adopted next year. The agreement would succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
- 2008/08/21: PhysOrg: Climate negotiators reconvene this week in Ghana
- 2008/08/21: PhysOrg: ‘Clock ticking’ on global warming: UN climate chief
- 2008/08/21: CBC: 1,000 meet in Ghana for climate change talks
- 2008/08/21: AFP: ‘Clock ticking’ on global warming: UN climate chief [UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer]
- 2008/08/20: Reuters: U.N. climate talks seek quicker pace
- 2008/08/18: Reuters: Rich urged to set deep climate cuts, without U.S.
- 2008/08/18: AeL: Accra climate change talks to plot emission-reduction strategies
The United Nations climate change negotiations are pla nning measures to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, among other issues, to be debated for a week in Accra, Ghan a , beginning 21 August. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) executive secretary Yvo de Boer told PANA that the meeting would look at a number of issues to tackle climate change such as mitigation, finance and new technologies as well as in frastructure needed to achieve emission deductions.
- 2008/08/22: NatureTGB: Greenland’s glaciers are cracking up
- 2008/08/21: ERabett: Three pictures…the pattern of melt in the Arctic this year…
- 2008/08/22: RealClimate: North Pole notes (continued)
- 2008/08/21: TerraDaily: Greenland glaciers still disintegrating
- 2008/08/22: DeSmogBlog: It’s Not Easy Being Green(land)
- 2008/08/22: CBC: New cracks in northern Greenland glacier worry scientists
- 2008/08/21: PhysOrg: Satellite images show continued breakup of 2 of Greenland’s largest glaciers
- 2008/08/21: PhysOrg: RV Polarstern on its way to East Siberian Sea
- 2008/08/20: DeSmogBlog: It’s Not Your Father’s Tundra Anymore
- 2008/08/19: AWI(De): RV Polarstern on its way to measurements in the East Siberian Sea – Research vessel transits the Northwest Passage for the first time ever
- 2008/08/20: SciDaily: Continued Breakup Of Two Of Greenland’s Largest Glaciers Shown In Satellite Images
- 2008/08/20: OSU: Satellite images show continued breakup of two of Greenland’s largest glaciers, predict disintegration in near future
- 2008/08/18: NSF: Greenland Ice Core Reveals History of Pollution in the Arctic — Coal burning in Northern Hemisphere leaves potentially harmful heavy metal legacy
- 2008/08/18: BBC: Coal’s toxic legacy to the Arctic
Coal burning in western Europe and North America has been a prime source of heavy metal pollution in the Arctic. Scientists plotted levels of thallium, cadmium and lead in a Greenland ice core and linked them to other chemicals indicating coal as the main origin
- 2008/08/22: KSJT: AP, etc: Polar bears swimming in the open sea; glacial tongue cracking off Greenland; China’s ice expedition finally finds a thick piece
- 2008/08/22: DotEarth: Polar Bears at Sea
- 2008/08/22: PhysOrg: 9 polar bears observed on risky open ocean swims
- 2008/08/19: NEN: Polar bears: endangered, threatened or shafted?
As for the geopolitics of the Arctic resources:
- 2008/08/22: ENN: Receding Arctic icepack opens new shipping frontier
- 2008/08/22: NatPo: Canada’s Arctic sovereignty bid begins in ‘busy place’ — China, Japan, U. S., Germany in area of mapping effort
Canada’s latest bid to assert sovereignty in the Arctic — a sea-floor mapping mission in the Beaufort Sea — got underway yesterday amid unprecedented activity in the melting polar ocean, where icebreakers from China, Japan, Germany and the United States are currently cruising waters off Canada’s northern coast to gather geological data and conduct climate research.
- 2008/08/19: Maribo: Accidents in the Arctic
- 2008/08/21: Times(UK): Iceland to offer offshore drilling licences in race for Arctic’s oil
- 2008/08/20: CanWest: Russia watched ‘closely’ in Arctic — Relations now in a ‘new era,’ defence chief believes
- 2008/08/19: CBC: [Canadian Defence Minister Peter] MacKay to observe Arctic sovereignty [O]peration [Nanook] in action
- 2008/08/18: KSJT: CanWest: Canada maps Arctic with icebreakers; NYTimes: US icebreakers are mostly old and few
- 2008/08/18: G&M: Military rehearses for Arctic disaster
Emergency-response practice planned as maritime traffic increases with Northwest Passage opening
- 2008/08/18: CanWest: Keepers of the Northwest Passage
Even as the Canadian and U.S. governments continue to dispute the waterway’s legal status, a consensus is emerging in Canada that we should be doing more to strengthen the country’s capacity to monitor, develop and protect the sea route
- 2008/08/22: MGS: Testing Ideas 1
- 2008/08/21: MGS: Labelling instead of thinking
- 2008/08/20: MGS: Greenhouse Misnomer — It’s a nuisance that greenhouses don’t work by the greenhouse effect.
- 2008/08/18: MGS: Types of Sea Ice
And Tamino and Mashey and…:
- 2008/08/22: Tamino: Alphabet Soup, part 1: AR [autoregressive time series]
- 2008/08/21: Deltoid: John Mashey on how to learn about science
Late coverage of the World Water Week conference in Stockholm:
- 2008/08/21: TerraDaily: Warming threatens crucial Himalayan water resources, forum told
- 2008/08/21: Yahoo: Warming threatens crucial Himalayan water resources, forum told
- 2008/08/21: AFP: Warming threatens crucial Himalayan water resources, forum told
The food crisis remains a top story:
- 2008/08/18: Times(UK): Food price rises push 14m [in East Africa] to the brink of starvation
- 2008/08/21: UNICEF: Food interventions are crucial as Somalia faces ‘worst-case scenario’
- 2008/08/22: UN: Food crisis threatens millions of lives in Somalia, UN agencies warn
- 2008/08/22: AllAfrica: IWPR: Hungry Citizens Forage to Survive
- 2008/08/18: G&M: Everything is not peachy — From households to nations, we need to get serious about food self-sufficiency
- 2008/08/17: USAToday: Ethiopia’s new famine: ‘A ticking time bomb’
The conflict between biofuel and food persists:
- 2008/08/24: AFP: Biofuels, food crops straining world water reserves: experts
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
- OCHA: Global Food Trends – Overview
- 2008/08/22: StatsCan: Production of principal field crops – 2008 (preliminary)
Iselle, Julio, Fay & Nuri blew around. First Fay:
- 2008/08/24: CNN: Fay downgraded but still threatening
Forecasters warn storm could still drop up to a foot of rain along its path – In New Orleans canal flood-watch teams have been activated – Eleven deaths in Florida and one in Georgia attributed to storm – Georgia teenager playing near a drainage area was swept away in rising waters
- 2008/08/23: AP: Fay’s toll in Fla. hits 11; Gulf cities threatened
- 2008/08/23: CNN: Flood teams activated in Louisiana as Fay soaks Panhandle
- 2008/08/23: Wunderground: Fay’s rains and tornadoes continue; disturbance 94L entering Lesser Antilles today
- 2008/08/23: AFP: Tropical Storm Fay leaves 11 dead as it slowly exits Florida
- 2008/08/22: EarthTimes: Six dead after Tropical Storm Fay pelts Florida
- 2008/08/22: CNN: Fay marching westward toward Alabama
Tropical storm warning discontinued for northern Florida’s Atlantic coast – Seven people’s deaths are blamed on the storm – Tropical storm centered north of Cedar Key at 5 p.m., moving west at 6 mph
- 2008/08/22: HillHeat: National Wildlife Federation: Fay’s Floods Are A ‘Wake Up Call’
- 2008/08/21: TerraDaily: Florida asks for disaster declaration due to Tropical Storm Fay
- 2008/08/21: TerraDaily: Massive floods as Tropical Storm Fay holds still over Florida
- 2008/08/22: Wunderground: Fay chugs on; potentially dangerous disturbance 94L approaches Lesser Antilles
- 2008/08/21: WKMG:Local6: Fay Dumps Record-Breaking Rain; Flood Victims Warned Of Alligator Swimming In Streets
- 2008/08/22: AP: Death toll at 5 as Fay pours more rain on Florida
- 2008/08/21: CNN: Fay inches across saturated Florida; two drown
Two drownings along Florida’s Atlantic coast blamed on storm – Parts of Florida receive 30 inches of rain, weather service says – President Bush declares emergency for Florida
- 2008/08/21: Pravda: Fay’s third time’s a charm
- 2008/08/20: TerraDaily: ‘Boomerang’ storm Fay could return to Florida: forecasters
- 2008/08/21: Wunderground: Fay making its third landfall in Florida
- 2008/08/21: TP:WonkRoom: Global Boiling: Fay’s Floods Are A Wake Up Call
- 2008/08/21: AP: Go Away Fay: Storm hits Fla. for 4th day
- 2008/08/21: AP: Tropical Storm Fay forces more evacuations in Fla.
- 2008/08/20: CNN: Fay drenches parts of Florida; 8,000 homes flooded
- 2008/08/20: Wunderground: Fay Center Stuck Onshore
- 2008/08/19: CNN: Twisters spotted as Fay sweeps across southern Florida
- 2008/08/18: TerraDaily: Killer storm Fay blasts over Florida Keys
- 2008/08/19: Wunderground: Fay hits Southwest Florida, but never makes it to hurricane strength
- 2008/08/19: Wunderground: “The Joker” (Fay) intensifies over land!
- 2008/08/19: People’s Daily: Tropical storm “Fay” kills 50 in Haiti
- 2008/08/19: CBC: Fay makes landfall in Florida as tropical storm
- 2008/08/19: AP: Tropical Storm Fay soaks southwest Florida
- 2008/08/18: CNN: Tropical storm hits Key West; Florida braces for hurricane
Tropical storm’s center reaches Key West – Emergency officials suspend Florida Keys evacuation because of wind, rain – Hurricane center says hurricane conditions likely for Florida within 24 hours
- 2008/08/17: TerraDaily: Tropical storm Fay moves on Cuba, Florida on alert
- 2008/08/18: Wunderground: Fay crosses into Florida Straits and intensifies
- 2008/08/18: Wunderground: Fay pounds the Florida Keys, begins to form an eyewall
- 2008/08/18: TP:WonkRoom: Global Boiling: Tropical Storm Fay Crashes Denier Townhall
- 2008/08/18: BBC: Tropical Storm Fay has struck Cuba after causing widespread flooding that left dozens dead in the Dominican Republic and Haiti
- 2008/08/18: CBC: Tropical storm Fay churns toward Florida
- 2008/08/18: AFP: Killer storm Fay powers into hurricane mode for Florida landfall
- 2008/08/18: BBC: Tropical storm Fay has struck Cuba’s south coast with high winds and heavy rains after leaving at least five dead in its path across the Caribbean
- 2008/08/18: Guardian(UK): Weather: Florida Keys evacuated as deadly Fay builds to hurricane strength
In the Pacific, Nuri slammed the Philippines, Hong Kong and then China:
- 2008/08/23: EarthTimes: Tropical storm Nuri makes landfall in southern China, kills three
- 2008/08/22: AFP: Typhoon Nuri shuts down Hong Kong
- 2008/08/20: TerraDaily: Five dead as Typhoon Nuri slams into Philippines
- 2008/08/19: TerraDaily: Typhoon Nuri gathers strength near Philippines: forecaster
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2008/08/22: DemNow: “Trouble the Water” — New Film Provides Firsthand Account of Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath
- 2008/08/20: Asia Times: Myanmar exchange scam fleeces UN
- 2008/08/22: NOAANews: NOAA Installs New Storm Tide Stations in the Gulf of Mexico “NOAA Sentinels” Designed to Withstand Category 4 Hurricanes
- 2008/08/18: Eureka: 2007 hurricane forecasts took blow from winds and Saharan dry, dusty air
- 2008/08/18: PhysOrg: 2007 Hurricane Forecasts Took Blow from Winds and Saharan Dry, Dusty Air
A new analysis of environmental conditions over the Atlantic Ocean shows that hot, dry air associated with dust outbreaks from the Sahara desert was a likely contributor to the quieter-than-expected 2007 hurricane season.
- 2008/08/24: PhysOrg: Nigeria, S.Africa worst greenhouse gas emitters in Africa: experts [accounting for almost 90 percent of the emissions in the continent]
- 2008/08/22: Reuters: Flat-screen TV gases may be added to climate fight [NF3]
And the temperature record:
- 2008/08/21: ClimateP: Yes, the planet has kept warming since 1998
- 2008/08/20: Yahoo: This year so far coolest for at least 5 years: WMO
- 2008/08/21: BBC: World heading towards cooler 2008 — This year appears set to be the coolest globally this century.
Data from the UK Met Office shows that temperatures in the first half of the year have been more than 0.1 Celsius cooler than any year since 2000. The principal reason is La Nina, part of the natural cycle that also includes El Nino, which cools the globe. Even so, 2008 is set to be about the 10th warmest year since 1850, and Met Office scientists say temperatures will rise again as La Nina conditions ease.
- 2008/08/18: QuarkSoup: Hadley July temperature anomaly
- 2008/08/18: ClimateP: Fifth warmest July on record. Climate forecast: Hot and then even hotter
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2008/08/20: FuturePundit: Periodic North American Drought Due To Lower Solar Radiation
- 2008/08/23: SciDaily: New Climate Record Shows Century-long Droughts In Eastern North America [7 kya]
- 2008/08/19: PhysOrg: New climate record shows century-long droughts in eastern North America
- 2008/08/19: PhysOrg: Long-term study shows effect of climate change on animal diversity
While on the el Niño/la Niña [ENSO] front:
- 2008/08/07: NOAA:NCEP: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion
Synopsis: ENSO-neutral conditions are expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere Fall 2008
- 2008/08/20: NatureN: A picture of climate change in the Himalayas — Photos from historic Everest expedition reveal extent of subsequent glacier retreat
Sea levels are rising:
- 2008/08/24: Guardian(UK): Beauty spots to be devoured by sea — National Trust warns of losing battle to save much-loved coastal landmarks from rising sea levels and erosion
- 2008/08/22: Yahoo: West Africa’s coastline redrawn by climate change: experts
Rising sea levels caused by climate change will brutally redraw a 4,000-kilometre (2500-mile) stretch of west African coastline from Senegal to Cameroon by century’s end, experts were told AFP Friday.
- 2008/07/31: GCC:JPL: Rising waters: new map pinpoints areas of sea level increase
- 2008/08/21: AFTIC: Very cool map of rising sea levels
- 2008/08/21: ABC(Au): Prepare for climate change coastal flooding, scientists urge
- 2008/08/19: ABC(Au): Sea levels could rise 4m this century: climate expert
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
- 2008/08/22: ESA: GOCE [Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer] Earth explorer satellite to look at the Earth’s surface and core
- 2008/08/20: C411: Save Our Satellites: We Need Their Climate Data
More GW impacts are being seen:
- 2008/08/21: MongaBay: French birds on the move due to climate change — just not fast enough
- 2008/08/20: BBC: French birds are moving northwards in response to climate change, but not fast enough, scientists have found
- 2008/08/19: Yahoo: Birds can’t keep up with climate change: study
- 2008/08/20: CBC: Scientists study slow march of plants, trees into Canadian Arctic
- 2008/08/18: ABC(Au): Migratory birds are ‘canary in the mine’ for coastal climate change
- 2008/08/18: DeSmogBlog: Oz to Lose Most Beach Nesting Birds This Century
And then there are the world’s forests:
- 2008/08/18: FuturePundit: Thousands Of Amazon Tree Species Headed For Extinction
- 2008/08/21: Guardian(UK): Clash over plan to save tropical forests – Conservation and justice groups split over forest carbon trading – Fears ‘land grab’ could leave millions worse off
- 2008/08/20: ClimateP: The new adventures of old pristine [forests]
- 2008/08/19: Yahoo: Warming climate threatens Alaska’s vast forests
- 2008/08/19: FDL: Warming climate threatens Alaska’s vast forests
- 2008/08/18: MongaBay: Markets could save rainforests [Andrew Mitchell interview]
- 2008/08/18: GristMill: Riau wow — Indonesian province puts moratorium on rainforest destruction
As for wild fires:
- 2008/08/17: TP:WonkRoom: Global Boiling: Our New Era Of Catastrophic Wildfires
As for hydrological cycle disruption [floods & droughts]:
- 2008/08/23: UN: Deadly flooding in southern Chadian town prompts UN aid assistance
- 2008/08/20: IRNA: 50,000 people forced to flee as dam burst in southern Nepal [monsoon]
- 2008/08/23: Asia Times: China damned over floods
As Mekong River floodwaters in Laos and Thailand recede, indignation with China for its lack of transparency on upstream dam developments is on the rise.
- 2008/08/21: Novosti: At least 70 dead in north India floods
- 2008/08/20: AbqJournal: Climate Change Already Drying Up the Southwest
- 2008/08/20: Guardian(UK): The rain’s in Spain: but don’t forget the drought
- 2008/08/20: KSJT: Arizona Daily Star, Sci Am: A shifting jet stream dries the US Southwest
- 2008/08/19: PhysOrg: Drier, warmer springs in US Southwest stem from human-caused changes in winds
- 2008/08/18: DeSmogBlog: The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly On . . . The Amazon Rainforest? [drought]
- 2008/08/19: Eureka: Drier, warmer springs in US Southwest stem from human-caused changes in winds
- 2008/08/18: TerraDaily: 87 dead in north India floods
- 2008/08/19: OhioU: New climate record shows century-long droughts in eastern North America — Weak sun created cool oceans, lowered rainfall seven times in 7,000 years
- 2008/08/18: Novosti: Over 1 million affected by heavy rains in central China
- 2008/08/18: ENN: South Asia monsoon rains kill 147 as thousands rescued
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2008/08/18: MongaBay: The long-ignored ocean emergency and what can be done to address it
- 2008/08/18: C411: Helping Plants and Animals Survive Climate Change
As for transportation & GHG production:
- 2008/08/21: LaaP: Long Live The Train!
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2008/08/21: NEN: Carbon farming
- 2008/08/18: PhysOrg: Soils Limited in Storing Carbon and Mitigating Global Warming, Studies Find
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
- 2008/08/22: NatureTGB: Farewell to Planktos
- 2008/08/22: TreeHugger: Can Aerial Reforestation Help Slow Climate Change? Discovery Project Earth Examines Re-Engineering the Planet’s Possibilities
- 2008/08/22: ABC(Au): NSW extends cloud seeding for Snowy Mountains [to produce snow]
- 2008/08/21: WorldChanging: Geoengineering: A Worldchanging Retrospective
- 2008/08/20: RealClimate: Climate change methadone?
While on the adaptation front:
- 2008/08/18: BBC: Africa should make more use of the skills of its nomadic peoples to help combat the challenges of climate change, the aid agency Oxfam says
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2008/08/22: ACPD: Saharan dust transport and deposition towards the Tropical Northern Atlantic by K. Schepanski et al.
- 2008/08/21: ACPD: Ship emitted NO2 in the Indian Ocean: comparison of model results with satellite data by K. Franke et al.
- 2008/08/21: ACPD: Role of convective transport on tropospheric ozone chemistry revealed by aircraft observations during the wet season of the AMMA campaign by G. Ancellet et al.
- 2008/08/22: CP: Precipitation record since AD 1600 from ice cores on the central Tibetan Plateau by T. Yao et al.
- 2008/08/18: CP: A major reorganization of Asian climate by the early Miocene by Z. T. Guo et al.
- 2008/08/19: CPD: Can we reconstruct Arctic sea ice back to 1900 with a hybrid approach? by S. Brönnimann et al.
- 2008/08/21: TCD: Partitioning of melt energy and meltwater fluxes in the ablation zone of the west Greenland ice sheet by M. Van den Broeke et al.
- 2008/08/18: TCD: Testing hypotheses of the cause of peripheral thinning of the Greenland Ice Sheet: is land-terminating ice thinning at anomalously high rates? by A. Sole et al.
- 2008/08/19: ACP: Comparison of UV irradiance measurements at Summit, Greenland; Barrow, Alaska; and South Pole, Antarctica by G. Bernhard et al.
- 2008/08/18: ACP: Characterization of the South Atlantic marine boundary layer aerosol using an aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer by S. R. Zorn et al.
- 2008/08/20: ACPD: Cloud phase identification of low-level Arctic clouds from airborne spectral radiation measurements: test of three approaches by A. Ehrlich et al.
- 2008/08/20: ACPD: Effects of sea surface winds on marine aerosols characteristics and impacts on longwave radiative forcing over the Arabian Sea by Vijayakumar S. Nair et al.
- 2008/08/19: ACPD: The impact of diurnal variability in sea surface temperature on the atlantic air-sea CO2 flux by H. Kettle et al.
- 2008/08/19: PNAS: Rapid shifts in plant distribution with recent climate change by Anne E. Kelly & Michael L. Goulden
- 2008/08/19: PNAS: Southern Ocean frontal structure and sea-ice formation rates revealed by elephant seals by J.-B. Charrassina et al.
Before we get into politics, there was some science done:
- 2008/08/21: PhysOrg: New clues to air circulation in the atmosphere
Air circulates above the Earth in four distinct cells, with two either side of the equator, says new research. The new observational study describes how air rises and falls in the atmosphere above the Earth’s surface, creating the world’s weather. This process of atmospheric circulation creates weather patterns and influences the climate of the planet. It is important to understand these processes in order to predict weather events, and to improve and test climate models. Previous theories have claimed that there are just two large circular systems of air in the atmosphere, one either side of the equator. These theories suggested that air rises at the equator and then travels towards either the north or south polar regions, where it falls.
- 2008/08/20: MTobis: Climate Models – Is There a Better Way?
- 2008/08/21: ENN: Grazing animals important factor in predicting global warming impact
- 2008/08/21: Eureka: New clues to air circulation in the atmosphere
- 2008/08/20: NatureN: Tibetan meadows emit methane — Field survey confirms that plants can boost levels of the greenhouse gas.
- 2008/08/20: TerraDaily: Aerosols Impact On Australia’s Climate [the influence aerosols have on climate is still one of the ‘great unknowns’]
- 2008/08/19: PhysOrg: Researchers Isolate Microorganisms That Convert Hydrocarbons to Natural Gas
- 2008/08/18: NewScientist: Herbivores eat away at climate-change predictions
- 2008/08/18: PhysOrg: Future impact of global warming is worse when grazing animals are considered, scientists suggest
- 2008/08/18: ENN: Current climate models ‘ignoring brown carbon’
- 2008/08/19: GWWatch: James Hanson tips cold water on sun theory
- 2008/08/18: DeSmogBlog: The Case for NOT Wrestling with Pigs
The Pielke fan clubbe put in another appearance:
- 2008/08/22: MTobis: Pielke, Part of the Problem
Meanwhile at the UN:
- 2008/08/: UNFCCC: The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan’ [Poland, from 1 to 12 December 2008. CMP4 & COP14]
- 2008/08/22: UN: New UN-backed reports warns of costs of inaction on climate change
- 2008/08/19: UN: Ban to set up new climate change centre to support Pacific island countries
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2008/08/21: EnvFin: Carbon fund assets reach $12.9 billion, up 63%
While on the international political front:
- 2008/08/22: GristMill: Inside WCI: Federal pre-emption — What happens with a new president?
- 2008/08/20: WorldChanging: Inside WCI: Federal Pre-emption
- 2008/08/19: Yahoo: New US president will help climate change fight: Australian PM
- 2008/08/19: Yahoo: Australian PM [Rudd] urges more US climate change action
As for GW & security:
- 2008/08/22: SciDaily: Climate Change Could Be Impetus For Wars, Other Conflicts, Expert Says
- 2008/08/21: UIUC: Climate change could be impetus for wars, other conflicts, expert says
And on the American political front:
- 2008/08/23: PhysOrg: Groups: Bush rushing to rewrite species rules
The Bush administration is providing insufficient time for public comment as it seeks to loosen rules protecting endangered species, representatives of more than 100 conservation groups charged Friday
- 2008/08/21: PBN: [U.S. Senator Sheldon] Whitehouse, experts warn of local climate change effects
- 2008/08/22: Guardian(UK): Green groups plea for public comment on endangered species law changes
- 2008/08/22: NewScientist: Why US must invest against climate change
Eight scientific organisations have urged the next US president to help protect the country from climate change by pushing for increased funding for research and forecasting. The organisations say about $2 trillion of US economic output could be hurt by storms, floods and droughts. “We don’t think we have the right kind of tools to help decision makers plan for the future,” said Jack Fellows, the vice president for corporate affairs of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, a consortium of 71 universities.
- 2008/08/21: WSJ:EnvCap: Presidential Problem: Americans Want Their Energy Clean AND Cheap
- 2008/08/21: WSJ:EnvCap: Climate Costs: California Businesses Campaign Against Green Push
- 2008/08/21: C411: Bad Science in Public School Classrooms
- 2008/08/21: TreeHugger: Bush Officials Launch Stealth Attack on U.S. Wildlife
- 2008/08/21: DeSmogBlog: Carbon Lobby Spend Nearly One Half Billion Lobbying and PR Dollars in the First Half of 2008
- 2008/08/21: ENN: U.S. says states can lift emission monitoring bar
A U.S. federal court on Tuesday overturned a rule that prevented state and local authorities from raising emissions monitoring requirements for polluting units such as chemical plants and oil refineries. Regulatory body Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had added a rule to the existing Clean Air Act in 1990 that prevented authorities from adding to monitoring requirements. In a ruling on Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit noted that sometimes existing monitoring requirements do not assure compliance.
- 2008/08/21: Yahoo: Scientists urge U.S. to protect economy from climate
- 2008/08/20: LVRJ: Energy summit targets costs – Moving U.S. to renewable sources possible with assistance, experts say
Clean energy will reduce greenhouse gases, protect the environment, create jobs and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. But the federal government needs to lead the way. That’s the message from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and a parade of public and business leaders speaking to 750 attendees at Tuesday’s National Clean Energy Summit at the Cox Pavilion at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
- 2008/08/20: Guardian(UK): New York mayor wants windmills to generate power for city
- 2008/08/20: ClimateP: National Clean Energy Summit recommendations
- 2008/08/19: ClimateP: Gang-of-10, Part 3: More good stuff, some ugly
- 2008/08/20: GristMill: That which cannot be named [US energy pol]
- 2008/08/18: ClimateP: Gang-of-10 Part 2.5: House GOP says drill here, drill now, compromise — later
- 2008/08/18: GristMill: National Clean Energy Summit — Reid pulls together Dem bigwigs (and T. Boone) to hash over energy policy
- 2008/08/18: CSW:  US Senators go to bat for the Center for Capacity Building at NCAR
- 2008/08/19: ENN: Study: People [the U.S. public] Rank Global Warming Lower Than Local Environmental Issues
- 2008/08/19: AutoBG: Dumbest Quote of the Day: Newt says keeping tires inflated helps Big Oil
- 2008/08/19: TPMM: Anti-Regulation Cheney Aide is Front Runner for Energy Dept. Post
- 2008/08/19: ThinkP: Extreme anti-environment Cheney aide up for top Energy Department post
- 2008/08/17: Portfolio: The Elephant in the Tank
Intel’s former C.E.O. Andy Grove says high-profile plans by Boone Pickens and Al Gore don’t tackle the single most dangerous energy issue facing America
- 2008/08/17: ClimateP: The good, the bad and the ugly of the Gang-of-10 drilling deal, Part 2: Something for nothing?
- 2008/08/18: CSW: Draft synthesis report on US climate impacts from lame duck Bush administration raises questions
- 2008/08/17: GristMill: To achieve maximum technologically feasible GHG reductions, or not to, that is the question
EarthJustice challenges the legality of the draft plan for California’s A.B. 32
- 2008/08/17: SF Gate: Endangered species law in danger from Bush
One hears a lot about the campaigns, not much about their climate & energy policies:
- 2008/08/23: GristMill: Joe environment — Enviros generally pleased with Biden’s record on environmental issues
- 2008/08/23: TP:WonkRoom: McCain’s Record Of Opposition To Clean Energy
- 2008/08/23: WSJ:EnvCap: Biden’s Beliefs: Obama’s Running Mate Calls Energy America’s Top Issue
- 2008/08/22: ClimateP: Who’s advising McCain on energy and climate?
- 2008/08/22: ClimateP: Who’s advising Obama on energy and climate?
- 2008/08/21: KSJT: Reuters, Chr. Sci. Monitor, etc: Next President (whichever it’ll be) already has a climate change invoice: $9 billion
- 2008/08/21: ClimateP: What is the carbon footprint of McCain’s countless homes?
- 2008/08/21: GristMill: Is Obama’s energy plan change we can believe in? Toward a sensible energy plan
- 2008/08/22: HillHeat: ACCCE to Spend $2 Million at Democratic National Convention
- 2008/08/21: GristMill: Coal at the conventions — Group to spend nearly $2 million to promote clean coal at the conventions
- 2008/08/21: HillHeat: Oil and Coal Industries Spending Two Million Dollars a Day to Shape Political Debate
- 2008/08/20: ThinkP: Romney: McCain Doesn’t Speak For McCain When He Suggests Renegotiating The Colorado River Compact
- 2008/08/20: Guardian(UK): McCain comments on Colorado River compact makes waves in western states – Candidate suggests 1922 agreement should be renegotiated
- 2008/08/20: ClimateP: The real, Luddite McCain: “The truly clean technologies don’t work”
- 2008/08/19: GristMill: The doomed fate of climate change legislation — In either an Obama or McCain adminstration, climate legislation will be back-burnered
- 2008/08/18: BSD: The Rove/McCain Campaign understands about keeping surrogates on message
- 2008/08/19: TP:WonkRoom: Report: King Coal And Big Oil Unite To Buy The Future, Spending More Than Two Million Dollars A Day
- 2008/08/18: ClimateP: A Race to the Truth, Part 1
- 2008/08/17: ClimateP: McCain wants Colorado’s water for Arizona
- 2008/08/18: AFTIC: Rhetoric vs Reality or McCain vs Renewable energy
- 2008/08/18: ThinkP: Gingrich Claims Tire Inflation Lines Big Oil’s Pockets
While in the UK:
- 2008/08/22: Guardian(UK): UK risks climate leadership over dirty coal, say US groups
- 2008/08/22: Guardian(UK): Climate change is not anarchy’s football [UK pol]
- 2008/08/23: Guardian(UK): UK coal plans ‘threaten global emissions deal’
- 2008/08/22: KSJT: Guardian: Americans [environmentalists] tell Brits to cut out plans for new coal plants
- 2008/08/21: Guardian(UK): My plan for a zero-carbon Britain by Nick Clegg
- 2008/08/21: Guardian(UK): Analysis: Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg’s green plans more than a moon shot
- 2008/08/22: Guardian(UK): [Letters] For and against carbon credits
- 2008/08/21: BBC: Energy firms E.On and Scottish and Southern Energy are to raise gas and electricity prices by up to 29%.[UK]
- 2008/08/18: GristMill: Brit’s Eye View: Summer skirmishes — A roundup of energy and climate news from the U.K.
- 2008/08/18: Guardian(UK): Climate change protesters face trial for obstructing train at Drax power station
Twenty-nine climate change protesters will face trial at crown court for demonstrating at the coal-fired powerhouse
- 2008/08/18: Guardian(UK): Heathrow expansion: Third runway will breach pollution limit, EU warns
And in Europe:
- 2008/08/20: CSM: Germany’s key to green energy
Despite its damp climate, the country has become the global leader in wind and solar power through a pioneering law. Now, Congress is weighing a similar bill.
- 2008/08/19: AutoBG: Spain expands CO2 emission-based tax scheme to two-wheelers
- 2008/08/18: BBC: Spain sweats amid ‘water wars’
Spain is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years. Climate experts warn that the country is suffering badly from the impact of climate change and that the Sahara is slowly creeping north – into the Spanish mainland. A fountain which has been switched off in drought-hit Spain Yet in Spain itself there is little consensus about what is to be done. Indeed, such is the disagreement that journalists and politicians alike are calling it “water wars”.
- 2008/08/23: ABC(Au): Business groups whimping out of carbon trading: Rann
South Australian Premier Mike Rann says business groups are “whimping out” by questioning the Federal Government’s Mandatory Renewable Energy Target scheme
- 2008/08/22: ABC(Au): Govt urged to recognise Indigenous climate knowledge
- 2008/08/22: ABC(Au): [Federal Opposition Leader Brendan] Nelson says emissions scheme will risk Australian jobs
- 2008/08/22: ABC(Au): Business Council evading responsibility on climate change: ACTU
The head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Sharan Burrow, says the Business Council is trying to evade responsibility to be part of the solution to climate change. The Business Council is lobbying the Federal Government to change its proposed emissions trading scheme, saying research shows it does not provide enough compensation to businesses. But Ms Burrow says the Council’s research failed to acknowledge the growth opportunities from developing ‘green’ industries.
- 2008/08/22: ABC(Au): Gippsland residents can attend a public information session in Traralgon on Monday to learn more about the Federal Government’s emissions trading scheme
- 2008/08/22: ABC(Au): Farmers get climate change insight
About 50 farmers from upper south-east South Australia attended a climate change forum at the Keith Institute yesterday afternoon. It was hosted by the farmer organisation the Birchip Cropping Group in collaboration with other organisations dealing with rural sciences and meat production and the Bureau of Meteorology. The forum aimed to help farmers understand what effect climate change has on farm businesses and the environment.
- 2008/08/22: ABC(Au): The Greens launch election campaign calling for faster shift to renewable energy
- 2008/08/22: ABC(Au): Council representatives from across south-east New South Wales met at Batemans Bay yesterday to look at ways they can contribute in the fight against climate change
- 2008/08/22: ABC(Au): Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says the Government will consider yesterday’s call from business for major changes to the proposed emissions trading scheme
- 2008/08/21: ABC(Au): Wong repeats need for Murray-Darling central body
The Federal Water Minister says reports that Queensland irrigators took a record amount of water from the Murray-Darling Basin last financial year show how vital it is that the system be governed by a central body.
- 2008/08/21: ABC(Au): Emissions trading subsidy ‘not sufficient’ for businesses
New research into Australia’s proposed emissions trading scheme shows compensation for businesses is not enough to stop many of them scaling back or moving offshore. The research commissioned by the Business Council of Australia (BCA) studied 14 businesses from a range of emissions-intensive industries.
- 2008/08/22: SMH: Carbon emissions give Costa a pricing headache
Whether he likes it or not, the state’s most famous sceptic, Michael Costa, may be forced to adapt to climate change for the first time in his career. If the NSW Auditor-General is right, the greenhouse gases from the state’s power generators could stymie Costa’s hopes for a quick sale of the power industry. Emissions from NSW coal-fired power generators are not only adding to global warming. The Auditor-General has now confirmed what most financial analysts have been saying for months: these emissions will seriously affect the price the Treasurer gets for the power sale. And until the Federal Government sorts out its emissions trading scheme, which will put a price on those greenhouse gases, privatising the state generators may be risky for NSW taxpayers.
- 2008/08/22: SMH: Demand for solar through the roof
- 2008/08/21: SMH: Solar rebate is too popular
Rebates for solar panels will continue to be paid to householders by the Federal Government even though the original allocation for this year is likely to be exhausted next month. The decision to drop the eligible income level for the $8000 rebate has not had the desired effect. Instead of slowing the number of applications, the rate has increased to up to 700 a week. If the present rate continues, the cap of 6000 will be reached next month. Rather than take away an attractive incentive for households to install the rooftop systems, the Government has decided to keep paying the rebate, potentially blowing out the cost of the program, which was given $25.6 million for this year. But the long-term future of the rebate is not guaranteed as the Government examines the best way to help households get set for the expected price rises for energy when the emissions trading scheme begins in 2010.
- 2008/08/21: SMH: Small rise in car pooling would slash emissions
A minor increase in car pooling would have a similar effect on carbon emissions as doubling public transport patronage in Australia’s capital cities, a transport expert says. If only 10 per cent of the cars with solo drivers carried a passenger, the emissions reduction would be equivalent to a twofold growth in public transport patronage. The strategy to cut transport-related greenhouse gas emissions is outlined in a paper by John Stanley, of the University of Sydney’s Institute of Transport and Logistic Studies. He says the cheap measure has such a dramatic effect because cars are used for about 90 per cent of “motorised trips”, and about 77 per cent of all trips.
- 2008/08/21: ABC(Au): A representative of timber company Gunns has told a public forum in Launceston the proposed pulp mill would have a positive effect on climate change
- 2008/08/19: ABC(Au): Emissions target demands nuclear energy: [Ian] MacFarlane
- 2008/08/19: ABC(Au): Wong stands by renewable energy target
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has vowed the Federal Government will bring in a renewable energy target despite mounting pressure to scrap it.
- 2008/08/19: ABC(Au): Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is in New Zealand today to attend a climate change conference and meet his New Zealand counterpart [PM Helen Clark]
- 2008/08/18: ABC(Au): Greens fight to keep renewable energy targets
The Greens are urging the Federal Government to resist growing calls for it to dump its renewable energy target.
- 2008/08/18: ABC(Au): AI Group urges Govt to abandon renewable energy target
The Australian Industry Group has stepped up pressure on the Federal Government to abandon its renewable energy target, saying it is risky and ill-conceived.
- 2008/08/18: ABC(Au): New eco-sciences precinct to focus on climate change
Climate change will be a key research area at Brisbane’s new eco-sciences precinct to be built by 2011.
- 2008/08/20: Guardian(UK): Japan to launch carbon footprint labelling scheme
- 2008/08/19: PhysOrg: Japan to label goods’ carbon footprints: official
- 2008/08/19: Yahoo: Japan to label goods’ carbon footprints: official
- 2008/08/23: ABC(Au): Amazon development laws scrapped
Thousands of Indigenous Peruvians have scored a victory over President Alan Garcia’s Government when Congress repealed two laws that opened up their Amazon tribal lands to development
- 2008/08/23: BBC: Peru’s Congress has voted to repeal two land laws aimed at opening up Amazonian tribal areas to development, which led to protests by indigenous groups
- 2008/08/19: Yahoo: Peru suspends rights in jungle protest regions
- 2008/08/19: BBC: Peru moves to end Amazon protests
Peru has declared a state of emergency in jungle areas where indigenous groups are blocking oil and gas installations in protest at a new land sale law. The government said violent acts by protesters had put security at risk. The measure allows the authorities to send in troops and bans public gatherings for 30 days. Some 65 Amazon tribes say the law will make it easier for big energy companies to buy up their land, parts of which are known to be rich in oil and gas. The indigenous people have been demonstrating for more than a week at hydro-electric dams and oil and gas installations in three different parts of Peru’s Amazon basin. They are angry at a law which they say makes it easier for investors to buy their land because it lowers the bar for consent from two-thirds of a community assembly to a simple majority. The legislation is one of a number of laws being passed as part of Peru’s free trade agreement with the US.
- 2008/08/23: CanWest: Polar bear status a political hot topic — Scientists debate whether iconic animal is threatened [Can pol]
- 2008/08/21: CBC: Canada at risk of water shortages: federal document — Internal report urges stronger federal role in managing supplies
- 2008/08/21: CanWest: Bloggers post Health Canada climate change report to web — Tories criticized for quiet release of 500-page study
With rumours of an election in the air, the Liberal Green Shift carbon tax plan is shaping up to be a major issue:
- 2008/08/22: TStar: Green plan a tough sell for Dion — Liberal leader pitches environmental proposal in Don Valley West as election speculation heats up
- 2008/08/22: ChronicleHerald: Brison accuses premier of twisting Green Shift facts
Premier Rodney MacDonald’s opposition to the federal Liberals’ green plan has been “fully bought and paid for,” says a Liberal MP. Scott Brison, MP for Kings Hants, wrote to the premier Thursday, accusing him of becoming “a full branch-plant operation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Ottawa office.”
- 2008/08/22: CBC: Nova Scotia premier adds carbon tax calculator to Tory website
- 2008/08/21: TStar: Dion test-drives green pitch — Liberal leader tells audience in auto town Oakville `sustainable development’ key to economic revival
- 2008/08/21: Canoe: N.S. premier slams Liberal carbon tax plan
- 2008/08/21: TStar: A carbon election that clears the air
- 2008/08/20: Far-n-Wide: Where Did He Say That Exactly?
- 2008/08/19: ChronicleHerald: Harperites’ fear-mongering ignores the real threat
The irony does not get much richer. On the front page of the Aug. 14 paper, two articles appeared side by side. The first featured a local hero, independent MP Bill Casey, inspecting the tidal surge damage to critical dike works at the most vulnerable part of our land link to New Brunswick — damage caused by the rising sea level brought on by global warming. In stark juxtaposition appears the fear-mongering of federal Environment Minister John Baird warning that real action to confront the climate crisis would “screw” the people of Nova Scotia.
- 2008/08/24: WaPo: Will Canada’s oil boom be an environmental bust? [tar sands]
- 2008/08/22: OilChange: The “You’ve Got To Be Kidding” Department
- 2008/08/22: OilChange: “I Wouldn’t Dare Do That Now”
- 2008/08/21: OilChange: Welcome to Mordor
- 2008/08/19: CBC: Frustrated environmental groups quit Alberta oilsands body
Three environmental groups have walked away in frustration from an advisory body on Alberta’s booming oilsands, saying it’s not effective and the government is not paying any attention. The Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA) was set up by the provincial government in 2000 with members from First Nations groups, industry and environmental representatives. Its mandate was to balance industrial growth with the need to protect the ecosystem in northeast Alberta. But three of the members — the Pembina Institute, Toxics Watch Society of Alberta and the Fort McMurray Environmental Society — announced on the weekend they had decided to quit the body. “It’s just not appropriate to sit in a room and talk for eight years; meanwhile oilsands development is approved on the landscape,” Simon Dyer, a senior policy analyst with the Pembina Institute, told CBC News Tuesday. “And we could no longer legitimately support a process that was being used to deflect attention from the government’s failure to protect the environment.”
- 2008/08/18: PRWatch: Canada’s Oilsands Tarred with the “Greenwash” Brush
And Quebec has a nuclear issue:
- 2008/08/19: CBC: Quebec to spend $1.9B on lone nuclear power plant – to overhaul the Gentilly-2 plant near Trois-Rivières
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2008/08/18: EnergyBulletin: On American sustainability – summary
- 2008/08/18: EnergyBulletin: Our American way of life is unsustainable – evidence
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2008/08/14: UPI: The impact of continued population growth
- 2008/08/21: SciAm: Are Malthus’s Predicted 1798 Food Shortages Coming True? It remains to be seen whether his famously gloomy prediction is truly wrong or merely postponed
- 2008/08/20: PhysOrg: Intensity of human environmental impact may lessen as incomes rise, analysis suggests
- 2008/08/19: TrinidadExpress: Tragedy of the global commons
As for how the media handles the science of climatology:
- 2008/08/22: CJR: Flat-Screen TVs Hyped as Climate Threat – Media’s quest for the latest household hazard distorts research
- 2008/08/21: GWWatch: Climate science, the public, and the Whiplash Effect
- 2008/08/19: Deltoid: More lazy and gullible reporting from Channel Nine
- 2008/08/18: GWWatch: 60 Minutes in denial over climate change
Meanwhile among the ‘Sue the Bastards!’ contingent:
- 2008/08/21: DeSmogBlog: Polluters Beware
- 2008/08/20: NYT: Court Rejects E.P.A. Limits on Emissions Rules
A federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out an Environmental Protection Agency rule limiting the ability of states to require monitoring of industrial emissions. The 2-to-1 ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit is the most recent in a series of judicial setbacks to the Bush administration’s efforts to reshape federal policies under the Clean Air Act.
- 2008/08/20: FTimes: Misguided game of SOx and NOx played for high stakes
[…] Years from now, academics and political historians may argue with maps and varicoloured arrows about whether the national cap-and-trade market for nitrous oxides and sulphur dioxide could have been saved after a federal court invalidated the Environmental Protection Agency’s programme on July 11.
- 2008/08/19: Guardian(UK): US environmentalists claim global warming threatens small mammal — Lawsuit claims the American pika should be protected by the US Endangered Species Act
Here’s a suggestion to starch a GHG polluter’s shorts:
- 2008/08/19: WSJ:EnvCap: Climate Court: Saving the Planet One Gavel at a Time [an international court for the environment]
- 2008/08/19: Guardian(UK): In search of world justice
The burden of climate change solutions can only be equitably shared via an international court
- 2008/08/22: TreeHugger: Monterrey, Mexico Taps [landfill] Methane to Power Its Metro System
- 2008/08/23: CanWest: Russia shuts out West’s supermajors
[…] In the 1970s, the supermajors based in the West controlled more than half of the world’s production. Today that number has dwindled to about 13 per cent.
- 2008/08/23: IR^2: Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
- 2008/08/22: GristMill: The (renewable) electron economy, part 6 — Why electricity is the energy carrier of choice
- 2008/08/21: GristMill: On a wind and a prayer — West Virginian advocates push to build a wind farm on a proposed mountaintop removal site
- 2008/08/22: TreeHugger: 4000 Megawatts of US Geothermal Power in Development, Sector Has Grown by 20% This Year
- 2008/08/22: HoustonChronicle: Former Shell president is the man with a plan
- 2008/08/21: ClimateP: Q: Will we see $3 gasoline before we see $5? […] even after “the largest half-year consumption decline in volume terms in the last 26 years” in this country, global demand continues to grow 1 million bbl/d each year
- 2008/08/20: DotEarth: Enhanced Geothermal: The Next Killer App?
- 2008/08/21: GristMill: This drives me nuts — Take note, everyone: Oil is not energy
- 2008/08/21: NEN: Digging up a solution: geothermal heat pumps
- 2008/08/20: OilDrum: Should EROEI be the most important criterion our society uses to decide how it meets its energy needs?
- 2008/08/20: KSJT: Forbes, Seattle PI, etc : Google puts $10 million into advanced geothermal energy
- 2008/08/20: PhysOrg: Polymer electric storage, flexible and adaptable
- 2008/08/20: PhysOrg: A better way to make hydrogen from biofuels
- 2008/08/20: Reuters: Australian “hot rocks” offer 26,000 yrs of power [geothermal]
- 2008/08/19: BBerg: Japan to Trial Frozen Gas [methane hydrates] Output in Pacific in 2012
- 2008/08/19: EconView: Robert Pindyck on Energy Policy
- 2008/08/20: SMH: Hot-rock industry stakes a claim
Using just 1 per cent of Australia’s so-called “hot rocks” supply could produce 26,000 times the amount of energy that is now used each year. The figures, compiled by Geoscience Australia, were such a surprise to the office of the Minister for Resources, Martin Ferguson, that staff had them checked six times before releasing them. “The potential of the geothermal industry in Australia is truly staggering — It provides clean baseload power and is potentially a very important contributor to Australia’s energy mix in a carbon-constrained world,” Mr Ferguson said. Although its potential has been identified, the geothermal industry needs more funding to start large-scale production.
- 2008/08/18: TerraDaily: Scientists use sunlight to split water
- 2008/08/19: NYT: As Oil Giants Lose Influence, Supply Drops
- 2008/08/19: PeakEnergy: The Economist Debate On The “World Energy Crisis”
- 2008/08/18: NBF: Japan’s large scale uranium from seawater and superconducting wire plans
- 2008/08/19: LA Times: Renewable energy could electrify California economy and job market, report says
- 2008/08/18: TreeHugger: 909 Megawatts of Oregon Wind Power Bought Up by Southern California Edison
- 2008/08/17: Freep: Wind power is costly, ineffective source of electricity
- 2008/08/18: PeakEnergy: Wave Power All At Sea In The UK
- 2008/08/18: PeakEnergy: Run of River hydro power In Canada
As for the impacts of high energy costs:
- 2008/08/23: TreeHugger: Get Ready For Winter, Grasshopper: Fuel Oil; Natural Gas; Food; And Electricity Prices Set To Increase
- 2008/08/22: Times(India): Oil price hike shuts down 100,000 Mexican firms
- 2008/08/20: TimesArgus: The Big Chill – As the heating season nears, Vermonters’ worries grow
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2008/08/22: FuturePundit: Concentrating Solar Power Growth Expected
- 2008/08/21: EnvFin: Polysilicon prices set to drop spacer
Bottlenecks in the supply of polysilicon for the solar industry could be about to ease, as buyers and sellers are pricing the key commodity at 43% less for delivery in 2009 than for delivery this year, according to New Energy Finance (NEF).
- 2008/08/22: KSJT: Chr. Science Monitor: A new Nevada solar plant closing the cost gap
- 2008/08/22: AfterGutenberg: Australia, the Saudi Arabia of solar?
- 2008/08/21: TreeHugger: 15 Photovoltaics Solar Power Innovations You Must See
- 2008/08/19: TreeHugger: Australia To Get World’s Largest Solar Thermal Plant?
- 2008/08/19: NEN: China [solar] hot water heaters hotter
- 2008/08/18: NGE: Solar PV: a moving target for the critics
The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:
- 2008/08/22: McClatchyDC: Liquefied-coal industry gains energy
- 2008/08/18: USAToday: Coal king Peabody cleans up
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2008/08/21: TreeHugger: Solazyme: Millions of Gallons of Algae Biodiesel Within 3 Years
- 2008/08/19: PhysOrg: Algae: Biofuel of the future?
- 2008/08/19: SciDaily: Algae: Biofuel Of The Future?
- 2008/08/18: TreeHugger: An Additional 1.6 Million Hectares for Biodiesel: Jatropha Cultivation to be Expanded in Indian State of Uttar Pradesh
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2008/08/18: GristMill: Nuclear energy is from Mars, part two — Why is nuclear energy what ‘real men’ support?
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2008/08/21: NGE: Oil is peaking — deal with it!
- 2008/08/20: FinStd: Peak oil bigger problem than climate change
- 2008/08/18: CriticalThought: Unraveling the Unraveling
- 2008/08/19: OilChange: “What we have now is geopolitical peak oil”
- 2008/08/17: DallasNews: Peak oil is coming, and we’re unready
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2008/08/22: NewScientist: Wrapping up the problem of broken light bulbs
- 2008/08/22: GristMill: Tired of waiting for efficiency — Our right to know about fuel-efficient tires
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2008/08/21: LedgerEnq: Electric car [ZENN] good for wallet, environment
- 2008/08/22: AutoBG: Honda Fit hybrid not coming to the U.S.
- 2008/08/22: AutoBG: First hydrogen station in Missouri opens
- 2008/08/20: CalcRisk: Report: Toyota Cuts 2009 Sales Forecast [to 9.8 million vehicles from 10.4 million]
- 2008/08/19: ClimateP: No schadenfreude over the death of SUVs
The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:
- 2008/08/21: EnvFin: China more attractive than UK for renewables investment
- 2008/08/21: EnvFin: Ceres claims ‘breakthroughs’ from climate change resolutions
- 2008/08/18: UN: Toyota among six companies to join UN scheme to cut greenhouse gas emissions
- 2008/08/18: GristMill: Chamber cheap shot — Study claims shareholder and climate activism are bad for stock prices
Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:
- 2008/08/21: PRWatch: Have a Coke and a Greenwash
- 2008/08/18: Guardian(UK): Climate controls
The chairman of the ASA on the problems of greenwash, why Andy Burnham shouldn’t rule out product placement, and why Channel 4 deserves licence fee money more than BBC3
- 2008/08/21: DeSmogBlog: Littlemore vs Monckton: Except with Facts This Time
- 2008/08/18: CCD: Five more appalling climate denial ads
- 2008/08/23: inel: Beware sham climate change conference in phishing comments from WGGWCC 08!
- 2008/08/23: Deltoid: Monckton and Bolt defame John Lefebvre
- 2008/08/22: Guardian(UK): Climate change is real, compelling and urgent — Björn Lomborg has been a persistent global warming naysayer and his claims misrepresent my findings
- 2008/08/22: ERabett: Life is too short to occupy oneself with the slaying of the slain more than once. – TH Huxley
- 2008/08/20: ERabett: Kismet
- 2008/08/21: Deltoid: AGW denial roundup
- 2008/08/20: GWWatch: LOLdenialists pr-revus teh klimit siens
- 2008/08/21: DeSmogBlog: Carbon Lobby Spend Nearly One Half Billion Lobbying and PR Dollars in the First Half of 2008
- 2008/08/20: BCLSB: Rearranging The Deck Chairs On The Good Ship Denial, Part Duh
- 2008/08/19: NatureCF: More for the annals of climate misinformation
- 2008/08/19: MGS: Cherry Picking
- 2008/08/18: GWWatch: LOLdenialists goes viral
- 2008/08/18: QuarkSoup: Bishop Hill and the Jesus paper
- 2008/08/17: Deltoid: LOLdenialists
Then there was the usual news and commentary:
- 2008/08/23: Stoat: Friends of the Earth has a campaign to reduce CO2 emission limits for cars
- 2008/08/21: BSD: Error bands and known unknowns
- 2008/08/22: TreeHugger: Climate Change Not Just a Crisis of Sustainability, But a Moral Crisis: Carl Safina
- 2008/08/21: Guardian(UK): Time for a revolution — There can be no state solutions to climate change: governments won’t give up the powers that lead to environmental ruin
- 2008/08/21: Guardian(UK): Insurance for our planet — Spending money now to slow global warming can ensure that ruinous catastrophe never happens
- 2008/08/21: DotEarth: Making Climate Forecasting More Useful
- 2008/08/20: IOL(Za): Challenge of climate no longer scientific
- 2008/08/20: PhysOrg: Group says climate resolutions increase
- 2008/08/19: RealClimate: Are geologists different? [International Geological Congress report]
- 2008/08/19: GWWatch: Explain
- 2008/08/19: TreeHugger: Climate Change College Graduates: From Green DIY to Watering-Down the Food Chain(s)
- 2008/08/18: KSJT: Science News: Climate change shibboleths turned on their heads, and right there on the cover
- 2008/08/18: GristMill: Contra Manzi — The argument for action on climate change
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- WFS: Monitoring the Planetary Emergencies
- OCHA: Global Food Trends – Overview
- GCC:JPL: Global Climate Change
- Wiki: Dog Days
- DeSmogBlog – Clearing the air on climate change
- Rising Tide (UK) – Taking Action on the Root Causes of Climate Change
- CCI: Mass Balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet using precision GPS measurements
- UTexas: AGASEA: Airborne geophysical survey of the Amundsen Sea Embayment, Antarctica
- Climate Change Action
- Climate Justice Now!
- Climate IMC
- CRU: Climatic Research Unit – Information Sheets
- Bryan’s Blog [Bryan Lawrence]
- SierraClub: Global Warming and Clean Energy
- Columbia: Dr. James E. Hansen [web page]
- ESA: GLOBCARBON – Global Land Products for Carbon Model Assimilation
- CDP: The Carbon Disclosure Project
- Wiki: Carbon cycle
Here’s a wee touch of black humour:
The Arctic melt continues to get a lot of attention:
Polar bears have put in an appearance:
Rob Grumbine continues his education project:
As for GHGs:
Glaciers are melting:
Meanwhile in Australia:
And in Japan:
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
The tricky & difficult question of the tar sands looms:
Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
Low Key Plug
My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.
“…our ‘fair and balanced’ press continues to tell their readers that opinions as to the shape of the earth differ.” -PGL