Another Week of GW News, July 29, 2007

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

Another Week of GW News, July 29, 2007

• Top Stories, Extreme weather, Floods, Heatwaves, GW & Precipitation Paper, Ozone, Hansen, Darfur
• Hurricanes, Temperatures, Glaciers, Sea Levels, el Niño, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Floods & Droughts, Biofuel & Food
• Mitigation, Transportation, Geoengineering, Adaptation
• Journals, Misc. Science
• Carbon Trading, Carbon Tax, Optimal Strategy
• Politics, International, APEC, Green Consumerism America, Britain, Europe, Australia, China, Japan, Asia, Canada
• Ecological Economics, Apocalypso, Media, Books, Courts
• Energy, Coal, Biofuel, Nukes, Ausubel, Efficiency, Cars, Business, Carbon Lobby
• The Usual, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion
• .sig

---

Click here to read more

The big story this week has to be the worldwide extreme weather:

• 2007/07/28: Guardian(UK): Southern Europe scorched as rain batters north
  Continent divided by two differing summer climates - Heat and floods both spell disaster for farmers
• 2007/07/27: ABC(Au): Wild weather to worsen with climate change: expert
  A Gold Coast academic says the frequency and severity of storms, floods, droughts and bushfires will increase as climate change takes hold. Griffith University has just released a report that discusses the issues, costs and liabilities involved in adapting to climate change. The Climate Response Program's research director, Professor Ralf Buckley, says meeting the community's changing health, water and electricity needs will be expensive.
• 2007/07/27: C411: Extreme Weather Across Europe
• 2007/07/26: ArgusLeader: 1,100 cattle die in heat wave - Feedlots affected mainly in northeast [South Dakota]
• 2007/07/26: MTobis: Texas Flood - it's still raining and it looks to be getting worse soon...
• 2007/07/26: ENN: Floods, Heat Hit Europe, but Is It Global Warming?
• 2007/07/26: ArabNews: Storm Flattens Over 500 Houses in Bangladesh
• 2007/07/24: TerraDaily: Europe Battles Weather Extremes
• 2007/07/25: PlanetArk: Sudan Urges People Living in Flood Plains to Evacuate [55 dead & 25,000 destroyed homes]
• 2007/07/24: PlanetArk: Indonesia Landslides, Floods Kill 7, Displace Thousands
• 2007/07/23: PhysOrg: Extreme weather batters Europe
• 2007/07/23: TerraDaily: Weather Extremes Hit Europe With Floods And Heatwaves
• 2007/07/22: TerraDaily: China Floods Take More Lives As River Dykes Threatened
• 2007/07/23: PlanetArk: Floods Kill at Least 100 Across China
• 2007/07/23: PlanetArk: Floods Kills 15 in Bangladesh, Thousands Stranded
• 2007/07/22: Turkish Press: Weather extremes hit southeast Europe, England

  We have floods in Britain, German, China, Sudan, Indonesia, India...:

• 2007/07/29: GWWatch: Britain's great flood a reminder of more to come
• 2007/07/27: PlanetArk: UK Forecasters See More Deluges in Years To Come
• 2007/07/26: NewStatesman: What’s really going on here? [UK floods]
• 2007/07/24: NatureCF: Flash floods - a sign of what's in store?
• 2007/07/27: TerraDaily: More Rains Forecast As England And Wales See Wettest Months Since 1766
• 2007/07/27: PlanetArk: China Floods Spread To North After At Least 500 Die
• 2007/07/25: TruthOut: A 21st Century Catastrophe
  Flood-ravaged Britain is suffering from a wholly new type of civil emergency, it is clear today: a disaster caused by 21st-century weather
• 2007/07/24: TerraDaily: Emergency Committee Meets In London As UK Faces Worst Floods In 60 Years
• 2007/07/25: PlanetArk: Britain Battles Worst Floods for 60 Years
• 2007/07/24: BBC: UK flood crisis operation launched - People in flood-hit areas are urged not to panic as massive efforts begin to get drinking water to those stranded
• 2007/07/24: TerraDaily: 58 Dead In Indonesia Floods And Landslides
• 2007/07/23: AP: Floods Strike Britain; Thames Rising
• 2007/07/23: ClimateP: UK: Worst Floods In Modern History
• 2007/07/23: PlanetArk: British Floods Threaten Water Supplies
• 2007/07/23: ENN: Floods Hit Southern Britain, Power and Water Cut
• 2007/07/23: Xinhuanet: Germany hit by heavy rain, flooding
• 2007/07/23: DailyIndia: Swollen U.K. rivers to crest at midweek
• 2007/07/23: BBC: Flood crisis grows as rivers rise
  The flooding crisis in central and western England continues with thousands of homes losing water and electricity supplies. Up to 350,000 people in Gloucestershire will be left without running water by Monday evening, as the Severn and Thames rivers threaten to overflow.
• 2007/07/23: AFP: Britain hit by worst flooding in 60 years
• 2007/07/23: Times(UK): Looting, panic buying - and a water shortage
  Food and drinking water shortages, panic buying and the threat of looting have followed the worst flooding to hit England in 60 years

A heatwave in eastern Europe & the Mediterranean:

• 2007/07/24: VDM: Viridian Note 00495: Serbia and the Flames
• 2007/07/25: TruthOut: Death Toll Rises in Southern Europe's Heat Wave
• 2007/07/26: PlanetArk: Greek Heatwave Peaks at 45 Degrees [Celsius (113F)]
• 2007/07/26: AFP: Southern Europe braces for more fires as arson suspected
• 2007/07/26: Guardian(UK): Tourism fears as heatwave sparks fires across Greece
• 2007/07/24: TerraDaily: Heatwave Claims 500 Lives In Hungary, 16 In Greece
• 2007/07/25: PlanetArk: Heat Wave, Fires Wreak Havoc in Southeast Europe
• 2007/07/25: BBC: South-eastern Europe is sweltering as a heatwave continues, with fears of further power cuts and forest fires
• 2007/07/25: ABC(Au): Heatwave turns south-east Europe into tinderbox as fires rage
• 2007/07/25: Guardian(UK): Death toll rises in southern Europe's heatwave
• 2007/07/23: TruthOut: Warnings Sounded as Mediterranean Melts in Heat
• 2007/07/24: BBC: Hungary heatwave kills hundreds
  About 500 people died in the past week from a heatwave in Hungary, one of the country's top health officials says
• 2007/07/24: AFP: Heatwave claims hundreds of lives in Europe
  Up to 500 people have died in a heatwave in the past week in Hungary, the country's chief medical officer said Tuesday as Europe struggled to cope with extreme weather conditions.
• 2007/07/23: PlanetArk: Southeast Europe Sizzles, North Hit by Storms, Tornado
• 2007/07/23: PlanetArk: Heatwave Kills Six Romanians, Death Toll Reaches 15

  And how have people reacted?

• 2007/07/23: Guardian(UK): We must face up to the flooding, not flee to the sun
  The turbulent weather we've seen is a warning of what lies ahead for us. Only a new politics can address climate change
• 2007/07/24: Guardian(UK): After the flood
  Dealing with the effects of heavy rain is one thing but, if recent climate change research proves correct, how will we cope with what lies ahead?
• 2007/07/24: PlanetArk: Floods Force Many to Face Climate Change Reality
• 2007/07/23: PlanetArk: Worldwide Floods Show Lessons Still Need Learning
• 2007/07/22: Yahoo: Floods force many to face climate change reality

  Meanwhile a paper in Nature shows a correlation between precipitation and GW:

• 2007/07/24: Nature: (abs) Detection of human influence on twentieth-century precipitation trends by Xuebin Zhang et al.
• 2007/07/29: GWWatch: Research to show UK flooding is from global warming
• 2007/07/23: TerraDaily: Global Warming Impacting Global Rainfall Patterns
• 2007/07/24: Yahoo: Are Britain's Floods Linked to Global Warming?
• 2007/07/23: NSU: Rainfall changes linked to human activity - Greenhouse-gas emissions have made the Northern Hemisphere wetter
• 2007/07/23: TruthOut: England Under Water: Scientists Confirm Global Warming Link to Increased Rain
• 2007/07/24: Guardian(UK): Human activity linked to heavier rainfall
• 2007/07/24: KSJT: Canadian Dailies, wires, etc: Canadian study says globe's rain, snow patterns shifted (Right. We did it?)
• 2007/07/23: TruthOut: Study: Humans to Blame for Changes in Rain
• 2007/07/24: ABC(Au): Global warming affecting rainfall: study
• 2007/07/24: PlanetArk: Humans to Blame for Global Changes in Rain - Study
• 2007/07/23: Yahoo: Humans to blame for global changes in rain: study
• 2007/07/24: CCurrents: England Under Water: Scientists Confirm Global Warming Link
• 2007/07/23: BBC: Humans 'affect global rainfall'
  Human-induced climate change has affected global rainfall patterns over the 20th Century, a study suggests. Researchers said changes to the climate had led to an increase in annual average rainfall in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. But while countries such as Canada, Russia and northern Europe had become wetter, areas including India and parts of Africa had become drier, they added.
• 2007/07/23: OilChange: Flooded Britain: Climate Change To Blame

  Tropospheric ozone apparently dimishes carbon sinks:

• 2007/07/27: RealClimate: Ozone impacts on climate change
• 2007/07/26: TruthOut: Smog [Ozone] May Speed Up Global Warming
• 2007/07/27: GristMill: Carbon sinks threatened by increasing ozone
• 2007/07/26: KSJT: Brit press, LA Times, wires: Low-level ozone is crimping plant growth. Could worsen warming
• 2007/07/26: ClimateP: Carbon sinks threatened by increasing ozone
• 2007/07/26: TWM: Ozone...
• 2007/07/25: BBC: Ozone has 'strong climate effect'
  Ozone could be a much more important driver of climate change than scientists had previously predicted, according to a study in Nature journal. The authors say the effects of this greenhouse gas - known by the formula O3 - have been largely overlooked. Ozone near the ground damages plants, reducing their ability to mop up carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere
• 2007/07/25: PhysOrg: [Ozone] Smog to accelerate global warming: scientists
• 2007/07/25: Eureka: Rising surface ozone reduces plant growth and adds to global warming

  Meanwhile a report that natural processes are contributing to Antarctic ozone complicated the picture:

• 2007/07/14: GRL: (abs) Chemical destruction of CH3I, C2H5I, 1-C3H7I, and 2-C3H7I in saltwater by Charlotte E. Jones & Lucy J. Carpenter
• 2007/07/28: NewScientist: Iodine enters the climate-change mix

  James Hansen has been busy:

• 2007/07/28: ClimateP: Hansen on Super Models - for technocrats only
• 2007/07/26: FuturePundit: James Hansen Fears Runaway Ice Sheet Melting
• 2007/07/27: ClimateP: Hansen on "Who Killed the Electric Car?"
• 2007/07/26: GristMill: Hansen on 'trains of death'
• 2007/07/26: ClimateP: Hansen on "Trains of Death"
• 2007/07/25: NewScientist: Huge sea level rises are coming -- unless we act now by James Hansen
• 2007/07/25: MTobis: Hansen Expects Meters of Sea Level Rise Soon
• 2007/07/25: GristMill: NASA's Hansen on Live Earth, Gore, and coal
• 2007/07/25: Atmoz: NASA's Hansen on Live Earth, Gore, and Coal
• 2007/07/24: ClimateP: More of NASA's James Hansen on Old King Coal

  Tamino has posted a good pair of articles on incoming solar radiation metrics:

• 2007/07/27: Tamino: PMOD vs ACRIM (part 2)
• 2007/07/24: Tamino: PMOD vs ACRIM

  Late commentary on Darfur:

• 2007/07/26: Maribo: The mythical lake beneath Darfur
• 2007/07/27: CSM: Climate change escalates Darfur crisis - Less rainfall on the fringes of the Sahara Desert is putting more of a strain on resources than ever before
• 2007/07/23: TruthOut: A Godsend for Darfur, or a Curse?

  Things are quiet on the hurricane front, but there is a lot of talk:

• 2007/07/28: Wunderground: Disturbance 98L forms north of the southern Bahamas
• 2007/07/24: NatureCF: Medicanes?
• 2007/07/26: C411: Gray's Hypothesis Doesn't Hold Water
• 2007/07/27: Wunderground: Steering current forecast
• 2007/07/26: WiredSci: Global Warming Makes Hurricanes Worse: No! Yes! No! Yes!
• 2007/07/27: DeSmogBlog: Mooney: "Science ought to check itself"
• 2007/07/27: DeSmogBlog: Nicely Balanced Look at Hurricane Influence
• 2007/07/26: Wunderground: Tropical update; 4th warmest June on record
• 2007/07/26: PlanetArk: Tropical Storm [Dalila] Wheels Away from Mexico Coast
• 2007/07/24: Reuters: Forecaster [WSI Corp] cuts 2007 hurricane outlook [14 named storms, 6 hurricanes & 3 major hurricanes]
• 2007/07/24: Reasic: Hurricanes in the Mediterranean
• 2007/07/24: Wunderground: Warmer Water, Super Hurricanes
• 2007/07/24: PlanetArk: Tropical Storm Dalila Forms Off Mexican Pacific
• 2007/07/24: Eureka: Survey of hurricane preparedness finds one-third on high risk coast will refuse evacuation order
• 2007/07/23: APP: Big hurricane could flood metro area - Damage would require huge rebuilding effort
• 2007/07/23: Wunderground: Quiet Atlantic; police blow up weather station

  Meanwhile temperatures are going up:

• 2007/07/26: WarmingLaw: Nevada Feeling the Heat? a new report
• 2007/07/25: Yahoo: Study: Nevada has big temperature gains

  While on the el Niño front:

• 2007/07/23: C411: Short-term Change and El Nino
• 2007/07/23: TerraDaily: La Nina Pattern Likely To Play Havoc With Global Weather
• 2007/07/23: PlanetArk: Weak La Nina Event Likely to Develop in 2007 - WMO

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2007/07/25: SciDaily: Measuring The Retreat History Of Alpine Glaciers
• 2007/07/24: NewScientist: Tibet is warming at twice global average
• 2007/07/24: GristMill: To the last glacier
• 2007/07/24: People's Daily: Glaciers melting at alarming speed
  The Tibetan and Xinjiang glaciers - the major source of Asia's biggest rivers - have melted by up to an alarming 17 percent at certain spots in the past four decades
• 2007/07/23: ABC(Au): Tibet warming at record rate

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2007/07/27: IPSNews: Tiny Tuvalu Fights for Its Literal Survival

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

• 2007/07/27: ESA: Floods and fires across Europe captured from space
• 2007/07/26: TerraDaily: New NASA AIRS [Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder] Data To Aid Weather And Climate Research

  So after canning Proenza, partially because of the flack he raised over QuikScat, what is the state of US Earth observation satellites?

• 2007/07/28: CSW: House appropriations for NASA and NOAA would begin to reverse damage to climate observing system
• 2007/07/25: CNN: Earth observation satellites in peril
  Nation's Earth-observing satellites is aging, and badly - The satellites enable scientists to monitor the planet - By 2010, the number of working satellites will drop by 40 percent
• 2007/07/23: KSJT: BBC: US climate and weather satellite woes may be worse than had been reported

  More GW impacts are being seen:

• 2007/07/27: CanWest: [Pine] Beetle-killed forests cited as possible climate change factor - Warm winters help insects spread and may lead to even warmer winters, scientist says
• 2007/07/26: ENN: Global Warming Sends Dengue Fever Cases in Indonesia Soaring
  Indonesia is on course for some 200,000 dengue fever infections this year, twice last year's total, a top health official said Thursday, adding the jump may be in part due to global warming. The country has so far this year logged over 100,000 cases of the mosquito-borne disease -- 1,100 of them fatal, said a senior Health Ministry official, Nyoman Kandun. Last year, there were 114,000 recorded cases, with 1,100 fatalities...
• 2007/07/25: ENN: Voracious Seven-Foot Long Jumbo Squid Invade California Waters, Preying on Local Fish
• 2007/07/24: Yahoo: Study: Rising temperatures pose danger [for the Quebec Inuit]
• 2007/07/25: AFP: Drip, drip of global warming spells change in northern Russia
• 2007/07/24: NSU: Jumbo squid invades California - Voracious mollusc sets up home in the North Pacific
• 2007/07/23: Yahoo: Warm Water Creatures May Soon Rule the Oceans
• 2007/07/23: NewScientist: California's attack of the jumbo squid [GW & overfishing]
• 2007/07/23: NewScientist: Climate change linked to a millennium of war in [dynastic] China
• 2007/07/23: TreeHugger: What Could Global Warming do to the Northeastern United States?
• 2007/07/23: PlanetArk: Climate Change Threatens Latin American Water Supply - World Bank
• 2007/07/23: Eureka: Limpets reveal possible fate of cold-blooded Antarctic animals - Antarctic biodiversity and global change
• 2007/07/23: DailyIndia: Global warming may kill Antarctic limpets
• 2007/07/23: CBC: Quebec's warming Arctic becoming unsafe for Ski-Doos, native hunters warned
• 2007/07/24: TerraDaily: Cities And Economy Under Threat, Tourists Despair In Britain's Worst Floods In Memory
• 2007/07/23: BBC: Fires threaten homes in US westThousands of homes have been evacuated in the US states of Idaho and Nevada after a wildfire grew by 200 sq miles (518 sq km) in 24 hours.

And then there are the world's forests:

• 2007/07/25: PlanetArk: World Bank Fund Encourages Developing Countries to Stop Deforestation
• 2007/07/23: MongaBay: Australia funds first global deforestation monitoring system
• 2007/07/24: ENN: World Bank Sees Support for $250 Million Forest Fund
  A planned $250 million World Bank fund to encourage developing countries to stop deforestation in return for access to carbon credits has attracted strong international support, a senior official said on Tuesday
• 2007/07/23: ABC(Au): Aust contributes $10m to stop Indonesian deforestation
• 2007/07/23: ABC(Au): Cut down fewer trees, reduce carbon emissions: [Federal Environment Minister, Malcolm] Turnbull

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

• 2007/07/27: TerraDaily: Climate Change Sucks Water From China's Two Longest Rivers
• 2007/07/27: PlanetArk: Floods, Heat Hit Europe, But Is It Global Warming?
• 2007/07/26: RawStory: Looming drought may bring water, power outages to Philippines
• 2007/07/22: JFleck: Romania This Time - More drought

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

• 2007/07/27: CSM: The unintended consequences of the ethanol quick fix
  The push to increase ethanol production and ease dependence on oil has created a price runup in fuel and food prices
• 2007/07/27: CarsonsPost: Ethanol - the unintended consequences
• 2007/07/24: CSM: Rising food prices curb aid to global poor
  Food commodity prices have risen by 21 percent since 2005, which will stretch aid groups' resources
• 2007/07/24: EnvEcon: Still More Ethanol Dominoes--Starbucks Edition
• 2007/07/22: EconBrowser: Ethanol and food price volatility

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

• 2007/07/27: PlanetArk: Weather Wreaks Havoc on Europe's Grain Crop
• 2007/07/26: PlanetArk: Heatwave, Drought to Halve Bosnian Crops

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front, how does this jibe with accounting principles?

• 2007/07/25: GristMill: Timber industry rent seeking
• 2007/07/24: OilChange: Ecuador: Pay Us to Keep the Oil in the Ground

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2007/07/26: AlterNet: Fare-Free Public Transit Could Be Headed to a City Near You
• 2007/07/25: AfterGutenberg: High Speed Electric Rail? Sure. In U.S.? Come Again?

  As for aviation & GHGs:

• 2007/07/27: NuncScio: Heathrow takes Queen, Prince Charles and 5 million others to court over climate change
• 2007/07/25: Guardian(UK): Make your mark and ground the growth of aviation [Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow next month]
• 2007/07/23: TreeHugger: Airline Industry's 'Risible' Attempt at Carbon Offsetting

  While on the adaptation front:

• 2007/07/27: Eureka: Wild weather forces farmers to adapt - Scientists propose new cropping strategies for a variable climate

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2007/07/25: ABC(US): Climate Engineering Is Doable, as Long as We Never Stop

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2007/07/14: GRL: (abs) Chemical destruction of CH3I, C2H5I, 1-C3H7I, and 2-C3H7I in saltwater by Charlotte E. Jones & Lucy J. Carpenter
• 2007/07/23: CliPast: The LGM surface climate and atmospheric circulation over East Asia and the North Pacific in the PMIP2 coupled model simulations by W. Yanase & A. Abe-Ouchi
• 2007/07/25: CPD: Detecting vegetation-precipitation feedbacks in mid-Holocene North Africa from two climate models by Y. Wang et al.
• 2007/07/24: Nature: (abs) Detection of human influence on twentieth-century precipitation trends by Xuebin Zhang et al.
• 2007/07/24: PNAS: Crossing the final ecological threshold in high Arctic ponds by John P. Smol & Marianne S. V. Douglas

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

• 2007/07/24: TerraDaily: Flying Into A Thunderstorm
• 2007/07/24: TreeHugger: Thirsty Trees Drink Carbon Dioxide Instead

  Meanwhile on the carbon trading front:

• 2007/07/27: GristMill: Same carbon credits sold twice (as CDM and on voluntary market)
• 2007/07/28: TreeHugger: Means to an End: High Profile UK NGOs Defend Offsets
• 2007/07/23: CFO: Linking [EU ETS & other carbon exchanges] could cause carbon price to plummet -- ZEW [Centre for European Economic Research]
• 2007/07/26: EnvFin: Bank of America buys into carbon trading [Climate Exchange, the London-listed company]
• 2007/07/24: Tyee: Selling Doomsday Debits - In BC's wasteful forest biz, carbon credits don't grow on trees
• 2007/07/27: NEN: Offsetting Standards Necessary
• 2007/07/23: TerraDaily: Carbon Trading Exchange Goes Live In Australia
• 2007/07/24: PlanetArk: Carbon Offsetting Needs Code of Practice - UK Report
• 2007/07/24: PlanetArk: Carbon Trading Schemes Around the World [list]
• 2007/07/24: PlanetArk: Australia's First Carbon Trading Exchange Opens
• 2007/07/23: ABC(Au): Carbon trading market opens in Melbourne

  The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

• 2007/07/26: PlanetArk: Britons Reject "Green" Taxes
• 2007/07/22: RegisterGuard: The Cold Truth
  The crisis presented by global warming demands a response that is simple, comprehensive and effective. A tax on carbon consumption is the only response in sight that both discourages the production of emissions that cause global warming, and finances the rapid transition to a post-carbon economy

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

• 2007/07/27: GristMill: Rule three of offsets: No geo-engineering
• 2007/07/28: NEN: To Tax or Cap, That Is the Question
• 2007/07/26: ClimateP: Rule Three of Offsets: No Geo-engineering
• 2007/07/25: GristMill: Economic effect of cap-and-trade: A wager
• 2007/07/26: PlanetArk: US EPA Sees Little Economic Impact from CO2 Cuts
  A Senate proposal to cap and eventually reduce heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions would stunt economic growth by no more than 1.6 percent by 2030, the US Environmental Protection Agency found Tuesday
• 2007/07/25: ClimateP: Safety Valve Safely Voids Environmental Standards
• 2007/07/24: ClimateP: A Better Idea Than the "Safety Valve"
• 2007/07/25: GristMill: Cost containment for the carbon market: A step toward cap-and-trade
• 2007/07/24: GristMill: A better idea than the 'safety valve'
• 2007/07/25: HuffPo: Cost containment for the carbon market: A step toward cap-and-trade
• 2007/07/22: BSD: Carbon offsets for temperate forestry projects can be fine, just fine
• 2007/07/22: BBC: MPs support carbon offset schemes
  People should be encouraged and offered help to use schemes that offset their carbon emissions, MPs have said. The environmental audit committee acknowledged that some schemes were "less than robust", but the benefits of cutting emissions were worth pursuing. Recently, critics said some projects were failing to deliver on promises.
• 2007/07/23: TreeHugger: Climate Care Defends Carbon Offsets

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

• 2007/07/23: EESD: Who Cares About Climate Change? Poor countries may be more worried than rich ones...
• 2007/07/27: Xinhuanet: UN chief urges U.S. to combat global warming
• 2007/07/26: ArabNews: Need for Joint Action
• 2007/07/25: TreeHugger: First North American Energy Agreement Inked

  There is an APEC meeting coming up this September in Sydney, Australia:

• 2007/07/26: ENN: Climate Change to Dominate APEC Summit
• 2007/07/25: TerraDaily: Climate Change, Energy Security Top APEC Agenda

  What will be the result of green consumerism?

• 2007/07/26: ZMag: Eco-junk - Green consumerism will not save the biosphere
• 2007/07/26: CSM: Can 'green chic' save the planet?
• 2007/07/24: CDreams: Monbiot: Eco-Junk: Why Buying Less Is More Than Buying Green
• 2007/07/24: CCurrents: Why Buying Less Is More Than Buying Green [Monbiot]

  And on the American political front:

• 2007/07/28: ClimateP: Acronym Smackdown: ACORE vs. CEI
• 2007/07/28: Ocala: Finally, we get the message on fuel economy
• 2007/07/28: NEN: House Energy Bill: Showdown on Renewables Standard
• 2007/07/27: AfterGutenberg: Lawmakers Doubt Voters Would Fund Big Carbon Cuts
• 2007/07/26: WFC: Overwhelming Support for Stronger Fuel Economy Standards
• 2007/07/27: CCM: Promising Bipartisan Proposal in Congress to Deal With Climate Change...Really!
• 2007/07/27: SacBee: Laying down law on global warming - [State Attorney General, Jerry] Brown uses 1970 statute to insist projects assess climate-change impacts
• 2007/07/24: TruthOut: Congress Stymied on Global Warming Bills
• 2007/07/24: GristMill: EPA economic analysis of cap-and-trade program
• 2007/07/24: GristMill: Lieberman and Warner move closer to climate legislation
• 2007/07/24: DeSmogBlog: Energy Association in Full Swing Over Rahall's Energy Bill
• 2007/07/23: ClimateP: House Energy Debate Planned for Next Week
• 2007/07/23: PhysOrg: Americans Warming to Nuclear Power - MIT Survey
• 2007/07/23: WarmingLaw: Reverberations [US state governors]

  EPA head S. Johnson was back in front of a congressional subcommittee:

• 2007/07/27: KSJT: Wires, California dailies: EPA boss getting more flack for going slow on permission slip for California tailpipe CO2 rules
• 2007/07/27: WarmingLaw: Outpouring [Cal, EPA etc]
• 2007/07/26: TruthOut: Lawmakers Grill EPA Chief on California Law
• 2007/07/27: ENN: U.S. Environment [EPA] Chief Draws Fire on Global Warming [Calif car law]
• 2007/07/26: Yahoo: Lawmakers grill EPA chief on Calif. law
  The head of the Environmental Protection Agency refused on Thursday to say whether he knew the Transportation Department was lobbying against a California global warming law

California Air Resources Board has recommended stricter diesel-emission rules:

• 2007/07/28: Yahoo: Panel [California Air Resources Board] recommends climate change [carbon] market
• 2007/07/27: TruthOut: California Air Regulators Weigh Sweeping Diesel-Emission Rules
• 2007/07/28: ABC(Au): California cracks down on vehicle emissions
• 2007/07/28: PhysOrg: Panel Recommends Climate Change Market
  As California begins mapping out its strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions, how industries will be forced to comply is emerging as one of the most complex aspects of the debate. A key component of the state's plan to implement last year's far-reaching global warming law was submitted Friday to California air regulators. The state Air Resources Board received a 107-page report - commissioned last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - that endorses a market-trading program.
• 2007/07/28: BBC: Air-quality regulators in California have introduced tough new rules controlling fuel emissions from some diesel-powered engines

  The Forest Service has setup a carbon offset program:

• 2007/07/25: PhysOrg: Agency, Group to 'Offset' CO2 Emissions
• 2007/07/25: GristMill: Offset mania
• 2007/07/26: LA Times: U.S. offers way to atone for carbon guilt
  To offset emissions, individuals can buy vouchers that the Forest Service will use to plant CO2-absorbing trees...the Forest Service will be the first federal agency to offer personal carbon offsets through an initiative called the Carbon Capital Fund...
• 2007/07/25: ENN: Forest Service Teams with Nonprofit [National Forest] Foundation to Combat Global Warming

  The names on VP Cheney's energy task force has been leaked:

• 2007/07/23: NYT: How the Energy Dice Were Loaded
  The names of some of the corporate big shots and industry lobbyists who helped shape the deliberations and conclusions of the super-secret Cheney energy task force in 2001 are now beginning to surface, thanks to a former White House aide who provided a list to The Washington Post. [...] What this list really does is remind us how and why this administration has squandered six years that should have been devoted to finding innovative answers to the big questions of oil dependency and global warming.
• 2007/07/18: WaPo: [Cheney] Energy Task Force Meetings Participants

  The Gore-apalooza is still kicking over:

• 2007/07/24: GristMill: Climate change message: positive or negative?

  While in the UK:

• 2007/07/27: Nottingham: Nottingham centre to help UK to meet its carbon targets
• 2007/07/25: Guardian(UK): National Trust puts 3.5m members in front line against climate change
• 2007/07/26: BBC: UK forecasts to zoom in on towns [by 2011]
  Weather forecasters will soon be able to zoom in on regions that are the size of a town, UK meteorologists have said. Currently, accurate forecasts are limited to county-sized areas; but a supercomputer to be introduced at the Met Office will give much finer detail
• 2007/07/24: DStrahan: British energy policy is a dangerous farce
• 2007/07/23: ClimateP: UK Prime Minister on "weather extremes" and climate change

  And in Europe:

• 2007/07/26: Euractiv: Europeans reluctant to give up cars despite environmental concerns
• 2007/07/25: PlanetArk: Latvia Considers Legal Action Over EU Carbon Quota

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2007/07/29: ABC(Au): Coal miners call for emissions target
  The coal miners' union denies it is just trying to get Labor leader Kevin Rudd elected by launching a new ad campaign targeting the Federal Government's record on climate change. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) is today launching a million-dollar advertising campaign attacking Prime Minister John Howard's stance.
• 2007/07/28: ABC(Au): Blacktown pilots emissions scheme
  The Blacktown area of north-western Sydney is launching an ambitious program to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 25,000 tonnes and save millions of dollars on electricity bills. Under the "Solar Cities" project, residents of Blacktown Council's 47 suburbs will be offered discounts on solar electricity and hot water systems, as well as packages that encourage consumers to use less power during peak demand periods.
• 2007/07/28: ABC(Au): Opposition claims Green industries forgotten
  The ACT Opposition says the Government's new climate change strategy doesn't have enough in it for environment-based industry development. The Liberals say the Government has failed to fulfill a 2003 commitment to make Canberra a centre for environmental industries
• 2007/07/26: ABC(Au): Climate change to hit far north Queensland hardest: [says Federal Opposition's environment spokesman, Peter] Garrett
• 2007/07/24: ABC(Au): Fed Govt criticised for delaying emissions trading

  While in China:

• 2007/07/23: BBC: China postpones pollution reportChina has indefinitely postponed the release of an environmental report on the costs of economic development. Several local governments are reported to have objected to the release of "sensitive" information about the pollution they cause. Government officials from different departments also appear to disagree on how to calculate the figures. But despite the setback, the man in charge of the scheme says the research should continue. The project - to calculate how much money pollution costs China each year, the so-called "green gross domestic product" - was launched in 2004. But the scheme seems never to have progressed smoothly.

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

• 2007/07/26: TStar: Harper's head stuck in oil sands
• 2007/07/24: CanWest: We're all big energy wasters, says [Natural Resources Minister Gary] Lunn
• 2007/07/24: TStar: Energy pussycat Stephen Harper likes to describe Canada as an "energy superpower." It's a catchy claim, but a ridiculous one. Surely an "energy superpower" would be a country that, at the very least, is assertive in taking care of its own energy needs.

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

• 2007/07/25: CChange: The Extractors and climatocide
• 2007/07/22: CChange: Can ecological economists stop the mainstreamers before it's too late?

  Regarding the touchy question of population numbers:

• 2007/07/23: TreeHugger: New Museum Head Says Lower Population Would Cut CO2 at Fraction of Renewable Energy Cost

  Apocalypso anyone?:

• 2007/07/27: CanWest: The end isn't near - It seems environmental catastrophe has been right around the corner for decades now -- so what happened?
• 2007/07/25: CasaubonsBook: The Time is Now

  As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2007/07/24: Denialism: The Independent needs its environmental credentials to be taken away

  Here is something for your library:

• 2007/07/24: Denialism: [Book Review] _Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle over Global Warming_ by Chris Mooney
• 2007/07/24: GristMill: [Book Review] _The Upside of Down_ by Thomas Homer-Dixon

  Meanwhile in the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2007/07/26: CSW: Federal court ruling pending in lawsuit to compel new National Climate Change Assessment

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

• 2007/07/29: Telegram(UK): Earth energy - Drawing warmth from the ground
• 2007/07/29: IR^2: Google Solar, Hydrogen, and Farm Bills
• 2007/07/28: TruthOut: Alternative Energy Guru Reflects on Policy, Fuels -- A conversation with energy guru Amory Lovins
• 2007/07/27: TruthOut: Winds of Change: Project Promotes Community Power Generation
• 2007/07/27: DailyReckoning: As Cheap Oil Ends, American Standard of Living Will Decline
• 2007/07/25: FuturePundit: New Solar Photovoltaic Cell Efficiency Record: 42.8%
• 2007/07/26: FuturePundit: Robert Rapier: Our Future Should Be Electric
• 2007/07/28: TreeHugger: What did the Wind Say to Coal?
• 2007/07/27: PlanetArk: Global Wind Power Rises by 26 Pct in 2006 - Report
• 2007/07/28: TEB: PG&E Signs Agreement With Solel for 553 Megawatts of Solar Power
• 2007/07/28: IR^2: A California Solar Dilemma
• 2007/07/26: Grist: A conversation with energy guru Amory Lovins
• 2007/07/27: GristMill: Adventures in the smart grid no. 2: Demand response
• 2007/07/26: OhMyNews: World Energy: A Slippery Bet - We're gambling on positive hearsay about energy issues, just as we did on global warming
• 2007/07/27: SciDaily: University Of Delaware-led Team Sets Solar Cell Record [42.8% efficiency]
• 2007/07/27: IR^2: A Solar Thought Experiment
• 2007/07/26: KSJT: Der Spiegel: With Germany iffy on nukes, big coal plants are rising
• 2007/07/26: HuffPo: Exxon Mobil 2Q Profit Slips [to US$10.26 billion]
• 2007/07/24: GristMill: PG&E to buy 550 MW of concentrated solar from world's largest CS plant
• 2007/07/24: OilDrum: Facing the Hard Truths about Energy - the NPC report, commented
• 2007/07/24: EnergyBulletin: The free energy delusion
• 2007/07/24: KSJT: High Country News: It'll be a long wait for the hydrogen highway's gas stations
• 2007/07/24: PhysOrg: Team sets solar cell record [42.8% efficiency]
• 2007/07/24: PhysOrg: Scientists say photosynthesis has a key role in future energy supply
• 2007/07/23: GristMill: The future is solar; politics is ethanol
• 2007/07/23: I-RSquared: The Future is Solar

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2007/07/29: RoanokeTimes: To dismay of power utilities, coal emissions are under fire
• 2007/07/26: EnvFin: US groups fight government funding of coal power plants
• 2007/07/25: GristMill: Bad news for coal, lessons for enviros
• 2007/07/25: ENN: China Says Coal Use Surging Despite Environmental Worries
• 2007/07/23: GristMill: Coal is the enemy of the human race: Gloating edition

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2007/07/28: CTV: Should Canadian farmers cash in on biofuel boom?
• 2007/07/25: EESD: A Brief Look at Corn Ethanol
• 2007/07/26: CSM: A dark side to the ethanol boom?
• 2007/07/27: SciDaily: Economists Find Current Biofuel Potential In Oregon May Be Costly And Limited
• 2007/07/25: GRC: The Hidden Agenda behind the Bush Adminstration's Bio-Fuel Plan - Buy Feed Corn: They’re about to stop making it...
• 2007/07/24: ETA: Dramatic increase in [EU] biofuel consumption [78 per cent from 2005 to 2006 - from 3 million to 5.38 million tonnes]

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2007/07/25: IR^2: What's Wrong with Nuclear Power?
• 2007/07/26: HuffPo: PR Nuke Flacks Do the Kashiwazaki Quake Death Spin
• 2007/07/26: Guardian(UK): Nuclear waste is hardly a worry when the climate change threat is so urgent
• 2007/07/24: TruthOut: Japan's Quake Sends Tremors Across Nuclear Industry
• 2007/07/25: PlanetArk: Japan Says Nuclear Closure Could Affect CO2 Target
• 2007/07/25: AlterNet: What to Say to Those Who Think Nuclear Power Will Save Us
• 2007/07/23: GristMill: Alternatives to nuclear power
• 2007/07/23: CDreams: LA Times: No To Nukes
  It's Tempting To Turn To Nuclear Plants to Combat Climate Change, But Alternatives Are Safer and Cheaper.
• 2007/07/23: CDreams: PR Nuke Flacks Do The Kashiwazaki Quake Death Spin

  A nuclear advocate has been getting headlines attacking renewables:

• 2007/07/24: FuturePundit: Renewable Energy Seen As Harmful To Environment
• 2007/07/25: ClimateP: Fatally Flawed Attack on Renewables by Ausubel
• 2007/07/26: GristMill: Fatally flawed attack on renewables by Jesse Ausubel
• 2007/07/26: CanWest: Renewable energy projects harmful, scientist says - Hydro Dams, Wind Farms Seen As Doing More Harm Than Good
• 2007/07/25: KSJT: New Scientist: Renewable energy rapes nature? So go nuke?
• 2007/07/25: Guardian(UK): Renewable energy projects will devour huge amounts of land, warns researcher
• 2007/07/25: NEN: New Energy v. Environment? No
• 2007/07/24: PhysOrg: Renewable energy wrecks environment, scientist claims
• 2007/07/24: Eureka: Renewable energy wrecks environment - Renewables fail environmental test

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2007/07/24: SwitchBoard: The role of conservation in a biofuels economy

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

• 2007/07/28: AfterGutenberg: Tiny, cheap and super fuel-efficient [cars]
• 2007/07/27: ClimateP: Is The Chevy Volt Just More GM Greenwashing?
• 2007/07/27: TreeHugger: No Increase in CAFE or the Dog Gets It
• 2007/07/26: USAToday: What are the Dinosaurs of Detroit thinking? The Big 3 have opposed increased fuel economy standards. Do they know something the rest of us don't?
• 2007/07/26: GristMill: Plug-in hybrids rule; PHEV Hypercars rule even more
• 2007/07/25: ENN: Toyota Develops Plug-In Hybrid Car for Public Road Tests
• 2007/07/25: AfterGutenberg: Toyota Plug-in HV
• 2007/07/24: ClimateP: Plug in Hybrids are Green (Duh!)
• 2007/07/24: GristMill: Clean diesel: General Motors says yes, Toyota, no
• 2007/07/24: DeSmogBlog: Auto Industry on a Very Slow Learning Curve!
• 2007/07/23: GristMill: Alternatives to auto-mobility
• 2007/07/23: ClimateP: Toyota Moves to Test Plug-in Prius in Japan
• 2007/07/23: PlanetArk: US Plug-In Cars Would Cut Greenhouse Gases - Report
• 2007/07/23: TWM: Plug-in Hybrids...

  Has anyone done a critical analysis of this majykal device?

• 2007/07/23: TCE: Turning Car Emissions to Green Fuel

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2007/07/28: WorldChanging: The Gap Between Climate Awareness and Action [US energy corps]
• 2007/07/26: EnvFin: HSBC to set up climate research centre
• 2007/07/27: PeakEnergy: Big Green?
• 2007/07/26: GristMill: GE's climate credit card
• 2007/07/25: TreeHugger: GE Launches Carbon Offsetting Credit Card
• 2007/07/23: GWWatch: [Australian] Business is ready to tackle climate change

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2007/07/23: BBC: The flooding of June and July is expected to cost the insurance industry at least £2bn, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2007/07/26: GristMill: Bogus accusations of hypocrisy against Gore
• 2007/07/27: DeSmogBlog: Who's on Thin Ice Here?
• 2007/07/26: DeSmogBlog: John Locke Foundation launches a same-ol, same-ol North Carolina misinformation campaign
• 2007/07/26: DeSmogBlog: Sorry Newsbusters, who's alarmist?
• 2007/07/26: HuffPo: Why does Robert Samuelson hate America?
• 2007/07/25: Reasic: Green Myth-Busting: Cosmic Ray Flux
• 2007/07/25: KSJT: NH Union Leader: A retired weatherman says global warming, schwarming?
• 2007/07/25: ClimateP: Climate Confusion in Hong Kong
• 2007/07/23: Atmoz: Debunking in Climate Science 101
• 2007/07/23: S&R: Anti-global heating claims - a reasonably thorough debunking
• 2007/07/24: ERabett: 17 myths demythtified
• 2007/07/23: MediaMatters: On Fox News, Hannity continued to call carbon offsets a "sham" -- still no mention of Murdoch
• 2007/07/24: DeSmogBlog: Fox News Still Spewing Smoke Despite Vows to Clean Up
• 2007/07/24: DeSmogBlog: Sorry Gunter, Even Fox News Doesn't Buy the "Global Cooling" Myth
• 2007/07/24: DeSmogBlog: A bare-faced lie - from a predictable source
• 2007/07/23: EnergyBulletin: No warranty express or implied
• 2007/07/22: ERabett: Our far flung correspondents write: Baton Rouge looks like a great site...
• 2007/07/20: RealClimate: Green and Armstrong's scientific forecast
• 2007/07/23: CanWest: Cold Or Hot, it's always our fault

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2007/07/27: GristMill: [Dessler] Climate change [Donald Kennedy oped]
• 2007/07/27: GristMill: Jack Bauer is going to stop global warming
• 2007/07/28: GristMill: Congestion pricing saves more than it costs
• 2007/07/28: ERabett: The Stern Gang rides again
• 2007/07/26: CasaubonsBook: Understanding the Demographic Transition
• 2007/07/27: ClimateP: Climate: Game Over [Donald Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief of Science op-ed]
• 2007/07/26: ERabett: Does GISSTEMP overcount rural stations?
• 2007/08/: NatGeo: GeoSigns: The Big Thaw
• 2007/07/26: GristMill: Why does Robert Samuelson hate America?
• 2007/07/25: Maribo: New online voice on coral reefs and climate change
• 2007/07/25: C411: The Greenhouse Effect Explained
• 2007/07/26: DeSmogBlog: Tibet's Warming Provides Global Warning
• 2007/07/26: Globe&Mail: Different views don't make dealing with climate change any easier
• 2007/07/24: GristMill: Technology is the solution
• 2007/07/25: CCD: How should-do becomes do-do
• 2007/07/24: OPB: Hotter NW Summers Consistent With Global Warming
• 2007/07/24: KSJT: Wall Street Journal: How Asia's air darkens US skies
• 2007/07/24: PhysOrg: The Sun Loses its Spots [may have reached solar minimum]
• 2007/07/24: GristMill: A word of caution on climate change and 'refugees'
• 2007/07/24: C411: Scientific Uncertainty
• 2007/07/22: Yahoo: Climate change fears reach even Formula One racing
• 2007/07/23: CDreams: SeattlePI: Global Warming: Identifying The Problem Is Not The Solution

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

• Climate Shifts
• Atmoz - Climate and Weather Explained
• SwitchBoard
• NOAA:GFDL: Tom Knutson's Home Page
• 2006/01/: NOAA:GFDL: Global Warming and Hurricanes
• California Climate Change Portal
• GPM: Global Precipitation Measurement
• 2006/04/: EGU: European Geosciences Union
• OCCC: Swiss Advisory Body on Climate Change
• GWTimes: Global Warming Times
• ClimateWire
• P&P: People & Planet
• Scientist On Ice

---

Typically 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

---

"If we are to embark on a Manhattan Project to get off of our petroleum dependence, we should direct our efforts toward an eventual electric transportation infrastructure." -Robert Rapier

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