Illconsidered on Science Blogs

Just a quick update to my farewell post to note that the new RSS feed is working now and A Few Things Ill Considered is properly integrated in the Science Blogs site.

I have a few posts up already, nothing too substantial yet, and the first installment of "A Week of Global Warming News" from HET is in place.

See you all over there!

Farewell Blogger

This posting is my last here on blogger, A Few Things Ill Considered has moved over to Science Blogs. I am very excitied about the move and pleased to be in the company of such notables as Tim Lambert, William Connolley and Chris Mooney, and many other quality bloggers that I don't yet read regularily.

The new URL is http://scienceblogs.com/illconsidered and the RSS feed can be found here, please update bookmarks, subscriptions and blogrolls accordingly.

A Few Things Ill Considered began in January of 2006 and to date has had over 218 thousand visitors and 550 thousand page views. I am grateful and flattered for all this readership. I know it has been quiet recently but I am stepping things up now at the new location. My first introductory post is here.

Science Blogs is holding a contest for the 500,000th comment which is very near, so why not drop by, say hello and win a prize?

See you there!

Another Week of GW News, September 16, 2007

Courtesy of H.E.Taylor, here is this week's GW news roundup
(skip to bottom)

• Top Stories, NorthWest Passage, Polar Bears, Boiling Lakes, Monsoon, African Floods, APEC
• Hurricanes, Ozone, Sea Levels, ENSO, Satellites, DSCOVR
• Impacts, Coral, Desertification, Wacky Weather, Floods & Droughts, Biofuel & Food
• Mitigation, Transportation, Aviation, Sequestration, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science
• Kyoto, Bali, Carbon Trade, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics, International, Club Madrid, UN Desertification Meeting, Security
• America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Canada
• Ecological Economics, Apocalypso, IPAT, Media, Books, Courts
• Energy, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Insurance, Carbon Lobby
• The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion
• .sig

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Click here to read more

Here's a bit of silliness to begin:

• 2007/09/03: Onion: Nameless Hurricane That Much More Terrifying

  The fabled NorthWest Passage is open from end to end:

• 2007/09/16: PhysOrg: Arctic Ice Melt Opens Northwest Passage
• 2007/09/15: ERabett: The Northwest Passage is open for business
• 2007/09/16: HuffPo: Arctic Ice Melt Opens Northwest Passage
• 2007/09/16: Guardian(UK): Arctic thaw opens fabled trade route - For centuries explorers sought the Northwest Passage. Global warming has finally opened it up
• 2007/09/15: ABC(Au): Arctic ice passage retreating at record levels: report
• 2007/09/15: SwissInfo: Arctic sea route opens as ice melts
• 2007/09/14: CBC: Record sea ice loss opens Northwest Passage
• 2007/09/14: BBC: Ice loss opens Northwest Passage
  The most direct route through the Northwest Passage has opened up fully for the first time since records began, the European Space Agency (ESA) says.
• 2007/09/14: PhysOrg: Satellites witness lowest Arctic ice coverage in history
• 2007/09/14: inel: ESA satellite images record lowest Arctic ice cover
• 2007/09/14: TreeHugger: Picture of the Day: Northwest Passage
• 2007/09/14: SciDaily: Sea Ice Is Getting Thinner
• 2007/09/14: ESA: Satellites witness lowest Arctic ice coverage in history
• 2007/09/13: PhysOrg: The sea ice is getting thinner
• 2007/09/13: AWI: The sea-ice is getting thinner -- A closer look at the climate and ecosystem of the Arctic Ocean
• 2007/09/11: FergusB: Northern Sea Route and sea ice update
• 2007/09/10: ABC(US): Arctic Ice Continues Record Melting - Arctic Ice the Size of Florida Gone in a Week
• 2007/09/09: Oregonian: Greenland ice melt shocks scientists

  So the polar bears are front & centre:

• 2007/09/14: C411: Grim Outlook for Polar Bears
• 2007/09/11: AlaskaReport: Most polar bears will die after loss of ice
• 2007/09/11: ClimateP: Will polar bears go extinct by 2030? -- Part II
• 2007/09/10: TruthOut: The Appalling Fate of the Polar Bear, Symbol of the Arctic
• 2007/09/10: Stoat: Charismatic Megafauna
• 2007/09/10: NatureCF: Polar bears disappear
• 2007/09/10: ClimateP: Will polar bears go extinct by 2030? -- Part I
• 2007/09/10: BBC: US predicts polar bear meltdown
  Two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be gone by the middle of the century, says a US government agency. The US Geological Survey (USGS) says parts of the Arctic are losing summer ice so fast that no bears will be able to live there within several decades

Not to mention the political/financial ramifications:

• 2007/09/16: CanWest: Getting warmed up
• 2007/09/14: CBC: Denmark, Greenland invite Canada [United States, Norway and Russia] to talks over North Pole claims

  While you contemplate an ice free Arctic, note that the Antarctic has record high sea ice:

• 2007/09/15: Stoat: Antarctic sea ice

  This strikes me as a powerful symbol:

• 2007/09/07: UAF: Researcher finds lake boiling with methane
• 2007/09/15: SciDaily: Lakes Boiling With Methane Discovered In Alaska
• 2007/09/13: FergusB: Another feedback mechanism in the Arctic
• 2007/09/12: KSJT: NPR: Alaska's bubbling methane

  And here is another feedback mechanism to consider:

• 2007/09/12: ClimateP: The desertification-global warming feedback

  South Asia is still being afflicted by the monsoon:

• 2007/09/16: AFP: 29 more die in South Asia floods
• 2007/09/11: BBC: S Asia flood devastation worsens
  The number of people made homeless by flooding in north-east India and Bangladesh has risen to some 1.5 million, officials say. India's Assam state is suffering its third wave of floods this year, caused by heavy rains over the past four days. The army has evacuated 800,000 people as the Brahmaputra rive and its tributaries flow at danger levels. Downstream in Bangladesh, officials say half a million people are affected and many have been moved to safer places
• 2007/09/10: TerraDaily: Over one million hit by fresh floods in India, Bangladesh
• 2007/09/11: PlanetArk: Fresh Flooding Leaves Millions Homeless in South Asia
• 2007/09/11: PlanetArk: Thousands Stranded as Bangladesh Flood Spreads
• 2007/09/11: ENN: Flooding leaves 3.5 million people homeless in India
• 2007/09/10: PlanetArk: Thousands Flee Homes as Fresh Floods Hit Bangladesh
• 2007/09/09: TerraDaily: 15 dead in Nepal floods, landslides
• 2007/09/10: ENN: Thousands stranded as Bangladesh flood spreads
• 2007/09/10: BBC: At least seven people have died in flash floods in India's north-eastern state of Assam, officials said

  And flooding across West, Central and East Africa has affected millions:

• 2007/09/16: AFP: 29 more die in South Asia floods
• 2007/09/16: BBC: Severe flooding across Africa has wrecked hundreds of thousands of homes and left many people vulnerable to water-borne diseases...
• 2007/09/15: BBC: Rains threaten flood-hit Africa
  The UN is warning of fresh rains and outbreaks of water-borne disease across Africa, where flash floods have already affected more than one million people
• 2007/09/15: CBC: Flooding causes misery in several African countries
  The British Broadcasting Corporation reported on Saturday that not a single country in West, Central and East Africa has been unaffected by the torrential rain. There are also been reports of flood-related deaths or homeless people in Burkina Faso, Togo and Ghana, as well as Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Liberia, Chad, Senegal, Kenya and Mali
• 2007/09/14: BBC: Health fears after Ghana floods
  Flooding from torrential rain has devastated large areas of northern Ghana, and left thousands of people vulnerable to waterborne diseases. At least 20 people have died in the floods, which have submerged land which produces food for the entire country. Almost 400,000 people have lost their homes, a spokeswoman from the Ghana Red Cross told the BBC. Parts of northern Togo have also been affected and 34,000 people have been displaced there, the government says. At least 20 Togolese have also been killed, while 101 bridges and 46 schools have been destroyed.
• 2007/09/14: ENN: Floods kill 15 in Rwanda, leave 1,000 homeless

  Greece is voting today with the wildfires being a major issue:

• 2007/09/16: BBC: Fires main issue as Greece votes
• 2007/09/16: AFP: Greece heads to the polls under pall of fire tragedy

  Late commentary on APEC:

• 2007/09/10: ABC(Au): APEC climate declaration just hot air: [Greens Senator Bob] Brown
• 2007/09/10: Maribo: Resolution at the APEC summit. Well, sort of.
• 2007/09/09: Maribo: Final word on the APEC summit
• 2007/09/09: MTobis: Agreeing to work to agree to work to...
• 2007/09/09: ENN: Does APEC merely add to global warming?
• 2007/09/10: OilChange: APEC Leaders Perform "Stunt" Over Climate
• 2007/09/10: CanWest: Developing countries say they were bullied at APEC - Canada declares focus on climate change a success
  While the Canadian and Australian prime ministers touted weekend discussions on climate change with their fellow Pacific Rim partners as an unprecedented success, several developing countries suggested yesterday that the wealthy nations around the table tried to bully them into endorsing a declaration that could undermine the international Kyoto Protocol
• 2007/09/10: TStar: Leaders hail new climate plan
  Australian Prime Minister John Howard all but buried the Kyoto climate change accord yesterday as he hailed a controversial agreement among 21 Pacific Rim leaders that endorses an unspecified but common long-term global target to cut greenhouse gases
• 2007/09/10: Globe&Mail: Eureka in Sydney: 'aspirational' climate-change goals

  The hurricane wars are ticking along with Ingrid, Humberto & Felix:

• 2007/09/16: Wunderground: No change to Ingrid; possible Gulf of Mexico storm this week
• 2007/09/15: Wunderground: Ingrid disintigrating under high wind shear
• 2007/09/15: DailyIndia: Nicaragua suffering from hurricane Felix
• 2007/09/13: ERabett: There is nothing new in the eye of the hurricane
• 2007/09/14: Wunderground: Ingrid is born; Humberto and Felix--a sign of climate change?
• 2007/09/14: PlanetArk: Hurricane Humberto Slams Into Texas Coast
• 2007/09/14: ENN: Gulf Coast Recovering From Humberto
• 2007/09/14: SciDaily: How Will Hurricanes Affect Evacuation Along Coastal Roadways?
• 2007/09/13: AP: Humberto Sneaks Up on U.S. Gulf Coast
• 2007/09/13: CCM: A Troubling Hurricane Humberto Record
• 2007/09/13: CCM: Dear Hurricane Humberto: Stay the Hell Away From New Orleans
• 2007/09/13: Wunderground: Hurricane Humberto surprises Texas and Louisiana
• 2007/09/12: Wunderground: Humberto's winds rising as it approaches landfall
• 2007/09/13: ENN: Hurricane Humberto slams into Texas
• 2007/09/13: BBC: Texas drenched by tropical storm
  Heavy rain has been falling in Texas after Hurricane Humberto, the first hurricane to hit the US Gulf coast in two years, came ashore on Thursday. One person was reported to have been killed and there were fears of flash flooding in areas already inundated in the wettest summer in 100 years. Power was knocked out in some districts by Humberto's 85mph (140km/h) winds
• 2007/09/12: GristMill: Katrina revisited - John McQuaid explains the lessons we should have learned from Hurricane Katrina
• 2007/09/12: Wunderground: Humberto will bring serious flooding to Texas and Louisiana; TD 8 strengthening in the Atlantic
• 2007/09/11: Wunderground: September hurricane outlook; Bill Proenza returns to his old job
• 2007/09/10: DailyGreen: Look Out for More Hurricanes: La Nina Is Here
• 2007/09/10: CCM: La Nina and the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season
• 2007/09/10: Wunderground: Gabrielle gone; next system to watch is 91L
• 2007/09/10: BBerg: Hurricane Scientists Flubbed Forecasts for Two Years

  Want to try to stop a hurricane?

• 2007/09/11: PhysOrg: Micro-dust could tame hurricanes: study

  An ozone and GW interaction?

• 2007/09/15: Yahoo: Global climate change, ozone layer are tied: UN official [Achim Steiner]
• 2007/09/13: Eureka: NASA keeps eye on ozone layer amid Montreal Protocol's success

  While on the ENSO front:

• 2007/09/10: CCM: NOAA Makes It Official: La Nina Has Arrived

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2007/09/15: HuffPo: Slideshow: Photos Show Global Warming Overtaking [US] Cities
• 2007/09/16: ABC(US): What Global Warming Looks Like - New Report Visualizes Impact of Sea Level Rise on U.S. Coastal Cities
• 2007/09/14: ABC(Au): Sinking Tuvalu pleads for global warming action
• 2007/09/14: PlanetArk: Tuvalu, About to Disappear, Pleas on Global Warming
• 2007/09/13: TreeHugger: Tuvalu to World: Help!
• 2007/09/13: DeSmogBlog: Sinking Pacific island [Tuvalu] pleads for global warming action

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2007/09/11: Atmoz: Aerosol Measurements with the Glory Satellite [should be launched in 2008]

  The campaign to uncover DSCOVR [Deep Space Climate Observatory] rolls on:

• 2007/09/14: DeSmogBlog: Bushies Bash Climate Satellites (beyond DSCOVR)
• 2007/09/13: Stoat: DSCOVR / Triana / Goresat
• 2007/09/13: DeSmogBlog: Uncover DSCOVR Part 3: Digging for Answers from NASA

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2007/09/16: CanWest: Inuit elder remembers when ice was ice
• 2007/09/14: ABC(Au): Climate change threatens Queensland's Aus$6b reef tourism industry
• 2007/09/14: DeSmogBlog: WHO traces rise in malaria cases, other health threats, to global warming
• 2007/09/12: PhysOrg: Experts: Europe Heating Up Faster
  Climate change is affecting Europe faster than the rest of the world and rising temperatures could transform the Mediterranean into a salty and stagnant sea, Italian experts said Wednesday
• 2007/09/13: PhysOrg: Experts: Climate Change Puts Sea at Risk
• 2007/09/13: PlanetArk: Climate Change is Faster in Italy - Minister
• 2007/09/12: Google:AP: Experts: Climate Change Puts [Mediterranean] Sea at Risk
• 2007/09/12: Guardian(UK): Threatened species Red List shows escalating 'global extinction crisis'
• 2007/09/11: EarthTimes: Global warming stops New Zealand mountain climbs
• 2007/09/11: TerraDaily: Mediterranean's rich marine life under threat: study
• 2007/09/11: TerraDaily: Expert says climate change will spread global disease
• 2007/09/12: WUStL: Ecologist reports dire devastation of snake species following floods of '93, '95
• 2007/09/11: Yahoo: Mediterranean's rich marine life under threat: study
• 2007/09/10: NatGeo: Global Warming May Be Keeping Gray Whale Numbers Down
• 2007/09/11: Yahoo: Expert says climate change will spread global disease

  Corals are dying:

• 2007/09/13: SciDaily: Corals Added To IUCN Red List Of Threatened Species For First Time
• 2007/09/12: Eureka: Corals added to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species for first time - Climate change, over-fishing blamed for threats to marine life

  Desertification looms as a threat:

• 2007/09/13: TerraDaily: Climate change and desertification two sides of same coin
• 2007/09/13: PlanetArk: Climate More Than Land Misuse Spreading Deserts - UN
  Climate change has become the prime cause of an accelerating spread of deserts which threatens the world's drylands, the United Nations' top climate official [Yvo de Boer] said on Wednesday

Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2007/09/14: CBC: Canada's typical summer getting hotter, agency says - Nunavut records highest above-average temperatures
• 2007/09/12: NOAA News: Warm summer in U.S. ends with record heat in South, Widespread drought continues in Southeast, West

  We have heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2007/09/14: PlanetArk: Paraguay Battles its Worst-Ever Forest Fires - Declares a national state of emergency
• 2007/09/13: PlanetArk: Paraguay Declares Emergency as Forest Fires Rage

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2007/09/16: Yahoo: Australia says some water cuts permanent
• 2007/09/14: Novosti: Drought leaves 12,000 without drinking water in southern Russia
• 2007/09/13: TheAge: Aussie drought pushing up US good prices
• 2007/09/12: Delmarvanow: Maryland crop outlook worsens as drought's effects grow clearer
• 2007/09/14: NewsObserver: Most of state [North Carolina] declared disaster area due to drought
• 2007/09/14: ENN: Alaskans Flee Village Under Flood Threat
• 2007/09/12: JQuiggin: Running out of water
• 2007/09/13: PlanetArk: Sudan Floods Death Toll Hits 131, More Rain Expected
• 2007/09/13: JQuiggin: Running out of water

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2007/09/12: FergusB: Eating or heating; is this our choice?
• 2007/09/12: Yahoo: Japanese consumers feel the pinch of biofuel demand
• 2007/09/11: Yahoo: Biofuels offer cure worse than the disease OECD
• 2007/09/11: Google:UKPress: Farms 'to see energy crop takeover'
• 2007/09/12: HuffPo: Food And Energy Prices Are Spiking

  And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

• 2007/09/15: WaPo: Serious Dough -- Higher Wheat Prices Drive Up Bills for Grocery Staples
• 2007/09/13: CGDEV: World Agriculture Faces Serious Decline from Global Warming
• 2007/09/12: CNN: Droughts Drive Up Crop Prices, Spur Push For Engineered Seeds
• 2007/09/13: PlanetArk: World Crops Could Decline 16 Pct Due to Warming
• 2007/09/12: ENN: Global warming may cause world crop decline
• 2007/09/13: CanWest: Study warns of global-warming crop disaster - Agricultural decline predicted by 2080
• 2007/09/10: FN: Climate change: FAO urges changes to ensure food security
• 2007/09/13: SMH: Wheat stocks feeling the heat
• 2007/09/12: BBC: Wheat tops $9 mark for first time
  Wheat prices have surged to a record, breaking through the $9 a bushel mark for the first time, fanning fears that the cost of bread will also increase. Prices have been driven higher because droughts in key crop regions including Australia have led to smaller harvests
• 2007/08/27: Time: Global Warming's Next Victim: Wheat
• 2007/09/10: Xinhuanet: FAO: Climate change threatens world food security
• 2007/09/09: EnergyBulletin: Low grain harvest, rising food prices and China's ethanol plan

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2007/09/14: TruthOut: Call for Paying Third World Countries to Save Rainforests
• 2007/09/13: TerraDaily: Slash global meat consumption to tackle climate change: Lancet paper
• 2007/09/13: PhysOrg: Eating Less Meat May Slow Climate Change
• 2007/09/13: TreeHugger: Three Million Trees Planted in Mexico City This Summer
• 2007/09/13: Guardian(UK): Can this really save the planet?
  We are constantly told to switch the TV off standby, recycle our plastic bags and boil less water - but does focusing on the small, easy steps distract us from the bigger picture...
• 2007/09/12: ENN: Support builds for carbon cash to save forests

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2007/09/14: PlanetArk: Shipping Must Act on Air Emissions
  Aviation has borne the brunt of environmentalists' ire for causing climate change but the global maritime industry could face similar pressure if it can't agree to curbs in greenhouse gases, industry experts warn
• 2007/09/13: Google:AP: Senate Rejects Proposed Amtrak Cuts
• 2007/09/10: PlanetArk: Curbing Ship Emissions Needs Global Rules - Chamber [of Shipping]
  The world's shipping industry needs global regulations that are consistently enforced by the United Nations if it is to cut emissions, the chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping said on Friday

As for aviation & GHGs:

• 2007/09/13: PhysOrg: Green skies: Engineer's work may reduce jet travel's role in global warming
• 2007/09/13: OilChange: [UK] Tories Back Taxes on Flights
• 2007/09/13: Guardian(UK): Private jet firm [NetJets] makes carbon offsetting mandatory

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2007/09/12: GristMill: Parsing the carbon storage debate - 'Carbon-friendly' utilities may not necessarily be in the public interest
• 2007/09/11: CSM: Climate-change paradox: Greenhouse gas is Big Oil boon - With enough CO2 injected into declining oil fields, the US could see its petroleum reserves quadruple
• 2007/09/10: GristMill: 'Smooth the transition' - Carbon sequestration is a costly alternative to renewables, not a transition to them

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2007/09/13: ERabett: On adaptation without mitigation

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2007/09/13: CP: Spatial distribution of Pleistocene/Holocene warming amplitudes in Northern Eurasia inferred from geothermal data by D. Y. Demezhko et al.
• 2007/09/13: CP: Tropical cooling and the onset of North American glaciation by P. Huybers & P. Molnar
• 2007/09/14: ACP: The influence of cloud top variability from radar measurements on 3-D radiative transfer by F. Richter et al.
• 2007/09/14: ACPD: Estimation of the aerosol radiative forcing at ground level, over land, and in cloudless atmosphere, from METEOSAT-7 observation: method and first results by T. Elias & J.-L. Roujean
• 2007/09/13: ACPD: Influence of clouds on the spectral actinic flux density in the lower troposphere (INSPECTRO): overview of the field campaigns by S. Thiel et al.
• 2007/09/11: GRL: (ab$) Recent extreme near-surface permafrost temperatures on Svalbard in relation to future climate scenarios by K. Isaksen et al.
• 2007/09/10: TCD: High-resolution simulations of the surface mass balance of Greenland at the end of this century by G. Krinner & N. Julien
• 2007/09/12: ACP: Technical Note: Improved total atmospheric water vapour amount determination from near-infrared filter measurements with sun photometers by F. Mavromatakis et al.
• 2007/09/12: ACPD: Primary marine aerosol emissions: size resolved eddy covariance measurements with estimates of the sea salt and organic carbon fractions by E. D. Nilsson et al.
• 2007/09/12: ACPD: Properties of polar stratospheric clouds obtained by combined ACE-FTS and ACE-Imager extinction measurements by A. Y. Zasetsky et al.
• 2007/09/11: PNAS: Carbon dioxide enrichment alters plant community structure and accelerates shrub growth in the shortgrass steppe by Jack A. Morgan et al.
• 2007/09/11: PNAS: The effect of climate variations on the dynamics of pasture-livestock interactions under cooperative and noncooperative management by Kjell Arne Brekke
• 2007/09/11: PNAS: Impact of anthropogenic atmospheric nitrogen and sulfur deposition on ocean acidification and the inorganic carbon system by Scott C. Doney et al.

  Before we get into politics, there was some science done:

• 2007/09/12: IHT: Scientists to build global network of underwater laboratories
• 2007/09/12: NSU: Neanderthals 'not killed by climate change' - Study suggests demise did not coincide with climate cooling
• 2007/09/14: TreeHugger: International Team Of Scientists To Test South Atlantic Carbon Sink In 2009
• 2007/09/13: PlanetArk: Ancient Shells Tell Tale of Climate Change - Study [via isotope concentrations]
• 2007/09/13: Eureka: Peat and forests save permafrost from melting
• 2007/09/13: BBC: The theory that an abrupt, catastrophic change in the climate extinguished the last Neanderthals is challenged in the journal Nature
• 2007/09/12: Eureka: New evidence on the role of climate in Neanderthal extinction
• 2007/09/11: SciDaily: Mathematics Of Ice To Aid Global Warming Forecasts
• 2007/09/11: SciDaily: Higher River Levels Predicted As More Carbon Dioxide Makes Plants Less Thirsty
• 2007/09/11: SciDaily: Studying Evidence From Ice Age Lakes
• 2007/09/10: SciDaily: Ocean Depths 'No Haven' From Global Catastrophes
• 2007/09/10: Eureka: Icy calculations on a hot topic - Mathematics of ice to aid global warming forecasts [how salt-saturated ocean water flows through sea ice]

  The Schwartz discussion continues:

• 2007/09/16: Tamino: Climate Insensitivity [Schwartz]
• 2007/09/16: RealClimate: Climate Insensitivity [Schwartz]

  The Pielke fan club just refuses to die:

• 2007/09/13: Atmoz: Reaction to Presentation by Dr. Roger Pielke

  The build up to the Bali conference is beginning:

• 2007/09/12: PlanetArk: Sense of Urgency Greater Over Climate Deal - UK
• 2007/09/10: DeutscheWelle: Global Blame Game Continues at Berlin Climate Conference
  During the opening of a two-day international environment conference in Berlin, developing and industrialized nations remained far apart on who should shoulder responsibility for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Hosting the conference, being held under the auspices of the Gleneagles Dialogue -- a post-Kyoto round of debate on climate protection, German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel emphasized the need to accelerate the marketing and spread of climate-friendly technologies. Gabriel said the United Nations Climate Conference being held in Bali in December should provide the "starting signal" for comprehensive talks on a new climate agreement for the period after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol runs out. This had to contain a long-term goal, ambitious and obligatory commitments from the industrialized world, and fair contributions from the larger developing countries, he said.
• 2007/09/11: ENN: Top polluters to discuss hard climate goals [at Bali]
• 2007/09/10: ENN: Replacing Kyoto With Something Better Will Take Time, Germans Say

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2007/09/12: PlanetArk: EU Deputies Seek Delay for Airline Emissions Trade

  The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

• 2007/09/13: GristMill: Sky Trust explained - Peter Barnes looks at carbon-capping methods
• 2007/09/13: GristMill: Which way to screw the consumer - WSJ on the carbon tax vs. cap-and-trade debate

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2007/09/09: ClimateP: A September Packed with Climate Conferences
• 2007/09/10: TreeHugger: Castro Wades Into Climate Change Debate

  Here is a duplicitous lede:

• 2007/09/14: TruthOut: US, UN Stage Dueling Climate Meets
  Are the United Nations and the United States trying to outdo each other by hosting two parallel summit meetings on the same subject - climate change - during the same week at the end of September? U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is hosting a high-level meeting of world leaders on Sep. 24 in New York, while U.S. President George W. Bush has invited 20 of "the world's largest polluting countries" to a summit in Washington Sep. 27-28.

What to think about ex-leaders preaching about steps they didn't take?

• 2007/09/10: GristMill: Backseat policy-making - Ex-heads of state tell current heads of state how to solve climate crisis [Club Madrid]
• 2007/09/11: HillHeat: Club of Madrid Proposal for a Post-Kyoto Framework
• 2007/09/09: Yahoo: New climate plan drawn up for G8 meet
  A grouping of former heads of state will present a plan to G8 environment ministers meeting here Tuesday aimed at breaking the impasse between rich and poor countries over global warming

A UN meeting in Spain on desertification did not go particularly well:

• 2007/09/16: ABC(Au): UN desertification plan fails after funding dispute
• 2007/09/14: Yahoo: Financial issues obstacle as UN desertification meeting winds down
• 2007/09/15: BBC: UN desertification budget setback
  The United Nations has approved a 10-year strategic plan to tackle desertification, but has failed to reach an accord on the budget. The meeting of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification has ended in Madrid and is expected to move on to New York to try to sort out funding. The UN says desertification caused by climate change and unsuitable farming is a crisis of global proportions.

The GW security meme is back:

• 2007/09/13: ABC(Au): Global warming impact like nuclear war: [IISS] report
• 2007/09/12: CDreams: Reuters: Global Warming Impact Like "Nuclear War"
• 2007/09/12: ThinkP: Global warming may be like "nuclear war." [says IISS: International Institute for Strategic Studies]
• 2007/09/10: DeSmogBlog: A fresh voice sounds alarm over escalating threat of global warming [Turkish military]

  And on the American political front:

• 2007/09/16: WarmingLaw: WashPost to EPA: Waive Now!
• 2007/09/16: SF Gate: Is California the world's last best hope against climate change?
• 2007/09/12: ADT: Pelosi sees higher mileage standards combating global warming
• 2007/09/13: SF Gate: Federal judge gives boost to states on limiting vehicle emissions
• 2007/09/13: SacBee: Emission ruling is a victory for state's policy
  A federal judge decides for Vermont in a case brought by the auto industry that echoes a California law
• 2007/09/10: RegisterGuard: A failure to equip: Federal officials get no guidance on climate change
• 2007/09/12: LA Times: Oil giant [ConocoPhillips] agrees to fight greenhouse gases
• 2007/09/12: ADN: Warming reaction - Alaska's senators agree to act, but what course is best?
• 2007/09/11: GristMill: Markey and the FTC - Rep. Markey asks the Federal Trade Commission to investigate voluntary carbon offsets
• 2007/09/10: GristMill: Edwards not as green as you thought: When a ban isn't a ban
• 2007/09/10: GristMill: Edwards and 'compatibility' - John Edwards would not require that new coal plants sequester their CO2 emissions
• 2007/09/09: SF Chronicle: The issue of our time
  There should be no doubt that global warming is the most compelling issue of our time. If unchecked, it will threaten our national security, stress our economy and degrade our quality of life in so many ways. Our willingness to confront this unprecedented heating of the planet is a test of our moral obligation to our children and their children.
  Yet it remains a second-tier issue among the candidates for president of the United States. This is unacceptable.
• 2007/09/10: EnvEcon: Backdooring climate policy? [via endangered species, aka polar bears]

  What will be the fate of the two Energy bills?

• 2007/09/14: HillHeat: Senators [statements] on Lieberman-Warner Draft [Bond, Inhofe, Boxer, Cardin & Sanders]
• 2007/09/13: TruthOut: Hopes Dim for Measures to Conserve Energy [US pol]
• 2007/09/13: ClimateP: Energy Bill Hurdles Could be Fatal Obstacles
• 2007/09/13: GristMill: Sigh - Hopes for energy bill this session fading

  The NAS has issued a report on the Bush Climate Change Science Program:

• 2007/09/14: GristMill: More thwarting - Ladies and gentlemen, Bush's 'scientific enquiry' is still a sham [US CCSP]
• 2007/09/13: ThinkP: Bush climate change program "saddled with delays."
• 2007/09/13: ERabett: Whom you would destroy you first defund (Part 23) [NAS on US CCSP]
• 2007/09/14: MTobis: US Science panel complains re policy connection
• 2007/09/14: C411: What Has the Government's Climate Program Achieved?
• 2007/09/13: PhysOrg: [NRC] Report: Cutbacks Threaten [USCCSP] Climate Study
• 2007/09/13: HillHeat: National Academies Critiques U.S. Climate Change Science Program

  Do you think this qualifies as self serving agency propaganda?

• 2007/09/13: Eureka: US Climate Change Science Program making good progress in documenting and understanding changes

  White House Science Adviser, Professor John Marburger, has acknowledged man-made warming:

• 2007/09/14: ThinkP: Defying Bush And Cheney, White House Science Adviser Acknowledges Man-Made Warming Is A Fact
• 2007/09/14: MongaBay: Bush aides say mankind responsible for global warming
• 2007/09/14: GristMill: Quote of the day - White House advisor reveals Bush view of climate change policy
• 2007/09/14: inel: "We strongly agree with the IPCC reports and support its conclusions" - US Chief Scientist [Professor John Marburger]
• 2007/09/14: BBC: Bush aide says warming man-made
  The US chief scientist has told the BBC that climate change is now a fact. Professor John Marburger, who advises President Bush, said it was more than 90% certain that greenhouse gas emissions from mankind are to blame

The courts have ruled against the automakers in Vermont:

• 2007/09/14: Yahoo: States are closer to trimming autos' CO2 emissions
• 2007/09/14: CSM: States are closer to trimming autos' CO2 emissions - The move by 12 states could coax Congress to pass efficiency limits
• 2007/09/14: WarmingLaw: States to Auto Industry: Get With the (Emissions-Cutting) Program!
• 2007/09/13: ClimateP: The Vermont Ruling and Hansen's climate primer
• 2007/09/13: TruthOut: States Get Boost in Push to Make Fuel Economy Rules - Judge Puts 43 MPG in View
• 2007/09/13: PhysOrg: Judge hits auto makers, allows Vermont to limit emissions
• 2007/09/12: CBS: Vermont Wins Legal Victory Over Automakers
• 2007/09/12: HillHeat: Judge: Vermont Can Set Greenhouse Gas Standards for Automobiles
• 2007/09/13: PlanetArk: US Court Upholds Tough Vermont Auto Emissions Law
• 2007/09/12: GristMill: Automakers lose - Vermont judge rules that Calif. and other states can implement tough tailpipe emission standards
• 2007/09/12: FreeP: Court rules against automakers in global warming case
  A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the U.S. auto industry's attempt to block California and 14 other states from setting tough new fuel economy standards, saying the industry had not proved the regulations were illegal, unsafe or unattainable.
• 2007/09/12: C411: VT Court Rejects Automakers' Attempt to Continue Polluting
• 2007/09/12: AutoBG: Judge dumps automaker suit against state fuel economy rules

  In the wake of the Vt. vs. Automakers ruling, State Governors are pushing for action:

• 2007/09/14: NEN: Wyoming Governor [Dave Freudenthal] demands federal action on emissions
• 2007/09/13: ENN: Governors to push state action on global warming
• 2007/09/12: Google:AP: Governors Seek Action on Global Warming
  Governors want to expand state regulation of greenhouse gases in hopes of increasing pressure for federal action on global warming, the chairman of the National Governors Association said Wednesday. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., said in an Associated Press interview that getting more states to limit greenhouse gases is a priority among clean energy issues for the group. Others include spurring energy conservation and broadening use of renewable fuels such as ethanol.
• 2007/09/12: GristMill: [US State] Governors to automakers: Get on board -- An open letter from 13 governors to U.S. automakers

  Regarding the issue of religion & the environment:

• 2007/09/15: CourierPress: Environmental awareness taking root in conservative Christian churches

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2007/09/15: Yahoo: Al Gore heads to Emmy red carpet for Current TV

  While in the UK:

• 2007/09/11: BizGreen: Change in political climate must inform green investments
  We might have been forced to listen to nearly two years of the manure of political rhetoric to reach this point, but if the last few weeks are anything to go by the UK could soon see the green shoots of serious political action on climate change.
• 2007/09/11: inel: New 5-year Integrated Climate Programme for Met Office Hadley Centre

  I suspect this proposal will raise a few hackles:

• 2007/09/10: Guardian(UK): Rationing project tests government plans to make pollution personal
  Plans for the world's first personal carbon trading scheme, in which people buy and sell their rights to produce pollution, are unveiled today. The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (RSA) is piloting a project later this year to test whether personal carbon trading could work on a large scale

Can you say designed to fail?

• 2007/09/14: SciDaily: Emissions Targets For 2030 Will Only Be Reached By Banning Cars In London
• 2007/09/13: PhysOrg: Emissions targets for 2030 will only be reached by banning cars in London

  British Tories have released a green plan:

• 2007/09/13: UK Conservatives: Blueprint for a green economy
• 2007/09/16: ClimateP: British tories put U.S. conservatives to shame
• 2007/09/15: TreeHugger: UK Conservatives Issued Strong Green Challenge From Within
• 2007/09/10: BBC: Tory group urges 'green rebate'
  A stamp duty rebate for home-buyers who improve domestic energy efficiency is to be proposed by the Conservatives' Quality of Life policy group this week. It also proposes council tax and VAT cuts - and capping the energy use of appliances like TVs and fridges. As details of Thursdays report emerged, leader David Cameron said he would put up green taxes "and use the proceeds to reduce taxes elsewhere".

And in Europe:

• 2007/09/13: TerraDaily: EU proposes easing grain rules to help fight high prices
• 2007/09/14: PlanetArk: Merkel Backs German Carmakers' CO2 Stance
• 2007/09/14: Guardian(UK): EU urged to halt set-aside to boost grain production
• 2007/09/12: GristMill: The good German - German Chancellor Merkel focuses on climate change
• 2007/09/10: PlanetArk: [European Environment Commissioner, Stavros] Dimas Says Carmakers Missing CO2 Target Face Fines
• 2007/09/10: PlanetArk: Merkel Urges German Carmakers to Cut Emissions

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2007/09/16: ABC(Au): Native forests vital in climate change fight, green groups say
• 2007/09/11: ABC(Au): Business in the dark on carbon trading: [AIG] survey
  A new report shows 40 per cent of Australian companies have no understanding of emissions trading schemes.
• 2007/09/11: ABC(Au): Business wants to act on carbon emissions: [AIG: Australian Industry Group] survey
• 2007/09/11: ABC(Au): Industry concern on climate change 'encouraging'
• 2007/09/11: ABC(Au): Commonwealth [Aus. Fed Gov't] urged to rescue NSW carbon scheme

  And in China:

• 2007/09/12: PlanetArk: China Suspends Plan to Convert Farmland Into Forest
• 2007/09/12: ChinaDaily: Climate - a problem for all nations
• 2007/09/11: People's Daily: China to vigorously promote energy conservation, Vice Premier says
  China will vigorously promote energy conservation and emissions reduction to tackle climate change and promote sustainable development, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan said on Tuesday

And in Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, prorogued parliament to wait out a provincial election and 3 byelections:

• 2007/09/10: CanWest: Green ambition - Harper's rhetoric
• 2007/09/09: DeSmogBlog: Proud to be Canadian: NOT!
  Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, speaking today at the close of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Sydney, said, "I'm also very pleased that the Sydney Declaration mirrors the Canadian climate change approach on many levels." By which he clearly meant: We're not planning to do anything about it, either.
• 2007/09/14: CanWest: NDP plans to put 'dead' Kyoto bill back into play
  The federal New Democrats plan to embarrass the Tories by reintroducing the clean-air and climate-change legislation that died in the last Parliament. NDP environment critic Nathan Cullen said he will table a private-member's bill soon after federal politicians return to the Commons in October. The original government legislation, Bill C-30, was rewritten by the three opposition parties in a special committee last winter. Their goal was to force the government to live up to the provisions of the Kyoto Accord. The bill would impose tougher targets on large industrial polluters, such as the oilsands sector in Alberta, in a way that would translate into higher financial penalties. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper killed the bill when he announced his intention to shut down Parliament and start a new session with a throne speech.
• 2007/09/13: Canoe: Dion caught in Kyoto cloud
  Federal bureaucrats questioned whether Canada could meet its Kyoto Accord commitments even before the Conservatives took power, according to a ministerial briefing...

Did you know a Kyoto lawsuit was pending?

• 2007/09/09: CanWest: Climate showdown headed for courts - Lawsuit filed over Kyoto Protocol might be an omen of things to come

  The tricky question of the oil sands looms:

• 2007/09/14: GristMill: O Canada, what are you doing? Tar sands are the enemy of the planet

  And the issue of Canada & GNEP is lurking:

• 2007/09/14: TCE: Canada to Accept Nuclear Waste

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

• 2007/09/13: EnvEcon: My review of Nordhaus' review of the Stern Review
• 2007/09/11: ClimateP: Harvard economist disses most climate cost-benefit analyses

  Apocalypso anyone?:

• 2007/09/12: CCurrents: The End Of The World?
• 2007/09/13: CCurrents: The Revolution That Is Arising From The Earth
• 2007/09/11: CPunch: Specters of Malthus: Scarcity, Poverty, Apocalypse
• 2007/09/11: CCurrents: An Essential Paradigm Shift's Needed ASAP!

  The IPAT [Impact = Polulation * Affluence * Technology] issue raises its head:

• 2007/09/12: AlterNet: Does Our Planet Have Too Many People?
• 2007/09/10: Guardian(UK): Greens need to grasp the nettle: aren't there just too many people?
  Reducing consumption is imperative, but it's pointless to cut out meat and cars while having lots of children

As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2007/09/15: inel: BAMS editorial by Ryan and Toohey-Morales on Communicating Climate Change
• 2007/09/14: inel: Telegraph Road

  Here is something for your library:

• 2007/09/: WWI: Vital Signs 2007 - 2008
• 2007/09/14: PlanetArk: Many of Earth's "Vital Signs" in Bad Shape - Report [More wood was removed from forests in 2005 than ever before...]
• 2007/09/14: ENN: Window to Prevent Catastrophic Climate Change Closing
  Consumption of energy and many other critical resources is consistently breaking records, disrupting the climate and undermining life on the planet, according to the latest Worldwatch Institute report, Vital Signs 2007-2008
• 2007/09/09: Zone5: [Book Review] _Renewable Energy Cannot Sustain a Consumer Society_ by Ted Trainer

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2007/09/12: WarmingLaw: Victory in Vermont GHG Case
• 2007/09/13: WarmingLaw: Timing of Related GHG Case
• 2007/09/11: WarmingLaw: More Matthews Questions
• 2007/09/11: WarmingLaw: Fourth Circuiting the Environment?

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2007/09/13: Reuters: Giant battery to store wind power planned
• 2007/09/15: AutoBG: Daihatsu develops a precious metal-free fuel cell
• 2007/09/11: FuturePundit: Heliovolt Thin Film Photovoltaics To Lower Costs
• 2007/09/12: FuturePundit: AVA Solar To Make Photovoltaics Cost Effective?
• 2007/09/14: PhysOrg: Japan's Daihatsu Motor touts new fuel cell technology [that eliminates the need for platinum]
• 2007/09/14: PlanetArk: [German utility] E.ON [AG] UK Plans Giant Battery to Store Wind Power
• 2007/09/14: SciDaily: Better Solar Cells? Method Safely Deposits Novel Metal Oxide Thin Films On Substrates
• 2007/09/10: IHT: New [IEA] energy agency chief sees household energy use rising in industrial countries
  Despite the growing political commitment to tackling global warming, individual energy use and carbon emissions in the leading industrial countries have actually increased in recent years, the new head of a major energy advisory group said Monday. Nobuo Tanaka, the first non-European chosen to lead the International Energy Agency, said during an interview that Europe, Canada, Australia and particularly the United States had to do much more to increase energy efficiency if they wanted to have any credibility when calling on India and China to act
• 2007/09/13: PlanetArk: Giant US Utility [Southern Co.] Ponders Carbon Compliance Costs
• 2007/09/11: GristMill: Energy storage in the field - American Electric Power to install large battery banks to store wind energy
• 2007/09/11: C411: Cool New Energy Technologies
• 2007/09/12: PlanetArk: Conoco in Emissions Offset Deal at Calif. Refinery
• 2007/09/11: TreeHugger: "Fuel" from Salt Water?
• 2007/09/11: MSNBC: The State of Green [Energy]
• 2007/09/11: TEB: Maxwell to Develop Capacitors for Mercedes
• 2007/09/11: Eureka: Trade-offs reveal no clear favorites in alternative energy market

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2007/09/12: NEN: Coal plant to offset emissions
• 2007/09/11: ClimateP: The WSJ (and Climate Progress) on Liquid Coal
• 2007/09/11: GristMill: Big Coal, anti-wind - Coal industry insider tapped to kill Cape Wind
• 2007/09/10: PlanetArk: Nevada Denies Plea to Delay [3] New Coal Power Plants

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2007/09/14: ROB: Is it too late to stop the ethanol con job?
• 2007/09/15: IR^2: USDA Cellulosic Ethanol Reality Check
• 2007/09/14: AutoBG: Why corn ethanol is especially bad for California
• 2007/09/13: GristMill: The lash is back - Stratfor analysis of the backlash against ethanol
• 2007/09/13: GristMill: The USDA goes all lukewarm on cellulosic ethanol - In related news, the '07 corn harvest will break records
• 2007/09/11: TAMU: To Maximize Biofuel Potential, Researchers Look for Sorghum’s ‘Sweet Spot’
• 2007/09/11: EUO: OECD questions EU rush to boost biofuels
• 2007/09/11: GristMill: 'OECD warns against biofuels subsidies' - Biofuels subsidies will only lead to increased food costs and habitat destruction
• 2007/09/11: Reuters: Biofuels may harm more than help [OECD]
• 2007/09/10: KSJT: NYTimes, Edmonton Sun, etc: All hail jatropha! Its seeds' oil is darned near a diesel substitute as is.

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2007/09/14: ABC(Au): Reaction time: climate change and the nuclear option
• 2007/09/14: PlanetArk: British Split on New Nuclear Power Plants - Govt
• 2007/09/12: PlanetArk: US Nuclear Industry Inches Toward New Construction
• 2007/09/11: CDreams: Nuclear Power is Not the Answer by Ralph Nader
• 2007/09/11: PlanetArk: Who Will Foot the Nuclear Power Bill?

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2007/09/12: TruthOut: Make Energy-Efficient Technology Mandatory, UN Expert [UNDP Marcel Alers] Says
• 2007/09/11: EurActiv: IEA sounds 'wake-up call' on energy savings

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

• 2007/09/14: AutoBG: Co-op America says "Plug-in Hybrids 'Yes,' Ethanol 'No'" to Ford, GM
• 2007/09/09: GristMill: Greentech and EEStor - Ultracapacitor company claims it will revolutionize electric cars
• 2007/09/13: PlanetArk: Carmakers Turn 'Green' But is it a Smokescreen?
• 2007/09/12: NewScientist: Redesigned petrol engine promises green gains
• 2007/09/: TechRev: Electric Cars 2.0 -- Plug-in hybrids could bring gas-free commutes. But will they make it to market?

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

• 2007/09/15: TreeHugger: Corporate Climate Response Conference: In Chicago [Sept 25-26]
• 2007/09/13: REA: Renewable Energy: Not Just Another Investment Bubble
  Renewable energies and demand-side technologies have become the third largest investment class for venture capitalists (VC) in the U.S.
• 2007/09/15: SMH: Developers wake up to green dawn

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2007/09/13: EnvFin: Prince Charles leads insurers to ‘war’ on climate change [Climate Wise]
• 2007/09/13: Guardian(UK): Insurance industry joins climate change fight
• 2007/09/13: inel: ClimateWise insurance companies combat climate change

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2007/09/16: BCLSB: Deniers Rediscover The Hockey Stick!
• 2007/09/14: Reasic: Water Vapor = Feedback
• 2007/09/14: DeSmogBlog: Link between beef production and global warming sparks denialist outburst
• 2007/09/14: FergusB: Appeal to all rational intelligent skeptics
• 2007/09/13: Tamino: Unstoppable Hot Air
• 2007/09/13: Reasic: Welcome to Reasic, Phil [H2O vs CO2 forcings]
• 2007/09/13: TruthOut: The "Feel Good" Approach to Climate Distortion
• 2007/09/13: Stoat: Just in case you feel inclined to trust Monckton
• 2007/09/13: BCLSB: My Advice? Don't Let 'em FREEP Your Poll [denial]
• 2007/09/13: DeSmogBlog: Medieval Paintings Explode Global Warming Myth!
• 2007/09/12: DeSmogBlog: Easy to be Green if you stopped suing Green States
• 2007/09/03: Spiked: Is carbon-offsetting just eco-enslavement?
  In offsetting his flights by sponsoring 'eco-friendly' hard labour in India, David Cameron has exposed the essence of environmentalism
• 2007/09/12: EarthTimes: Challenge to Scientific Consensus on Global Warming: Analysis Finds Hundreds of Scientists Have Published Evidence Countering Man-Made Global Warming Fears [Singer]
• 2007/09/12: StraightGoods: Greenland on verge of meltdown - Climate change deniers jump on NASA error; ignore collapse of Greenland Ice Sheet
• 2007/09/12: CDreams: The "Feel Good" Approach to Climate Distortion
• 2007/09/10: ClimateP: Introducing Eric Roston who corrects Tim Flannery about Bjorn Lomborg
• 2007/09/09: CCM: Adam Finkel Replies to Your Comments on Newsweek, Bob Samuelson, and Global Warming
• 2007/09/09: DeSmogBlog: Frank Maisano a DeSmogger?

  The Lomborg hustle:

• 2007/09/14: BobPark: What's New -- 2) Climate Crap: A sequel by the "Skeptical Environmentalist." 3) Climate Research: How will climate change affect people?
• 2007/09/14: ClimateP: Debunking Bjorn Lomborg -- Part II, Misrepresenting Sea Level Rise
• 2007/09/13: ClimateP: Debunking Bjorn Lomborg ? Part I, The Great Polar Bear Irony
• 2007/09/13: C411: Bjorn Lomborg's Fundamental Mistake
• 2007/09/12: ClimateP: Debating Bjorn Lomborg, global warming delayer
• 2007/09/12: BSD: A legal perspective on Lomborg's nonsense
• 2007/09/12: DeSmogBlog: "'Cool It' is a stealth attack on humanity's future" [says Tim Flannery of Lomborg latest]
• 2007/09/10: GristMill: Battling the Borg - Some reviews and criticism of Bjorn Lomborg's new book Cool It
• 2007/09/11: MTobis: Taking Lomborg Seriously
• 2007/09/11: DeSmogBlog: "Skeptical environmentalist" says best fix for global warming is to make everybody wealthy
• 2007/09/11: NYT: ‘Feel Good’ vs. ‘Do Good’ on Climate
• 2007/09/09: BCLSB: Nuze U Can Abuze

  The Oreskes/Schulte imbroglio:

• 2007/09/14: DeSmogBlog: Klaus Martin-Shulte remains silent on his climate change "research"
• 2007/09/14: DeSmogBlog: Shulte vs. Oreskes: Tim Lambert Updates
• 2007/09/14: CSpin: Latest blogstorm (Oreskes) fails to impress traditional media
• 2007/09/11: ERabett: Eli does a Schulte [with Google Scholar]
• 2007/09/11: DeSmogBlog: Who 'Framed' Naomi Oreskes?
• 2007/09/11: DeSmogBlog: The telling silence of Martin-Shulte and the Science and Public Policy Institute
• 2007/09/10: Denialism: Cut and paste denialism
• 2007/09/09: FergusB: Nonsensus

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2007/09/16: PhysOrg: Ancient Records Help Test Climate Change
• 2007/09/15: Yahoo: Ancient records help test climate change
• 2007/09/14: MongaBay: 38 key global environmental indicators worsen - [Vital Signs 2007-2008] report
• 2007/09/14: ClimateP: Must Read -- "Climate Change: The Limits of Consensus"
• 2007/09/14: ABC(Au): Global warming to trigger volcanic eruptions, scientists warn [plate movement due to melting icecaps/glaciers]
• 2007/09/13: GristMill: 10 things we can do: Rebuilding civil society - It's not that individuals can't do anything about climate -- they just can't do it by thems[elves]
• 2007/09/13: inel: Lancet Energy and Health series extends climate solutions arguments
• 2007/09/13: EnergyBulletin: Public teach-in on the triple global crisis Sept 14-16
• 2007/09/13: ClimateP: Global warming art and articulation -- the next generation puts us to shame
• 2007/09/13: PhysOrg: From A-bombs to anvil zits: the tribal world of stormchasers
• 2007/09/13: PlanetArk: China Urged to Join Effort to Defend Amazon from Soy
• 2007/09/12: ClimateP: The Executive Summary of All Executive Summaries
• 2007/09/12: TreeHugger: Freakonomics on Global Warming
• 2007/09/12: SciDaily: Parking Spaces Outnumber Drivers 3 To 1, Drive Pollution And Warming
• 2007/09/11: IPSNews: What a Lake Says About Climate Change
• 2007/09/11: BostonGlobe: For buyers, carbon labels tap into worry on warming
• 2007/09/11: ClimateP: An Update on Climate Science Since IPCC
• 2007/09/11: ClimateP: New Rules for Climate Action
• 2007/09/10: MTobis: Policy as a Problem in Engineering
• 2007/09/11: TreeHugger: The Melting Iceberg: A Constant Reminder of Global Warming
• 2007/09/11: ENN: World likely to pass dangerous warming limits [+2C]
• 2007/09/11: Purdue: Parking spaces outnumber drivers 3-to-1, drive pollution and warming
• 2007/09/11: Guardian(UK): Move to identify climate change security hotspots
• 2007/09/09: Atmoz: Recent Temperature and Rainfall News
• 2007/09/10: ClimateP: The phrase "glacial change" needs to be retired
• 2007/09/09: inel: Climate change experts impress top US news editors at Stanford University
• 2007/09/09: FergusB: Tomorrow, or maybe Tuesday?
• 2007/09/11: C411: Food and Farming - Part 1 - Farm Animals and Methane

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

• A2030: Coastal Impact Study
• ClimateWise
• BusinessGreen blog
• UCSUSA: The A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science
• Auto Blog Green
• Deltoid - Tim Lambert
• Stoat
• UK RoyalSociety: Climate change documents
• Ross Gelbspan: The Heat is Online
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
• EESI: Climate Change News
• NOAA: CCGG:Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases Group

---

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published May, 2007. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.

<regards>
-het

PS. You can access the previous postings of this series here

---

"We basically have three choices: mitigation, adaptation and suffering. We’re going to do some of each. The question is what the mix is going to be. The more mitigation we do, the less adaptation will be required and the less suffering there will be." -John Holdren, AAAS president

• Global Warming Links
• Global Warming News Archive
• ---
• Energy
• Energy News
• Environmental Issues
• ---
• H.E. Taylor (homepage)

Another Week of GW News, September 9, 2007

Courtesy of H.E.Taylor, here is this week's GW news roundup
(skip to bottom)

• Top Stories, APEC, Arctic, Polar Bears, Greeek Wildfires, Times Atlas
• Hurricanes, Felix, Fitow, Henriette, & Gabrielle, ENSO, DSCOVR
• Impacts, Tropical Rainforests, Wacky Weather, Heatwaves, Floods & Droughts, Biofuel & Food
• Mitigation, Architecture, Sequestration
• Journals, Misc. Science
• Kyoto, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics, International, NGO Conference, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Canada
• Ecological Economics, Media, Video, Courts
• Energy, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Cars, Business, Insurance, Carbon Lobby
• The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion
• .sig

---

Click here to read more

Ever notice that most GW humour is black humour?

• 2007/09/09: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Global Warming Era Graphics

  The APEC summit grabbed the front page this week:

• 2007/09/08: DeSmogBlog: APEC touts "aspiration;" dashes hope
• 2007/09/09: ABC(Au): Climate change pact 'most significant' APEC outcome [says Howard]
• 2007/09/09: PhysOrg: APEC Forges Deal on Climate Change
• 2007/09/09: Yahoo: APEC climate call is just hot air, say activists
• 2007/09/09: Guardian(UK): Pacific Rim climate deal is no laughing matter for green activists
• 2007/09/09: Guardian(UK): Ban the standby button, say Tories - Conservatives target plasma TVs in radical report on how to tackle global warming
• 2007/09/09: ABC(Au): Govt, green groups face off over Sydney Declaration
• 2007/09/08: ABC(Au): APEC leaders sign climate change pact
• 2007/09/08: ABC(Au): APEC leaders negotiate on climate change
• 2007/09/08: Maribo: Resolution at the APEC summit. Well, sort of
• 2007/09/08: Deltoid: For free trade before they were against it
• 2007/09/08: Yahoo: APEC forge deal on climate change
• 2007/09/08: Far-n-Wide: A.nother P.ropaganda E.xercise C.ompleted
• 2007/09/08: Turkish Press: Asia-Pacific leaders issue climate change call
• 2007/09/08: BBC: APEC leaders reach climate deal
  Asia-Pacific leaders meeting in Sydney have agreed an "aspirational" goal to restrain the rise of greenhouse gas emissions to tackle climate change. China and the US - two of the world's biggest polluters - are among the 21 nations that have signed the statement, which contains no firm commitments
• 2007/09/08: AFP: Asia-Pacific leaders issue climate change call
• 2007/09/08: Globe&Mail: Harper hails APEC deal as 'big step' for planet
• 2007/09/08: CTV: Harper stands alone in wearing Aussie hat at APEC
• 2007/09/07: ClimateP: APEC to world: Kiss my "aspirational" target
• 2007/09/06: TruthOut: Kings of the Coal Habit - The fate of our warming planet hinges on six nations, and five of them meet in Sydney this week
• 2007/09/07: TruthOut: APEC "Muddies the Climate Waters"
• 2007/09/08: ABC(Au): Australia looking to clinch climate deal
• 2007/09/08: ABC(Au): Greenpeace attacks 'aspirational' emissions deal
• 2007/09/07: ABC(Au): Canadian PM highlights importance of climate talks
• 2007/09/07: GristMill: The 'intensity' scam - APEC's draft plan to reduce GHG intensity will do nothing to curb emissions
• 2007/09/07: HillHeat: APEC Climate Agreement
• 2007/09/07: Maribo: Change in the climate of the APEC summit?
• 2007/09/07: TCE: Leaders Agree to Aspire to Stop Global Warming
• 2007/09/06: TerraDaily: China leads charge against Australian climate pact
• 2007/09/07: DeSmogBlog: U.S., China intransigence threatens global-warming pact at APEC
• 2007/09/07: PlanetArk: APEC Rift Opens Over Climate Change Debate
• 2007/09/07: ENN: APEC draft climate statement seen a compromise
• 2007/09/07: Yahoo: Pacific rim nations eke out climate change agreement [APEC]
• 2007/09/07: People's Daily: President Hu stresses sustainable development [APEC]
• 2007/09/07: CBC: Behind-the-scenes APEC deal calls for energy savings - Officials say they have a plan, but leaders must sign off on it
• 2007/09/07: Globe&Mail: The Sydney fudge: It's climate change, not trade
• 2007/09/06: ABC(Au): [Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander] Downer backs push for 'aspirational' emissions goal
• 2007/09/06: HillHeat: APEC
• 2007/09/06: DeSmogBlog: Bush, Howard Vow Climate Action: A New Day Is Yawning!
• 2007/09/06: Yahoo: APEC rift opens over climate change debate
• 2007/09/06: Crikey: Don't blow it APEC, habitable planets are hard to find
• 2007/09/06: Globe&Mail: APEC rift opens over climate change
• 2007/09/06: CTV: Ottawa near decision on [GNEP] nuclear plan: [Foreign Affairs Minister, Maxime] Bernier
• 2007/09/06: SMH: Chinese leader [Hu Jintao] endorses Kyoto [at APEC]
• 2007/09/05: ABC(Au): Govt engaging in 'climate change stunt': Greenpeace
  Greenpeace has today written to all the countries attending this week's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, saying the Federal Government is not serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It says that earlier this year, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer referred to aspirational targets for reducing emissions as "code for a political stunt". It has accused the Government of trying to mislead APEC leaders about climate change goals. Catherine Fitzpatrick from Greenpeace says the Government has no real concern for the environment, and its main agenda is to sell more coal
• 2007/09/05: ABC(Au): APEC business group wants climate action
• 2007/09/05: ABC(Au): Britain pushes for climate change agreement at APEC
• 2007/09/05: ABC(Au): Half million-strong petition calls on APEC climate action
• 2007/09/05: PhysOrg: Business to Push Carbon Pricing at APEC
• 2007/09/06: PlanetArk: Bush, Howard Back Nuke Power Ahead APEC Summit
• 2007/09/06: PlanetArk: Asia-Pacific Businesses Call for Carbon Pricing
• 2007/09/05: ENN: Climate petition signed by 500,000
  Climate change campaigners have appealed to world leaders attending the APEC summit to take notice of a petition signed by half a million people around the world
• 2007/09/05: Yahoo: Kyoto rebels [US & Australia] pledge to work with UN on climate change
• 2007/09/04: ABC(Au): Downer plays down climate change rift with Malaysia [APEC]
• 2007/09/04: Yahoo: Climate activists chain themselves [to coal loaders] at [Carrington terminal] Australian port
• 2007/09/03: ABC(Au): Power station protesters charged [with trespass]
• 2007/09/03: ABC(Au): Downer says APEC can deliver on climate change [even if it does not come up with targets for reducing CO2]
• 2007/09/03: ABC(Au): Four arrested at [Gippsland power station] Loy Yang [climate change] protest
• 2007/09/03: PlanetArk: Climate Change a Hot Topic at APEC Gathering
• 2007/09/03: Yahoo: Battle lines drawn on climate change at [APEC] asian summit
  Developing nations led by China are set for a bruising battle with the United States and Australia on climate change, a senior official at a key summit of Asia Pacific nations said Monday
• 2007/09/02: Yahoo: Australia urges voluntary emission goals
• 2007/09/03: ABC(Au): Climate protest shuts down power station - protesters locked themselves to a coal conveyor
• 2007/09/02: Yahoo: No APEC deal on climate change targets: Howard
  Asia-Pacific countries will not agree on binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at a major summit this week, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday
• 2007/09/03: CDreams: AFP: Climate Activists Target Asia-Pacific Summit in Australia
• 2007/09/03: DeSmogBlog: APEC Declaration: Spin versus Action
• 2007/09/03: BBC: Call for APEC climate 'consensus'
  The world's most polluting nations must seek a consensus on climate change, Australian leader John Howard has urged ahead of talks on the issue. With the US, Russia and China attending the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) meeting this week, progress on the issue was vital, he said
• 2007/09/02: BBC: Howard to press new climate deal
  Australian Prime Minister John Howard has urged fellow Asian leaders to find a new way forward on climate change. Speaking ahead of an Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) meeting, Mr Howard said flexible targets should be adopted to cut emissions

The Arctic is melting faster than expected:

• 2007/09/08: CCurrents: Shockwaves From Melting Icecaps Are Triggering Earthquakes
• 2007/09/08: Guardian(UK): Melting ice cap triggering earthquakes
  Estimates of sea-level rise out of date, say scientists - Religious leaders pray for planet at Greenland glacier
• 2007/09/07: KSJT: AP, Seattle Times, Wash. Post: Federal scientists say Arctic sea ice forecast looking worse, bigger melt coming fast
• 2007/09/07: PhysOrg: NOAA Affirms Predictions of Sea Ice Loss
• 2007/09/07: FergusB: All the way around the Arctic?
• 2007/09/07: ENN: NOAA: Arctic Regional Sea Ice To Decline 40 Percent Before 2050
• 2007/09/07: CNN: Scientists: Dramatic sea ice loss by 2050
• 2007/09/07: WaPo: NOAA Scientists Say Arctic Ice Is Melting Faster Than Expected
• 2007/09/05: TruthOut: Loss of Arctic Ice Leaves Experts Stunned
• 2007/09/04: Maribo: Arctic sea ice continues to set records
• 2007/09/05: FergusB: What's going on up there? [Arctic]
• 2007/09/05: FergusB: The future for huskies?
• 2007/09/05: ERabett: The Northwest Passage is open
• 2007/09/05: OilChange: Arctic Ice-Free by 2030
• 2007/09/05: Guardian(UK): Ice-free Arctic could be here in 23 years
• 2007/09/04: Guardian(UK): Loss of Arctic ice leaves experts stunned
• 2007/09/04: ClimateP: Arctic ice loss is "stunning" -- total loss possible by 2030, scientists warn

  Which is bad news for the polar bears:

• 2007/09/09: PhysOrg: Next 50 years may be last for polar bears
• 2007/09/08: inel: Uncertainty spells extinction for polar bears, unless we accept it
• 2007/09/08: DeSmogBlog: The News Just Gets Harder to Bear [arctic]
• 2007/09/08: SciDaily: Polar Bear Population Predicted To Dwindle WIth Retreating Ice
• 2007/09/07: Yahoo: Polar bears in dire straits
  Two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be killed off by 2050 -- and the entire population gone from Alaska -- because of thinning sea ice from global warming in the Arctic, government scientists forecast Friday
• 2007/09/08: TStar: Warming could kill off most polar bears: Study
• 2007/09/08: ABC(Au): Most polar bears could be gone by 2050: report

  And the political machinations (read resource driven territoriality) continue:

• 2007/09/04: TStar: Canada must lead by example in claiming Arctic
• 2007/09/04: WTimes: Navigable Arctic prompts territorial claims

  Late commentary on the Greek wildfires:

• 2007/09/07: NowMagTO: Flames of change - Political shakeup in Greece may be world’s first sign that climate change can total whole governments
  "How are our children going to survive in a land that is dead?" asked a survivor of the wildfires that seared much of southern Greece during the last week of August. Six thousand homes and 4 million olive trees burned, half the forests of Greece gone and 64 people dead is a huge loss, and in the carbonized landscapes of the Peloponnese it is hard to imagine that people will ever live there again. But what nobody saw coming was the political fallout: this may be the first time that a government falls because of climate change. When the centre-right government of Costas Karamanlis called an early election last month after only three years in office, it had a comfortable lead in the opinion polls and was cruising toward a certain victory. The fires changed all that...
• 2007/09/02: TerraDaily: Greek fire toll rises to 64 as PM urges revamp
• 2007/09/03: BBC: Smouldering Greece expects rain
• 2007/09/02: CBC: Greece faces floods in country's north
• 2007/09/02: Reuters: Greek forest fires could be CO2 threat

  The Times Atlas is being forced to change to reflect climate change:

• 2007/09/04: ABC(Au): Map-making highlights impact of climate change
• 2007/09/03: ABC(Au): [Times] Atlas makes amendments to reflect climate change
• 2007/09/03: NewScientist: Times Atlas to reflect 'environmental disasters'
• 2007/09/03: Yahoo: New Times Atlas displays effects of climate change
• 2007/09/03: DailyMail: Dramatic pictures that show how global warming is changing world maps
  In the four years since the last edition of the Times Comprehensive Atlas Of The World went on sale, cartographers have been forced to redraw coastlines and reclassify types of land. The main culprits are climate change and ill-conceived irrigation projects, the atlas's editors said. They highlight the Aral Sea in central Asia, reduced by three-quarters in the past 40 years, and Lake Chad, which has shrunk by 95 per cent since 1963. The Dead Sea is some 25 metres lower than it was 50 years ago.

James Hansen has released the GISTEMP source code:

• 2007/09/08: BCLSB: A Significant Event...Hansen source code
• 2007/09/07: CSpin: Hansen releases GISTEMP source code

  Tamino has posted a useful collection of graphs:

• 2007/09/05: Tamino: Graphic Evidence

  Further on Open Access:

• 2007/09/09: SlashDot: Libraries Defend Open Access

  The hurricane wars are tooling along with Felix, Fitow, Henriette, & Gabrielle:

• 2007/09/08: CNN: Tropical Storm Gabrielle closes in on North Carolina coast
• 2007/09/09: Wunderground: [Tropical Storm] Gabrielle coming ashore in North Carolina
• 2007/09/08: Wunderground: Gabrielle headed for the Outer Banks of North Carolina
• 2007/09/08: GallopingBeaver: G is for Gabrielle. Computer models tracks and satellite images
• 2007/09/08: Wunderground: [Subtropical Storm] Gabrielle forms
• 2007/09/07: PhysOrg: Two dead as typhoon [Fitow] crashes into Japan
• 2007/09/07: TerraDaily: One dead, more than 40 injured as typhoon [Fitow] lashes Japan
• 2007/09/07: Wunderground: Tropical Depression Seven may form today; polar ice cap gone by 2030?
• 2007/09/04: PressTelegram: Pacific, Atlantic storms set a new record
• 2007/09/06: ZMag: Hurricane Felix's First Responders
• 2007/09/07: SwissInfo: Hurricane Felix death toll hits 130
• 2007/09/07: CBC: Typhoon [Fitow]-swollen river strands people in Japan - Falling tree kills man; thousands of homes without power
• 2007/09/06: BBC: More bodies found in Felix wake
  At least 65 people are now known to have been killed by Hurricane Felix in Nicaragua and Honduras, officials say
• 2007/09/06: Guardian(UK): Felix death toll climbs to 38
• 2007/09/06: CNN: Hurricane Felix death toll: 48 and predicted to rise
  Casualty reports, including 48 deaths, coming very slowly out of remote areas - Survivors plucked from ocean tell harrowing tales of clinging to objects - Officials awaiting reports from 70 percent of towns along Nicaraguan coast - About 11,000 coastal residents failed to evacuate, official says
• 2007/09/05: TerraDaily: Strong typhoon [Fitow] on course to hit Tokyo
• 2007/09/06: Wunderground: Felix's aftermath; 99L less organized
• 2007/09/06: ENN: Felix kills 38 in Nicaragua; survivors wash ashore
• 2007/09/06: BBC: Hurricane aid reaches Nicaragua
  International aid has started arriving in Nicaragua, where at least 40 people are now known to have been killed by Hurricane Felix. Dozens more people are missing and rescuers are searching the wreckage of villages and homes for more victims. Tens of thousands of people have been left homeless by the category five hurricane
• 2007/09/06: Mainichi: Powerful typhoon [Fitow] expected to pound Tokyo
• 2007/09/06: BBC: The death toll from Hurricane Felix has risen to at least 38 people, with more than 200 missing, authorities in Nicaragua have said
• 2007/09/06: Guardian(UK): Central America prepares for more devastation - Hurricane raises fears of flooding and landslides
• 2007/09/04: TerraDaily: Deadly Hurricane Henriette blasts Mexican coast
• 2007/09/04: TerraDaily: Hurricane Felix batters Nicaragua, Honduras
• 2007/09/05: Wunderground: 99L a threat to Carolinas; Felix dies; Henriette does a double landfall
• 2007/09/06: PlanetArk: Twenty-One Dead, 200 Missing in Nicaragua Hurricane [Felix]
• 2007/09/06: PlanetArk: Hurricane Felix Kills Four in Central America
• 2007/09/06: PlanetArk: Typhoon Fitow Heads for Japan, Forecast to Weaken
• 2007/09/05: ENN: Hurricane Henriette Approaches Mainland Mexico
• 2007/09/05: ENN: Typhoon Fitow heads for Japan, may hit Tokyo
• 2007/09/06: Xinhuanet: Hurricane Felix's death told rises to 12 in Nicaragua
• 2007/09/05: BBC: Central America braces for floods
  Heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Felix has been falling in Honduras and Nicaragua, threatening to trigger flooding and mudslides
• 2007/09/05: AFP: Drenched by Felix, Honduras fears floods, mudslides
• 2007/09/04: AP: Twin Storms [Felix & Henriette] Pack Dangerous Winds
• 2007/09/05: Guardian(UK): Four dead as Hurricane Felix hits land at 160mph
• 2007/09/04: NatureCF: Hurricane Felix
• 2007/09/04: Atmoz: Hurricanes ad Nauseum
• 2007/09/04: Stoat: Hurricanes, again
• 2007/09/04: CCM: Hurricane Felix's Many Records
• 2007/09/04: CCM: A Category 5 Landfall For Hurricane Felix
• 2007/09/03: CCM: Hurricane Felix Weakening; Links and Miscellany
• 2007/09/04: Wunderground: Category 5 Felix slams Nicaragua and Honduras
• 2007/09/04: ENN: Felix Hits Central America, 2 Dead, City [Puerto Cabezas] Flattened
• 2007/09/04: AFP: Hurricane Felix batters Nicaragua, Honduras
• 2007/09/03: CCM: Another Record as a Result of Hurricane Felix
• 2007/09/03: CCM: A Scary Intensification Record for Hurricane Felix
• 2007/09/03: BCLSB: Hurricane Felix a Glimpse Of The Future?
• 2007/09/03: Wunderground: Felix roughs up the Hurricane Hunters, takes aim at Central America
  Felix now holds the record for shortest time for an Atlantic storm to intensify to Category 5 strength. Felix required just 51 hours to reach Category 5 strength after it started as a tropical depression. That is a truly remarkable intensification rate, considering most tropical cyclones take 3-5 days to organize into a Category 1 hurricane
• 2007/09/03: ENN: Thousands Flee Hurricane Felix
• 2007/09/03: Turkish Press: Maximum strength Hurricane Felix aims for Central America
• 2007/09/03: Turkish Press: Felix is second monster of the season, say storm scientists
• 2007/09/03: BBC: Central America is preparing for a battering by Hurricane Felix, which has grown to a category five storm as it churns through the Caribbean
• 2007/09/03: CBC: Hurricane Felix takes aim at Honduras, Nicaragua
• 2007/09/03: AFP: Maximum strength Hurricane Felix aims for Central America
• 2007/09/03: Globe&Mail: Felix a fierce Category 5
• 2007/09/02: ERabett: Listen to the bunny [Felix record]
• 2007/09/03: HuffPo: Here We Go Again: Global Warming and Hurricane Felix
• 2007/09/03: SunSentinel: Felix Becomes Category 5 Hurricane
• 2007/09/02: Wunderground: Extremely dangerous Felix heads for Honduras; two other disturbances may develop

  While behind the lines:

• 2007/09/06: SciDaily: Hurricane Forecast: Heightened Activity For Rest Of Season
• 2007/09/06: Eureka: New faraway sensors warn of emerging hurricane's strength [by monitoring lightning]
• 2007/09/06: PhysOrg: New Faraway Sensors Warn of Emerging Hurricane's Strength
• 2007/09/05: CCM: The 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season: Get Ready for 2 or Even 3 More Months
• 2007/09/04: ClimateP: Hurricanes ARE getting Stronger ? Thanks to Global Warming!
• 2007/09/03: ERabett: Where we are...the number and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes...
• 2007/09/03: Maribo: The odd couple: hurricanes and coral bleaching
• 2007/09/03: Stoat: I can't get over these numbers?

  Late commentary on Katrina:

• 2007/09/06: ZMag: New Orleans two years after
  "They wanted them poor niggers out of there and they ain't had no intention to allow it to be reopened to no poor niggers, you know? And that's just the bottom line." It wasn't a pretty statement. But I wasn't looking for pretty. I'd taken my investigative team to New Orleans to meet with Malik Rahim. Pretty isn't Malik's concern.

In Europe and the USA carbon emissions from cars has dropped:

• 2007/09/04: ClimateP: Give Bush some (perverse) credit for emissions drop
• 2007/09/03: ENN: Carbon From [US] Cars Drops
• 2007/09/06: PlanetArk: EU Car CO2 Emissions Down 0.2 Pct in '06 - Group

  A note on the temperature record:

• 2007/09/02: BCLSB: Say What? [the Medieval Warm Period was not quite as warm]

  The ozone layer is still under threat:

• 2007/09/05: Atmoz: Ozone Hole Update

  While on the ENSO front:

• 2007/09/07: PlanetArk: La Nina to Develop, May Strengthen in 3 Months
• 2007/08/09: NOAA: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion
  Synopsis: La Niña conditions will further develop during the next 3 months
• 2007/09/06: PhysOrg: La Nina Strengthens Hurricane Forecasts
• 2007/09/06: ENN: La Nina May Strengthen In Coming Months

  The campaign to uncover DSCOVR [Deep Space Climate Observatory] rolls on:

• 2007/09/06: ClimateP: Bush buries NASA climate station [DSCOVR]
• 2007/09/06: DeSmogBlog: How Politics Conspired to Kill DSCOVR

  NASA is instituting security checks for scientists, a move suspected to be another attempt to reign in those pesky truthsayers:

• 2007/08/30: Nation: NASA Scientists Challenge Security Rules

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2007/09/08: TreeHugger: Global Warming Could Double Heat Fatalities within 50 Years
• 2007/09/07: inel: GAO report confirms habitat changes due to climate
• 2007/09/07: C411: Climate News: Creeping Shrubs and Record Heat
• 2007/09/07: TreeHugger: Not Tonight, Dear, I'm Down with Climate Change
• 2007/09/06: ClimateP: Is global warming good for Hollywood?
• 2007/09/06: Denialism: Will Global Warming Increase Heart Disease?
• 2007/09/06: Yahoo: Global warming may pose threat to heart
• 2007/09/06: MSNBC: Orangutans squeezed by biofuel boom [Indonesia]
• 2007/09/05: Stoat: Oh no, not again: Climate Change Harms Endangered Species...?
• 2007/09/05: CCM: Climate Change Harms Endangered Species...[sea turtles]
• 2007/09/06: PlanetArk: Global Warming to Hit Africa Hardest - UK Scientists
• 2007/09/05: Eureka: Climatic variations influence the emergence of cholera in Africa
• 2007/09/05: IHT: Global warming could mean more heart problems, doctors warn
• 2007/09/04: TreeHugger: Is Global Warming Changing Fashion Trends?
• 2007/09/03: ClimateP: Global Warming Causing Wardrobe Makeovers
• 2007/09/01: TStar: Climate change [Lyme disease] ticks ever closer

  And then there are the tropical rainforests:

• 2007/09/08: McClatchyDC: As Brazil's rain forest burns down, planet heats up - Slash and burn agriculture is denuding the Amazon
• 2007/09/07: ABC(Au): Indonesia says more money needed to stop deforestation
• 2007/09/01: TerraDaily: Indonesia proposes rainforest nations climate group
  The eight countries are Brazil, Cameroon, Congo, Costa Rica, Gabon, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea...

Desertification looms as a threat:

• 2007/09/05: TerraDaily: UN conference highlights Spain's threat from desertification

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2007/09/02: Guardian(UK): Official: it was a crazy summer - After this year's rains, extreme climate forces will grip the nation, says chief meteorologist
  Geraint Vaughan is a man for all seasons - and as president of the Royal Meteorological Society, he is emphatic about Britain's weather this year. 'It has been utterly extraordinary,' he says. More to the point, Vaughan, a 52-year-old physicist who carries out research in atmospheric science at Manchester University, believes the bands of cloud and rain that have swept the country, producing what is likely to be the wettest summer on record, following a record hot one last year, are only a taste of the troubles that lie ahead

We have heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2007/09/06: Xinhuanet: Heat wave blamed for 16 deaths in California
• 2007/09/05: HuffPo: Why Not Let Them Burn? [wildfires]
• 2007/09/05: HuffPo: Death Toll Rises From Calif. Heat Wave
• 2007/09/04: PhysOrg: Thousands without power as California sizzles
• 2007/09/04: TreeHugger: Southern California Edison Sets Peak Energy Use Record
• 2007/09/04: ENN: Killer heat wave bakes southern California
• 2007/09/02: CDreams: Independent(UK): More "Megafires" To Come, Say Scientists

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2007/09/07: JFleck: "permanent drought"
• 2007/09/07: PlanetArk: Floods Kill Four Romanians, Hundreds Evacuated
• 2007/09/07: NBC: Long Term Drought Effects - The deadly drought is keeping its strong hold on Alabama...
• 2007/09/06: ClimateP: Australia faces the "permanent dry" -- as do we
• 2007/09/06: ABC(Au): Farmers under pressure from 'Green Drought'
  While farms across Australia have started showing a green tinge again thanks to recent rainfall, experts say crops are still on a knife's edge. The green tinge in Australia's paddocks is one of nature's ironies, and they're calling it the "Green Drought". It is colour only, not enough to sustain animals or crops, and farmers still have not seen the drought-breaking rains that they sorely need
• 2007/09/05: CFrog: Drought and its list of woes
• 2007/09/06: PlanetArk: Australia's Dry Threatens Wine Drought
• 2007/09/03: JFleck: Dry Down the River
• 2007/09/03: JFleck: Water in the San Luis Valley

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2007/09/05: Guardian(UK): Days of cheap food are over, say suppliers as ingredient costs soar
  Superstore groups prepare to stomach higher prices because of far east demand and biofuel incentives
• 2007/09/04: SMH: Fuel for thought - the global impact of biofuels on agriculture and food prices
• 2007/09/01: DJ: Bush's ethanol dreams make corn a hot commodity

  And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

• 2007/09/06: TruthOut: Hot Winds Severely Damage Australian Wheat
• 2007/09/06: FTimes: UN warns of food price unrest
• 2007/09/05: FTimes: Soaring wheat price hits Tate & Lyle
  Wheat futures hit a record high on Wednesday amid concerns that harvests in Australia and Argentina could by affected by recent dry weather.
• 2007/09/02: FTimes: Moscow considers wheat export ban
• 2007/09/06: PlanetArk: Hot Winds Severely Damage Australian Wheat
• 2007/09/05: Telegraph(UK): Global growing problem of wheat production
  The record price of bread's main constituent hints at a wider potential crisis with huge repercussions...
• 2007/09/03: ABC(Au): Spreading deserts threaten global food supply: UN
• 2007/09/02: al Jazeera: Yemeni Price Protests Turn Violent
• 2007/09/01: TheAge: Food prices set to surge 50 per cent within five years

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2007/09/06: Guardian(UK): Should we stop flying in organic food?
• 2007/09/05: Eureka: Refugia of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest could be the basis for its regeneration

  While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

• 2007/09/07: HillHeat: Architecture 2030

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2007/09/05: TEB: CCS Technology Should be a Priority
• 2007/09/03: GristMill: CS BS - Coal insider reveals the truth about Carbon Sequestration
• 2007/09/04: MTobis: Carbon Sequestration
• 2007/09/04: DeSmogBlog: Deniers propping up carbon sequestration as political lip service

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2007/09/07: CP: Direct north-south synchronization of abrupt climate change record in ice cores using Beryllium 10 by G. M. Raisbeck et al.
• 2007/09/06: ACP: Is snow sublimation important in the alpine water balance? by U. Strasser et al.
• 2007/08/: UKCIP: (pdf - 58k) Climate Digest
• 2007/07/20: GRL: (ab$) Local and remote contributions to Arctic warming by Drew Shindell
• 2007/09/04: PNAS: Development at the wildland-urban interface and the mitigation of forest-fire risk by Vassilis Spyratos et al.

  Before we get into politics, there was some science done:

• 2007/09/07: Atmoz: MODIS-derived aerosol optical depth
• 2007/08/31: Reuters: Climate change and N. America farms to be studied
  Iowa State University researchers will join a study of climate change to produce mid-century projections by late next year of the likely regional effects on North American farms from global warming.

An interview with John Houghton:

• 2007/09/08: inel: Creation care interview with Sir John Houghton in Physics Today

  Further on Steven Schwartz:

• 2007/09/08: JEB: Pile on! It seems like everyone is having a go at Steven Schwartz these days...
• 2007/09/07: inel: Nature correspondence on uncertain climate model assessments [Schwartz]
• 2007/09/07: Stoat: More fun with Schwartz
• 2007/09/07: RealClimate: Friday roundup [links to Schwartz articles]

  Has anybody got a silver stake?

• 2007/09/04: ERabett: A farewell gift

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

• 2007/09/03: PhysOrg: Climate change: Kyoto Poker to start in earnest
  Efforts to accelerate action against the world's looming climate crisis begin in earnest this month, unfolding against a background of deepening scientific concern but entrenched political obstacles. Two meetings [UN meeting on September 24 at NYC & Washington meeting on September 27 and 28] may decide whether a key conference, taking place in Bali, Indonesia this December, will at last smash the logjam over how to step up cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions or be a landmark in fiascos

The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2007/09/04: EnvEcon: Who gets the revenues from carbon taxes?

  The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

• 2007/09/08: EcoEcon: Auctioning Off Carbon Permits: Better than Carbon Tax?
• 2007/09/07: Guardian(UK): Q&A: Carbon offsetting - Leading offset company Climate Care debunks some myths about the industry
• 2007/09/06: ClimateP: Update on PG&E's ClimateSmart Offset Program
• 2007/09/07: FPB: Does a "carbon bank" still give out free toasters?
• 2007/09/05: Guardian(UK): Most Britons ignorant about carbon offsetting
• 2007/09/05: Maribo: To offset or not to offset

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2007/09/09: ABC(Au): Australia, Indonesia sign forestry deal
• 2007/09/08: Yahoo: Castro criticizes Bush on climate
  An essay signed by Fidel Castro criticized President Bush on Friday for asking Asia-Pacific leaders to cooperate in a new framework on climate change that could compete with other international efforts
• 2007/09/07: PlanetArk: Climate Talks Will Test US Resolve - Germany
  A climate meeting in Washington later this month will show whether the United States is really serious about curbing greenhouse gas emissions after years of playing down the problem, Germany's environment minister [Sigmar Gabriel] said
• 2007/09/07: PlanetArk: China's Hu Wants UN Framework on Climate Change
• 2007/09/05: ENN: Brazil cool on Bush's global warming meeting
  Brazil on Tuesday played down the importance of a meeting on climate change called by U.S. President George W. Bush, and said the issue should be tackled at the United Nations
• 2007/09/04: TStar: Climate change finally on agenda [APEC, UN, Washington, Bali]
• 2007/09/02: NEN: US will fiddle while world burns

  The UN had a meeting in NYC with a bunch of NGOs:

• 2007/09/05-07: UN: 60th Annual DPI/NGO Conference - Climate Change
• 2007/09/08: CDreams: IPS: NGOs Unite on Earth's Greatest Crisis [UN meeting]
• 2007/09/06: Xinhuanet: UN hosts annual NGO meeting on climate change

  And on the American political front:

• 2007/09/02: CSW: Former Director of Climate Program Office: "Administration should be held to a higher standard"
• 2007/09/08: CDreams: Wild Weather Creates Chances for Political Progress
• 2007/09/07: ClimateP: Fred Thompson, Global Warming Denyer and Sun Worshiper
• 2007/09/07: CSM: New tool to fight global warming: Endangered Species Act? A recent deal to protect the habitat of endangered coral may offer US environmentalists new leverage
• 2007/09/07: HillHeat: Coverage of Coal Hearing
• 2007/09/07: WarmingLaw: Another BIG State for Emissions Regulation [Illinois]
• 2007/09/07: WarmingLaw: California Air Board Pumps Up Standards
• 2007/09/07: SF Gate: The challenge of a generation
  This will not be easy. This is a global effort and California will not succeed unless we can help others achieve the kind of valued comfort we enjoy without the waste and pollution. We all drive cars, we all use electricity. Changing our behavior and adopting new technology - and that's effectively what it will take - is a process, and it won't happen with the wave of a wand. And we can't get there by preaching to others
• 2007/09/06: EnvEcon: What motivates John Dingell?
• 2007/09/04: ClimateP: Energy Bill -- The House vs. Senate smackdown [3 hurdles before a new Energy Bill]
• 2007/09/05: WarmingLaw: Jerry Brown's Points of Law
• 2007/09/05: NEN: Ohio goes for 25 by '25
• 2007/09/04: GristMill: Mission Accomplished II -- Bush lies misleads on global warming, again
• 2007/09/03: WaPo: The Facts on Emissions, or a Lot of Hot Air?
  President Bush made an arresting claim about global warming when he appeared at a fundraiser last Monday, but it may not have been correct. "Do you realize that the United States is the only major industrialized nation that cut greenhouse gases last year?" Bush said in Bellevue, Wash.
• 2007/09/03: ThinkP: Bush: a "lot of hot air" on global warming

  A GAO report has taken the Bush Interior Department to task:

• 2007/09/07: TruthOut: Global Warming Threatens Nation's Public Lands
• 2007/09/07: STimes: GAO criticizes Interior Department for brushing off global warming
• 2007/09/06: WaPo: GAO Chides Government on Warming
  The federal government needs to do a better job addressing how climate change is transforming the hundreds of millions of acres under its watch, according to a Government Accountability Office report to be released today. The 184-page report, which Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) requested in 2004, highlights the extent to which global warming is already affecting the nation's parks, forests, marine sanctuaries and monuments

Senator Stevens is distinguishing himself:

• 2007/09/06: GristMill: Ted Stevens, climatologist - Alaskan senator invents new theory of global warming
• 2007/09/05: TPM: [Senator] Ted Stevens (R-Alaska): Worst of Global Warming Over

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2007/09/07: Guardian(UK): New Gore book to set out inconvenient solutions
• 2007/09/06: Google:AP: Al Gore Readying New Environmental Book

  While in the UK:

• 2007/09/03: Guardian(UK): Political climate is changing faster than our prime minister - LibDems' green proposals show up the paucity of the Labour and Tory visions
• 2007/09/02: Guardian(UK): Scotland prepares to fight climate change - New scheme aims to prepare people for effects of global warming

  A tussle over EU ETS aviation mitigation has erupted:

• 2007/09/06: ENN: Friends of the Earth Criticises EU on aviation
• 2007/09/05: OilChange: EU Aviation Plans "Deluded"
• 2007/09/04: BBC: EU climate flight plans 'deluded'
  European Union proposals to reduce the climate impact of flying will not work, a report concludes. The EU plans to include aviation in its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). But analysts at the Tyndall Centre, a prestigious UK climate research body, say this will have minimal effect without a major rise in carbon prices. Friends of the Earth (FoE) which funded the study wants mandatory efficiency goals for aircraft, tax on aviation fuel and curbs on airport expansion.

And a think tank is complaining about green taxes:

• 2007/09/05: TCE: Think Tank Calls for an End to Green Taxes
• 2007/09/04: DeSmogBlog: Squabble erupts over excessive "green taxes" in UK

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2007/09/09: ABC(Au): [Nationals leader, Mark] Vaile promises more aid amid permanent drought fears
• 2007/09/09: GWWatch: Australia most global warming aware. No, really!
• 2007/09/06: EnvFin: Australian business says emissions trading not enough [also needs a low-emission technology strategy]
• 2007/09/06: ABC(Au): Mining union [CFMEU] launches national climate campaign
• 2007/09/03: ABC(Au): NSW Govt tops up climate fund
  The New South Wales Government is about to top up its climate change fund with another $30 million to help businesses boost their water- and energy-saving activities

While in China:

• 2007/09/02: TruthOut: The Great Leap Backward? China's environmental woes are mounting...
• 2007/09/04: ENN: China Plans $265 Billion Renewables Spending
• 2007/09/04: Yahoo: China asks leeway on greenhouse gases
• 2007/09/03: DailyStar: Some ideas to alleviate China's environmental nightmare

  In Canada, neocon PM Harper's behaviour at APEC is coming under scrutiny:

• 2007/09/08: Impolitical: Harper shirking a real leadership role on the environment
• 2007/09/08: Globe&Mail: The Sydney nudge: How green is my Harper
  It takes some getting used to hearing Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the world stage claiming that Canada must be a "world leader" in combatting climate change. We remember, after all, his skepticism about climate change as opposition leader. We recall his questioning of the science of global warming, his criticism of the Liberals' ineffectual measures as being too ambitious, his warnings about the disastrous effects on the Canadian economy
• 2007/09/07: Far-n-Wide: Predictable - Harper's keynote address at the APEC Summit...
• 2007/09/07: CBC: Harper pans Liberal green record at APEC summit
• 2007/09/07: Globe&Mail: Harper plays down hopes for APEC climate deal - PM uses speech to blast Liberal record on emissions

  The GNEP issue is picking up:

• 2007/09/07: MarginalNotes: Best Friends Forever: Nuclear Industry and Climate Change [GNEP]
• 2007/09/07: AccidentalDeliberations: Radioactive policy [Harper & GNEP]
• 2007/09/07: Globe&Mail: Nuclear waste imports could turn Canada into a dump: Dion
  Canada would become a "nuclear waste garbage dump" if the federal government agrees to import spent nuclear fuel from other countries under [GNEP] a proposed international partnership, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said yesterday
• 2007/09/05: Globe&Mail: Canada to reprocess other nations' nuclear waste
  Canada will eventually get into the business of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn said yesterday as the government considers an invitation to join a major international effort to promote nuclear technology worldwide. As he headed to a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum in Australia yesterday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was expected to face questions on whether Canada will join the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, a group of major nuclear powers dedicated to spreading nuclear technology into developing countries. U.S. President George W. Bush - who is leading the GNEP process - has suggested that, as a price of entry, major uranium- producing countries should agree to accept and dispose of nuclear waste from countries to which they sell the uranium for reactor fuel
• 2007/09/04: TStar: Used nuclear energy could be on its way here [GNEP]
• 2007/09/03: CTV: Canada's role in [GNEP] nuclear partnership unclear

  BC is defining their GHG reduction plan with respect the WCI:

• 2007/09/07: CanWest: Campbell plunges B.C. into an ambitious plan to reduce emissions
  The [WCI] regional goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 per cent by 2020, with 2005 as a starting point. The Campbell government intends to overreach that by a considerable margin. Taking the current year as a starting point, B.C. would have to reduce emissions by one-third as of 2020

And the rest is politics as usual:

• 2007/09/08: TStar: Parties find definition in Kyoto [Can pol]
• 2007/09/05: DeSmogBlog: Canadian government's evolving climate change policy all hot air
• 2007/09/05: CanWest: Two-thirds of Canadians now concerned about climate change, poll says

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

• 2007/09/05: EESD: Biomimicry, Maximizing Wealth and Minimizing Materials Flow
  ...an ecologically redesigned economy will work less like an aggressive, early-colonizer sort of ecosystem and more like a mature one...[Natural Capitalism]
• 2007/09/07: EnvEcon: The buzz about defining externalities

  As for how the media handles climate change:

• 2007/09/08: DeSmogBlog: Covering (up) Climate Change [SEJ]
• 2007/09/07: CSpin: Editor and Publisher columnist: "Climate Change: Get Over Objectivity"
• 2007/09/07: DeSmogBlog: Why Scientists Fear Journalists
• 2007/09/06: CCM: Washington Post Article Underscores Need for Framing Science
• 2007/09/03: Stoat: Campainging (sic) on climate change

  I just love contradictory headlines....but then I'm easily amused:

• 2007/09/06: DerSpiegel: China Rebukes Australia - No Climate Change Targets for APEC
  As Australia hosts this year's APEC meeting, it is trying to get concrete climate change agreements out of the annual primarily trade-focused summit. But, with a tight smile, China is politely telling them that the issue already has a forum - and it's not Down Under
• 2007/09/06: ABC(Au): China backs Aust's moves for APEC climate statement

  The row over Planet Relief at the Beeb is doing just fine:

• 2007/09/07: NatureCF: Row over climate change TV
• 2007/09/06: TruthOut: Global Warming: Too Hot to Handle for the BBC
• 2007/09/07: ENN: BBC: It's Not Our Job To Save The Planet
• 2007/09/06: Yahoo: Protests as BBC scraps planned green day
• 2007/09/06: Independent(UK): Global warming: Too hot to handle for the BBC
• 2007/09/05: ThinkP: BBC caves to executives, scraps climate change series
• 2007/09/05: Guardian(UK): Getting the balance wrong
  The BBC's decision not to air Planet Relief on the grounds of impartiality is a joke. Climate change is an issue that affects every one of us
• 2007/09/05: KSJT: BBC: The Beeb backs off on a climate special and its enviro writer pulls no punches
• 2007/09/05: BBC: BBC switches off climate special - Planet Relief following internal debates on impartiality

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2007/09/05: HuffPo: In the 11th Hour, Let's ask the Deeper Questions Too

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2007/09/05: WarmingLaw: CRS Strengthens California Waiver Request
• 2007/09/04: CNN: 3 court cases for climate change
  Even without a nationwide greenhouse gas law, environmental groups are going after polluters for causing global warming

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

• 2007/09/09: NewScientist: Nuclear fusion project [HiPER: High Power Laser Energy Research] gets the green light
• 2007/09/09: MLive: Anti-hydrogen worry doesn't hold water
  For every alternative fuel proposed, there are people looking for problems
• 2007/09/09: Australian: No fear of uranium glut, says Paladin
  Paladin Resources says it does not expect an over supply of uranium to come on to the market, after the United States President George W Bush expressed his pro-nuclear stance this week
• 2007/09/08: MTobis: Whom Should We Trust - The Flip Side [ethanol]
• 2007/09/08: TreeHugger: Windspire: 1 kW Wind Turbine for Your Backyard
• 2007/09/07: KSJT: Der Spiegel: All those gas flares are hardly trivial entries in the global warming ledger
• 2007/09/07: ClimateP: Geothermal: An Underrated Climate Solution
• 2007/09/07: TEB: [Iceland bank] Glitnir Places Big Bet on Geothermal
• 2007/09/05: C411: Vehicle Fuels and Technology - Part 3. Fossil Fuels and Biofuels
• 2007/09/06: TreeHugger: Mexico Tries to Float Big Dams to Meet Renewables Goal
• 2007/09/06: OilDrum: EROEI Short #4: Bootstrap-EROEI
• 2007/09/05: ArsTechnica: Supercapacitor "battery" could lead to instant charging, long charge life
• 2007/09/05: CNN: John Deere's renewable energy harvest
  Realizing farmers can make money on more than just crops, the maker of green tractors puts its cash behind wind turbines
• 2007/09/03: TEB: EEStor Update #8 [ultracapacitors]
• 2007/09/04: TheAge: Dams 'contributing to global warming'
• 2007/09/03: Yahoo: Europe photovoltaic capacity seen tripled by 2010 [to 3 gigawatts]
• 2007/09/03: ABC(Au): Companies look to hot rock [geothermal] electricity generation
• 2007/09/03: TreeHugger: Are Switchgrass' Days Numbered?
• 2007/09/03: PlanetArk: Dutch Build Towering Wind Turbines Out at Sea
• 2007/09/03: NEN: China buying in big on new energy
• 2007/09/02: NEN: British will build wind despite naysayers
• 2007/08/31: IPSNews: Billions Up in Flames as Oil Firms Burn Gas
  Energy producers waste about 40 billion dollars every year by burning off gas released at oil fields, says a new study commissioned by the World Bank

The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2007/09/09: TreeHugger: Clean Coal: If It Can't Make It There [Sask.], It Can't Make It Anywhere
• 2007/09/08: ClimateP: Coal-to-Liquid Is a Dead End
• 2007/09/07: ABC(Au): Coal mine's approval draws climate criticism
• 2007/09/07: PhysOrg: Australia and China partner for a low-emission [coal] energy future
• 2007/09/07: TreeHugger: Little Steps are Great, But Coal Stomps All Over Them
• 2007/09/07: CanWest: Global demand lights fire under coal - As High As Us$135 A Tonne; 'It's Principally Demand Out Of China Pushing Prices Up'
• 2007/09/04: WaPo: Coal Rush Reverses, Power Firms Follow - Plans for New Plants Stalled by Growing Opposition
• 2007/09/05: ClimateP: Liquid Coal Hearing Report
• 2007/09/05: ClimateP: China reins in liquid coal
• 2007/09/05: OilDrum: Concerning coal, some numbers and a thought
• 2007/09/05: Guardian(UK): Kings of the coal habit - The fate of our warming planet hinges on six nations, and five of them meet in Sydney this week
• 2007/09/04: ENN: WWF Says Asia-Pacific Coal Rush Worsens Global Warming
• 2007/09/03: NEN: The Downside of Coal

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2007/09/08: DesiCritics: Biofuels and the Law of Unintended Consequences
• 2007/09/08: IPSNews: Ethanol Divides Agribusiness
  The expansion of sugarcane farming to produce more ethanol in Brazil has run into unexpected resistance in Rio Verde, a prosperous town in the central state of Goiás, and it is coming from agribusiness leaders.
• 2007/09/08: IR^2: Biodiesel Misconceptions
• 2007/09/07: IR^2: Where Your Tax Dollars Are Likely Headed [a shakeout in the ethanol industry?]
• 2007/09/06: REA: The Sustainability of a Bioeconomy [ethanol]
• 2007/09/04: ABC(Au): Aust to double biofuel production, says report

  The nuclear energy controversy is still glowing:

• 2007/09/06: Economist: Nuclear dawn
  Attitudes to nuclear power are shifting in response to climate change and fears over the security of the supply of fossil fuels. The technology of nuclear power has been changing, too
• 2007/09/06: Reuters: Nuclear industry hails climate-driven "renaissance"
• 2007/09/07: CDreams: The Genius Doctor Who Diagnosed Nuke Power's Deadly Disease
• 2007/09/06: SouthernStudies: NRC [US Nuclear Regulatory Commission] public disclosure policy change
• 2007/09/06: GristMill: Costs soar for new nuclear power plants - Strict safety guidelines cause construction delays at nuclear plants in Finland and Taiwan
• 2007/09/06: Economist: Atomic renaissance
  America's nuclear industry is about to embark on its biggest expansion in more than a generation. This will influence energy policy in the rest of the world
• 2007/09/06: NZHerald: NZ isolated over nuclear energy
  New Zealand is resisting a push by Australia and the United States for nuclear power as the answer to global warming. Ministerial meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) have been dominated by climate change policy, but New Zealand has found itself on a different side of the table from the US and Australia. New Zealand wants countries to set specific targets to reduce greenhouse gases, while Australian Prime Minister John Howard is trying to get all 21 APEC members to commit to more general goals as leaders get ready to debate the issue over the weekend.
• 2007/09/05: ClimateP: Costs soar for new nuclear power plants

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2007/09/09: Hindu: Oil crisis looms large: expert

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

• 2007/09/09: TreeHugger: Flybo [electric car] Arrives on U.S. Shores
• 2007/09/07: DeSmogBlog: And Now: the First DeSmogBlog Car Commercial [Tesla]
• 2007/09/06: Yahoo: Fuel-economy rules could kill US auto industry: union chief
  Tough new fuel-economy standards now pending in Congress could lead to the dismantling of what remains of the US domestic car industry, the president of the United Auto Workers union warned Thursday. "We're being told that we must choose between protecting our environment versus protecting our jobs," said UAW president Ron Gettelfinger as he thrust himself into the center of a contentious debate over fuel economy
• 2007/09/02: MaineToday: Get plug-in cars on the road - The underused electrical capacity in the Northeast could be harnessed to power clean transportation
• 2007/09/04: GristMill: Letter from Tom Gage - Consumer Reports hypes hydrogen cars
• 2007/09/04: TreeHugger: Excess Nightime Energy Could Fuel Over 158 Million Plug-in Hybrids
• 2007/09/03: ClimateP: Consumer Reports Hypes Hydrogen Cars

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2007/09/06: EnvFin: Clean-tech investment outstrips opportunities - NEF
• 2007/09/06: EnvFin: [French bank] Société Générale adopts Equator Principles [loan guidelines for environmental and social standards]
• 2007/09/06: MTobis: What Corporate Executives Believe
• 2007/09/06: SMH: Corporate bosses seek lead on carbon
  Business leaders have called for urgent action on climate change but stopped short of demanding governments move more rapidly to set greenhouse gas reduction targets to allow a price for carbon to be quickly determined. Climate change emerged as the key issue at the three-day APEC Business Advisory Council meeting bringing together 63 corporate chiefs from around the region. "There is a real sense of urgency in the business community about climate change and we need the policy makers to set clear rules," said the council's chairman, Mark Johnston

Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2007/09/04: StateLine: Home insurance woes mount in coastal states
  Private insurers are raising rates or pulling out completely in areas where costly seaside development continues and where, according to forecasters, powerful storms are likely to hit again and cause huge property losses.
• 2007/09/05: BBC: Warning over Hurricane Dean costs
  The cost to insurers of damage claims from Hurricane Dean will rise into the billions, a leading reinsurer has said. Munich Re said damage to property and possessions from Dean, a category five hurricane which killed 20 people, would total between $1bn and $2bn. Dean battered much of the Caribbean, leaving a trail of destruction in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Mexico. Munich Re warned in 2005 of a "systematic change" in the degree of hurricane risk and its financial costs

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2007/09/07: Tamino: Fish in a Barrel
• 2007/09/07: Denialism: WSJ: Oppose CAFE! Ignore Reality! Why, Because I Know Econ 101!
• 2007/09/07: GWWatch: Berks in our backyard [denial]
• 2007/09/01: SadlyNo: Ace Of Spades HQ: Science Debunked By Press Release
• 2007/09/04: Reasic: Earth's Internal Heat Causing Climate Change
• 2007/09/04: DeSmogBlog: The Global Warming Hoax Unmasked! [Caruba]
• 2007/09/04: DeSmogBlog: Coal-fired Minnkota CEO finds solace in the "Heartland"

  Lomborg is back:

• 2007/09/02: FuturePundit: Bjorn Lomborg Expects Global Warming To Increase Life Expectancies
• 2007/09/05: CCM: Bjorn Lomborg, Global Warming, and the Right to Bare Arms
• 2007/09/05: CCM: Crank Versus Polar Bear
• 2007/09/05: DeSmogBlog:CCM: On Hurricanes and Global Warming, Don't "Cool It" Too Much

  A WaPo article on the persistance of delusions echoed in the blogosphere:

• 2007/09/06: Denialism: Mythbusting - it's harder than you think
• 2007/09/05: MTobis: How Propaganda Works and How It Fails
• 2007/09/04: WaPo: Persistence of Myths Could Alter Public Policy Approach

  Surface stations are still providing comic fodder:

• 2007/09/08: BCLSB: The Great NCDC Cover Up
• 2007/09/04: ERabett: Our cool station of the day
• 2007/09/04: ERabett: Cool station of today...Alma MI

  As might have been expected, the Schulte/Oreskes dustup is getting nasty:

• 2007/09/09: Deltoid: Schulte replies to Oreskes
• 2007/09/07: FergusB: The truth will out? [Oreskes/Schulte]
• 2007/09/07: DeSmogBlog: Shulte vs Oreskes: How NOT to debate science
• 2007/09/06: DeSmogBlog: The Oreskes Attack: Background on the Participants
• 2007/09/04: C411: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
• 2007/09/05: DeSmogBlog: Oreskes Shreds Contradictory Climate Survey
• 2007/09/05: Deltoid: Oreskes replies to Schulte
• 2007/09/02: GristMill: [Dessler] Hunting the white whale - Flawed new analysis purports to show that there's no scientific consensus on climate change
• 2007/09/02: FergusB: Consenting adults

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2007/09/09: FergusB: The gentle revolution
• 2007/09/07: Yahoo: Global Warming Good News: No More Ice Ages [Tyrell]
• 2007/09/08: Atmoz: Does the Moon Cool Radiatively?
• 2007/09/08: ClimateP: NASA's Hansen: Implications of "Peak Oil" for Atmospheric CO2 and Climate
• 2007/09/08: DeSmogBlog: It's Back to the Future -- By About 300 Million Years!
• 2007/09/08: CCurrents: Climate Change Solutions: Beyond Science And Above Confines
• 2007/09/08: Guardian(UK): State inaction on climate is a grave dereliction of duty
  Government exists to achieve tasks individuals cannot tackle alone. On the environmental crisis, it has badly failed
• 2007/09/07: ERabett: And in this corner...Eli would like to draw your attention to two new entries in the blogroll
• 2007/09/07: CCM: Newsweak? Risk Assessment Expert Slams Bob Samuelson on Global Warming
• 2007/09/06: CSM: On climate change, the 'target' goals for summiteers
• 2007/09/05: ClimateP: A must-read 1972 climate prediction [Sawyer]
• 2007/09/04: TruthOut: Climate Change: The New Utopia, Keeping the World As It Is
• 2007/09/05: CSpin: The morality of global warming and its reporting
• 2007/09/04: CSpin: More on religion and climate change
• 2007/09/05: CCM: "I am Proud to Be a Scientist"
• 2007/09/05: BCLSB: Are Christians Bad For The Environment?
• 2007/09/06: PlanetArk: Take Climate Change Seriously, Pope Urges
• 2007/09/05: CPages: A Kinder, Gentler Smokestack
• 2007/09/04: KSJT: LA Times: Oh, the hypocrisy and scammy smell of being greener than thou?
• 2007/09/03: CSpin: Did anyone in U.S. cover U.K. climate [Heathrow] protests?
• 2007/09/04: Scenta: Against the grain [Richard Hawkins interview]
• 2007/09/02: JFleck: Thinking About Future Climate
• 2007/09/02: JFleck: Urban Heat Islands
• 2007/09/02: CDreams: Al Gore, James Hansen, and Civil Disobedience
• 2007/09/01: CanWest: The green faith effect
• 2007/09/01: ZMag: Al Gore, James Hansen, and Civil Disobedience

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

• 2007/09/05-07: UN: 60th Annual DPI/NGO Conference - Climate Change
• inel
• AARI: Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
• WSJ: Energy Roundup
• Climate Frog
• CDIAC CO2 Info Analysis Centre
• Real Climate
• Wikipedia: Global warming
• WGMS: World Glacier Monitoring Service
• BAS: The British Antarctic Survey
• LDEO: Persistent drought in North America: a climate modeling and paleoclimate perspective
• ScienceBlogs
• CCM: Chris C. Mooney

---

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published May, 2007. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.

<regards>
-het

PS. You can access the previous postings of this series here

---

"We are the Ones We've been Waiting For You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour. And there are things to be considered: Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your relationships? Are you in right relation? Where is your water? Know your garden. It is time to speak your Truth. Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader. We are the ones we've been waiting for." -The Elders Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation

• Global Warming Links
• Global Warming News Archive
• ---
• Energy
• Energy News
• Environmental Issues
• ---
• H.E. Taylor (homepage)

Another Week of GW News, September 2, 2007

Courtesy of H.E.Taylor, here is this week's GW news roundup
(skip to bottom)

• Top Stories, UNFCCC in Vienna, Greece on Fire, Arctic, Tropical Rain, Milankovitch, Free Access
• Hurricanes, Felix & Henriette, Katrina, Temperatures, Sea Levels, Satellites, DSCOVR
• Impacts, Forests, Coral, Wacky Weather, Floods & Droughts, Biofuel & Food
• Mitigation, Sustainable Buildings, Sequestration, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science
• Carbon Trading, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics, International, APEC, America, Britain, Germany, Australia, China, Canada
• Apocalypso, Media, Books, Courts
• Energy, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Cars, Insurance Carbon Lobby
• The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion
• .sig

---

Click here to read more

The big story of the week is the UNFCCC meeting in Vienna:

• UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• 2007/09/01: WaPo: U.N. Climate Talks End in Cloud of Discord -- Industrialized, Developing Nations Still at Odds Over How and When to Cut Emissions
• 2007/08/31: TruthOut: Rich Countries Deadlocked Over 2020 Climate Goals
• 2007/08/31: PhysOrg: Agreement Reached on Greenhouse Gas Curb [Vienna]
• 2007/08/31: PlanetArk: Rich Countries Deadlocked Over 2020 Climate Goals
• 2007/08/31: ENN: Industrial Nations Agree To Look At Tough New Climate Rules
• 2007/08/31: Yahoo: Industrial nations agree step to new climate pact
• 2007/08/31: Yahoo: Industrial nations shy away from stiff 2020 goals [Vienna]
• 2007/08/31: CSM: Global warming -- who pays and when? The economics of climate change is driving what kind of pact nations may be willing to make
• 2007/08/31: CBC: 158 countries agree on rough emissions targets [25 per cent to 40 per cent of their 1990 levels by 2020]
• 2007/08/31: CTV: Agreement reached on curbing greenhouse gas
  Negotiators from 158 countries reached basic agreement Friday on rough targets aimed at getting some of the world's biggest polluters to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. A weeklong UN climate conference concluded that industrialized countries should strive to cut emissions by 25 per cent to 40 per cent of their 1990 levels by 2020. Experts said that target would serve as a loose guide for a major international climate summit to be held in December in Bali, Indonesia
• 2007/08/31: CTV: Canada under fire at UN climate talks
  Five industrialized countries including Canada came under fire on Friday for blocking a draft agreement to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and counter the most catastrophic effects of global warming. Talks continued in the final hours of a weeklong UN climate change conference in Vienna in an attempt to get the holdouts -- Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Russia and Switzerland -- to agree to set a target of cutting emissions by 25 to 40 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020
• 2007/08/29: TerraDaily: US casts doubt on global carbon market
  The US delegate to a United Nations conference on climate change cast doubt Wednesday about the creation of a global carbon market to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "It's unclear when and if there's going to be a global carbon market," Harlan Watson, the head of the US delegation, told a press conference in Vienna
• 2007/08/30: PlanetArk: No Sign of US Carbon Trading Consensus - Watson
• 2007/08/30: PlanetArk: US Praises Developing Nations' Climate Curbs [Vienna]
• 2007/08/30: PlanetArk: Mankind to Blame for Warming but Can Slow Damage - UN
• 2007/08/29: PhysOrg: U.S. Plays Down Split With EU on Climate
  The United States and Europe are working together to tackle global warming, the chief U.S. climate negotiator [Harlan Watson] said Wednesday, deflecting growing criticism within the EU and the developing world over Washington's perceived go-it-alone stance.
• 2007/08/29: ENN: Draft U.N. study shows climate risks and solutions
• 2007/08/29: ENN: Mankind to blame for warming but can slow damage
• 2007/08/29: ENN: U.N. says climate deal in 2009 ideal, but complex [Vienna]
• 2007/08/29: Reuters: Mankind to blame for warming but can slow damage
• 2007/08/27: UN: UN-backed global climate change meeting kicks off
• 2007/08/28: TruthOut: Energy Efficiency Easiest Path to Aid Climate
• 2007/08/28: PhysOrg: 'Green' Investments Key to Climate Fight [Vienna]
• 2007/08/27-31: UNFCCC: Vienna Climate Change Talks 2007 -- AWG 4 and the Dialogue 4
• 2007/08/28: C411: Vienna Climate Change Talks
• 2007/08/28: DeSmogBlog: US Rejects 50% Cuts As Superstantial [Vienna]
• 2007/08/28: GristMill: Talkin' -- Latest round of UN climate talks focuses on energy investment
• 2007/08/28: SciDaily: Major Shift In Investments Crucial To Responding To Climate Change, UN [Vienna]
• 2007/08/28: ENN: U.S. Says Steep Climate Curbs May Not Be Needed
• 2007/08/27: Yahoo: UN climate change talks open in Austria
• 2007/08/28: Guardian(UK): India and China urged to cut emissions [Vienna]
• 2007/08/27: KSJT: Wires, etc: In Vienna, UN delegates struggle for route past Kyoto Protocol
• 2007/08/26: PhysOrg: U.N. Climate Talks Focus on Business End
• 2007/08/27: PhysOrg: U.N. Climate Talks Seek Deal on Warming
• 2007/08/28: PlanetArk: Climate Talks Start on Widening Kyoto to Outsiders
• 2007/08/28: PlanetArk: US Says Steep Climate Curbs May Not be Needed [Vienna]
• 2007/08/27: ENN: Climate talks start with calls for new global deal
• 2007/08/27: SwissInfo: Climate talks start on widening Kyoto [Vienna]
• 2007/08/27: Xinhuanet: Preparation meeting for UN climate change summit held in Vienna
• 2007/08/27: Xinhuanet: UN urges more funds to tackle climate change
• 2007/08/27: BBC: Vienna meeting seeks climate plan
  Delegates from more than 150 countries are meeting in Vienna to discuss ways to widen and extend the United Nations Kyoto protocol on climate change

The fires in Greece have killed 60+ and sent billions up in $moke:

• 2007/09/02: TreeHugger: Backfire: Constitutional Forest Protection in Greece May Promote Arson to Abet Land Developers (or "Forests Don't Vote")
• 2007/08/31: GristMill: While Greece burns...Fires in Greece encouraged by global warming, developers
• 2007/08/31: CSM: Greeks angry, confused over fires
• 2007/08/28: WSWS: Over 60 die as forest fires sweep Greece
• 2007/09/01: Guardian(UK): Death and desolation after the inferno on road from Artemida
• 2007/08/30: CBC: Damage from fires in Greece reaches $1.7B -- High winds could fuel new fires
• 2007/08/29: PhysOrg: Greece suffers more fires in 2007 than in last decade, satellites reveal
• 2007/08/29: ESA: Greece suffers more fires in 2007 than in last decade, satellites reveal
• 2007/08/27: WP: Greece Ablaze: Is This The Way The World Ends?
• 2007/08/27: IndiaDaily: Fringes of Athens burning - more than 70 dead
• 2007/08/28: BBC: Wildfires rage on across Greece
• 2007/08/28: Guardian(UK): Death toll mounts as Greek wildfires rage on [60+ dead]
• 2007/08/27: TruthOut: Why Is Greece on Fire?
• 2007/08/26: GristMill: 'An unspeakable tragedy' - In Greece, 170 fires burning, 37 dead, and government shaken
• 2007/08/27: Reuters: Frantic Greeks flee villages, fires kill 63
• 2007/08/27: CSM: Why is Greece on fire? As at least 170 wildfires spread, many say that a lack of environmental protection is to blame
• 2007/08/27: CarsonsPost: Why is Greece on fire?
• 2007/08/27: CBC: Deadly Greek fires burning into the fourth day
• 2007/08/27: Guardian(UK): Helpers fly in from across Europe as forest blazes threaten [Greek] historic sites

  Climate Spin has pointed out a little problem with a widely echoed NASA release:

• 2007/08/31: CSpin: There are models and then there are models
• 2007/08/31: KSJT: AP, etc: NASA study says warmer world may bring more, big thunderstorms. Tornadoes too? That's a bigger maybe.
• 2007/08/31: ClimateP: Global warming will spawn severe storms and tornados, reports NASA
• 2007/08/30: TerraDaily: Global warming will bring stronger storms and tornadoes
• 2007/08/31: ENN: NASA Study: Stronger But Fewer Storms
  NASA scientists have developed a new climate model that indicates that the most violent severe storms and tornadoes may become more common as Earth's climate warms
• 2007/08/30: ENN: NASA Study Predicts More Severe Storms With Global Warming
• 2007/08/30: SciDaily: Global Warming Will Bring Violent Storms And Tornadoes, NASA Predicts
• 2007/08/30: Eureka: NASA study predicts more severe storms with global warming

  So how will current high GHG levels interact with the Milankovitch cycles?

• 2007/08/31: Atmoz: Climate change may delay Ice Age by 500,000 years
• 2007/08/29: TerraDaily: Global warming could delay next ice age: study
• 2007/08/30: SciDaily: Next Ice Age Delayed By Rising Carbon Dioxide Levels
• 2007/08/29: PhysOrg: Next Ice Age delayed by rising CO2 levels
  Future ice ages may be delayed by up to half a million years by our burning of fossil fuels. That is the implication of recent work by Dr Toby Tyrrell of the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.
• 2007/08/27: PhysOrg: Strong Evidence Points to Earth's Proximity to Sun as Ice Age Trigger

  The Northwest Passage is ice-free:

• 2007/08/29: TreeHugger: Northwest Passage All But Ice-Free
• 2007/08/29: DeSmogBlog: Arctic Passage - Step Right Up, Sail on Through
• 2007/08/29: CanWest: Arctic passage opens - Ship could voyage 'Tokyo to Boston'
• 2007/08/29: CanWest: The Northwest Passage: in dispute, and navigable - Summer's record melt of Arctic sea ice causes 'unprecedented' opening of route
• 2007/08/28: Guardian(UK): North-West Passage is now plain sailing

  And here is an Arctic melange:

• 2007/08/31: KSJT: WS Journal: Mapping the Arctic -- and another one on fashions for a greenhouse gassed world
• 2007/08/31: DailyGreen: Axis of Arctic Oil - Germany And Norway Form Partnership, While Russia Plans Oil Exploration
• 2007/09/01: BBC: Vast ice island trapped in Arctic
  An island of ice the size of Manhattan has drifted into a remote channel and jammed itself in. The Ayles Ice Island changed the Arctic map by breaking free from the Canadian coast two years ago
• 2007/08/29: RigZone: USGS Greenland Survey Shows Much Lower Resource Potential
  The northeastern shore of Greenland could provide the U.S. with significantly fewer billions of barrels of oil and gas resources than previously thought, the U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday
• 2007/08/29: Tamino: Polar Ice
• 2007/08/29: DeutscheWelle: German Foreign Minister Warns Against Exploiting Arctic
  German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has cautioned against countries breaking the law in attempts to reap the Arctic's natural energy resources. The warning comes shortly after Russia laid claims to the area.
• 2007/08/27: TreeHugger: In Harpers Magazine: The Battle for the Melting North

  I wonder how this jibes with the Zhang et al. paper:

• 2007/08/31: ENN: Hotter Earth Implicated In Tropical Rainfall Rise
• 2007/07/24: Nature: (abs) Detection of human influence on twentieth-century precipitation trends by Xuebin Zhang et al.
• 2007/08/27: Eureka: Long-term increase in rainfall seen in tropics
• 2007/08/27: NASA: Long-Term Increase in Rainfall Seen in Tropics
• 2007/08/27: PhysOrg: Long-term increase in rainfall seen in tropics

  Meanwhile the rain broke records in the UK:

• 2007/08/31: BBC: Record rains for British summer
  This summer appears to have been the wettest since rainfall records began in 1914, according to provisional data from the UK Meteorological Office
• 2007/08/31: BBC: Torrential rain across the UK is likely to mean the summer of 2007 will have been the wettest since records began in 1914, Met Office figures suggest

  And may do so elsewhere:

• 2007/08/30: ABC(Au): Global warming flood threat worse than predicted: study
• 2007/08/29: TerraDaily: Flooding risk from global warming badly under-estimated: study
• 2007/08/30: PlanetArk: Predictions Off [low] for Global Warming Flood Risk - Study
• 2007/08/29: Yahoo: Flooding risk from global warming badly under-estimated: study
• 2007/08/29: Yahoo: Climate change impact worsening, Ireland getting wetter: report
• 2007/08/29: BBC: Climate change may carry a higher risk of flooding than was previously thought, the journal Nature reports

  And just a reminder that in spite of 25 million displaced & 2000+ dead, it's never a simple story:

• 2007/08/28: PlanetArk: India's Monsoon to Revive, Crops Looking Good
  India's monsoon, vital for farmers and the larger economy, will revive in central states by Friday, and crops are growing well following good rains in key agricultural states, officials and traders said. There has been devastating flooding in the last month in some eastern states, but overall this year's rains have been a boon at 103 percent of the long-term average up to Aug. 22, a weather department official, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters.

Tim & Eli triggered a discussion of one of my hobby horses:

• Free Science News & Sources
• 2007/08/30: ERabett: Here and back again...An interesting discussion on open access...
• 2007/08/28: Denialism: Denialist Deck Applied: PRISM
• 2007/08/28: ERabett: Why librarians want to kill libertarians
• 2007/08/27: Deltoid: Open access to scientific papers is bad because it makes them more accessible

  The hurricane wars are kicking over with Felix & Henrietta:

• 2007/09/02: CCM: Hurricane Felix Bats an Eye
• 2007/09/02: SwissInfo: Hurricane Felix upgraded to Category 2 storm
• 2007/09/02: BBC: Felix has strengthened to a Category Two hurricane as it roars towards the Netherlands Antilles in the eastern Caribbean, US meteorologists say
• 2007/09/01: PhysOrg: Felix becomes sixth named storm of the 2007 season
• 2007/08/31: GristMill: [Dessler] Eye on the storm - Thoughts on Chris Mooney's Storm World
• 2007/09/01: Wunderground: Felix a major threat to Central America; new disturbance could develop
• 2007/08/31: Wunderground: Tropical Depression Six forms; Henrietta lashes the Pacific coast of Mexico
• 2007/08/31: Wunderground: Hurricane Hunters find a tropical depression forming; Henriette lashes Pacific coast of Mexico
• 2007/08/31: Wunderground: Two Atlantic storms are near tropical depression strength
• 2007/09/01: ENN: Tropical Storm Felix forms in Atlantic near Caribbean
• 2007/09/01: BBerg: Tropical Storm Felix Forms in Caribbean, Heads West
• 2007/08/31: CBC: Mexico braces for [Pacific] tropical storm Henriette
• 2007/09/01: SunSentinel: Tropical Storm Felix Forms in Caribbean
• 2007/08/30: PhysOrg: NASA [AIRs: Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on Aqua] Satellite Captured the Life and Death of Hurricane Dean
• 2007/08/30: Wunderground: Lesser Antilles wave gets better organized; weather radio recall ordered
• 2007/08/30: Wunderground: Lots of disturbances, but not much threat
• 2007/08/29: WarmingLaw: Sustaining New Orleans
• 2007/08/29: TerraDaily: Devastated New Orleans mourns Katrina dead two years on
• 2007/08/29: PlanetArk: Warming-Fueled Hurricanes Need New Tactics - Experts
• 2007/08/28: Wunderground: Disturbance 94L in Central Atlantic; NHC management changes
• 2007/08/27: Wunderground: The cold water wake of Dean
• 2007/08/26: Wunderground: Quiet in the tropics

  The two year anniversary of Katrina has given rise to many retrospectives:

• 2007/09/01: AngryBear: Krugman on the Kudlow Approach to Katrina Relief
• 2007/09/01: AngryBear: Turning Their Backs on NOLA
• 2007/09/01: TCR: Compassionate conservatism -- Katrina style
• 2007/09/01: HuffPo: Conservatives to New Orleans: Stop Whining Already
• 2007/08/30: CDreams: MoJo: Windfall: How Conservatives, Contractors, and Developers Cashed In on Katrina
• 2007/09/01: WSWS: Hurricane Katrina two years on - Part 3: New Orleans levees still not rebuilt
• 2007/08/31: WSWS: New Orleans: a scene of devastation and blight -- Hurricane Katrina two years on - Part 2
• 2007/08/29: WSWS: Hurricane Katrina two years on - Part 1: New Orleans - A city in social and economic distress
• 2007/08/30: WSWS: Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath: from natural disaster to national humiliation
• 2007/08/30: EmpireBurlesque: Blood in the Water: Katrina and the Death of the Common Good
• 2007/08/31: EconView: Paul Krugman: Katrina All the Time
• 2007/08/29: GristMill: Katrina - A good analysis of the fateful hurricane's political aftermath
• 2007/08/30: CCM: ...but We ALL Knew Katrina Was Coming!
• 2007/08/30: PlanetArk: Climate Report May Have Cut Katrina Impact - Analyst
  Hurricane Katrina might have caused less damage if the Bush administration had completed a required report of US vulnerability to global warming before the storm hit, an environmental policy analyst said on Wednesday.
• 2007/08/23: SouthernStudies: Two years after Katrina, Washington money not getting to those in need
• 2007/08/24: SouthernStudies: Is Katrina our "defining moment?"
• 2007/08/29: DemNow: The Path to Destruction: Two Years After Katrina, Cleanup and Recovery Far From Complete
• 2007/08/26: MoJo: Storm Warning - An Investigative Series [Katrina]
• 2007/08/29: CCM: Hurricane Katrina Lessons, Part IV: It's the President, Stupid
• 2007/08/29: CCM: Hurricane Katrina Lessons, Part III: Why Aren't We Studying Changing Risks?
• 2007/08/29: CCM: Hurricane Katrina Lessons, Part II: It's Bigger Than New Orleans
• 2007/08/29: CCM: Hurricane Katrina Lessons, Part I: Learning to Live With Scientific Uncertainty
• 2007/08/29: KSJT: Sacramento Bee: Fight! Fight! (ok, polite disagreement?) Scientists and engineers tell Corps to rethink trees on levees
• 2007/08/29: Wunderground: Katrina's 2nd anniversary, and the tropical update
• 2007/08/29: USAToday: 2 years after Katrina, pace of rebuilding depends on who pays
  Nearly 80% of the homes in affluent Lakewood have been rebuilt or reoccupied, a remarkable return rate for an area just down the road from one of the biggest levee breaches. [...] None of the 115 "critical priority projects" identified by city officials has been completed
• 2007/08/29: AFP: Devastated New Orleans mourns Katrina dead two years on
• 2007/08/29: Guardian(UK): Summertime - and after Katrina, life still ain't easy - Two years after hurricane, frustration grows at sluggish rebuilding of New Orleans
• 2007/08/29: Guardian(UK): The Lower Ninth is rising from Katrina's awful ashes
• 2007/08/28: CCM: Cliff Notes to the Katrina Anniversary Literature
• 2007/08/28: CCurrents: Two Years Of Katrina

  Meanwhile the temperature record came in for some examination:

• 2007/08/30: FergusB: Medieval not-so-warm period? Or; "Hey, look, has someone fixed the Hockey Stick?"
• 2007/08/29: KSJT: AP, Reuters: Those high temps last year? Gov't scientists say greenhouse gases were prime culprits
• 2007/08/29: TerraDaily: Greenhouse Gases Likely Drove Near-Record US Warmth In 2006
• 2007/08/28: CNN: Scorching U.S. heat in 2006 blamed on humans
  NOAA: Warming caused by human activity biggest factor in '06 - 2006 was 2nd-warmest year on record over 48 contiguous states - 42 tests simulated atmospheric changes under various conditions
• 2007/08/28: ClimateP: NOAA: Greenhouse gases drove near-record U.S. warmth in 2006
• 2007/08/28: DeSmogBlog: NOAA vs. NASA hottest year in the US still officially 1998
• 2007/08/28: ENN: Experts Say Greenhouse Gases Fueled 2006 US Heat, Not El Nino
• 2007/08/28: Eureka: Greenhouse gases likely drove near-record US warmth in 2006
• 2007/08/27: Missoulian: Expert: Extreme heat may be norm
  The blistering heat of this past July will be the norm in less than 50 years if global warming continues as expected, a University of Montana ecologist and climate expert predicts. Steve Running, a UM forestry professor who was one of the authors of a seminal international paper on climate change released this spring, said forecasts predict an average July in 2050 will be like the withering, record-breaking July of 2007 - with triple-digit temperatures the norm.

Phoenix has set a dubious record:

• 2007/08/30: CSM: More people, more concrete, and lots more heat in Phoenix
• 2007/08/30: AP: Nearly a Month of 110 or More in Phoenix
• 2007/08/29: AzCentral: Today could make '07 a record-breaker - 29 days of at least 110 degrees [F in Phoenix]

  The ozone hole is back early this year:

• 2007/08/28: ENN: Antarctic Ozone Hole Appears Early, Growing

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2007/08/30: Yahoo: Rising sea threatens China's south: report
  Over 1,100 square kilometres (440 square miles) of land in economically booming southern China will be inundated by rising sea-levels by 2050 due to global warming, state press said Thursday
• 2007/08/30: ChinaDaily: Sea to 'engulf Guangdong' by 2050
• 2007/08/29: IHT: Vulnerable to rising seas, Singapore envisions a giant seawall
• 2007/08/30: ENN: China Warns: Rising Seas Will "Engulf" Tract Of Pearl River Delta
• 2007/08/25: Globe&Mail: Will oceans surge 59 centimetres this century - or 25 metres?

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2007/08/28: TerraDaily: European Hot Spots And Fires Identified From Space
• 2007/08/27: ESA: European hot spots and fires identified from space

  DeSmogBlog has started a publicity campaign for the DSCOVR climate satellite:

• 2007/09/01: CSpin: Who killed the DSCOVR climate satellite? An experiment in blog-to-traditional media crossover
• 2007/09/01: MTobis: Earth Observation COVR-up
• 2007/08/28: DeSmogBlog: A DeSmogBlog exclusive investigation into NASA's DSCOVR climate station

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2007/09/01: BBC: UK peatlands face future stress
  Severe erosion and climate change could result in a vast volume of carbon from the UK's peatlands being released into the atmosphere, scientists have warned
• 2007/08/30: TerraDaily: Mediterranean countries feel the force of deadly forest fires
• 2007/09/01: TreeHugger: The Pine Beetle's Deadly March
• 2007/09/01: TreeHugger: Putting the Sex Back in Climate Change [impacts]
• 2007/08/31: PlanetArk: Fire Burns in Eastern Spain, 125 Evacuated
• 2007/09/02: SciDaily: Faster Climate Change Means Bigger Problems
• 2007/08/31: AFP: Ice fjords, lifeblood for polar species, at risk in melting Arctic
• 2007/08/29: ClimateP: Climate change threatens America, IPCC warns
• 2007/08/30: ENN: New U.S. Test: CO2 Could Make Grasslands 'Unusable'
• 2007/08/29: ABC(Au): Fires choke Indonesian peatlands
• 2007/08/29: NewScientist: Leaf 'sweat glands' to worsen future flooding
• 2007/08/29: PhysOrg: UC Riverside hydrologist to study ecological impact of climate change on mountain lakes
• 2007/08/28: KSJT: LA Times: Rising CO2 gives "useless" shrubs the edge in grasslands
• 2007/08/28: TreeHugger: The End of the World's Grasslands as We Know Them?
• 2007/08/26: MongaBay: European blood-sucker falls victim to global warming
• 2007/08/27: PhysOrg: Study links greenhouse gas to changing ecology of global rangelands
  Rising carbon dioxide levels are almost certainly fueling the encroachment of shrubs on global grasslands, a trend that could eventually jeopardize the use of these lands for cattle grazing, according to a study released Monday
• 2007/08/27: PhysOrg: Hungry insects leave clues to impacts of climate change

  Corals are dying:

• 2007/08/29: Maribo: Coral decline in the Indo-Pacific
• 2007/08/28: TerraDaily: Corals And Climate Change

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2007/08/31: Eureka: Population movements and money remittances spur forest regrowth
  Socioeconomic data, land-use surveys, and satellite imagery document increases in wooded area of El Salvador

Desertification looms:

• 2007/08/28: WSWS: Scientists warn Spain could see mass spread of deserts

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2007/09/02: ChinaDaily: 7 dead, 4 missing in Shaanxi rainstorm
• 2007/08/29: TreeHugger: Foaming Ocean Whips Beachgoers into a Frenzy
• 2007/08/29: DailyMail: Cappuccino Coast: The day the Pacific was whipped up into an ocean of froth
• 2007/08/28: CCurrents: What's Happening To Our Weather?

  We have heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2007/08/27: Xinhuanet: At least 11 people killed in summer heatwave in Mexico

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2007/08/31: AbqJournal: Notes From A Water Meeting [Notes From a Not Enough Water Meeting]
• 2007/08/30: PlanetArk: Australian Farmer Battles Drought
• 2007/08/29: PlanetArk: UN Says Floods Affect 100,000 Ethiopians
• 2007/08/29: PlanetArk: China Puts Summer Flood Death Toll at 1,138
• 2007/08/28: Australian: Drought hits electricity wholesalers - hydro-electric and thermal coal plants in Victoria and Queensland are temporarily shut down because of water shortages
• 2007/08/27: SeattlePI: Rain, floods sock Midwest - Evacuations ordered near Wisconsin dams
• 2007/08/26: TheAge: Water shortage to cost dearly: expert
• 2007/08/27: Kentucky: More of the [Kentucky] state falls into extreme drought
• 2007/08/28: PlanetArk: Floods and Landslides Kill 14 in Southwest China
• 2007/08/27: HuffPo: This is the Face of Global Warming [South Asia & Midwest storms]
• 2007/08/24: BrisbaneTimes: Flash flooding in SE Qld breaks records
• 2007/08/26: WisconsinSJ: Nature trumps decades of effort [US floods]
• 2007/08/25: ABC(US): Aftermath of Midwest Deluge: Economic Impact - The Midwest Braces for the Effects of the Record Flooding
• 2007/08/26: BBC: Europe counts cost of flood chaos
  Cities and towns across central Europe remain on alert as they deal with the impact of devastating floods which have killed at least 42 people
• 2007/08/26: BBC: Floods strand Romania villagers
  At least 1,400 villagers have been stranded in northern Romania amid heavy rains that caused rivers to overflow, killing a 19-year-old man

The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2007/08/29: AllAfrica: Nation(Kenya): Biofuels Likely to Boost Energy But Increase Hunger, Now Critics Warn
• 2007/08/29: Guardian(UK): The looming food crisis
  Land that was once used to grow food is increasingly being turned over to biofuels. This may help us to fight global warming - but it is driving up food prices throughout the world and making life increasingly hard in developing countries. Add in water shortages, natural disasters and an ever-rising population, and what you have is a recipe for disaster
• 2007/08/25: Economist: The agonies of agflation - Fuel for the body and the car

  And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

• 2007/08/31: TruthOut: Dirt Isn't So Cheap After All
• 2007/08/31: PlanetArk: Food Demand, Climate Change Strain Soils - Experts
• 2007/08/31: Eureka: The 5 Ws of corn production - The 'who' is farmers, and they're asking where to plant, what hybrid, when to apply nitrogen and why
• 2007/08/31: CDreams: IPS: Dirt Isn't So Cheap After All
  Soil erosion is the "silent global crisis" that is undermining food production and water availability, as well as being responsible for 30 percent of the greenhouse gases driving climate change.
• 2007/08/30: Yahoo: Food demand and climate straining soils
• 2007/08/31: Guardian(UK): Global food crisis looms as climate change and population growth strip fertile land
• 2007/08/30: MTobis: Food and Carbon Dioxide
• 2007/08/30: PlanetArk: Drought Catastrophe Stalks Australia's Food Bowl
• 2007/08/29: KSJT: NY Times: More food and science news - this one is about meat, and climate change
• 2007/08/29: TruthOut: The Looming Food Crisis
• 2007/08/28: FinanceWeek: The last straw? Alongside debt, rising food prices threaten industrial growth
• 2007/08/28: BBC: Shoppers 'face meat price rises'
  Meat prices are set to increase as farmers pass on the burden of surging costs, a report has suggested. With wheat prices rising, animal feed costs have almost doubled for farmers, the study by Deloitte found
• 2007/08/27: PlanetArk: Summer Rains Cloud Wheat Harvest as Prices Soar
• 2007/08/27: ArabNews: Starving Without Money, They Waited for Death
  In a country like India, where the majority is poor and starvation and malnutrition affect over half the population, the gravity of a starvation death is often confined to statistics

Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2007/08/31: Guardian(UK): $350m to leave oil in the ground - Country asks developed world to pay it not to pump - and avoid further pollution of the Amazon rainforest
• 2007/08/30: PhysOrg: Fireproofing homes dramatically reduces forest fire size, according to new study

  While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

• 2007/08/31: CSM: Toronto turns to lake water for air conditioning - Cold water drawn from Lake Ontario cools buildings and provides big energy savings
• 2007/08/30: SciDaily: New Energy-efficient Roof System Designed
• 2007/08/28: TreeHugger: The Transportation Energy Intensity of Buildings
• 2007/08/28: TreeHugger: Number of the Day: 300 [building codes]
• 2007/08/28: NEN: California Home builder will make solar standard
• 2007/08/27: NEN: New houses, new energy
• 2007/08/27: SwissInfo: WWF unveils blueprint for eco-living
  Conservation group WWF Switzerland has announced plans to create eco-communities in Geneva to counter over-exploitation of the Earth's natural resources. The organisation says it is in advanced negotiations with three of the city's communes to construct thousands of homes meeting the strict ecological standards of its One Planet Living (OPL) label

And on the carbon sequestration front:

• 2007/08/30: ABC(Au): Queensland underground gas storage project progresses
• 2007/08/28: KSJT: ABC Science Show (Australia): Sequestering carbon not so easy

  On the adaptation front:

• 2007/08/27: NPR: Swiss Town Guards Itself Against Climate Hazard
• 2007/08/29: ClimateP: Hurricane Katrina and the Myth of Global Warming Adaptation

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2007/08/28: CP: New constraints on the gas age-ice age difference along the EPICA ice cores, 0 - 50 kyr by L. Loulergue et al.
• 2007/08/28: CP: Surface thermal perturbations of the recent past at low latitudes - inferences based on borehole temperature data from Eastern Brazil by V. M. Hamza et al.
• 2007/08/30: ACP: Volcanic effects on climate: revisiting the mechanisms by H.-F. Graf et al.
• 2007/08/30: ACP: The effect of harmonized emissions on aerosol properties in global models -- an AeroCom experiment by C. Textor et al.
• 2007/08/30: ACPD: Performance of the meteorological radiation model during the solar eclipse of 29 March 2006 by B. E. Psiloglou & H. D. Kambezidis
• 2007/08/29: ACPD: Aerosols' influence on the interplay between condensation, evaporation and rain in warm cumulus cloud by O. Altaratz et al.
• 2007/08/29: ACPD: Modelling the optical properties of fresh biomass burning aerosol produced in a smoke chamber: results from the EFEU campaign by K. Hungersh?fer et al.
• 2007/08/29: GRL: (ab$) Adjustment for proxy number and coherence in a large-scale temperature reconstruction by David Frank et al.
• 2007/08/28: ACPD: Comparison of satellite limb-sounding humidity climatologies of the uppermost tropical troposphere by M. Ekstroem et al.
• 2007/08/28: PNAS: Increases in nitrogen uptake rather than nitrogen-use efficiency support higher rates of temperate forest productivity under elevated CO2 by Adrien C. Finzi et al.

  Before we get into politics, there was some science done:

• 2007/08/28: NSU: Worm chewing changes soil chemistry - Earthworm invasion into North America could alter carbon sinks
• 2007/09/02: SciDaily: Up, Up And Away -- To Venus
• 2007/08/30: PhysOrg: Dispelling the myth of bipolar glaciation 41 million years ago
• 2007/08/30: PhysOrg: Weird 'Engine of The Reef' Revealed
  Scientists at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University and the University of Queensland have compiled the world’s first detailed gene expression library for Symbiodinium, the microscopic algae that feed the corals -- and so provide the primary energy source for the entire Reef
• 2007/08/29: CoralCOE: Weird 'Engine of The Reef' Revealed
• 2007/08/29: Atmoz: A Model Sensitivity Study of PM2.5 to Climate
• 2007/08/29: SciDaily: [TU Delft's] Drizzle Radar: A Gain For Climate Research
• 2007/08/29: Eureka: Volcanoes key to Earth's oxygen atmosphere
• 2007/08/28: GristMill: Past perceptions of climate change - A new study gathers 20 years of public opinion about global warming

  The Pielkes fan club is slowly fading:

• 2007/09/01: Stoat: A sad end

  On the carbon trading front:

• 2007/08/31: PlanetArk: EU and UN Agree Long-Awaited Carbon Market Link [to be completed in November]

  The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

• 2007/08/30: CDreams: InTheseTimes: Offsets Aren't Enough: Two Environmental Groups Cave To Big Coal in Texas
• 2007/08/30: NEN: Gotta do something: carbon tax vs. cap-and-trade
• 2007/08/29: MongaBay: How private equity can profit from carbon offsets in Indonesia

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2007/08/30: GristMill: Do as we say...Developed world scolds China for doing what it does
• 2007/08/29: DeutscheWelle: Germany, Japan Close Ranks on Efforts to Fight Climate Change
• 2007/08/28: People's Daily: Consensus reached on energy, green tech [Merkel visit to China]
• 2007/08/27: BBC: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged China to address the issue of climate change, as she starts a three-day visit to the country

  The upcoming APEC meeting is getting a lot of attention:

• 2007/09/02: ABC(Au): Activists charged after APEC protest [painting slogans on the side of a coal tanker]
• 2007/09/01: EpochTimes: Climate to Top Canada's APEC Agenda - Conservatives to promote approach that is 'inclusive, fair, and flexible'
• 2007/09/02: ABC(Au): Greenpeace protesters facing arrest [APEC]
• 2007/08/31: ABC(Au): Aust, US 'lack credentials' to lead climate change talks [says Malaysia]
• 2007/08/31: ABC(Au): 'Bridget Jones' greenhouse targets not good enough
  John Howard and George W Bush will try to use APEC to undermine international action to address climate change...
• 2007/08/31: PlanetArk: Malaysia Criticises APEC Climate Change Agenda
  Malaysia said on Thursday Australia and the United States should not hijack next week's summit of Asia-Pacific leaders to discuss climate change, saying it was not the right forum
• 2007/08/30: PlanetArk: China's Hu Says Climate Change on APEC Agenda
• 2007/08/27: ABC(Au): Howard unveils key APEC objectives
• 2007/08/28: PlanetArk: Australian PM Says APEC to Tackle Energy Savings

  And on the American political front:

• 2007/08/30: SciDaily: Scientists, Evangelicals Team Up For Alaska Expedition
• 2007/08/30: NEN: BLM [U.S. Bureau of Land Management] opens geothermal opportunities --- To who?
• 2007/08/28: TheTrail: Bush's Hurricane Damage
• 2007/08/29: GristMill: Keep your friends close...Some unwitting climate change advice from the National Review
• 2007/08/29: GristMill: Catching up - Experts to Utah: Climate change is real
• 2007/08/28: CSpin: U.S. states continue to lead on global warming
• 2007/08/29: TreeHugger: Americans Care More About Gay Marriage Than Global Warming [poll]
• 2007/08/27: PRWatch: Criminal Silence on Climate Change
• 2007/08/28: PhysOrg: Energy Department to aid biofuels creation [with US$33.8 million]
• 2007/08/28: EnvEcon: A western RGGI [WCI]
• 2007/08/27: ClimateP: Thoughts on IWF/C-SPAN Debate: Where is Buffy when we need her the most?
• 2007/08/27: DeSmogBlog: Both Democrats and Republicans bend over for King Coal, but Bush administration bends further
• 2007/08/27: NEN: Arnold leads, West follows

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2007/09/01: TreeHugger: Al Gore Coming To Victoria for High Tea
• 2007/08/30: PlanetArk: Tribal people in India's remote northeast to Honour Al Gore on Global Warming

  While in the UK:

• 2007/08/30: BBC: Brits 'addicted' to cheap flights
  Britons are "addicted" to cheap flights and confused about the climate impact of flying, according to research. In a government-funded study, even people living generally "green" lives said they were reluctant to fly less. The Exeter University team that carried out the research says cheap flights have become a lifestyle choice. Aviation accounts for about 7% of the UK's emissions, and research suggests Britain will not meet its climate targets without curbing the industry.
• 2007/08/28: GristMill: Little green lies -- [UK] Survey reveals truth about environmental fibs
• 2007/08/29: Guardian(UK): Liberal Democrats see zero-carbon Britain setting the global green agenda
  Party unveils blueprint for tackling climate change - End of the road by 2040 for petrol-driven cars
• 2007/08/28: BBC: Call for 'green-home' cash bonus
• 2007/08/27: Guardian(UK): Poll: No change despite CO2 fears
  The public's concern about climate change is at odds with its willingness to change everyday behaviour, a survey has revealed

And in Germany:

• 2007/09/01: BBC: Call for German nuclear shutdown
  The German Environment Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, has called for seven of the country's oldest nuclear reactors to be closed down immediately. Justifying his demand, Mr Gabriel pointed to recent breakdowns at two ageing nuclear plants. Germany is committed to phasing out nuclear power by 2020.
• 2007/08/30: Yahoo: Germany's Merkel urges U.S. to support climate deal
• 2007/08/28: PlanetArk: German Energy Plan Faces Reality Check
  A government plan to make Germany a global leader in fighting climate change must win the support of a reluctant finance minister to succeed. The 30-point plan, which appeals to German households and industry to change their energy consumption habits, may also only take effect under the next government, due to be elected in late 2009. Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet last week overcame internal differences to agree the plan, but the measure will first require changes to several laws which could take up to a year to achieve. Only then can the long process of implementation begin.

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2007/09/02: ABC(Au): Howard boosts climate change funds by $70m
• 2007/09/02: ABC(Au): Labor slams PM's refusal to set binding emissions targets
• 2007/08/31: ABC(Au): Business heavyweights leaning on Govt over emissions
  Nine companies from the mining, finance, resource and energy sectors have joined forces to urge the Federal Government to develop a low-emissions technology strategy. Companies including BP, Rio Tinto, Santos, Westpac and Mirvac have formed an alliance called the Australian Business and Climate Group. They want the Federal Government to take over research and development into emissions technology from the states and form a national policy
• 2007/08/30: The Age: Hot winds force fire bans --- in winter
• 2007/08/26: ABC(Au): Brisbane crowd favours Garrett during climate debate
  Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his Opposition counterpart Peter Garrett have debated the issue of climate change at a public forum in Brisbane. Even before today's debate began at the Queensland Conservatorium, former Midnight Oil singer Mr Garrett was clearly a favourite with the university crowd.

While in China:

• 2007/08/30: TruthOut: China Says One-Child Policy Helps Protect Climate
• 2007/09/01: TreeHugger: For China's Environment, Technology Transfer and International Diplomacy May Never Be Good Enough
• 2007/08/27: FPB: Is China serious about going green?

  And in Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues to do as little as possible:

• 2007/09/01: Farnwide: The Rhetoric Gap
  If the following from John Baird is true: "Canada now has one of the most aggressive plans to tackle greenhouse gases and air pollution in the world." it seems odd to hear these criticisms: 'Canada played a lead role in undermining the Kyoto protocol on climate change, at a major United Nations conference that ended in Vienna yesterday...'
• 2007/08/30: TStar: PM wants to join opponents of mandatory emission goals
  Harper heading to APEC meeting in Australia to actively involve Canada in the workings of AP-6 [APPCDC]

An application has been made to build a nuclear reactor in Alberta:

• 2007/08/29: CanWest: Nuclear just too hot for Alberta -- Why Would Oilsands Court More Controversy?
• 2007/08/30: CanWest: The 'N' word that makes politicians quake - Rhetoric overtakes reason in reaction [nukes]
• 2007/08/28: BuckDog: Nuclear Power Reactor To Be Built In Alberta

  Canada has been invited to join the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership:

• 2007/08/31: CanWest: Canada invited to join controversial nuclear club - Sept. 16 Meeting; Aims To Promote Nuclear Power, Control Its Use
  Canada is poised to join an elite club of "advanced nuclear nations" that -- led by U.S. President George W. Bush -- plans to promote nuclear energy as a key solution to global warming and to control the international movement of enriched uranium and radioactive waste, CanWest News Service has learned. Canada's membership in the controversial Global Nuclear Energy Partnership would open a new battlefront in the divisive national debate over what this country should do about planetary climate change. And joining the partnership -- initiated by the Bush administration last year, and now counting Russia, China, Japan and France as members --could raise thorny questions about the costs and benefits to Canada, including its uranium export industry, its CANDU reactor sales and its capacity to dispose of nuclear waste. Responding to a CanWest News Service request about Canada's possible involvement in GNEP, a Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said: "Canada has been invited to join the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership and to participate in the next meeting scheduled to take place on Sept. 16 in Vienna."

As the lazy Canadian summer rounds up:

• 2007/08/31: TStar: Hydro plan generates controversy - Ontario Power Authority road map
• 2007/08/30: CBC: Greenpeace activists storm ship in power plant protest
  Five Greenpeace activists used inflatable boats Thursday to board an ore carrier bringing coal to the Nanticoke power plant, on the shores of Lake Erie southwest of Hamilton. The environmental group says the plant is among the province's single greatest contributors to global warming and pollution.
• 2007/08/28: 24Hrs: NDP waits for action on climate [in BC]
• 2007/08/26: GristMill: Silence up north - The coming nuclear expansion in Ontario is absent from election debate

  Apocalypso anyone?:

• 2007/09/01: CCurrents: Environmental Crisis And Despair
• 2007/08/27: Lifeboat: Looking Human Extinction in the Face
• 2007/08/29: TransitionCulture: The Rise and Fall of Sea Levels and Civilisations
• 2007/08/28: CBaker: The Plan by William Kotke
  A plan to save the life of the earth and the human species by creating an entirely new human culture... The Plan is to establish self-sufficient, population- stable, seed communities, wherever possible with the expectation that some or most of them would survive the apocalypse. These then become the seed of the future human species. Most species devote much energy to raise and prepare a future for their young. For our species to endure, we civilized humans must come up to that level of maturity.

As for how the media handles science:

• 2007/08/29: TAP: A Guide to Media Manipulation, Republican Style
• 2007/08/30: GristMill: Editorial vs. news - The Wall Street Journal contradicts itself on global warming
• 2007/08/29: GristMill: OK, I was bass-ackwards the last 12 times, but now I'm 'moderate'! Why do documented liars and dummies get taken seriously about climate change?
• 2007/08/27: Deltoid: Maybe the Australian could employ a solar power PR person for balance?

  Here is something for your library:

• 2007/08/27: TreeHugger: [Book Review] _The Winds of Change_ by Eugene Linden

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2007/08/30: WarmingLaw: Massachusetts (v. EPA) Blues
• 2007/08/29: BSD: Some good legal news in California about global warming and air pollution
• 2007/08/30: WarmingLaw: Paint the Desert Green
• 2007/08/29: WarmingLaw: A Fleeting Defeat for Local Government? Perhaps Not...
• 2007/08/28: WarmingLaw: The Great Salt Lake Effect?
• 2007/08/28: WarmingLaw: Industry Concessions at S. Ct. Oral Argument Help Support Gov't Victory on Remand in Fleet Rules Case
• 2007/08/27: WarmingLaw: New Supreme Court Preemption Case

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2007/09/01: TEB: New Hydrogen from Aluminium-Water Reaction Developed at Purdue
• 2007/08/30: EnvFin: Enel plans 300 million euro solar investment
• 2007/08/30: EnvFin: UK solar firm [Solarcentury] raises £13.5 million
• 2007/08/30: ClimateP: The solar power you don't hear about [solar thermal]
• 2007/08/30: PlanetArk: [German utility] E.ON Plans Wind Turbine Park Off UK Coast
• 2007/08/28: IHT: 'Dead-end' Austrian town blossoms with green energy
• 2007/08/28: Asia Times: Alternative energy: It's not for everybody
• 2007/08/28: GristMill: Getting past 'hypedrogen'? Interesting hydrogen-generating technology from Purdue
• 2007/08/28: SciDaily: Wind Turbine Has Switch To Move Clear Of Migrating Birds
• 2007/08/28: HuffPo: Oil Shale to the Rescue?
• 2007/08/26: USAToday: Forecast for solar power: Sunny
• 2007/08/27: PhysOrg: Engineers perfecting hydrogen-generating technology [alloy of aluminum and gallium catalyst]
• 2007/08/27: NEN: States mandate new energy, spark booms

  Jeff Vail has continued his EROEI series:

• 2007/08/31: OilDrum: EROEI Short #3: Price-Estimated EROEI
• 2007/08/28: OilDrum: EROEI Short #2: Lenin & Lohan

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2007/09/02: ClimateP: The Future of Coal
• 2007/08/31: ClimateP: Liquid coal means liquid problems
• 2007/09/01: GristMill: Was this found on a stone tablet? Papyrus? Vellum? Handpress broadsheet? W. Va. editorial says mining coal should be easier
• 2007/08/30: Guardian(UK): The great global coal rush puts us on the fast track to irreversible disaster
• 2007/08/29: KSJT: Wash. Post: Coal -- what it costs us
• 2007/08/28: GristMill: Dave's Second Law of Sustainability Politics - Coal can be clean and cheap, but it can't be both at once
• 2007/08/28: GristMill: Coal welfare queens unite - Liquid coal coalition gears up to suck from the public teat

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2007/08/31: PlanetArk: Mozambique Unveils US$550 Million Bio-Fuels Project
• 2007/08/31: TEB: Are Biofuels Sustainable?
• 2007/08/31: CPunch: The Biofuels Trap
• 2007/08/29: IRC Americas Program: Biofuels and Small Farmers
• 2007/08/30: PhysOrg: Iowa State researcher studies the sustainability of the bioeconomy [ethanol]
• 2007/08/26: GristMill: Industrial agrodiesel - 'Biodiesel' is looking worse and worse
• 2007/08/27: GCD: Should the increased use of biofuels be a goal of Canadian governments?
• 2007/08/27: DodosVille: The Great Canadian Debate on Biofuels

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2007/08/27: PRWatch: Exelon's Nuclear Plant Is Excellent, Say Exelon-Funded Group, Study

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2007/08/28: E&C: Blindsided by Peak Oil
• 2007/08/29: CDreams: SF Chronicle: After Oil Supplies Dry Up, What's Plan B?
• 2007/08/27: ASPO-USA: NPC Report is Hand Grenade in Bubble Wrap

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

• 2007/09/02: TreeHugger: Axel Friedrich: VW Two-Faced on Emissions Efficiency
• 2007/09/01: ClimateP: GM may make 60,000 plug-in hybrids in 2010
• 2007/08/31: C411: New Report on Cars and Carbon
• 2007/08/29: GristMill: Hybrid wars - Honda fights to regain green car company mantle
• 2007/08/28: NEN: German auto rebel disses hydrogen, touts efficiency
• 2007/08/27: ClimateP: Prius easily beats Hummer in life-cycle energy use, "Dust to Dust" report has no basis in fact
• 2007/08/27: IHT: Toyota wary of real consumer demand in U.S. for plug-in cars

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2007/08/28: CCM: Getting High in North Carolina [insurance rates]

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2007/08/31: Tamino: Garbage is Forever
• 2007/08/26: CCDenial: Live Wild and Die
• 2007/08/31: GWWatch: Global warming denialist scrambles for Bolt hole
• 2007/08/30: MTobis: Some Obfuscation from Patrick Moore
• 2007/08/29: MTobis: Systematic Noise - Denial of science can be dressed in leftist or rightist garb but it follows universal patterns.
• 2007/08/30: BCLSB: Chris De Freitas Lets Slip
• 2007/08/30: DeSmogBlog: August Newsmaker Award to Steve McIntyre
• 2007/08/29: BCLSB: Lomborg Reviewed
• 2007/08/29: DeSmogBlog: "Extermist" hopes Heartland's "building explodes"
• 2007/08/29: CanWest: An inconvenient fact
  Despite the anti-forestry scare tactics of celebrity movies, trees are the most powerful concentrators of carbon on Earth [Moore]
• 2007/08/26: GristMill: [Dessler] Looking over our shoulder - Thoughts on the GISS temperature adjustment
• 2007/08/26: BSD: Lindzen lies, dog bites man
• 2007/08/26: ERabett: Station of the day: Farmington ME
• 2007/08/27: BCLSB: Great Balls Of Dry Ice: Deniers At Play
• 2007/08/27: DeSmogBlog: Jacoby's questionable column is chopped liver

  Yet another study has proven beyond a doubt there is no consensus:

• 2007/08/31: StrangerFruit: Oreskes responds to Schulte
• 2007/09/01: Denialism: Contrarians?
• 2007/08/30: Stoat: Survey: Less Than Half of all Published Scientists Endorse Global Warming Theory?
• 2007/08/30: Deltoid: Classifying abstracts on global climate change

  The American Association of Petroleum Geologists has come up with a new climate change policy:

• 2007/08/31: Stoat: The pathetic AAPG
• 2007/08/31: ERabett: Birthing a mouse is hard...the new American Association of Petroleum Geologists climate change policy...
• 2007/08/30: ERabett: The AAPG brings forth a mouse (which is better than a rat)
• 2007/08/30: JQuiggin: AAPG abandons delusionism

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2007/09/01: TheAge: World Bank calls on oil producers to cut $50bn gas [flaring] fire
• 2007/08/30: ERabett: The AGU is revising its position statements on Teaching Evolution, Human Impacts on Climate and Natural Hazards
• 2007/08/31: Stoat: Multi-scale analysis of global temperature changes and trend of a drop in temperature in the next 20 years!?! [Zhen-Shan and Xian dissec]
• 2007/08/30: Stoat: Sawyer: prophetic or wot?
• 2007/08/31: EnergyBulletin: Updating the book on global warming [Monbiot]
• 2007/08/30: KSJT: Telegraph, a few others: High CO2 may mean more plants AND more runoff (a neat trick)
• 2007/08/30: KSJT: San Diego Union Tribune: Rewilding America, and the weather cycles mixed into the global warming trend
• 2007/08/30: GristMill: Fast to stop global warming September 4th event marks new phase in struggle for the planet
• 2007/08/29: GristMill: 'If you were really green, you would have walked here' - Is Burning Man living up to its Green Man intentions?
• 2007/08/30: FergusB: Does what scientists think matter?
• 2007/08/30: SciDaily: Wildfires: Homes Fuel The Fires More Than Forests
• 2007/08/29: Stoat: The value of polling scientists
• 2007/08/28: CasaubonsBook: Diversify, Diversify, Diversify
• 2007/08/28: Atmoz: The Science Hypothesis [a better way to communicate science?]
• 2007/08/28: ClimateP: Top Ten Climate Change Blogs
• 2007/08/27: ClimateP: "Forecast: Storm Warning" -- Preparing for Global Warming
• 2007/08/28: WindWorks: Beating Swords into Wind Turbines -- or Solar Panels if You Like [How much wind and solar could we have gotten for the cost of the Iraq War?]
• 2007/08/28: GristMill: Shopping causes global warming - Australian newspaper [SMH] identifies consumerism as warming culprit
• 2007/08/28: FergusB: Why small contributions can make a difference
• 2007/08/28: MTobis: Whom to Trust?
• 2007/08/27: RealClimate: Regional Climate Projections [in the IPCC AR4]
• 2007/08/28: TreeHugger: If Global Warming Never Happened...
• 2007/08/28: ENN: Indonesian peatlands seen playing key climate role
• 2007/08/28: AfterGutenberg: Game Changing
• 2007/08/26: CCurrents: Obstacles To Counter Global Warming And Climate Change
• 2007/08/27: Guardian(UK): BBC news chiefs attack plans for climate change campaign [provisionally titled Planet Relief]

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

• NSIDC:SOTC: Glaciers
• NSIDC: World Glacier Inventory [information for over 67,000 glaciers worldwide]
• Wiki: Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
• US DOE: GNEP: Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
• CSM: Global Warming
• BrookingsInst: Katrina Reading Room
• Wind-Works by Paul Gipe
• UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Skeptical Science: Examining Global Warming Skepticism
• StephenSchneider: Climate Change
• StephenSchneider: An Overview of the Climate Change Problem
• European Environment Agency on Climate Change
• NOAA: Real-time, global, sea surface temperature (RTG_SST) analysis
• NOAA: Gulf Stream Finder Project
• New Scientist
• Nature Science Update
• Science Daily
• Eureka Alert

---

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published May, 2007. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.

<regards>
-het

PS. You can access the previous postings of this series here

---

"In a future that is as unavoidable as it will be unwelcome, survival and sanity may depend upon our ability to cherish rather than to disparage the concept of human dignity." -William Catton Jr.

• Global Warming Links
• Global Warming News Archive
• ---
• Energy
• Energy News
• Environmental Issues
• ---
• H.E. Taylor (homepage)

Another Week of GW News, August 26, 2007

Courtesy of H.E.Taylor, here is this week's GW news roundup
(skip to bottom)

• Top Stories, Nasty Weather, Greek Crematorium, Arctic, Modelling
• Hurricanes, Dean, Sepat, Sea Levels, Satellites
• Impacts, Rainforests, Wacky Weather, Floods & Droughts, Biofuel & Food
• Mitigation, Transportation, Architecture, Sequestration, Adaptation, Geoengineering
• Journals, Misc. Science
• Kyoto, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics, International, APEC, ASEAN, Security, Yvo de Boer, WCI, America, Britain, Europe, Germany, Australia, China, Japan, Asia, Canada
• Ecological Economics, Media, Books, Video, Courts, Betting
• Energy, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Efficiency, Cars, Business Carbon Lobby
• The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion
• .sig

---

Click here to read more

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

• 2007/08/22: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) A Rising Tide Lifts All Ice Floes

  Nasty weather continues to be a big story this week, first in the US Midwest:

• 2007/08/26: CNN: Midwest storms deliver knockout punch to power lines
  Tornado warnings issued Saturday for parts of central, southeast Ohio - About 100,000 in northern Illinois remained without power Saturday - Flooding from Minnesota to Ohio has been blamed for at least 18 deaths
• 2007/08/26: AP: 100,000-Plus Without Power in Midwest
• 2007/08/25: CNN: Storms' effects weigh on Midwest - 500,000 get power back; 120,000 still waiting
• 2007/08/25: People's Daily: At least 16 dead in U.S. Midwest flooding
• 2007/08/25: BBC: Flood misery engulfs US Midwest
  Floods from a week of thunderstorms in the US Midwest have swamped thousands of homes and cut power to hundreds of thousands of people
• 2007/08/24: AP: Heavy Rain, Flooding Plagues Midwest
• 2007/08/24: CNN: Storms play havoc with travel in Midwest, Southeast
  Passengers wait for hours on diverted planes - Two children die reportedly after being left in hot cars in Midwest - Severe weather in Chicago, Illinois, cuts power, cancels hundreds of flights - More storms in forecast for Friday; flooding possible
• 2007/08/24: ClimateP: Record Flooding Slams Midwest
• 2007/08/23: TerraDaily: Death toll mounts as floods, heat wave batter US
• 2007/08/24: PlanetArk: More Deaths in Central US Flooding
• 2007/08/24: BBC: Midwest awash after heavy storms
  Storms have continued to drench the US Midwest, which is already enduring record floods that are reported to have killed at least 25 people. Meanwhile, a heatwave in south-eastern states is also setting records and has been blamed for a similar death toll. States from Iowa to Texas have all been deluged, some suffering the aftermath of Tropical Storm Erin, followed by other heavy storm systems
• 2007/08/23: CBC: Thousands homeless in Midwest flooding
• 2007/08/23: AP: More Storms Hit Flooded Midwest
• 2007/08/23: MTobis: More Extraordinary Flooding [Wisconsin]
• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: Eight Dead as Floods Plague Central United States
• 2007/08/23: HuffPo: Over 1,000 Displaced by Midwest Flooding
• 2007/08/23: AP: Over 1,000 Displaced by Midwest Flooding
• 2007/08/22: AP: Hundreds Displaced by Midwest Flooding
• 2007/08/22: BBC: US Midwest suffers deadly floods
  The US Midwest is counting the cost of flooding which has killed 22 people and damaged thousands of homes. The floods came after the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin and a second storm dumped heavy rains over several days. Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio and Missouri are among the worst affected, with the damage expected to mount to tens of millions of dollars
• 2007/08/21: Yahoo: Midwest flooding death toll reaches 22
• 2007/08/20: PlanetArk: Remains of Erin Flood Oklahoma, 2 Confirmed Dead

  And South Asia:

• 2007/08/26: SwissInfo: Toll rises in South Asia floods
  Flood victims in eastern India were eating raw wheat flour to survive as devastating monsoon flooding in South Asia continued to spread misery among millions. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed by snake bites, drowning, diarrhoea and in house collapses since July when swollen rivers burst their banks, inundating huge areas in eastern India and Bangladesh. The toll rose by 74 over the weekend.
• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: Smell of Floating Corpses Adds to South Asia Flood Woes
• 2007/08/23: ArabNews: Corpses' Smell Adds to S. Asia Flood Miseries
• 2007/08/22: PlanetArk: Fresh Floods Kill 80 More People in South Asia

  Then elsewhere:

• 2007/08/25: DailyIndia: Severe weather kills 50 in Yemen
• 2007/08/25: BBC: North Korea flood toll increases
  At least 600 people are dead or missing after devastating floods in North Korea this month, state media has reported. One million people have been affected by the downpours, with thousands injured and many more left homeless, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said
• 2007/08/23: ArabNews: Sudan Floods Death Toll Reaches 89

  Greece is being plagued by wildfires:

• 2007/08/26: HuffPo: Greek Fires Race Toward Ancient Olympia And Temple Of Apollo
• 2007/08/26: SwissInfo: Greek fires kill 51 and threaten Olympia
• 2007/08/26: BBC: Greek fires threaten ancient city
  There are fears for the ancient ruins of Olympia, a world heritage site and home to the first Olympics, as Greece's devastating forest fires close in. Water-bombing planes are trying to suppress the flames near the site, and nearby villages have been evacuated. More than 50 people have died since fires burst out on Friday. They are still burning and nearing villages in the south, on islands and near Athens
• 2007/08/26: AFP: Fires engulf southern Greece, at least 51 dead
• 2007/08/26: AP: Winds Relent as Greeks Battle Blazes
• 2007/08/25: BBC: Fires prompt Greek national alert - A nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Greece, amid a rising death toll from raging forest fires
• 2007/08/26: Guardian(UK): Fires sweep Greece turning villages to ash and killing 46
• 2007/08/25: CNN: Greek leader suggests political extremists set fires
  Greek government declares a state of emergency for the entire country - Death toll revised to 44 for fires sweeping southern Greece
• 2007/08/25: PhysOrg: Greek fire toll climbs to 37
• 2007/08/25: HuffPo: Death Toll From Greek Fires Reaches 46
• 2007/08/25: DeutscheWelle: Greek PM declares state of emergency - At least 44 people have died in the worst wildfires to hit Greece in a decade.
• 2007/08/24: Turkish Press: Deadly fires hit parts of southern Europe
• 2007/08/25: BBC: Death toll mounts in Greek fires
  Greek emergency workers continue to find the charred bodies of people burned to death by forest fires that are raging in the south of the country. Officials raised the death toll from the fires over the past two days to 46. Searches of burnt cars, houses and fields were still turning up the remains of those who could not escape. Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis called the situation "an unspeakable tragedy". The government appealed for EU help and later declared a state of emergency. Greek newspapers are calling the southern Peloponnese region a "crematorium"...
• 2007/08/25: CBC: Forest fires kill 41 in Greece - At least 9 die while trapped in traffic jam
• 2007/08/25: AFP: Worst wildfires in Greece in a decade claim 44 lives
• 2007/08/25: AP: Forest Fires Kill 37 in Southern Greece
• 2007/08/24: BBC: At least 15 people have been killed in southern Greece on the deadliest day of wildfires this year
• 2007/08/25: Guardian(UK): At least 12 killed as fires rage across south [of Greece]

  More on the Arctic:

• 2007/08/24: KSJT: Reuters: Could'a seen this coming. First the N. Pole undersea flag. Now the geology to legitimize it
• 2007/08/22: NSIDC: Overview of current sea ice conditions
• 2007/08/24: Wunderground: One third of Arctic ice cap now missing; Midwestern floods; tropical update
• 2007/08/23: ENN: [A Russian] Scientist says tests back Russia Arctic claim
• 2007/08/22: Atmoz: East Siberian Sea Ice Extent
• 2007/08/22: KSJT: The Guardian: Suddenly, Svalbard is a hotspot for research
• 2007/08/22: Guardian(UK): Research boom in Arctic village as oil reserves draw big powers
• 2007/08/21: TruthOut: Islands Emerge As Arctic Ice Shrinks to Record Low
• 2007/08/21: TerraDaily: Russia's New Research Station In Arctic To Open In Late September
• 2007/08/20: Yahoo: Islands emerge as Arctic ice shrinks to record low
• 2007/08/21: OilChange: Now Denmark Eyes North Pole
• 2007/08/20: Globe&Mail: Unknown islands pop up in Norway's Arctic
  Previously unknown islands are appearing as Arctic summer sea ice shrinks to record lows, raising questions about whether global warming is outpacing UN projections, experts said
• 2007/08/20: KSJT: NYTimes, AP, etc: Arctic sea ice hits record low and it's not done yet

  Joe did a three part series you might find relevant:

• 2007/08/23: ClimateP: Are Scientists Overestimating - or Underestimating - Climate Change, Part III
• 2007/08/22: ClimateP: Are Scientists Overestimating - or Underestimating - Climate Change, Part II
• 2007/08/21: ClimateP: Are Scientists Overestimating - or Underestimating - Climate Change, Part I

  A couple of articles on different models:

• 2007/08/21: FergusB: Model behaviour
• 2007/08/20: RealClimate: Musings about models
• 2007/08/21: TerraDaily: Scientists Verify Predictive [sCast] Model For Winter Weather
• 2007/08/20: PhysOrg: Scientists Verify Predictive Model for Winter Weather
• 2007/08/20: NSF: Scientists Verify Predictive Model for Winter Weather - Snow cover in Siberia has been linked to U.S. winter temperatures.

  The hurricane wars are warming up with Dean in the Caribbean:

• 2007/08/25: France24: Mexico's Pemex restores 81 percent of oil production after storm [Hurr. Dean]
• 2007/08/24: DailyGreen: Hurricane Dean's Wake: Death And Cold Water
• 2007/08/22: Xinhuanet: Hurricane Dean will paralyze oil extraction in Mexico
• 2007/08/24: PlanetArk: Hurricane Dean Rains Pound Mexico, Nine Dead
• 2007/08/23: Turkish Press: Death toll rises as remnants of Hurricane Dean cause landslides in Mexico
• 2007/08/24: BBC: Mexico is braced for more flooding, landslides and high winds as stormy weather caused by Hurricane Dean continues to move westwards
• 2007/08/23: CCM: Can Hurricane Dean "Wake" Up Fisheries?
• 2007/08/23: CCM: Hurricane Dean's Cold Wake
• 2007/08/23: DeSmogBlog: Could Dean Be Our Destiny?
• 2007/08/23: Wunderground: The aftermath of Dean
• 2007/08/22: KSJT: AP: Hurricane Dean had third-lowest measured barometer reading ever seen at landfall
• 2007/08/22: ClimateP: Global Warming and Hurricane Preparedness [panel upcoming]
• 2007/08/22: PhysOrg: Dean Third-Most Intense Hurricane Ever
• 2007/08/22: PhysOrg: Hurricane Dean pounds Mexico for a second time
• 2007/08/22: CCM: Crazy Atlantic, Crazy Dean
• 2007/08/21: TerraDaily: Hurricane Dean hits oil-rich Gulf of Mexico heading for second landfall
• 2007/08/22: TerraDaily: Weakened Hurricane Dean set for second Mexico landfall
• 2007/08/22: Wunderground: Dean's final landfall
• 2007/08/21: SciDaily: Texas-Sized Powerful Hurricane Dean Hits Mexico's Yucatan
• 2007/08/21: RigZone: Dean Only Seen Causing Mild Disruptions to Mexico Oil Ops
• 2007/08/22: OilChange: Dean Batters Mexican Oil Industry
• 2007/08/22: BBC: Hurricane slams into Mexico again
  Hurricane Dean has reached Mexico for the second time this week, bringing winds of up to 100mph (160km/h) to the eastern state of Veracruz. Dean struck near the town of Tecolutla, after strengthening to a Category Two storm over the Gulf of Mexico where it hit oil and gas platforms
• 2007/08/22: AFP: Hurricane Dean makes second Mexico landfall
• 2007/08/22: AP: Dean Batters Mexico's Oil Industry
• 2007/08/21: OilDrum: Hurricane Dean Makes Landfall in Mexico Today: Cantarell Now Directly in Dean's Sights
• 2007/08/21: AP: Dean Bears Down on Mexico's Oil Industry
• 2007/08/22: Guardian(UK): Mexico escapes devastation as Dean cools off
• 2007/08/21: CNN: Dean prepares for a second landfall in Mexico
• 2007/08/21: ClimateP: Hurricane Dean on the March
• 2007/08/21: SciBlog: Hurricane Dean's Global Warning
• 2007/08/21: DailyGreen: Hurricane Dean: 1 Of 10 Most Intense Atlantic Hurricanes Ever Measured
• 2007/08/21: CCM: Hurricane Dean: Six of the Ten Most Intense Atlantic Hurricanes Occurred In the Past Decade
• 2007/08/21: CCM: Hurricane Dean: "SOME HISTORIC NOTES ARE IN ORDER HERE"
• 2007/08/20: CCM: National Hurricane Center: Dean at 140 Knots, Maybe Stronger
• 2007/08/20: CCM: Hurricane Dean: Preparing for a Catastrophic Category 5 Landfall on the Yucatan
• 2007/08/20: TerraDaily: Hurricane reaches monstrous category five as it barrels to Mexico
• 2007/08/21: Wunderground: Hurricane Dean--9th strongest hurricane on record
• 2007/08/21: Wunderground: Dean hits Category 5
• 2007/08/21: ESA: Hurricane Dean tracked from space
• 2007/08/21: BDL: Chris Mooney: Hurricane Dean Is the Ninth Most Intense Atlantic Hurricane Ever Measured
• 2007/08/21: HuffPo: What We Can and Can't Say About Global Warming and Hurricane Dean
• 2007/08/21: BBC: Hurricane Dean has struck Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula near the border with Belize, toppling trees and bringing lashing rain
• 2007/08/21: AFP: Hurricane Dean slams into Mexico, barrels across Yucatan Peninsula
• 2007/08/21: CTV: Hurricane Dean weakens to Category 3 over Mexico
• 2007/08/21: Guardian(UK): Mexico braces for Hurricane Dean as battered Jamaica declares state of emergency
• 2007/08/20: MongaBay: Could a hurricane hit California?
• 2007/08/20: NewScientist: Hurricane Dean intensifies as it heads for Mexico
• 2007/08/20: CCM: Hurricane Dean: 918 Millibars, But Not Category 5 (Yet)
• 2007/08/20: CCM: Hurricane Dean Glimpsed from the Space Shuttle
• 2007/08/20: Wunderground: Dean intensifying, near Category 5 strength
• 2007/08/20: Wunderground: Dean roars towards the Yucatan -- Erin's remains kill 6 in Oklahoma
• 2007/08/19: Wunderground: A very bad day in Jamaica
• 2007/08/20: OilChange: Hurricane [Dean] Forces Mexico to Evacuate Oil Rigs
• 2007/08/20: Xinhuanet: Hurricane haunted, Texas gets ready for Dean
• 2007/08/20: BBC: Mexico is bracing itself for the impact of Hurricane Dean after the storm battered Jamaica
• 2007/08/20: CBC: Dean on collision course with Mexico
• 2007/08/20: AFP: Hurricane Dean surges towards Mexico
• 2007/08/20: BBC: Trees have been uprooted and roofs ripped off houses in southern Jamaica, as Hurricane Dean's devastating journey through the Caribbean continues
• 2007/08/20: Guardian(UK): Thousands seek shelter as Hurricane Dean hits Jamaica

  And Sepat in the Pacific:

• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: China Storm [Typhoon Sepat] Death Toll Rises to 39
• 2007/08/21: PlanetArk: Sepat Targets Inland China After Killing Over 20
• 2007/08/20: CBC: Typhoon [Sepat] weakens after lashing Chinese coast, killing 24
• 2007/08/19: BBC: Typhoon Sepat has been battering south-eastern China killing 15 people, after almost a million were evacuated, state media has reported

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2007/08/24: TruthOut: Sea Rise Seen Outpacing Forecasts Due to Antarctica
• 2007/08/24: CCM: The Sky's Not Falling but The Sea Is Rising!
• 2007/08/24: ENN: Global Warming Causing Mediterranean Sea to Rise, Threatening Egypt's Lush Nile Delta
• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: Sea Rise Seen Outpacing Forecasts Due To Antarctica
  A thaw of Antarctic ice is outpacing predictions by the UN climate panel and could in the worst case drive up world sea levels by 2 metres (6 ft) by 2100, a leading expert [Chris Rapley, outgoing BAS head] said on Wednesday. Millions of people, from Bangladesh to Florida and some Pacific island states, live less than a metre above sea level. Most of the world's major cities, from Shanghai to Buenos Aires, are by the sea.
• 2007/08/22: ENN: Antarctic Ice Thawing Faster Than Predicted
  A thaw of Antarctic ice is outpacing predictions by the U.N. climate panel and could in the worst case drive up world sea levels by 2 meters (6 ft) by 2100, a leading expert said on Wednesday. Millions of people, from Bangladesh to Florida and some Pacific island states, live less than a meter above sea level. Most of the world's major cities, from Shanghai to Buenos Aires, are by the sea. Chris Rapley, the outgoing head of the British Antarctic Survey, said there were worrying signs of accelerating flows of ice towards the ocean from both Antarctica and Greenland with little sign of more snow falling inland to compensate. "The ice is moving faster both in Greenland and in the Antarctic than the glaciologists had believed would happen," Rapley told Reuters during a climate seminar in Ny Alesund on a Norwegian Arctic island 1,200 km from the North Pole.
• 2007/08/20: ClimateP: A meter of sea level rise by 2100?

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2007/08/23: TerraDaily: UK Satellite Mission To Improve Accuracy Of Climate-Change Measurements Gains Global Support [TRUTHS]
• 2007/08/20: TerraDaily: NASA Ozone Instrument TOMS Laid To Rest After Three Decades

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2007/08/25: PhysOrg: Climate Change Is a Mixed Bag for Inuit
• 2007/08/24: Guardian(UK): 'We're in meltdown' - Sea ice in the Arctic is approaching a record low - and the locals wear T-shirts in the summer.
• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: Brush Fires Spread In Southern Italy, 3 Dead
• 2007/08/22: TreeHugger: Rising Temperatures Hindering the Growth of Tropical Trees
• 2007/08/22: SciDaily: Global Warming Threatens Moose, Wolves
• 2007/08/20: CCurrents: Brutal Lessons From An Antarctic Summer
• 2007/08/20: ABC(Au): Changing climate may make way for cotton crops
• 2007/08/20: PhysOrg: Hot Weather Impacts Animal Reproduction
• 2007/08/20: PlanetArk: Climate Change Ruffles Britain's Winter Birds
• 2007/08/18: CanWest: Pine beetles' progress spawns fear to the east
  Seen up close, the extent of British Columbia's pine plague awes visitors and rings alarm bells in Central Canada
• 2007/08/20: BBC: US Midwest heatwave kills dozens
  A two-week heatwave in the southern and Midwestern US has resulted in the deaths of at least 43 people, many of whom were elderly, officials have said

And then there are the tropical rainforests:

• 2007/08/22: PlanetArk: Brazil Rejects Reports of Amazon Logging in Camps
• 2007/08/22: BBC: Brazil denies Amazon logging link
  Brazil's government has promised to investigate allegations that its policy of settling landless communities in the Amazon is encouraging deforestation
• 2007/08/21: TruthOut: Amazon Forest Sold Off in Housing Scam, Claims Greenpeace

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2007/08/22: PhysOrg: Where did English summer go?

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2007/08/25: ClimateP: Tragic Irony in Chinese Mine Flooding
• 2007/08/23: WilmingtonStar: Governor [Mike Easley] asks North Carolinians to cut water use by 20 percent
• 2007/08/25: JFleck: Climate Change and Colorado Water
• 2007/08/24: JFleck: Not Melting So Much After All?
• 2007/08/23: ABC(Au): Things not looking good for River Murray
• 2007/08/22: ABQJournal: California Drought
• 2007/08/19: JFleck: Drought: The Supply and Demand Question
• 2007/08/20: PhysOrg: High temperatures, low precipitation creating many problems
• 2007/08/20: SciDaily: High Temperatures, Low Precipitation Creating Many Problems
• 2007/08/19: SMH: Drought returns to many parts of NSW
• 2007/08/18: DNN: Farmers hit hard by drought across U.S.

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2007/08/26: Times(UK): To eat . . . . or to drive?
  Farmers all over the world are finding a sudden boom in demand for their crops --- but as fuel for cars rather than as food
• 2007/08/21: REA: Food & Fuel: Biofuels Could Benefit World's Undernourished

  And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

• 2007/08/23: TerraDaily: Global warming to decimate China's harvests [up to 10% by 2030]
• 2007/08/24: PlanetArk: Climate Change to Strain China Food Supply By 2030
• 2007/08/24: BBC: Wheat prices reach record level
  Wheat prices have hit record highs on global commodity markets, bringing the threat of rising bread prices. Bad weather in key grain growing areas such as Canada and parts of Europe has limited supplies as demand has risen, sparking fears of a supply shortfall. Surging prices are also expected to have widespread fallout for consumers. While it will mean higher bread prices, it could also trigger an increase in meat and dairy prices as farmers battle to pass on rising feed costs. Global wheat stockpiles will slip to their lowest levels in 26 years as a result, official US figures predicted earlier this month.
• 2007/08/23: DeSmogBlog: China's harvests face decimation due to global warming
• 2007/08/23: Yahoo: Global warming to decimate China's harvests
• 2007/08/22: ChinaDaily: Bad weather could eat into autumn harvest

  And in other agricultural issues:

• 2007/08/07: Culinate: Wheat, forever? Perennial wheat crops may end the era of monocrops, topsoil runoff, and aquatic dead zones
• 2007/08/24: TruthOut: Farming the Concrete Jungle - In cities across the country urban farmers are growing communities, greening the landscape and revolutionizing food politics
• Topsoil Loss - Causes, Effects, and Implications: A Global Perspective
• 2007/08/21: UIUC: Do higher corn prices mean less adherence to ecological principles?

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2007/08/22: MongaBay: Could peatlands conservation be more profitable than palm oil?
• 2007/08/20: AbqJournal: Tech Scientist's Idea Could Offset Warming
• 2007/08/21: SciDaily: Ecological Restoration: A Global Strategy For Mitigating Climate Change
• 2007/08/20: C411: Beat global warming, a slice at a time [wedges]

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2007/08/24: AfterGutenberg: Hero eBike
• 2007/08/23: GristMill: Transportation is a big honking deal - Responsible climate policy means reducing transportation emissions
• 2007/08/21: Yahoo: Does Flying Harm the Planet?

  The Plane Stupid Climate Camp is done; the news continues:

• 2007/08/24: ZMag: Giving The Climate Camp A Good Telling Off! Guardian Environment Editor Lambasts the Heathrow Climate Camp's "Media Mismanagement"
• 2007/08/21: Guardian(UK): Beneath Heathrow's pall of misery, a new political movement is born
• 2007/08/21: EnergyBulletin: Climate camp's media mismanagement
• 2007/08/21: Guardian(UK): Climate change protests spread for a day of disobedience
• 2007/08/21: Stoat: Climate protests at Heathrow: why?
• 2007/08/21: PlanetArk: Climate Protest Spreads to Sizewell Nuclear Plant
• 2007/08/20: ABC(Au): Police converge on Heathrow climate change protest
• 2007/08/20: OilChange: Six Hurt in [Heathrow/BAA] Climate Protest
• 2007/08/20: Xinhuanet: Climate change protesters clash with police near Heathrow airport
• 2007/08/19: Guardian(UK): Heathrow protesters clash with riot police
• 2007/08/19: BBC: Climate change campaigners have been involved in minor scuffles with police as they targeted the offices of Heathrow Airport operator BAA

  As for the role of building codes:

• 2007/08/25: Yomiuri: Eco-home is where heart is / Such houses cut energy consumption, but out of reach for many
• 2007/08/23: EnvFin: Builders overestimate cost of going green [underestimate their impact on climate change] -- WBCSD
• 2007/08/22: AfterGutenberg: Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings
• 2007/08/21: SciDaily: Building Green For Less Green: Design Team Plans Lower-cost, Energy-efficient Housing

  And carbon sequestration:

• 2007/08/24: AfterGutenberg: To reach further and inject deeper
• 2007/08/22: PlanetArk: Blue Source To Capture Kansas CO2, Up Oil Output

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2007/08/25: TreeHugger: Sundarbans [an alluvial archipelago spread across Bangladesh and West Bengal] Arms Itself Against Global Warming

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2007/08/24: PhysOrg: Geoengineering plan is criticized
• 2007/08/24: NEN: Fertilize plankton? Geoengineering might work but that is no reason to do it! Fix the cause, not the effect!
• 2007/08/23: MongaBay: Wind-blown dust boosts biological productivity of ocean
• 2007/08/20: PhysOrg: Scientist Unveils Plan on Climate Change

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2007/08/24: CPD: Information on the early Holocene climate constrains the summer sea ice projections for the 21st century by H. Goosse et al.
• 2007/08/24: ACP: Geophysical validation of temperature retrieved by the ESA processor from MIPAS/ENVISAT atmospheric limb-emission measurements by M. Ridolfi et al.
• 2007/08/23: ACP: An Asian emission inventory of anthropogenic emission sources for the period 1980-2020 by T. Ohara et al.
• 2007/08/20: ACP: A case study on biomass burning aerosols: effects on aerosol optical properties and surface radiation levels by A. Arola et al.
• 2007/08/20: ACP: First direct observation of the atmospheric CO2 year-to-year increase from space by M. Buchwitz et al.
• 2007/08/24: ACPD: Clouds and aerosols in Puerto Rico -- a new evaluation by J. D. Allan et al.
• 2007/08/23: ACPD: A climatology of surface ozone in the extra tropics: cluster analysis of observations and model results by O. A. Tarasova et al.
• 2007/08/21: GRL: (ab$) Significance of trends toward earlier snowmelt runoff, Columbia and Missouri Basin headwaters, western United States by Johnnie N. Moore et al.
• 2007/08/22: GRL: (ab$) Recent volume loss of British Columbian glaciers, Canada by E. Schiefer et al.
• 2007/08/21: CP: Mid-Holocene climate change in Europe: a data-model comparison by S. Brewer et al.
• 2007/08/21: ACPD: On the attribution of stratospheric ozone and temperature changes to changes in ozone-depleting substances and well-mixed greenhouse gases by T. G. Shepherd & A. I. Jonsson
• 2007/08/20: ACPD: Modelling the impact of sub-grid scale emission variability on upper-air concentration by S. Galmarini et al.
• 2007/08/20: ACPD: An episode of extremely high PM concentrations over Central Europe caused by dust emitted over the southern Ukraine by W. Birmili et al.
• 2007/08/21: PNAS: Variations in behavior and condition of a Southern Ocean top predator in relation to in situ oceanographic conditions by M. Biuw et al.
• 2007/08/21: PNAS: Empirical evidence for a recent slowdown in irrigation-induced cooling by Céline Bonfils & David Lobell
• 2007/08/21: PNAS: Flexible energy storage devices based on nanocomposite paper by Victor L. Pushparaj et al.

  Before we get into politics, there was some science done:

• 2007/08/23: TU Delft: Highly sensitive weather radar a gain for climate research
• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: Study Casts Doubt on Earlier Ice Caps Research [41 mya]
• 2007/08/23: DailyIndia: New marine lab begins new coral study
• 2007/08/22: PhysOrg: Climate change goes underground
• 2007/08/22: Eureka: Climate change goes underground
  Scientists are hoping early research showing groundwater impacts will help underground climate change surface as a full-fledged part of the global system
• 2007/08/22: JOIScience: ODP scientists say no large Northern Hemisphere ice sheets 41 million years ago
• 2007/08/13: RSMAS: Corals and Climate Change - Lab offers new way to look at bleaching, ocean acidity, and global warming
• 2007/08/20: PhysOrg: 8,200-year-old cooling is analyzed
• 2007/08/20: TerraDaily: Ocean Supergyre Link To Climate Regulator
• 2007/08/20: PlanetArk: Australian Scientists Call For Ocean Network Probe
• 2007/08/20: SciDaily: Meta-analysis Examine Factors Associated With Death From Heatstroke
• 2007/08/20: UAF: Scientists: Polar [Noctilucent] ice clouds may be climate change symptom

  The Pielkes fan club is fading:

• 2007/08/26: FergusB: End of an era? "Climate Science" closing down

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

• 2007/08/22: ENN: Kyoto gives chemical plants [HFC22] windfall: UNEP

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2007/08/25: TreeHugger: Climate Care Delivers One Million Tonnes of Offsets
• 2007/08/24: TreeHugger: Chicago Climate Futures ExchangeTM to Launch Certified Emission Reductions (CERs)
• 2007/08/24: PlanetArk: Chicago Climate Exchange to Offer Kyoto Contracts
• 2007/08/23: EnvFin: Carbon Trust delivers 10.8Mt of carbon savings [since 2001]

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2007/08/20: CharlotteObserver: Should Congress consider universal energy tax? NO: Dingell's mock proposal is nothing but a ruse to scare voters
• 2007/08/20: CharlotteObserver: Should Congress consider universal energy tax? YES: At least Dingell's economy-wrecking plan is honest about sacrifice
• 2007/06/21: ChrisTindal: Steep carbon tax could actually stimulate economy: report

  The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

• 2007/08/23: ClimateP: Rule Four of Offsets: No Enhanced Oil Recovery

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2007/08/24: PlanetArk: UN Voices Concern Over US, Australia on Climate
  US and Australian calls for a new world deal to fight climate change and ditch the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol misrepresent key elements of the UN plan, the global body's top climate official said on Thursday. "I've read some things recently which rather concern me," Yvo de Boer said of US and Australian criticisms of Kyoto.
• 2007/08/20: CSM: Who resolves Arctic oil disputes? Antarctica provides a model for settling competing claims
• 2007/08/20: IndiaTimes: [West Bengal chief minister] Buddhadeb [Bhattacharjee] blames US for global warming

  The APEC climate policy statement for the upcoming September meeting has been leaked:

• 2007/08/22: Maribo: Leak of Asia-Pacific [APEC] climate policy
• 2007/08/20: GristMill: APEC's weak brew on climate
• 2007/08/20: PlanetArk: APEC to Back "Aspirational" Climate Targets - Report
• 2007/08/17: GreenPeace(Au): Leaked copy of APEC Leaders Statement
• 2007/08/20: CanWest: Emissions plan 'bogus,' Green leader charges
  A leaked draft of next month's planned APEC leaders' declaration on the environment shows Prime Minister Stephen Harper is poised to back a "bogus" new global plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, charges Green party leader Elizabeth May. [...] The leaked copy of the declaration -- now posted at the Greenpeace-Australia website -- states the leaders will "agree that a long-term aspirational global emissions reduction goal will be a key component of the post-2012 framework" for fighting climate change. The declaration would acknowledge "national decisions" made by some countries to set specific reduction targets. "The notion of 'aspirational' targets is bogus," Ms. May told the Citizen yesterday. "This is really dangerous stuff. We need to be negotiating serious targets."

ASEAN held a conference this week:

• 2007/08/23: Yahoo: Renewable energy can save East Asia two trillion US dollars in fuel costs [over the next 23 years]
• 2007/08/22: TerraDaily: Nuclear energy safety on top of ASEAN energy ministers' agenda

  The security and conflict under GW meme has been active:

• 2007/08/20: WaPo: Warming Will Exacerbate Global Water Conflicts
• 2007/08/24: KSJT: Wash. Post: Hotter earth means more rain -- but where? Results won't be peaceful, either.
• 2007/08/24: ClimateP: Warming Will Worsen Water Wars
• 2007/08/23: CCM: Overheard in the Hart Senate Office Building
• 2007/08/22: TreeHugger: Climate Change Called Security Issue
• 2007/08/22: PlanetArk: Climate Change Called Security Issue Like Cold War
• 2007/08/21: Yahoo: Climate change called security issue like Cold War
• 2007/08/21: ENN: Climate change called security issue like Cold War
  Climate change is the biggest security challenge since the Cold War but people have not woken up to the risks nor to easy solutions such as saving energy at home, experts said on Tuesday. "We're not yet collectively grasping the scale of what we need to do," British climate change ambassador John Ashton told a seminar of 40 scientists and officials from 13 nations in Ny Alesund, Norway, about 1,200 km (750 miles) from the North Pole. He said global warming should be recast as a security issue, such as war or terrorism, to help mobilize support for tougher global action to cut emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.
• 2007/08/20: DeSmogBlog: Global warming cited as a cause of strife in Darfur and elsewhere

  UNFCCC head, Yvo de Boer, made some statements that are bound to get twisted:

• 2007/08/25: TreeHugger: Paying Poorer Countries to Cut Emissions so We Don't Have to
• 2007/08/24: PlanetArk: Climate Fight Must Be Won in Developing Nations - UN
• 2007/08/23: Yahoo: Bush climate meeting must stay within UN fold: official
• 2007/08/22: ABC(Au): Cut emissions where it's cheapest: UN official [Yvo de Boer]
• 2007/08/22: OilChange: Rich Should "Pay Poor to Cut Carbon"
• 2007/08/22: BBC: Rich 'can pay poor to cut carbon'
  Rich nations should be absolved from the need to cut emissions if they pay developing countries to do it on their behalf, a senior UN official has said. The controversial suggestion from Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), has angered environmental groups. They say climate change will not be solved unless rich and poor nations both cut emissions together. But Mr de Boer said the challenge was so great that action was needed now.

I suppose it is the role of diplomats to be endlessly optimistic, but really:

• 2007/08/26: Yahoo: "Momentum building" for new climate deal: U.N.
• 2007/08/20: DeSmogBlog: UN chief says U.S. is finally listening to urgent call to arms on climate change

  The WCI set some GHG reduction targets this week to much commentary:

• WCI: Western Climate Initiative
• 2007/08/23: TruthOut: West Goes Wild in Battle Over Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• 2007/08/24: TCE: Western States, BC and Manitoba Join In Climate Goal
• 2007/08/23: EnvFin: North America states, provinces announce GHG goal
• 2007/08/24: HuffPo: The Right Climate Target
• 2007/08/23: WarmingLaw: 350 Million Metric Tons
• 2007/08/23: DeSmogBlog: Western States, Provinces Join New Carbon-Cutting Pact
• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: US, Canadian West Set Joint Carbon-Cutting Target
• 2007/08/23: AfterGutenberg: Western Climate Initiative
• 2007/08/23: SeattlePI: States set target for reducing emissions
• 2007/08/23: SF Gate: West goes wild in battle over greenhouse gas emissions [WRCAI]
• 2007/08/23: USAToday: 6 states set greenhouse gas reduction goal
  Six western states and two Canadian provinces announced a regional goal Wednesday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The Western Climate Initiative includes Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington and the provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba. The group wants emissions cut by 15% over 2005 levels within 13 years
• 2007/08/23: CanWest: Doer pushes green deadline back to 2020
• 2007/08/22: ENN: North American group [WCI: Western Regional Climate Action Initiative] agrees 2020 carbon cut

  And on the American political front:

• 2007/08/23: GristMill: Alternative information - GA state legislature tries to figure out whether climate change is real
• 2007/08/24: WarmingLaw: Will Phoenix Also Rise? Or Maybe Santa Fe? Salt Lake City?
• 2007/08/23: HuffPo: Alternative Information
• 2007/08/23: ClimateP: Introducing Congressman Jay Inslee with an Environmental Victory [court orders admin report]
• 2007/08/22: TruthOut: Priority Changes on Green Policies
  Democrats in Congress turn to lower-profile projects to combat global warming and aim to boost funding 33 percent.
• 2007/08/22: GristMill: Big Oil's biggest toadies - Big Oil's influence on individual members of Congress
• 2007/08/21: DeSmogBlog: Yet another case of Bush administration science suppression
• 2007/08/22: CDreams: Voluntary "Carbon Offsetting" as Strategy for Privatizing America's Public Lands
• 2007/08/21: ABC(Au): Bush changes tack on global warming (sic)
• 2007/08/20: HillHeat: Senator [Harry] Reid (D-Nev) Calls for Global Coal Plant Moratorium
• 2007/08/18: SF Gate: Global warming watchdog invests in oil, coal, utilities
  Investments will be put in a blind trust, chairwoman of Air Resources Board says. The new chair of the California Air Resources Board owns stocks in several oil, coal and utility firms, some of which are likely to be affected by rules the agency implements as part of the state's groundbreaking law to fight global warming...

The courts came down against the Bush administration again this week:

• 2007/08/25: CSpin: Bush Administration ordered to produce climate report
• 2007/08/21: ABC(US): Court Rebukes Bush Administation on Global Warming - Groups Say Administration Suppressed Climate Change Findings
• 2007/08/23: KSJT: AP, SF Chronicle, etc: Federal judge says White House is illegally foot-dragging on global warming reports
• 2007/08/22: MongaBay: Court rebukes Bush Administration on global warming report
• 2007/08/22: TruthOut: Court Rebukes Bush Administration on Global Warming
• 2007/08/22: PhysOrg: U.S. Told to Issue Global Warming Plans
• 2007/08/22: TreeHugger: President Bush Ordered to Release Overdue Global-Warming Plan
• 2007/08/22: Yahoo: Environmentalists win White House suit - Judge orders the Bush administration to issue two scientific reports on global warming...
• 2007/08/22: CDreams: AP: Bush Must Release Global Warming Reports
• 2007/08/22: SF Gate: Administration breaking law by withholding global warming report, judge rules
• 2007/08/21: Yahoo: Judge Orders Bush Administration to Issue Global Warming Report
  The Bush administration violated U.S. law by failing to produce a study on the impact of global warming and must issue a summary by March, a federal judge ruled. District Judge Saundra Armstrong in Oakland, California, said the U.S. government "unlawfully withheld action" required under the Global Change Research Act of 1990 to update a research plan and scientific assessment of climate change.

The Bush administration changed the rules on mountaintop removal this week:

• 2007/08/23: TruthOut: Rule to Expand Mountaintop Coal Mining
• 2007/08/23: IHT: Bush's 'parting gift to the coal industry' - a regulation that would extend the coal mining practice of mountaintop removal

  Meanwhile Detroit continues its relentless campaign to make itself obsolete:

• 2007/08/25: DelawareOnline: Carmakers fight fuel-efficiency bill - Detroit pushes less stringent alternative to Senate measure

  While in the UK:

• 2007/08/24: Stoat: NERC strategy [Natural Environment Research Council]
• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: Britain Set to Miss Climate Change Targets - Report
• 2007/08/23: OilChange: UK "May Miss 2020 Target for CO2"
• 2007/08/23: BBC: UK 'may fail 2020 target for CO2'
  Further promises by the government to meet greenhouse gas targets look likely to be broken, a think tank has warned. Cambridge Econometrics were one of the first to forecast that the government would miss its target to cut CO2 by 20% for 2010. Ministers rejected the think tank's claims for several years before finally conceding it was correct. The latest report says at the current rate of progress this target will not even be reached by 2020. By then, the government is theoretically striving to cut CO2 by a minimum of 26%.
• 2007/08/21: PlanetArk: No New UK Nuclear Power Likely Before 2020 - Poyry [Energy Consulting]
• 2007/08/20: BBC: Government asks EU for flood cash
  The government has formally applied to the European Commission for money to help deal with the floods crisis which hit parts of England. The government has lodged an application for support under the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) for coping with natural disasters. Flood Recovery Minister John Healey said the total cost of the flood damage was now estimated at £2.7bn. The likely EUSF donation has been put at between £60m and £125m

And in Europe:

• 2007/08/24: ENN: Climate Fight Brings Mega Profits to EU Power Firms
  European power companies are making billions of euros in excess profits in the European Union's battle to beat global warming by cutting emissions of carbon gases, and consumers are paying for it, economists say. The electricity generators are given, free of charge, permits to emit millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide which are currently worth around 20 euros a tonne, but are then charging consumers as if they had been made to pay for the permits. Michael Grubb, Chief Economist at the Carbon Trust and Director of Climate Strategies, calculates that this practice which he says is economically justifiable gives the industry windfall profits of some 20 billion euros ($27.14 billion) a year.
• 2007/08/21: TerraDaily: EU ponders paying Britain up to 145 million euros in flood damage aid
• 2007/08/21: PlanetArk: EU Gives 2 Million Euros to Relieve Sudan Floods

  Specifically in Germany:

• 2007/08/24: DeutscheWelle: German Cabinet Approves Ambitious Climate Plan
  Two years into its term, Germany's governing coalition on Thursday approved a 30-point package intended to improve climate protection and help meet its CO2 reduction goals. Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel called the package a "quantum leap." He said on Friday morning on German public broadcaster ARD that it would contribute to a 35 to 36 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by the year 2020, compared to 1990. With additional government programs, Germany would reach its goal of 40 percent reduction in emissions by 2020
• 2007/08/25: DeutscheWelle: Germany Trains Floodmasters to Deal With Future Crises
  In August 2002, Germany saw some of the worst floods in its history. From the devastation, a new hope in the form of a university degree course in dealing with floods arose from the murky waters
• 2007/08/24: PlanetArk: Germany Plans Energy Savings Measures
• 2007/08/24: PlanetArk: German Government Backs Measures to Battle Climate Change
• 2007/08/24: PlanetArk: [Leading German gas supplier, E.ON] Ruhrgas Fears German Climate Plan is Unfair to Gas
• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: German Ministers Agree to Cut CO2 Emissions 36 Percent
  Germany's economy and environment ministers have agreed that Germany should reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 36 percent by 2020 compared with the level of emissions in 1990, the environment minister said on Wednesday
• 2007/08/23: ENN: [German Chanellor Angela] Merkel to focus on climate, business in China, Japan

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2007/08/25: ABC(Au): Conference looking at climate change and pulp mill
  A conference in Launceston today is examining the issues of climate change, the proposed pulp mill and the loss of agricultural land. The head of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Professor Ian Lowe, addressed delegates this morning on the potential effects and challenges of climate change
• 2007/08/24: SMH: The great desert dream
  Often seen as the most desolate part of the county, Australia's north may yet prove to be an oasis for the drought-stricken agricultural industry
• 2007/08/24: ABC(Au): Forests key to climate change battle
• 2007/08/24: ABC(Au): Labor ad campaign attacks Govt's nuclear agenda
  Federal Labor has launched a series of television advertisements attacking the Howard Government's plan to build more than 25 nuclear power plants across Australia. The campaign begins in Queensland tonight and questions the Federal Government's claims that nuclear energy is a solution to climate change
• 2007/08/24: ABC(Au): White Cliffs solar energy glory recognised
• 2007/08/24: ABC(Au): Attitude to nuclear power will change, PM [Howard] says
• 2007/08/08: CarbonEquity: Climate advocacy and the 2007 election
• 2007/08/21: BYMNews: Australia. Far north Queensland plan to include climate change forecasts
• 2007/08/22: ABC(Au): North [Australia] not immune from climate change: WWF
• 2007/08/21: ABC(Au): Coal miners [CFMEU] try to address climate change
• 2007/08/20: ABC(Au): Differences emerge in Coalition over nuclear power
  Fission is developing in the federal Coalition over the issue of nuclear power, with the Nationals candidate for Richmond and Prime Minister John Howard holding different views on the future of the industry in Australia. Nationals candidate for Richmond, Sue Page, in northern New South Wales, has promised voters that her party will not allow nuclear power stations or waste dumps anywhere in Australia. That is in contrast to Prime Minister John Howard's support for the expansion of Australia's nuclear industry as a possible antidote to climate change

While in Asia:

• 2007/08/23: Yahoo: SKorea sets up greenhouse gas fund
  South Korea said Thursday it has set up a 200-billion-won (212 million dollar) fund to cut greehouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. The fund will finance projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions such as solar energy and waste heat recovery projects, said Cho Seok, head of the energy and resources policy bureau at the energy ministry
• 2007/08/15: Yahoo: China, India face water risk from biofuel: IWMI
  Present plans by China and India for biofuel production could mean they face water scarcity by 2030, a researcher said. Charlotte de Fraiture, a Colombo-based scientist with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), said in an interview that she did not "see a lot of potential for biofuel production in either China or India because of the water. "It's not that I'm saying don't go for biofuels. It's just that India and China are two water-short countries."

And in China:

• 2007/08/26: TreeHugger: China: Choking on Growth
• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: Coal Dependency Seen Braking China's Climate Drive
  China will have trouble cutting its dependence on coal despite growing pressures to fight global warming, a leading Chinese official [Yue Ruisheng, a deputy director general at China's State Environmental Protection Administration] told an international panel of experts on Wednesday on an Arctic island
• 2007/08/20: Yahoo: Young Chinese worried about global warming, but want cars

  And in Canada, the minority Conservatives are struggling to do nothing:

• 2007/08/26: TStar: Credibility essential for climate program
• 2007/08/23: Globe&Mail: Ignoring Kyoto law could bring down Conservatives, opposition warns
• 2007/08/23: TCE: Opposition Could End Government Over Kyoto
• 2007/08/24: TStar: Dion challenges PM on clean air - Urges Conservatives to revive climate change legislation before ending parliamentary session
• 2007/08/24: CanWest: Poor climate for MP's laws [Cons & Kyoto law]
• 2007/08/23: PlanetArk: Canada Report Defends Saying No To Kyoto Target
• 2007/08/23: Globe&Mail: Ignoring Kyoto law could bring down Tories, opposition warns
• 2007/08/23: CanWest: Kyoto plan for the birds, Tories say - Conservative Report Appears To Ignore New Law
• 2007/08/22: CTV: Feds thumb nose at opposition's Kyoto bill
  The Conservative government has thumbed its nose at the opposition's legislative attempts to force compliance with the Kyoto Protocol, simply republishing its own greenhouse-gas reduction plan as an official response. The reaction is likely to spur a fresh political and even legal battle over what the government is required to do.
• 2007/08/22: CanWest: Analysis questions Baird's Kyoto warnings - Statistics on economic impact 'made to order,' critic says

  While the tricky question of the tar sands looms:

• 2007/08/25: RigZone: Alberta Oil, Gas Land Sales Revenues Slump [60%] in 2007
• 2007/08/20: CanWest: Fight over oilsands will shake Canada - Former Alberta premier's warning foreshadows coming constitutional fracas

  And other issues percolate:

• 2007/08/24: GeorgiaStraight: A methane battle is brewing
• 2007/08/20: ChrisTindal: What They Knew Could Hurt Them - The line from the Conservatives is...
• 2007/08/21: Globe&Mail: The green rebate debacle

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

• 2007/08/16: RepublicEastVan: There is sufficient money for global warming
  Governments last week raised half a trillion dollars to head off a threat to bonuses for speculators
• 2007/08/20: ClimateP: RFF Must Read: The Stern Report Got It Right

  Apocalypso anyone? or Utopiate?:

• 2007/08/22: EarthMeanders: The Depauperate World of 2049 - And what an equitable, just and ecologically sustainable society will look like

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2007/08/24: GristMill: You call this wonkery? New article fails to shed light on state renewable portfolio standards
• 2007/08/23: Deltoid: Another meltdown at the Australian
• 2007/08/22: CSpin: Newsweek editor's pre-apology

  The cynic in me wants to say the big boys are taking control:

• 2007/08/25: CTB: Media Buy-outs Going Green

  Here is something for your library:

• 2007/08/22: EnergyBulletin: Immunize yourself against future hype [Book Plug] _Future Hype -- The Myths of Technology Change_ by Bob Seidensticker

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2007/08/24: CDreams: HuffPo: The 11th Hour: Something To Talk About
• 2007/08/21: CDreams: The 11th Hour: The Climate Is Changing?
• 2007/08/20: HuffPo: The 11th Hour: The Climate Is Changing...

  Meanwhile in the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2007/08/22: WarmingLaw: California v. San Bernardino Co. Lawsuit Settled
• 2007/08/22: LA Times: Court rules governments can require greener vehicles in fleets
  Manufacturers fear ruling on Southern California regulations could lead other cities and states to demand costly alternative technologies.
• 2007/08/22: LA Times: State reaches settlement on gas emissions
  Officials agree to measure how much the [San Bernardino County] region contributes to global warming and set goals to cut greenhouse gas.
• 2007/08/21: WarmingLaw: San Bernardino [Vs. the State of California] suit may settle today
• 2007/08/21: WarmingLaw: Court OKs State and Local Purchases of Clean Cars

  Brian is having fun trying to scare up a bet:

• 2007/08/21: BSD: An open letter to Fred Thompson
• 2007/08/19: BSD: Hoping to bet Rush Limbaugh

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2007/08/26: SciDaily: Hydrogen Economy? Organic Polymer Stores Hydrogen Safely
• 2007/08/22: FuturePundit: Future Old Car Batteries To Power Houses?
• 2007/08/25: TreeHugger: California Developers Making Solar Roofing A Standard Item
• 2007/08/23: CNN: Biography: Gerhard Knies
  Gerhard Knies is the co-founder and coordinator of TREC [Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation] TREC promotes renewable energy in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa - Knies sees solar power as a source of income for poorer countries When he retired from his research into particle physics in 2001, Knies was concerned that the planet's impending energy crisis was not being solved. "I think it is insane to organize collective suicide and to participate in that," he told CNN. "The fossil fuel system and our economy are doing that right now. We cannot survive in this way."
• 2007/08/23: Forbes: Energy Sources Of The Future
• 2007/08/24: ClimateP: Make your own wind and solar power systems
• 2007/08/24: NEN: Solar: Getting bigger, more affordable everyday
• 2007/08/23: EnvFin: [Danish wind turbine giant] Vestas [Wind Systems] rides favourable wind to 1 billion euros sales
• 2007/08/23: Eureka: 'Thin-layer' solar cells may bring cheaper 'green' power
• 2007/08/23: TerraDaily: Pellets Of Power [solid ammonia borane] Designed To Deliver Hydrogen To Future Cars
• 2007/08/22: PlanetArk: Construction Begins on Uganda's $799 Million Hydro Dam
• 2007/08/22: Eureka: Carnegie Mellon researchers look at fossil fuel impacts - Urge US officials to consider alternatives
• 2007/08/21: GristMill: Pricey oil, more carbon
• 2007/08/21: NEN: Green Cowboy
  "The folks who sell oil, coal, and nuclear reactors spend tremendous amounts of money convincing the American people that what they sell is economical, safe, and clean. They contribute huge sums of money to the politicians who repeat their propaganda. How often have you heard phrases such as 'clean coal,' 'safe nuclear power,' 'clean diesel,' or 'low-level radioactive waste'? These phrases are images invented by highly paid, highly skilled advertising firms. But these claims are lies. There are even ads on TV and in the newspapers featuring pristine landscapes and young, freshly scrubbed spokespeople advertising coal as a clean energy resource. This is ridiculous. Coal is inherently filthier than dirt itself. The current energy industry has quite masterfully succeeded in lulling many Americans to sleep on the dangers of the poisons they sell while portraying renewables as a distant dream." -S. David Freeman, author and star of "Who Killed The Electric Car?"
• 2007/08/20: GristMill: Regular oil cleaner than ethanol
• 2007/08/20: TreeHugger: Greening The Heartland: Wind Energy On Show At The Iowa State Fair
• 2007/08/20: Eureka: Silicon nanoparticles enhance performance of solar cells
• 2007/08/20: Eureka: Working toward new energy with electrochemistry
• 2007/08/20: Eureka: Coal and black liquor can produce energy from papermaking
• 2007/08/20: Eureka: Coal-based fuels and products hit the refinery

  Another major article from The Oil Drum:

• 2007/08/24: OilDrum: Energy Grades and Historic Economic Growth by Douglas Reynolds

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2007/08/26: WaPo: Coal - What It Costs Us
• 2007/08/25: GristMill: Killing coal: A live option - Why does everyone assume that coal mining in Appalachia must continue?
• 2007/08/24: HuffPo: Blood Coal, Not "Clean Coal"
• 2007/08/20: GristMill: Everything you need to know about liquid coal
• 2007/08/20: HuffPo: Coal Myths

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2007/08/23: AfterGutenberg: Black Liquor to dimethyl ether
• 2007/08/20: LA Times: Drunk on ethanol - Basing energy policy on corn could fuel a potential disaster.
• 2007/08/21: GristMill: Big Ethanol
• 2007/08/21: EnvEcon: Ethanol dominoes keep falling

  Nuclear controversies keep piling up:

• 2007/08/23: ENewsCourier: Heat still hinders nuclear plant
• 2007/08/22: TruthOut: Tennessee Nuclear Fuel Problems Kept Secret
• 2007/08/22: BostonGlobe: Yankee plant closed but its waste remains
  With the site of one of the country's first nuclear power plants finally considered safe for public use, all that remains of the reactor that stood for 47 years in the woodsy town of Rowe is its radioactive waste. The federal government announced this month that the Yankee Rowe site had been officially decommissioned. But 266,000 pounds of spent fuel is still sitting on about 3 acres of land, sealed in protective barriers in the Western Massachusetts town teetering on the Vermont border.
• 2007/08/21: AP: Tenn. Nuclear Fuel Problems Kept Secret
  A three-year veil of secrecy in the name of national security was used to keep the public in the dark about the handling of highly enriched uranium at a nuclear fuel processing plant - including a leak that could have caused a deadly, uncontrolled nuclear reaction. The leak turned out to be one of nine violations or test failures since 2005 at privately owned Nuclear Fuel Services Inc., a longtime supplier of fuel to the U.S. Navy's nuclear fleet. The public was never told about the problems when they happened. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission revealed them for the first time last month when it released an order demanding improvements at the company, but no fine.
• 2007/08/20: SandersResearch: Desperately seeking uranium
• 2007/08/20: GristMill: A hot time in the old town tonight
• 2007/08/20: MTobis: Nasty feedback loop
• 2007/08/23: TerraDaily: Japan set for emergency plan to meet power demand [due to the suspension of a giant nuclear plant following an earthquake]

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2007/08/26: SF Gate: After oil supplies dry up, what's Plan B? Extreme scarcity could be disastrous for U.S. economy
• 2007/08/25: SLTrib: The end of oil is not a possibility but a certainty
• 2007/08/20: GristMill: How bad is peak oil, really?

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2007/08/24: CSM: As an energy-saver, the clothesline makes a comeback - A 'Right to Dry' movement is growing, with some states introducing legislation to override clothesline bans
• 2007/08/23: GristMill: NYT columnists drinking the efficiency Kool-Aid - And it's goood...

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

• 2007/08/25: AfterGutenberg: Waiting for Godot to arrive in a Chevy Volt
• 2007/08/21: ENN: Global Electric Motorcars, A Chrysler Company, Wins California Eco Award

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

• 2007/08/21: ClimateP: Dole goes bananas for offsets
• 2007/08/20: GristMill: We like pina coladas (and getting caught in the rain)
• 2007/08/21: ABC(Au): Eco-millionaires see boom times ahead
• 2007/08/13: Ceres: Investors Achieve Record Results in 2007 in Spurring Corporate Action on Climate Change
• 2007/08/19: Yahoo: Eco-millionaires see boom times ahead
• 2007/08/19: AfterGutenberg: Profitable Business-Led Climate Solutions

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2007/08/26: ClimateP: Is Climate Progress "low carbon" and does it matter?
• 2007/08/24: DeSmogBlog: Fox News continues spreading misinformation on climate change
• 2007/08/23: GristMill: Risk mismanagement - Bjorn Lomborg's new book misunderstands risk and investment
• 2007/08/23: CCM: Rightwingers Need to Stop Claiming Me as an Ally
• 2007/08/23: DeSmogBlog: The Grand Canyon State has a Grand Denier Congressman [John Shadegg (R-Az)]
• 2007/08/23: CSM: Change in hottest year fuels global warming skeptics [GISS]
• 2007/08/22: ERabett: Cool station of the day
• 2007/08/22: MTobis: They Have One Point
• 2007/08/22: TreeHugger: Global Warming: Still Happening
• 2007/08/22: DeSmogBlog: Utah's "Sutherland Institute" joins the Heartland misinformation campaign
• 2007/08/22: DeSmogBlog: Random Sampling - Part 2 of "Ew, I just stepped in a Heartland study!"
• 2007/08/20: CSpin: The deniers screamed and nobody listened
• 2007/08/20: MTobis: How Do They Sleep?
• 2007/08/21: Deltoid: The Australian's War on Science IX
• 2007/08/21: BCLSB: Will The Real Climate Change Denier Please Adjust His Toupe?
• 2007/08/21: DeSmogBlog: Schwartz study leaves James Inhofe utterly breathless
• 2007/08/20: DeSmogBlog: Come on, why let mere facts ruin your day?
• 2007/08/20: Atmoz: Royal Society Combats Climate Change Controversies [8 myths refuted]
• 2007/08/20: Atmoz: Audit the Auditor
• 2007/08/20: MTobis: Delusionist Arguments Ranked
• 2007/08/19: Deltoid: This week in Global Warming Denial
• 2007/08/20: DeSmogBlog: Hansen on Usufruct and Deniers
• 2007/08/20: DeSmogBlog: Hey Newsbusters, show us your science

  Because it sounds silly at first, the deniers love this kind of story:

• 2007/08/22: GristMill: Moose Tracks
• 2007/08/22: TreeHugger: Bullwinkle and Climate Change

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2007/08/26: FergusB: "Doing my bit" for the climate; why bother?
• 2007/08/24: MTobis: The Missing Feedback
• 2007/08/24: GristMill: The right target - How much should we aim to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions?
• 2007/08/24: TCE: Think CO2 is "Just Plant Food"? Think again.
• 2007/08/09: EarthMeanders: If Climate Change and Global Ecology Are Really So Bad, Where Is the Urgency?
• 2007/08/23: Oikos: Can markets predict global warming?
• 2007/08/24: CCurrents: A Climate Change Wiki
• 2007/08/23: SciBlogging: Urgency and Global Warming: An Interview with Martin I. Hoffert
• 2007/08/23: Stoat: Projection / Prediction
• 2007/08/23: FergusB: Oop North
• 2007/08/22: C411: Beyond Climate: Carbon and Cows
• 2007/08/21: ClimateP: Climate Progress and John Stossel meet again
• 2007/08/21: GristMill: Brit's Eye View: Are we too obsessed with climate change?
• 2007/08/21: Stoat: Runaway tipping elements of no return
• 2007/08/17: ESMG: Tipping points in the Earth system
• 2007/08/21: C411: Baking in Bakersfield: How much heat can we stand?
• 2007/08/19: BostonGlobe: US castoffs resuming dirty career - Old plants, buses are sold to poorer nations
• 2007/07/: PopSci: Konrad Steffen -- The Global Warming Prophet
• 2007/08/20: GristMill: Roberts First Law of Sustainability Politics [Sustainability is a choice]
• 2007/08/20: FergusB: Sea level, the GIS, tipping points and scepticism?
• 2007/06/06: ChrisTindal: Steal These Ideas
• 2007/08/23: NewScientist: Saltier North Atlantic should give currents a boost
• 2007/08/23: RealClimate: Who ya gonna call?
• 2007/08/20: DeSmogBlog: Alpine Glacier Hanging In -- Barely!
• 2007/08/21: Guardian(UK): Insurer Hiscox stays cool as hurricanes wreak havoc

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

• UNL: U.S. Drought Monitor
• EarthMeanders
• Carbon Equity: carbon rationing and personal carbon allowances Australia
• CPD: Climate of the Past - Papers in Open Discussion [note change of address]
• WCI: Western Climate Initiative
• Aquafornia - The Southern California water blog!
• Wiki: Hurricane Dean
• Yahoo: Climate Change
• Wiki: Wexelblat disaster
• GreenPeace - Australia
• DNN: Disaster News Network
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
• World Radiation Centre
• NGDC.NOAA: Solar Irradiance Data
• Exxpose Exxon
• SciAmP: SciAm Perspectives

---

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published May, 2007. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk. An overview of my writing is available here.

<regards>
-het

PS. You can access the previous postings of this series here

---

"When you talk about thousands of miles of streams being polluted, well, burying the streams is a very extreme form of pollution." -Vernon Haltom, referring to mountaintop removal coal mining

• Global Warming Links
• Global Warming News Archive
• ---
• Energy
• Energy News
• Environmental Issues
• ---
• H.E. Taylor (homepage)

Another Week of GW News, August 19, 2007

Courtesy of H.E.Taylor, here is this week's GW news roundup
(skip to bottom)

• Top Stories, Monsoon, Arctic Sea Ice, Glacier Strip, Biofuels vs Forests, Supergyre, Atlantic Currents, Tipping Points
• Hurricanes, Dean, Sepat, Flossie, Mish-Mash, GHGs, Temperatures, Sea Levels, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Floods & Droughts, Biofuel & Food
• Mitigation, Aviation, Plane Stupid, Sequestration, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science, Sensitivity, GCMs, A Curiosity
• Kyoto, Carbon Trade, Carbon Tax, Optimal Carbon Reduction Strategy
• Politics, International, World Bank, Security, APEC, America, Britain, Europe, Australia, Mexico, Russia, Canada
• Economics, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Courts
• Energy, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Insurance Carbon Lobby
• The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion
• .sig

---

Click here to read more

It's always nice to start with a larf:

• 2007/08/15: uComics: (cartoon - Danziger) Blackberry Summer

  The big story of the week is again the monsoon rains and aftermath:

• 2007/08/17: UN: Food situation in South Asia following floods 'serious cause of concern,' UN reports
• 2007/08/16: TerraDaily: SAsia flood death toll tops 2,600
• 2007/08/15: CCurrents: South Asia Monsoon Crisis Presents An Opportunity To Learn And Prepare For Future Crisis
• 2007/08/17: Xinhuanet: Flood death toll rises to 536 in Bangladesh
• 2007/08/17: BBC: Fresh rain worsens South Asia floods
  Fresh rains in north India have flooded new areas and worsened the situation in regions already badly hit by some of the worst floods in 30 years. Relief operations are being hampered in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and landslides suspended the pilgrimage to a key shrine in Uttarakhand state. In Bangladesh, more than 50,000 people have fallen sick after eating stale food or drinking contaminated water. About 28m people have been affected by floods in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The number of those killed varies widely from 500 to 3,000.
• 2007/08/17: ArabNews: Villagers Fight Off Animals in Flood-Hit South Asia
• 2007/08/14: TerraDaily: Bangladesh struggles with disease after South Asia floods
• 2007/08/16: PlanetArk: Bangladesh Flood Death Toll Nears 500, Thousands Ill
• 2007/08/16: Reuters: Villagers fight off animals in flood-hit S.Asia
  Flood victims fought off hungry animals and battled waterborne diseases in South Asia on Thursday as unrelenting monsoon rains caused fresh flooding in the region, already battered by weeks of bad weather. The death toll in eastern India alone rose by over 100 in the past week with thousands more marooned or made homeless as bloated rivers burst mud embankments. Authorities across South Asia -- where around 850 people have drowned, been crushed by landslides or died from snakebite and waterborne infections since mid-July -- said they were struggling to help millions of victims. For some in the impoverished Indian state of Bihar, it is a struggle for survival as jackals and monkeys have attacked dozens of villagers over the past few days. "Wild animals like jackals and monkeys are biting our wives and children and snatching bread from their hands," said Lalan Raut from the flood-hit Madhubani district. "They are on a looting spree and are killing our goats and small rabbits."
• 2007/08/14: TerraDaily: Cost of South Asia floods nears one billion dollars
• 2007/08/15: PlanetArk: Flood Victims Loot Food in Rain Ravaged South Asia
• 2007/08/15: SwissInfo: Bangladesh flood death toll nears 500
• 2007/08/15: BBC: Deadly landslide in S Asia floods
  Five people are confirmed dead and 55 are missing believed dead after heavy rain triggered a landslide that buried Dharla village in the Indian Himalayas. Record rainfall across Himachal Pradesh state in the past several days has led to the deaths of 40 other people. The landslide follows massive flooding in large parts of India and Nepal and in Bangladesh where there are serious outbreaks of water-borne diseases. Figures for the death toll from the floods vary widely from 1,000 to 3,000. At least 20 million people across South Asia have been affected by the floods
• 2007/08/14: TerraDaily: Flash floods kill 10 in northern Pakistan
• 2007/08/13: TerraDaily: Villagers return home to ruins in flood-hit SAsia
• 2007/08/14: PlanetArk: More Floods, Deaths Add to Misery in South Asia
• 2007/08/12: TerraDaily: More than 2,200 dead in flood-hit SAsia
• 2007/08/13: SwissInfo: More floods and deaths add to South Asia misery
• 2007/08/13: Xinhuanet: Bangladesh flood death toll climbs to 298

  Arctic sea ice is at a record low level:

• 2007/08/18: Scotsman: Arctic ice at lowest level ever - a month before melt season ends
• 2007/08/17: CBC: Arctic sea ice shrinks to lowest area on record
• 2007/08/16: MongaBay: Arctic sea ice shrinks to record low in 2007
• 2007/08/17: PhysOrg: Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks to Record Low
• 2007/08/17: Wunderground: Which model do you trust? And, Arctic sea ice reaches a record minimum
• 2007/08/17: PlanetArk: Arctic Sea Ice Expected to Hit Record Low in Sept
• 2007/08/17: SciDaily: Record Low Arctic Sea Ice Predicted For 2007
• 2007/08/16: Eureka: CU-Boulder team forcasts 92 percent chance of record low Arctic sea ice extent in 2007
• 2007/08/15: OilChange: Arctic Sea Ice Melting at Fastest Rate
• 2007/08/15: CDreams: Independent(UK): Scientists Warn Arctic Sea Ice is Melting At Its Fastest Rate Since Records Began
• 2007/08/13: Maribo: Arctic sea ice about to set record / Photo of the week
• 2007/08/14: CCurrents: Arctic Sea Ice Set To Hit New Low
• 2007/08/13: DeSmogBlog: Arctic sea ice retreats to record low by end of summer with ominious consequences for global warming
• 2007/08/12: BDL: Arctic Sea Ice
• 2007/08/13: BBC: Arctic sea ice set to hit new low

  As has the continued geopolitical posturing:

• 2007/08/15: EUO: Denmark joins international race to claim the Arctic
• 2007/08/15: CCM: Russia Pretends To Claim The Arctic: They should've known better...
• 2007/08/15: PlanetArk: Russia's Seabed Flag Heralds Global Ocean Carve-Up
• 2007/08/14: CTV: Danish minister scoffs at Canadian Arctic claims
  Denmark's science minister on Tuesday dismissed recent moves by Russia and Canada to assert sovereignty over the Arctic, saying flag-planting and political visits would not settle any territorial claims in the potentially resource-rich region
• 2007/08/13: Reuters: After Russia and Canada, U.S. ship headed for Arctic
• 2007/08/13: KSJT: AP: US icebreaker to do some Arctic continental shelf mapmaking
• 2007/08/13: TruthOut: The Arctic for Everyone - The Arctic, or how global warming led to a chill in diplomatic relations

  GreenPeace had their glacier strip en Suisse:

• 2007/08/19: SwissInfo: Melting [Rhone] glacier could draw tourists
• 2007/08/18: SwissInfo: Volunteers strip down to fight climate change
• 2007/08/19: Guardian(UK): Say freeze: why 600 people stripped and posed on a Swiss glacier
• 2007/08/18: ABC(Au): Climate change campaigners strip naked on melting glacier

  The merits of biofuels versus forests has been thrown up for debate:

• 2007/08/17: TruthOut: Forget Biofuels - Burn Oil and Plant Forests Instead
• 2007/08/18: TreeHugger: Biofuels Not Enough to Offset Damage Caused by Deforestation
• 2007/08/17: DeSmogBlog: Tree-Huggers Speak Truth to Bio-Power -- Study
• 2007/08/17: CanWest: Biofuels are bad, new report concludes - Scientists say it makes more sense to grow forests than 'energy crops'
• 2007/08/17: BBC: EU biofuel policy is a 'mistake'
  The EU target of ensuring 10% of petrol and diesel comes from renewable sources by 2020 is not an effective way to curb carbon emissions, researchers say. A team of UK-based scientists suggested that reforestation and habitat protection was a better option. Writing in Science, they said forests could absorb up to nine times more CO2 than the production of biofuels could achieve on the same area of land.
• 2007/08/16: NewScientist: Forget biofuels - burn oil and plant forests instead

  CSIRO has discovered an unknown supergyre in the South Ocean:

• 2007/08/16: People's Daily: Aussie scientists find oceans' missing link
• 2007/08/17: SlashDot: Super Pathway Discovered In Southern Ocean
• 2007/08/16: PlanetArk: Australia Discovers Ocean Current "Missing Link"
• 2007/08/16: SciDaily: Missing Deep Ocean Current "Supergyre" Identified: Important In Climate Regulation
• 2007/08/16: ArabNews: Australia Discovers Ocean Current "Missing Link" [Tasmanian supergyre]
• 2007/08/15: PhysOrg: Ocean 'supergyre' link to climate regulator
• 2007/08/15: CSIRO: Ocean 'supergyre' link to climate regulator
  Australian scientists have identified the missing deep ocean pathway -- or "supergyre" -- linking the three Southern Hemisphere ocean basins in research that will help them explain more accurately how the ocean governs global climate.

And of course they want to monitor it more closely:

• 2007/08/17: PhysOrg: Call for network to monitor Southern Ocean current
• 2007/08/17: CSIRO: Call for network to monitor Southern Ocean current
• 2007/08/17: Yahoo: Australian scientists call for ocean network probe
  Australian scientists want to string a vast array of probes across the oceans of the southern hemisphere to warn of changes in ocean circulation that may affect the global climate
• 2007/08/15: SciDaily: Could Ocean Currents Change?

  A trans-Atlantic line of bouys is monitoring Atlantic circulation:

• 2007/08/17: Science: Temporal Variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N by Stuart A. Cunningham et al.
• 2007/08/17: Science: Observed Flow Compensation Associated with the MOC at 26.5°N in the Atlantic by Torsten Kanzow et al.
• 2007/08/17: KSJT: LA Times, Reuters, BBC, etc: A trans-Atlantic line of bouys reveals big variations in the oceanic conveyor belt (Gulfstream and more) - global warming off the hook?
• 2007/08/17: PhysOrg: Unique monitoring system for the Atlantic circulation proves its worth
• 2007/08/17: PlanetArk: Scientists Track Climate-Driving Atlantic Current
• 2007/08/17: BBC: Atlantic yields climate secrets
  Scientists have painted the first detailed picture of Atlantic ocean currents crucial to Europe's climate. [Rapid/Mocha (Rapid Climate Change/Meridional Overturning Circulation and Heatflux Array)] Using instruments strung out across the Atlantic, a UK-led team shows that its circulation varies significantly over the course of a year. Writing in the journal Science, they say it may now be possible to detect changes related to global warming
• 2007/08/16: NewScientist: Fickle ocean current [in North Atlantic] foils climate modellers

  We have a Tipping Point sighting:

• 2007/08/17: TruthOut: Scientists Warn on Climate Tipping Points
• 2007/08/17: ClimateP: A very good article on "Tipping Points"
• 2007/08/16: OilChange: Getting Close to the Climate Tipping Point
• 2007/08/16: Guardian(UK): Scientists warn on climate tipping points
  Some tipping points for climate change could be closer than previously thought. Scientists are predicting that the loss of the massive Greenland ice sheet may now be unstoppable and lead to catastrophic sea-level rises around the world

Ach, that Damoclean sword is still there:

• 2007/08/14: AfterGutenberg: There goes the Permafrost
• 2007/08/13: SciDaily: Climate Change And Permafrost Thaw Alter Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Northern Wetlands

  The hurricane wars are warming up with Dean, Erin, Flossie & Sepat.

  First Dean:

• 2007/08/19: PhysOrg: Hurricane Dean roars toward Jamaica
• 2007/08/18: CCM: Hurricane Dean Upgraded to "Mean Mofo" Status in the Caribbean
• 2007/08/19: Wunderground: Tropical Storm: Tracking Map - Hurricane Dean
• 2007/08/19: Wunderground: Can Jamaica pray away Hurricane Dean?
• 2007/08/19: BBC: Hurricane bears down on Jamaica
• 2007/08/19: AFP: Hurricane Dean about to hit Jamaica
• 2007/08/19: Guardian(UK): Six killed as Hurricane Dean threatens Jamaica
• 2007/08/18: CNN: Jamaica under hurricane warning
  Jamaica braces for Dean's 155-mph winds - Cayman Islands issue hurricane watch - Storm projected to grow into Category 5 hurricane
• 2007/08/18: Wunderground: Extremely dangerous Dean heads for Jamaica
• 2007/08/18: BBC: Hurricane [Dean] churns up Caribbean
  Haiti and the Dominican Republic are braced for potential flooding as Hurricane Dean passes to the south after gathering force in the Caribbean
• 2007/08/17: CBC: Hurricane Dean strengthens to Category 4 storm
• 2007/08/18: AFP: Hurricane Dean threatens to gain category 5
• 2007/08/18: ABC(US): Hurricane Dean Churns Through Caribbean; Forecasters Say Storm Could Reach Category 5 Status
• 2007/08/17: PlanetArk: Hurricane Dean Poses Major Caribbean Storm Threat
• 2007/08/17: ENN: Hurricane Dean Strengthens in Eastern Caribbean [Cat 3]
• 2007/08/17: OilDrum: Hurricane Dean Resource Aggregation Post
• 2007/08/17: BBC: The Atlantic season's first hurricane [Dean] is rapidly approaching the islands in the eastern Caribbean, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says
• 2007/08/16: Reuters: Hurricane Dean poses major Caribbean storm threat [now Cat 2]
• 2007/08/16: PhysOrg: Hurricane Dean closes in on Caribbean
• 2007/08/16: CCM: Hurricane Dean, Opening Its Eye to Look at You
• 2007/08/16: ENN: Year's First Hurricane [Dean] Churns Toward Caribbean
• 2007/08/16: CBC: Hurricane Dean heads toward the Caribbean
• 2007/08/16: SunSentinel: Dean strengthens to 90 mph, targets Dominica, St. Lucia - the season's first hurricane in the western Atlantic
• 2007/08/15: CCM: Troubling Words on Tropical Storm Dean
• 2007/08/14: CCM: Tropical Storm Dean Spinning Up...Soon to be a Hurricane?
• 2007/08/14: Wunderground: Tropical Storm Dean, Gulf of Mexico development, and Hurricane Flossie

  Then Sepat:

• 2007/08/18: IndiaTimes: Typhoon Sepat triggers mass [over half a million] evacuations in China
• 2007/08/18: BBC: South China bracing for typhoon
  Typhoon Sepat has battered Taiwan with winds and heavy rain and is heading for provinces of south China where hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing
• 2007/08/17: TerraDaily: Taiwan braced for powerful typhoon [Sepat]
• 2007/08/17: PlanetArk: Taiwan Issues Warnings as Typhoon Sepat Nears
• 2007/08/15: CCM: Understanding Hurricane Speed Limits: The Case of Supertyphoon Sepat

  Luckily Flossie petered out before hitting Hawaii:

• 2007/08/15: AP: Flossie Downgraded to Tropical Storm
• 2007/08/14: PhysOrg: Double Trouble for the Big Island of Hawaii: Flossie and Quakes
• 2007/08/14: HuffPo: Hurricane Flossie Heads for Hawaii [now Cat 2]
• 2007/08/14: BBC: A state of emergency has been declared in Hawaii's Big Island as residents prepare for Hurricane Flossie which is due to bring high winds and heavy rain
• 2007/08/13: HonoluluAd: Flossie drops to Category 3 hurricane
• 2007/08/13: CCM: Flabbergasted by Hurricane Flossie--And More Than a Little Frightened
• 2007/08/12: CCM: Further Frustrations Forecasting Flossie's Fluctuations (& Other Hurricane Stuff)

  And a mish-mash of hurricane reports:

• 2007/08/17: PlanetArk: At Least Four Dead as Erin Floods Texas
• 2007/08/17: PhysOrg: Seven die after storm Erin hits Texas
• 2007/08/17: Wunderground: Dean pounds Martinique; Erin soaks Texas; Sepat zeroes in on Taiwan
• 2007/08/17: Wunderground: Dean's likely impact on the Caribbean; Super Typhoon Sepat update
• 2007/08/16: PhysOrg: Tropical Depression Erin Soaking East Texas
• 2007/08/16: DailyGreen: Nothing But Land to Stop Hurricane Dean - or Supertyphoon Sepat
• 2007/08/16: CCM: The Storm Pundit Strikes Again: Hurricane Dean and Supertyphoon Sepat
• 2007/08/16: Wunderground: Hurricane Dean, TD Erin, and Super Typhoon Sepat
• 2007/08/16: PlanetArk: Storm Erin Takes Aim at Texas as Dean Strengthens
• 2007/08/16: CNN: Storm spawns floods, tornadoes in Texas as hurricane grows at sea
• 2007/08/15: Wunderground: Afternoon update on Dean, Erin, and Flossie
• 2007/08/15: Wunderground: Dean, Erin, and Flossie
• 2007/08/13: Wunderground: TD 4 forms; Gulf of Mexico distubance a threat to Texas; Flossie powers towards Hawaii

  While in the background:

• 2007/08/17: KSJT: Chr. Science Monitor: Hunting hurricane clues in caves and tree rings
• 2007/08/17: PhysOrg: NASA eyes warm sea surface temperatures for hurricanes
• 2007/08/17: NASA: NASA Eyes Current Sea Surface Temperatures For Hurricanes
• 2007/08/16: CSM: Clues from hurricane 'fingerprints' - Scientists decode hurricane 'records' left in trees and rocks to try to predict the strength of future storms.
• 2007/08/16: TreeHugger: Tracking Down Hurricanes' Fingerprints in Trees and Stone

  Meanwhile GHGs are still going up:

• 2007/08/14: ABC(Au): Aust greenhouse emissions on the rise
• 2007/08/14: PlanetArk: Five Facts on Australia's Greenhouse Gas Emissions

  As are the temperatures:

• 2007/08/16: ClimateP: 2007: Still the Second Hottest Year on Record
• 2007/08/15: PhysOrg: Earth records 7th warmest July on record
• 2007/08/15: ClimateP: Climate Forecast: Hot -- and then Very Hot

  Tamino has posted a detailed article on the temperature record:

• 2007/08/17: Tamino: Hemispheres

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2007/08/16: ABC(Au): Researchers identifying areas vulnerable to rising sea levels
  A team of scientists will spend the next several months creating a detailed map of Australia's coastline to identify areas most at risk to sea level rises. GeoScience Australia and the Australian Greenhouse Office have commissioned the project which is expected to be finished by February [2008]

Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2007/08/17: PhysOrg: NASA Ozone Instrument [TOMS] Laid to Rest After Three Decades
• 2007/08/17: Eureka: UK satellite mission [TRUTHS] to improve accuracy of climate-change measurements gains global support

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2007/08/19: CNN: Heat wave claims 49 lives in Southeast, Midwest
• 2007/08/18: GWWatch: Thirteen die in the Land of The Hot Rising Sun
• 2007/08/17: PlanetArk: Heatwave Sweeps Japan, Kills at Least Seven
• 2007/08/17: Missoulian: Black Cat [forest fire] off and running / Frenchtown area on notice
• 2007/08/17: BBC: Climate change is to blame for a decline in the number of some birds that visit Britain each winter, according to a report by the RSPB
• 2007/08/17: BBC: A forest fire intensified by fierce winds has swept across the northern outskirts of the Greek capital, Athens, destroying dozens of homes
• 2007/08/16: PhysOrg: 13 dead as Japan endures hottest ever day
• 2007/08/16: TreeHugger: Global Warming Wants to Eat Your Flesh [Leishmaniasis]
• 2007/08/14: TruthOut: Water Levels in Three Great Lakes Dip Far Below Normal
• 2007/08/15: PhysOrg: Lake Superior might hit record low levels
• 2007/08/14: GristMill: Global warming and empty calories
• 2007/08/14: TerraDaily: Global warming boosts crop disease
• 2007/08/15: Yahoo: Climate change adds to Africa cotton farmers' woes
• 2007/08/14: Yahoo: Global warming boosts [rapeseed/canola] crop disease [phoma stem canker]
• 2007/08/15: SciDaily: Climate Change And Disease Ecology
• 2007/08/15: SciDaily: Flesh-eating Disease [Leishmaniasis] Is On The Rise Due To Global Warming
• 2007/08/14: Yahoo: Deadly heat wave settles over South - 5 heat-linked deaths in Tennessee
• 2007/08/13: Eureka: Climate change isolates Rocky Mountain butterflies
• 2007/08/13: KSJT: Medford Mail Tribune: Mtn. pine beetles kill the whitebark pines around a warming Crater Lake
• 2007/08/13: MongaBay: Climate change claims a snail
• 2007/08/13: PhysOrg: Climate change isolates Rocky Mountain butterflies

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2007/08/19: TreeHugger: No Justice for India's Forests
• 2007/08/15: DeSmogBlog: Washington State's forest lands pegged for role in climate-change struggle
• 2007/08/15: NEN: Marketing deforestation?
• 2007/08/14: PLoS Biology: No Forest Left Behind by Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca et al.
• 2007/08/14: DeSmogBlog: Global warming slashes growth rate of trees in rainforests

  Please to excuse me when I cast a jaundiced eye on these reports:

• 2007/08/13: Guardian(UK): Brazilian ministers claim victory in war on illegal loggers
  Between August 2005 and July 2006, around 5,400 square miles of Amazon forest were felled - a 25% reduction on the previous 12 months, government officials said. Initial figures for the 2006-2007 period, compiled with the use of satellite images, predicted a further reduction to under 4,000 square miles

Desertification looms as a threat:

• 2007/08/17: TreeHugger: China's Green Walls Losing the Battle Against Encroaching Deserts

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2007/08/18: People's Daily: 172 missing after surface water floods coal mine in east China
• 2007/08/16: TerraDaily: Thousands homeless following Burkina Faso floods
• 2007/08/17: PlanetArk: UN Relief Official Says 83 Dead in North Korea Floods
• 2007/08/16: PlanetArk: Up To 300,000 May Be Homeless in North Korea Floods
• 2007/08/16: PlanetArk: Deadly Floods Hit Africa's Usually Arid Sahel
• 2007/08/16: BBC: More than 220 people have been killed and 80 are still missing after severe flooding in North Korea, according to Red Cross officials in the country
• 2007/08/16: Guardian(UK): Flooding devastates North Korea - Country appeals for aid as vital crops destroyed - Estimates say 200,000 people may be homeless
• 2007/08/15: ChinaDaily: Up to 300,000 may be homeless in DPRK floods
• 2007/08/15: PlanetArk: Sudan Needs Funds for Worst Floods in Living Memory
• 2007/08/15: ENN: N. Korea Suffers 'Largest Ever' Rains, Floods Destroy 11 Percent Of Nation's Farmland
• 2007/08/15: BBC: N Korea floods devastate crops - Severe flooding in N Korea has ruined more than one-tenth of farmland and left 300,000 people homeless, officials say
• 2007/08/14: PlanetArk: Hundreds Dead, Missing in North Korean Floods - KCNA
• 2007/08/14: PlanetArk: Flooding Wrecks Thousands of Homes in South China
• 2007/08/14: BBC: Flooding in North Korea that has killed hundreds of people is worse than last year's massive floods, officials have told the World Food Programme (WFP)
• 2007/08/14: AFP: Hundreds dead in N Korea flooding, S Korea to send aid
• 2007/08/13: PlanetArk: Vietnam Flood Toll Hits 65, More Landslides Feared

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2007/08/15: IHT: Dutch crown prince warns against prioritizing biofuels over food
• 2007/08/16: PhysOrg: Water for biofuels or for food: it's one or the other
• 2007/08/14: NEN: Biofuels vs. Ethics
• 2007/08/13: DerSpiegel: Food Industry Takes on Energy Subsidies - Biofuel Boom Threatens Gummy Bears

  And the troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

• 2007/08/17: PlanetArk: Hungary Sees Food Price Rises Due To Drought
• 2007/08/17: Yahoo: Scientists seek new ways to feed the world amid global warming
• 2007/08/17: Xinhuanet: Bosnia faces food crisis caused by drought
• 2007/08/15: AllAfrica: ArushaTimes: Tanzania: Families Dig Deeper Into Pockets to Put Food on Their Tables
• 2007/08/14: McClatchyDC: Prices for key foods are rising sharply
• 2007/08/13: Novosti: Drought hits key farming region in south Russia [Rostov Region]
• 2007/08/14: KansasCity: Prices for many food staples are climbing by double-digit percentages

  Related phosphorus and nitrogen cycle issues:

• 2007/08/17: OilDrum: Peak Phosphorus
• 2005/05/17: BYN: A Bottleneck in Nature
• 1999/03/26: Science: (editorial) A Potential Phosphate Crisis
• 1999/07/: LookSmart:MR: Liebig, Marx, and the depletion of soil fertility: relevance for today's agriculture
• 2007/08/13: EnergyBulletin: Peak phosphorus

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2007/08/15: UNDispatch: An Irresponsible Optimism [Levitt's technology will save us schtick]
• 2007/08/16: CSM: How better-fed cows could cool the planet - When cows digest, they burp methane gas, a powerful greenhouse agent. Scientists are working to try to reduce that.
• 2007/08/15: ENN: Rainforest coalition proposes rewards for "avoided deforestation"
• 2007/08/13: TreeHugger: Trees Won't Solve Our Global Warming Woes

  As for aviation & GHGs:

• 2007/08/17: CSM: Air travel latest target in climate change fight - Technology, taxation, and rationing are all being eyed as possible solutions
• 2007/08/15: Yahoo: Aviation greenhouse curbs may fall short: experts
• 2007/08/14: Economist: Aircraft and the environment - Clean green flying machine? Don't hold your breath waiting for one

  The Plane Stupid protest at Heathrow has mushroomed:

• 2007/08/19: Guardian(UK): Police braced for nationwide climate protests [in support of Heathrow activists]
• 2007/08/17: TruthOut: Climate Change Demonstrations Spread to Two More Airports [Biggin Hill & Farnborough]
• 2007/08/17: Guardian(UK): Heathrow protesters glue themselves to government building
• 2007/08/18: Guardian(UK): Attack of the baby eaters - Shameless exaggerations of the climate protesters' dastardly plans have left us baffled at the camp
• 2007/08/17: ENN: British climate protesters set out target shortlist
• 2007/08/16: WSWS: Britain: Police use anti-terror powers against [Heathrow] environmental protest
• 2007/08/16: BBC: The protests at Heathrow Airport have been infiltrated by troublemakers who are "quite happy to break the law", a senior police officer has said
• 2007/08/15: TreeHugger: Fun and Games at Camp for Climate Action
• 2007/08/15: ArabNews: We Should All Be at Heathrow Protesting
• 2007/08/15: Guardian(UK): Rules, rotas and revolutionary song at climate action camp
• 2007/08/13: ABC(Au): Police eye climate change camp at London Heathrow
• 2007/08/13: DeSmogBlog: Activists to Heathrow: "Go Fly A Kite!"
• 2007/08/13: OilChange: Thousands Expected at Heathrow Climate Camp
• 2007/08/13: CDreams: Guardian(UK): Heathrow Eco-Protesters Steal a March on Police
• 2007/08/13: BBC: Airport protest gathers strength - More climate change campaigners are set to join protesters who have already set up a camp outside Heathrow airport.

  While on the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

• 2007/08/14: ECNMag: Wozniak's New Goal is Efficient Housing

  And on the carbon sequestration front:

• 2007/08/18: AfterGutenberg: Romm-induced Cartoon Head Shakes
• 2007/08/17: ClimateP: Post-Combustion Carbon Dioxide Capture
• 2007/08/17: NEN: Catch the rising soot (and put it in an oil well?)
  The promises of "clean coal" never specify what per cent of the emissions the technology can capture. The natural assumption would be that it captures ALL the emissions, right? But some technologies proposed for testing capture as little as 30% of the emissions. A little detail they never mention. The more they research this technology, the more appealing wind energy and solar energy get.
• 2007/08/15: TEB: Powerspan Ammonia Based CO2 Capture to be Tested at Burger Plant
• 2007/08/16: NEN: Geologists spill re: CCS [carbon-capture-and-storage]

  And on the adaptation front:

• 2007/08/13: PlanetArk: Floods Show Need for Disaster Risk Reduction - UN
• 2007/08/13: Eureka: Change on the range - Learning exercise gives insight to land managers and scientists on range management strategies during climatic changes

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2007/08/18: MTobis: Cure Worse Than Disease?
• 2007/08/14: MongaBay: Proposed cure for global warming could cause problems
• 2007/08/15: ClimateP: Geo-Engineering is NOT the Answer
• 2007/08/15: TreeHugger: Sounds Risky to Us: Simulating a Volcanic Eruption to Counter Global Warming

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2007/08/15: TCD: Spatial structures in the heat budget of the Antarctic Atmospheric Boundary Layer by W. J. van de Berg et al.
• 2007/08/17: ACP: Insights into the role of soot aerosols in cirrus cloud formation by B. K?rcher et al.
• 2007/08/17: ACPD: A strategy for climate evaluation of aircraft technology: an efficient climate impact assessment tool -- AirClim by V. Grewe & A. Stenke
• 2007/08/17: ACPD: Chemical composition of free tropospheric aerosol for PM1 and coarse mode at the high alpine site Jungfraujoch by J. Cozic et al.
• 2007/08/17: CP: The EDC3 chronology for the EPICA Dome C ice core by F. Parrenin et al.
• 2007/08/09: GRL: (ab$) Cooling trend in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over China by Anmin Duan
• 2007/08/17: Science: Temporal Variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5°N by Stuart A. Cunningham et al.
• 2007/08/17: Science: Observed Flow Compensation Associated with the MOC at 26.5°N in the Atlantic by Torsten Kanzow et al.
• 2007/08/15: ACPD: MIPAS measurements of upper tropospheric C2H6 and O3 during the Southern hemispheric biomass burning season in 2003 by T. von Clarmann et al.
• 2007/08/14: PNAS: Jet stream intraseasonal oscillations drive dominant ecosystem variations in Oregon's summertime coastal upwelling system by John M. Bane et al.
• 2007/08/14: ACPD: Comparison between the first Odin-SMR, Aura MLS and CloudSat retrievals of cloud ice mass in the upper tropical troposphere by P. Eriksson et al.
• 2007/08/14: ACPD: Normal mode Rossby waves and their effects on chemical composition in the late summer stratosphere by D. Pendlebury et al.
• 2007/08/14: ACPD: A comprehensive modelling way for assessing real-time mixings of mineral and anthropogenic pollutants in East Asia by F. Lasserre et al.
• 2007/08/13: ACPD: The relevance of aerosol optical depth to cumulus fraction changes: a five-year climatology at the ACRF SGP site by E. I. Kassianov et al.
• 2007/08/14: PLoS Biology: No Forest Left Behind by Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca et al.

  Before we get into politics, there was some science done:

• 2007/08/16: NSU: Mice can smell greenhouse gas - Rising CO2 makes a stink for mice
• 2007/08/16: Atmoz: Cooling trend in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over China
• 2007/08/16: SciDaily: Antarctic Bottom Water Has Warmed Within Recent Decades

  S. Schwartz has published a surprising estimate of sensitivity:

• 2007/08/19: JEB: Schwartz' sensitivity estimate
• 2007/08/19: Stoat: Sensitivity by Schwartz, and Irreducible imprecision
• 2007/08/15: BSD: Random new climate change fact re climate sensitivity

  A couple of articles on GCMs:

• 2007/08/02: MathTrek: Cloudy Crystal Balls
• 2007/08/17: inel: Complexity, credibility and confidence: how to communicate climate model forecasts?

  A curiosity noticed in Australia:

• 2007/08/13: FuturePundit: Farming Reduces Rains In Australia?
• 2007/08/17: EESD: Rabbit-Proof Fence Has Unintended Consequences

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

• 2007/08/14: ClimateP: Kyoto projects harm ozone layer
• 2007/08/14: PlanetArk: Kyoto Projects Harm Ozone Layer - UN Official
  The biggest emissions-cutting projects under the Kyoto Protocol on global warming have directly contributed to an increase in the production of gases that destroy the ozone layer, a senior UN official says. The most popular type of project has been to destroy a potent greenhouse gas known as HFC 23, one of a family of so-called hydrofluorocarbons, in China and India. The problem is that HFC 23 is a waste product in the manufacture of a refrigerant gas which damages the ozone layer, called HCFC 22, and chemical plants have used their CDM profits to ramp up production.

And on the carbon trading front:

• 2007/08/17: NEN: Banking on the emissions trade [These guys don't play with fads.]
• 2007/08/16: EnvFin: Trade in GHG permits and credits up 45%
• 2007/08/16: TerraDaily: The Limited Carbon Market Puts 20 Percent Of Tropical Forest At Risk
• 2007/08/14: PhysOrg: New study warns limited carbon market puts 20 percent of tropical forest at risk [PLoSB]
• 2007/08/14: ENN: Study Suggests Carbon Market Encourages Chopping Forests [PLoSB]
• 2007/08/14: SciDaily: Carbon Trading Proposal May Put Mature Tropical Forests At Risk, Scientists Warn

  Didn't you just know this was going to happen:

• 2007/08/14: PlanetArk: London Profits While Africa Awaits Kyoto Benefit
  Huge profits made by London-based brokers who arrange emissions-cutting projects in developing countries contrast with little benefit for the world's poorest nations, company and United Nations data shows. The Kyoto Protocol on global warming allows rich countries to meet greenhouse gas emissions targets by paying poor nations to cut emissions on their behalf, using the so-called clean development mechanism (CDM). But evidence is emerging that while brokers stand to make enormous profits, least developed nations, especially in Africa, will get next to nothing -- raising questions over whether Kyoto is fulfilling its social as well as environmental goals.

The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2007/08/16: SwissInfo: Leuenberger pushes for post-Kyoto carbon tax
  Swiss Environment Minister Moritz Leuenberger has called for a tax on fossil fuels, heating oil and greenhouse gases to be introduced in Switzerland from 2012.

The debate over the optimal strategy [carbon trading, carbon offsets and/or a carbon tax] to use in dealing with GHGs continues:

• 2007/08/19: Telegraph(UK): Carbon offsetting schemes not so green
• 2007/08/16: C411: Ensuring Carbon Offsets are Real
• 2007/08/16: KSJT: Wash. Post: About buying carbon offsets. They're not always real, even if you feel greener buying them
• 2007/08/16: ClimateP: Great Article on Offsets, RECs
• 2007/08/13: GristMill: Why cap-and-trade or carbon taxes alone won't solve global warming, and why we still need them

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2007/08/14: PlanetArk: Sweden PM Urges Pressure on US, China Over Climate
• 2007/08/13: Yahoo: Swedish PM targets US over climate change
  Sweden's prime minister called for more pressure on the United States and the major developing countries over climate change at the opening Monday of an international conference on water issues. "If we really want to make a difference and tackle global warming, we must act together," Fredrik Reinfeldt told delegates in a speech to open the World Water Week conference in Stockholm. "The EU is not enough to make a change," he added. "We need to make the US, China, India and other countries commit themselves to actions."

The World Bank appears to be an instrument of US policy:

• 2007/08/14: GristMill: The World Bank and global warming
• 2007/08/14: TreeHugger: World Bank Clueless On Climate Impacts Of Its Loans
• 2007/08/14: DeSmogBlog: Wolfowitz Censored [World] Bank References to Warming
• 2007/08/14: OilChange: Wolfowitz "Tried to Censor World Bank on Climate"
• 2007/08/14: Independent(UK): Wolfowitz 'tried to censor World Bank on climate change'
• 2007/08/13: TruthOut: At World Bank, Climate Change Isn't Part of the Equation
• 2007/08/12: CDreams: LA Times: At World Bank, Climate Change Isn't Part of The Equation
  At the World Bank -- heavily influenced by its largest shareholder, the United States -- the effect of projects on climate change is not even calculated.

Arguments about GW & security:

• 2007/08/: FP: The New Myth About Climate Change
• 2007/08/14: GristMill: Climate change and conflict: a 'myth'?

  J. Connaughton has given us a good idea of what to expect from GWB at the upcoming APEC, UN and Washington climate meetings:

• 2007/08/15: PlanetArk: Technology is Key on Global Warming - Bush Adviser
• 2007/08/14: Yahoo: Technology is key on global warming: Bush adviser [James Connaughton]
  The United States on Tuesday staked out its position ahead of a climate change summit next month by