Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
Another week of Global Warming News
Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is notWisdom
December 26, 2010
- Chuckles, Solstice, COP16, Bolivia, COP17+, Season's Greetings, Roundups, Weather
- AGU, IPBES, CableGate, Pakistan, Subsidies, Amstrup, Thermodynamics, Cook
- Melting Arctic, Polar Bears
- Food Crisis, Agro-corps, Land Grabs, GMOs, Food Production
- Hurricanes, GHGs, Temperatures, Paleoclimate, Historical Climate
- ENSO, Climate Sensitivity, Milankovitch Cycles, Ocean Currents, State of the Oceans, Satellites
- Acidification, Sea Levels, GW Deluge, Floods & Droughts
- Mitigation, Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
- Journals, Other Docs , Misc. Science, Keeling, Wegman, Curry
- UN, Carbon Trade, International Politics: US-China., Miscellaeous
- Security, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, Water Politics & Business, Software, Religioso
- National Politics: America, BP Disaster, Pickens, GHG Timeline, Polar Bear, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
- Britain, Europe, Australia, Murray-Darling, New Zealand, Japan, Asia, South America
- Canada, Post G20, Warm, Pipelines, Post Igor, BC, Tar Sands, Alberta, Sask, Maritimes, Canadiana
- Ecological Economics, Transition, IPAT, Media, Books, Video, Podcasts, Courts
- Energy, Fracking, Wind, Solar, FITs, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Peak Oil, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Gee Whiz
- Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Clean Coal, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
- Shameless Self Promotion, .sig
 |  |
- 2010/12/20: TI:CF: (cartoon - Roberts) All Gods and None
- 2010/12/23: Seppo: (cartoon - Sepppo) Midwinter Greetings from snowy Forest!
- 2010/12/24: MoD: (cartoon - xkcd) Bah Humbug!
- 2010/12/24: ClimateP: (cartoon - Wiley) Santa Claus' counterproductive coal policy
- 2010/12/23: uComics: (cartoon - Wiley) Who's been good?
- 2010/12/21: ParliamantHill: (cartoon - Sadlemyer) Oilsands panel recommends critical fixes
- 2010/12/22: ParliamantHill: (cartoon - Sadlemyer) G20 protester 'grateful' for police charge
- 2010/12/20: TCoE: (cartoon - xkcd) Science weapons, bitches!
And for those who enjoy challenging Poe's Law:
- 2010/12/22: GreenGrok: 2011: TheGreenGrok's Crystal Ball...
- 2010/12/24: Wonkette: Barack Obama Wishes You a Gay Military Industrial Christmas
- 2010/12/23: TEC: Santa's Email to Climate Skeptics
The Solstice eclipse piqued some interest:
- 2010/12/23: APOD: The Solstice Moon's Eclipse
- 2010/12/21: APOD: Tyrrhenian Sea and Solstice Sky
- 2010/12/20: ENS: Total Lunar Eclipse Marks Winter Solstice: First in 372 Years
Looking back at Cancun:
- 2010/12/17: BobPark: What's New?
#2 Cancun: Looking for progress in the second derivative. - 2010/12/23: BBC:RB: Cancun splits opinion, but may mark way forward
- 2010/12/21: DerSpiegel: Cancun Hangover -- Germany Grows Tired of Leading Europe on Climate Change
For the Cancun climate change agreement to be effective, the European Union would have to further cut greenhouse gas emissions. Germany, though, no longer wants to be the model EU pupil and is asking others in the club to step up. - 2010/12/21: SolveClimate: Out of Cancun Climate Talks, A Breakthrough for Preserving Wetlands Globally
Peat soils are carbon sinks, absorbing about twice the carbon as all the planet's forests - 2010/12/20: TEC: COP16: Conclusions from Young Trackers
- 2010/12/20: UN: UN climate change chief urges nations to act on Cancún agreements
- 2010/12/20: SolveClimate: Mexico Hailed for Making Climate Talks a Global Triumph
Bolivia explains themselves:
- 2010/12/21: Guardian(UK): Why Bolivia stood alone in opposing the Cancún climate agreement
We were accused of being obstructionist, obstinate and unrealistic. But we feel an enormous obligation to set aside diplomacy and tell the truth - 2010/12/20: SciAm: Game Theory: Climate Talks Destined to Fail
Lots of people wishing you well:
- 2010/12/25: AFTIC: Happy Holidays - 2010 [music]
- 2010/12/26: GL: Merry christmas from an alternate universe
- 2010/12/24: QuarkSoup: Merry Christmas
- 2010/12/24: ERabett: A Glorious Christmas to All
- 2010/12/24: moyhu: Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all
- 2010/12/24: Deltoid: Merry Christmas!
- 2010/12/23: BSD: Happy Holidays!
- 2010/12/24: Stoat: Glad Tidings of Great Joy
- 2010/12/21: NASA:JPL: Season's Greetings: NASA Views the Change of Seasons -- The change of seasons is vividly displayed in four satellite images of Lake George, New York
And the year end roundups are coming thick and fast:
- 2010/12/26: ClimateP: 2010 in photos: BP and climate disasters
- 2010/12/24: APSmith: A Puzzling Year
- 2010/12/23: TEC: Big Energy Stories of 2010
- 2010/12/23: EnergyBulletin: 10 most hopeful stories of 2010
- 2010/12/23: ClimateP: The year of living dangerously. Masters: "The stunning extremes we witnessed gives me concern that our climate is showing the early signs of instability"
- 2010/12/23: Grist: Top five climate and weather events of 2010 [video]
- 2010/12/22: EnergyBulletin: Top 10 peak oil stories of 2010
- 2010/12/20: Grist: The top five stories of the year for climate hawks
- 2010/12/20: MongaBay: Top 10 Environmental Stories of 2010
- 2010/12/18: Grist: Top 10 green stories of 2010
- 2010/12/19: NatureN: Newsmaker of the year: Jane Lubchenco -- In the eye of the storm
Lots of people commenting on the unusually disruptive weather:
- 2010/12/26: PSinclair: White Christmas in Southeast. Heatwave in Hudson Bay [disruption]
- 2010/12/26: DailyMail: Why is it so cold? Simple... it's the North Atlantic Oscillation - and it's got a bit stuck [Pearce]
- 2010/12/26: TerraDaily: Rare 'white Christmas' in US south
- 2010/12/26: PostMedia: Winter storm threatens East Coast travellers
A snowstorm moving up the East Coast of the United States is threatening air and ground transportation as travellers return home from their Christmas holidays. The storm has prompted forecasters to post a winter storm watch through today for the East Coast from Georgia to Maine. It is predicted to dump as much as 30 centimetres or more in some areas by tomorrow morning, including the Boston area. - 2010/12/25: NYT: Bundle Up, It's Global Warming
- 2010/12/26: CCP: NCAR's Trenberth on the link between global warming and extreme deluges New England, Tennessee, Oklahoma....
[...]
...there is a systematic influence on all of these weather events now-a-days because of the fact that there is this extra water vapor lurking around in the atmosphere than there used to be say 30 years ago. It's about a 4% extra amount, it invigorates the storms, it provides plenty of moisture for these storms... - 2010/12/24: Independent(UK): Expect more extreme winters thanks to global warming, say scientists
- 2010/12/24: BBC: Snow paralyses transport in parts of Western Europe
- 2010/12/23: Wunderground: Europe's cold and snowy winter forecast to gradually ease
- 2010/12/23: BBC: Thick ice and snow have caused further travel disruption in Western Europe, as transport networks struggle to cope with the busy Christmas period
- 2010/12/21: CCP: NOAA: Future of Arctic Sea Ice and Global Impacts. Higher pressure surfaces above the North Pole are thought to impact large scale wind patterns over the Northern Hemisphere
- 2010/12/21: KSJT: WashPost, etc: So, weather guys. Why is it so cold and snowy in Europe and N. America's eastern seaboard?
- 2010/12/21: PhysOrg: Biting winters driven by global warming: scientists
- 2010/12/21: PlanetArk: Heavy Snow Disrupts Travel Across North Europe
- 2010/12/20: Guardian(UK): Q&A: Why is it so cold this winter?
- 2010/12/20: Guardian(UK): That snow outside is what global warming looks like
Unusually cold winters may make you think scientists have got it all wrong. But the data reveal a chilling truth - 2010/12/26: SkeptiSci: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the AGU Fall Meeting
- 2010/12/20: ClimateP: Michael Oppenheimer delivers American Geophysical Union's first Stephen Schneider Lecture
The formation of IPBES was ratified at the UN:
- 2010/12/21: UNEP: Biodiversity Year Ends on a High Note as UN General Assembly Backs Resolution Signing into Life an 'IPCC-for Nature'
- 2010/12/21: ENS: UN Green-Lights New Biodiversity Science Policy Platform
- 2010/12/21: UN: UN authorizes new body to stem loss of ecosystems vital to life
- 2010/12/21: EarthTimes: UN looks to International Year of Forests, decade on biodiversity
- 2010/12/21: BBC: UN gives final approval to biodiversity science panel [IPBES]
The UN has given final approval for the establishment of an expert panel to advise governments on science and policy issues relating to biodiversity. Endorsement came at the UN General Assembly in New York. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) will assess evidence on the causes and effects of nature degradation, and policy options. Details will be worked out during the first few months of next year. The new organisation is roughly modelled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and will be similarly charged with providing "gold-standard" reports to governments. - 2010/12/23: Guardian(UK): US embassy cables: Ireland grappling with climate change and energy
- 2010/12/22: SolveClimate: WikiLeaks: U.S. Pushed to Reopen Bangladesh Coal Mine Closed by Violent Protests
- 2010/12/23: WikiLeaks: Cable 07PARIS4723, FRANCE AND THE WTO AG BIOTECH CASE
[...]¶1. (C) Summary: Mission Paris recommends that that the USG reinforce our negotiating position with the EU on agricultural biotechnology by publishing a retaliation list when the extend "Reasonable Time Period" expires. In our view, Europe is moving backwards not forwards on this issue with France playing a leading role, along with Austria, Italy and even the Commission. In France, the "Grenelle" environment process is being implemented to circumvent science-based decisions in favor of an assessment of the "common interest." Combined with the precautionary principle, this is a precedent with implications far beyond MON-810 BT corn cultivation. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices. In fact, the pro-biotech side in France -- including within the farm union -- have told us retaliation is the only way to begin to begin to turn this issue in France. End Summary.
- 2010/12/20: HuffPo: WikiLeaks: US Should Retaliate Against EU for Genetically Modifed Resistance
"Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU" [Emphasis added] --Recommendation by US Ambassador to France, Craig Stapleton.
WikiLeaked cables released over the weekend revealed more about the US' role as a global bully, trying to thrust unpopular genetically modified (GM) crops onto cautious governments and their citizens. In a 2007 cable from Craig Stapleton, then US Ambassador to France, he encouraged the US government to "reinforce our negotiating position with the EU on agricultural biotechnology by publishing a retaliation list." A list, he added, that "causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility."
The stated reason for their attack was that "Europe is moving backwards not forwards" on GMOs, with "France playing a leading role, along with Austria, Italy and even the [EU] Commission." The Ambassador was concerned that France and others would put a ban on the cultivation of Monsanto's GM corn seeds called Mon 810, engineered with a gene that produces a toxic insect-killing pesticide in every cell. Mon 810 is the first GM crop approved for planting EU-wide and has been a test case for biotech expansionism into the continent.
According to the cable, the Ambassador also rejected the France's new "Grenelle" environment process, which looks beyond just the science of new technologies to also take into account "common interest." Evidently a government that looks out for common interest is just too much for Ambassador Stapleton. He wrote, "Combined with the precautionary principle, this is a precedent with implications far beyond MON-810 BT corn cultivation." - 2010/12/23: TreeHugger: Bush Admin Officials Advised Retaliation Against Europe For Rejecting GM Crops: Wikileaks
- 2010/12/22: CBC: Prentice was ready to curb oilsands: WikiLeaks
- 2010/12/23: PostMedia: Prentice critical of Tories over 'dirty oil': U.S. leak
While still serving as federal environment minister, Jim Prentice privately told the U.S. ambassador to Canada his Tory government was "too slow" to fight the "dirty oil" label, failing to grasp the magnitude of the Alberta oilsands image problem. The former Calgary MP also told David Jacobson at their meeting more than a year ago that he was ready to impose new regulations on the oilsands unless the Alberta government and industry improved their performance. The revelations are contained in a cable Jacobson sent to Washington following his Nov. 5, 2009 lunch with Prentice. The cable -- released by WikiLeaks and posted by a Norwegian newspaper... - 2010/12/22: CBC: Prentice was ready to curb oilsands: WikiLeaks
Former environment minister Jim Prentice told U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson that he was prepared to step in and impose tougher regulations on the oilsands if the industry damaged Canada's green reputation, according to a cable released by WikiLeaks. - 2010/12/20: CCurrents: Newly Leaked Cable: Pope 'Quietly Supportive' Of GMOs
- 2010/12/22: DVoice: Newly Leaked Cable: Pope 'Quietly Supportive' OF GMOs
- 2010/12/21: Guardian(UK): WikiLeaks cables: US pushed for reopening of Bangladesh coal mine
- 2010/12/21: MongaBay: Wikileaks reveals Dalai Lama's climate change concerns
- 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: Is the Wikileaks Saga the Biggest Crypto-Environmental Story of 2010?
- 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: Wikileaks Reveals Hackers Attacked US Climate Negotiators
- 2010/12/20: EUO: Spain a key ally of pro-GMO America, cables reveal
- 2010/12/20: ClimateP: WikiLeaks: Hackers tried to infiltrate U.S. climate negotiators
The post monsoon flood ravages weigh heavily in Pakistan:
- 2010/12/22: WFP: For Pakistan Flood Village, Recovery Starts With Bridge
- 2010/12/19: CCurrents: Millions Of Flood Victims In Pakistan Now Face Harsh Winter
Who's getting the subsidies?
- 2010/12/22: REA:Oil and Renewables: Slicing up the Subsidy Pie
Oil companies and renewable energy firms are heading for a showdown over their relative share of public subsidies.
Even though governments throughout the world are vowing to expand green energy, they continue to give far more subsidies to fossil fuels than renewable -- 10 to 12 times more, according to recent reports. Bloomberg New Energy Finance identified US$43-$46 billion last year allotted by governments for renewable energy. Meanwhile, oil, coal and gas received $557 billion in subsidies from the 37 countries that represent 95% of global subsidisation of fossil fuels in 2008, says the International Energy Agency (IEA). In its latest World Energy Outlook the IEA says that government support for both electricity from renewables and biofuels was $57 billion in 2009, of which $37 billion was allocated to the former. - 2010/12/20: Grist: Reducing (massive) fossil-fuel subsidies as key as carbon price in the climate fight
More spin on Amstrup:
- 2010/12/21: Eureka: Polar bears no longer on 'thin ice': researchers say polar bears could face brighter future
- 2010/12/21: PhysOrg: Polar bears no longer on 'thin ice': researchers say polar bears could face brighter future
- 2010/12/20: ClimateP: Polar bear, Arctic sea ice all-but doomed: Misleading Nature cover story misleads the media, public
Still explicating...the laws of thermodynamics...:
- 2010/12/23: TSoD: Understanding Atmospheric Radiation and the "Greenhouse" Effect -- Part One
John Cook and friends continue their counterpoint articles:
- 2010/12/24: SkeptiSci: Does high levels of CO2 in the past contradict the warming effect of CO2? [BV]
- 2010/12/23: SkeptiSci: The Physical Chemistry of Carbon Dioxide Absorption by Hugo Franzen
- 2010/12/22: SkeptiSci: Conspiracy theories
- 2010/12/20: SkeptiSci: An online resource for the IPCC 4th Assessment Report
The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:
- 2010/12/26: CCP: December Arctic Sea Extent actually decreases, goes to lowest level ever recorded for the month of December
- 2010/12/21: Stoat: Sea ice low
As for the charismatic megafauna:
- 2010/12/23: CBC: Polar bear survey could change EU ban
The European Union ban on polar bear trophies could be lifted, depending on the outcome of an upcoming survey of the animals in the Baffin Bay-Kane Basin area. The EU banned the import of trophies from the area between Greenland and Nunavut in 2008, after its scientific review group reviewed population and hunting numbers provided by the territorial and federal governments and decided polar bears in the region were being overhunted. - 2010/12/24: NatureTGB: US administration explains why polar bears are 'threatened', not 'endangered'
- 2010/12/23: SpaceDaily: Obama gives 'lump of coal' to polar bears: activists
- 2010/12/20: CBC: Polar bear surveys planned for North
Two major surveys of polar bear numbers in western Hudson Bay and Baffin Bay-Kane Basin are planned for 2011. The count should help reconcile differences between local hunters who say the bears' numbers are increasing and biologists who say the animals' numbers are low. An aerial survey will count polar bears in Western Hudson Bay in the fall. The survey method for the Baffin Bay-Kane Basin region hasn't been decided yet. - FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
- 2010/12/23: UN: Land degradation among China's food supply challenges, says UN expert
- 2010/12/23: Guardian(UK): China's ability to feed its people questioned by UN expert
Shrinking arable land making it harder to maintain agricultural output, says Olivier De Schutter, as food prices rise in China - 2010/12/23: SolveClimate: China's Ability to Feed Its People Questioned by UN Expert
37% of its soils are already degraded and climate change is expected to increase price volatility and cut agricultural productivity by 5% to 10% by 2030 - 2010/12/21: BBC: Sri Lanka bans felling of palm trees to head off coconut crisis
- 2010/12/21: BBC: India bans onion exports after eye-watering price rise
India's government has banned the export of onions after the vegetable doubled in price in the past week. The rise has been blamed on unusually heavy rains in growing areas, as well as on hoarders and speculators. - 2010/12/20: ProMedMail: Leaf stripe & stem rot maize - Mexico: (VE) new disease
As for the agro-chem corps:
- 2010/12/20: BBC: Russia's potash producer Uralkali has offered to buy rival Silvinit for cash and shares in a deal that will create a company worth $24bn (£15bn)
- 2010/12/20: CBC: Russian potash firms to merge in $24B pact
Two Russian mining companies have agreed to join together in a $24-billion US merger to create the world's second-largest potash company. OAO Uralkali will pay more than $8 billion US in cash and shares to scoop up rival OAO Silvinit. - 2010/12/22: NYT: African Farmers Displaced as Investors Move In
[...]
Across Africa and the developing world, a new global land rush is gobbling up large expanses of arable land. Despite their ageless traditions, stunned villagers are discovering that African governments typically own their land and have been leasing it, often at bargain prices, to private investors and foreign governments for decades to come. Organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank say the practice, if done equitably, could help feed the growing global population by introducing large-scale commercial farming to places without it. But others condemn the deals as neocolonial land grabs that destroy villages, uproot tens of thousands of farmers and create a volatile mass of landless poor. Making matters worse, they contend, much of the food is bound for wealthier nations. - 2010/12/20: CCurrents: Newly Leaked Cable: Pope 'Quietly Supportive' Of GMOs
- 2010/12/22: DVoice: Newly Leaked Cable: Pope 'Quietly Supportive' OF GMOs
- 2010/12/20: CBC: Genetically modified fish lawsuit threatened
The U.S. chapter of Trout Unlimited is considering legal action if the Food and Drug Administration approves production of a genetically-modified salmon in P.E.I. and Panama for food. AquaBounty is nearing the end of a years-long process to approve the fish for sale. It has a facility in eastern P.E.I. for hatching the fish, which would be shipped to Panama for rearing. The salmon is genetically-modified to grow at twice the rate of normal fish. - 2010/12/24: BF: Food Fights
- 2010/12/23: SeedDaily: Price rises highlight China food supply challenges: UN envoy
- 2010/12/22: UN: Afghan wheat sale marks UN agency's largest local purchase ever
In a groundbreaking agreement, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will buy enough wheat directly from farmers in Afghanistan to help feed more than 500,000 people in the country for three months, marking the largest local purchase ever by the agency. WFP will purchase some 13,000 metric tons of wheat through the pilot Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative, through which it buys surplus from local farmers for its aid operations, thereby helping to boost agricultural production and incomes in developing nations. - 2010/12/22: CCurrents: Tiding Over Farm Woes: Reaping The Advantage
- 2010/12/20: EnergyBulletin: Beyond drip irrigation to water fields in dry land areas: An interview with David Bainbridge
Tropical Storm Tasha troubled the Australian NorthEast coast, but otherwise it has been quiet:
- 2010/12/25: EarthTimes: Cyclone season starts in far-north Australia [Tasha]
While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:
- 2010/12/21: UN: Myanmar cyclone [Giri] victims start to rebuild but need more funds, UN reports
- 2010/12/21: ENN: Summary of the 2010 North Atlantic Hurricane Season
As for GHGs:
- 2010/12/23: ClimateP: Energy Information Administration projects U.S. will lead world into dangerous levels of CO2 emissions
- 2010/12/21: Grist: EIA projects climate catastrophe
- 2010/12/21: PhysOrg: Potent greenhouse gas [N2O] in estuaries firmly linked to human activity
A University of Otago Marine Science PhD graduate has found a direct causal relationship between the production of a potent and harmful green-house gas emitting from estuaries in New Zealand and escalating impacts of human activity. - 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: Nitrogen Runoff Into Rivers Causes 3x More Emissions Than IPCC Estimates
- 2010/12/20: Eureka: Rising greenhouse gases profoundly impact microscopic marine life
Study by UC Merced marine biologist shows increased acidity of ocean water -- driven by carbon dioxide emissions -- could fundamentally alter how nitrogen cycles throughout the sea - 2010/12/20: Eureka: Waterways contribute to growth of potent greenhouse gas
- 2010/12/20: Eureka: Ocean acidification changes nitrogen cycling in world seas -- New results indicate potential to reduce certain greenhouse gas emissions from oceans to atmosphere
- 2010/12/20: Eureka: Global rivers emit 3 times IPCC estimates of greenhouse gas nitrous oxide -- Waterways receiving nitrogen from human activities are significant source
- 2010/12/20: PhysOrg: Ocean acidification changes nitrogen cycling in world seas
Increasing acidity in the sea's waters may fundamentally change how nitrogen is cycled in them, say marine scientists who published their findings in this week's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). - 2010/12/20: Eureka: [Kansas State University professor, Walter] Dodds contributes to new national study on nitrogen water pollution
- 2010/12/20: Eureka: New study focuses on nitrogen in waterways as cause of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere
As for the temperature record:
- 2010/12/24: Wunderground: November 2010 1st or 2nd warmest on record; ZombieSat saga ends
- 2010/12/21: CCentral: How Will We Know if 2010 Was the Warmest Year on Record? Different Groups' Methods Yield the Same Finding: Warming Surface Temperatures
- 2010/12/23: SkeptiSci: Comparing all the temperature records
- 2010/12/21: CCP: J. Hansen et al., Rev. Geophys. 48 (2010), Global surface temperature change
While in the paleoclimate:
- 2010/12/22: BristolU: New fossil site in China shows long recovery of life from the largest extinction in Earth's history [P-T]
- 2010/12/21: SciNews: Gene genesis -- About a quarter of present-day life's DNA blueprint was sketched out by 2.8 billion years ago
- 2010/12/20: SciDaily: Three Billion-Year-Old Genomic Fossils Deciphered [by analyzing microbial DNA]
And in historical times:
- 2010/12/23: BBC: Sunderland experts study 18th Century Arctic voyages
Ships' logs from vessels which travelled in the Arctic Circle in the 18th Century are to be studied to see if they shed light on climate change. - 2010/12/21: PlanetArk: La Nina May Be At Its Peak, Says Australia's Weather Bureau
Regarding Climate Sensitivity:
- 2010/12/24: SkeptiSci: Is it safe to double atmospheric Carbon Dioxide over a 200 year period?
Milankovitch Cycles:
- 2010/12/21: PhysOrg: How Earth's orbital shift shaped the Sahara
As for ocean currents:
- 2010/12/20: BBC: GOCE gravity mission traces ocean circulation
The great sweep of water around Planet Earth has been captured from space in greater detail than ever before. New observations from Europe's GOCE gravity mapping satellite have allowed scientists to plot ocean currents with unprecedented precision. - 2010/12/22: Eureka: Growing hypoxic zones reduce habitat for billfish and tuna -- Less habitat could increase vulnerability to fishing, affect population assessments
- 2010/12/22: NOAANews: NOAA, Partners: Growing Hypoxic Zones Reduce Habitat for Billfish and Tuna -- Less habitat could increase vulnerability to fishing, affect population assessments
- 2010/12/21: PhysOrg: Study finds rising summer ocean temperatures equals fewer plankton for fish to feed on
Summer temperatures in the waters of the North Atlantic have been increasing since 1353, reducing the abundance of plankton -- a key source of food for cod. - 2010/12/17: BBC: Swarm satellite mission to try to sense ocean magnetism
European scientists are going to try to measure the movement of the oceans by tracing their magnetism alone. The effort will be achieved using three super-sensitive spacecraft called Swarm, which should launch in 2012. - 2010/12/19: BBC: Cryosat ice mission returns first science
The Cryosat-2 spacecraft has produced its first major science result. Radar data from the European satellite has been used to make a map of ocean circulation across the Arctic basin. Cryosat's primary mission is to measure sea-ice thickness, which has been in sharp decline in recent decades. But its ability also to map the shape of the sea surface will tell scientists if Arctic currents are changing as a result of winds being allowed to blow more easily on ice-free waters. - 2010/12/22: SciNow: Some Don't Like It Hot
As oceans continue to warm and acidify, the survival of the tiny floating young of marine mollusks (Haliotis coccoradiata) and sea urchins (Heliocidaris erythrogramma) looks bleak, researchers report online today in the Proceedings of Royal Society B. - 2010/12/22: DM:80B: Will Ocean Acidification Muck Up the Marine Nitrogen Cycle?
- 2010/12/20: SciAm: Ocean acidification may disrupt the marine nitrogen cycle
Sea levels are rising:
- 2010/12/21: ABC(Au): Rising sea levels a threat to some coastal suburbs
- 2010/12/20: CCP: James G. Titus: Potential Effects of Global Climate Change on the United States, Report to Congress, Chapter 7, Sea Level Rise
These global warming deluges, aka 100, 200, 500 year storms, are happening quite frequently:
- 2010/12/25: After Gutenberg: The term '100-year event' really lost its meaning this year
- 2010/12/20: EarthTimes: Los Angeles pounded by 'storm of the decade'
- 2010/12/20: EarthTimes: Australia's west coast hit by 50-year flood
As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:
- 2010/12/25: EarthTimes: Mudslide kills 13 in Colombia
- 2010/12/24: BBC: At least 12 people have been killed in a landslide in south-western Colombia...
- 2010/12/24: CBC: Californians cleaning up mud, water, debris
- 2010/12/24: CBC: Colombian landslide kills at least 12
- 2010/12/24: CBC: Storm batters West Coast for Christmas Eve
- 2010/12/23: CBC: Flood alert issued for Courtenay
The Vancouver Island city of Courtenay has issued a flood alert, warning businesses and residents to prepare for potential flooding over the next five days. - 2010/12/23: EarthTimes: Five people missing in Colombian mudslide
- 2010/12/23: EarthTimes: California digs out from record storm
- 2010/12/23: CBC: California storm fouls water, beaches
- 2010/12/23: CBC: Storm closes P.E.I. bridges, beaches
- 2010/12/23: CBC: N.B. storm recovery costs could hit $50M
- 2010/12/22: Wunderground: Atmospheric River deluges California and the Southwest
- 2010/12/22: EarthTimes: Southern California reels under torrential storms
- 2010/12/21: EarthTimes: Major storm causes California chaos
- 2010/12/22: BBC: Southern California braces for severe storm
Residents in southern California are bracing for flooding, thunderstorms, hail and even tornadoes from the worst in a week-long series of storms. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency for a half a dozen communities in the state, some of which have already seen mud slides and flooded streets. - 2010/12/22: CBC: Southern California braces for major storm -- State of emergency declared in 6 counties
- 2010/12/22: CBC: Storm warnings continue for Eastern Canada
- 2010/12/22: CBC: Confederation Bridge reopens after 28 hours -- Power mostly restored
- 2010/12/22: CBC: Storm causes power outages, road flooding
- 2010/12/22: LA Times: Strongest storm yet to hit Southern California
The latest in a week of storms could bring thunder, hail, flooding, tidal surges and even waterspouts and small tornadoes. Some foothill evacuations are ordered. - 2010/12/22: DailyMail: How a freak diversion of the jet stream is paralysing the globe with freezing conditions
- 2010/12/21: SciNow: California Takes a Ride on the 'Pineapple Express'
- 2010/12/21: EarthTimes: Storm leaves six dead, 47 missing off Vietnam's coast
- 2010/12/21: CBC: Extreme weather warnings issued in Nfld.
- 2010/12/21: CBC: Storm surge hits Maritime coastlines
- 2010/12/20: CBC: N.B. braces for more severe weather -- Environment Canada forecasts more flooding for St. Stephen
Elsewhere on the mitigation front:
- 2010/12/23: PhysOrg: Growing seaweed can solve acidification
Large-scale cultivation of sea lettuce can help reduce acidification of the oceans. And help solve the global food supply problem to boot. - 2010/12/23: BBC: Biochar: Running the numbers
In search of a "magic bullet" for climate change that will simultaneously help with the growing problem of feeding the world, gurus from James Lovelock downwards have praised the potential of biochar. - 2010/12/21: PhysOrg: No-till, rotation can limit greenhouse gas emissions from farm fields
Using no-till and corn-soybean rotation practices in farm fields can significantly reduce field emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, according to a Purdue University study. - 2010/12/20: PhysOrg: Special feed halves methane production
It is not garlic but nitrate and sulphate that reduces methane production in the stomachs of cows and sheep. If their feed contains a small percentage of these substances the amount of this powerful greenhouse gas produced by sheep is halved, Dutch research by Sander van Zijderveld has shown. - 2010/12/21: TEC: Solar Power to Cut Colossal Cruise Ship Emissions
- 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: California Speeds Ahead With High-Speed Rail
- 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: Ray LaHood: "High-speed-rail will be our generation's legacy"
- 2010/12/20: CalcRisk: ATA Truck Tonnage Index decreases slightly in November
- 2010/12/20: SciDaily: Reducing Emissions from Shipping
Maritime transport causes about 4% of global man-made CO2 emissions which makes its carbon footprint approximately as high as Germany's. There is no regulation of international maritime transport emissions yet, but this is currently under discussion in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). - 2010/12/20: Europa: Reducing emissions from shipping: Commission's Joint Research Centre sets out some options
- 2010/12/20: CalcRisk: DOT: Vehicle miles driven increased in October
While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:
- 2010/12/23: NatGeo: Green Design Spree Aims to Trim U.S. Government's Big Energy Bill
- 2010/12/20: PI:B: Delay in improving Alberta building code is costing homebuyers money
- 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: Which Is Worse, Air Leaks or Heat Loss? Neither. It's Energy Consumption That Matters
As for carbon sequestration:
- 2010/12/20: NatureTGB: Australia nixes [ZeroGen] carbon storage project
- 2010/12/20: ABC(Au): Dumping ZeroGen plan threatens coal industry: union
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) says the State Government's decision to scrap plans for a multi-billion-dollar clean coal power station in central Queensland puts the industry's future in jeopardy. - 2010/12/21: TEC: A global thermostat?
Meanwhile in the journals:
- 2010/12/21: NERC:NORA: Trends in the land and ocean carbon uptake by Corinne Le Quéré et al.
- 2010/12/21: NERC:NORA: Impact of climate change and variability on the global oceanic sink of CO2 by Corinne Le Quéré et al.
- 2010/12/21: NERC:NORA: Interactions of the carbon cycle, human activity, and the climate system: a research portfolio by Josep G. Canadell et al.
- 2010/12/21: NERC:NORA: Observation and parameterization of ablation at the base of Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica by Adrian Jenkins et al.
- 2010/12/21: NERC:NORA: Rapid changes in surface water carbonate chemistry during Antarctic sea ice melt by Elizabeth M. Jones et al.
- 2010/12/21: NERC:NORA: Climate and atmospheric circulation changes over the past 1000 years reconstructed from oxygen isotopes in lake-sediment carbonate from Ireland by Jonathan Holmes et al.
- 2010/12/22: NERC:NORA: Polar front shift and atmospheric CO2 during the glacial maximum of the Early Paleozoic icehouse by Thijs R.A. Vandenbroucke et al.
- 2010/12/22: NERC:NORA: Atlantic overturning circulation and Agulhas leakage influences on southeast Atlantic upper ocean hydrography during marine isotope stage 11 by Alexander J. Dickson et al.
- 2010/12/24: Science: (ab$) High-Flux Solar-Driven Thermochemical Dissociation of CO2 and H2O Using Nonstoichiometric Ceria by William C. Chueh et al.
- 2010/12/23: GMDD: The Fire INventory from NCAR (FINN) - a high resolution global model to estimate the emissions from open burning by C. Wiedinmyer et al.
- 2010/12/21: CPD: A multi-variable box model approach to the soft tissue carbon pump by A. M. de Boer et al.
- 2010/12/20: CP: Warm Nordic Seas delayed glacial inception in Scandinavia by A. Born et al.
- 2010/12/21: CPD: Quantifying sea surface temperature ranges of the Arabian Sea for the past 20 000 years by G. Ganssen et al.
- 2010/12/21: CPD: Terrestrial mollusc records from Xifeng and Luochuan L9 loess strata and their implications for paleoclimatic evolution in the Chinese Loess Plateau during marine oxygen isotope stages 24-22 by B. Wu & N. Q. Wu
- 2010/12/20: CPD: Dynamics of ~100-kyr glacial cycles during the early Miocene by D. Liebrand et al.
- 2010/12/23: APC: Ozone, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides time series at four alpine GAW mountain stations in central Europe by S. Gilge et al.
- 2010/12/23: APC: Measurements of HONO during BAQS-Met by J. J. B. Wentzell et al.
- 2010/12/23: APC: Wintertime pollution over the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains as observed from MOPITT, CALIPSO and tropospheric ozone residual data by J. Kar et al.
- 2010/12/22: APC: Comparison of global inventories of CO emissions from biomass burning derived from remotely sensed data by D. Stroppiana et al.
- 2010/12/22: APC: Evidence for the effectiveness of the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer by J. A. Mäder et al.
- 2010/12/22: APCD: Thin and subvisible cirrus and contrails in a subsaturated environment by M. Kübbeler et al.
- 2010/12/22: APCD: One year of Raman-lidar measurements in Gual Pahari EUCAARI site close to New Delhi in India: seasonal characteristics of the aerosol vertical structure by M. Komppula et al.
- 2010/12/20: APCD: The two faces of cirrus clouds by D. Barahona & A. Nenes
- 2010/12/21: PNAS: (ab$) Timing and dynamics of Late Pleistocene mammal extinctions in southwestern Australia by Gavin J. Prideaux et al.
- 2010/12/21: PNAS: (ab$) Winter and spring warming result in delayed spring phenology on the Tibetan Plateau by Haiying Yu et al.
- 2010/12/21: PNAS: (ab$) A framework to diagnose barriers to climate change adaptation by Susanne C. Moser & Julia A. Ekstrom
- 2010/12/21: PNAS: (ab$) Synchronous environmental and cultural change in the prehistory of the northeastern United States by Samuel E. Munoz et al.
- 2010/12/21: PNAS: (Letter$) Ester Boserup: An interdisciplinary visionary relevant for sustainability by B. L. Turner II & Marina Fischer-Kowalski
- 2010/12/21: PNAS: (Letter$) Reply to Burke et al.: Bias and climate war research by Halvard Buhaug
- 2010/12/21: PNAS: (Letter$) Climate robustly linked to African civil war by Marshall B. Burke et al.
- 2010/12/21: TC: The sea level fingerprint of recent ice mass fluxes by J. Bamber & R. Riva et al.
- 2010/12/20: TCD: Longest time series of glacier mass changes in the Himalaya based on stereo imagery by T. Bolch et al.
- 2010/12/20: AGWObserver: New research from last week 50/2010
- 2010/12/20: Nature: (ab$) Rapid evolutionary innovation during an Archaean genetic expansion by Lawrence A. David & Eric J. Alm
And other significant documents:
- 2010/12/20: Europa: [link to 7 meg pdf] New JRC Reference Report sets out options to reduce emissions from shipping
As for miscellaneous science:
- 2010/12/24: AGWObserver: Christmas Science
- 2010/12/23: MGS: Kids are scientists
- 2010/12/22: Eureka: Drilling in the holy land -- Drilling project in the Dead Sea aiming at climate history and history of mankind
- 2010/12/20: Eureka: Research shows that environmental factors limit species diversity
Regarding Charles Keeling:
- 2010/12/22: ERabett: Rabett Can Read
- 2010/12/21: NYT: A Scientist, His Work and a Climate Reckoning
Regarding Wegman:
- 2010/12/23: DeepClimate: George Mason University's endless inquiry
- 2010/12/23: Deltoid: GMU fails to conduct Wegman investigation in a timely manner
- 2010/12/21: BCLSB: Wegmania: Xmas Edition
Regarding Curry:
- 2010/12/24: APSmith: Blinding them with math
While at the UN:
- 2010/12/24: NatureN: The toughest job in the world? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change seeks its first communications chief
And on the carbon trading front:
- 2010/12/21: EurActiv: Switzerland moves to join Europe's carbon market
Negotiations to bring Switzerland into the EU's Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) were approved yesterday (20 December) by EU environment ministers. The European Commission is expected to start talks early next year. - 2010/12/21: EUO: EU and Switzerland to link carbon trading systems
- 2010/12/20: EurActiv: EU signs off on carbon permits bonanza
A new regulatory regime for dispensing around 100 billion euros of carbon permits has been approved by EU regulators, granting steelmakers and oil refineries free emission allowances in an effort to shield them from international competition after 2012. Fears that tighter controls on CO2 emissions in Europe will drive factories to relocate abroad has led the EU to grant sweeping exemptions for industries deemed to be at risk. - 2010/12/24: PlanetArk: China Defends Wind Power Policies Against U.S. Complaint
- 2010/12/22: NYT: U.S. Says China Fund Breaks Rules
The Obama administration filed a case against China with the World Trade Organization on Wednesday, siding with an American labor union, the United Steelworkers, in accusing Beijing of illegally subsidizing the production of wind power equipment. The decision is the second time in less than four months that the United States has accused China of violating world trade rules. - 2010/12/23: LA Times: U.S. files green-energy trade case against China with WTO
The case, a response to a union petition, accuses China of providing unfair government subsidies to Chinese energy companies. The move adds tension to already strained U.S.-China relations. - 2010/12/22: BBC: US wants trade talks on China wind power 'subsidies'
The US says China is illegally subsidising the production of wind power equipment and has asked the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for talks. - 2010/12/24: PlanetArk: U.S. Threatens WTO Action On China Rare Earth Curbs
- 2010/12/22: TreeHugger: Rare Earth Element Mining is Re-Starting in the U.S. to Break China's Near-Monopoly
While in miscellaneous international politics:
- 2010/12/23: TEC: Iceland and China Establish Strategic Geothermal Partnership
- 2010/12/23: VoxEU: Identifying the worldwide pollution haven effect by Jaime de Melo et al.
Environmentalists have long feared that globalisation will harm the environment by allowing heavily polluting industries to migrate to countries with lax environmental standards. This column presents new evidence from several industries across many countries for all the major pollutants. It suggests that lax policy has only had a small effect on the pollution content of trade. - 2010/12/20: TreeHugger: BRIMCS Countries [Brazil, Russia, Mexico, China, and South Africa] Outspend Rich Countries in Energy Research & Development
As for GW, energy & water security:
- 2010/12/20: Tyee: Idea #1: The Green Hawks Are Coming
Who's super serious about renewable energy and repelling climate change? The US military, of all people. - 2010/12/20: CBC: Greenpeace activists fined for oilsands protest
- 2010/12/20: ABC(Au): Men fined for coal seam gas protest
What are the activists up to?
- 2010/12/21: Grist: A conversation with Bill McKibben by James Hansen
- 2010/12/20: EarthTimes: Governments to face the heat of climate activists in 2011
Polls! We have polls!
- 2010/12/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: National Poll Demonstrates Many Americans Concerned about Fracking's Impacts
- 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: Under Half of Americans Are Aware of Fracking, But Those That Are, Are Very Concerned: Survey
Regarding Water Politics and Business:
- 2010/12/25: Reuters: China to spend $30 billion on water conservation in 2011
The Chinese government is expected to spend about 200 billion yuan ($30.10 billion) on water conservation projects in 2011, a tenth more than in 2010, the state-run China Daily reported on Saturday. - 2010/12/26: SolveClimate: In the San Joaquin Valley, Nothing is More Valuable than Water (Part 1) -- California's wealthiest growers, poorest workers, and the water between them
- 2010/12/25: SacBee: Snow surplus eases water worries
California's snowpack stands at a bountiful 207 percent of average for the winter so far, thanks to a stormy December. And there's more to come. Another storm is expected this afternoon through Sunday morning, bringing as much as an inch of rain in Sacramento and another foot of snow in the Sierra Nevada. - 2010/12/24: JFleck: You don't have to be dry to be water short
- 2010/12/23: TerraDaily: For Egypt, new Sudan state threat to Nile
- 2010/12/23: ENS: Cancer-Causing Chromium-6 Widespread in U.S. Drinking Water
- 2010/12/21: JFleck: US-Mexico Colorado River Deal
- 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: Desalination Plants To Hit $87.8 Billion in Investments Over Next 5 Years
- 2010/12/20: TreeHugger: Water Supplies Soaked Up By Oil Industry in California
As for SW tools:
- 2010/12/22: Eureka: Researchers train software to help monitor climate change
Among the world's religions:
- 2010/12/21: Grist: Evangelicals are greener than you think
And on the American political front:
- 2010/12/23: TEC: US Energy R&D: can it beat $1 Saudi oil?
- 2010/12/23: BBerg: EPA-Texas Feud Escalates Over New Carbon Regulations
- 2010/12/23: ClimateP: 'Tis the season to manufacture -- Why "Made in America" is the gift that keeps on giving
- 2010/12/22: Grist: California launches compromise small-scale renewable auction
- 2010/12/22: DeSmogBlog: Coal Lobbyist Grinches Stole 2010 As Obama Transparency Initiative Falters
- 2010/12/21: SolveClimate: California Approves Cap and Trade, But Toughest Decisions Lie Ahead
- 2010/12/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Sneaky Grinch Appears in Kansas, With a Whole Bunch of Coal
- 2010/12/21: MTobis: Limits to Texas Growth
- 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: California Speeds Ahead With High-Speed Rail
- 2010/12/20: ClimateP: California embraces cap and trade
- 2010/12/19: ClimateP: Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) versus clean air -- Texas can't secede from the planet
The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:
- 2010/12/25: NYT: Deepwater Horizon's Final Hours
- 2010/12/26: PostMedia: Newspaper probe finds collapse of all oil rig protections
The April 20 explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history occurred because every single defense on the rig named Deepwater Horizon failed, The New York Times reported Sunday. The newspaper, which undertook its own investigation of the blast that killed 11 rig workers and injured dozens of others, said some of the defenses were deployed but did not work, some were activated too late, and some were never deployed at all. Communications fell apart, warning signs were missed and crew members in critical areas failed to co-ordinate a response, the report pointed out. The result was paralysis, The Times said. - 2010/12/23: WaPo: Arrangement with firms taints probe of Deepwater oil spill, U.S. agency alleges
The federal government's effort to determine what caused the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been tainted because companies with a stake in the outcome have been allowed to participate in an examination of the massive blowout preventer at the heart of overlapping investigations, a federal agency has alleged. The arrangement "has seriously undermined the credibility of the testing" and "jeopardizes the public's trust in the examination process," Rafael Moure-Eraso, chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, said in a letter of protest Thursday. - 2010/12/22 NRDC:SwitchBoard: Hunting for Oil in the Muddy Waters of the Gulf Shore
- 2010/12/23: SciDaily: Cornstarch Might Have Ended the Gulf Spill Agony Sooner
- 2010/12/20: TWM: Jindal's berm boondoggle...
Remember the Pickens Plan?
- 2010/12/25: SlashDot: Pickens Wind-Power Plan Comes To a Whimpering End
- 2010/12/20: DeSmogBlog: T. Boone Picken's Flip-Flop on Wind: Need for RES, Grid Upgrades, and a Memo to Gas Industry That Fracking Is a Dead End
The EPA issued their projected schedule for the introduction of GHG regulations this week:
- 2010/12/23: EPA: EPA to Set Modest Pace for Greenhouse Gas Standards -- Agency stresses flexibility and public input in developing cost-effective and protective GHG standards for largest emitters
- 2010/12/23: EPA: EPA Completes Framework for Greenhouse Gas Permitting Programs -- EPA and states have worked closely to ensure a smooth transition
- 2010/12/23: ABC(US): EPA Moving Unilaterally to Limit Greenhouse Gases -- Amid congressional stalemate on global warming, administration seeks to limit greenhouse gases
- 2010/12/24: PlanetArk: U.S. Issues Timetable For Carbon Emissions Cuts
- 2010/12/23: Grist: It's only a timeline ...Putting EPA's announcement on CO2 from power plants in context
- 2010/12/23: NYT: E.P.A. Says It Will Press on With Greenhouse Gas Regulation
The Environmental Protection Agency announced a timetable on Thursday for issuing rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and oil refineries, signaling a resolve to press ahead on such regulation even as it faces stiffening opposition in Congress. The agency said it would propose performance standards for new and refurbished power plants next July, with final rules to be issued in May 2012. Proposed emissions standards for new oil refineries will be published next December, it said, with the final rules due in November 2012; rules for existing plants would come later. - 2010/12/23: ENS: U.S. EPA to Set Greenhouse Gas Standards for Power Plants, Refineries
- 2010/12/23: SolveClimate: EPA Sets Timetable on Carbon-Cutting Regs for Coal and Oil
- 2010/12/23: Grist: Clean Air standards coming for America's biggest carbon polluters
- 2010/12/23: ERabett: The EPA sends Eli a Christmas gift
The US Environmental Protection Agency, has announced new regulations for CO2 emissions from power generating facilities - 2010/12/23: EarthTimes:US regulator [EPA] begins process of limiting greenhouse-gas pollution
The top US environmental regulator laid out plans Thursday to set greenhouse-gas emission standards next year for major polluters, a first tentative step by the Obama administration to confront climate change despite opposition from many lawmakers. The announcement marks the next phase in a battle between President Barack Obama, who wants to regulate carbon emissions, and conservative lawmakers who have blocked climate legislation and are challenging the government's authority to limit pollution without it. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would begin developing standards to limit the emissions of individual coal and oil power plants and refineries, which together make up about 40 per cent of US carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. "We are announcing today the beginning of a process that will help decrease greenhouse-gas pollution in the United States," Gina McCarthy, the EPA's assistant administrator for air and radiation, told reporters in a conference call. - 2010/12/23: Grist: A lump of regulation in their stockings -- Obama to regulate carbon from power plants
- 2010/12/23: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Clean Air Standards Coming for America's Biggest Carbon Polluters
- 2010/12/23: BBC: Obama to regulate greenhouse gases from power plants
The Obama administration has said it will regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants amid opposition from industry and Republicans in Congress. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would regulate emissions from fossil fuel power plants by 2011 and petroleum refineries by 2012. President Barack Obama is pushing the EPA to cut emissions after a climate bill failed in Congress this year. But Republican lawmakers have said the EPA's new rules will harm the economy. The EPA said it would propose figures for emissions cuts in 2011 and finalise them in 2012. - 2010/12/24: NatureTGB: US administration explains why polar bears are 'threatened', not 'endangered'
- 2010/12/23: SpaceDaily: Obama gives 'lump of coal' to polar bears: activists
- 2010/12/23: SpaceDaily: Polar bear status at heart of climate war
- 2010/12/24: TreeHugger: No Break for Polar Bears on Christmas: Habitat Sacrificed by New Offshore Oil Plan
- 2010/12/22: WaPo: Polar bears will continue as 'threatened,' not 'endangered'
- 2010/12/22: BBC: Polar bears not endangered, US confirms
Environmental campaigners in the US have lost a battle to have the polar bear listed as an "endangered" species. The US department of the interior has upheld a decision to classify the bear as "threatened" - a status that gives them less protection under the law. - 2010/12/23: TEC: Obama Facing Tough Balancing Act as EPA Advances Greenhouse Gas Regulations
- 2010/12/22: TheHill:e2W: Obama plans to 'immediately engage' with Republicans on energy policy
- 2010/12/22: SolveClimate: Environmental Justice Knocks Loudly at the White House
- 2010/12/16: Nation: How to Be President in a Fact-Free America
- 2010/12/20: NatureN: Integrity policy unveiled at last
Mixed reviews greet White House guidelines for preventing political interference in US government science - 2010/12/23: NatGeo: Green Design Spree Aims to Trim U.S. Government's Big Energy Bill
- 2010/12/21: C411: Attacks on EPA Led by Group that is Linked to Owner of Largest Private U.S. Coal Reserves
- 2010/12/24: ScienceInsider: Science in the Obama White House: An Interview With John Holdren, Part 2
- 2010/12/23: ScienceInsider: Science in the Obama White House: An Interview With John Holdren
- 2010/12/23: TEC: DOE Completes $17 Million Loan Guarantee for New York Energy Storage System [using advanced lithium-ion batteries]
- 2010/12/23: AutoBG: [U.S. Transportation Secretary] Ray LaHood: "a national high-speed-rail network can and will be our generation's legacy"
- 2010/12/23: BBerg: EPA-Texas Feud Escalates Over New Carbon Regulations
- 2010/12/22: AlterNet: Two Years After the Largest Toxic Spill in the Nation's History, Where's the Regulation on Deadly Coal Ash Dumps?
- 2010/12/22: TheHill:e2W: Environmentalists brace for decision on [Keystone XL] massive oil pipeline project
- 2010/12/23: ClimateP: Energy Information Administration projects U.S. will lead world into dangerous levels of CO2 emissions
- 2010/12/23: PlanetArk: Oil Industry Loses Vs EPA On Ethanol Standard
- 2010/12/21: Grist: EIA projects climate catastrophe
- 2010/12/21: Politico: EPA to double down on climate
- 2010/12/20: TheHill:e2W: EPA touts cap-and-trade success [in reducing acid rain]
- 2010/12/21: TP:WR: EIA Projects Climate Catastrophe
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has projected that the United States will lead the world into catastrophic global warming over the next twenty five years. - 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: Ray LaHood: "High-speed-rail will be our generation's legacy"
- 2010/12/21: MoJo: Why Is the EPA Sitting on Its Ash?
The EPA admits coal ash is toxic. So why isn't the agency getting rid of deadly dumps that are full of the stuff? - 2010/12/19: TheHill:e2W: Lead U.S. climate negotiatior calls for climate change 'educational effort'
The United States's top climate negotiator is calling on scientists and policymakers to orchestrate an "educational effort" to change the public's perception about climate change. Todd Stern, the country's special envoy on climate change, pointed to a gap between what science says about the changing climate and what American's believe. - 2010/12/23: TheHill:e2W: House lawmakers call for approval of massive oil sands [Keystone XL] pipeline project
- 2010/12/24: CSW: Cowardly Republican Senator kills vital whistleblower protection bill on last day of Congress via an anonymous 'hold'
- 2010/12/23: SolveClimate: Thwarted Bingaman Still Eyeing Clean Energy Standard in Next Congress
- 2010/12/23: PlanetArk: Republicans Plot Death Of EPA Climate Rules
- 2010/12/22: NatureN: US Congress passes strategic science bill -- Crucial vote will boost funding for an array of federal science agencies
- 2010/12/22: ENS: Giant Wind, Solar Projects Guaranteed with Recovery Act Funding
- 2010/12/21: ClimateP: GOP's hare-brained scheme to kill clean air regulations
- 2010/12/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Some Members of Congress still on the wrong track regarding chemical disclosure of hydraulic fracturing chemicals
- 2010/12/21: ScienceInsider: Comprehensive Science Legislation to Become Law
- 2010/12/20: NYT:CW: Last Potential Barrier to Implementation of EPA Climate Rules Falls
It is now full-speed ahead for federal climate regulations set to take effect on Jan. 2 after the final legislative challenge to their implementation was put on ice Friday afternoon. West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D) said he is postponing his push for a vote on his bill to enact a two-year timeout on U.S. EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gases due to lack of bipartisan support. - 2010/12/22: Guardian(UK): UK flood defence cuts leave 5m vulnerable homes 'at risk'
- 2010/12/24: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Environmental and economic costs of the high-speed rail line
- 2010/12/22: NatureTGB: Wales to lose nearly half its universities - December 22, 2010 [from 11 to at least 6 by 2013]
- 2010/12/21: Grist: Britain abandons renewable power mandates, embraces feed-in tariffs
- 2010/12/20: NatureN: UK science faces facilities freeze -- Four-year budget protects grants but cuts capital spending
- 2010/12/20: ScienceInsider: Details, Reaction of Tight U.K. Science Budget Emerge
- 2010/12/20: Stoat: Boris Johnson is a tosser
- 2010/12/20: TEC: Concerned Response to UK Electricity Reform Proposals
- 2010/12/20: BBC: Researchers plan for deeper cuts to science budget
UK science funding bodies have learned that they will have to absorb cuts of 41% to their capital expenditure. - 2010/12/24: EurActiv: Brussels gets tough with carbon crime
- 2010/12/23: EurActiv: Brussels plans more action to tackle biofuels side-effects
- 2010/12/23: CBC: Polar bear survey could change EU ban
- 2010/12/21: EurActiv: Switzerland moves to join Europe's carbon market
Negotiations to bring Switzerland into the EU's Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) were approved yesterday (20 December) by EU environment ministers. The European Commission is expected to start talks early next year. - 2010/12/21: EUO: EU and Switzerland to link carbon trading systems
- 2010/12/20: EurActiv: EU signs off on carbon permits bonanza
- 2010/12/20: EurActiv: Hungary to hold 'energy summit' at EU helm
Hungary plans to concentrate on the big picture of EU energy policy as it takes on the EU's rotating presidency in January. Energy will feature prominently at the new presidency's first EU summit on 4 February. - 2010/12/24: ABC(Au): Greens say 'no' to coal seam gas industry
- 2010/12/23: ABC(Au): Hundreds lose jobs after Gunns mill closure
Timber giant Gunns today closed a major woodchip mill in north-west Tasmania, leaving up to 200 timber workers out of work and another 300 likely to meet the same fate in the next four months. It is the first of several closures for the company as it tries to move away from old-growth logging and towards plantation timber. - 2010/12/23: ABC(Au): Locust spraying declared a success
South Australia's locust control authorities have ended their aerial spraying operation despite further sightings of the insects. - 2010/12/22: NYT:CW: Asia's Exploding Economic Growth Churns Australia's Coal Industry
- 2010/12/21: ABC(Au): Council maps climate change risks
A councillor on Queensland's Sunshine Coast says council staff are close to finalising mapping that identifies the potential effects of climate change in the region. - 2010/12/21: ABC(Au): An expert in energy efficiency says the Federal Government is undermining its own green credentials by scrapping the Green Loans scheme
- 2010/12/21: ABC(Au): The Federal Government says it will not go ahead with a replacement scheme for its dumped Green Loans program
- 2010/12/21: ABC(Au): Rising sea levels a threat to some coastal suburbs
- 2010/12/20: NatureTGB: Australia nixes [ZeroGen] carbon storage project
- 2010/12/20: SMH: Toxic chemicals used to tap coal seam gas faces ban
- 2010/12/20: ABC(Au): Study sheds light on coal seam gas water use
The Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) says it is not easy to identify the potential uses for water from coal seam gas mining. Farmers and environmental groups say the industry will damage water tables and want a moratorium on further exploration. DERM says it is hoping to get a clearer idea of how coal seam gas mining affects groundwater sources. It is halfway through a study into whether water produced from gas wells can be used for irrigation or should be injected back into aquifers. - 2010/12/20: ABC(Au): Men fined for coal seam gas protest
Two men have been fined $400 each after pleading guilty to charges relating to a rooftop protest at Queensland Parliament in August. Bradley Smith, 27, and Dhruva Horsfall, 21, scaled the roof and unfurled an eight-metre banner during a rally by farmers against the coal seam gas (CSG) industry. No conviction was recorded, but Magistrate Cheryl Cornack told the pair to protest in a lawful way in future. - 2010/12/20: ABC(Au): Dumping ZeroGen plan threatens coal industry: union
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) says the State Government's decision to scrap plans for a multi-billion-dollar clean coal power station in central Queensland puts the industry's future in jeopardy. - 2010/12/26: ABC(Au): The Murchison River in Western Australia's mid west has been closed to the public, after the water level rose to 6.14-metres
- 2010/12/26: ABC(Au): Residents on alert as River Murray rises
South Australia's State Emergency Service (SES) says water levels in the River Murray are continuing to rise. - 2010/12/23: Reuters: NZ announces review of carbon trading scheme
The world's only national carbon trading scheme outside the European Union will be reviewed in 2011, New Zealand's government said on Thursday, with a key focus on what other nations are doing to fight climate change. The government released the terms of reference for the review, mandated under legislation, for the scheme that covers about half the country's greenhouse gas emissions during its first phase that runs until the start of 2013. A government statement said key areas for the review would be how to change the scheme's design to match any possible new global deal to fight climate change, whether to ramp up the scheme and to include new sectors. The review panel would also look at whether to include powerful synthetic greenhouse gases produced by industry. - 2010/12/23: PlanetArk: Japan Seen Shelving Carbon Emission Trading Scheme
- 2010/12/22: Reuters: Japan seen shelving carbon emission trading scheme
Japan is likely to shelve a plan to introduce carbon emissions trading as the troubled ruling Democratic Party bows to powerful business groups still recovering from a costly downturn. - 2010/12/22: GreenSURF: Stop Playing Games on Green Energy, Ministry Told
- 2010/12/22: MongaBay: Malaysia undermines commitment to protect Coral Triangle, backtracks on climate pledge
- 2010/12/21: PlanetArk: South Korea Delays CO2 Trade Bill Introduction
While in South America:
- 2010/12/22: PlanetArk: Analysis: Brazil Eyes Energy And Farms For Future Emission Cuts
In Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues his do-nothing policy:
- 2010/12/24: PostMedia: Read my lips: There's no oil tanker ban in Canada - Chuck Strahl
- 2010/12/24: PostMedia: Climate change in the North Pole makes St. Nick a bit cranky
Several naughty politicians, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, have the Jolly Old Gent's attention, for all the wrong reasons - 2010/12/21: APOV: Pollution/Environment: Harper & Co. Talking The Talk... but still not walking the walk
The G20 controversy lingers:
- 2010/12/23: G&M: Will two officers face discipline in G20 fallout? Police aren't saying
- 2010/12/23: PaiD: How The G20 Radicalized Me
- 2010/12/22: CBC: SIU knows all 3 officers in alleged G20 assault
Ontario's Special Investigations Unit says it knows the names of all three police officers involved in an alleged assault during last summer's G20 summit -- but without independent witnesses it can only lay charges against one officer. Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani, attended the SIU office on Wednesday morning accompanied by legal counsel, and was served with a summons and had the charge of assault with a weapon explained to him. The charge is related to the arrest of Adam Nobody. - 2010/12/21: TStar: Public take a bow on G20 police charges
- 2010/12/22: PaiD: Rosi DiManno on the Arrest of A G20 Police Officer
- 2010/12/22: OrwellsBastard: What are we paying these people for?
- 2010/12/22: CBC: G20 protester 'grateful' for police charge -- 'I'm no longer deemed the bad guy,' says Adam Nobody
Adam Nobody, whose arrest and injuries during a G20 summit protest this summer led to charges against a Toronto police officer, says he's "grateful to know that finally somebody has been held accountable." Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani was charged Tuesday with assault with a weapon following an investigation by the province's Special Investigations Unit. Nobody, among about 1,000 people arrested during the protest-ridden two-day summit, suffered a broken nose and a fracture below his right eye on June 26 outside the Ontario legislature. Images of at least a dozen officers swarming Nobody, 27, were captured on video and posted on YouTube. - 2010/12/21: TStar: Police officer charged in G20 beating
- 2010/12/21: OrwellsBastard: Payback's a bitch, isn't it ... Officer ...
- 2010/12/21: Skinny: G20 officer charged--not his first confrontation in the weekend
- 2010/12/21: CBC: Toronto officer [Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani] charged in G20 assault
Police were criticized for their use of force during the G20 summit. Police were criticized for their use of force during the G20 summit. (Canadian Press) A Toronto police officer has been arrested and charged with assaulting a protester during the G20 summit in June. It is the first arrest of a police officer in connection with allegations of the use of excessive force during the summit. Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani was charged Tuesday with assault with a weapon. The charges relate to the treatment of Adam Nobody by police on the evening of June 26, said a statement released Tuesday by the province's Special Investigations Unit. Nobody was one of about 1,000 people arrested during the two-day summit. - 2010/12/20: TStar: G20 conspiracy charges dropped against activist
While out on bail on G20 conspiracy charges, accused ringleader Jaroslava Avila was allowed to attend university classes, but had to have her class schedule with her just in case police asked. House arrest limited almost everything the 23-year-old did. She couldn't use a cellphone and, except for attending school, could only go out when accompanied by someone over 18 -- and if she had a note from her mother. And she couldn't participate in any public demonstrations. - 2010/12/20: OrwellsBastard: Charges dropped against one G20 defendant ...
So it seems that Jaroslava Avila's not going to be prosecuted on bullshit "conspiracy" charges. Yeah, well. While the evidence doesn't yet suggest that the Toronto Crown's office has its head as far up its ass as its Ottawa counterpart, let's not get too excited. It's not as if the Crown has suddenly developed a moral sense or anything. Is Alex Hundert free yet? Are the sadistic lying pigs who kicked the shit out of Adam Nobody under arrest yet? Has anyone been held accountable for what happened to Lacy MacAuley yet? Sean Salvati? Seamus Wolfe? John Pruyn? Does anyone doubt there are lots more stories just like this? - 2010/12/21: CBC: G20 crossbow trial opens in Toronto
The trial is underway for a man arrested in downtown Toronto two days before the start of the G20 summit, after police found a crossbow in his car. Gary McCullough, 53, is fighting a charge of possession of a dangerous weapon. He claims that the crossbow and other equipment found in his car were not there to cause harm. - 2010/12/20: TSun: McGuinty sheds light on G20 law controversy
It was a secret law, drawn up in secret, that led to the not-so-secret imposition of police-state conditions in free and democratic Toronto. But what is now out in public, for the first time since the G20 mess in June, is that Premier Dalton McGuinty says he has punished people under his command -- including former community safety minister Rick Bartolucci. "I'll tell you what we have done," McGuinty said on Saturday's showing of Global's Focus Ontario with Sean Mallen. "I have made some changes ... I think they are pretty significant. I changed ministers. I changed a deputy minister. I made sure we understand the significance of what took place." In case the premier doesn't understand, what took place was the highest law of our land, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, appears to have fallen to a regulation passed in secret that unleashed a War Measures Act-like response while he sat by and permitted it. - 2010/12/22: ChronicleHerald: Coast guard calling for lighter ice cover
The Canadian Coast Guard says it's expecting a lighter than normal year for ice off the East Coast as water temperatures in the region are one to 2.5 degrees above normal. - 2010/12/21: CBC: Climate change blamed for warm Nunavut weather -- Temperatures 10 to 12 degrees higher than normal
The battle over the Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipelines rages on:
- 2010/12/23: TheHill:e2W: [US] House lawmakers call for approval of massive oil sands [Keystone XL] pipeline project
- 2010/12/22: TheHill:e2W: Environmentalists brace for decision on [Keystone XL] massive oil pipeline project
Post Igor repairs take time and money:
- 2010/12/21: CBC: Igor relief tops 600K: Red Cross
The Red Cross says it has handed out $686,183 to Hurricane Igor victims -- all of the money it raised for relief in the three months since the storm devastated parts of Newfoundland. Thousands of people were left homeless and without food or water after the storm tore across parts of the island Sept. 21, cutting off entire communities and leaving a trail of destruction. - 2010/12/23: Tyee: Idea #4: Create a Local Food Bill -- Emulate Illinois and pass a Local Food, Farms and Jobs Act. Wannabe party leaders, take note!
Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:
- 2010/12/22: Tyee: Series of Reports Blacken Oil Sands Managers -- Oilsands Advisory Panel backs previous studies blasting reckless ways of world's largest energy project
- 2010/12/22: PI: Canada and climate change: the Saudi Arabia of North America?
- 2010/12/21: PI: Pembina reacts to federal oilsands water monitoring report
- 2010/12/20: PI: Pembina reacts to Alberta Environment oilsands monitoring announcement
- 2010/12/23: PlanetArk: Suncor Pays Fine For Tar-Sands River Pollution
- 2010/12/22: CBC: Suncor fined for dumping tarsands effluent
- 2010/12/22: CBC: Prentice was ready to curb oilsands: WikiLeaks
- 2010/12/23: PostMedia: Prentice critical of Tories over 'dirty oil': U.S. leak
While still serving as federal environment minister, Jim Prentice privately told the U.S. ambassador to Canada his Tory government was "too slow" to fight the "dirty oil" label, failing to grasp the magnitude of the Alberta oilsands image problem. The former Calgary MP also told David Jacobson at their meeting more than a year ago that he was ready to impose new regulations on the oilsands unless the Alberta government and industry improved their performance. The revelations are contained in a cable Jacobson sent to Washington following his Nov. 5, 2009 lunch with Prentice. The cable -- released by WikiLeaks and posted by a Norwegian newspaper... - 2010/12/23: G&M: Former environment minister [Prentice] threatened to impose new rules on oil sands
- 2010/12/22: CBC: Prentice was ready to curb oilsands: WikiLeaks
Former environment minister Jim Prentice told U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson that he was prepared to step in and impose tougher regulations on the oilsands if the industry damaged Canada's green reputation, according to a cable released by WikiLeaks. - 2010/12/21: BBC: Canada oil sands: Pollution monitoring is censured
A scientific panel has found Canada has "no system" for monitoring how Alberta's oil sands projects may be polluting local waterways. - 2010/12/21: EnviroCan: A Foundation for the Future: Building an Environmental Monitoring System for the Oil Sands
- 2010/12/21: NatureTGB: Canada promises to improve oil sands environmental monitoring
- 2010/12/20: CBC: Oilsands water monitoring to change
Alberta is changing how it monitors water in the oilsands, according to the province's environment minister who made the announcement one day before a federally appointed panel reports its findings on the issue. - 2010/12/21: CBC: Oilsands monitoring needs improvement: panel
Environmental monitoring of Alberta's oilsands needs improvement, says an expert panel appointed by the federal government. Current monitoring activities can be transformed into a system that will provide credible data for decisions, said a report released Tuesday by the panel, which was led by Elizabeth Dowdeswell, former executive director of the United Nations Environment Program and current president of the Council of Canadian Academies. However, improving the system will require more funding. The panel recommends the funding come from industry but says Environment Canada should lead the development of the new system... - 2010/12/20: CBC: Greenpeace activists fined for oilsands protest
A dozen Greenpeace activists who chained themselves to smokestacks and cranes at the Shell Scotford upgrader site east of Edmonton last year were each fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to mischief over $5,000. The pleas were entered Thursday in Sherwood Park provincial court. - 2010/12/20: PI:B: Delay in improving Alberta building code is costing homebuyers money
- 2010/12/20: CBC: Imperial Oil forced us out [in 1920], family says -- N.W.T. grandfather told tale to grandson on video
Meanwhile in Saskatchewan:
- 2010/12/22: BuckDog: Saskatchewan Is 'Down Stream' And 'Down Wind' From Massive Alberta Oilsands Pollution
In the Maritimes:
- 2010/12/25: CBC: Nfld. region families going home after storm
Some residents have returned home Christmas morning in Newfoundland's Northern Peninsula, a day after a storm surge that forced families out of 15 houses. Waves battered several wharves and fishing structures on Friday, washing many of them out to sea. On Saturday, the tide was still pounding the St. Lunaire-Griquet region, near the northernmost tip of the island, and residents were being warned not to go near the water. Brad Sheppard, a councillor in the area, said homes sustained more damage on Friday night. By the next morning, debris was washing up on the road. - 2010/12/22: PI:B: Green power growing in Canada, but still has a long way to go
- 2010/12/20: CBC: Talisman sells $1B Farrell Creek gas stake to Sasol
The movement toward a long term ecologically viable economics is glacial:
- 2010/12/24: DVoice: How Do We Shift Power to the People and Away from Concentrated Corporate Power?
Education, Organization and a Culture of Resistance Will Build an Independent Movement for Real Change - 2010/12/22: EnergyBulletin: Post carbon politics Part II: The train of ancient and venerable prejudices
- 2010/12/21: DVoice: Extremism in the Defense of Survival
And in the Transition movement:
- 2010/12/23: EnergyBulletin: An interview with "Pattern Language" author Christopher Alexander
- 2010/12/21: EnergyBulletin: Christmas plan for a peak oil pilgrim
IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:
- 2010/12/23: Grist: Gloria Steinem on population, sexual pleasure, and creating better fathers
- 2010/12/19: CCurrents: Peak Oil And Population Decline
As for how the media handles the science:
- 2010/12/24: TreeHugger: Media Spreads Scare Stories About Cost of Low Carbon Future
- 2010/12/21: AutoBG: Shortsighted WaPo says electric cars, "serve no particular purpose, environmental or economic"
- 2010/12/21: ClimateP: And the 2010 Citizen Kane award for non-excellence in climate journalism goes to ...
- 2010/12/21: Deltoid: Sydney Morning Herald fails [Johnson / Corbyn]
- 2010/12/20: AlterNet: Fox Slammed by L.A. Times -- 'Shouldn't Call Itself a News Organization'
- 2010/12/20: JQuiggin: Total core meltdown
- 2010/12/20: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science 55: Michael Asten responds
- 2010/12/19: AutoBG: Fox News attacks first Nissan Leaf owner, engages in a lot of hate
Here is something for your library:
- 2010/12/24: HotTopic: [Book Review] _The Carbon Forest: A New Zealand Guide to Forest Carbon Sinks for Investors, Farmers, Foresters and Conservationists_ by Tom Bennion, Paul Kennett, Jonathan Kennett & Simon Johnson
- 2010/12/21: BNC: Energy and climate books I read in 2010
- 2010/12/20: HotTopic: [Book Review] _Believing Cassandra: How to be an Optimist in a Pessimist's World_ by Alan Atkisson
And for your film & video enjoyment:
- 2010/12/26: HotTopic: Winter, fire and snow
- 2010/12/23: TreeHugger: [Yacouba Sawadogo] The Man Who Stopped the Desert - How One Man Saved the Soil (Video)
- 2010/12/24: TCoE: Watching the Earth breathe
- 2010/12/24: PSinclair: Richard Alley Dances to Explain Ice Ages
- 2010/12/24: PSinclair: Life After a Global Warming Extinction: The Story in Fossils
- 2010/12/22: PSinclair: Lets talk Thermogeddon
- 2010/12/21: PSinclair: Richard Alley: How do We Know CO2 Rise is Man Made?
- 2010/12/22: SkeptiSci: Irregular Climate 16: a leak for all seasons
- 2010/12/20: HotTopic: The Climate Show #4: Peter Gleick, the AGU, and climate sensitivity
- 2010/12/20: TreeHugger: It's a Fracking Winter Wonderland! (Video)
- 2010/12/19: PSinclair: Potholer on "The New Ice Age"
As for podcasts:
- 2010/12/23: EnergyBulletin: The dust bowl: Lessons from the greatest U.S. environmental disaster (podcast)
- 2010/12/22: Grist: What does the Bible have to say about climate change? [AUDIO]
- 2010/12/21: SkeptiSci: The Climate Show #4: Peter Gleick, AGU and climate sensitivity
Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:
- 2010/12/23: PlanetArk: Oil Industry Loses Vs EPA On Ethanol Standard
- 2010/12/20: Reuters: U.S. automakers sue EPA over higher ethanol blends
U.S. auto and engine makers sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday for allowing higher blends of ethanol for newer cars, saying it could confuse consumers at fuel pumps and lead to engine damage in older vehicles. - 2010/12/20: PlanetArk: Ecuador Judge Closes Proof Phase Of Chevron Suit
The Ecuadorean judge hearing a $27 billion environmental damages case against oil producer Chevron Corp told Reuters on Friday that he has closed the evidentiary phase of the trial. Local farmers and indigenous tribes in Ecuador's Amazon region want the company to pay for the cleanup of areas they say were polluted by faulty drilling practices in the 1970s and 1980s. - 2010/12/20: AutoBG: E15 lawsuit against EPA gets support from big automakers
Developing a new energy infrastructure is a fundamental challenge of the current generation:
- 2010/12/26: AutoBG: U.S. oil usage on the upswing [says API]
- 2010/12/21: GreenGrok: Our Electricity Future: Things Don't Change
- 2010/12/24: NYT: African Huts Far From the Grid Glow With Renewable Power
- 2010/12/25: Reuters: World economy can withstand $100 oil price: Kuwait
The global economy can withstand an oil price of $100 a barrel, Kuwait's oil minister said on Saturday, as other exporters indicated OPEC may decide against increasing output through 2011 as the market was well supplied. - 2010/12/23: CleanBreak: Ballard Power keeps on truckin': produces one millionth fuel-cell component
- 2010/12/22: PI:B: Green power growing in Canada, but still has a long way to go
- 2010/12/24: CBC: [Canadian] Gasoline prices hit 2-year high
- 2010/12/23: TEC: Ballard Power produces one millionth hydrogen fuel-cell component
- 2010/12/22: AutoBG: Report: Americans using 8% less gasoline than 2006 peak, will never go up again
- 2010/12/23: BBC: [Scottish] Renewable power rises by a fifth
More than a quarter of the electricity generated in Scotland last year was produced from wind, hydro and other renewable sources. Official figures showed the amount of renewable power increased by a fifth, while the total power generated in Scotland went up by 3%. Scotland exported nearly a quarter of the total power produced. - 2010/12/22: TCoE: The economics-energy-environment nexus
- 2010/12/21: NBF: Thermoelectrics could be improved from 5% to 20% effciency for heat to electricity conversion
- 2010/12/21: NewScientist: We need an energy sixth sense to fight global warming
- 2010/12/21: PeakEnergy: Eden Project geothermal plant plans to go ahead
- 2010/12/20: PhysOrg: Huge [2.4 GW] hydro plant starts operation in Vietnam, says official
- 2010/12/20: PeakEnergy: A New High of Liquid Fuel Production
- 2010/12/20: BBC: South African energy and mining giant Sasol has agreed a deal to buy a 50% stake in a gas field owned by Canadian energy group Talisman for $1bn (£643m)
- 2010/12/20: CBC: Talisman sells $1B Farrell Creek gas stake to Sasol
Talisman Energy Inc. will sell a 50 per cent stake in its Farrell Creek shale gas field in northern B.C. to South African energy and mining giant Sasol Ltd. for $1.05 billion. - 2010/12/24: ABC(Au): Greens say 'no' to coal seam gas industry
- 2010/12/23: TreeHugger: Jeff Rubin On How Shale Oil Might Be Like Sub-Prime Mortgages
- 2010/12/23: TreeHugger: Recent Natural Gas Actions Show Need for Reform
- 2010/12/22: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Incidents where hydraulic fracturing is a suspected cause of drinking water contamination
- 2010/12/22: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Two more cases of drinking water contamination linked to hydraulic fracturing in Texas
- 2010/12/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: National Poll Demonstrates Many Americans Concerned about Fracking's Impacts
- 2010/12/21: ProPublica: Residents Divided About PA's Agreement With Gas Drilling Company Over Water Contamination
- 2010/12/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Always read the "fine print"; the shale-gas bonanza (AEO 2011)
- 2010/12/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Some Members of Congress still on the wrong track regarding chemical disclosure of hydraulic fracturing chemicals
- 2010/12/21: BBC: Shale gas: an energy saviour?
- 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: Under Half of Americans Are Aware of Fracking, But Those That Are, Are Very Concerned: Survey
- 2010/12/17: ProPublica: Executive Order Suspending Fracking Brings Little Change
- 2010/12/15: AlterNet: 15 Claims the Natural Gas Industry Wants You to Believe and Why They're Wrong
- 2010/12/20: SMH: Toxic chemicals used to tap coal seam gas faces ban
The use of toxic chemicals in the exploration and extraction of coal seam gas is likely to be banned in NSW after pressure from environment groups and a similar decision by Queensland. The chemicals benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene - collectively referred to as BTEX - are commonly used in the controversial ''fracking'' or hydraulic fracturing process for extracting coal seam gas. Fracking injects a mixture of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into rock formations to fracture them and release the gas. But there are concerns about the possible contamination of drinking water. - 2010/12/20: ABC(Au): Study sheds light on coal seam gas water use
The Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) says it is not easy to identify the potential uses for water from coal seam gas mining. Farmers and environmental groups say the industry will damage water tables and want a moratorium on further exploration. DERM says it is hoping to get a clearer idea of how coal seam gas mining affects groundwater sources. It is halfway through a study into whether water produced from gas wells can be used for irrigation or should be injected back into aquifers. - 2010/12/19: EnergyBulletin: Will shale gas turn out to be an energy sink?
The answer my friend...:
- 2010/12/22: PlanetArk: Atlantic Wind Files To Build Offshore Power Line
- 2010/12/21: PlanetArk: U.S. Awards $1.3 Billion Loan Guarantee To Wind Project
- 2010/12/21: SciDaily: Comprehensive Wind Info Collected to Improve Renewable Energy
- 2010/12/20: Eureka: Syracuse University researchers contribute new ideas to enhance efficiency of wind turbines
Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:
- 2010/12/26: EarthTimes:German solar industry stands at the crossroads
- 2010/12/22: TEC: Wrapping Up 2010: Good News for Solar Industry
Feed-In-Tariffs are being variously implemented around the world:
- 2010/12/21: Grist: Britain abandons renewable power mandates, embraces feed-in tariffs
On the coal front:
- 2010/12/26: StLToday: The once and future king
Despite mounting pressure from environmentalists and regulators, the coal industry is betting big that its low cost and abundance will fuel future growth. - 2010/12/25: Rabble:SL: Weekly Mulch: Coal ash in our stockings
- 2010/12/23: Grist: The outlook dimmed for coal in 2010
- 2010/12/22: NYT:CW: Asia's Exploding Economic Growth Churns Australia's Coal Industry
Biofuel bickering abounds:
- 2010/12/23: RRapier: Who's Been Naughty? Ethanol Interests
- 2010/12/22: PhysOrg: Benefits of barley as a biofuel crop studied
- 2010/12/20: PlanetArk: U.S. Ethanol Industry Faces Subsidy Battle Next Year
- 2010/12/20: NatureN: Tide turns against corn ethanol -- Biofuel subsidy sees limited extension in US tax bill as opposition grows
The nuclear energy controversy continues:
- 2010/12/24: NYT: Early Bid for a Reactor Site Draws Opposition in Texas
Twenty years ago, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rewrote its procedure for licensing reactors to cut the time it would take to build new ones. Now an important part of the system is getting its first test, as a Chicago-based nuclear utility clashes with a well-to-do group of Texas ranchers over preapproval of a site about 120 miles southwest of Houston. The conflict involves the first application by a utility for approval of an entirely new site for a reactor without actually scheduling the construction of one. - 2010/12/22: NBF: Russia will build at least 18 nuclear generation units in India and have an MOU to cooperate on Fast reactors
Yes we have a peak oil sighting:
- 2010/12/23: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: the time of the demagogues
- 2010/12/19: CCurrents: Peak Oil And Population Decline
- 2010/12/21: OilDrum: World Oil Production - Looking for Clues as to What may be Ahead
More people are talking about the electrical grid:
- 2010/12/24: TEC: Santa, how about improved efficiency and the smart grid for Christmas?
And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:
- 2010/12/23: TreeHugger: New Energy Efficiency Labels for TVs [in USA] Starting 2011
- 2010/12/22: BBC: Turning off phone chargers 'a tiny gesture'
An adviser to the UK government has said the mantra of everyone "doing a little" to save energy was not enough to make a difference. Prof David MacKay said people were being "duped" into believing actions such as remembering to turn off mobile phone chargers were sufficient. His comments are carried in the latest edition of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's magazine. Prof MacKay advises the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). - 2010/12/21: TEC: The long and the short of energy efficiency
- 2010/12/20: PhysOrg: The 22.8-year switch: GE's Energy Smart LED
As the common household incandescent bulb marches towards extinction (they'll be completely phased out in the U.S. by 2014), the "battle of the bulb" heats up with CFLs, LEDs, and a new long-lasting contender, the ESL bulb, vying to take its place and usher in a new era of energy-efficient lighting. - 2010/12/22: Grist: On David Owen and William Jevons
- 2010/12/21: Grist: Less energy, less pollution, and greater savings. Some dilemma.
- 2010/12/20: Grist: arguing over efficiency -- Rebounds gone wild
Automakers & lawyers, engineers & activists argue over the future of the car:
- 2010/12/24: DerSpiegel: Carbon Fiber Cars -- BMW's Electric Automobile Revolution
BMW is hoping to revolutionize the electric car industry. Whereas most manufacturers rely on traditional -- and heavy-- steel car bodies, the German company hopes that carbon fiber components could lead electric cars into the future. - 2010/12/22: ClimateP: CalCars' plug-in hybrid electric car campaign: Victory after 8+ years
- 2010/12/22: AutoBG: Fuel cell buses hit the streets of Tokyo
This week in the Gee Whiz File:
- 2010/12/24: SolveClimate: Researchers Develop Cerium Reactor to Make Fuel from Sunlight
- 2010/12/23: BBC: New solar fuel machine 'mimics plant life'
A prototype solar device has been unveiled which mimics plant life, turning the Sun's energy into fuel. - 2010/12/23: Guardian(UK): Researchers develop reactor to make fuel from sunlight
Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:
- 2010/12/26: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for December 26...
- 2010/12/24: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for December 24...
- 2010/12/23: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for December 23...
- 2010/12/22: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for December 22...
- 2010/12/21: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for December 21...
- 2010/12/20: ClimateP: Energy and global warming news for December 20...
Other (weekly) lists:
- 2010/12/19: Stoat: Snowy again
The carbon lobby are up to the usual:
- 2010/12/21: C411: Attacks on EPA Led by Group that is Linked to Owner of Largest Private U.S. Coal Reserves
- 2010/12/23: QuarkSoup: A Guide to Cherry-picking Temperature Data
- 2010/12/23: GreenFyre: Climate Change: the bigger the lie
- 2010/12/23: WootsUWT: Cancun COP16 attendees fall for the old "dihydrogen monoxide" petition as well as signing up to cripple the U.S. Economy
- 2010/12/22: ClimateP: Debunking the dumbest denier myth: 'Climate Change' vs. 'Global Warming'
- 2010/12/23: MTobis: Alternate Universes
- 2010/12/23: BRitholtz: History of Atmospheric Carbon Changes
[...]
Science . . . It works, Bitches.
Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, lack of scientific knowledge, ability to repeat discredited memes, and lack of respect for empirical data. Also, be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor even implied. Any irrelevancies you can mention will also be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are anonymous after all. - 2010/12/23: WtD: A clear and present danger: the parable of the "sceptical" cancer patient
- 2010/12/21: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Holiday Party Global Warming FAQ
- 2010/12/22: HotTopic: A Christmas cracker for the cranks
- 2010/12/22: Deltoid: NZ Climate Science Coalition loses, declares victory
- 2010/12/22: TreeHugger: Answer Your Climate Skeptic Relatives PDQ With NRDC's Holiday Global Warming FAQ
- 2010/12/21: Tamino: It's the Trend, Stupid
- 2010/12/21: PlanetJ: Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism
- 2010/12/20: PSinclair: Singer Blowing Smoke Yet Again
- 2010/12/19: GreenFyre: Climate Change Deniers are "Not Even Wrong"
- 2010/12/19: CCP: Foxgate: Fox News -- Drowning in global warming lies
- 2010/12/20: SkeptiSci: A Merchant of Doubt attacks Merchants of Doubt
- 2010/12/19: Deltoid: Fred Singer's latest whopper
Meanwhile in the 'clean coal' saga:
- 2010/12/22: ABC(Au):TDU: Coal Ash and Mercury: why coal is a health hazard
- 2010/12/22: AlterNet: Two Years After the Largest Toxic Spill in the Nation's History, Where's the Regulation on Deadly Coal Ash Dumps?
- 2010/12/21: SciAm: Beyond the Light Switch: What to do about coal ash?
- 2010/12/22: NRDC:SwitchBoard: Two Year Anniversary of the Tennessee coal ash spill
As for climate miscellanea:
- 2010/12/26: Guardian(UK): After a wasted year, climate change must once again be our priority
There is no doubt that greenhouse gas emissions are rising remorselessly. We must sideline the sceptics - 2010/12/24: EnergyBulletin: Not arks or fortresses but Cities of Light
- 2010/12/21: Guardian(UK): 'King tide' photographs show reality beats hyperbole in climate debate
- 2010/12/25: ClimateP: The Ghost of Climate Yet to Come
- 2010/12/22: KSJT: NYTimes, ClimateCentral: Climate change science's two observational modes: Why, and What
- 2010/12/21: GreenFyre: Climate change -- how can I be sure?
- 2010/12/21: TreeHugger: Is Convenient Political Realism Dooming Decent Climate Change Action?
And here are a couple of sites you may find interesting and/or useful:
- NOAA: Solar Cycle Progression
- Green SURF
- Global Thermostat [capture CO2 directly from the atmosphere]
- Zvon.org guide to Fourth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- Auto Blog Green
- CDP: Carbon Disclosure Project
- SkepticalScience: Arguments from Global Warming Skeptics
- LNB: Long Now Blog
- Science Progress
It's always nice to start with a smile:
Something to look forward to...:
Late comments on the AGU meeting:
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...a WikiLeaks that never ends:
The food crisis is ongoing:
So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?
Regarding the genetic modification of food:
And how are we going to feed 9 billion?
While on the ENSO front:
And the State of the Oceans:
Meanwhile in near earth orbit:
Acidification is changing the oceans:
Consider transportation & GHG production:
Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:
On the international front, the US and China are squabbling about trade and subsidies:
With the rare earths issue lurking in the background:
The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:
The US Fish and Wildlife Service ruled the polar bear is "threatened", not "endangered" this week:
The Obama chatter is nonstop:
The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:
As for what is going on in Congress:
While in the UK:
And in Europe:
Meanwhile in Australia:
The Murray-Darling Basin is getting the full flood & drought treatment:
And in New Zealand:
While in Japan:
And elsewhere in Asia:
Warmer than usual temperatures are raising questions:
With Campbell and James both out, BC politics is even more spindizzy than usual:
Also in Alberta:
As for miscellaneous Canadiana:
Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!
A little tempest in a teapot over Owen's spin on Jevons:
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(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.
<regards>
P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.
"...there is a systematic influence on all of these weather events now-a-days because of the fact that there is this extra water vapor lurking around in the atmosphere than there used to be say 30 years ago. It's about a 4% extra amount, it invigorates the storms, it provides plenty of moisture for these storms..." -Kevin Trenberth
Categories
- Log in to post comments
More like this
While the talk about symbolism is important, a president actually has to do stuff. I've been hoping that somewhere there are a bunch of smart people figuring how to unfuck all the stuff that Little Lord Pontchartrain has fucked up using the power of the Executive Branch (here's one example)--hell…
Unfortunately, he still doesn't understand the gist of our complaint, but he does clarify a few issues.
I do not, and did not, deny the established fact -- arrived at by extensive scientific research -- that average global temperatures have increased by a bit less than one Celsius degree. My…
There are two recent and very disheartening stories about energy technology. The first has to do with the new standards for automobile gas mileage in the U.S.:
The proposal, which would require automakers to achieve 35 miles per gallon on average, is similar to a measure that was passed in the…
tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Female Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, sitting on her nest.
Notice her long tongue sticking out of her mouth and the uncommonly bright colors on her gorget.
This bird nested on Bainbridge Island in Washington state…
the Evidence for the effectiveness of the Montreal Protocol article certainly hasn't been cited enough for my liking.
Hi Cody
You might find this amusing:
http://globalwarmingsuperheroes.com/global-warming-denial/help-us-find-…
Regards
Adam