Another Week of GW News, September 9, 2012

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup

skip to bottom

Another Week of Climate Disruption News

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

September 9, 2012

• Chuckles, COP18+, CAT, Maldives
• Subsidies, GFIs, Pricing Nature, Cook, Meteorologists
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
• Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics
• Food: Crisis, Fisheries, Prices, Speculation, Food vs. Biofuel, GMOs, Production
• Hurricanes, Monsoon, GHGs, Temperatures, Feedbacks, ENSO
• Uncertainties, Biosphere, Extinctions, Anthropocene, Volcanoes, Satellites
• Impacts, Forests, Desertification, Disease, Wacky Weather, Extreme Weather, Tornadoes
• Wildfires, Corals, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Transportation, Buildings, Sequestration, Geoengineering
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, DIY Science, Models, Open Science
• International Politics: Carbon Trade, Hormuz, South China Sea
• EU & Gazprom, Solar Spat, Misc., Activism, H2O Biz
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Charlotte , Science Debate
• Gas Prices, Keystone, SNAP, Ethanol Mandate, Birth Control, USAdmin, Congress
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Carbon Law, Coal Power, Murray-Darling, India, South America
• Canada, Coal Regs, Misc. Govt., Bill C-38, Northern Gateway, Transmountain
• Dutch Disease, CNOOC, Liberal Leadership, BC, Tar Sands, Quebec, North
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Apocalypso, Media, Video, Courts
• Energy, Transitions, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Oil & the Economy, Pipelines, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, FITs, Nukes, Nuclear Fusion, LENR, Efficiency, Cars
• Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Intimidation, Lewandowsky, Miscellaneous Climate, Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

 

Here's a wee chuckle for ye:

• 2012/09/03: DailyKos: (cartoon - TomTom) Crazy Never Sleeps
• 2012/09/06: JoeMohrToons: (cartoon - Mohr) What's a Crow?
• 1925/09/20: TMW: (cartoon) Knocking The "IM" Out Of It
• 2012/09/07: McClatchyDC: (cartoon - Judge) Offshore Drilling Plan
• 2012/09/09: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Gaseous Summary
• 2012/09/04: uComics: (cartoon - Toles) Fork
  

  Looking ahead to COP18 and future international climate negotiations:

• 2012/09/06: WRI: Progress Made at Bangkok Climate Negotiations, but Is it Enough?
• 2012/09/05: UCSUSA: Bangkok Climate Talks Show Big Challenges Still Unresolved
• 2012/09/06: EurActiv: With Rio setbacks in mind, MEPs press for EU pragmatism
  Following its failure to deliver on ambitious plans for the Rio+20 conference, Europe must redouble its climate commitments and be a more pragmatic world leader, say three MEPs involved in shaping environmental legislation.
• 2012/09/05: UN: Ahead of Doha gathering, concrete progress made at Bangkok climate talks - UN official
• 2012/09/05: RTCC: Bangkok 2012 - UN climate talks leaving world on pathway to 3°C says new report
• 2012/09/04: RTCC: Bangkok 2012 - Oil producers and emerging economies build powerful new alliance at UN climate change talks
• 2012/09/05: RTCC: Bangkok 2012: UN climate talks close with 'unofficial' draft on Kyoto Protocol 2nd period
• 2012/09/05: BizGreen: Bangkok climate talks prep the ground for Doha -- UNFCCC says informal talks made progress, despite fears Qatar summit is heading for deadlock
• 2012/09/02: RStavins: A Challenge for Climate Negotiators, and an Opportunity for Scholars
• 2012/09/03: PlanetArk: Island nations signal end for Kyoto cash cow
  Nations most at risk from rising sea levels told U.N. climate talks in Thailand on Friday that they would not support any move to include emissions from destroying HFC-23 in carbon markets being negotiated under a new climate treaty, likely bringing an end to the biggest private-sector cash cow originated through the international negotiations. The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) said they would not support the inclusion of projects that cut emissions of the controversial gas in new markets, saying it was "inappropriate" to regulate emissions of highly potent greenhouse gases this way.
• 2012/09/02: RTCC: Bangkok 2012 -- EU signals it will not adopt 30% emissions target
  

  As a reminder of our intransigience, the CAT report came out at Bangkok:

• 2012/09/04: CAT: [link to 765k pdf] Governments set world on more than 3°C warming, still playing with numbers
• 2012/09/04: BWeek: Global Warming May Double UN Goal Without More Carbon Pledges
  International pledges to reduce greenhouse gases may fail to stop global warming from rising to twice the level deemed safe by United Nations scientists, Climate Action Tracker said. Without further action to lower emissions of heat-trapping gases, the planet is set to warm by 2.6 to 4.1 degrees Celsius, the project, run by three European research groups, said today in a report released in Bangkok, where the UN is holding a week of informal discussions
• 
  

  And the probability of a free and fair election in the Maldives is...?

   

• 2012/09/03: al Jazeera: The Maldives: Mired in presidential intrigue
  Archipelago caught in political uncertainty as rival politicians set their eyes on elections amid rising tensions.
• 
  

  Who's getting the subsidies, tax exemptions, loan guarantees & grants?

   

• 2012/09/07: BBC: Chancellor unveils tax break for older North Sea oil and gas fields
  Chancellor George Osborne has announced a tax measure to support investment in older North Sea oil and gas fields.
• 
  

  What are the global financial institutions up to?

   

• 2012/09/07: TP:JR: International Agencies [WB & USAID] Using Flawed Data to Fast-Track Kosovo Coal Plant, Put Health At Risk
  

  So, If we put a price on nature, will it deal with externalities and lead to greater conservation
  or will it lead to greater exploitation or what?

• 2012/09/06: CCurrents: The Dark Side Of The "Green Economy"
  

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2012/09/09: SkS: Do we know when the Arctic will be sea ice-free? by Verity
• 2012/09/07: SkS: A vivid demonstration of knee-jerk science rejection
• 2012/09/07: SkS: Vanishing Arctic Sea Ice: Going Up the Down Escalator by dana1981
• 2012/09/06: SkS: Interactive online map shows over 100 years of local US weather by simonf
• 2012/09/05: SkS: Record Arctic Sea Ice Melt to Levels Unseen in Millennia by dana1981
• 2012/09/04: SkS: New research from last week 35/2012 by Ari Jokimäki
  

  Meteorologists typically follow the corporate media line...:

• 2012/09/05: DeSmogBlog: What If TV Weathercasters Told The Truth About Climate Change?
  

  A note on theFukushima disaster:

  It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.] We'll see. At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
  Meanwhile...
  It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of propagated information.
  How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
  Do they have an agenda?
  Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
  Do they want to write a good news story?
  Do they want to write a bad news story?
  Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
  Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
  One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
  If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

•  

  No good news coming out of Fukushima:

   

• 2012/09/08: EneNews: FRCSR: "Inhumane, inexcusable act" as many children and adults under observation while living with radioactive contamination
• 2012/09/08: EneNews: Fukushima Medical U. Professor: Onset of radiation-related disease to begin in 4-5 years, data must be gathered now - We shouldn't force upon people that low dose radiation exposure is safe
• 2012/09/08: JapanTimes: Global help urged to avert reactor 4 pool fire -- U.S. expert appalled by Tepco's attitude over 'sleeping dragon' risk
• 2012/09/07: Platts: Fukushima panel told some details will take five years to learn
• 2012/09/07: EneNews: Tepco Official in Washington DC: We don't know location of melted fuel from Fukushima reactors
• 2012/09/07: ABC(Au): Japanese jitters, ageing nuclear reactors sitting on earthquake fault lines
  A rugged stretch of coastline known as Japan's Nuclear Alley is dotted with 14 nuclear reactors and now there are warnings that several of these ageing nuclear plants sit near, or on, active faultlines.
• 2012/09/06: PlanetArk: Pentagon maps Japan radiation, says U.S. personnel safe
• 2012/09/06: EneNews: Nuclear Insider: Fukushima exclusion zone could be declared some sort of national memorial park in 5-10 years (audio)
• 2012/09/05: EneNews: Report: Tepco reveals damage to Unit 4 near 'photoshopped' area (photo)
• 2012/09/04: NBF: Fukushima Restoration Plan Announced
• 2012/09/03: EneNews: Yamada: Fuel could be outside containment - Concrete does not erode uniformly - No one knows shape of corium...
• 2012/09/04: EneNews: Kyodo: Gov't calls for shut down of Japan's only 2 operating reactors
• 2012/09/02: EneNews: Watch: Police get rough with citizens at townhall meeting on burning debris - Women scream as people forcibly removed from building after asking questions (video & photos)
  

  Post Fukushima, nuclear policies are in flux around the world:

• 2012/09/05: Reuters: Japan stresses cost of ending nuclear power as decision looms
  Japan's government, buffeted by conflicting pressure from anti-nuclear voters and pro-nuclear business interests, is stressing the negative impact of a speedy exit from atomic energy as it nears a decision on a new energy mix.
• 2012/09/03: JapanTimes: Zero option for nuclear power may be added to revamped energy plan
  

  The Arctic melt continues to garner a lot of attention:

• 2012/09/08: ASI: Signs of Arctic climate change
• 2012/09/08: CSM: Arctic sea ice falls to record low. Global warming?
• 2012/09/08: ASI: Record dominoes 10: IMS sea ice extent
• 2012/09/08: ASI: PIOMAS August 2012
• 2012/09/08: PSinclair: Sea Ice: Approaching the Minimum
• 2012/09/08: ArcticNews: Two important images
• 2012/09/08: ArcticNews: Update on September Arctic cyclone
• 2012/09/08: CCP: JAXA: A new record minimum of the Arctic sea ice extent
• 2012/09/07: W&C: The Arctic: The face of a new climate
• 2012/09/07: EarthGauge: Climate Change News: Arctic summer sea ice decline seems irreversible
• 2012/09/07: BBC: Arctic ice melting at 'amazing' speed, scientists find
  Scientists in the Arctic are warning that this summer's record-breaking melt is part of an accelerating trend with profound implications.
• 2012/09/07: ASI: Cycle plots of Arctic sea ice
• 2012/09/06: ASI: Arctic ice melt = 20 years of CO2 emissions
• 2012/09/06: ASI: NSIDC Arctic sea ice news August 2012
• 2012/09/06: ITracker: Half the Arctic sea ice is gone
• 2012/09/06: Guardian(UK): A sense of history unfolding on the Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise
• 2012/09/06: CCP: Jason Box: High, late August 2012 Greenland ice temperature maintains low ice sheet reflectivity and melting
• 2012/09/06: CCP: NSIDC Report of September 5, 2012: Arctic sea ice extent falls below 4 million square kilometers
• 2012/09/06: PSinclair: Another Blow to Arctic Ice?
• 2012/09/06: Wunderground: Half of the polar ice cap is missing: Arctic sea ice hits a new record low
• 2012/09/06: CCurrents: Arctic Ice Melt 'Like Adding 20 Years Of CO2 Emissions'
• 2012/09/06: TreeHugger: The Arctic's Most Productive Glacier [Jakobshavn] Has Shed an Area the Size of Manhattan Over Last 12 Years
• 2012/09/05: TP:JR: Death Spiral Watch: Experts Warn 'Near Ice-Free Arctic In Summer' In A Decade If Volume Trends Continue
• 2012/09/05: CCR: On thin ice: Time-frame to save the Arctic is melting away
• 2012/09/05: JCBaez: Melting Arctic Sea Ice
• 2012/09/05: ASI: Arctic Basin SIA dips below 2 million km2
• 2012/09/05: ArcticNews: Arctic sea ice loss is effectively doubling mankind's contribution to global warming
• 2012/09/04: ArcticNews: Arctic cyclone warning for September 7
• 2012/09/04: ENN: Arctic summer sea ice decline seems irreversible
• 2012/09/03: ArcticNews: PIOMAS data confirm exponential trend
• 2012/09/04: QuarkSoup: August Sea Ice Extent Numbers are Out
• 2012/09/04: EarlyWarning: Collapse in Minimum Arctic Sea Ice Area
• 2012/09/04: ASI: More details on PIOMAS volume loss
• 2012/09/03: CCP: Welcome to the Arctic end times...
  

  That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

• 2012/09/06: ArcticNews: Noctilucent clouds indicate more methane in upper atmosphere
• 2012/09/02: ITRacker: The Antarctic carbon feedback: a worst case scenario
  

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

• 2012/09/05: Grist: Three-man crew traverses Northwest Passage by sailboat
• 2012/09/05: EmbassyMag: As Arctic Council debate heats up, mixed reaction to Aglukkaq
  Observers weigh in on what they would like Canada to address during its chairmanship.
• 2012/09/08: SciAm:GB: Breaking the Ice: Russian nuclear-powered ice-breakers
  

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2012/09/07: WSWS: More than 50 million face hunger in the US
• 2012/09/06: PlanetArk: Nearly 17 million Americans repeatedly short of food: [USDA] report
• 2012/09/06: NPR: Extreme Weather Means Extreme Food Prices Worldwide, Aid Agency [Oxfam] Warns
• 2012/09/05: CNN: More than 50 million Americans short of food
• 2012/09/05: EnergyBulletin: Study: Extreme weather hammers global food system
• 2012/09/05: Guardian(UK): Impact of climate change on food prices is underestimated, Oxfam warns
• 2012/09/05: USDA:ERS: Household Food Security in the United States in 2011
• 2012/09/05: DD: Natural disasters in North Korea trigger widespread food shortage - 'Definitely people are dying. How many is the big question'
• 2012/09/05: Grist: Organic food may not have a big nutritional edge -- but how much does that matter?
• 2012/09/06: Eureka: Wild bees: Champions for food security and protecting our biodiversity
• 2012/09/05: PlanetArk: Action needed to prevent food price catastrophe: U.N.
• 2012/09/05: PlanetArk: Climate threat to world's poor is underestimated: Oxfam
• 2012/09/04: CCurrents: Agriculture, Food Security, And Climate Change
• 2012/09/04: Guardian(UK): Prevalence of malnutrition in southern Afghanistan 'shocking'
• 2012/09/04: BBerg: Food-Stamp Use Climbs to Record [46.7 million], Reviving Campaign Issue
• 2012/09/03: PlanetArk: Bad news for movie fans, U.S. drought hits popcorn crop
  

  The state of the world's fisheries is a concern:

• 2012/09/05: TP:JR: New England Groundfisheries: Time To Hit The Reset Button
• 2012/09/06: PlanetArk: Trawling could harm oceans like ploughing land: scientists
• 2012/09/02: TDB: The Other Other White Meat -- Maine rebrands the lobster
  

  Food Prices are problematic:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2012/09/06: CCP: Sudden spikes in global food prices to 'become the norm"
• 2012/09/06: FAO: FAO Food Price Index holds steady -- Figures "reassuring" but vigilance needed - FAO DG
• 2012/09/04: FAO: Joint statement from FAO, IFAD and WFP on international food prices -- UN Agencies appeal for swift, coordinated action
• 2012/09/05: Oxfam: [link to 191k pdf] Extreme Weather, Extreme Prices -- The costs of feeding a warming world
• 2012/09/05: TreeHugger: [link to 191k pdf] Climate Change Will Starve the Poor Even More Than Previously Thought
• 2012/09/05: Oxfam: Food price spikes will get worse as extreme weather caused by climate change devastates food production
• 2012/09/05: P3: Climate and Food Price Spikes
• 2012/09/05: Grist: How extreme weather supersizes global food price tags
• 2012/09/04: IFAD: Tackling the root causes of high food prices and hunger
• 2012/09/02: Guardian(UK): The era of cheap food may be over
  A spike in prices caused by poor harvests and rising demand is an apt moment for the west to reassess the wisdom of biofuels
• 2012/09/03: DD: The era of cheap food may be over
  

  Feel good bullshit or outrageous conspiracy?

• 2012/09/07: PlanetArk: Current state of food market differs from 2008: FAO head
  The situation in the food market is different from the crisis of 2008 with little sign of the speculation seen four years ago and no panic buying, the head of the UN's food agency said on Thursday.
• 2012/09/01: Independent(UK): Barclays makes £500m betting on food crisis
  Outrage as bank revealed to be major speculator while millions face starvation
• 2012/09/03: al Jazeera: Hunger Games: The price of feeding the world
  Have banks been speculating on food markets and could this contribute to pushing millions into hunger and poverty?
• 
  

  The conflict between biofuel and food persists:

   

• 2012/09/07: PeakEnergy: Corn Exports Shrivel as U.S. Ethanol Demand Grows
• 2012/09/04: EurActiv: US and EU must change biofuel targets to avert food crisis, says Nestlé chief
  Nestlé, the world's largest food company, has added its weight to calls by the UN and development groups for the US and EU to change their biofuel targets because of looming food shortages and price rises.
• 
  

  Regarding the genetic modification of food:

   

• 2012/09/07: CoveredInBees: New Green Party leader on GM and Rothamsted
• 2012/09/05: EnergyBulletin: Weeds that like a sip of Roundup now and then
  

  And how are we going to feed 9 billion, 10 billion, 15 billion?

• 2012/09/04: KQED:B: Michael Pollan Responds to Study Finding 'No Significant Health Benefit' to Organic Food
  [...]
  I think we're kind of erecting a straw man and then knocking it down, the straw man being that the whole point of organic food is that it's more nutritious. The whole point of organic food is that it's more environmentally sustainable. That's the stronger and easier case to make.
• 2012/09/05: LandDestroyer: Cargill and Others Behind anti-Organic "Stanford Study" -- Anti-organic "study" is not news, rather, coordinated propaganda campaign
• 2012/09/03: BBC: Eating organic food will not make you healthier, according to researchers at Stanford University, although it could cut your exposure to pesticides
• 2012/09/06: EnergyBulletin: The Devil in the Details
• 2012/09/06: Guardian(UK): Donors pledge $6.4bn to address Yemen's humanitarian crisis
  UK, US, Saudi Arabia and World Bank agree aid to underpin Yemen economy and address urgent food and health needs
• 2012/09/04: UN: UN agencies [WFP, FAO & IFAD] call for swift international action to prevent repeat of world food crisis
  

  In the Western Pacific:

• 2012/09/03: BBC: Typhoon Bolaven has killed 48 people in North Korea and left more than 50 others injured or missing, state-run KCNA news agency reports
  

  In the Eastern Pacific:

   

• 2012/09/05: Eureka: NASA sees fading post-Tropical Cyclone John's warmer cloud tops
• 2012/09/04: Eureka: NASA sees the short life of Tropical Depression John
  

  In the Atlantic and the Caribbean:

   

• 2012/09/08: CBC: Tropical storm Leslie stalls as N.L. prepares for the worst -- Storm's path difficult to predict
• 2012/09/08: MODIS: Hurricane Leslie (12L) in the Atlantic Ocean
• 2012/09/08: IOTD: Two Views of Tropical Storm Leslie
• 2012/09/08: Wunderground: Severe weather in the Northeast U.S.; updates on 90L, 91L, Leslie and Michael
• 2012/09/07: CBC: N.L. braces for tropical storm Leslie -- Hurricane downgraded to tropical storm, but expected to regain strength
• 2012/09/07: CNN: Leslie loses strength, downgraded to tropical storm
  Leslie is downgraded to a tropical storm - But forecasters say it will likely return to hurricane strength - Forecasters warn of life-threatening rip currents on U.S. beaches from Leslie
• 2012/09/07: Wunderground: 90L in the Gulf disorganized; Leslie and Michael weaken
• 2012/09/07: Eureka: NASA sees Hurricane Leslie's eye close
• 2012/09/06: Wunderground: 90L in the Gulf disorganized; Leslie almost stationary; Michael hits Cat 3
• 2012/09/06: NASA: NASA Saw Michael Become an Atlantic Hurricane, Wind Speed More than Doubled
• 2012/09/06: NASA: NASA Satellite Captured Hurricane Leslie's Picture Perfect Moment
• 2012/09/05: BBerg: Leslie Grows Into Hurricane Threatening Bermuda, Canada
• 2012/09/05: Wunderground: Leslie near hurricane strength; Son of Isaac (90L) emerges in the Gulf
• 2012/09/05: Eureka: NASA imagery reveals strength in Tropical Storm Michael's 'arm'
• 2012/09/05: Eureka: NASA sees Tropical Storm Leslie was causing a problem for itself
• 2012/09/04: Eureka: Newborn Tropical Storm Michael struggling like Leslie and Isaac
• 2012/09/04: Eureka: NASA satellites showed little change in Tropical Storm Leslie
• 2012/09/04: Wunderground: Leslie headed towards Bermuda; Tropical Storm Michael forms
• 2012/09/03: Wunderground: Disorganized Leslie headed towards Bermuda
• 2012/09/02: Wunderground: Leslie a threat to Bermuda; Isaac is gone
  

  Post Isaac residue:

• 2012/09/06: NASA: NASA Analyzes Isaac's Rainfall: Drought Relief and Flooding
• 2012/09/06: WSWS: Gulf region remains devastated one week after Hurricane Isaac
• 2012/09/05: PlanetArk: Hurricane Isaac sweeps tons of dead rats onto Mississippi beaches
• 2012/09/05: MODIS: Remnants of Hurricane Isaac (09L) over the eastern United States
• 2012/09/04: BBC: Hurricane Isaac: '13,000 homes damaged' in Louisiana
• 2012/09/04: CBC: Remains of Isaac drench Ontario -- Former hurricane delivers final, surprise punch
• 2012/09/02: CSM: Now surge-tested, levees around New Orleans get post-Isaac inspections
  

  While elsewhere in the hurricane wars:

• 2012/09/06: CBC: N.S. surfers revel in hurricane waves
  As the Canadian Hurricane Centre warned of three-metre waves and rip currents as Hurricane Leslie moves north, surfers in Nova Scotia were enjoying the first "big swell" in months.
• 2012/09/07: SciNow: Slippery When Windy
• 2012/09/07: NASA: NASA's Global Hawk Mission Begins with Flight to Hurricane Leslie
  

  As for the Monsoon:

• 2012/09/06: DD: Crops in India wilt in a weak monsoon season
  

  Meanwhile on the GHG front:

• 2012/09/08: DD: Smugglers reap large profits from banned ozone-destroying [HFC] coolant
• 2012/09/07: EurActiv: Mild weather helps trim EU's greenhouse gas emissions
  Reduced heating demand during a mild winter helped cut greenhouse gas emissions 2.5% in the European Union last year, the European Environment Agency reported today (7 September).
• 2012/09/06: SciAm: Most Countries Fail to Plan for Cleaner Energy
  A new [CARMA] survey of 60,000 power plants worldwide reveals that polluting fossil fuels remain the norm
• 2012/09/05: NBF: CARMA Online database of 60 thousand power plants with 8 years of emissions data
• 2012/09/07: NYT: As Coolant Is Phased Out, Smugglers Reap Large Profits
• 2012/09/02: QuarkSoup: Emissions Increases -- Where They're Coming From
  

  As for the temperature record:

• 2012/09/03: CapClimate: 38th Consecutive Warm Week Concludes Warm August, Summer, Last 12 Months
  

  Yes we have feedbacks:

• 2012/09/05: BBC: Arctic ice melt 'like adding 20 years of CO2 emissions'
  Loss of Arctic ice is effectively doubling mankind's contribution to global warming, ice scientist Professor Peter Wadhams has told BBC Newsnight.
• 
  

  And on the ENSO front:

   

• 2012/09/07: PlanetArk: Weak El Niño will last through February 2013: CPC
• 2012/09/06: NOAA:NCEP: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion
  Synopsis: El Nino conditions are likely to develop during September 2012
• 2012/09/06: ERW: Insight: climate models should consider two types of El Niño event
  Several studies have recently reported that there are two types of El Niño event, depending on where equatorial sea-surface-temperature anomalies (SSTAs) are observed. The second type of El Niño has been dubbed the "warm-pool" El Niño – its centre of action is shifted to the west compared to the conventional "cold-tongue" El Niño in which SSTAs develop in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (where the cold tongue is located).
• 
  

  Dealing with uncertainties:

   

• 2012/09/02: QuarkSoup: An Idea Unique to Climate Change
  

  And the State of the Biosphere:

• 2012/09/07: BBC: Desert diversity cut by 'human activities'
  Humans may be destabilising desert ecosystems across the world, according to a new study.
• 2012/09/05: Eureka: Ecosystems cope with stress more effectively the greater the biodiversity
• 2012/09/04: CCurrents: 'A Great Silence Is Spreading Over The Natural World': John Vidal
• 2012/09/04: Guardian(UK): Why biodiversity increase from global warming is not good news
• 2012/09/03: Guardian(UK): 'A great silence is spreading over the natural world'
  Bernie Krause has spent 40 years recording nature's sounds. But such is the rate of species and habitat loss that his tapes may become our only record of the original diversity of life
• 2012/09/03: NatureN: Species multiply as Earth heats up -- Biodiversity increases with gentle warming
• 2012/09/03: Guardian(UK): We can learn resilience from the natural world - but only up to a point
  Life on Earth can adapt to all sorts of conditions but we are living outside its cycle of normal variation
• 
  

  What's new on the extinction front?

   

• 2012/09/05: SciAm:EC: Japanese River Otter Declared Extinct
• 2012/09/06: CJR: Yao Ming and the elephant massacre
  Recent coverage of the African poaching crisis strikes at supply and demand
• 2012/09/03: NatureN: One-fifth of invertebrate species at risk of extinction -- Freshwater snails and reef-building corals among threatened groups
• 2012/09/03: PlanetArk: Spineless creatures under threat, from worms to bees: study
  

  Oh look! The Anthropocene came up again:

• 2012/09/05: Grist: The Anthropocene explained, game-show style [audio]
  

  What's up with volcanoes this week?

• 2012/09/08: al Jazeera: Nicaraguan volcano spews ash cloud
  No immediate reports of injuries or damage, but government prepares to evacuate 3,000 people. Nicaragua's highest volcano belched an ash plume up to 5km into the atmosphere, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of nearby residents.
• 2012/09/08: BBC: Nicaragua's San Cristobal volcano forces mass evacuation
  The Nicaraguan government says about 3,000 people are being evacuated from areas near the San Cristobal volcano, which is spewing ash and gas.
• 
  

  Meanwhile in near earth orbit:

   

• 2012/09/06: BBC: Questions over Chinese satellites 'to monitor sea'
  A UK scientist has questioned China's plans to send eight satellites into space to monitor the ocean around the country.
• 
  

  More GW impacts are being seen:

   

• 2012/09/06: AFTIC: Another Climate Metric: metres/day
• 2012/09/07: BBC: Race to save Alaskan Arctic archaeology
  A recently discovered 500-year-old Alaskan settlement is rapidly disappearing into the Bering Sea. The exquisitely preserved frozen site provides a spectacular insight into the Yup'ik Eskimo culture.
• 2012/09/08: DD: Graph of the Day: Increase in Total Annual Precipitation in the U.S. versus Storm Size, 1948-2011
• 2012/09/03: Eureka: Research reveals contrasting consequences of a warmer Earth
• 2012/09/02: TreeHugger: Minnesota Moose Mystery: Is Climate Change Killing this Icon of the North?
  

  And then there are the world's forests:

• 2012/09/06: Guardian(UK): Lebanon's cedar trees threatened by climate change
• 2012/09/06: DM:80B: Cut Down Rain Forests, Lose Your Rain
• 2012/09/05: PlanetArk: Shady deals threaten Liberian rainforest: report
• 2012/09/04: CCurrents: Liberia Logged: Companies Control 60% Of Rainforest
• 2012/09/04: CCurrents: Oil Giants' Onslaught Threaten [Yasuni] Humanity's Hope In Ecuador
• 2012/09/08: CBC: Alberta forests threatened by pine beetle infestation
  Insect has killed 60 per cent of interior pine forests in B.C., blamed for fatal sawmill explosions
• 2012/09/04: DD: Brazil's Belo Monte back on track after court decision overruled
• 2012/09/04: NatureN: India's forest area in doubt -- Reliance on satellite data blamed for over-optimistic estimates of forest cover
• 2012/09/04: BBC: Liberia rainforest: '60% handed to logging companies'
  Uncontrolled logging is posing a risk to Liberia's virgin rainforests and depriving people of economic benefits, campaign group Global Witness warns.
• 2012/09/02: BBC: 'Unprecedented threat' for UK trees from pests
  

  Desertification looms as a threat:

• 2012/09/06: TP:JR: Research Shows Rapid Pace Of Historic Desertification In Dead Sea Region
  

  Emerging diseases accompany ecological change:

• 2012/09/07: ProMedMail: Bluetongue, cervid - USA: (MO)
• 2012/09/05: BBC: West Nile virus death toll in US jumps by a third [to 87]
• 2012/09/07: P3: Climate Change Causes Public Health Challenges
• 2012/09/03: BBerg: Record West Nile Cases Make World Diseases a U.S. Problem
• 2012/08/31: Slate: Why are there so many new tick-borne diseases?
• 2012/09/05: WiredSci: A New Tick-Borne Illness, and a Plea to Consider the Insects
• 2012/09/03: CBC: Ticks carrying Lyme disease on the rise in N.B.
  

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): Wild winds wreak havoc across Victoria, NSW
  Gale-force winds are wreaking havoc across large parts of southern Australia, bringing down trees and power lines, damaging homes and fanning fires. In Victoria, the SES has received more than 1,500 calls for help as winds of up to 120 kilometres per hour batter the state.
• 2012/09/04: al Jazeera: Storms pummel Perth
  Severe weather swept across southwestern Australia, bringing much needed rain in the process.
• 2012/09/03: al Jazeera: Violent storms hit northern Algeria
  Wet and windy weather causes damaging floods and widespread disruption.
• 
  

  This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

   

• 2012/09/04: Yale360: A Summer of Extremes Signifies the New Normal [McKibben]
  

  On the tornado front:

• 2012/09/08: CNN: Two tornadoes hit New York City as severe weather lashes region
  Thousands without power in Virginia, Maryland, D.C. - A tornado hits in a beachfront neighborhood in the Queens borough of New York - A second tornado hits New York City, this one in Brooklyn - 12 are hurt trying to evacuate arena outside D.C. due to severe weather
• 2012/09/09: ABC(Au): Tornadoes tear through New York City, Virginia
• 2012/09/08: BBC: Two rare tornadoes have hit New York City's borough of Queens and Brooklyn, damaging homes, causing blackouts and throwing debris into the air
• 2012/09/08: CBC: Tornado hits NYC beach neighbourhood
  A tornado swept out of the sea and hit a beachfront neighborhood in New York City on Saturday, hurling debris in the air, knocking out power and startling residents who once thought of twisters as a Midwestern phenomenon.
• 
  

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

   

• 2012/09/06: ABC(Au): Wild winds head north as crews battle bushfires
  Firefighters have worked through the night in the face of gale-force winds in a battle to contain a large number of fires burning across southern Australia. About 300 firefighters battled over 80 bush and grass fires in New South Wales, with the Rural Fire Service (RFS) saying the flames were being fanned by strong winds.
• 2012/09/05: WSWS: Letter carrier dies after delivering mail in [104F] heat wave
  The death of an Independence, Missouri, letter carrier last month was recently confirmed by a Jackson County medical examiner as caused by heat exhaustion.
• 2012/09/08: DD: Long summer of wildfires in U.S. West puts strain on firefighters, budgets
• 2012/09/09: ABC(Au): Bushfire slows traffic on F3 motorway
  A bushfire on the New South Wales Central Coast is causing traffic chaos after earlier forcing the closure of the F3 Freeway.
• 2012/09/09: MODIS: Fires and smoke in central South America
• 2012/09/04: BBC: Portugal fires: EU funds water-bombing planes
  Firefighting aircraft have arrived in Portugal to help tackle scores of forest fires raging across the country.
• 2012/09/04: WtD: The new normal (part 20): 4,000 acre wildfire in California
• 2012/09/04: PlanetArk: Firefighters battle California's Angeles National Forest blaze
• 2012/09/03: CSM: Southern California wildfire grows
• 2012/09/04: al Jazeera: Portugal seeks EU help to fight forest fires
  Four water-dumping aircraft sought as dozens of fires rage in the north and centre of drought-hit country.
• 2012/09/03: BBC: Portugal has said it is seeking European Union help to to tackle raging forest fires, in one of the worst summers for such blazes in years
• 2012/09/03: IOTD: Fires and smoke in western United States
  

  Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

• 2012/09/08: DD: Coral in Caribbean, Florida in sharp decline, 'no signs of slowing,' report finds
  

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2012/09/05: TreeHugger: Patagonia Glaciers Melting Faster Over Past Decade
• 2012/09/05: AGU: Glacial thinning has sharply accelerated at major South American icefields
• 2012/09/04: DD: Graph of the Day: Cumulative mass balance for Himalaya glaciers, 1975-2010
• 2012/09/03: CCP: Stop-and-go deglaciation, Nature Geoscience editorial, doi: 10.1038/ngeo1574
  

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2012/09/06: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Antarctic warming threatens sea levels
• 2012/09/04: AFTIC: Rising Oceans vs You and Your Family
  

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2012/09/07: CNN: The driest season: Global drought causes major worries
  Ukraine to Yellowstone, in Pakistan and Kazakhstan, the earth is parched - Drought in the Black Sea region has led to decrease in wheat, raised export prices - Late monsoon season in India and Pakistan has put plants at risk
• 2012/09/06: PSinclair: In a Warming World. Wetter Wets, and Dryer Drys
• 2012/09/05: TP:JR: Climate Change: How The Wet Will Get Wetter And The Dry Will Get Drier
• 2012/09/08: al Jazeera: Landslides and floods kill dozens in Vietnam
  At least 29 people killed, including 16 who died in landslides at a tin mine in the northern province of Yen Bai. Landslides and floods in Vietnam have killed at least 29 people in recent days as heavy rain soaks northern and central areas, state media and the government said.
• 
  

  On the mitigation front, consider transportation & GHG production:

   

• 2012/09/04: CalcRisk: U.S. Light Vehicle Sales at 14.5 million annual rate in August
  

  While in the endless quest for zero energy, sustainable buildings and practical codes:

• 2012/09/06: TP:JR: Documentary: Why Weatherization Assistance Is So Important For America
• 2012/09/04: TreeHugger: Visions From The Past of a House of the Future
• 2012/09/04: TreeHugger: What is "The Greenest Home in America?"
  

  As for carbon sequestration:

• 2012/09/07: ERabett: The REAL problem with CCS?
• 2012/09/05: CBC: Shell OKs oilsands' 1st carbon-capture project
  Royal Dutch Shell is going ahead with the first carbon capture and storage project for an oilsands operation in Canada, the international energy giant announced Wednesday. The "flagship" Quest project will be built on behalf of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project's joint venture owners, which include Shell, Chevron and Marathon Oil. It also has the support of the Canadian and Alberta governments.
• 2012/09/06: Guardian(UK): Shell approves $1.36bn oil sands carbon capture project for Alberta site
• 2012/09/06: ERabett:BSD: Useful with a boulder of salt
  

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

• 2012/09/06: UQ:GPEM: Climate Engineering ICCP2012 [conference report]
• 2012/09/06: GEP: New Study Reiterates Affordability of Stratospheric Aerosol Systems
• 2012/09/03: DD: 'Sunshade' to fight climate change costed at $5 billion a year
• 2012/09/03: QuarkSoup: "Would you like giving George Bush control of the world's climate?"
  

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2012/08/31: Science: (ab$) Radiative Absorption Enhancements Due to the Mixing State of Atmospheric Black Carbon by Christopher D. Cappa et al.
• 2012/08/31: Science: (ab$) Synthesis of Methylphosphonic Acid by Marine Microbes: A Source for Methane in the Aerobic Ocean by William W. Metcalf et al.
• 2012/07/11: GRL: (ab$) The effect of vertical and horizontal dilution on fertilized patch experiments by Debby Ianson et al.
• 2012/09/06: ACP: Potential for a biogenic influence on cloud microphysics over the ocean: a correlation study with satellite-derived data by A. Lana et al.
• 2012/09/06: ACP: Ozone production from the interaction of wildfire and biogenic emissions: a case study in Russia during spring 2006 by E. Bossioli et al.
• 2012/09/05: ACP: Arctic climate response to forcing from light-absorbing particles in snow and sea ice in CESM by N. Goldenson et al.
• 2012/09/05: ACP: Sensitivity of radiative properties of persistent contrails to the ice water path by R. R. De León et al.
• 2012/09/06: ACPD: 35 years of stratospheric aerosol measurements at Garmisch-Partenkirchen: from Fuego to Eyjafjallajökull, and beyond by T. Trickl et al.
• 2012/09/06: ACPD: Characterization of dust aerosols in the infrared from IASI and comparison with PARASOL, MODIS, MISR, CALIOP, and AERONET observations by S. Peyridieu et al.
• 2012/09/05: ACPD: The effect of regional changes in anthropogenic aerosols on rainfall of the East Asian Summer Monsoon by L. Guo et al.
• 2012/09/05: ACPD: Analysis of present day and future OH and methane lifetime in the ACCMIP simulations by A. Voulgarakis et al.
• 2012/09/03: ACPD: Air pollution and associated human mortality: the role of air pollutant emissions, climate change and methane concentration increases during the industrial period by Y. Fang et al.
• 2012/08/30: ERL: Cost analysis of stratospheric albedo modification delivery systems by Justin McClellan et al.
• 2012/09/: RSTA: Marine cloud brightening by John Latham et al.
• 2012/09/02: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Modelled suppression of boundary-layer clouds by plants in a CO2-rich atmosphere by Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano et al.
• 2012/09/04: PNAS: (ab$) Warming-induced shift in European mushroom fruiting phenology by Håvard Kauserud et al.
• 2012/09/04: PNAS: (ab$) Species richness and morphological diversity of passerine birds by Robert E. Ricklefs
• 2012/09/04: PNAS: (abs) Global economic potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from mangrove loss by Juha Siikamäki et al.
• 2012/09/04: PNAS: (ab$) Impact of abrupt deglacial climate change on tropical Atlantic subsurface temperatures by Matthew W. Schmidt et al.
• 2012/09/04: PNAS: (abs) Ocean barrier layers' effect on tropical cyclone intensification by Karthik Balaguru et al.
• 2012/09/04: PNAS: (ab$) Simulated versus observed patterns of warming over the extratropical Northern Hemisphere continents during the cold season by John M. Wallace et al.
• 2012/09/04: PNAS: (letter$) Avoiding mangrove destruction by avoiding carbon dioxide emissions by Ken Caldeira
• 2012/09/04: PNAS: (letter$) Apportioning natural and forced components in climate change by Gerald R. North
• 2012/08/19: Nature:Chem: (ab$) Ab initio carbon capture in open-site metal-organic frameworks by Allison L. Dzubak et al.
• 2012/09/07: ESDD: Scenario and modelling uncertainty in global mean temperature change derived from emission driven Global Climate Models by B. B. B. Booth et al.
• 2012/09/07: ESDD: Effects of climate variability on Savannah fire regimes in West Africa by E. T. N'Datchoh et al.
• 2012/09/06: ESDD: Excitation of equatorial Kelvin and Yanai waves by tropical cyclones in an ocean general circulation model by R. L. Sriver et al.
• 2012/09/03: ESDD: Toward a classification of the Central Pacific El Niño by M. Pascolini-Campbell et al.
• 2012/09/03: ESDD: The impact of model variation in CO2 and temperature impulse response functions on emission metrics by D. J. L. Olivié & G. P. Peters
• 2012/09/07: CP: The climate in the Baltic Sea region during the last millennium simulated with a regional climate model by S. Schimanke et al.
• 2012/09/03: CP: An open-access database of grape harvest dates for climate research: data description and quality assessment by V. Daux et al.
• 2012/09/03: CP: Modelling and climatic interpretation of the length fluctuations of Glaciar Frías (north Patagonian Andes, Argentina) 1639-2009 AD by P. W. Leclercq et al.
• 2012/09/07: CPD: Paleohydrology reconstruction and Holocene climate variability in the South Adriatic Sea by G. Siani et al.
• 2012/09/06: CPD: The Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age in the Eastern Ecuadorian Andes by M.-P. Ledru et al.
• 2012/09/05: CPD: Dansgaard-Oeschger events: tipping points in the climate system by A. A. Cimatoribus et al.
• 2012/08/28: GRL: (ab$) Maximum wind speeds and US hurricane losses by R. J. Murnane & J. B. Elsner
• 2012/09/07: Nature:CC: (ab$) Relative outcomes of climate change mitigation related to global temperature versus sea-level rise by Gerald A. Meehl et al.
• 2012/09/07: ACP: Insights into hydroxyl measurements and atmospheric oxidation in a California forest by J. Mao et al.
• 2012/09/07: ACP: The distribution of snow black carbon observed in the Arctic and compared to the GISS-PUCCINI model by T. Dou et al.
• 2012/09/07: ACPD: Assimilation of ground versus lidar observations for PM10 forecasting by Y. Wang et al.
• 2012/09/07: ACPD: Global and regional temperature-change potentials for near-term climate forcers by W. J. Collins et al.
• 2012/09/07: ACPD: Assessment of the Level-3 MODIS daily aerosol optical depth in the context of surface solar radiation and numerical weather modeling by J. A. Ruiz-Arias et al.
• 2012/09/07: ACPD: A joint effort to deliver satellite retrieved atmospheric CO2 concentrations for surface flux inversions: the ensemble median algorithm EMMA by M. Reuter et al.
• 2012/09/06: GMD: Seasonal leaf dynamics for tropical evergreen forests in a process-based global ecosystem model by M. De Weirdt et al.
• 2012/09/05: OS: Assimilating GlobColour ocean colour data into a pre-operational physical-biogeochemical model by D. A. Ford et al.
• 2012/09/06: TCD: Regional estimates of glacier mass change from MODIS-derived equilibrium line altitudes by J. M. Shea et al.
• 2012/09/05: TCD: Mass gain of glaciers in Lahaul and Spiti region (North India) during the nineties revealed by in-situ and satellite geodetic measurements by C. Vincent et al.
• 2012/09/05: TCD: Antarctic ice-mass balance 2002 to 2011: regional re-analysis of GRACE satellite gravimetry measurements with improved estimate of glacial-isostatic adjustment by I. Sasgen et al.
• 2012/09/: FASEBJ: The Glacial Pace of Scientific Publishing: Why It Hurts Everyone and What We Can Do To Fix It by Leslie B. Vosshall
• 2012/09/03: GMD: A community diagnostic tool for chemistry climate model validation by A. Gettelman et al.
• 2012/09/03: GMDD: Aerosol-climate interactions in the Norwegian Earth System Model - NorESM by A. Kirkevåg et al.
• 2012/09/03: GMDD: Inclusion of Ash and SO2 emissions from volcanic eruptions in WRF-CHEM: development and some applications by M. Stuefer et al.
• 2012/09/03: GMDD: Setup of the PMIP3 paleoclimate experiments conducted using an Earth System Model, MIROC-ESM by T. Sueyoshi et al.
• 2012/09/03: TCD: An updated and quality controlled surface mass balance dataset for Antarctica by V. Favier et al.
• 2012/09/03: TCD: An estimate of global glacier volume by A. Grinsted
• 2012/09/03: TCD: Mapping radiation transfer through sea ice using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) by M. Nicolaus & C. Katlein
• 2012/09/03: TCD: Event-driven deposition: a new paradigm for snow-cover modelling in Antarctica based on surface measurements by C. D. Groot Zwaaftink et al.
• 2012/09/03: TCD: How does internal variability influence the ability of CMIP5 models to reproduce the recent trend in Southern Ocean sea ice extent? by V. Zunz et al.
• 2012/09/03: AGWObserver: New research from last week 35/2012
  

  And other significant documents:

• 2012/09/05: Oxfam: [link to 191k pdf] Extreme Weather, Extreme Prices -- The costs of feeding a warming world
• 2012/09/05: TreeHugger: [link to 191k pdf] Climate Change Will Starve the Poor Even More Than Previously Thought
• 2012/09/04: CAT: [link to 765k pdf] Governments set world on more than 3°C warming, still playing with numbers
• 2012/09/04: UCSUSA: [link to 4.6 meg pdf] Solutions for Deforestation-Free Wood Products (2012)
  

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2012/09/07: NatureN: Science wins over creationism in South Korea -- Government asks publishers to retain examples of evolution in science textbooks
• 2012/09/05: NASA: NASA Voyage Set To Explore Link Between Sea Saltiness And Climate [SPURS]
• 2012/09/06: BBC: So remote, it could pass for Mars
  At 79 degrees North, deep inside the Arctic Circle, a research base offers a fascinating glimpse of what life may be like in some future human outpost on a distant planet.
• 2012/09/03: ERabett: Here There Really Be Tygers
  

  More DIY science:

• 2012/09/05: CC&G: Animated Images of Arctic Sea Ice Extent Decline
  

  What's new in models?

• 2012/09/07: NatureNB: Study calls for integration within US climate modelling community
  The National Research Council weighed in on US climate modelling programmes Friday, calling for a more systematic methodology for developing, interpreting and comparing the full suite of climate and weather models. The 250-odd-page report provides a primer on the challenges ahead, ranging from a shortage of young modellers entering the business to the need for a new category of "climate model interpreters" who can take the data and help convert it into something more useful for the world at large. But the core challenge going forward, the council reports, is how to “disrupt the inertia of the U.S. climate science enterprise” and promote a broader integration of efforts, on both scientific and technical fronts. As climate models become ever more detailed and precise, they could also be integrated with weather models.
• 
  

  What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

   

• 2012/09/07: NatureNB: UK government re-allocates £10 million of science budget to push for open access
• 2012/09/07: ScienceInsider: U.K. Devotes £10 Million to Open Access Shift
• 2012/08/31: MEisen: The Glacial Pace of Change in Scientific Publishing
  

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2012/09/07: PlanetArk: Big banks weigh risks, rewards of California's new CO2 market
  

  On the international political front, tensions continue as the empire leans on Iran:

• 2012/09/07: AntiWar: Iran Oil Exports Plummet as Prices Rise -- US Sanctions Keeping Producer Off the Market as Administration Frets Prices
  

  South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

• 2012/09/06: AntiWar: Clinton Met With Friction From Antagonized China -- The Obama administration's 'Asia pivot' has provoked a hostile reaction from China
• 2012/09/07: BBC: South Korea in military drill near disputed islands
  South Korea's coast guard is leading military exercises near islands also claimed by Japan, amid ongoing tension over the territorial row. The operation near islands known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan also involves the army, navy and airforce, South Korean media said. Tensions have risen since a visit to the islands by South Korea's leader [Pres. Lee Myung-bak] Japan wants international arbitration over the islands, but South Korea has rejected the proposal.
• 2012/09/06: WSWS: Tensions remain high between South Korea and Japan
  Tensions between South Korea and Japan remain unresolved following Seoul's formal rejection on August 30 of a request by Tokyo for the dispute over the Dokdo islets -- known as Takeshima in Japan -- to be adjudicated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
• 2012/09/06: WSWS: Clinton pressures Beijing over South China Sea
• 2012/09/05: Guardian(UK): Hillary Clinton arrives in China to stinging personal attacks in state media
  US and China remain at impasse over Syria and tension persists over long-running territorial wrangle in South China Sea
• 2012/09/04: AntiWar: China Warns US to Stay Out of South China Sea Dispute -- Clinton Comments Fuel Accusations of 'Taking Sides'
• 2012/09/05: BBC: Japan government 'reaches deal to buy' disputed islands
  Media reports from Japan say the government has reached a deal to buy disputed islands in the East China Sea from their private owner. The government will pay 2.05bn yen ($26m, £16.4m) to buy islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. There was no confirmation from officials, but the reports were carried by major Japanese media outlets, citing government sources.
• 2012/09/04: BBC: China has urged the US not to meddle in regional disputes, hours before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began a two-day visit to the country
• 2012/09/04: CBC: China questions U.S. neutrality over its territorial claims
  Beijing expresses doubts as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives on regional tour to persuade authorities to resolve disputes over competing claims in South China Sea
• 2012/09/05: Asia Times: US eyes spoiler role in Japan-China dispute
• 2012/09/03: al Jazeera: Clinton calls for ASEAN unity on S China Sea
  US secretary of state warns against "coercion", as she urges regional powers to resolve dispute in peaceful manner
• 2012/09/03: BBC: South China Sea focus for Clinton Indonesia visit
  

  The EU is investigating Gazprom's price gouging:

• 2012/09/05: EurActiv: Commission opens antitrust case against Gazprom
  The European Commission is investigating the Russian energy giant Gazprom for allegedly hindering competition in Central and Eastern European gas markets, in breach of EU antitrust rules.
• 2012/09/05: EUO: EU officials take on Gazprom, Putin in price-gouge probe
• 2012/09/05: EUO: First signs of political tension after EU move on Gazprom
  The European Commission says its probe into suspected price-fixing by Gazprom has nothing to do with EU-Russia relations. But Gazprom says it does.
• 
  

  Everybody is getting in on the solar panel trade war:

   

• 2012/09/07: PlanetArk: EU solar panel inquiry draws warning from China
• 2012/09/06: BBerg: China Price War Draining Jobs in Germany's Solar Valley: Energy
• 2012/09/06: EurActiv: EU launches solar panel probe into Chinese 'dumping' claims
  The European Commission has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into the import of Chinese solar panels and key components such as solar cells and solar wafers, a Commission statement said on Thursday (6 September).
• 2012/09/06: EUO: EU to investigate suspected China solar panel dumping
• 2012/09/05: BBC: China solar panel imports investigated by European Union
  The European Union has launched an investigation into alleged "dumping" of solar panels into the region's markets by Chinese manufacturers.
• 2012/09/05: BBerg: China Speeding U.S. Solar-Dumping Case as Election Nears: Energy
• 2012/09/06: BBerg: Chinese Solar-Panel Exporters Face Threat of EU Tariffs
• 2012/09/03: EurActiv: Merkel seeks Chinese concessions in solar row
  Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany has no interest in starting a trade war with Beijing over solar exports to Europe, but stressed in recent remarks that China must take action to address distortions to fair competition in the sector.
• 2012/09/03: PlanetArk: Merkel seeks Chinese concessions in solar row
  

  And in miscellaneous international political jousting:

• 2012/09/03: NatureN: African cooperation 'dropped from EU research calls'
  Fears grow over a potential lack of collaboration between African and European scientists in future.
• 2012/09/04: WSWS: Clinton intervenes at Pacific Islands Forum
  

  What are the activists up to?

• 2012/09/06: AFTIC: Two related items
• 2012/09/03: OtherWords: The Six Stages of Climate Grief
  I have discovered a new sixth stage, beyond acceptance of the truly depressing climate science: doing The Work.
• 
  

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

   

• 2012/09/05: EurActiv: Scientists to study storm impact on water quality
  British scientists plan to monitor the effect of storms on nitrate and phosphate contamination in rivers, research they say is crucial because climate change means that the intensity and frequency of storms are likely to increase.
• 2012/09/07: CBC: Kent announces new Great Lakes water quality agreement
  Canada and the United States are beefing up an international agreement on water quality in the Great Lakes. Environment Minister Peter Kent and Lisa Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, signed the updated deal in a brief ceremony in Washington on Friday. The amendments address problems with invasive aquatic species, habitat degradation and the effects of climate change.
• 2012/09/05: NYT: For Farms in the West, Oil Wells Are Thirsty Rivals
• 2012/09/04: HuffPo: Congress, Tap Water, Bottled Water, and the Inauguration of the Next President
• 2012/09/04: al Jazeera: Laos dam project stirs regional tensions
  Neighbours Vietnam and Cambodia worried about environmental impact of controversial Xayaburi dam on Mekong River.
• 2012/09/02: TP:JR: Turning Rain Into A Resource, Not A Pollution Source
• 2012/09/02: AllAfrica:ZimStandard: Zimbabwe: Harare Still Dogged By Water Crisis
  Harare residents continue to be dogged by water shortages, with areas in the central business district and most residential suburbs having to endure frequent long-lasting water cuts. In a service delivery update for August, the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) said water supplies remained a problem in most parts of Harare, as Morton Jaffray was only able to pump at half capacity.
• 
  

  And on the American political front:

   

• 2012/09/09: PSinclair: Is Climate a New Political Stealth Super Weapon?
• 2012/09/06: BLongstaff: News flash -- U.S. corn growers oppose subsidy
• 2012/09/06: Grist: Utilities beat back community solar bill in California
• 2012/09/07: TP:JR: Americans For Prosperity Calls Wind Tax Credit 'Deplorable,' But Defends Government Support Of Oil Companies
• 2012/09/07: TP:JR: GOP Congressman: Support Renewables, But Get Government Out Of The Market
• 2012/09/07: UCSUSA:B: Oregon, My Oregon : Leading the Way on Reducing Oil Use Through a Clean Fuels Program
• 2012/09/07: CPW: Opposition mounts as first tar sands mine in US gets a green light
• 2012/09/08: CCP: Politicians Who Deny Climate Change Cannot Be Pro-Business
• 2012/09/04: TP:JR: Iowa State Senator [Rob Hogg]: Why Climate Change Matters To Iowans And All Americans
  

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2012/09/08: Grist: Oil on Gulf Coast after Hurricane Isaac reveals risks of offshore drilling
• 2012/09/07: PlanetArk: BP executives sought to blame "blue collar rig workers": U.S.
• 2012/09/07: EneNews: Large sections of thick liquid oil spotted floating in Gulf after Isaac -- Oiled wildlife reported
• 2012/09/06: WaPo:AP: Louisiana tests confirm oil exposed by Hurricane Isaac came from BP spill
• 2012/09/06: EneNews: BP Oil Exposed by Isaac Not Degrading - Official: We'll be cleaning up for next 20 years if nothing done - Researcher: This is going to be the 'new normal' for Gulf Coast
• 2012/09/06: CNN: Tests show oil found on Louisiana shore came from BP spill
  Preliminary tests from Louisiana island show oil from BP spill - Tar balls and an oil mat have been found since Hurricane Isaac - BP says it was already working on cleanup in the area before the storm
• 2012/09/06: PlanetArk: Transocean sees "elevated rhetoric" from US on Macondo
• 2012/09/05: CNN: DOJ accuses BP of 'gross negligence' in Gulf oil spill
• 2012/09/05: CSM: US to judge: Ignore BP claims of Gulf's 'robust recovery' after spill
  The Justice Department is urging a federal judge to ignore BP's assertion that the Gulf Coast's natural resources are making a "robust recovery" from its massive 2010 oil spill. In a court filing Friday, government lawyers also renewed their vow to prove at trial that BP engaged in gross negligence or willful misconduct leading up to the deadly rig explosion that killed 11 workers and spawned the nation's worst offshore oil spill. BP PLC faces billions of dollars in fines if U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ultimately sides with the government. The memo's combative language is a sign that BP and the Justice Department aren't close to a settlement that would resolve the federal government's claims against the oil giant before a trial scheduled for next year.
• 2012/09/05: al Jazeera: US points to 'gross negligence' by BP
  Government criticises BP in court filing and admits that pollution from 2010 spill continues to impact Gulf of Mexico.
• 2012/09/05: PlanetArk: U.S. lays out examples of "gross negligence" by BP
• 2012/09/05: CCurrents: Deepwater Oil Spill: BP's Gross Negligence And Willful Misconduct, Says US Court Paper
• 2012/09/05: BBC: Deepwater Horizon: BP accused of gross negligence
  The US Justice Department has accused BP of "gross negligence and wilful misconduct" over the Deepwater Horizon disaster, claims which BP deny. The allegations came in papers filed in the federal court in New Orleans.
• 2012/09/04: TP:JR: Photos: Oil Washing Up On The Gulf Coast After Hurricane Isaac
• 2012/09/04: OilChange: BP sued "for hiding truth" over Deepwater
• 2012/09/04: SHSmith: Bombshell: Feds slam BP in key court filing, admit pollution from 2010 spill continues to ravage Gulf
  

  On the 2012 campaign trail:

• 2012/09/07: TreeHugger: Obama, Romney, or Stein: Who Has the Greenest Energy Policy?
  [...]
  Stein = Dark Green, Obama = Greenish with Brown Spots, Romney = Dark Brown
• 2012/09/07: Grist: The part of Obama's speech that was about climate without saying so
• 2012/09/07: Guardian(UK): Barack Obama swipes at Mitt Romney over climate change jibe
• 2012/09/07: PSinclair: National Journal: Romney Jab Re-Ignited Climate Change Debate
• 2012/09/08: ERabett: Arsenic and Odd Life
• 2012/09/09: Moyhu: Cold Confusion
• 2012/09/06: MGS: The Relativity of Wrong [lyin' Ryan]
• 2012/09/05: TP:JR: Team Romney: Top Response To Climate Change Should Be More Defense Spending!
• 2012/09/05: TP:JR: The Romney-Ryan Ticket: Ceding The Clean Energy Future
• 2012/09/05: PSinclair: Shhh... Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet... Romney Tiptoes Toward Climate Reality
• 2012/09/05: GreenGrok: Obama's Energy Plan by the Numbers
• 2012/09/07: CSM: Climate change: why it could be a hot topic on the campaign trail
• 2012/09/04: DerSpiegel: A Campaign of Lies -- US Candidates Unabashed in Stretching the Truth
  In this year's US presidential election, truth is in short supply. Both the Democrats and the Republicans have become more unabashed in their lies than ever before. With a mainstream media weakened by the appearance of partisan bias and editorial staffs that have been ravaged during the crisis, many of the whoppers won't be second-guessed.
• 2012/09/04: DeSmogBlog: What To Expect When You're Electing: The Parties' Platforms On The Environment
• 2012/09/04: PSinclair: Is Obama Rolling Out a Climate Campaign?
• 2012/09/04: TP:JR: Team Obama Labels Romney's Mockery Of Climate Action 'Terrifying'
• 2012/09/04: TreeHugger: Green Party Television Ads Censored by Google
  

  The Democrats had their convention in Charlotte this week:

• 2012/09/06: BBC: Barack Obama Democratic convention speech: Full text
  [...]
  And yes, my plan will continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet - because climate change is not a hoax. More droughts and floods and wildfires are not a joke. They're a threat to our children's future. And in this election, you can do something about it.
• 2012/09/06: TP:JR: Obama To Nation: 'Climate Change Is Not A Hoax. More Droughts And Floods And Wildfires Are Not A Joke.'
• 2012/09/06: Grist: Obama: Climate change is not a joke, Mitt
• 2012/09/06: TreeHugger: Barack Obama: "Climate Change is Not a Hoax"
• 2012/09/07: TP:JR: CEO Of Nation's Largest Power Company [Duke Energy] Backs Obama On Energy
• 2012/09/07: DD: Barack Obama swipes at Mitt Romney over climate change jibe
• 2012/09/06: Grist: Ed Markey, coauthor of big cap-and-trade bill, now lauds Obama's 'drill baby drill' approach
• 2012/09/06: Grist: Big Dog touches on big issue: Bill Clinton nods to climate change in convention speech
• 2012/09/04: WaPo:B: How Democrats have shifted on climate, energy since 2008
• 2012/09/05: Grist: Climate and energy get no love on day one of Democratic convention
• 2012/09/04: ScienceInsider: Democratic Party Platform Mostly Looks Back on Science
• 2012/09/04: TreeHugger: Democrats' New Platform Is Great On Climate Change But No One Will Ever Know
• 2012/09/07: GreenGrok: Not a Hoax: Climate Change Shows up in a Presidential Acceptance Speech
• 2012/09/03: TheHill:e2W: Dems back global climate deal in platform
• 2012/09/04: Grist: The futility of climatespotting: No matter what he says, Obama can't make big moves on climate
• 2012/09/04: WSWS: The Democratic convention opens
  

  Science Debate 2012 posed a series of questions to Obama & Romney which were answered this week:

• 2012/09/: ScienceDebate: Candidates' Answers, a Side by Side Comparison
• 2012/09/07: Stoat: Obama and Romney on GW
• 2012/09/06: P3: A line by line response to Mitt Romney's climate response to Science Debate 2012
• 2012/09/05: NatureNB: US presidential candidates weigh in on science
• 2012/09/05: CJR: Conventions create climate coverage -- While ScienceDebate.org gets some answers
• 2012/09/04: SciAm: Obama and Romney Tackle 14 Top Science Questions
• 2012/09/04: TreeHugger: Mitt Romney Believes in Climate Change Again
• 2012/09/04: UCSUSA:B: Obama, Romney Answer Questions on Science Policy Through Science Debate
  

  Gas Prices are going up again. Will they become an issue?

• 2012/09/06: TP:JR: As Gas Prices Rise, Republicans Once Again Propose Big Oil 'Solutions' That Don't Solve The Problem
• 2012/09/06: AutoBG: You think gas prices are bad here, Italians are paying $9.50/gal
• 2012/09/06: DeSmogBlog: Return Of The Republican Gas Price Lies
• 2012/09/03: CER:RRapier: 4 Reasons Why Gas Prices Are About to Fall Rapidly
  

  The Keystone XL saga bunps along:

• 2012/09/05: CBC: Environmental report on new Keystone XL route submitted
• 2012/09/04: TP:JR: Don't Believe The Hype: Media Fail To Catch Campaign Lies On Keystone XL Jobs Numbers
  

  Food stamps will likely get thrown around after this report...but what will change?

• 2012/09/05: USDA:ERS: Household Food Security in the United States in 2011
• 2012/09/07: WSWS: More than 50 million face hunger in the US
• 2012/09/05: DD: Report: 15 percent of Americans on food stamps
• 2012/09/06: PlanetArk: Nearly 17 million Americans repeatedly short of food: [USDA] report
• 2012/09/04: BBerg: Food-Stamp Use Climbs to Record [46.7 million], Reviving Campaign Issue
  

  The ethanol mandate lurks in the background:

• 2012/09/06: PlanetArk: Analysis: U.S. bankers say, love or hate it, ethanol here to stay
  Before the U.S. biofuels boom took off in 2007, the food vs. fuel debate raged: can we afford to use corn for ethanol in a starving world? Five years later, farm bankers ask: can we afford not to? "Ethanol demand is the linchpin of the current pricing model that we have," said Michael Swanson, agricultural economist at Wells Fargo, the largest commercial bank lender to U.S. farmers. "It's a completely different question whether it's right or wrong." Amid the worst drought to hit the Midwest in a half century, corn prices have nearly doubled. Howls of protests have come from livestock feeders. The government has forecast food inflation to rise.
• 
  

  And the birth control issue is not going away:

   

• 2012/09/04: Wonkette: North Dakota Senate Candidate Rick Berg Will Send You To Prison For Your Rapebortion
  

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2012/09/07: PlanetArk: NRC staff to review nuclear reactor waste storage rules
  

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2012/09/03: CCP: Cuts to NOAA's greenhouse gas monitoring threaten research
  

  While in the UK:

• 2012/09/05: OilChange: Final Nail in the "Greenest Government Ever"
• 2012/09/09: Guardian(UK): John Gummer warns: don't dump green agenda
  Incoming climate chief says growth impossible without renewable energy after chancellor supports new 'dash for gas'
• 2012/09/08: Guardian(UK): An open letter to Owen Paterson, the new environment secretary [from Robin McKie, Observer's science editor]
• 2012/09/09: BBC: Heathrow expansion won't happen, says Vince Cable
• 2012/09/07: BBC: Chancellor unveils tax break for older North Sea oil and gas fields
  Chancellor George Osborne has announced a tax measure to support investment in older North Sea oil and gas fields.
• 2012/09/07: Stoat: Didn't Cameron just appoint a sceptic to DEFRA?
• 2012/09/07: CoveredInBees: New Green Party leader on GM and Rothamsted
• 2012/09/06: Guardian(UK): David Cameron and the environment: government by greenwash
• 2012/09/06: Guardian(UK): Heathrow third runway -- timelime of events
• 2012/09/06: Guardian(UK): Can the UK fly more without breaking climate change targets?
• 2012/09/05: SlashDot: The UK's New Minister For Magic
• 2012/09/05: Guardian(UK): The cabinet reshuffle is a declaration of war on the environment [Monbiot]
  Appointing Owen Paterson as environment secretary shows how phoney the government's green credentials have always been
• 2012/09/05: Guardian(UK): Can the government still be the 'greenest ever' after the reshuffle?
• 2012/09/05: BBC: The Energy Secretary Ed Davey has moved to defend renewables after the appointment of two anti-wind ministers in the reshuffle
• 2012/09/05: BBC: Heathrow row escalates in wake of cabinet reshuffle
  The controversy over Heathrow's future after Tuesday's cabinet reshuffle has increased after Boris Johnson urged expansion to be permanently ruled out.
• 2012/09/04: BBC: Boris Johnson's Heathrow warning after Justine Greening's move
  [...] Justine Greening, who is opposed to a third runway at Heathrow, has been replaced as transport secretary by Patrick McLoughlin.
• 
  

  And in Europe:

   

• 2012/09/08: SwissInfo: Greens push for sustainable economy
  A proposal to drastically reduce Switzerland's carbon footprint by 2050 is one step closer to being put to a nationwide vote, with more than 110,000 signatures submitted to the Federal Chancellery just two days before a deadline ran out. The Green Party formally submitted its "green economy" initiative in the capital, Bern, on Thursday. It seeks to reduce Switzerland's carbon footprint to a "single Earth" by 2050, compared with the three Earths' worth of resources that the world would currently use up every year if everyone on the planet lived like the Swiss.
• 2012/09/07: DerSpiegel: Flexible Fossils -- A New Role for Coal in German Energy Revolution
  One of the biggest challenges of Germany's ambitious energy revolution is the fact that renewables such as wind and solar are subject to large fluctuations in output. Coal has long been considered their dirty alternative, but a new generation of power plants may herald a glowing future for the fossil fuel.
• 2012/09/04: DerSpiegel: Germany's Offshore Fiasco -- North Sea Wind Offensive Plagued by Problems
  Germany wants to pepper its northern seas with offshore wind turbines as part of its ambitious energy revolution. But strict laws, technology problems and multiple delays are turning the massive enterprise into an expensive fiasco. Investors and the public are losing patience.
• 2012/09/02: RTCC: Bangkok 2012 -- EU signals it will not adopt 30% emissions target
  

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2012/09/07: PeakEnergy: Turnbull: Honesty Is The Best Policy (when it comes to debating climate)
• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): Cubbie sale prompts Oakeshott to call for national farmland strategy
  Independent MP Rob Oakeshott says Australia risks missing out on the next economic boom if the country's agricultural assets are sold off.
• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): Abbott moves to end internal rift over Cubbie sell-off
  Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has moved to end internal divisions regarding the sale of Australia's largest cotton farm, declaring the Coalition supports foreign investment in agriculture. The Government's decision to give conditional approval for the sale of Cubbie Station in southern Queensland to a consortium of international investors has sparked outrage from the Nationals.
• 2012/09/09: ABC(Au): Power companies lose costly perks
  The New South Wales Government says the days of lurks and perks for three electricity retailers are over, with the Energy Minister cancelling several corporate sponsorships.
• 2012/09/09: PeakEnergy: Australian Electricity market to be opened up to curb demand
• 2012/09/09: ABC(Au): New award honours Black Saturday fire fighters
  More than two dozen Victorian fire fighters have been awarded a new medal, recognising their efforts during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. The National Emergency Medal was approved by the Queen last year, and honours people who served their community during emergencies. Twenty-seven Country Fire Authority (CFA) members were presented with the award on Sunday morning.
• 2012/09/04: PlanetJ: Australian climate policy: 10 revealing graphics
• 2012/09/03: ABC(Au): [Victoria] Government cuts solar power tariff
• 2012/09/03: ABC(Au): Cubbie sale not in the national interest: Joyce
  Nationals' Senator Barnaby Joyce says it is not too late to stop the sale of Australia's largest cotton farm, but the Queensland Government says the foreign investment is 'welcome'. Treasurer Wayne Swan has approved the sale of Cubbie Station in southern Queensland to Shandong RuYi, with strict conditions. Cubbie went into administration in 2009 with debts of around $300 million. Senator Joyce says the sale is not in the national interest and should be stopped.
• 
  

  The carbon bill is law. The Aus-EU ETS is codified. Now come the practicalities...and the finagling:

   

• 2012/09/06: TP:JR: Australia Plans To Join Europe's Carbon Trading Market: How Will It Work?
• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): Coal-fired stations '$1b better off under carbon tax'
  Australia's dirtiest coal-fired power stations are up to $1 billion better off because of the Federal Government's carbon tax package, according to new analysis by a private economic forecaster. The figures may shed light on why talks aimed at closing down five of the country's highest polluting stations ultimately collapsed because of a disagreement over compensation. According to Frontier Economics, brown coal power stations are between $400 million and $1 billion better off than they would have been if the government did not go ahead with the carbon tax package.
• 2012/09/07: ABC(Au): Study reveals forests' hidden value
  The Tasmanian Government is preparing to sell carbon credits generated from public forests protected from logging under a peace deal. Up to 572,000 hectares of forest could be reserved from logging under the peace deal. A new government report estimates the 4.4 billion tonnes of carbon stored in Tasmania's forests is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
• 2012/09/05: PlanetArk: Australian polluters to save A$2.5 billion in CO2 costs: analyst
• 2012/09/03: QuarkSoup: 'No carbon tax effect' on inflation figures
  

  The Federal Government decided shutting down the dirtiest coal-fired power stations was not feasible:

• 2012/09/06: ABC(Au): Brown coal's future looks secure
• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): Dirty power stations to continue operating
  Plans to close some of the country's dirtiest coal-fired power stations have been dropped, with the government claiming that the power generators are asking for too much compensation to close the stations.
• 2012/09/05: PlanetJ: No closure for coal power -- Australia's climate policy just got even worse
• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): Govt scraps plans to shut down dirty power stations
  Talks aimed at closing down some of the country's dirtiest power stations have collapsed, undermining a key element of the Federal Government's carbon tax package. The Government had been negotiating contracts to close five high-polluting power generators - three of them in Victoria - as part of its plan to cut the nation's carbon emissions. But Resources Minister Martin Ferguson says the talks have failed to agree on the appropriate level of compensation, and the negotiations have been cancelled.
• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): Govt scraps key plank of clean energy plan
  After abandoning the floor price on its carbon tax last week, the Federal Government has now walked away from another key part of its clean energy plan. It will no longer pay to shut down some of Australia's dirtiest coal fired power plants. The Government says the companies were asking too much in compensation.
• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): Coal stations to stay open longer
• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): Anger over coal power 'broken promise'
  Environmental groups have criticised the Federal Government's decision not to proceed with a key part of its clean energy plan. The Government announced on Wednesday it will no longer pay to shut down some of Australia's dirtiest coal-fired power plants.
• 
  

  The Murray-Darling Basin Plan controversy continues:

   

• 2012/09/06: ABC(Au): Desalinated water destined for drinking supply
  Drinking water from the Wonthaggi desalination plant is expected to reach Melbourne's supply in the next week.
• 2012/09/04: ABC(Au): Riverina inquiry submissions call for more dams
  Local submissions to an inquiry into the adequacy of New South Wales dams have unanimously called for more storages in the region. The state's Legislative Council started its investigation into water storages in May, with public submissions closing at the end of last week. The Riverina and Murray Regional Organisation of Councils says at both a state and federal level there is no endeavour or willingness to investigate water solution options.
• 2012/09/03: ABC(Au): Cubbie Sale concerns
• 2012/09/03: ABC(Au): Flood surveys to be sent again, after disappearing
  

  While in the Indian subcontinent:

• 2012/09/03: CCurrents: Why We Love The Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant?
• 2012/09/04: al Jazeera: Indian police conduct raids on coal companies
  Search targets premises of five firms that won mining bids in scandal that reportedly caused $33bn loss to exchequer.
• 2012/09/04: CCP: From India to the US: 'Coal-Gate' is Everywhere
• 2012/09/04: BBC: 'Coalgate controversy': India police raid coal firms
  Police in India are carrying out raids across 10 cities as as part of an investigation into alleged corruption in the allocation of coalfields. Police say they are searching the premises of five companies, which allegedly misrepresented facts prior to being allocated the coalfields. Government officials and company employees are also under investigation. Government auditors recently said India lost $33bn (£20bn) selling coalfields cheaply between 2006 and 2009.
• 
  

  And in South America:

   

• 2012/09/08: al Jazeera: Amazon dreaming: Ecuador's courageous president
  Unfolding story of indigenous Achuar in Ecuador is a microcosm for our entire planet, says former "economic hitman".
• 
  

  In Canada, neocon PM Harper pushes petroleum while ignoring climate change:

   

• 2012/09/06: G&M: Canada not an 'energy superpower': report
  Canada's claim to energy superpower status rings hollow because the country is a laggard when it comes to developing and exporting its own technology, according to a new report. The country is falling dangerously behind in the multibillion-dollar global energy technology race, hobbled by "piecemeal and fragmented" government policies and programs, says the report by the Mowat Centre at the University of Toronto, slated to be released Thursday.
• 2012/09/05: PlanetArk: Canada says it needs foreign capital to develop its oil
• 2012/09/05: Tyee: Greenpeace's 'Open' Relationship with Oil-Rich Norway
  Rather than demonize enviros, the state invites their input. Sixth in a series.
• 2012/09/05: Guardian(UK): Canada 'playing with numbers' on carbon target claim
  

  The Harper gang released watered down coal plant emission regulations this week:

• 2012/09/07: PI:B: Addressing "misperceptions" about Canada's coal power regulations
• 2012/09/05: PI: Pembina reacts to federal climate change regulations for coal-fired power
• 2012/09/06: PlanetArk: Critics say Canada softens coal-fired power rules
• 2012/09/05: G&M: Ottawa to unveil weakened emissions rules for coal-fired power
• 2012/09/05: CBC: Kent releasing coal-fired electricity emissions regulations
  Sources tell CP that performance standard for coal plants will be less strict than last year's draft
• 
  

  Other government actions:

   

• 2012/09/07: CBC: Kent announces new Great Lakes water quality agreement
  Canada and the United States are beefing up an international agreement on water quality in the Great Lakes. Environment Minister Peter Kent and Lisa Jackson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, signed the updated deal in a brief ceremony in Washington on Friday. The amendments address problems with invasive aquatic species, habitat degradation and the effects of climate change.
• 2012/09/04: CBC: Natural resources drive 20 per cent of economy, Oliver says
  [..] In 2011, the figures show, energy, forestry, metals and minerals directly accounted for 15 per cent of the country's income.
• 2012/09/02: PostMedia: Tory memo warns of NDP's 'risky' carbon tax
  Most Canadians might be soaking up the last days of summer this Labour Day weekend, but the Conservative party has its sights firmly set on the fall session of Parliament. The Conservative party issued a memo to its national caucus Sunday that attacked a 'risky' and dangerous' carbon tax that the Tories say is the hidden centrepiece of NDP leader Thomas Mulcair's economic plan.
• 
  

  More ramifications of Bill C-38:

   

• 2012/09/05: PostMedia: Environmental assessments prevent problems
  Environment Minister Peter Kent may deny his government has abandoned environmental protection, as he did in an opinion piece published in The Vancouver Sun Aug. 28, but the facts prove otherwise.
• 
  

  The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

   

• 2012/09/09: BCLSB: Trans Mountain Vs. Northern Gateway
• 2012/09/08: CBC: China worries probed at Northern Gateway hearing -- Environmental groups seek answers on hypothetical control issue
  Lawyers for environmental groups have pressed Northern Gateway pipeline representatives about the hypothetical possibility of Chinese interests buying control of the project. Barry Robinson, one of the lawyers who represents three different environmental organizations, raised the issue Saturday during federal review hearings into the proposed $6-billion line, which would would ship Alberta's crude to the British Columbia coast where it could be loaded aboard tankers.
• 2012/09/07: TLS: Enbridge's approved chart of the BC Coast
• 2012/09/07: Tyee: More Enbridge Files: Congress Grills CEO Pat Daniel -- Michigan Representative hones in on releases firm sought from spill victims
• 2012/09/07: AD: On preordained outcomes
  Joe Oliver is trying to pretend that the National Energy Board actually gets to determine whether the Northern Gateway pipeline gets approved
• 2012/09/05: TheCanadian: The fraudulent public hearings
• 2012/09/04: PostMedia: Enbridge pipeline hearing focuses on economic benefits
• 2012/09/08: G&M: Environmental groups voice concern over Chinese investment in Northern Gateway pipeline
• 2012/09/04: CBC: Northern Gateway hearings resume with economic focus
  The economics of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline will be the focus of the next phase of hearings when they resume in Edmonton today.
• 2012/09/03: CBC: Enbridge says Northern Gateway 'no different' from other projects
  Compares pipeline to Canadian Pacific Railway and the St. Lawrence Seaway
• 2012/09/02: EarthGauge: Pro-development B.C. community says no to Northern Gateway
  

  And the Kinder Morgan expansion:

• 2012/09/05: DbP: First Nations protest Kinder-Morgan pipeline: Naomi Klein at Salish Festival
• 2012/09/05: Rabble: Naomi Klein speaks out against Kinder Morgan and Enbridge pipeline plans
• 2012/09/02: NewsWire(Ca): Squamish & Tsleil-Waututh Nations Sign Historic Declaration to Protect the Salish Sea
  Today, the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations celebrated their sacred connection to the waters of the Salish Sea with an historic canoe journey starting at Swáywi (Ambleside Park) and ending at Whey-Ah-Wichen (Cates Park) where each Nation signed a Declaration to protect the Salish Sea. The historic Declaration marks the Nations' decision to work collaboratively to stop the proposed expansion of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline and increased oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea.
• 
  

  Remember the Dutch Disease controversy from a few months ago?

   

• 2012/09/06: CBC: 'Dutch disease' threat 'not credible,' Gateway panel hears
  Economist testifying for Enbridge refutes OECD, IMF studies and concerns voiced by Mulcair There's no proof the game-changing economic boom that would accompany the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline would hammer central Canada's manufacturing sector, an economist told a federal panel Wednesday. "It is not credible that one could argue this would cause Dutch disease," Robert Mansell told the three-member joint advisory panel reviewing the controversial project.
• 2012/09/07: CBC: Carney says Canada won't suffer from 'Dutch disease'
  Bank governor says Canada too diverse to be plagued by downturn that hit Netherlands in '70s Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says suggestions that the Canadian economy and its heavy reliance on its supply of natural resources will suffer from so-called Dutch disease are wrong. Dutch disease is named after a downturn in the Netherlands economy in the 1970s, when peaking natural gas prices were blamed for driving up inflation and driving down exports of manufactured goods.
• 
  

  The proposed CNOOC bid for Nexen waits for Harper's approval:

   

• 2012/09/03: VanObs: Canada is the new Africa in China's quest for oil
  As the decision on China's $15-billion Nexen bid looms, here are some lessons that Africa's experience can teach Canadians about business with Beijing
• 2012/09/03: HillTimes: CNOOC-Nexen deal, trade issues top Tory priorities at caucus meeting
  

  There is a Liberal leadership contest to be decided next April:

• 2012/09/07: PostMedia: Liberal leadership hopefuls from B.C. may force hand
  Potential candidates' opposition to Northern Gateway project is at odds with official party position Two British Columbians are considering bids for the federal Liberal leadership and their candidacies - along with assumed front-runner Justin Trudeau's likely entry into the race - could drive the Liberals off the fence on the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline debate. The contest got its unofficial start Thursday when the party announced the next leader will be named in Ottawa on April 14 after a contest in which candidates can spend up to $950,000 and can't incur a debt higher than $75,000.
• 2012/09/07: BCLSB: The New Liberal Leader Must Oppose Northern Gateway
  

  In BC, the stage is set. Now what will Clark and Dix do?

• 2012/09/06: Tyee: Premier Shuffles a Thinning Deck -- Some new ministers held same portfolios at earlier times, but half are first termers
• 2012/09/05: CBC: B.C. Premier Christy Clark unveils new cabinet
• 2012/09/06: CBC: Fracking causes minor earthquakes, B.C. regulator says
  A spate of small earthquakes in B.C.'s remote northeastern corner were caused by a controversial technique used to extract natural gas from shale rock, says a report by the province's energy regulator. The B.C. Oil and Gas Commission launched its probe after a "number of anomalous, low-level seismic events" were detected in the Horn River Basin, a gas-rich shale formation that's attracted some of the industry's biggest players.
• 2012/09/06: G&M: Earthquake threats won't stall fracking in B.C., industry officials say
• 2012/09/02: TStar: Christy Clark expects more B.C. Liberal resignations
  

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2012/09/05: CBC: Shell OKs oilsands' 1st carbon-capture project
• 2012/09/06: PlanetArk: Shell to proceed with [Quest] tar sands carbon capture project
  

  While in la Belle Province:

• 2012/09/06: WSWS: Parti Quebecois to form minority government, after narrow election win
• 2012/09/04: CBC: PQ to form minority government in Quebec -- PQ bumps Charest's Liberals to opposition status
  

  In the North:

• 2012/09/07: CBC: The search for Franklin an enduring Canadian ghost story -- Finding Sir John Franklin's fatal passage in the Canadian imagination
• 2012/09/04: BCLSB: The Economic Rationale For A REALLY Northern Northern Gateway -- NWT Premier Bob McLeod talks of sending Alberta oil to Tuktoyaktuk
• 2012/09/02: PetroNews: NWT eyes new energy role
  [Northwest Territories] Premier [Bob McLeod] believes territory on track for April agreement with Canadian government
• 
  

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

   

• 2012/09/05: EnergyBulletin: Nature: A system of systems
• 2012/09/06: P3: Credit and Growth
• 2012/09/03: CCurrents: An Integrated Strategy To Fight for Human Survival
• 2012/09/05: GaianEcon: Reclaiming the Green Economy
• 2012/09/06: CCurrents: Enough Already: Overcoming Crisis Mentality And "Us versus Them" Thinking
  

  IPAT [Impact = Population * Affluence * Technology] raised its head once again:

• 2012/09/04: CNN: In Philippines, a 14-year fight for birth control
  Reproductive Health bill would make birth control free for poor in Philippines - Catholic Church has opposed bill, which has been proposed for last 14 years - Many lack proper health education and birth control access
• 
  

  Apocalypso anyone?

   

• 2012/09/04: CCurrents: Are We Doomed? Too Late To Save Earth?
• 2012/09/03: EnergyBulletin: Converging global crises and why we deny them - Part 2
  

  How do the media measure up?

• 2012/09/05: KSJT: The future of Discover mag's blogs
• 2012/09/05: Nation: The Washington Post's Feckless 'Fact-Check'
• 2012/09/06: Stoat: Whitewashing wiki/A>
• 2012/09/06: FAIR: AP's Mostly Factless Factcheck
• 2012/09/04: TP:JR: Don't Believe The Hype: Media Fail To Catch Campaign Lies On Keystone XL Jobs Numbers
• 2012/09/04: TreeHugger: Green Party Television Ads Censored by Google
  

  While activists search for effective communication techniques:

• 2012/09/05: P3: Fast, Expensive and Excellent
• 2012/09/04: P3: Pull not Push
  

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

• 2012/09/06: CCP: Peter Wadhams on BBC2's Newsnight: Arctic ice melt 'like adding 20 years of CO2 emissions'...
• 2012/09/06: ERabett:BSD: Useful with a boulder of salt
• 2012/09/06: TreeHugger: Climate Science Basics: Why Will Dry Areas Get Drier & Wet Areas Get Wetter (Video)
• 2012/09/05: CassandrasLegacy: Pippa says it all
• 2012/09/04: CCurrents: Video: Unacceptable Risks In Pipeline Expansion To Vancouver
• 2012/09/08: DD: Video: Weathergirl goes rogue
• 2012/09/08: TP:JR: Video Reveals Truth About Smart Grid
• 2012/09/07: TreeHugger: Watch the Summers Getting Statistically Hotter
• 2012/09/05: Rabble: Naomi Klein speaks out against Kinder Morgan and Enbridge pipeline plans
• 2012/09/08: CCP: "Silent Ocean" by Jeremy Jackson, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• 2012/09/04: PSinclair: Pippa the WeatherGirl Goes Rogue
• 2012/09/04: TP:JR: Must-See Video: What If A TV Weather Forecaster Told The Truth
• 2012/09/04: 350orBust: On Fossil Fools And Fracking Lies
• 2012/09/03: PeakEnergy: The Downfall Of WhatsUpWithThat
• 2012/09/02: WtD: Downfall: Anthony Watts versus sea ice
  

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2012/09/08: ERabett:BSD: Denialists denied by judge in New Zealand lawsuit
• 2012/09/03: OilChange: Big Coal Plays Dirty
  One of America's top reporters who exposes the antics of the coal industry is being sued for libel by one of the largest independent coal barons. Ken Ward JR, who has been labelled as "one of the nation's top coal reporters" by Columbia Journalism Review, is being sued by Murray Energy and its owner Bob Murray, for an article he wrote in July in the Charleston Gazette. It was entitled: "Mitt Romney, Murray Energy and coal criminals." Ward writes the popular "Coal tattoo" blog, described by Greenwire as "a must-read" for "people who follow the coal industry and mining" and that "the longtime reporter is known for pulling no punches in his analysis of issues related to climate change, mine safety and pollution."
• 
  

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

   

• 2012/09/05: EnergyBulletin: Rocking the AC by Tom Murphy
• 2012/09/07: al Jazeera: The trouble of discounting tomorrow
  Achieving a sustainable future is one of the biggest challenges the world faces today.
• 2012/09/07: EurActiv: US bets on cogeneration as Europe lags behind
  President Barack Obama's recent decision to set binding targets for the proliferation of cogeneration plants by 2020 is casting a doubt on the level of ambition of the EU's green agenda.
• 2012/09/07: ERW: Power cell generates and stores energy in one step
  Researchers in the US have created a power cell that directly converts mechanical energy to chemical energy, which can then be stored and converted to electrical energy upon demand.
• 
  

  As for energy comparisons and transitions:

   

• 2012/09/05: UCSUSA:B: Buyer Beware: Midwest Utilities Experience Coal Plant Sticker Shock; Will New Nuclear Do the Same for the South?
• 2012/08/21: Wired: Abundant Natural Gas and Oil Are Putting the Kibosh on Clean Energy
  

  Hey! Let's contaminate the aquifer for thousands of years! It'll be a fracking gas!

• 2012/09/08: BBC: South Africa ends fracking freeze
  South Africa has lifted a ban on the extraction of shale gas using the controversial fracking technique. There are said to be huge deposits of shale gas in the semi-desert Karoo area, known for its natural beauty.
• 2012/09/07: BBerg: EOG Says U.S. Fracking Rule to Cost $1.5 Billion a Year
  The Obama administration's plan to tighten regulation of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas on public land may cost more than 20 times U.S. estimates, energy companies and local governments said. EOG Resources Inc. (EOG), the top oil producer in a Texas shale formation, and officials from Wyoming and Utah cite a study by John Dunham and Associates that said it will cost $253,839 per well to meet the proposal for disclosing chemicals being used and certifying the well is isolated to avoid leaks. The Bureau of Land Management estimated costs at $11,833 per well.
• 2012/09/07: TP:JR: Hot Air About 'Cheap' Natural Gas
• 2012/09/07: NakedCapitalism: Ohio Department of Natural Resources: We'll Let the Public Know What's Happening After You Can No Longer Object
• 2012/09/07: EurActiv: EU study sparks regulation debate over 'high-risk' shale gas
  Tough new regulations could be slapped on the shale gas industry if the EU acts upon legislative and environmental failings identified in its most comprehensive analysis yet of the sector, due to be released today [7 September].
• 2012/09/07: TreeHugger: Fracking Poses "High-Risk" to Human Health & Environment, EU Study Finds
• 2012/09/05: P3: Methane Occurs Naturally in Well Water
• 2012/09/06: CBC: Fracking causes minor earthquakes, B.C. regulator says
• 2012/09/06: G&M: Earthquake threats won't stall fracking in B.C., industry officials say
• 2012/09/04: EnergyBulletin: USGS releases damning EUR's for shale
• 2012/09/09: OilDrum: Tech Talk -Chinese gas shale development
• 2012/09/03: PlanetArk: Oil spill stretches for miles by Exxon Nigeria field
  An oil spill near an ExxonMobil oilfield off the southeast coast of Nigeria has spread along the shore for about 15 miles, and locals said it was killing fish they depend on to live.
• 
  

  On the coal front:

   

• 2012/09/06: ABC(Au): Brown coal's future looks secure
• 2012/09/04: TP:JR: Coal-Gate: From India To America, Taxpayers Are Getting Scammed By Fake 'Auctions'
• 2012/09/02: TP:JR: Coal's Road To Nowhere: The Coalfields Expressway
• 2012/09/02: CSM: Coal-dependent businesses fight to hold on, as industry shrinks
  

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2012/09/07: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Nymex Crude Future...96.42
  Dated Brent Spot....114.15
  WTI Cushing Spot.....96.42
• 2012/09/09: PeakEnergy: Saudi Arabia May Become Oil Importer by 2030, Citigroup Says
• 2012/09/08: RI: Has OPEC misled us about the size of its oil reserves? Does it matter?
• 2012/09/05: Telegraph(UK):AE-P: Saudi oil well dries up
  If Citigroup is right, Saudi Arabia will cease to be an oil exporter by 2030, far sooner than previously thought. A 150-page report by Heidy Rehman on the Saudi petrochemical industry should be sober reading for those who think that shale oil and gas have solved our global energy crunch.
• 2012/09/05: EPF: Shale Oil Reserves Questioned Too
• 2012/09/06: EnergyBulletin: Shale oil reserves questioned too
• 2012/09/06: DeSmogBlog: First U.S. Tar Sands Mine: Six Years Digging Up Sixty-Two Acres...For Just 6 Hours Worth of Oil
• 2012/09/05: NBF: Oil Production for States and Countries and the World
• 2012/09/04: BBerg: Saudi Arabia May Become Oil Importer by 2030, Citigroup Says
• 2012/09/05: CCurrents: Saudi Arabia May Become Oil Importer by 2030
• 2012/09/02: RI: Why the oil industry doesn't want you to remember the last 14 years
• 2012/09/07: CPW: Opposition mounts as first tar sands mine in US gets a green light
• 2012/09/03: EnergyBulletin: Why the oil industry doesn't want you to remember the last 14 years
• 2012/09/02: CSM: Iraq oil exports hit 30-year high
  Iraq's Oil Ministry says crude oil exports have averaged 2.565 million barrels a day in August, the highest level in more than three decades.
• 
  

  Regarding oil and the economy:

   

• 2012/09/03: OFW: How Energy Shapes the Economy
• 2012/09/04: OilDrum: The Long Term Tie Between Energy Supply, Population, and the Economy
  

  And in pipeline news:

• 2012/09/07: GEP: CO2-EOR Pushes Pipelines Across US Rocky Mountain West
  

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2012/09/04: TStar: Goar: Ethanol and how governments bought a cleverly-packaged scam
  

  The answer my friend...:

• 2012/09/07: ABC(Au): Gales send turbines into overdrive
  While gale-force winds kept emergency services busy across South Australia this week, they also fired up turbines on the state's wind farms. Figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator show while the winds were howling, more than half the state's power came from wind farms. Roughly a quarter of South Australia's power came from wind farms last year.
• 2012/09/08: PSinclair: Fully Charged: Wind Farming
• 2012/09/04: TreeHugger: Offshore Wind Development Picking Up Pace
• 2012/09/04: PlanetArk: Toshiba, Hitachi, others to invest $1.53 billion on wind power: Nikkei
  

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

• 2012/09/05: TreeHugger: Solar Concentrator Design Enables Reduction of PV Surface Area by Factor of 1000
• 2012/09/06: TreeHugger: Germany Added 543 Megawatts of Solar Power Capacity in July
• 2012/09/06: Grist: Utilities beat back community solar bill in California
• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): 'Popeye' solar cells on the way [biohybrid cells]
• 2012/09/05: ABC(Au): Spanish firm to build ACT solar farm
  The ACT Government has announced Australia's largest solar farm supported by a feed-in tariff will be built in the Territory's south. Spanish-based company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) will build the facility on 50 hectares near Royalla just off the Monaro Highway in Tuggeranong. The 20 megawatt facility will be made up of 83,000 photovoltaic panels and produce enough renewable electricity to power 4,400 Canberra homes.
• 2012/09/04: TreeHugger: India Wants to Double Solar Capacity with 1GW Auction, Aims for 20GW by 2022
• 2012/09/04: NBF: Solar Powered LED lighting Revolution for the developing world
• 2012/09/03: TreeHugger: IBM Develops High Efficiency Solar Cell Using Abundant Materials
• 2012/09/02: NBF: Closing in on affordable 50 percent conversion efficiency in side by side concentrated solar
  

  Feed-In-Tariffs are being variously implemented around the world:

• 2012/09/03: ABC(Au): [Victoria] Government cuts solar power tariff
  The State Government is again cutting the subsidies paid to households that sell solar power from their rooftop panels. From next month, the amount paid to new solar customers for power sold to the grid will be reduced from 25 cents to eight cents per kilowatt-hour.
• 
  

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

   

• 2012/09/05: BBC: Steam blast hurts two at France's Fessenheim nuclear plant
• 2012/09/05: EneNews: Reuters: Local fire brigade reported fire broke out at French nuke plant, officials deny - "Involuntary chemical reaction" - AFP: 50 firefighters deployed
• 2012/09/05: NBF: India starting 1000MW Kudankulam reactor now, 500 MW fast breeder 2013 and 300 MW Thorium reactor in 2017
• 2012/09/07: DerSpiegel: From Plutonium to Power -- Russia To Produce Electricity with Former Nukes
  Russia is planning to destroy plutonium used in thousands of soon to be decommissioned nuclear warheads by using it as fuel in a special new atomic power plant. The reactor is set to begin operating in one year, but time pressures and a vulnerable cooling system make the project a risky one.
• 
  

  Nuclear fusion projects around the world limp along:

   

• 2012/09/06: NBF: General Fusion has minisphere and a full scale plasma injector prototype
  

  Low energy nuclear keeps coming up:

• 2012/09/06: NBF: China Grants Patent to Brillouin Energy
• 2012/09/06: NBF: Brillouin Energy has conditional Funding for $20 million
  

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2012/09/05: PNNL: LEDs winning light race to save energy, the environment
• 2012/09/03: TP:JR: A New Twist In The Energy Efficiency Story
  

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

• 2012/09/07: AutoBG: PlugShare finds most EV drivers go 1,050 miles on $30/month
• 2012/09/07: UCSUSA:B: Plug-In Electric Vehicle Sales Nearly Triple Over Last Year
• 2012/09/05: TP:JR: Driven By Fuel-Efficient Vehicles, U.S. Auto Sales Are 'Incredibly Resilient' In Spite Of High Gas Prices
• 2012/09/05: CSM: Electric cars are becoming everyday vehicles
• 2012/09/03: NBF: History and Future of Electric Bikes in China
  

  Joe Romm posts a daily list of top energy and climate stories:

• 2012/09/07: TP:JR: Sept. 7 News...
• 2012/09/06: TP:JR: Sept. 6 News...
• 2012/09/05: TP:JR: Sept. 5 News...
• 2012/09/04: TP:JR: Sept. 4 News...
  

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2012/09/07: EnergyBulletin: ODAC Newsletter
• 2012/09/06: TreeHugger: Energy News...
• 2012/09/06: BPA: Agriculture News
• 2012/09/07: BPA: Hot 5: German Corn Biogas. Wal-Mart Sustainability. Arctic Sea Ice Melt. Washington State Agriculture. Prince Charles on Agriculture
  

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2012/09/08: UKnowISpeakSense: Denier comment of the day
• 2012/09/08: WtD: Science on trial: in which I advise sceptics to be careful what they wish for (WtD 2010 reprint)
• 2012/09/08: DD: New Zealand court rejects global warming challenge from denialists
• 2012/09/07: ABC(Au): Kiwi court rejects climate challenge
  New Zealand's High Court has thrown out a challenge by climate change sceptics who questioned findings over rising temperatures. The court backed research conducted by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research which found New Zealand's climate warmed almost one degree Celsius between 1909 and 2009.
• 2012/09/07: UKnowISpeakSense: Carter and his mates fail spectacularly in New Zealand
• 2012/09/06: C&S: Good God! This is realy scary stuff
• 2012/09/05: DeSmogBlog: Research Links Climate Science Denial To Conspiracy Theories, But Skeptics Smell A Conspiracy
• 2012/09/05: CAbyss: American Thinker Jumps Shark, Publishes Steve Milloy
• 2012/09/06: P3: Quote of the day
• 2012/09/05: Stoat: The phase relation between atmospheric carbon dioxide and global temperature?
• 2012/08/30: KernelMag: Revealed: the grubby world of comment spam
• 2012/09/04: DeSmogBlog: The Koch Brothers Lie About Canadian Healthcare
• 2012/09/04: UKnowISpeakSense: A comment at WUWT, that won't be seen,from NeilT
• 2012/09/04: Moyhu: Empirical Model - WUWT Style
• 2012/09/03: CCP: Stefan Rahmstorf: If 2013 breaks heat record, how will deniers respond?
• 2012/09/03: PeakEnergy: Climate Skeptics To Sink Through The Disappearing Sea Ice?
  

  This week in intimidation:

• 2012/09/06: WtD: Hate mail and cyber trolls: great article on science versus vested interests (reprint)
• 2012/09/04: FreeThoughtBlogs: Goodbye for now
  

  The Lewandowsky et al. paper is drawing denier fire:

• 2012/09/07: WtD: Versiongate, inboxgate and now NIWAgate!: or when denial echo chambers implode
• 2012/09/07: SkS: A vivid demonstration of knee-jerk science rejection
• 2012/09/07: CCP: Versiongate: Lewandowsky forced to release his code! Re: An update on my birth certificates
• 2012/09/06: ERabett: Meta Lewandowsky
• 2012/09/06: CCP: More climate denier hysteria over study of climate denier hysteria [re: Stephan Lewandowsky's new paper]
• 2012/09/06: STW: Confirming the obvious
• 2012/09/06: HC: Lewandowsky's Conspiracy Paper : Im the Outlier
• 2012/09/06: WtD: Inbox-gate: OK, now it's getting just plain silly...
• 2012/09/06: GReadfearn: Climate Science Denial Linked To Conspiratorial Thinking, But Deniers Smell A Conspiracy In The Research
• 2012/09/04: P3: Lewandowsky Kerfuffle
• 2012/09/06: P3: Stephan is Enjoying Himself
• 2012/09/04: CCP: Lewandowsky pokes fun an memory-impaired deniers -- popcorn anyone?
• 2012/09/04: WtD: Climate deniers fail to check in boxes, hilarity and fake scandal ensures: in-box-gate anyone? [Lewandosksy et.al]
• 2012/09/03: STW: NASA and the blogosphere by Stephan Lewandowsky
• 2012/09/03: CCP: Denier bloggers hysterical over Lewandowsky's research - NASA and the blogosphere
  

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2012/09/06: TWTB: Should the eastern US be dreaming of a White Christmas?
• 2012/09/06: ERabett: Eli Has Much to Answer For
• 2012/09/06: TheStranger: It's Time to Freak Out About Climate Change
• 2012/09/07: Eureka: Researchers emphasize evaluation of tradeoffs in battling urban heat island
  Urbanization will increase average temperatures in Arizona's Sun Corridor and white roofs can combat that, but not without consequences for the region's hydroclimate
• 2012/09/08: TheCanadian: The Last Climate Change Skeptic [BEST]
• 2012/09/03: ClimateSight: Since I Last Wrote...
• 2012/09/03: TP:JR: Labor Day 2040: Endless Summer
• 2012/09/03: JEB: Jolly Hockey Sticks
• 2012/09/03: WtD: QoD: "We have Palaeolithic emotions, medieval institutions and God-like technologies" [EOWilson]
• 2012/09/03: P3: Short-term needs vs the long-term
  

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

• Troy's Scratchpad
• CARMA: Carbon Monitoring for Action
• U.S. Drought Monitor [Note CoA]
• ECMWF: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
• Norwegian Polar Institute
• Climate Action Tracker
• Gulf Restoration Network
• EPF: Energy Policy Forum
• UKnowISpeakSense
• IFAD
• NOAA:ESRL: Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI)
• Shaping Tomorrow's World
• Coal Tattoo
• Wiki: Thermohaline circulation
• ECC: Economics of Climate Change
• CuttingTheCarbon
• UNFPA: United Nations Population Fund

Low Key Plug

My first novel Water was published in Canada May, 2007. The American release was in October. An Introductionto the novel is available, along with the Unpublished Forewordand the Launch Talk(which includes some quotations), An overview of my writing is available here.

<regards>

-het

P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.

I notice moyhu has set up a monster index to old AWoGWN on AFTIC.

"It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet. I felt very, very small." -Neil Armstrong

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