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 endorsing new technologies, paid for by rapid economic growth, as the way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

The upcoming APEC conference is getting attention down under:

• 2007/08/18: ABC(Au): Greens attack leaked APEC draft
• 2007/08/18: ABC(Au): APEC document 'disastrous for global warming'
• 2007/08/18: ABC(Au): APEC climate change declaration criticised
• 2007/08/16: ABC(Au): [Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander] Downer aims for trade, energy progress at APEC

  And on the American political front:

• 2007/08/18: ClimateP: A Very Informative Senate Hearing
• 2007/08/17: MTobis: Nick Kristoff's NYT Op-Ed
• 2007/08/16: GristMill: McCain says climate is one of his top three issues
• 2007/08/16: WarmingLaw: A particularly interesting patch? [Colorado may be the next state to copy some of California's GHG laws]
• 2007/08/16: Denialism: Two conservative opinions on Global Warming from WaPo
• 2007/08/16: HillHeat: Larson Carbon Tax Bill: America's Energy Security Trust Fund Act (HR 3416)
• 2007/08/16: HillHeat: The enemy is conventional thinking
• 2007/08/15: GristMill: A carbon tax even Dingell haters can love
• 2007/08/15: GristMill: Climate change: From 'know how' to 'do now'
• 2007/08/15: GristMill: Giuliani does not plan to fight the Climate's War on Us
• 2007/08/15: Missoulian: [Montana Senators] Tester, Baucus focus on global warming issue
• 2007/08/14: TomPaine: Green Legislative Breakthrough?
• 2007/08/15: HuffPo: Fighting Climate Change by Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Col)
• 2007/08/15: HuffPo: Bush speechwriter supports action on climate change after leaving White House; misunderstands issue; offends my sensibilities
• 2007/08/14: GristMill: Where there's a will, there's a way; where there's a Samuelson, there's a whine
• 2007/08/14: GristMill: What should Congress do on climate?
• 2007/08/13: BaltimoreSun: EPA gets push on emissions controls - Congressional backers of laws in Md., 11 states try to force agency to act
• 2007/08/14: WarmingLaw: Nobody Wants a Patchwork Quilt
• 2007/08/14: CCurrents: Naive Or Cynical: [Schwarzenegger's] Terminator Tactics In Fighting Climate Change
• 2007/08/14: ClimateP: Dingell Details Poison-Pill Climate Plan
• 2007/08/13: GristMill: Dingell is dispensable
• 2007/08/13: HillHeat: John Dingell Announces Global Warming Proposal
• 2007/08/13: NEN: The Candidates Agree: More New Energy

  In the despartment of contradictory desires:

• 2007/08/16: GristMill: Policies to reduce and increase driving at the same time
• 2007/08/15: GristMill: U.S. taxpayers are paying to increase carbon emissions in the developing world

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

• 2007/08/16: GristMill: Al Gore calls for civil disobedience
  [Actually] "I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers," Mr. Gore said, "and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants."

While in the UK:

• 2007/08/15: Yahoo: British climate bill nearing completion [within three months]
• 2007/08/14: Guardian(UK): Builders attack green homes rule
• 2007/08/15: TruthOut: Millions [in UK] Say It Is Too Much Effort to Adopt Greener Lifestyle
• 2007/08/15: OilChange: Almost Half UK Want Green Tax on Air Travel

  The UK has given up on their recently stated renewable energy goal:

• 2007/08/13: Guardian(UK): No policies, no cash. The result: missed targets - Chance for UK to be world leader wasted, say critics · Potential cast aside in favour of nuclear power
• 2007/08/14: EUO: Britain's EU climate change goals a 'challenge'
• 2007/08/13: TerraDaily: British officials say no chance of hitting renewables target: report
• 2007/08/13: TreeHugger: UK Gives Up Only Months After Signing 'Ambitious' Renewables Targets?
• 2007/08/13: OilChange: UK Fails Renewables Targets
• 2007/08/13: BBC: EU's climate targets 'ambitious'
  Downing St has said its climate change targets are "ambitious" but it remains fully committed to renewable energy. It was responding to a report in the Guardian that officials had told ministers the UK would miss EU targets by a wide margin
• 2007/08/13: Guardian(UK): Revealed: cover-up plan on energy target - Ministers urged to lobby for get-out on renewables
  Government officials have secretly briefed ministers that Britain has no hope of getting remotely near the new European Union renewable energy target that Tony Blair signed up to in the spring - and have suggested that they find ways of wriggling out of it.

And in Europe:

• 2007/08/17: PlanetArk: Lithuania Decides to Take EU to Court Over CO2 Cut
• 2007/08/17: DerSpiegel: Merkel Inspects a Changing Climate in Greenland
• 2007/08/17: DeutscheWelle: Opposition Attacks Merkel Over Greenland "PR Gag"
  Germany's opposition parties attacked Chancellor Angela Merkel over her visit to Greenland. They said the trip was a PR gag that took the place of real action against climate change.
• 2007/08/13: PlanetArk: Carmakers Can't Buy Out of CO2 Rules - EU's Verheugen
• 2007/08/13: BBC: EU cool on plan to cut emissions
  European Commissioner Guenter Verheugen has attacked the idea that car firms should pay their way out of meeting rules to cut emissions, says a report. Some European car firms have said that they should have the chance to pay a fine if they cannot meet rules to cut carbon dioxide emissions (CO2)

Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2007/08/18: GWWatch: Greens calls Government hypocrites over deforestation [Aus pol]
• 2007/08/16: ABC(Au): Miners union [CFMEU] challenges companies on climate change
• 2007/08/16: ABC(Au): AGL shelves Vic wind farm plans
• 2007/08/16: ABC(Au): Climate change threatens wind farms
  The peak wind energy industry body says Australia's climate change policies are threatening the viability of wind farms. Energy company AGL has abandoned plans for a 48-turbine wind farm in the South Gippsland community of Dollar. Auswind's Chief Executive Dominique La Fontaine says many projects are under threat from Australia's narrow approach to carbon trading
• 2007/08/15: ABC(Au): CFMEU [Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union] challenges coal industry on climate change
• 2007/08/15: ABC(Au): Landfills latest target in global warming fight
• 2007/08/14: ABC(Au): Council to reduce carbon footprint - The Hobart City Council has set itself a goal of becoming carbon-neutral.
• 2007/08/14: ABC(Au): NSW councils and big business tackle climate change
  The New South Wales Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water, Phil Koperburg, says there has been strong support from the business community over tackling climate change. Since 2005, councils with a population of 50,000 people or more, along with large businesses, have been required to submit plans on ways to save both water and energy. The State Government says it has received about 500 plans, 300 of which have been approved.
• 2007/08/14: Yahoo: Australian cities face water shortage
  Nearly every Australian city will have to find new water supplies over the next decade as climate change and population growth stretch the nation's already limited water resources, according to a [Water Services Association of Australia] study released Tuesday.
• 2007/08/13: ABC(Au): Scientist says Govt must commit to emissions cuts

  An Agricultural Alliance has been formed to fight climate change:

• 2007/08/16: ABC(Au): SAFF [South Australian Farmers Federation] joins Agricultural Alliance
• 2007/08/16: ABC(Au): Farmers, green groups unite to fight climate change
• 2007/08/16: OilChange: Oz: Farmers and Greens Unite to Fight Climate change
• 2007/08/16: ABC(Au): Farmers band together to fight climate change
  Farmers and other country groups are uniting in a new alliance to fight climate change. The Agricultural Alliance includes the South Australian Farmers Federation, Agforce from Queensland, and the Country Women's Association

Four govt. deniers are skewing Howard's pre-election spin:

• 2007/08/14: JQuiggin: Delusionist diehards
• 2007/08/14: PlanetArk: Heat on Australia PM Over Climate Sceptic MPs
• 2007/08/13: ABC(Au): Garrett questions PM's climate change stance
• 2007/08/13: ABC(Au): Report shows Coalition divided over climate change
• 2007/08/13: ABC(Au): Climate sceptic MP following Howard's lead: [Greens leader Bob] Brown
• 2007/08/13: ABC(Au): No need for emissions reduction: Liberal MP
• 2007/08/13: PhysOrg: 4 Lawmakers Doubt Need to Cut Gases
• 2007/08/13: GWWatch: Government splits climate change message
• 2007/08/13: DeSmogBlog: 'Down Under' Is Where Some Australians Put Their Heads
• 2007/08/13: ENN: Heat on Australia PM over Climate Sceptic MPs
• 2007/08/13: Yahoo: Heat on Australia PM over climate skeptic MPs

  While in Mexico:

• 2007/08/16: CCCorp: Latin America special report: Mexico’s flimsy raft of climate change measures

  While in Russia:

• 2007/08/15: ChiTrib: Russians laud global warming

  And in Canada, minority neocon PM Harper, continues to do nothing:

• 2007/08/15: CBC: New weather service targets farmers

  Is there an election coming up in Ontario?

• 2007/08/13: CBC: Ontario is pledging to plant 50 million trees as part of an $80-million plan to fight climate change

  Peter Lougheed is predicting an Alberta vs. Ottawa fight over the tar sands:

• 2007/08/17: CanWest: No constitutional clash likely over climate change: Baird [Lougheed]
• 2007/08/16: Globe&Mail: How to head off an oil-sands clash
  In a prescient speech, Peter Lougheed has warned that Alberta and Ottawa are on a collision course over the explosive issue of oil-sands pollution. The former Alberta premier noted that provinces have the exclusive constitutional right to pass laws in relation to the development of their non-renewable natural resources, but Ottawa has the right to legislate to protect the environment. Given the boom in oil-sands development, those two rights appear to be headed toward a national clash. [...] Before a potentially destructive constitutional reference to the Supreme Court occurs, cooler heads should prevail. Alberta should strengthen its existing laws to control greenhouse-gas emissions. In turn, federal opposition politicians should realize they could win their battle for Kyoto and lose the war for national unity. Political compromises should be struck. Mr.Lougheed deserves gratitude for his timely intervention.
• 2007/08/14: TCE: Turf War Brewing Over Alberta Oil Sands
• 2007/08/14: ROB: Clash over oil sands inevitable: Lougheed
  A war is looming between Alberta and the federal government over pollution caused by oil sands development that will far surpass any previous federal-provincial battle in its political and economic stakes, former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed predicted Tuesday. Mr. Lougheed told a Canadian Bar Association convention that a ferocious constitutional clash is all but inevitable, pitting the federal right to protect the environment against the provincial right to develop natural resources.

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

• 2007/08/17: EnvEcon: The Stern Review is right but for the wrong reason
• 2007/08/15: GristMill: Galbraith says what he really thinks
• 2007/08/13: KSJT: NYTimes: Market capitalism to the climate rescue? Not likely?
• 2007/08/13: EnvEcon: A comment on "Climate Change Economics" in Mother Jones

  Apocalypso anyone?:

• 2007/08/12: NWN: The Pillars of the Next Real Revolution
  I will do each of them a disservice by trimming them down to a few sentences, but the 8 basic pillars of the next real revolution are:
  1. the End of the Oil Age
  2. the End of the Hospitable Climate
  3. the End of the Human Population Boom
  4. a Narrowed Circulation of Money
  5. a Suddenly Endangered Superpower
  6. the Scary Are Becoming Powerful
  7. the Rise of Hard-core Fundamentalism
  8. an Increasingly Toxic Planet

As for how the media handles the science of climatology:

• 2007/08/17: Maribo: Reporting and promoting science
• 2007/08/15: ZMag: The editorials urge us to cut emissions, but the ads tell a very different story
  Newspaper exhortations on climate change sit uncomfortably alongside promotions for budget flights and oil companies
• 2007/08/14: CDreams: Monbiot: Selling Ecocide -- Is It Time To Consider A Ban On The Adverts Which Help To Cook The Planet?
• 2007/08/13: CSpin: How to report on science: "Its not that hard"
• 2007/08/14: TreeHugger: Newsweek Flubs the Facts Around Global Warming
• 2007/08/14: Guardian(UK): The editorials urge us to cut emissions, but the ads tell a very different story
• 2007/08/12: BDL: RealClimate Gives the "New York Times's" Tobin Harshaw the Coveted "Worst Journalist" Award

  Here is something for your library:

• 2007/08/16: NatureCF: [Book Review] In the eye of the storm _Storm World_ by Chris Mooney
• 2007/08/16: TreeHugger: Dumb Question Dept: What Should I Read to Understand Global Warming?

  Meanwhile in the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2007/08/11: Australian: Litigation is heating up over climate change

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2007/08/19: BostonGlobe: The new dirty energy [tar sands]
• 2007/08/18: FuturePundit: Silicon Nanocrystals Boost Photovoltaic Efficiency
• 2007/08/18: FuturePundit: Biomass Energy Will Boost Carbon Dioxide Emissions
• 2007/08/17: GristMill: Brazil be dammed [energy]
• 2007/08/17: TreeHugger: Water + Sunlight = Solar Hydrogen
• 2007/08/17: ENN: Solar-To-Hydrogen Technology Sold For $400 Million Euro
  The maker of a solar powered 'water cracker' - a technology that releases hydrogen from a water molecule, has pre-sold the technology to a large European energy consortium in Spain. The company, Clean Hydrogen Producers (CHP) today signed an agreement with Grupo Ibereolica, outlining the planning, permitting and appraisal of CHP's Solar Water Cracker technology in Spain and Mexico. The CHP Solar Water Cracker is a system which concentrates sunlight, increasing the heat of a furnace to the point where it "cracks" a molecule of water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen can be sold or run through a fuel cell to generate energy. This energy can then be sold back to the grid. Hydrogen and electricity is produced at a cost - both financial and environmental - that is substantially below that of existing technologies.
• 2007/08/17: AfterGutenberg: Thin Film Photo Voltaic Systems
• 2007/08/15: MObjectivist: The inevitable world-wide energy transition
• 2007/08/16: TEB: Thin-Film solar Market Soaring
• 2007/08/16: CTB: Rising Solar Prices - Where is the Shakeout?
• 2007/08/17: HDB: Gas industry examines benefits of global-warming regulations
• 2007/08/15: TerraDaily: Adding Up Renewable Energy
• 2007/08/15: TreeHugger: $7.2 Billion Dollar Thin-Film Photovoltaics Market Predicted
• 2007/08/15: REA: Part 1: A Glimpse of the Energy Future - Buildings offer the greatest opportunity for energy conservation
• 2007/08/15: NEN: Big electric is buying wind
• 2007/08/15: NEN: Solar, wind, geothermal numbers add up
• 2007/08/14: ENN: Making Global Warming Cuts Expensive but Feasible for Power Industry, Study Says
• 2007/08/14: ENN: Harness the Sun to Save Money, Save the Earth
• 2007/08/14: Scotsman: Doubts over 'green' solar panels
• 2007/08/13: ZMag: Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free [IEER] A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy
• 2007/08/14: BBC: Paper battery offers future power
  Flexible paper batteries could meet the energy demands of the next generation of gadgets, says a team of researchers. They have produced a sample slightly larger than a postage stamp that can release about 2.3 volts, enough to illuminate a small light. But the ambition is to produce reams of paper that could one day power a car
• 2007/08/13: ABC(Au): Business group [BCSE] calls for urgent targets on renewable energy
• 2007/08/13: PhysOrg: Do the benefits of renewable energy sources stack up?
• 2007/08/13: SciDaily: Go Solar, Wind Or Geothermal If You Want Renewable Energy With Life-cycle Efficiency
• 2007/08/13: Eureka: Adding up renewable energy -- Do the benefits of renewable energy sources stack up?
• 2007/08/13: NEN: Wind's 2nd Quarter Report: Wow!

  The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

• 2007/08/16: GristMill: EPRI: The secret to carbon reduction is more coal
• 2007/08/15: ChinaDaily: More small [coal-fired] thermal power plants closed
• 2007/08/15: ENN: Coal-to-Liquids Quietly Becoming a Reality in U.S.

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2007/08/14: SciDaily: Production Costs Of Advanced Biofuels Is Similar To Grain-ethanol
• 2007/08/14: IR^2: Xethanol: Another Multimillion Dollar Loss
• 2007/08/13: TreeHugger: Alfalfa On Ethanol Rotation
• 2007/08/13: PlanetArk: Weather Thwarts Boost in EU Rapeseed for Biofuel
• 2007/08/13: IR^2: Biodiesel's Green Diesel Nightmare

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2007/08/17: TreeHugger: TVA Shuts Reactors: River Water is Too Hot
• 2007/08/16: HoustonChronicle: TVA reactor shut down; cooling water from river too hot
• 2007/08/16: PlanetArk: US Carbon Caps to Spur Nuclear Industry [say backers of a new nuclear exchange-traded fund]
• 2007/08/14: TreeHugger: When It's Too Hot To Generate Electricity
• 2007/08/: WWO: Nuclear Power, No Solution to Peak Oil - Part 11

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2007/08/17: PlanetArk: Germany Plans Energy Savings Measures [in public and private buildings, in transport and by households]
• 2007/08/15: C411: Synergies in Efficiency plus Renewables
• 2007/08/13: BostonGlobe: A drive toward fuel economy
• 2007/08/13: ClimateP: Marrying Efficiency and Renewables

  Grist posted a four part interview of Thomas Casten:

• 2007/08/13: GristMill: Interview with Thomas Casten, part one
• 2007/08/14: GristMill: Interview with Thomas Casten, part two
• 2007/08/15: GristMill: Interview with Thomas Casten, part three
• 2007/08/16: GristMill: Interview with Thomas Casten, part four

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

• 2007/08/15: TreeHugger: $30,000 Electric Car in 2009: The XS 500 by Miles Automotive Group
• 2007/08/15: BizWeek: How to Solve Our Energy Issues -- Fast
  Instead of forcing automakers to improve fuel economy, a better way to save gas would be to lower speed limits and encourage telecommuting
• 2007/08/14: GristMill: Electric cars a-comin'
• 2007/08/14: C411: Are Hydrogen Cars the Answer? Part 2 - Vehicle Fuels and Technology
• 2007/08/13: CNN: An electric car for the common man - The Miles Automotive Group, XS 500 a $30,000, 80-mph battery-powered sedan coming to the market by 2009
• 2007/08/13: IR^2: The Chevy Volt Rolls On

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

• 2007/08/16: EnvFin: Pressure grows on US companies to act on climate

  Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

• 2007/08/16: SwissInfo: Zurich Financial weathers floods
  First-half net profit at Zurich Financial Services soared by 33 per cent to $2.684 billion (SFr3.27 billion), beating expectations despite British flood claims. Switzerland's largest insurer said on Thursday that the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States had not hurt its business.

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2007/08/18: ClimateP: Who are the Denyers and Court Jesters?
• 2007/08/18: BCLSB: How Many Deniers Does It Take...to search Google?
• 2007/08/17: DeSmogBlog: Friends of Science "educational funding" facing U of Calgary audit?
• 2007/08/16: JQuiggin: Delusionist diehards (Fin version) Denial industry in full cry
• 2007/08/16: CCM: I Am So Damn Sick of Climate "Skeptic" Radio Callers
• 2007/08/15: Reasic: Green Myth-Busting: Global Average Temperatures
• 2007/08/15: ClimateP: Freeman Dyson, Climate Crackpot
• 2007/08/15: BCLSB: Climate Change Skeptic And Creationist Has New Paper Out
• 2007/08/15: GWWatch: Thanks for global warming we didn't have to have
• 2007/08/15: DeSmogBlog: Minor Victory or Convenient Spin? [TNR & GISS]
• 2007/08/14: CJR: Newsweek v. Newsweek -- Samuelson rebuts Begley's cover story
• 2007/08/15: EconView: Robert Samuelson: Global Warming Simplicities
• 2007/08/15: AngryBear: CoRev on Global Warming
• 2007/08/13: BSD: Cooling on Uranus
• 2007/08/14: HillHeat: Shareholders Pressure Exxon on Global Warming
• 2007/08/13: MongaBay: Scientists [Christy & Spencer]: Newsweek Erred in Global Warming Coverage
• 2007/08/13: KSJT: ABC (Australia): Is global warming just industrial output? that is, an output of the industriously blinkered scientific establishment?
• 2007/08/13: GristMill: Explain climate change to Little Stevie [Milloy]
• 2007/08/13: GWWatch: Newsweek expose: Global Warming Is A Hoax
• 2007/08/12: Stoat: Corbyns cr*p predictions
• 2007/08/13: Deltoid: Greenhouse denial and delay from the CIS
• 2007/08/13: BCLSB: The State Of Surface Stations
• 2007/08/12: TEDBlog: Wired's Anderson on Lomborg's "Cool It"
• 2007/08/13: TWM: Wingnut Warming...

  The GISS data kafuffle continues:

• 2007/08/17: MongaBay: NASA admits to error in global warming data
• 2007/08/17: CBC: Toronto blogger embarasses NASA climate experts
• 2007/08/16: Times(UK): Analysis: evidence still shows global warming
  Environment Reporter of The Times says that wrongly calculated temperature statistics do not alter the overall trend
• 2007/08/16: ClimateP: Must read from Hansen: Stop the madness about the tiny revision in NASA's temperature data!
• 2007/08/17: Deltoid: The crumbs that fall from Instapundit's table
• 2007/08/17: BCLSB: Who The Heck Is Steve McIntyre? Portait of The Denier As A Young Man
• 2007/08/17: CDreams: IPS: Climate Change: Deniers Jump on NASA Gaff, While Greenland on Verge of Meltdown
• 2007/08/16: ThinkP: Fact-checking the latest global warming denial campaign
• 2007/08/17: FnW: Just The Facts
• 2007/08/17: SlashDot: James Hansen on the Warmest Year Brouhaha
• 2007/08/15: GristMill: Unspun climate numbers
• 2007/08/14: WiredSci: NASA Weather Error Provokes Tempest in a Teapot
• 2007/08/15: KSJT: LA Times: 1934, not '98, was hottest year in US records
• 2007/08/13: C411: The Big Correction That Wasn't
• 2007/08/12: Tamino: Before and After
• 2007/08/12: Deltoid: Did NASA report that 1998 was the warmest in the US?
• 2007/08/13: BDL: Tobin Harshaw of the New York Times: "I Am Not Authorized to Explain Why I Am Not Authorized..."

  The number one reason I don't bother arguing with deniers:

• 2007/08/15: SCT: Global warming: As evidence grows, skeptics melt away

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

• 2007/08/18: Atmoz: Gavin Schmidt on Imperfect Data
• 2007/08/17: PhysOrg: Denmark proposes climate university [on Greenland]
• 2007/08/06: GRN: SER Position Statement on Climate Change - Ecological Restoration - A Global Strategy for Mitigating Climate Change
• 2007/08/16: CCurrents: Runaway Climate Change : 20 Attempts To Model The Emergency
• 2007/08/15: CCurrents: Manifesto To Counter Global Warming And Climate Change
• 2007/08/16: CSM: In global warming, all research is local - Regional or local conditions can change, even reverse, expectations based solely on world studies.
• 2007/08/16: ClimateP: If you look up "Chutzpah" in the Dictionary...
• 2007/08/16: FergusB: You can't have a dialogue looking in opposite directions [dealing with deniers]
• 2007/08/16: TreeHugger: Is it Too Much Work to Adopt a Greener Lifestyle?
• 2007/08/15: SciBlogging: Curing our "Global Fever": An Interview with William H. Calvin
• 2007/08/15: CNN:Fortune: Rupert Murdoch's climate crusade
  News Corp.'s campaign against global warming includes free light bulbs, subsidized hybrids and babes in green
• 2007/08/12: IBA: Nitrogen Overdose - Element quietly rivaling CO2 as a global climate threat
• 2007/08/14: Tamino: Impure Speculation
• 2007/08/14: JEB: Decadal climate predictions
• 2007/08/14: NewScientist: 'Cool farms' mask the extent of global warming
• 2007/08/14: FergusB: Climate change; what's the fuss?
• 2007/08/13: ASPO-USA: While the [Media] Watchdog Sleeps
• 2007/08/13: PhysOrg: Irrigation may not cool the globe in the future
• 2007/08/13: GristMill: Chickens coming home to roost
• 2007/08/13: HillHeat: Around the Web: Green Collar Jobs, Water, Emissions Intensity
• 2007/08/13: TreeHugger: Sunspots Linked to Hard Rains in Africa

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

• NERC: Rapid Climate Change
• NOAA: Tropical Ocean Coral Bleaching Indices
• NSDIC: Arctic Sea Ice News Fall 2007
• PAGES: Past Global Changes
• ACP: The Alliance for Climate Protection
• New Scientist Environment
• CEOS: Committee on Earth Observation Satellites
• COSMIC: Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere & Climate
• UCSUSA: The A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science
• GWWatch: Global Warming Watch

---

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

---

"Given the damage that fossil fuels cause to the climate, human health, wildlife, forests, lakes, ocean fish, etc., you may think that we place a very high tax on fossil fuels, right? Umm, well, not exactly. On the contrary, our government, egged on by special interests, chooses to subsidize them, or, more accurately, they volunteer YOU to subsidize fossil fuels."
-James Hansen

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