Another Week of GW News, September 9, 2007

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

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

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Ever notice that most GW humour is black humour?

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

  The APEC summit grabbed the front page this week:

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

The Arctic is melting faster than expected:

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

  Which is bad news for the polar bears:

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

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

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

  Late commentary on the Greek wildfires:

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

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

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

James Hansen has released the GISTEMP source code:

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

  Tamino has posted a useful collection of graphs:

• 2007/09/05: Tamino: Graphic Evidence

  Further on Open Access:

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

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

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

  While behind the lines:

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

  Late commentary on Katrina:

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

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

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

  A note on the temperature record:

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

  The ozone layer is still under threat:

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

  While on the ENSO front:

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

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

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

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

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

  More GW impacts are being seen:

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

  And then there are the tropical rainforests:

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

Desertification looms as a threat:

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

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

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

We have heatwaves and wild fires:

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

  And speaking of floods & droughts:

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

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

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

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

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

  Elsewhere on the mitigation front:

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

  While in the endless quest for sustainable building codes:

• 2007/09/07: HillHeat: Architecture 2030

  As for carbon sequestration:

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

  Meanwhile in the journals:

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

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

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

An interview with John Houghton:

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

  Further on Steven Schwartz:

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

  Has anybody got a silver stake?

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

  Meanwhile on the Kyoto front:

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

The idea of a carbon tax is still bouncing around:

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

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

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

  Meanwhile on the international political front:

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

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

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

  And on the American political front:

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

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

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

Senator Stevens is distinguishing himself:

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

  The Gore-apalooza is still bopping along:

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

  While in the UK:

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

  A tussle over EU ETS aviation mitigation has erupted:

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

And a think tank is complaining about green taxes:

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

  Meanwhile in Australia:

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

While in China:

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

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

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

  The GNEP issue is picking up:

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

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

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

And the rest is politics as usual:

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

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

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

  As for how the media handles climate change:

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

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

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

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

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

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

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

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

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

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

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

The arithmetic of coal carbon is striking home:

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

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

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

  The nuclear energy controversy is still glowing:

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

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

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

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

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

  The reaction of business to climate change will be critical:

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

Insurance and re-insurance companies are feeling the heat:

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

The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

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

  Lomborg is back:

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

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

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

  Surface stations are still providing comic fodder:

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

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

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

  Then there was the usual news and commentary:

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

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

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

---

Low Key Plug

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

<regards>
-het

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

---

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

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