Another week of GW news - December 17, 2006

(Courtesy of H.E.Taylor, here is this week's GW news roundup
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Beginning with some almost seasonal fun:

• 2006/12/13: ERabett: Oregon Petition: The Musical -- Anonymuse comes through again...
• 2006/12/13: Deltoid: Oregon Petition: the musical
• 2006/12/10: ERabett: Sing along with anonymous anonymuse...[more pomes for denial]

The big story of the week has to be the projection of an ice free Arctic by 2040:

Click here to read more

• 2006/12/12: GRL: (abs) Future abrupt reductions in the summer Arctic sea ice by Marika M. Holland
• 2006/12/11: NSU: Arctic clear for summer sailing by 2040 - Models predict rapid decline of sea ice.
• 2006/12/12: SF Gate: Ice at North Pole could be gone by 2040, scientists warn
• 2006/12/12: TruthOut: By 2040, Greenhouse Gases Could Lead to an Open Arctic Sea in Summers
• 2006/12/12: Grist: Santa's Gonna Be Pissed - Arctic summer ice could melt nearly completely by mid-century, study says
• 2006/12/12: ClimateArk: By 2040, Greenhouse Gases Could Lead to an Open Arctic Sea in Summers
• 2006/12/12: SciDaily: Abrupt Ice Retreat Could Produce Ice-free Arctic Summers By 2040
• 2006/12/11: Times(UK): Experts warn North Pole will be 'ice free' by 2040
• 2006/12/12: BBC: Arctic sea ice 'faces rapid melt'
• 2006/12/11: PhysOrg: Abrupt ice retreat could produce ice-free arctic summers by 2040
• 2006/12/12: ABC(Au): Scientists uncover new evidence of Arctic ice melt
• 2006/12/11: ClimateArk: Arctic Ice Melting Faster Than Expected
• 2006/12/11: PlanetArk: Arctic May Be Ice-Free by Summer 2040 - Study
• 2006/12/11: UCAR: Abrupt Ice Retreat Could Produce Ice-Free Arctic Summers by 2040
• 2006/12/11: Eureka: Abrupt ice retreat could produce ice-free Arctic summers by 2040
• 2006/12/11: CBC: Arctic ice could disappear in summer by 2040: study

Although the temperature is still going up:

• 2006/12/14: Wunderground: 2006: sixth warmest year on record
• 2006/12/15: DeSmogBlog: NASA: 2006 continues heatwave records
• 2006/12/14: TerraDaily: 2006 Set To Be Sixth Warmest On Record Says WMO
• 2006/12/15: PlanetArk: 2006 Set to be Third Warmest on Record in US - NOAA
• 2006/12/14: BBC: 2006 sets British heat records - Several records for temperatures in Britain have been broken during 2006
• 2006/12/14: MetOffice(UK): 2006 - a year for the record books
• 2006/12/14: PhysOrg: 2006 set to be sixth warmest on record: UN weather agency [WMO]
• 2006/12/14: Reuters: 2006 set to be 6th warmest worldwide: UK report
• 2006/12/14: Guardian(UK): This year will be Britain's warmest since records began, say scientists
• 2006/12/13: PlanetArk: 2006 Warmest Year in Netherlands in 300 Years
• 2006/12/11: PlanetArk: Birds Bask in Warmest French Autumn Since 1950

And the European ski slope theme is popular:

• 2006/12/13: SwissInfo: Climate change threatens ski resorts in Europe
• 2006/12/13: OECD: OECD warns climate change is threatening Europe's skiing trade
• 2006/12/14: OilChange: Piste Off [Climate change could devastate European ski resorts within decades]
• 2006/12/14: Guardian(UK): [European] Ski resorts face uncertain future

Whoops, sea level rise is accelerating:

• 2006/12/14: TerraDaily: Global Sea Levels Projected To Rise Faster Than Expected
• 2006/12/15: DerSpiegel: Global Warming - Is the Sea Level Rise Doubling Its Speed?
• 2006/12/15: PlanetArk: Oceans May Rise up to 140 cms by 2100 Due to Warming
• 2006/12/15: OilChange: Sea Level Rise "Under-Estimated"
• 2006/12/14: NewScientist: Shorelines may be in greater peril than thought
• 2006/12/14: Reuters: Oceans may rise over 4 1/2 feet by 2100
• 2006/12/14: BBC: Sea level rise 'under-estimated'
  Current sea level rise projections could be under-estimating the impact of human-induced climate change on the world's oceans, scientists suggest.
• 2006/12/11: PhysOrg: Glaciers Adding More To Global Sea Rise Than Ice Sheets, Study Says
• 2006/12/11: Eureka: Glaciers adding more to global sea rise than ice sheets, says University of Colorado study

Recent GHG statistics are not encouraging:

• 2006/12/11: FuturePundit: China CO2 Emissions To Surpass US In 2009
• 2006/12/15: PlanetArk: TABLE - Industrialised Nations' Output of Greenhouse Gases
• 2006/12/15: PlanetArk: Asia's CO2 Emissions from Transport to Triple - ADB
• 2006/12/14: DeSmogBlog: Asian Tiger's Bite Is Worse Than Its Meow [ADB report]
• 2006/12/14: BBC: Asia's greenhouse gas 'to treble'
  Asia's greenhouse gas emissions will treble over the next 25 years, according to a report commissioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• 2006/12/13: PlanetArk: China Wants to Slow Growth in Carbon Emissions

In the hurricane wars:

• 2006/12/12: Wunderground: The failure of preseason predictions for the hurricane season of 2006
• 2006/12/14: NewScientist: Global warming link to hurricanes likely but unproven
• 2006/12/11: ABC(Au): Typhoon [Utor] whips Philippines
• 2006/12/11: Eureka: NASA aircraft captures windy details in hurricane's ups and downs
• 2006/12/11: Eureka: NASA diagnoses Tropical Storm Gert's growth spurt

Anyone with any sense is waiting to see what the IPCC report [AR4] actually says before commenting, meanwhile:

• 2006/12/11: Deltoid: Telegraph wrong about IPCC report
• 2006/12/11: TP: Inhofe Distorts New UN Report On Climate Change: "We Are All Skeptics Now"

The IODP reports that methane cathrates are found at shallower depths than expected:

• 2006/12/12: NSU: Shallow fuels [methane hydrates] bring bad news - Buried deposits of greenhouse gases may be more unstable than thought.
• 2006/12/13: BBC: Methane ices pose climate puzzle - Scientists drilling ocean sediments off Canada have discovered methane ices at much shallower depths than expected

Stern and his Review are still being batted around:

• 2006/12/12: EnvEcon: The Hippolytic on Speth on Nordhaus on Stern on Global Warming
• 2006/12/14: EnvEcon: Varian's take on the critiques of the Stern Review
• 2006/12/15: CliProg: The High Cost of Staying the [Climate] Course
• 2006/12/11: Times(UK): Climate change author quits Treasury after Brown freezes him out - Stern 'was not part of inner circle' - Proposals ignored in Budget speech
• 2006/12/11: GristMill: Sterned away

Glaciers are melting:

• 2006/12/16: PhysOrg: Climate Change Melts Kilimanjaro's Snows

While on the el Niño front:

• 2006/12/15: PhysOrg: El Nino may, or may not, soak California
• 2006/12/11: PhysOrg: El Nino could last beyond spring

And in near earth orbit:

• COSMIC: Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere & Climate
• 2006/12/13: TerraDaily: COSMIC Provides Better Weather Forecasts, Climate Data
• 2006/12/13: UPI: [COSMIC] Satellites boost weather forecast accuracy
• 2006/12/11: ESA: Climate experts search for answers in the oceans [Medspiration & GlobCOLOUR projects]
• 2006/12/11: UCAR: Innovative Satellite System Proves its Worth with Better Weather Forecasts, Climate Data [COSMIC: Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere & Climate]

The changing atmosphere is projected to affect LEO spacecraft:

• 2006/12/14: BSD: Global warming's effects on the space program
• 2006/12/12: SciDaily: Carbon Dioxide Emissions Predicted To Reduce Density Of Earth's Outermost Atmosphere By 2017
• 2006/12/11: PhysOrg: Climate change affecting Earth's outermost atmosphere
• 2006/12/11: AScribe: Climate Change Affecting Earth's Outermost Atmosphere
• 2006/12/11: Eureka: Carbon dioxide emissions predicted to reduce density of Earth's outermost atmosphere by 2017

More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2006/12/15: HamiltonSpectator: Future refugees will flee climate impact - Canada and other wealthy nations should prepare for a flood of environmental refugees...
• 2006/12/14: ABC(Au): Research highlights more coral reef stress
• 2006/12/13: PlanetArk: Satellites Detect Major Decreases in Africa Water
• 2006/12/13: PlanetArk: Shipping in North Europe at Risk from Warmer Climate [due to low river water levels]
• 2006/12/11: CliProg: Climate Refugees
• 2006/12/16: Scotsman: Runaway climate change 'is melting the polar bear's toehold on life'

Then there are the tropical rainforests:

• 2006/12/12: NewScientist: Enormous rainforest protection scheme completed

Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2006/12/17: Independent(UK): Climate change: So where has all the snow gone?
  With trees bursting into bud and ski runs looking like spring meadows, the Alpine winter appears to have been cancelled
• 2006/12/17: AP: Thousands [600,000+] in Dark After Northwest Storm
• 2006/12/15: CBC: Tens of thousands still in dark after massive B.C. storm
• 2006/12/15: Novosti: Record high winter temperature set in Moscow
• 2006/12/14: TerraDaily: Bewilderment As Russian Winter Shrivels In Face Of Global Warming
• 2006/12/15: Scotsman: Melting moments as climate change hits Russian winter
• 2006/12/13: PlanetArk: Fake Snow in Alps, Moscow Blooms: Green Christmas?
• 2006/12/13: PlanetArk: Daisies by Kremlin as European Russia Warms up
• 2006/12/12: Reuters: Daisies by Kremlin as European Russia warms up

Speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2006/12/16: KCStar: Winter outlook bleak for drought-weary cattlemen - seventh-straight year of drought
• 2006/12/15: ABC(Au): It's more than a drought, say scientists
• 2006/12/14: CyprusMail: Drought fears as reservoir stocks shrink
• 2006/12/12: IPSNews: Brazil: Rainwater Tanks a Weapon Against Drought
• 2006/12/12: TerraDaily: Kenya Flood Toll Surges To 114
• 2006/12/12: PlanetArk: Kenya Red Cross Says Floods Kill 114, Seeks US$22 Million
• 2006/12/11: Reuters: Kenya: Pastoralists caught between drought and flood

Bushfires are plaguing Australia:

• 2006/12/15: JFleck: Climate->Drought->Fire
• 2006/12/17: ABC(Au): Crews prepare for tough week ahead as bushfires rage
• 2006/12/12: Australian: Aussie bushfires an unstoppable force
• 2006/12/12: WaPo: Bushfires rage across four Australian states
• 2006/12/12: Reuters: Bushfires rage across three Australian states
• 2006/12/13: ABC(Au): Fire crews build control lines as weather threatens

The troubling matter of falling food production is not going away:

• 2006/12/15: GristMill: Food vs. fuel news
• 2006/12/11: NZHerald: Fonterra eyes drought-stricken rival's markets
• 2006/12/13: ABC(Au): Drought forcing vegetable prices up
• 2006/12/14: KSWO: [Oklahoma] State cattle producers receive $6.5 million in drought relief
• 2006/12/14: KTEN: [Oklahoma] Cotton, pecan forecasts lowered because of drought
• 2006/12/11: ZWire: Drought concerns return to southwest Iowa
• 2006/12/12: TerraDaily: Drought Slashes Australian Wool Production To 20-Year Low
• 2006/12/12: SciDaily: Rise In California Temperatures Likely To Affect Crops

I expect this idea will tee off more than a few people:

• 2006/12/16: Guardian(UK): Eat the world - If a carbon credit scheme is being considered for travel, why not for food, too?

Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

• 2006/12/15: BBC: Care needed with carbon offsets
  Planting forests to combat global warming may be a waste of time, especially if those trees are at high latitudes, new research suggests.
• 2006/12/15: NewScientist: Location is key for trees to fight global warming
• 2006/12/14: Guardian(UK): Ocean pumps 'could cut carbon dioxide'
• 2006/12/14: PlanetArk: Key Role for UK Farms Seen in Meeting Carbon Goals
• 2006/12/13: PhysOrg: Plant a tree and save the Earth?
• 2006/12/13: Eureka: Soil nutrition affects carbon sequestration in forests
• 2006/12/13: BBC: Sea creatures' global warming fix - A simple sea creature could help to address the problem of global warming, a scientist claims
• 2006/12/12: GristMill: Top ten breakthroughs that could help cool the greenhouse
• 2006/12/10: RPTT: Prairie grass against global warming?
• 2006/12/11: GristMill: Fighting global warming...

Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2006/12/15: Reuters: Scientist [Paul Crutzen] says new data backs sulphur climate plan
• 2006/10/03: RStone: Can Dr. Evil Save The World?
  Forget about a future filled with wind farms and hydrogen cars. The Pentagon's top weaponeer says he has a radical solution that would stop global warming now -- no matter how much oil we burn
• 2006/12/10: JFleck: Those Batshit Crazy Livermore Guys

Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2006/12/13: CPD: Simulations of the last interglacial and the subsequent glacial inception with the Planet Simulator by M. Donat & F. Kaspar
• 2006/12/13: CPD: Coupled simulations of the mid-Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum: new results from PMIP2 by P. Braconnot et al.
• 2006/12/12: CPD: The DO-climate events are noise induced: statistical investigation of the claimed 1470 years cycle by P. D. Ditlevsen et al.
• 2006/12/12: PNAS: Production of hydrogen peroxide in the atmosphere of a Snowball Earth and the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis by Mao-Chang Liang et al.
• 2006/12/12: GRL: (abs) Future abrupt reductions in the summer Arctic sea ice by Marika M. Holland

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

• 2006/12/15: Eureka: Overconfidence leads to bias in climate change estimations
• 2006/12/15: BBC: South Pole's ancient winds mapped
  US scientists have reconstructed a 40,000-year record of wind conditions at the South Pole. They assembled the climate data by measuring the distribution of dust layers seen in two ice boreholes.
• 2006/12/11: PhysOrg: Nitrogen rain makes bogs contribute to climate change
• 2006/12/11: PhysOrg: Climate experts search for answers in the oceans
• 2006/12/11: PhysOrg: Midges send undeniable message -- Planet is warming
• 2006/12/11: OSU: Radar reveals view of land beneath polar ice - seeing through more than a mile of Greenland ice
• 2006/12/11: UPI: Scientists study warm cloud rain process

On the 'everything is different' theme:

• 2006/12/13: TruthOut: Climate Change Catching Voter Attention Around World
• 2006/12/14: PlanetArk: Climate Change Catching Voter Attention Around World - "It's the environment, stupid!"
• 2006/12/12: Reuters: Climate change catching voter attention around world

Meanwhile on the emissions trading front:

• 2006/12/15: EBR: EU emissions trading failing in current climate
  Despite the fanfare at its launch, it seems the EU emissions trading scheme will ultimately fail to deliver in its current form. An over-allocation of emissions credits in the first phase continues to subdue the price of carbon below levels necessary to promote genuine investment in carbon abatement. Moreover, a lack of policy cohesion is undermining attempts to get phase two back on track.

And on the American political front:

• 2006/12/13: EnvEcon: Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Proposed Rules
• 2006/12/14: GristMill: Dem voters and global warming
• 2006/12/15: TEB: Santa Monica Aims to be "Net Zero" City
• 2006/12/14: CliProg: More on the War on White Christmas
• 2006/12/14: HuffPo: Dem Voters and Global Warming
• 2006/12/14: TP: The War on White Christmas

The issue of political interference in science is gathering force:

• 2006/12/16: GWWatch: Reported US political interference in science now encyclopaedic in volume
• 2006/12/15: EnergyBulletin: 10,600 scientists condemn political interference in science
• 2006/12/15: StarTrib: EPA sequesters its pesky scientists - Reducing embarrassment in the name of raising efficiency
• UCSUSA: The A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science
• 2006/12/14: ABC(Au): US scientists protest against political interference
• 2006/12/14: BBC: US scientists reject interference
  Some 10,000 US researchers have signed a statement protesting about political interference in the scientific process. The statement, which includes the backing of 52 Nobel Laureates, demands a restoration of scientific integrity in government policy. According to the American Union of Concerned Scientists, data is being misrepresented for political reasons. It claims scientists working for federal agencies have been asked to change data to fit policy initiatives.
• 2006/12/13: NewsVine: New Publishing Rules Restrict Scientists
• 2006/12/11: TruthOut: Climate Scientist Says "Kyoto" Barred
• 2006/12/12: ClimateArk: Muzzling Those Pesky Scientists
• 2006/12/11: DeSmogBlog: "Climate change" and "Kyoto" deemed no, no's for government scientists
• 2006/12/11: TreeHugger: EPA Closing Libraries, Destroying Scientific Documents
• 2006/12/11: RMN: Climate scientist says 'Kyoto' barred - Investigators eye censorship claims about White House

The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2006/12/16: WorldChanging: Field Report: Al Gore's Climate Project
• 2006/12/16: CCTimes: Gore makes a better sage than a candidate
• 2006/12/15: BBC: Gore tells scientists to be vocal
  The former US Vice President Al Gore has told scientists to speak out more on the issue of climate change. In a keynote address at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, he said it was imperative people understood what was happening to the world.
• 2006/12/12: Grist: The Incredible Bulk - Al Gore plans to launch grassroots carbon-freeze movement

While on the UK political front:

• 2006/12/16: Scotsman: It's time to get tough on carbon emissions
• 2006/12/15: Guardian(UK): Labour climate vision fails to take off
• 2006/12/13: TreeHugger: All New Homes in the UK Will Be Carbon-Neutral by 2016 (?)

A plan for a universal carbon trading system has been floated:

• 2006/12/11: Guardian(UK): Miliband plans carbon trading 'credit cards' for everyone
• 2006/12/13: BBC: 'Zero carbon' homes plan unveiled - All new homes in England will have to be carbon neutral by 2016, under proposals announced by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly
• 2006/12/11: OilChange: Carbon "Credit Cards" for UK
• 2006/12/11: BBC: Carbon 'credit card' considered
  Carbon "credit cards" could be issued as part of a nationwide carbon rationing scheme, Environment Secretary David Miliband has suggested. An annual allowance would be allocated, with the card being swiped on various items such as travel, energy or food. Mr Miliband said people who used less than their allowance could sell any surplus to those who wanted more. A feasibility study says many questions remain on such a plan, but Mr Miliband says "bold thinking" is needed.

Meanwhile in Europe:

• 2006/12/13: PlanetArk: EU Warns Four Countries [Austria, Denmark, Hungary and Italy] over Missing CO2 Plans

And in Australia:

• 2006/12/16: ABC(Au): Climate group warns of hotter days to come
• 2006/12/14: DeSmogBlog: Longtime Skeptic John Howard Acknowledges Climate Reality
• 2006/12/13: TheAge: Extremes of weather here to stay: PM [John Howard]
• 2006/12/13: Australian: Coral expert urges Kyoto adoption
• 2006/12/13: JQuiggin: Mediocre or Machiavellian [?] [Howard GHG task force]
• 2006/12/11: ABC(Au): Emissions trading task force not stacked: ACCI
• 2006/12/12: GristMill: Oz opposition Labor Party's new (green) leadership [Garrett]
• 2006/12/12: ABC(Au): NFF hits out at make-up of carbon emissions task force
• 2006/12/11: TheAge: There's no simple fix for the Big Dry
• 2006/12/11: Australian: PM sure to put price on climate change
  We are witnessing the end of the beginning of the debate on climate change in Australia. Next year, bringing a federal election, will be one of action. By polling day, John Howard will almost certainly signal or put a price such as a tax on greenhouse gas emissions, or at least have a plan to do so. The only question is what form it will take. Globally and locally, climate change is now a struggle between symbolism and solutions. For the Prime Minister, it will be about finding a position that has real political clout, at least some substance, does not train-wreck the economy and establishes enough flexibility for future reform.
• 2006/12/11: Australian: Farmers' hopes for summer rain evaporate [92.7per cent of NSW is drought-stricken]

And in Canada, minority neocon PM Harper continues his inaction:

• 2006/12/16: ChronicleHerald: Harper MUST bring in a tough green plan
• 2006/12/13: BrandonSun: Mulroney prods Harper government to pay more attention to the environment
• 2006/12/12: DeSmogBlog: Ottawa's slow thaw on global warming

Continuing with the theme of local action in the face of federal inaction:

• 2006/12/16: EdmontonSun: Manitoba, California sign air pact
• 2006/12/11: Advertiser: Some U.S. cities 'ratify' Kyoto agreement

The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2006/12/14: Reuters: Panel urges U.S. "carbon price" to fight warming
• 2006/12/15: CCTimes: Taxing pollution touted to get industry to toe the green line
• 2006/12/14: SwissInfo: [Swiss] Senate approves CO2 tax plan
• 2006/12/12: JFleck: Unlikely Support [for carbon tax or cap-and-trade system]
• 2006/12/12: DeSmogBlog: First Groping Baby Steps Toward a Carbon-Pricing System
• 2006/12/12: FinStd: Citigroup puts a cost on climate change
• 2006/12/12: ZMag: Carbon trading: a carbon tax, blindfolded and handcuffed, with its shoelaces tied together

The movement toward ecologically based economics is glacial:

• 2006/12/13: EnvEcon: Quote of the day [Setting a real price on carbon emissions...]

Bruce points to big changes coming down the pike:

• 2006/12/13: VDM: Viridian Note 00482: Big Changes Ahead

As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2006/12/13: FramingScience: Melting Metaphors: New Study on Abrupt Arctic Ice Melt Provides Visual Impact Similar to That of the 'Ozone Hole'

Here is an interesting contrast in headlines for the same story:

• 2006/12/16: UPI: Study: Trees can fight global warming
  Planting trees can help fight global warming if they're planted in the right spots, U.S. and French climate experts say.
• 2006/12/15: Guardian(UK): Planting trees to save planet is pointless, say ecologists

Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2006/12/17: ABC(Au): Renewable energy affordable: Planet Ark
• 2006/12/16: PhysOrg: China joins U.S. FutureGen project [a plan to develop clean-burning coal]
• 2006/12/16: Forbes: China looks to develop more domestic energy sources - official says
  China will look to develop domestic sources of energy in the years ahead, with conservation at the heart of the energy agenda, said Ma Kai, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission. Ma gave a broad outline of China's future energy strategy at the start of talks in Beijing with energy ministers from the US, India, Japan and South Korea. He said that China will strive for greater energy conservation, with the aim of lowering the country's energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 pct over the 2005 to 2010 period.
• 2006/12/15: BaltimoreSun: Reservoirs may add to global warming
• 2006/12/15: PlanetArk: [German power utility] E.ON Says Needs Benign CO2 Regime to Build Plants
• 2006/12/13: AlterNet: Biofuels Are an Environmental Dead End
• 2006/12/14: EnergyBulletin: (One part of) A unified climate/energy agenda
• 2006/12/14: CBC: Nuclear power no green alternative to fossil fuels: study - Talk of nuclear energy in Alberta, Ontario moves [Pembina] Institute to write report
• 2006/12/14: UPI: Solar World: An efficiency milestone [Spectrolab]
• 2006/12/14: PlanetArk: REC to Build World's Biggest Solar Plant in Norway
• 2006/12/12: Yahoo: Biofuels seen as a luxury China cannot afford
• 2006/12/11: ISIS: Biofuels: Biodevastation, Hunger & False Carbon Credits
• 2006/12/13: GristMill: Talking point: (one part of) a unified climate/energy agenda
• 2006/12/13: GristMill: Travis Bradford responds [author of _Solar Revolution: The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry_]
• 2006/12/13: DeSmogBlog: Chicago utility to cut emissions, possibly plants
• 2006/12/13: HuffPo: (One part of) A Unified Climate/Energy Agenda
• 2006/12/12: DeSmogBlog: Utility industry clings to coal despite growing opposition
• 2006/12/12: TEB: Why a Hydrogen Economy Doesn't Make Sense
• 2006/12/11: TreeHugger: Skinny Silver (sic, should be sliver) Cells Could Cuts Solar Costs by 60%
• 2006/12/11: MSNBC: EC eyes 20 percent renewables target for 2020
• 2006/12/11: SciDaily: Fuels Made From Prairie Biomass Reduce Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

And then there is the question of what people do, as opposed to what they say:

• 2006/12/14: PhysOrg: Energy survey reveals gap between attitudes and action
  A new survey of public attitudes towards energy and the environment has shown a clear divergence between people’s views as citizens and their actions as consumers.

While automakers, lawyers and activists argue over the future of the car:

• 2006/12/17: PhysOrg: Carmakers Fight Global Warming Lawsuit
  The six largest automakers asked a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit by California that accuses them of harming human health and the environment by producing vehicles that contribute to global warming. The American and Japanese auto companies filed a motion Friday in U.S. District Court in Oakland to dismiss the state's suit, and an attorney for the carmakers said Saturday that state officials who want to reduce auto emissions should do it through regulation not litigation.
• 2006/12/13: PlanetArk: European Carmakers Urge EU not to Impose CO2 Limits
• 2006/12/13: OilChange: Make Cars in Cities Oil-Free by 2025
• 2006/12/12: SciDaily: Helping Diesel Manufacturers Develop Technologies To Meet Tough New Emissions Regulations

The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2006/12/14: PlanetArk: Wall Street Eyes Heart of Darkness: Global Warming
• 2006/12/13: Yahoo: Wall Street eyes heart of darkness: global warming [Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR)]
  The topic of the conference was climate change and the rhetoric was sobering, haunted by scientific projections of a roasted world for our children and a looming environmental disaster of Biblical proportions. But this was no talk shop of environmental activists. It was a meeting of Wall Street investors, insurance executives, state treasurers and pension fund managers, who between them manage about $3.7 trillion in assets.

Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2006/12/11: PlanetArk: Munich Re Sees Big Price Rise in Hurricane Business

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2006/12/15: TP: Inhofe may return to Senate environment panel
• 2006/12/13: TruthOut: World's Largest Science Teachers' Organization Awash in Denials
• 2006/12/13: TruthOut: What the Government Won't Say About Global Warming Will Hurt Us All
• 2006/12/14: Deltoid: Inhofe's conspiracy theory
• 2006/12/14: OilChange: ExxonMobil Wins Worst EU Lobby Award
• 2006/12/13: DeSmogBlog: Exxon lobby group named "year's most influential" in global climate change
• 2006/12/12: ERabett: The Oregon Deception Project...
• 2006/12/07: L2F: Exxon Spends Millions to Cast Doubt on Global Warming
• 2006/12/12: CliProg: Endangered Speciousness [Inhofe]
• 2006/12/11: DeSmogBlog: IPCC author and climate change expert hits "skeptics" hard
• 2006/12/11: DeSmogBlog: Victoria newspaper raps skeptic knuckles
• 2006/12/11: DeSmogBlog: Industry "think" tank cherry-picks to prove point
• 2006/12/10: DeSmogBlog: Inhofe's hot-air balloon raises temperatures over global warming
• 2006/12/10: Deltoid: Zombie alert [anti-Kyoto activist John Humphreys]

It looks like India is in denial:

• 2006/12/14: ENN: India Says Its Carbon Emissions Not Harming World

It seems Mr. Crichton has found a unique way to deal with literary critics:

• 2006/12/16: ERabett: Then and now...or Google Bombing Michael Crichton
• 2006/12/14: GristMill: Michael Crichton: class act
• 2006/12/15: JFleck: Michael Crichton is a Dork
• 2006/12/14: TPM: There was pretty good evidence... [Crichton]
• 2006/12/14: TPMM: Global Warming Denier Michael Crichton Fictionalizes Critic as Child Rapist
• 2006/12/14: TL: How Big A Jerk?
• 2006/12/14: TP: Journalist Critical Of Climate Skeptic Michael Crichton Written Into Crichton Novel As Child Rapist

Coby Beck is continuing to post his excellent "How to Talk to a Global Warming Sceptic" series on GristMill:

• 2006/12/17: GristMill: 'The Hockey Stick is broken'
• 2006/12/16: GristMill: 'Global Warming is nothing new'
• 2006/12/16: GristMill: 'Greenland used to be green'
• 2006/12/14: GristMill: 'Hansen has been wrong before'
• 2006/12/14: GristMill: 'It was warmer during the Holocene Climatic Optimum'
• 2006/12/15: GristMill: 'The Medieval Warm Period was just as warm as today'

There should be some kind of prize for Eli's consistently sharp and informed missives:

• 2006/12/14: ERabett: Gift for John H... [fisking the Robinson, Baliunas, Soon & Robinson manuscript]

Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2006/12/16: BSD: An Inconvenient Bayesian Truth?
• 2006/12/16: CDreams: Reuters: Penguins Offer Evidence of Global Warming
• 2006/12/15: NewScientist: NASA overwhelmed by climate data [iEarth coming April 2007]
• 2006/12/15: PlanetArk: Key Facts About Global Warming
• 2006/12/12: GWW: Global warming mind-map
• 2006/12/13: Stoat: Climate sensitivity factoid
• 2006/12/12: PhysOrg: 'Asian haze' impacts on Australian rainfall
• 2006/12/11: ERabett: The origins of climate cacophony...
• 2006/12/12: CSIRO: "Asian haze" impacts on Australian rainfall
• 2006/12/12: CSM: The de-carboning of American lifestyles
• 2006/12/12: TomPaine: Changing The Nation's Climate
• 2006/12/09: SMH: Rock star of climate change frozen out
• 2006/12/11: BBC: Rights focus sought on climate
  More attention to human rights is needed in tackling climate change, former Irish President Mary Robinson will say in a lecture. Her speech at Chatham House, a think-tank in London, will argue that climate change is now an issue of global injustice. The ex-UN high commissioner for human rights will urge policymakers to adopt "a radically different approach".
• 2006/12/12: FuturePundit: Blame Cows Before Cars For Greenhouse Gases
• 2006/12/11: Stoat: Bayesian stuff for the completely incompetent
• 2006/12/11: FTD: Welcome to the age of less [the era of cheap air travel]

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

• COSMIC: Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere & Climate
• UCSUSA: The A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science
• GWWatch: Global Warming Watch
• UNEP: Global Deserts Outlook
• [Science] Blog Around The Clock
• FramingScience
• CMOS: Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
• ACS: A Concerned Scientist - Concerned About the Assaults on Science
• NASA: CloudSat
• CommonsBlog
• Charles Komanoff - Fossil Fuels and Earth's Climate
• EcoEco: Ecological Economics - A Cross-Disciplinary Conversation
• Wiki: Global warming
• PSU: Michael Mann articles
• Global Warming Art
• EcoEcon

--regards--

-het

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

--

"We are certainly not to relinquish the evidence of experiments for the sake of dreams and vain fictions of our own devising."

-Sir Isaac Newton, Principia, 1687

Global Warming: http://www.autobahn.mb.ca/~het/enviro/globalwarming.html

GW News: http://www.autobahn.mb.ca/~het/enviro/gwnews.html

GW News Archive: http://www.autobahn.mb.ca/~het/enviro/gwna.html

H.E. Taylor http://www.autobahn.mb.ca/~het/