Another Week of GW News, October7, 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

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Another Week of Climate Instability News

Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years

October 7, 2012

• Chuckles, COP18+, 50 Months, Too Conservative?, CCS vs Renewables, Maldives
• Bottom Line, Hochberg, Cook
• Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
• Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Geopolitics, Antarctica
• Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food Prices, Land Grabs, GMOs, GMO Labelling, Food Production
• Hurricanes, Monsoon, GHGs, Carbon Cycle, Temperatures
• Feedbacks, Paleoclimate, Uncertainties, ENSO, New Weather
• Impacts, Forests, Wacky Weather, Extreme Weather
• Wildfires, Corals, Glaciers, Sea Levels, Floods & Droughts
• Mitigation: Transportation, GeoEngineering
• Journals, Other Docs, Misc. Science, Models, Free Science, Acronyms, Commoner
• International Politics: UN, Carbon Trade, Bank Tax, Hormuz, South China Sea
• EU ETS & Airlines, Rare Earths, Misc., Security, Law & Activism, Activism, Polls, H2O Biz
• National Politics: America, BP Disaster, 2012, Gas Prices, Keystone, Monnett
• Named Storms, Birth Control, Coal Exports, Broun, Obama, USAdmin, Congress
• Britain, Europe, Australia, Minority Govt., MDBP, India, China, Japan
• Canada, Nexen, FIPA, Liberal, Northern Gateway, IISD, Clark & Redford
• Salmon, BC, Tar Sands, Birds, Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes, Canadiana
• Ecological Economics, IPAT, Fixes, Media, Books, Video, Courts
• Energy, Transitions, Fracking, Coal, Oil & Gas, Oil & the Economy, Pipelines, Peak Oil, Biofuel
• Wind, Solar, Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Grid, Efficiency, Cars, Energy Storage
• Greenwashing, Joe's List, Carbon Lobby, Intimidation, Misc., Useful Links
• Shameless Self Promotion, .sig

Here's a wee chuckle for ya:

• 2012/10/07: uComics: (cartoon - Trudeau) I wonder what's going on in the world...
• 2012/10/03: JoeMohrToons: (cartoon - Mohr) Naughty Children, Then and Now
• 2012/10/02: Slate: (cartoon - Handelsman) Fire & Water
  

  Here's your touch of funny-strange for the week:

• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Blue and green honey has beekeepers seeing red
  Bees at a cluster of French apiaries have been producing honey in mysterious shades of blue and green, alarming their keepers who now believe residue from containers of M&M's confectionery processed at a nearby biogas plant is the cause. Since August, beekeepers around the town of Ribeauville in the north-eastern region of Alsace have seen bees returning to their hives carrying unidentified colourful substances that have turned their honey unnatural shades.
• 
  

  Looking ahead to COP18 and future international climate negotiations:

   

• 2012/10/01: Reuters: Rich nations owe more to combating global climate change - Brazil
  Major emerging economies' obligations to cut emissions under a climate change agreement should not be the same as those of rich countries, Brazil's chief negotiator said, signalling a retreat to an old position that has hamstrung years of U.N. negotiations.
• 
  

  Another rah-rah campaign from the Guardian:

   

• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): 50 months: 'Discard the ideological trappings of neo-liberalism'
• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): 50 months: 'Our lifestyles in rich countries come at a cost for others'
• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): 50 months: 'We need to set our own personal carbon targets'
• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): 50 months: 'Sometimes less really is more'
• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): 50 months: 'Our best way forward is for communities to build local resilience'
• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): 50 months: 'We need a capital markets framework for low-carbon transition'
• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): [Letters] Just 50 months to tackle climate change
• 2012/09/30: Guardian(UK): 50 months: 'The catalyst for faster change will be pension savers'
  We asked 50 Guardian readers and public figures how they would lead the world out of the climate predicament. Catherine Howarth says our savings could be powerful in the fight against global warming
• 2012/09/30: Guardian(UK): 50 months: 'Individual ownership is the number one source of inefficiency'
• 2012/09/30: Guardian(UK): 50 months: 'The world needs a global Tahrir Square'
• 2012/09/30: Guardian(UK): 50 months: 'We need to slow down and think carefully about what matters'
• 2012/09/30: Guardian(UK): 50 months to avoid climate disaster - and a change is in the air
  At the halfway point to a climate gamble, 50 contributor ideas give just a taste of the creativity and innovation available to us
• 
  

  Another intimation that scientists and models may be underestimating the rate of climate change:

   

• 2012/10/04: Guardian(UK): Climate change may force evacuation of vulnerable island states within a decade
  [...]
  Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, said the latest evidence shows that models have underestimated the speed at which the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets will start to shrink.
• 
  

  Losing track of the plot?

   

• 2012/09/30: GEP: Global CCS Institute Pleads for Less Renewables Support
  

  The Maldives tragedy unfolds:

• 2012/10/02: CNN: Lawmaker stabbed to death in Maldives
  [...]
  Police are investigating the stabbing early Tuesday of Afrashim Ali, a lawmaker for the Progressive Party of the Maldives, said Hassan Haneef, a police spokesman. He said the motive for the attack was so far unclear.
• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): Maldives postpones trial of former president Mohamed Nasheed
• 2012/10/01: al Jazeera: Maldives ex-president to face trial
  Mohamed Nasheed, deposed earlier this year in what he terms a "coup", to face abuse of power charges.
• 
  

  And on the Bottom Line:

   

• 2012/10/02: Straight: David Suzuki: The economic benefits of tackling climate change
  

  What are the big banks up to?

• 2012/10/01: TP:JR: Is Ex-Im Bank President Fred Hochberg Underwriting Destruction Of The Great Barrier Reef, Again?
  

  John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

• 2012/10/07: SkS: Skeptical Science Android App update by John Cook
• 2012/10/07: SkS: 2012 SkS Weekly News Round-Up #4 by John Hartz
• 2012/10/05: SkS: Arctic Sea Ice Loss Has a Larger Impact than Antarctic Sea Ice Gains by Tamino
• 2012/10/05: SkS: Nate Silver's Climate Chapter and What We Can Learn From It by dana1981
• 2012/10/04: SkS: Modelling the permafrost carbon feedback by Andy S
• 2012/10/02: SkS: New research from last week 39/2012 by Ari Jokimäki
• 2012/10/01: SkS: The Economic Damage of Climate Denial by dana1981
• 2012/10/01: SkS: 93% of Fox News climate change coverage misleading
  

  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?

• 
  

  Not much good news coming out of Fukushima:

   

• 2012/10/04: EneNews: Nuclear Engineer: "This is the worst possible scenario" - I think the melted fuel has already eaten through the concrete at Fukushima plant (video)
• 2012/10/06: Asahi: Group: Ministry may have manipulated Fukushima radiation readings
• 2012/10/06: EneNews: Hiroshima Univ. Historian: Don't believe Tepco's lies — Fukushima meltdowns caused by quake not tsunami — Smoke, radiation spike, loss of coolant, collapsed walls and pipes were all before wave hit (videos)
• 2012/10/05: Mainichi: Fukushima Prefecture prepared proceedings for nuke radiation meeting
  The Fukushima Prefectural Government drew up proceedings for a health research panel prior to a formal July 2011 meeting on nuclear radiation, deciding in advance what members should say, the Mainichi has learned.
• 2012/10/04: ZeroHedge: Top Nuclear Experts: Technology Doesn't Yet Exist to Clean Up Fukushima
• 2012/10/03: EneNews: Gundersen: Fill Fukushima reactors with cement and come back in 100 years — It's too radioactive (video)
• 2012/10/03: Mainichi: Secret meetings held on Fukushima nuclear crisis's impact on human health
• 2012/10/02: EneNews: Temperature jumps almost 10ºC in 24 hours at Fukushima Reactor No. 1 gauge (chart)
  

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

• 2012/10/04: EurActiv: Bulgaria may follow Lithuania with vote on nuclear plant
  Lithuania will hold a referendum on whether to build the Visaginas nuclear energy plant when voters go to the polls on 14 October to elect members of Parliament. Meanwhile, Bulgarians will probably vote on the future of its Belene nuclear station before the end of the year.
• 2012/10/05: BNC: Is Japan's nuclear-free pathway an environmentally friendly choice?
• 2012/10/03: al Jazeera: Report says EU nuclear reactors need repair
  A leaked report on Europe's nuclear reactors found that up to $32bn needs to be invested to prevent disaster.
• 2012/10/01: NBF: Construction of Japanese Ohma Nuclear reactor to resume
• 2012/10/01: BBerg: Sumitomo Sees 'Solar Bubble' as Japan Rejects Nuclear: Energy
  

  The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

• 2012/10/06: ASI: NSIDC Arctic sea ice news September 2012
• 2012/10/06: ASI: Naive Predictions of 2013 Sea Ice
• 2012/10/06: SimpleC: Warming weakens deep freeze on Arctic islands
• 2012/10/06: DosBat: The Spread of Downwelling IR in models
• 2012/10/05: AFTIC: September monthly arctic sea ice extent smashes previous record
• 2012/10/04: DeepClimate: 2012 Arctic sea ice minimum, part 3: Arctic sea ice death spiral continues
• 2012/10/04: CCP: PIOMAS Minimum Arctic Sea Ice Volume for 2012: 3.263 million cubic kilometres
• 2012/10/04: CCP: Heating Imbalances [insolation at the North Pole during summer]
• 2012/10/04: TP:JR: An Illustrated Guide To 2012 Record Arctic Sea Ice Melt
• 2012/10/03: Guardian(UK): [Letters] On track for an ice-free Arctic ocean by 2015
• 2012/10/03: CChallenge: Must See Video on Arctic Sea Ice
• 2012/10/02: ClimateSight: Permafrost Projections
• 2012/10/02: NSIDC: Poles apart: A record-breaking summer and winter
• 2012/10/02: ASI: PIOMAS September 2012 (minimum)
• 2012/10/01: ASI: Record dominoes 11: NSIDC September SIE
• 2012/10/01: Tamino: Sea Ice Insolation
• 2012/09/30: QuarkSoup: More on Why Arctic Melting Matters
  

  As for the charismatic megafauna:

• 2012/10/06: CBC: U.S. proposes ban on polar bear trade -- Vote on proposal set for March 2013 at CITES meeting in Thailand
• 2012/10/03: DerSpiegel: In the Land of the Pizzly [Grolar Bear?] -- As Arctic Melts, Polar and Grizzly Bears Mate
  The melting Arctic ice has brought polar bears and grizzly bears together and their hybrid offspring, known as "pizzlies," have been detected on Canadian islands. It is a trend that is happening with other species as well, and scientists are worried because it poses a risk to biodiversity.
• 
  

  As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

   

• 2012/10/05: UKISS: Soviets the Arctic and oil
• 2012/10/04: CCurrents: Arctic Drilling Shall Continue, Shell Is There
• 2012/10/03: DeSmogBlog: Shell Not Arctic Ready, Spoofed By Honest Ad Campaign
  

  While in Antarctica:

• 2012/10/06: ITracker: Three papers on the Antarctic ice
• 2012/10/06: IOTD: Icebergs around South Georgia Island
  

  The food crisis is ongoing:

• 2012/10/05: DesMoinesRegister: Ongoing fall drought threatens next year's crop yields -- Rain is needed soon to build up moisture in already-dry soil
• 2012/10/04: CBC: Wheat crop expected to increase -- Canola forecast to decrease, Statistics Canada says
• 2012/10/04: StatsCan: Production of principal field crops, September 2012
• 2012/10/04: ProMedMail: Stripe rust, wheat & triticale - Switzerland
• 2012/10/02: CSM: Weak demand for fertilizer tugs at stocks
• 2012/10/01: ProMedMail: Blast disease, rice - Australia (02): (WA) new strain susp.
• 2012/10/01: EarlyWarning: Agricultural Area in Developed Countries
• 2012/10/01: CBC: Bacon shortage called hogwash by economists -- 10% higher prices likely, but bacon won't be scarce
• 2012/10/01: CBC: Most of Canada's wasted food dumped from homes
  

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

• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Customs says seized boats were blast fishing
  Border protection vessels have seized two foreign boats alleged to have been using explosives to fish off Australia's north coast.
• 2012/10/04: TP:JR: Climate Change And Seafood Supply: Developing Countries Most Vulnerable To Ocean Acidification
• 2012/10/04: ERW: Fish to shrink by up to a quarter due to climate change, study reveals
• 2012/10/03: Oceana: EU Subsidies Hurt Both Fishermen and Fish
• 2012/10/04: TSM: The State of the World's Unassessed Fisheries
• 2012/10/05: CCurrents: European Fleets Flouting Deep Sea Fishing Quota
  Fish is a major source of profit. It's not possible for poor, small fishers to engage in deep sea fishing. Deep sea fishing is the business of big capital. In the deep seas, there is flouting of rules, related quota. There is little regard for scientific advice. A study, report of which has been published in the journal Ocean & Coastal Management , found: European fishing fleets are flouting quotas for vulnerable deep sea fish and are landing up to 28 times more than allowed. A report said [1]: Analysis of fishing data since 2002 has revealed that Europe 's fleets exceed half the quotas for deep sea fish, prompting demands for better enforcement of the rules and scathing criticism of European fisheries ministers.
• 2012/10/06: al Jazeera: Indonesia's last nomadic sea gypsies
  Vanishing stocks from dynamite fishing and cyanide threatens centuries-old culture of Sulawesi's gypsy sea people. Wakatobi, Indonesia - They have lived on the sea for centuries, but overfishing now threatens the unique culture of the nomadic ocean dwellers known as the Bajau Laut. Found on Indonesia's southern Sulawesi island, the Bajau have roamed its waters for at least 400 years, living on boats or in stilt villages out at sea, and relying on its resources for subsistence. But because of extensive fishing, the once bountiful ocean can no longer support the Bajau's aquatic way of life.
• 2012/10/01: TreeHugger: Fish Could Become 24% Smaller as Oceans Warm
• 2012/10/01: CSM: Oxygen-starved fish to shrink significantly due to global warming
• 2012/09/30: Guardian(UK): Fish to shrink by up to a quarter due to climate change, study reveals
  

  Food Prices are rising:

• FAO: World Food Situation - Food Price Indices
• 2012/10/04: CDreams: World Food Crisis, Impact of US Drought -- Food prices skyrocket as individuals and livestock suffer
• 2012/10/05: BBC: Campaign urges Saudi chicken boycott over price rises
  People in Saudi Arabia are using social media websites to protest against a sudden increase in the cost of chicken. A Twitter campaign entitled "Let it Rot" is urging residents to punish traders, who it says have raised prices by as much as 40% in the past two weeks, by not eating chicken.
• 2012/10/04: FAO: FAO Food Price Index up 1.4 percent in September -- Global cereal harvest down, but record expected in LIFDCs [Low-Income, Food-Deficit Countries]
• 2012/10/04: UN: UN reports slight increase in food prices, warns of decline in global cereal harvest
• 2012/10/04: BBC: World food prices rose 1.4% in September, pushed up by higher meat, dairy and cereals prices, according to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)
• 2012/10/05: CCurrents: September Saw World Food Prices Rising
• 2012/10/04: Guardian(UK): World food prices near crisis levels
  Prices driven higher by US drought along with production problems in Russia and other exporting countries
• 
  

  So, are these land grabs Colonialism V2.0?

   

• 2012/10/04: CDreams: Report: 'Unbridled' Rush for Land Grabs Leaving a Billion Hungry -- Biofuels, food speculation pushing further land grabs
• 2012/10/05: CCurrents: Land Grab By The Rich Pushing Out People. Create Hunger In Poor Countries
  

  Regarding the genetic modification of food:

• 2012/10/05: EurActiv: Food safety agency questions French GMO report
  The European Food Safety Authority on Thursday (4 October) rebuked a French biologist's study that questions the safety of Monsanto's genetically modified maize and Roundup herbicide, saying in a preliminary report that the research was "of insufficient scientific quality."
• 2012/10/05: EUO: EU agency [European Food Safety Authority] rejects GMO critical report
• 2012/10/05: Grist: GMOs, pesticides, and the new scientific deadlock
• 2012/10/04: ABC(Au): Anti-GM group questions allergy-free milk project
• 2012/10/04: NatureNB: European Food Safety Authority slams GM maize study
• 2012/10/04: ScienceInsider: European Food Safety Authority Finds Controversial GM Study Wanting
• 2012/08/28: ESE: Impacts of genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the U.S. -- the first sixteen years by Charles M Benbrook
• 2012/10/03: BPA: An Evaluation of Benbrook's Pesticide Use Study and Evolving Super Weeds
• 2012/10/01: CJR: Press digs into anti-GMO study -- Reporters thwart scientists' attempt to prevent scrutiny
• 2012/10/03: TreeHugger: GMO Crops Leading to Increased Pesticide Use in US
• 2012/10/02: NatureN: Animals engineered with pinpoint accuracy
  More accurate genetic modification has created allergen-free cow's milk and pigs that could serve as a model for atherosclerosis.
• 2012/10/02: Eureka: 'Superweeds' linked to rising herbicide use in GM crops -- Pesticide use up in GM cotton, soybeans, corn
• 2012/10/01: BBC: GM cows make 'low allergy' milk
  A genetically modified cow that produces milk less likely to cause allergic reactions has been engineered by New Zealand scientists.
• 2012/09/30: ERabett:BSD: False balance and simplistic denunciation of the anti-GMO movement: Keith Kloor and Ed Yong, call your offices
  

  Regarding labelling GM food:

• 2012/10/04: CDreams: Pesticide Giants Pour Millions into Campaign to Defeat California's Prop. 37
  The campaign to defeat a proposition to get genetically modified food labeled gets over $34 million
• 2012/10/04: TreeHugger: Did Monsanto Write This Anti-GMO Labeling Op-Ed Signed by a UC Davis Professor?
• 2012/10/04: BBC: California battle over GM labels
  Voters in California will decide on a proposal next month that would require the labelling of most foods made with genetically modified ingredients. Proposition 37 is supported by the organic industry but many major food suppliers oppose it saying it will drive up prices.
• 
  

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

   

• 2012/10/04: CDreams: Seed Freedom: A Call To End Corporate Control
  Vandana Shiva's group, Navdanya, issues call to action in support of food security, seed sovereignty in new report
• 2012/10/05: BPA: Julian Cribb on the Future of Agricultural Innovation and Changing Human Diets
• 2012/10/02: UN: Chinese premier awarded top UN medal for greatly increasing food production
• 2012/10/02: ScienceInsider: Agricultural Research Leaders Set International Agenda
  Chief scientists from agriculture departments of the G-20 countries met for the first time last week in Jalisco, Mexico, to identify priorities for sustainably boosting farm productivity. They agreed on several ways to facilitate research and improve coordination. The five goals include improving access to scientific publications, seeds and other germplasm, and genetic and genomic data. In addition, the chief scientists will work on improving agricultural statistics and facilitating technology transfer within and among their countries. They also want to improve coordination with non-G-20 countries and CGIAR, a network of global research institutions.
• 2012/10/01: UN: New UN-backed initiative seeks to promote aquaculture to fight hunger
  

  In the Western Pacific, Gaemi is heading for Vietnam, while Maliksi stayed mostly East of Japan:

• 2012/10/07: al Jazeera: Thailand braced for flooding
  Tropical Storm Gaemi is expected to test the country's flood defences as heads in from the west.
• 2012/10/05: Eureka: NASA sees very strong wind shear battering Tropical Storm Gaemi
• 2012/10/04: Eureka: NASA sees Tropical Storm Maliksi put final touches on Japan
• 2012/10/04: Eureka: NASA sees Tropical Storm Gaemi's heaviest rainfall around center
• 2012/10/03: Eureka: NASA identifies where Tropical Storm Gaemi's power lies
• 2012/10/03: Eureka: NASA sees strongest side of Tropical Storm Maliksi
• 2012/10/02: Eureka: NASA sees heaviest rainfall in Tropical Storm Maliski's eastern side
• 2012/10/02: Eureka: NASA sees strong thunderstorms in Tropical Storm Gaemi
• 2012/10/01: Eureka: Tropical Storm Maliksi forms, Iwo To on guard [TD20W]
• 2012/10/01: Eureka: NASA observes another tropical depression birth in northwestern Pacific [TD21W]
  

  Last weekend, also in the Western Pacific, Jelawat zapped Japan:

   

• 2012/10/02: MODIS: Super Typhoon Jelawat (18W) in the Philippine Sea
• 2012/10/01: DD: Typhoon Jelawat leaves two dead in Japan during record rainfall
• 2012/09/30: CBC: Japan pounded by powerful storm [Jelawat]
• 2012/10/01: ABC(Au): Powerful typhoon [Jelawat] hits Japan's mainland
  A powerful typhoon has hit the Japanese mainland, sparking the evacuation of thousands a day after it tore across southern Okinawa island, where local media said it left one dead and 140 injured. Packing winds of up to 180 kilometres per hour, the typhoon reached central Aichi prefecture on Sunday night and was moving up the main island of Honshu, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Authorities in the central city of Nagoya directed 57,000 people living in 21,000 homes to evacuate due to the fear of flooding caused by rising river levels in the city.

• In the Atlantic:

   

• 2012/10/06: MODIS: Tropical Storm Oscar (15L) in the North Atlantic
• 2012/10/05: Eureka: NASA satellites indicate wind shear taking toll on Oscar
• 2012/10/05: NASA: NASA Satellites Indicate Wind Shear Taking Toll on Oscar
• 2012/10/04: Eureka: NASA gets 2 infrared views of tropical storms Nadine, Oscar
• 2012/10/03: Eureka: NASA sees fifteenth Atlantic tropical depression born
• 2012/10/03: Wunderground: TD 15 forms; tropical storm warnings in the Azores for Nadine
  

  It appears Nadine's long loop-de-loop is finally finis:

   

• 2012/10/05: NASA: NASA's HS3 Mission Thoroughly Investigates Long-Lived Hurricane Nadine
• 2012/10/05: Eureka: NASA notes Nadine now no more
• 2012/10/05: NASA: NASA Notes Nadine Now No More
• 2012/10/04: W&C: Nadine's track across the Atlantic
• 2012/10/04: Wunderground: You only die twice: Atlantic's 2nd longest TS of all-time [Nadine] is dead
• 2012/10/03: Eureka: Nadine bringing tropical storm conditions back to the Azores
• 2012/10/02: Eureka: Infrared NASA imagery shows Nadine still has an eye, despite being a tropical storm
• 2012/10/01: Eureka: NASA sees Nadine weaken to a tropical storm again
• 2012/10/01: Wunderground: End in sight for Nadine; 96L no threat to land
  

  As for the Monsoon:

• 2012/10/03: al Jazeera: South Asia floods
  Those essential monsoon rains are the life source for the people of south Asia. They also bring havoc and devastation.
• 
  

  Meanwhile on the GHG front:

   

• 2012/10/03: EurActiv: Draft EU law slaps F-gas ban on domestic fridges
  The European Commission has drawn up a plan to outlaw planet-warming hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in domestic refrigerators and freezers by 2015, and commercial coolers by 2020, under a draft regulation seen by EurActiv. HFC's are a fluorinated gas (or F-gas) used to substitute for ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) since the Montreal Protocol began phasing them out in 1987. They can also be up to 22,800 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. By 2030, the EU's new package of bans, quotas, phase-downs, improved monitoring and leak prevention aims to cut HFC sales by 21% of today's levels. The use of HFCs in movable room air conditioning systems would also be banned from 2020.
• 2012/10/03: TP:JR: Four Charts To Challenge Your Optimism About The Drop In U.S. Carbon Emissions
• 2012/10/03: Eureka: Methane emissions can be traced back to Roman times
  

  And in the carbon cycle:

• 2012/10/05: EarlyWarning: So Far, So Good: The Global Carbon Sink in 2011
• 2012/10/04: VCU: Researchers Find Ancient Carbon Resurfacing in Lakes -- Findings challenge current models of long-term carbon storage in lakes and rivers
• 2012/10/04: Eureka: Lakes react differently to warmer climate
• 2012/10/03: P3: Can Animals Impact the Carbon Cycle?
• 2012/10/04: CCurrents: Climate Crisis: Treacherous Role The Salt Marshes Play
• 2012/10/01: NatureN: Earth's carbon sink downsized
  Abundance of soil nutrients a limiting factor in plants' ability to soak up carbon dioxide
• 
  

  As for the temperature record:

   

• 2012/10/04: SurfaceTemps: Beta release of first version of global land surface databank
• 2012/10/04: VV: Beta version of a new global temperature database released
• 2012/10/03: CCurrents: Warmer Norwegian Archipelago Summers
• 2012/10/01: Moyhu: A necessary adjustment - Time of Observation
• 2012/09/30: QuarkSoup: Monkey-Poo Model Results for September
  

  Yes we have feedbacks:

• 2012/10/05: Tamino: Snow
• 2012/10/04: Tamino: Oh Shit
• 2012/10/06: TP:JR: Carbon Feedback From Thawing Permafrost Will Likely Add 0.4°F - 1.5°F To Total Global Warming By 2100
• 2012/10/01: TroyCA: Water Vapor and Temperature Feedbacks from recent warming patterns
  

  While in the paleoclimate:

• 2012/10/04: ABC(Au): Roman, Han Dynasty kick started climate change
  

  Dealing with uncertainties:

• 2012/10/05: CFR:ES&C: How Can We Cope With Deep Climate Uncertainty?
  

  And on the ENSO front:

• 2012/10/05: Wunderground: El Niño falters
• 2012/10/04: JFleck: How's that whole "El Niño" thing workin' out for ya?
• 2012/10/04: NOAA:NCEP: El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion
  Synopsis: Borderline ENSO-neutral/ weak El Niño conditions are expected to continue into Northern Hemisphere winter 2012-13, possibly strengthening during the next few months.
• 
  

  What's with the weather?

   

• 2012/10/04: Duke: Weather-Making High-Pressure Systems Predicted to Intensify
  High-pressure systems over oceans, which largely determine the tracks of tropical cyclones and hydrological extremes in much of the northern hemisphere, are likely to intensify this century, according to a Duke University-led study published online this week in Nature Geoscience.
• 
  

  More GW impacts are being seen:

   

• 2012/10/02: SciAm:Obs: Climate Change Could Delay Fall Foliage Colors [Video]
• 2012/10/01: TreeHugger: Fish Could Become 24% Smaller as Oceans Warm
• 2012/10/01: CSM: Oxygen-starved fish to shrink significantly due to global warming
• 2012/10/01: DD: The heat is on for California wines as climate changes
• 2012/09/30: Eureka: Fish getting smaller as the oceans warm: UBC research
• 2012/09/30: BBC: Climate change 'may shrink fish'
  Fish species are expected to shrink in size by up to 24% because of global warming, say scientists.
• 
  

  And then there are the world's forests:

   

• 2012/10/01: USGS: Climate Change to Cripple Southwestern Forests -- Trees Face Rising Drought Stress and Mortality as Climate Warms
• 2012/10/03: NatureN: Plant science: The chestnut resurrection
  Once king of eastern forests, the American chestnut was wiped out by blight. Now it is poised to rise again.
• 2012/10/02: BBC: Tree rings reveal Amazon's rainfall history
  Samples from eight cedar trees in Bolivia have helped shed light on the seasonal rainfall in the Amazon basin over the past century, say researchers. A study led by UK-based scientists said the data from the trees provided a key tool to assess the natural variation in the region's climate system.
• 2012/10/01: TreeHugger: The Mafia is Behind 90% of Illegal Logging in the Tropics
• 2012/10/01: LANL: Climate change cripples forests
  A team of scientists concluded that in the warmer and drier Southwest of the near future, widespread tree mortality will cause forest and species distributions to change substantially.
• 2012/10/01: DD: How organized crime is destroying the rainforests
• 2012/09/30: Eureka: Climate change could cripple southwestern forests -- Trees face rising drought stress and mortality as climate warms
• 2012/10/01: SlashDot: ForestWatchers Lets Anyone Monitor A Patch of Forest
  

  Yes we have no wacky weather, except:

• 2012/10/04: ABC(Au): Storm-force winds buffet southern Tasmania
  Storm-force winds have caused havoc across southern Tasmania. Gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour brought down powerlines, sparking several fires. Both Virgin and Qantas had to divert flights back to Melbourne, with one plane aborting a landing in Hobart.
• 
  

  This week in the New Normal -- extreme weather:

   

• 2012/10/05: WtD: The New Normal (Part 23): The worst NSW bushfire season in 40 years imminent?
  

  As for heatwaves and wild fires:

• 2012/10/03: SCVoice: Link between global warming and wildfires becoming more clear
• 2012/10/04: MODIS: Fires in eastern Russia
• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Homes could be threatened as bushfire flares
  Fire crews say a blaze between Pretty Beach and Lobster Beach, on the New South Wales central coast, has flared and is heading towards homes. The Rural Fire Service (RFS) has issued a yellow 'watch and act' alert for the fire, which has burnt about fourteen hectares.
• 2012/10/06: ABC(Au): Temperature drop aids NSW bushfire battle
  Hundreds of firefighters and residents are battling to contain several bushfires on the New South Wales central coast. Helicopters are being sent out to water bomb the blazes at Lobster Beach and Pretty Beach at Gosford. The fires have so far burnt through 90 hectares of bushland, and authorities are still trying to bring them under control.
• 2012/10/07: ABC(Au): Authorities monitor large Queensland bushfires
  Authorities are monitoring three large fires burning in southern Queensland on what is expected to be one of the worst days of the state's fire season.
• 2012/10/03: CBC: Raging grass fires change face of Manitoba town
  People in the southeastern Manitoba town of Vita are waking up to a very different looking place and four familes no longer have a place to live. Their houses burned down as grass fires raged through the area on Tuesday, also destroying a bridge on Highway 201 that led to two vehicles crashing through it.
• 2012/10/03: CBC: Southern Manitoba grass fires prompt evacuations
• 2012/10/02: IOTD: Clouds, Fire, and Ice in the Cascades [acquired September 19, 2012]
• 2012/10/01: DD: Graph of the Day: Wildfire Season Length in the U.S. West, 1970-2011
• 2012/10/01: MODIS: Fires on Timor, Indonesia
  

  Corals are a bellwether of the ocean's health:

• 2012/10/05: DD: Graph of the Day: Decline in Coral Cover of the Great Barrier Reef, 1985-2012
• 2012/10/03: TP:JR: The Great (Dwindling) Barrier Reef Loses Half Its Coral Cover In Under 30 Years
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au): Great Barrier Reef has lost half its coral
• 2012/10/02: CSM: Great Barrier Reef declining faster than ever, coral cover could be 5 percent in a decade
• 2012/10/01: Eureka: The Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its coral in the last 27 years -- Can we save the reef by controlling crown of thorns starfish?
• 2012/10/02: DD: Great Barrier Reef coral seeing 'major decline' -- Starfish moving 'in massive waves down the Reef like a plague'
• 2012/10/02: TreeHugger: Great Barrier Reef Lost Half Its Coral in Past 27 Years
• 2012/10/02: BBC: Australia's Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half its coral cover in the past 27 years, a new study shows
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au): Half of Barrier Reef has disappeared: report
• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): Great Barrier Reef loses more than half its coral cover
  Population explosion of coral-eating starfish, storms and acidification of oceans causing rapid decline, study finds
• 2012/09/30: ERabett: Through a Reef Darkly
  

  Glaciers are melting:

• 2012/10/07: FaGP: Godur Glacier, Pakistan Retreat and Separation
• 2012/10/04: FaGP: Knife Point Glacier Retreat (Dissappearing), Wind River Range, Wyoming
• 2012/10/02: FaGP: Mount Baker Glacier Hydrologic Year End Update
  

  Sea levels are rising:

• 2012/10/04: CSM: Rising seas washing away Ghana's former slave forts
  The ocean is starting to wash away historical slave trading forts and castles on the coast of Ghana, threatening a thriving tourist industry as well as the homes of coastal dwellers. The waves have already taken a toll on Ada Foah's Fort Kongenstein, an 18th century Danish trading fort. All that remains of it are dilapidated foundations and collapsing arches hanging off of a shelf of sand. The sea has claimed the rest.
• 2012/10/02: ERW: Sea-level rise could approach seven metres by year 3000
• 2012/10/05: CCurrents: Sea Level Rise: Within A Decade Vulnerable Islands Have To Evacuate Their Populations
• 2012/10/02: SciDaily: Irreversible Warming Will Cause Sea Levels to Rise for Thousands of Years to Come, New Research Shows
• 2012/10/03: CCurrents: Sea Levels To Rise For Thousands Of Years
• 2012/10/02: DD: City of Miami Beach gets rising seas sticker shock -- 'We need to be making an escape plan for 2.5 million residents'
  

  As for hydrological cycle disruptions [floods & droughts]:

• 2012/10/07: IOTD: Cheyenne Bottoms in Drought
• 2012/10/05: IOTD: Flooding along the Susitna River [Alaska]
• 2012/10/03: NYT: Drought Leaves Cracks in Way of Life
• 2012/10/04: CBS: Drought sparks water war in Texas
• 2012/10/04: ABC(Au): CSIRO says rainfall patterns changing in south east Australia
  A CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) study on rainfall across south-east Australia and some of the country's most productive agricultural areas paints a dire picture. It's well reported that crucial autumn rains have been declining for decades; now new research has linked the drop in rainfall to the subtropical climate moving south.
• 2012/10/02: AGU: Deforestation in snowy regions causes more floods
• 2012/10/01: BPA: A September Trip Through Nebraska in Drought Year 2012
• 2012/10/03: IOTD: Dried Out Vegetation Across America
• 2012/10/01: DD: Over 450 dead, 4.5 million people hit in Pakistan floods
• 2012/10/02: TP:JR: By 2050, Southwest Forests Projected To See Worst Drought Conditions In At Least 1,000 Years
• 2012/09/30: TP:JR: Epic "Dust Bowl Of 2012" Expands Again
  

  Consider transportation & GHG production:

• 2012/10/04: NBF: China Opens more High Speed Rail
• 2012/10/06: NBF: First hand experience of China high speed rail and regular rail
• 2012/10/02: EurActiv: Brussels to launch shipping emissions monitoring system
  The European Commission announced yesterday (1 October) that it intends to introduce an emissions monitoring system in early 2013, in a bid to curb the environmental footprint left by the shipping industry.
• 
  

  Large scale geo-engineering keeps popping up:

   

• 2012/10/03: ERW: Commercial aircraft 'not viable strategy' for geoengineering
• 2012/10/03: Grist: How we can slow global warming by smashing up an asteroid
• 2012/10/01: PSinclair: Geo-Engineering. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
  

  Meanwhile in the journals:

• 2012/10/02: PNAS: (ab$) Global distribution of microbial abundance and biomass in subseafloor sediment by Jens Kallmeyer et al.
• 2012/10/02: PNAS: (ab$) Late Pleistocene climate change and the global expansion of anatomically modern humans by Anders Eriksson et al.
• 2012/10/02: PNAS: (ab$) Global forecasts of urban expansion to 2030 and direct impacts on biodiversity and carbon pools by Karen C. Seto et al.
• 2012/10/02: PNAS: (ab$) Dynamics of the last glacial maximum Antarctic ice-sheet and its response to ocean forcing by Nicholas R. Golledge et al.
• 2012/10/02: PNAS: (letter$) Location of natural oil seep and chemical fingerprinting suggest alternative explanation for deep sea coral observations by Paul D. Boehm & Peter D. Carragher
• 2012/10/02: PNAS: (letter$) Reply to Boehm and Carragher: Multiple lines of evidence link deep-water coral damage to Deepwater Horizon oil spill by Helen K. White et al.
• 2012/10/04: ACP: Interpretation of FRESCO cloud retrievals in case of absorbing aerosol events by P. Wang et al.
• 2012/10/04: ACP: Radiative impacts of cloud heterogeneity and overlap in an atmospheric General Circulation Model by L. Oreopoulos et al.
• 2012/10/04: ACP: Global anthropogenic methane emissions 2005-2030: technical mitigation potentials and costs by L. Höglund-Isaksson
• 2012/10/02: ACP: Comparing Lagrangian and Eulerian models for CO2 transport - a step towards Bayesian inverse modeling using WRF/STILT-VPRM by D. Pillai et al.
• 2012/10/01: ACP: The global aerosol-climate model ECHAM-HAM, version 2: sensitivity to improvements in process representations by K. Zhang et al.
• 2012/10/04: ACPD: Tropospheric ozone changes, radiative forcing and attribution to emissions in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Inter-comparison Project (ACCMIP) by D. S. Stevenson et al.
• 2012/10/02: ACPD: Multiple daytime nucleation events in semi-clean savannah and industrial environments in South Africa: implications of the driving factors by A. Hirsikko et al.
• 2012/10/02: ACPD: Aerosol classification by airborne high spectral resolution lidar observations by S. Groß et al.
• 2012/10/02: ACPD: The diurnal evolution of the urban heat island of Paris: a model-based case study during Summer 2006 by H. Wouters et al.
• 2012/09/22: GRL: (ab$) A second generation of homogenized Canadian monthly surface air temperature for climate trend analysis by Lucie A. Vincent et al.
• 2012/10/03: Nature: (ab$) Natural and anthropogenic variations in methane sources during the past two millennia by C. J. Sapart et al.
• 2012/10/04: ESDD: Urbanization susceptibility maps: a dynamic spatial decision support system for sustainable land use by M. Cerreta & P. De Toro
• 2012/10/05: CP: Mechanisms for European summer temperature response to solar forcing over the last millennium by D. Swingedouw et al.
• 2012/10/05: CPD: Volcanic forcing and climate variations during the last glacial period by A. F. Flinders
• 2012/10/05: CPD: Estimate of climate sensitivity from carbonate microfossils dated near the Eocene-Oligocene global cooling by M. W. Asten
• 2012/10/01: CPD: Variations of oceanic oxygen isotopes at the present day and the LGM: equilibrium simulations with an oceanic general circulation model by X. Xu et al.
• 2012/09/30: Nature:GeoSci: (ab$) Intensification of Northern Hemisphere subtropical highs in a warming climate by Wenhong Li et al.
• 2012/10/04: ERL: Cross-national comparison of the presence of climate scepticism in the print media in six countries, 2007-10 by James Painter & Teresa Ashe
• 2012/10/06: Springer:ES&T: (ab$) The long-term policy context for solar radiation management by Steven J. Smith & Philip J. Rasch
• 2012/10/03: NERC:NORA: Towards the inversion of GRACE gravity fields for present-day ice-mass changes and glacial-isostatic adjustment in North America and Greenland by Ingo Sasgen et al.
• 2012/10/04: NERC:NORA: The Palaeoproterozoic perturbation of the Global Carbon Cycle : the Lomagundi-Jatuli Isotopic Event by Victor A. Melezhik et al.
• 2012/10/05: ACP: Particle backscatter and relative humidity measured across cirrus clouds and comparison with microphysical cirrus modelling by M. Brabec et al.
• 2012/10/05: ACP: On the formation of sulphuric acid - amine clusters in varying atmospheric conditions and its influence on atmospheric new particle formation by P. Paasonen et al.
• 2012/10/05: ACPD: Tropospheric impact of methane emissions from clathrates in the Arctic Region by S. Bhattacharyya et al.
• 2012/10/05: ACPD: CH4 and CO distributions over tropical fires as observed by the Aura TES satellite instrument and modeled by GEOS-Chem by J. Worden et al.
• 2012/10/05: GMD: Modelling mid-Pliocene climate with COSMOS by C. Stepanek & G. Lohmann
• 2012/10/04: GMDD: Optimising the FAMOUS climate model: inclusion of global carbon cycling by J. H. T. Williams et al.
• 2012/10/04: GMDD: Evaluation of the carbon cycle components in the Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM) by J. F. Tjiputra et al.
• 2012/10/04: OSD: Co-existence of wind seas and swells along the west coast of India during non-monsoon season by R. Rashmi et al.
• 2012/10/04: TCD: Paleo ice flow and subglacial meltwater dynamics in Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica by F. O. Nitsche et al.
• 2012/09/30: Nature:CC: (ab$) Temperature as a potent driver of regional forest drought stress and tree mortality by A. Park Williams et al.
• 2012/08/28: ESE: Impacts of genetically engineered crops on pesticide use in the U.S. -- the first sixteen years by Charles M Benbrook
• 2012/10/01: ERL: Millennial total sea-level commitments projected with the Earth system model of intermediate complexity LOVECLIM by H Goelzer et al.
• 2012/10/02: TC: Glacier changes from 1966-2009 in the Gongga Mountains, on the south-eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and their climatic forcing by B. T. Pan et al.
• 2012/10/02: TC: Simulating the growth of supraglacial lakes at the western margin of the Greenland ice sheet by A. A. Leeson et al.
• 2012/10/01: TCD: A century of ice retreat on Kilimanjaro: the mapping reloaded by N. J. Cullen et al.
• 2012/10/01: TCD: Theoretical study of solar light reflectance from vertical snow surfaces by O. V. Nikolaeva & A. A. Kokhanovsky
• 2012/10/01: TCD: Inhomogeneous snow distribution and depletion patterns at grid scale in a shallow snowpack region by H. Li et al.
• 2012/10/01: AGWObserver: New research from last week 39/2012
• 2011/10/: AMetSoc: (ab$) Tropical and Subtropical Cloud Transitions in Weather and Climate Prediction Models: The GCSS/WGNE Pacific Cross-Section Intercomparison (GPCI) by J. Teixeira et al.
• 2012/09/30: Nature:CC: (ab$) Shrinking of fishes exacerbates impacts of global ocean changes on marine ecosystems by William W. L. Cheung et al.
  

  And other significant documents:

• 2012/09/24: UCSUSA: [link to 881k pdf] Science in an Age of Scrutiny -- How Scientists Can Respond to Criticism and Personal Attacks
  

  As for miscellaneous science:

• 2012/10/01: RetractionWatch: Majority of retractions are due to misconduct: Study confirms opaque notices distort the scientific record
• 2012/10/03: BBerg: Penn State Faculty Snub of Fracking Study Ends Research
  A natural-gas driller's group has canceled a Pennsylvania State University study of hydraulic fracturing after some faculty members balked at the project that had drawn criticism for being slanted toward industry. The Marcellus Shale Coalition, which paid more than $146,000 for three previous studies, ended this year's report after work had started, said Kathryn Klaber, coalition president.
• 2012/10/01: ScienceInsider: Misconduct, Not Mistakes, Causes Most Retractions of Scientific Papers
• 2012/10/01: NatureN: Misconduct is the main cause of life-sciences retractions -- Opaque announcements in journals can hide fraud, study finds
• 2012/10/01: SciNews: Misconduct prompts most retractions
  Two-thirds of scientific papers pulled from journals are for fraud, suspected fraud and plagiarism
• 2012/10/02: CSM: Fraud in scientific research papers growing at alarming rate
  

  What's new in models?

• 2012/10/04: Wunderground:RR: Modeling Summary and A Change in the Weather: Models, Water, and Temperature (8)
  

  What developments in the ongoing struggle for Open Science?

• 2012/10/02: al Jazeera: Academic paywalls mean publish and perish
  Academic publishing is structured on exclusivity, and to read them people must shell out an average of $19 per article.
• 2012/10/01: CSW: Government scientific information: Culture of secrecy is still a problem
  

  You too can have fun with acronyms:

• 2012/10/01: BNL: Yearlong MAGIC Climate Study Launches
  [MAGIC: Marine ARM GPCI Investigation of Clouds]
  [ARM: Atmospheric Radiation Measurement]
  [GPCI: GCSS Pacific Cross Section Intercomparison]
  [GCSS: GEWEX Cloud System Study]
  [GEWEX: Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment]
  Climate instruments mounted aboard the Horizon Spirit container ship begin taking data
• 
  

  Commoner obits:

   

• 2012/10/02: QuarkSoup: "Are You Just Running on the Issues?"
• 2012/10/02: CDreams: Barry Commoner: The Greatest Environmentalist of the 20th Century
• 2012/10/01: CDreams: Barry Commoner, Pioneering Environmental Scientist and Activist, Dies at 95
• 2012/10/02: KSJT: Barry Commoner dies: Rounding up the obits
• 2012/10/01: Grist: RIP, Barry Commoner: A scientist who wasn't afraid to make some noise
  

  While at the UN:

• 2012/10/02: TP:JR: At High Level Meetings, New Commitments Made For Clean Energy Deployment And Climate Mitigation
• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): UN urged to create global fund for disaster prevention
  

  And on the carbon trading front:

• 2012/10/04: ICN:FT: UN-Led Carbon Market 'Close to Collapse'
• 2012/10/01: BWeek: Carbon Trading Grows as Preferred Policy Tool, IETA Says
  The expansion of carbon-trading mechanisms demonstrates that emission markets are the "policy instrument of choice" for cutting greenhouse gases, according to the International Emissions Trading Association.
• 2012/10/02: Reuters: California on track to link CO2 scheme with Quebec in 2013
  

  The Robin Hood tax, aka the Tobin tax, aka the Bank tax, aka the Financial Transaction tax keeps coming up:

• 2012/10/01: EurActiv: Financial transaction tax: 'Now effective'?
  France and Germany still need the backing of a number of member states to put in place a European Union financial transaction tax (FTT), despite claims from French President François Hollande that the tax is "now effective". EurActiv.fr reports. For over a year now, Paris and Berlin have been battling to persuade their European partners to put in place an FTT. Yet whether and in what form the EU may impose such a tax in Europe is still unclear, despite claims to the contrary. Questions remain over its timeframe, the proposed tax base and whether this will be factored into the EU's 2014-2020 budget.
• 
  

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

   

• 2012/10/02: AntiWar: My Iranian Learning Curve
• 2012/10/06: WSWS: US wages economic war on Iran
• 2012/10/05: AntiWar: UN Chief: Sanctions Mostly Harming Iran's Civilians -- Medicines in Short Supply as Iran's Economy Buckles
• 2012/10/05: NakedCapitalism: Ironically, Sanctions Success Strengthens Iran's Strait of Hormuz Trump Card
• 2012/10/02: CSM: Is there a limit to the effect of sanctions on Iranian oil production?
  

  South [& East] China Sea tension persists:

• 2012/10/03: al Jazeera: China banks pull out of meetings in Japan
  Relations between Tokyo and Beijing remain tense over Japanese-controlled islands, as Chinese ships re-enter waters.
• 2012/10/04: al Jazeera: Exploring the hot waters of East China Sea
  Al Jazeera takes an exclusive boat trip to the islands at the centre of dispute between China, Japan and Taiwan.
• 2012/10/02: CSM: China and Japan face off: Tiny islands, big dispute
• 2012/10/01: NatInt: Island Wars
  An Anti-Japan demonstration in China.The long-standing dispute between Japan and China over a chain of uninhabited islands, called the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China, has surged to an alarming extent. And the Obama administration has foolishly made the United States a party to that emotional, dangerous feud.
• 2012/10/02: al Jazeera: Chinese ships 'near waters of disputed isles'
  Japan's coastguard says four vessels have entered territorial waters around disputed islands in East China Sea.
• 2012/10/01: al Jazeera: East Asia's patriots and populists
  Japan and S Korea should establish a precedent that offers the best path to resolve the great sovereignty questions.
• 
  

  As the EU-ETS is applied to airlines, we will see who is serious about reducing carbon emissions:

   

• 2012/10/02: BBerg: Saudi Arabia Said to Order Airline to Reject EU Emission Rules
  

  In the global competition for finite natural resources:

• 2012/10/04: BBC: Malaysian rare earth plant decision delayed
  A Malaysian court has delayed a decision in an ongoing battle over a rare earth plant opposed by environmental groups.
• 2012/10/02: CSM: Helium shortage? Bureaucrats, firms are creating too little hot air.
  

  And in miscellaneous international political jousting:

• 2012/10/02: EneNews: Nikkei: Sec. Clinton personally pressured Japan leader to keep nuclear power as "President Obama wishes it"
  It has been revealed that the United States government was strongly urging [the Japanese government] to reconsider its policy of "zero nukes in 2030s" which was part of the energy and environmental strategy of the Noda administration...
• 2012/10/01: ABC(Au): Miners owe East Timor millions in unpaid taxes
  Potentially billions of dollars of tax is being withheld from the government of East Timor by some of the world's richest oil and gas companies operating in the Timor Sea, Four Corners has revealed. The amount owing to East Timor, or Timor Leste as it is known in the country, could be as much as US$3 billion, once interest and penalties are added to the unpaid taxes.
  [...]
  These companies include the US oil giant ConocoPhillips and Australia's own Woodside Petroleum.
• 2012/10/04: EUO: Lithuania suing Russian energy giant Gazprom
  Lithuania has highlighted that Russian energy giant Gazprom is facing a series of billion-euro lawsuits on alleged price-fixing, as well as the recently-opened European Commission probe. Vilnius is prosecuting a €1.4 billion legal action against it at the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal for alleged distortion of gas prices in Lithuania between 2004 and 2012. Lithuania's Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius on Wednesday (3 October) said in a statement that German and Polish companies have also filed Gazprom cases.
• 
  

  Climate Change is a threat multiplier exacerbating existing conflicts in food, energy, water, race, ideology ... etc.:

   

• 2012/10/05: BBC: At least six people have died in Guatemala in clashes between security forces and protesters angry over electricity price rises...
  

  The issue of the law and activism is playing out around the world:

• 2012/10/05: CBC: Shell loses suit against Greenpeace -- Dutch court rules in favour of the right to protest near or on Shell sites
• 2012/10/05: TreeHugger: Greenpeace Can Continue Protests Against Shell, Dutch Court Rules
  

  What are the activists up to?

• 2012/10/01: SlashDot: ForestWatchers Lets Anyone Monitor A Patch of Forest
  

  Polls! We have polls!

• 2012/10/04: CSM: Americans show support for clean energy in polls
• 2012/10/05: CCurrents: Solar Power Popular Among American Voters, 92% Prefer It
• 2012/10/02: Grist: Undecided voters not undecided about climate change
• 2012/10/02: TreeHugger: 8 Out of 10 Undecided Voters Believe in Climate Change
• 2012/10/02: TP:JR: Poll: 72 Percent Of Swing Voters Say The Federal Government Should Do More To Promote Solar
  

  Regarding Water Politics and Business:

• 2012/10/06: JFleck: Exporting water - uphill toward money?
• 2012/10/04: JFleck: Does water really flow uphill toward money?
• 2012/10/05: ERabett:BSD: Brian's call to Santa Clara County environmentalists to vote for the Safe Clean Water Measure
• 2012/10/05: AllAfrica:SW Radio: Zimbabwe: Burst Pipe Leaves Harare Dry Till Weekend
  Zimbabwe's two largest cities are experiencing serious water shortages that have continued to intensify over the last few months, without any solutions in sight. Many residents in Harare will have no water until the weekend due to a burst water pipe at the Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant.
• 2012/10/04: EnergyBulletin: The energy-water nexus by Tom Murphy
• 2012/10/04: CCurrents: Global Warming Could Affect New York 's Drinking Water
• 2012/10/01: JFleck: That Austin streamwater ain't comin' from nature
• 2012/09/30: JFleck: Time for a Lower Basin New Year's resolution?
• 2012/09/30: JFleck: Another dry year
  

  And on the American political front:

• 2012/10/05: Wonkette: Hero Rep. Paul Broun Takes Bible-Based Stand Against Hell-Spawned Lies of 'Science'
• 2012/10/05: TP:JR: The New Values Voters: Faith Groups And Climate Change
• 2012/10/05: TP:JR: Coal Workers Say Murray Energy 'Coerces' Them To Make GOP Donations: 'If You Don't Contribute, Your Job's At Stake'
• 2012/10/05: TP:JR: A Disappointing Presidential Debate For Energy And Climate
• 2012/10/05: TP:JR: A Big Win For Public Lands: Pristine Area Of Wyoming Saved From Energy Development
• 2012/10/05: UCSUSA:B: Fact Check: Koch-Funded Group Misleads Michigan Voters on Clean Energy
• 2012/10/05: DeSmogBlog: New York Farmers Sound Off On Cuomo's Decision To Delay Fracking
• 2012/10/04: Grist: Cap-and-spade: Will California's carbon market dollars go to organic farms?
• 2012/10/04: JQuiggin: Cranks, crazies and globalisation - US politics is fair game for Aussies
• 2012/10/04: TP:JR: Clean Energy Showdown: How The Tea Party Is Trying To Dismantle Arizona's Clean Energy Targets
• 2012/10/03: Guardian(UK): Republican climate sceptics face battle for re-election as green groups hit back
• 2012/10/04: UCSUSA:B: Michigan's 25 Percent Renewable Electricity Standard is Good for Consumers
• 2012/10/03: TP:JR: Report: 25 Percent Renewable Electricity Target Would Only Cost Michigan Consumers 50 Cents Per Month
• 2012/10/03: TP:JR: Charts Reveal Drill, Baby, Drill Fails to Stop High Oil Prices
• 2012/10/03: Grist: Clean energy showdown in Arizona
• 2012/10/02: TreeHugger: New York Steps Back From the Fracking Abyss, For Now
• 2012/10/01: DeSmogBlog: Cuomo Resets New York Fracking Review, "Consigning Fracking To Oblivion"
• 2012/10/01: CSM: Is energy independence a fantasy?
  

  The BP disaster continues to twist US politics:

• 2012/10/05: DeSmogBlog: BP Settlement Deal Could Put Taxpayers On The Hook For Spill Costs
• 2012/10/05: EneNews: Newspaper: Giant deposits of BP's oil on or beneath Gulf floor - Devastating fallout of spill continues... ecological calamity
• 2012/10/04: EneNews: Coast Guard: 4-mile stretch of oil has appeared near BP's Macondo well in Gulf
• 2012/10/03: NOLA: Coast Guard investigating oil sheen at BP Deepwater Horizon disaster site
• 2012/10/05: IncidentNews: Mystery Sheen in Lease Block MC-252, September 2012
• 2012/10/06: EneNews: NOAA: Mystery sheen near BP's relief wells from Gulf disaster - Silvery streamers up to several miles long - "Crude Oil Likely" (map)
  

  So, do you want the vulture capitalist or the hopey-changey kill-list guy?

• 2012/10/03: DemNow: As Obama, Romney Hold First Debate, Behind the Secret GOP-Dem Effort to Shut Out Third Parties
  [...] The Obama and Romney campaigns have secretly negotiated a detailed contract that dictates many of the terms of the 2012 presidential debates. This includes who gets to participate, as well as the topics raised during the debates.
• 2012/10/06: ScienceInsider: At MIT, Romney and Obama Campaigns Debate Energy Policy
• 2012/10/06: NatureNB: Reps for Obama, Romney, debate energy and climate
• 2012/10/05: S&R: A quick, nonpartisan democracy lesson for our anonymous faux-patriot thugs
• 2012/10/05: SciAm:Obs: Obama and Romney Should Talk about Climate Change at Next Debate
• 2012/10/04: Guardian(UK):GG: The US presidential debates' illusion of political choice
  The issue is not what separates Romney and Obama, but how much they agree. This hidden consensus has to be exposed
• 2012/10/04: SciAm:PI: Should climate change have been on the agenda at last night's debate?
• 2012/10/04: SMandia: Obama, Romney, PBS Let Americans Down Big Time
• 2012/10/04: TP:JR: The Biggest (And Least Discussed) Lie Of The Debate? Romney's False Claim About Clean Energy Bankruptcies
• 2012/10/03: TP:JR: The Climate Silence Continues: Lehrer, Obama, And Romney Ignore Climate Change In First Debate
• 2012/10/04: TheHill:e2W: Climate change absent from first debate
• 2012/10/04: Grist: The first debate: A win for Romney, a nothingburger for climate and clean energy
• 2012/10/04: Grist: Fact-checking Romney's 'I like coal' statement
• 2012/10/03: TreeHugger: Democrats, Independents Begin Driving the Climate Wedge
• 2012/10/03: TreeHugger: Romney & Obama Clash Over Clean Energy in First Debate
• 2012/10/04: UCSUSA:B: Clean Energy Blurs Political Lines (Despite What You Hear on TV)
• 2012/10/03: OilChange: Big Oil spin vs. Reality in Tonight's Debate
• 2012/10/04: CSM: Romney zinger: Obama backs 'green' energy losers. Is he right?
• 2012/10/04: WSWS: Obama and Romney: A "debate" without real differences
• 2012/10/04: TP:JR: Avoiding Obama's Mistake, Senate Candidates Slam GOP Opponents Over Climate Denial
• 2012/10/04: CCurrents: Pro-Fossil Fuel Romney Backs Keystone XL Canada-US Oil Pipeline: "Game Over" For Climate [Polya]
• 2012/10/04: CJR: No debate about environment -- Hopes for questions about climate, public lands fall flat
• 2012/10/03: Grist: At the debate, listen for the climate silence
• 2012/10/03: Grist: What can climate hawks expect from the first presidential debate?
• 2012/10/03: DeSmogBlog: Top Romney Advisor Touts Coal, Fails To Mention His Role As Coal Lobbyist
• 2012/10/02: Guardian(UK): The 2012 election's only bipartisan consensus: not to talk climate change
• 2012/10/02: CDreams: Oops: WSJ Forgot to Tell Us Most of Its Op-Ed Writers Are Romney Advisers
• 2012/10/02: Grist: How Gov. Romney threw his climate plans into reverse
• 2012/10/01: CSW: Climate Silence
• 2012/10/01: BBerg: Global Warming Links Democrats, Independents Isolating Romney
• 2012/10/01: TP:JR: Flashback: Touting Government 'Financial Support' In 2005, Romney Called For Using 'A Lot Less Oil In This Country'
• 2012/10/01: TP:JR: As The Debates Approach, We Must Break The Candidates' Silence On Climate Change
  

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

• 2012/10/05: CSM: California gas prices surge: 20 cents overnight in some places
• 2012/10/05: BBerg: California Refiners Ration Gasoline as Prices Near Record [average $4.486/US gallon]
• 2012/10/02: GreenGrok: [Gasoline] Prices: How Low Can They Go?
• 2012/10/06: CSM: Gas prices in California now highest in the US
• 2012/10/05: CSM: Gas prices: Can the economy weather another rise to $4 gas?
• 2012/10/05: CalcRisk: Gasoline Prices surge in California due to Refinery Problems
• 2012/10/05: BBC: A sharp rise in fuel prices in California linked to state supply shortages has forced some petrol stations to close temporarily
  

  The Keystone XL saga rolls along:

• 2012/10/05: TreeHugger: Texas Farmer Arrested for Trespassing on Her Own Land Protesting Keystone XL
• 2012/10/05: CSM: Daryl Hannah makes 'Splash' with Texas arrest
• 2012/10/03: TreeHugger: Texas Homeowner Speaks Out About TransCanada Taking Her Land for Keystone XL Pipeline (Video)
• 2012/10/02: TreeHugger: Activist Locks Himself to the Ground to Stop Keystone XL Pipeline Construction
• 2012/10/02: CDreams: 'Intimidation, Threats, and Lawyers': The Great American Gas Fracking 'Land Grab'
• 2012/10/01: CDreams: Tar Sands Company Intensifies Fight Against 'Blockaders'
  As Tar Sands Blockade activists continue 8th day of direct action, TransCanada threatens protesters' safety Activists with Tar Sands Blockade are continuing their 8th day of direct action in an attempt to stop TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, and are now watching as the company's clear-cutting machinery threatens their safety.
• 2012/10/02: ICN: Police Confiscate Cameras of Observers at Keystone XL Blockade Action
• 2012/10/01: FDL: Police Confiscate Cameras of Observers at Tar Sands Blockade Action
• 2012/09/29: FuelFix: Ruling lets Keystone XL cross farm near Beaumont
  

  Is the Monnett saga really drawing to a close?

• 2012/10/04: CCP: Inquiry Finds No Proof That Federal Biologist Charles Monnett Falsified Data
• 2012/10/03: ERabett: Eli Writes
• 2012/10/02: TP:JR: How Fox News Smeared A Scientist Over Supposed 'Polar Bear Fraud'
• 2012/10/02: ERabett: Pass the alert, nae, sound the disaster klaxon far and wide
• 2012/10/01: MediaMatters: "Polar Bear Fraud": How Fox News Smeared A Scientist
• 2012/10/01: NatureNB: Cleared of misconduct, polar bear researcher is reprimanded for leaked emails
• 2012/10/01: CSM: Polar bear scientist reprimanded for improper release of government documents
  

  Winter Storms are to be named henceforth:

• 2012/10/02: WS: Why The Weather Channel is Naming Winter Storms
• 2012/10/02: Wunderground: Major U.S. Winter Storms to get names
  

  The GOP War on Women continues. See also:

• 2012/10/03: RawStory: Todd Akin stands by 2008 comment: Non-pregnant women are receiving abortions
• 2012/10/02: Guardian(UK): Sex: the missing term from the contraception and abortion debate
  Democrats call out the GOP's 'war on women' over birth control, but dare they whisper the idea of a sexually active woman?
• 2012/09/30: RBroughton: What the Republicans really believe about abortions
  

  The NorthWest coal export debate remains heated:

• 2012/10/05: BBerg:BNA: White House Intervenes in Dispute Over Plans To Export Coal to Asia Through Northwest
  

  Paul Broun makes his mark:

• 2012/10/07: GLaden: This is why Republicans are scary dangerous, and separation of church and state is so important
• 2012/10/07: PSinclair: Congressional Climate Denier: "I don't believe but the Earth's about 9000 years old"
• 2012/10/05: SciAm:Obs: House Science Member [Paul Broun (R-Georgia)] Says Earth is 9,000 years old
• 2012/10/06: JCMorton: U.S. congressman calls evolution, embryology "lies" from "pit of hell"
  

  The Obama chatter is nonstop:

• 2012/10/04: ArcticNews: 'Rising to Meet the Tide': A Letter to Obama on Climate Change by Gary Houser
  

  The actions of the Obama administration are being watched closely:

• 2012/10/04: ScienceInsider: Despite Tumult, NOAA's Lubchenco Would Like 4 More Years
• 2012/10/02: NatureN: The changing tides of government
  Jane Lubchenco, head of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, discusses her roller-coaster time in Washington DC.
• 2012/10/06: CSM: Study: EPA regulations squelch US coal industry
  A group of economists at the Brattle Group have just released a report that studies the impact of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) air regulations on coal fired power plants. The findings predict that between 59,000 and 77,000MW capacity of coal power plants will be forced to retire from operations over the next five years. This is 25,000MW more than predicted back in 2010.
• 2012/10/03: TP:JR: Why EPA Must Appeal A Court Ruling Against The Cross State Air Pollution Rule
• 2012/10/06: CBC: U.S. proposes ban on polar bear trade -- Vote on proposal set for March 2013 at CITES meeting in Thailand
  

  As for what is going on in Congress:

• 2012/10/06: DM:BA: The US Congress Anti-Science Committee
• 2012/10/06: TreeHugger: Law Makers Work to Set Arsenic Limits For Rice and Rice Containing Foods
• 2012/10/03: EarlyWarning: Partisanship on the Environment
• 2012/10/01: UCSUSA: House Plays Politics While Farm Bill Expires
  

  While in the UK:

• 2012/10/05: BBC: Power shortage risks by 2015, Ofgem warns
  Britain risks running out of energy generating capacity in the winter of 2015-16, according to the energy regulator Ofgem. Its report predicted that the amount of spare capacity could fall from 14% now to only 4% in three years. Ofgem said this would leave Britain relying more on imported gas, which would make price rises more likely.
• 2012/10/02: BBC: Antarctic and ocean research merger proposed by NERC
  Merging the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Southampton could harm research into climate change, a campaigner warns. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) proposes a merged centre with headquarters in Southampton. A former director of Friends of the Earth said it was the first step in cutting global warming research. NERC said the single body could tackle "the largest polar science challenges".
• 2012/10/06: BBC: Abortion limit reduction favoured by Jeremy Hunt
  Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said he would favour a change in the law to halve the limit on abortions from 24 weeks into a pregnancy to 12. His comments to the Times came after Women's Minister Maria Miller called for a 20-week limit. The home secretary said she would also "probably" back a change to 20 weeks but reiterated Number 10's view that there were no plans to change the law.
• 2012/10/06: al Jazeera: The legacy of 'The Great Storm'
  25 years after a devastating storm hit the UK we look back at the effect it had on weather forecasts and warnings.
• 2012/10/05: BBC: Decision looms on future for British polar research
  Press reports say the world famous British Antarctic Survey is doomed. A petition to save Britain's polar heritage does the rounds. Captain Scott must be turning in his icy grave.
• 2012/10/05: Guardian(UK): Ed Davey hints at 'flexible' carbon target for 2030
  Energy and climate secretary hints at possible compromise over controversial decarbonisation target
• 2012/10/03: Guardian(UK): New UK nuclear power station plans suffer setback
  Areva with the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group have walked away from the Horizon Nuclear Power project to build two reactors Plans for new nuclear power stations in the UK have suffered a setback as Chinese financial backing for two new reactors has failed to materialise, and a bid by French nuclear group Areva has not been submitted. In March, German utilities E.ON and RWE scrapped plans to build two new reactors at Wylfa in Wales and Oldbury in Gloucestershire, inviting bids for the project, called Horizon Nuclear Power, with a deadline last Friday. On Wednesday, French nuclear engineering group Areva told the Guardian that it had dropped its interest -- in partnership with the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group -- in bidding for Horizon.
• 2012/10/01: EurActiv: UK 'Green Deal' deal spurned by major retailers
  Flagship environmental scheme fails to win support of big names amid criticism it is too complex and may disadvantage the poor. The government's "green deal" scheme, intended to give householders a environmental makeover, launches on Monday without any of the country's large retailers signed up -- despite a promise that they would play a central role in offering the deal to consumers.
  [...]
  Under the scheme, households will be able to sign up for improvements such as insulation and renewable energy installation, paid for through loans that are paid back by additions to their energy bills. The loans are attached to the property, so future buyers will have to pay for past improvements, but the repayments should be offset by energy savings.
• 2012/09/30: Stoat: Axing the British Antarctic Survey would mean the end of Scott's legacy?
• 2012/10/01: Guardian(UK): Ignoring global warming is 'reckless' of the government, warn campaigners
  

  And in Europe:

• 2012/10/05: EurActiv: EU takes final step in adopting Energy Efficiency Directive
  EU ministers yesterday (4 October) placed the last piece of the 20-20-20 climate puzzle, agreed in 2007, by throwing their weight behind the EU's Energy Efficiency Directive.
• 2012/10/03: EurActiv: Draft EU law slaps F-gas ban on domestic fridges
• 2012/10/05: DerSpiegel: Fear of Fracking -- Germany Balks on Natural Gas Bonanza
  Using a method known as "fracking," Germany could exploit domestic sources to meet its natural gas needs for 20 years. But safety worries have prompted government authorities to refrain from granting the permits that companies need to use the controversial technique.
• 2012/10/02: DerSpiegel: The World From Berlin -- 'Electric Cars Are Far Too Expensive'
  The German government said last year it wanted to see 1 million electric cars on the road by 2020. But this week it conceded that the goal is probably out of reach. Media commentators argue that battery-powered cars are too expensive and don't have a long enough range to make them attractive to consumers.
• 2012/10/02: EUO: Leaked EU nuclear stress tests reveal hundreds of defects
  Hundreds of defects have been found throughout Europe's nuclear reactors and mostly in France, according to a EU stress test report leaked to the German and French media. The stress tests assess whether any of Europe's 143 licensed nuclear power plants can withstand extreme events such as earthquakes and terrorists attacks. The tests were introduced after the nuclear accident in Japan's Fukushima some 18 months ago. EU energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger is to present the final report and recommendations in the upcoming EU summit on 18 and 19 October.
• 2012/10/02: EurActiv: Brussels to launch shipping emissions monitoring system
• 2012/10/01: NatureNB: Spain plans fourth consecutive year of cuts to research budget
  

  Meanwhile in Australia:

• 2012/10/07: ABC(Au): Greens' plan to preserve biodiversity
• 2012/10/07: ABC(Au): Abbott 'fair game' despite public plea from wife
  Attorney-General Nicola Roxon says she will not stop attacking Opposition Leader Tony Abbott despite a rare public plea from his wife. Ms Roxon is one of several senior female Government ministers who have publicly stated Mr Abbott has a problem with women. On Friday, Mr Abbott's wife Margie went on a rare media blitz to condemn the comments and showcase her husband's soft side. Ms Roxon has told the ABC's Insiders program Mrs Abbott is entitled to defend her husband, but that does not mean his personal traits are not fair political game. She says Mr Abbott is vying for prime minister, not "husband of the year". "He seems to have an issue with capable women," she said. "My direct experience with him is he will turn his back on me when I speak in the parliament.
• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Solar plant work heats up with latest funding
  Victoria's Energy Minister has launched the second funding round for a new 1.5 megawatt solar power plant near Mildura.
• 2012/10/04: ABC(Au): Farmers fight proposed wind farm on Yorke Peninsula
• 2012/10/04: ABC(Au): Solar electricity plant sold in NT power play
  The Southern Hemisphere's largest tracking solar power plant at Alice Springs has been sold in a multi-million dollar deal. The Uterne power plant began operating just over a year ago. The one megawatt power station has more than 3,000 solar panels that move during the day to follow the path of the sun.
• 2012/10/03: PlanetJ: Roundup of RET review submissions
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au): Tasmanian farmer joins Climate Action Council
  Tasmanian poultry farmer and wind energy adviser Robert Nichols has been appointed to Tasmania's Climate Action Council.
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au): Urgent call for action to save Great Barrier Reef
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au): Key players no shows at electricity hearings
  The chairman of a senate committee says he is disappointed representatives from Western Australia's energy utilities did not attend its public hearings. The committee held hearings in Perth today as part of its inquiry into electricity prices across the country.
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au): Great Barrier Reef study 'a wakeup call'
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au): Burke pledges to do more for dying reef
  The Federal Government has promised to do more to protect the Great Barrier Reef after a report revealed that more than half of it had disappeared in the last 27 years.
• 2012/10/01: ABC(Au): Garnaut says salad days are over
  Economist, climate change adviser and former ambassador to China, Professor Ross Garnaut, discusses the likely effects on the Australian economy of slipping commodities prices, China's higher labour costs and less spectacular growth.
• 
  

  Regarding Julia's majority:

   

• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Slipper breaks down over harassment case
• 2012/10/04: ABC(Au): Slipper representing himself in Ashby case
  Speaker Peter Slipper is representing himself as his sexual harassment case with staffer James Ashby resumes in Sydney. The matter is back in the Federal Court after nine hours of mediation failed yesterday.
• 2012/10/03: ABC(Au): Slipper and Ashby's mediation fails
  [...] Mr Ashby is still suing his former boss for sexual harassment even though he has reached a settlement with the Commonwealth.
• 
  

  After years of drought and flooding, water usage planning is controversial and difficult:

   

• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Irrigators unfazed by Murray legal stoush threat
  Murray Valley United says its Riverland irrigators should not be concerned by opposition from the South Australian Government over the group's High Court challenge. The irrigators' group will argue that the Commonwealth Water Act is unconstitutional, which could make the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and the basin plan invalid. Premier Jay Weatherill announced yesterday that the State Government may intervene in the case, as it could stop action to protect the river.
• 2012/10/04: ABC(Au): Irrigators under pressure over Murray legal action
  An irrigators' group planning a High Court challenge to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan says it has been contacted by the South Australian Crown Solicitor's Office. The SA Government is considering whether to intervene against the irrigators' case. Murray Valley United represents about 500 irrigators in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. It has filed a writ of summons in the High Court arguing the 2007 Water Act is unconstitutional and could threaten the Basin plan. The SA Government says it appears the irrigators are trying to stop any action to protect the river.
• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Report sends 'clear message' for better basin plan
  The Australian Conservation Foundation says tri-partisan support for the modelling of higher volumes of water returns to the Murray-Darling Basin system is a positive sign. A Senate committee into rural and regional affairs released a report yesterday, endorsing the modelling of 3,200 gigalitres of returns to the environment. The committee found that changes to ensure the long-term health of the basin system are ultimately in the long-term interest of basin communities.
• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Miner to tap into water pipe extension
  A planned new water pipeline from Auburn in the Clare Valley to Port Wakefield is being extended to cater for an exploration project on Yorke Peninsula. Rex Minerals has reached an agreement with SA Water to deliver an extra two gigaltires a year through the pipeline.
• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Further delays urged for the Murray-Darling Basin plan
  A federal parliamentary committee investigating the Murray-Darling Basin plan has demanded a "please explain" from authorities and recommended the final plan be delayed until further information emerges.
• 2012/10/05: al Jazeera: Sea water use eases Australia's woes
  Desalination plant provides controversial solution to water scarcity in one of the world's driest countries.
• 2012/10/03: ABC(Au): River Murray showing signs of recovery
• 2012/10/01: ABC(Au): More water for Murray Cod
  In the states south-west, it's breeding time for the Murray Cod and this year they're getting a bit of extra help to get the juices flowing. Up to 225,000 megalitres of water has been made available to send down the Murrumbidgee River to create a more consistent river height during spawning.
• 2012/10/01: ABC(Au): Farmers sell off water to Federal Government
  Irrigators in the Riverina region of New South Wales are confident that they've made the right decision to sell off their water to the Federal Government. Arrangements have been completed for the deal to shut off flows to 35 farms. The water will be allocated to the environment, under an agreement that's taken several years of hard-fought negotiations.
• 
  

  While in the Indian subcontinent:

   

• 2012/10/05: IndiaTimes: MEA, MoEF team up against Montek on green pact with US
  New Delhi: Close on the heels of the controversy over the climate change chapter in the 12th five year plan, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has got into another row on the subject. This time over agreeing to ink a bilateral agreement with the US on Low Carbon Growth Strategy — a strict no-go area for India. The external affairs ministry and the environment ministry have opposed the move that could undercut India's stance on climate change. India has for long negotiated at the UN climate convention against low carbon growth pathways for developing countries, as accepting one automatically leads to a binding limit on the country's greenhouse gas emissions consequently imposing an internationally agreed roadmap for India to reduce dependence on fossil fuels without a parallel commitment for finance and technology from the developed world.
• 2012/10/05: al Jazeera: India pushes reforms to boost economy
  Government maintains focus on keeping momentum created by a first round of economic measures announced in September.
• 2012/10/05: CCurrents: Koodankulam Children Go Back To School
• 2012/10/05: CCurrents: Dear Sister! Fourth Letter From The Women of Idinthakarai
  

  And in China:

• 2012/10/02: al Jazeera: China marks National Day amid tensions [China pol]
  Festivities take place against backdrop of domestic political turbulence and territorial disputes in the East China Sea. China is celebrating its National Day just weeks before a once-in-a-decade handover of power within the ruling Communist Party. A dawn flag-raising ceremony in Tiananmen Square will start the 63rd National Day celebrations on Monday. Outgoing President Hu Jintao; Wen Jiabao, the current and outgoing prime minister; and Xi Jinping, the future president, will lay flowers at the Monument to the People's Heroes in Beijing. The festivities are also taking place against the backdrop of a scandal that has brought down powerful ruling party politician Bo Xilai. There are also tensions with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
• 
  

  While in Japan:

   

• 2012/10/02: Asahi: New Cabinet at odds over nation's future nuclear policy
  

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

• 2012/10/01: OilChange: World Statesman or Climate Criminal, Mr Harper?
• 2012/10/03: EmbassyMag: Behind the scenes of Canada's climate change diplomacy
• 2012/10/03: CBC: Provinces ill-equipped to fill endangered species gap
  Ecojustice study suggests provincial governments lack regimes to replace federal oversight Lawyer Devon Page, the executive director of Ecojustice Canada, holds a copy of a lawsuit announced last month against the federal government. Environmental groups are suing the government over the implementation of the Species at Risk Act along the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline route. Lawyer Devon Page, the executive director of Ecojustice Canada, holds a copy of a lawsuit announced last month against the federal government. Environmental groups are suing the government over the implementation of the Species at Risk Act along the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline route. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press) A new analysis suggests provincial governments are in no shape to protect endangered species if the federal government decides to take a step back. An examination by Ecojustice lawyers of laws to protect wildlife give four provinces failing grades — mainly because they have no formal regimes. No province scores higher than Ontario at a C-plus. The federal government gets a C-minus mainly because it has dragged its heels in many cases — sometimes delaying protection and recovery plans for years.
• 
  

  The CNOOC bid for Nexen has been approved by the shareholders. Now the ball is in Harper's court:

   

• 2012/10/06: TStar: China's Nexen bid calls for a public debate
• 2012/10/05: WpgFP: Canada alone will decide on Nexen: PM
  A $15-billion bid by China's state-owned offshore oil company for Canada's Nexen Inc. "raises a range of difficult policy questions," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday. But Harper says cautionary signals from the United States about the takeover bid will not be a factor in whether the deal ultimately gets the green light.
• 2012/10/04: G&M: Nexen decision a tipping point for Canada
  The decision on CNOOC 's proposed acquisition of Nexen will be a key litmus test on whether the government intends to "walk the talk" on diversification.
• 2012/10/04: TStar: Nexen takeover by China: Are we being naive or progressive?
• 2012/10/04: CBC: Federal NDP opposes Nexen takeover bid
• 2012/10/03: BBerg: Nexen Gains as Alberta Boosts Cnooc Bid: Corporate Canada
• 2012/10/04: ElizabethMay: The Nexen - CNOOC Deal & the Unasked Question
• 2012/10/02: CBC: Nexen sale to Chinese goes against public opinion, NDP says
  Commons motion up for debate today calls on Harper government to hold public consultations
• 2012/10/01: G&M: Nexen deal divides Canada's top executives
  The spreading unease about the proposed takeover of Nexen Inc. by Chinese energy explorer CNOOC Ltd. extends deeply into Canada's corner offices. In the most recent C-Suite survey of corporate executives, 50 per cent of respondents said they somewhat or strongly oppose the deal if it has no special conditions, while 42 per cent support it.
• 
  

  Speaking of China, it seems Harper has signed some treaty he hasn't bothered to release...:

   

• 2012/10/01: ElizabethMay: May To Request Emergency Debate on Canada-China Investment Deal [Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA)]
• 2012/10/05: TheCanadian: Harper's China Syndrome: PM in a Pickle Over Nexen Buyout, Trade Deal
• 2012/10/01: TheCanadian: Elizabeth May Raises Alarm in House Over Controversial Canada-China Trade Deal
  

  The Liberal party leadership race is on:

• 2012/10/04: TheCanadian: Why Justin Trudeau May be Better for BC than his Father Ever Was
  

  The battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline rages on:

• 2012/10/05: G&M: You heard it here: Northern Gateway's dead
  The Northern Gateway pipeline that Enbridge proposes to build from Alberta's bitumen oil to the Pacific coast of British Columbia is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Yes, regulatory hearings before the National Energy Board will continue until the NEB approves the project. And yes, Enbridge will keep pushing for it. And yes, the Harper government, which is so publicly committed to the project, will continue to extol its virtues as part of the need to get Canadian resources to Asia. But the project is dead. It has too many obstacles now, and there'll be more in the future.
• 2012/10/03: CBC: Enbridge ordered to expand cleanup on Kalamazoo River
  An estimated 3 million litres of oil [dilbit] spilled into the river in summer of 2010
• 2012/10/03: CBC: Northern Gateway strategic for Canada, Enbridge CEO says -- Al Monaco says pipeline opens access to Asia markets
• 2012/10/04: Tyee: Northern Gateway: A Pipeline Without a Seatbelt
  A pipeline engineer's warning about rupture risks facing Enbridge's project as currently planned.
• 2012/10/03: G&M: Enbridge says B.C. declined offer to discuss pipeline benefits
• 2012/09/30: Tyee: Cracks in the Pipeline System: Whistleblower Sounds Alarm over Flawed Weld Inspections
  Acclaimed energy issues journalist Andrew Nikiforuk keys off the revelations of former TransCanada engineer Evan Vokes to reveal the risks built into pipeline projects in harsh climates, and dangers posed by inadequate inspections of critical welds.
• 2012/10/02: TMoS: Would BC Sabotage the Enbridge Pipeline?
• 2012/10/01: CPW: Major Canadian Unions Endorse Mass Sit-in Against Tar Sands Pipelines and Tankers
  

  The IISD is offering suggestions:

• 2012/10/03: CBC: Emission guidelines need 'regulatory flexibility'
  [IISD] Think-tank tests 3 scenarios for anticipated regulations to meet federal targets An influential think-tank wants Ottawa to adopt a "regulatory flexibility" that incorporates elements of a cap-and-trade system when it drafts much-anticipated emissions regulations for the oil and gas industry. In a report released today, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a non-partisan Canadian think-tank, points out that this system is already being used in the government's light-duty and heavy-duty vehicle greenhouse gas emissions regulations released over the past two years.
• 
  

  And you were expecting?

   

• 2012/10/01: PostMedia: Pipeline impasse remains after Clark, Redford hold 'frosty' meeting
  Tensions escalated between British Columbia and Alberta Monday after premiers Christy Clark and Alison Redford held what both agreed was a very short and "frosty" meeting over the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
• 2012/10/01: CBC: Redford, Clark make little progress at 'frosty' meeting -- Alberta, B.C. premiers each say other needs to move on Northern Gateway project
  

  The ISA/PRV/IHN/Alpha virus in Canadian waters is potentially disastrous:

• 2012/09/28: CBC: Anti-salmon-farming activist wins B.C. court victory -- Don Staniford suggested eating farmed salmon was as dangerous as smoking
• 2012/09/28: TheCanadian: Salmon Activist Don Staniford Wins Big Victory in Defamation Case Over Norwegian Aquaculture Giant
  

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

• 2012/10/07: BCLSB: Tory Turmoil In Beautiful B.C.
• 2012/10/05: PostMedia: Ex-conservative vice-president joins liberals
  Ben Besler, a former vice-president of the B.C. Conservatives who led a movement from within to try to oust John Cummins as leader, has joined the B.C. Liberals.
• 2012/10/04: G&M: Need for Premier Clark to voice clear position on Northern Gateway pipeline
• 2012/10/02: TheCanadian: Rafe on Clark's Embarassing Antics in Alberta and Renewed Calls for Wolf Culls
• 2012/10/04: TheCanadian: US Discount LNG Deal with Asian Buyers Shocks Canadian Industry, Undermines Plans for Bigger Profits Abroad
• 2012/10/02: TheCanadian: Clark Raises Stakes with Alberta, Suggesting BC Could Withhold Electricity Required for Enbridge Pipeline if Demands Aren't Met
• 2012/10/02: TheCanadian: BC Liberal Floats Offshore Drilling Amid Enbridge Controversy, Dismissed by Premier
• 2012/10/02: CBC: B.C. Liberal MLA reopens debate on offshore oil exploration -- New Democrats call John Rustad's comments 'irresponsible'
  Despite the debate already raging between B.C. and Alberta over the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline, one backbench Liberal MLA wants to start a dialogue about offshore drilling in B.C. Nechako Lakes Liberal MLA John Rustad recently posted a message on Facebook about the merits of oil exploration. "With the debate raging around pipelines I'm sure there isn't much appetite for offshore oil and gas," he wrote. "However, if B.C. is ever going to become debt free, one day this is going to have to happen." Rustad wants to put the idea of oil exploration off B.C.'s coast on the table — despite the political consequences.
• 2012/09/30: TheCanadian: First Nations Ramping Up Battle on Pacific Trails Gas Pipeline
  

  Meanwhile in that Mechanical Mordor known as the tar sands:

• 2012/10/06: DeSmogBlog: Oil Industry Looks to Create "Lake District" from Open-Pit Mines and Toxic Tar Sands Waste
• 2012/10/03: TreeHugger: Alberta Tar Sands To Be Turned Into New Lakes District
• 2012/10/02: DeSmogBlog: First Nation Challenges Shell Canada's Jackpine Mine Expansion, Citing Constitutional Treaty Rights
• 2012/10/03: Tyee: 'Canada Is Being Outplayed' at Oil Wealth Game
  But we can win says economist Robyn Allan. Last in a series on Norway's petro-policies and lessons here. Why do we tolerate homelessness and poverty in Canada? Underfunding for our schools and health care system? Why is our government eliminating 20,000 public sector jobs in a supposed effort to balance the books? Imagine instead if Canada was a country capable of developing a national oil strategy similar to what has been achieved in Norway. This tiny nation enjoys full employment and enviable social programs, has no public debt, $600 billion in the bank, and remarkable public buy-in about their petroleum industry. Could we do it here? Do we have the guts to seize our economic destiny?
• 2012/10/02: CBC: Northern Alberta band challenges Jackpine oilsands proposal -- First Nation says Shell and Alberta government failed to consult with them
  A northern Alberta aboriginal band has filed a constitutional challenge of Shell Canada's proposed Jackpine oilsands mine expansion project, less than a month before hearings on the project are to begin.
• 2012/10/01: G&M: First nations band files treaty rights challenge against Shell
• 2012/10/01: Tyee: Band [Athabasca-Chipewyan First Nation] files constitutional challenge of Jackpine oilsands proposal
• 2012/10/02: OilChange: Different Voices Unite Against Tar Sands
  

  Oh what a surprise:

• 2012/10/04: CBC: Syncrude and Suncor cleared in bird death investigation
  Syncrude and Suncor will not be charged in connection with the death of more than 500 ducks who landed on tailings ponds near Fort McMurray, Alta., in October 2010.
• 
  

  And in Ontario:

   

• 2012/10/01: TreeHugger: Toronto Destroys an #OccupyGardens Free Food Garden Days Before Harvest
  [...] It seems impossible that nobody noticed the garden and gardeners tending to these heirloom plants for almost five months. That the garden was allowed to grow for all this time without being removed can be construed as permission. The destruction of the garden and the waste of food right before it was to be harvested is nothing short of malicious.
• 2012/10/01: G&M: Energy firms guaranteed revenue in sweetheart deals with Ontario
  The Ontario government has inked a string of sweetheart deals with private-sector energy companies, promising them guaranteed revenue regardless of how much electricity they produce and sell into the market.
• 
  

  While in la Belle Province:

   

• 2012/10/03: CBC: Quebec nuclear reactor shutdown will cost $1.8 billion -- Gentilly-2 plant near Trois-Rivières to be dismantled over 50 years
• 2012/10/05: G&M: Decision to close nuclear plant expected to cost Quebec $1.3-billion
  

  In the Maritimes:

• 2012/09/29: CBC: Solar program gets funding approval -- $545,000 grant means solar program should be up and running in a few months
  There's good news for Halifax's popular solar city program. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has approved the region's application for funding. That means the subsidies for homeowners to install solar technology should be available within a few months. Hundreds of people showed up for information sessions on Halifax's solar city program. Homeowners and solar energy businesses were excited by the proposal. But everything had been put on hold for a couple of years while the municipality looked for financial support. Finally, the green fund of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has come through.
• 
  

  As for miscellaneous Canadiana:

   

• 2012/09/30: G&M: Ottawa looks into hydrogen fuel cell technology for coast guard ships
  

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

• 2012/10/05: CCurrents: Manifesto For A Post-Growth Economy by James Gustave Speth
• 2012/10/04: CCurrents: The Commons As A Transformative Vision
• 2012/10/01: NYT:Economix: The Year of the Cooperative
• 2012/10/01: EnergyBulletin: How many people can the world really hold?
• 2012/10/02: CassandrasLegacy: Club of Rome: seeing the climate elephant in the room
• 2012/10/01: NatureN: Making growth sustainable -- Jeffrey Sachs discusses a new approach to solving sustainable-development problems
  

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

• 2012/10/04: SciAm:Obs: Free Birth Control Access Can Reduce Abortion Rate by More Than Half
• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Abortion ship refused entry to port
  Moroccan authorities in the port town of Smir have turned away a Dutch ship which offers women medical abortions. The campaign group Women On Waves provides abortions and advice from boats anchored in international waters off the coast of countries that have outlawed the practice. It has been sailing for 11 years and visited traditionally Catholic countries Spain, Portugal and Ireland at the invitation of local women's groups. Morocco was the first Muslim country the group planned to visit, but it has been blocked from entering the harbour.
• 2012/10/04: Guardian(UK): Abortion campaigners' boat turned away from Moroccan port
  Women on Waves, a Dutch activist group that offers advice and information, was refused access to enter the port of Smir
• 2012/10/05: RawStory: Study shows free birth control results in fewer abortions
• 2012/10/06: BBC: Abortion limit reduction favoured by [UK Health Secretary] Jeremy Hunt
• 2012/10/06: BBC: Abortion law: David Cameron has 'no plans' for new rules
• 2012/10/03: CCurrents: Oil And Population: A New Estimate
  

  How are we going to deal with this mess?

• 2012/10/04: ArcticNews: The Plan -- Facing up to climate change, repairing the system and looking forward to a bright future
  

  How do the media measure up?

• 2012/10/06: CBC: Stewart, O'Reilly rumble in 'refreshingly rude' debate -- Popularity of online-only event crashes server
• 2012/10/05: ERW: Media in US and UK give climate scepticism more voice
• 2012/10/05: TP:JR: American Newspapers Give Far More Coverage To Climate Deniers And Skeptics Than Other Countries
• 2012/10/05: Grist: How to make energy journalism better
• 2012/10/01: FAIR: When Nonsense Is Your Reality, Reality Naturally Seems to Have a Slant
• 2012/10/04: Guardian(UK): Newspapers in UK and US give climate sceptics most column inches
  Study into coverage of climate change also shows right-leaning papers less likely to challenge sceptical voices
• 2012/10/04: ERL: Cross-national comparison of the presence of climate scepticism in the print media in six countries, 2007-10 by James Painter & Teresa Ashe
• 2012/10/01: CJR: Press digs into anti-GMO study -- Reporters thwart scientists' attempt to prevent scrutiny
• 2012/10/02: CDreams: Oops: WSJ Forgot to Tell Us Most of Its Op-Ed Writers Are Romney Advisers
• 2012/10/01: KSJT: On the Media takes a look at science coverage
  

  Here is something for your library:

• 2012/09/06: YaleBooks: [Book Site] _The Carbon Crunch: How We're Getting Climate Change Wrong -- and How to Fix it_ by Dieter Helm
• 2012/10/04: AGU:MBW: [Book Review] _The Omnivore's Dilemma_ by Michael Pollan
• 2012/10/04: DeSmogBlog: From Kermit to Coal, Book Reveals How World's Top Brands Greenwash The Public
  [Book Review] _Greenwash: Big Brands and Carbon Scams_ by Guy Pearse
• 
  

  And for your film & video enjoyment:

   

• 2012/10/03: CChallenge: Must See Video on Arctic Sea Ice
• 2012/10/03: PSinclair: Climate Pumps Food Prices for World's Poor
• 2012/10/05: ASI: More vids
• 2012/10/05: DD: Video: Weathergirl Goes Rogue 2: Still Hot, Still Crazy
• 2012/10/01: Grist: Matt Damon brings the fracking fight to the big screen [with Promised Land]
  

  Meanwhile among the 'Sue the Bastards!' contingent:

• 2012/10/05: MWEN: Groups move to force Illinois utility to clean up coal ash ponds
  Four environmental groups have filed a legal action to force Midwest Generation to clean up groundwater that they say was polluted by leaking coal ash ponds at four of the company's Illinois power plants. In a complaint filed Thursday with the Illinois Pollution Control Board, the groups allege that poor disposal practices by Midwest Generation have allowed toxic pollutants into groundwater at disposal ponds at the Powerton Generating Station in Pekin, the Waukegan Generating Station in Waukegan, the Will County Generating Station in Romeoville, and the Joliet 29 Generating Station in Joliet.
• 2012/10/03: CJR: BPI's beef with ABC News -- 'Pink slime' defamation suit a long shot, media report
• 2012/10/05: BBerg: Occidental Awarded $1.77 Billion in Ecuador Contract Dispute
  A World Bank arbitration panel ordered Ecuador to pay Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY), the largest onshore crude producer in the continental U.S., $1.77 billion to settle a contract dispute. The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, known as ICSID, said Ecuador breached Los Angeles- based Occidental's contract by failing "to accord fair and equitable treatment," according to a document on ICSID's website. Ecuador's Attorney General Diego Garcia said today the South American country "categorically rejects" the decision and may seek its annulment, according to an e-mailed statement. Ecuador stripped Occidental of its oil concession in 2006 over an alleged contract breach, prompting the company's complaint to the panel. In May 2009, Ecuador's government said it would refuse to comply with the court if it ruled in favor of the company.
• 2012/10/02: ICN: Michigan Landowners Quietly Rack Up Court Victories in Pipeline [6B] Fight With Enbridge
• 2012/10/01: DemNow: In Shell Case, Will Supreme Court's View of Corporate Personhood Mean Liability for Crimes Abroad?
• 2012/10/03: al Jazeera: Obama sued for blocking wind farm project
  Chinese firm says US president "exceeded authority" by preventing purchase of four wind farms in Oregon.
• 2012/10/02: Guardian(UK): Chinese-owned Ralls sues Obama over blocked Oregon wind farm project
• 2012/10/02: BWeek: Chinese-Owned Company Sues Obama Over Wind Farm Project
• 2012/09/29: FuelFix: Ruling lets Keystone XL cross farm near Beaumont
  

  Wrestling over a new energy infrastructure continues unabated:

• 2012/10/03: SciAm:PI: Energy -- "We're Gonna Be Stretchin' You Out"
• 2012/10/04: CSM: Scientists identify massive geothermal hotspot in Utah
• 2012/10/01: DStrahan: Liquid air: the birth of the nitrogen economy
• 2012/10/04: TreeHugger: Clean Energy Investment Falls to 2009 Levels
• 2012/10/05: BBC: Power shortage risks by 2015, Ofgem warns
• 2012/10/05: PSinclair: A Success Unimagined
• 2012/10/04: EnergyBulletin: The energy-water nexus by Tom Murphy
• 2012/10/01: TP:JR: Can A New 'Green' Utility Break Into Georgia's Power Market?
• 2012/10/01: TP:JR: Debunking The Supposed Decline In Clean Energy
  

  What do you have in energy comparisons and transitions?

• 2012/09/30: RI: Energy transition: We need to do it fast and we're way behind
• 2012/09/30: EnergyBulletin: Energy transition: We need to do it fast and we're way behind
  

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

• 2012/10/04: NatureN: Is fracking behind contamination in Wyoming groundwater?
• 2012/10/03: BizInsider: The Entire Oil And Gas Industry Is Watching A Tiny Town In Wyoming
  Most scientists have long maintained it was highly unlikely that chemicals pumped into the ground for fracking gas could move all the way up through bedrock and into the water table. But that appears to be exactly what has happened underneath Pavilion, Wyoming, population 213.
• 2012/10/05: DeSmogBlog: New York Farmers Sound Off On Cuomo's Decision To Delay Fracking
• 2012/10/04: USGS: USGS Releases First Assessment of Shale Gas Resources in the Utica Shale: 38 trillion cubic feet
• 2012/10/05: DerSpiegel: Fear of Fracking -- Germany Balks on Natural Gas Bonanza
  Using a method known as "fracking," Germany could exploit domestic sources to meet its natural gas needs for 20 years. But safety worries have prompted government authorities to refrain from granting the permits that companies need to use the controversial technique.
• 2012/10/05: EnergyBulletin: Heroic Endeavor: NRDC Community Fracking Defense Project
• 2012/10/02: BBerg: Cabot's Methodology Links Tainted Water Wells to Gas Fracking
  Methane in two Pennsylvania water wells has a chemical fingerprint that links it to natural gas produced by hydraulic fracturing, evidence that such drilling can pollute drinking water. The data, collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are significant because the composition of the gas --its isotopic signature -- falls into a range Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) had identified as that of the Marcellus Shale, which it tapped through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
• 2012/10/02: CSM: South Africa OKs fracking for natural gas
• 2012/10/03: BBerg: Penn State Faculty Snub of Fracking Study Ends Research
  A natural-gas driller's group has canceled a Pennsylvania State University study of hydraulic fracturing after some faculty members balked at the project that had drawn criticism for being slanted toward industry. The Marcellus Shale Coalition, which paid more than $146,000 for three previous studies, ended this year's report after work had started, said Kathryn Klaber, coalition president.
• 2012/10/02: Reuters: The casualties of Chesapeake's "land grab" across America
• 2012/10/02: TreeHugger: New York Steps Back From the Fracking Abyss, For Now
• 2012/09/20: NPR: New Report Aims to Hit Fracking Right in the Pocketbook
  It's nothing new to hear environmental groups raise concerns over the health dangers of hydraulic fracturing - that's all in a days work. But a new report from Environment Texas questions one aspect of fracking that rarely comes under scrutiny: its supposed economic benefit. "The Costs of Fracking" collects data from academic and government studies to paint a picture of an industry that may be a bigger drain on state tax money than previously thought. The report looks at things like damage to roads, increased cost for water infrastructure projects, and drilling's impact on property values in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. "Truck traffic to bring water to a single fracking site does as much damage to roads as 3.5 million cars," Environment Texas director Luke Metzger tells StateImpact Texas. "So as a result the state of Texas has been forced to approve $40 million to repair roads here in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Barnett Shale region."
• 2012/10/01: DeSmogBlog: USGS Fracking Study Confirms Methane Contamination of Drinking Water in Pavillion, Wyoming
• 2012/10/01: DeSmogBlog: Cuomo Resets New York Fracking Review, "Consigning Fracking To Oblivion"
• 2012/09/29: PressConnects: Hydrofracking: It has polarized voters and may decide the election
  

  On the coal front:

• 2012/10/06: WSWS: New Zealand state coalminer axes hundreds of jobs
  New Zealand's state-owned coal producer Solid Energy announced on September 24 it will axe a quarter of its workforce, about 450 people, because of the collapse of global coal prices.
• 2012/09/30: SST: One less ugliness
  

  On the gas and oil front:

• 2012/10/05: BBerg: Closing oil prices Friday
  OIL (US$/bbl)
  Nymex Crude Future...89.88
  Dated Brent Spot....112.26
  WTI Cushing Spot.....89.88
• 2012/10/06: BBerg: Saudi Arabia to Lead $740 Billion Oil Spending Through 2017
  Oil producers in the Middle East and North Africa plan to invest $740 billion on energy projects in the next five years, led by Saudi Arabia, according to Arab Petroleum Investments Corp.
• 2012/10/06: NBF: Michael Filloon Addresses Bakken Oil Production
• 2012/10/06: NBF: Glut of Solar Panels could cost China $18 billion
• 2012/10/06: NBF: SolarCity Files $201 Million IPO and has been helped by the Solar Panel Glut
• 2012/10/05: EnergyBulletin: The new "Golden Age of Oil" that wasn't by Michael T. Klare
• 2012/10/04: CCurrents: The New "Golden Age Of Oil" That Wasn't by Michael T. Klare
• 2012/10/04: EurActiv: Greece sits on huge offshore gas reserve, study says
  Offshore natural gas could dramatically change Greece's fortunes, should early estimates of €464 billion worth of reserves be confirmed, according to a study presented to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and seen by Reuters.
• 2012/10/03: OilChange: Murder is Bad - Even in Nigeria
• 2012/10/04: TreeHugger: Super Absorbent Material for Oil Spill Cleanup Demonstrated
• 2012/10/01: GreenGrok: Oodles of Nurdles Not So Good
• 2012/10/02: EnergyBulletin: Hofmeister: A difficult decade ahead for oil prices and supplies by Robert Rapier
• 2012/10/02: OilDrum: The Cold Facts About a Hot Commodity: LNG
  

  Regarding oil and the economy:

• 2012/10/07: OilDrum: Can an Economy Learn to Live with Increasingly High Oil Prices?
• 2012/10/06: OilDrum: Thresholds in the Economic Effects of Oil Prices by James Hamilton
• 2012/10/06: EnergyBulletin: Will $4/gallon gas prices scuttle Obama and the economy? by James Hamilton
• 2012/10/03: EnergyBulletin: High-priced fuel syndrome
• 2012/10/01: EnergyBulletin: How much oil growth do we need to support world GDP growth?
  

  And in pipeline news:

• 2012/10/03: CBC: Enbridge ordered to expand cleanup on Kalamazoo River
  An estimated 3 million litres of oil [dilbit] spilled into the river in summer of 2010
• 2012/10/05: CBC: Alaska LNG pipeline to cost $65B or more
• 2012/09/30: Tyee: Cracks in the Pipeline System: Whistleblower Sounds Alarm over Flawed Weld Inspections
  

  Yes we have a peak oil sighting:

• 2012/10/04: EnergyBulletin: The peak oil crisis: global dynamics
  

  Biofuel bickering abounds:

• 2012/10/02: CCurrents: All Biofuels Are Not Green
  

  The answer my friend...:

• 2012/10/05: BBC: Donald Trump has launched another attack on plans for a wind farm off the coast of his Aberdeenshire golf course
• 2012/10/04: TreeHugger: New Scalable Wind Turbine Said to be 'Urban Tolerant'
• 2012/10/03: TreeHugger: Planned 7MW Offshore Wind Turbine Just Got Bigger [to 8MW]
• 2012/10/02: TreeHugger: Wind is the Cheapest Power Source in the World, Report Says
• 2012/10/02: CCurrents: Wind Energy Can Meet Global Demands Without Damaging The Climate
• 2012/10/01: CCurrents: Wind Power Drives Initiatives And Investments
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au): Academic talks up wind energy potential
  [...] Professor of Environmental Mathematics at the University of South Australia, John Boland, said projected wind farm projects would add a further 2,000 megawatts to the SA power grid.
• 
  

  Meanwhile among the solar aficionados:

   

• 2012/10/04: TreeHugger: Improved Black Silicon Lets Conventional Solar Cells Harness Infrared Light
• 2012/10/04: NYT: Glut of Solar Panels Poses a New Threat to China
• 2012/10/02: CCurrents: Solar Energy Market Turning Attractive
  

  The nuclear energy controversy continues:

• 2012/10/05: CCurrents: All Nuclear Reactors In The EU Need Safety Improvements
• 2012/10/05: EurActiv: Ukraine nuclear fuel plant to boost energy security
  Russia and Ukraine began yesterday (4 October) the construction on a nuclear fuel plant. Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said the plant will contribute to the country's energy independence and experts commented that the new facility was good news for East European countries with Russia-built nuclear reactors.
• 2012/10/05: NatureNB: Hundreds of safety issues found at European nuclear plants
• 2012/10/04: APR: New October 4 press release: SCE on San Onofre Unit 2 restart
• 2012/10/04: EUO: EU nuclear reactors fall short on safety
• 2012/10/03: E&EM: Triple blow hits UK nuclear revival
• 2012/10/04: SwissInfo: Swiss nuclear power stations do well in tests
  Switzerland's nuclear power stations did well in stress tests ordered by the European Union, although hydrogen management at the Leibstadt plant could be improved, the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) said on Thursday. The EU report called for improvements in most EU nuclear power stations, but did not make any recommendations about the Swiss plants, since Switzerland is not an EU member. However, ENSI said that a comparison of the results of the stress test shows that the stations in Mühleberg, Beznau and Gösgen met all the critical points mentioned in the report.
• 2012/10/03: Guardian(UK): New UK nuclear power station plans suffer setback
• 2012/10/02: CCurrents: Nuclear Power Plants In South Asia Face Tsunami Risk, Say Scientists
• 2012/10/01: DemNow: Virginia Residents Fight Back Against Nuclear Industry Effort to Lift Ban on Uranium Mining
• 2012/10/02: BBC: 'Hundreds of problems' at EU nuclear plants
  Hundreds of problems have been found at European nuclear plants that would cost 25bn euros (£20bn) to fix, says a leaked draft report. The report, commissioned after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, aimed to see how Europe's nuclear power stations would cope during extreme emergencies. The final report is to be published on Thursday. The draft says nearly all the EU's 143 nuclear plants need improving.
• 2012/10/02: EurActiv: Nuclear sector needs major safety investment, report says
  Europe's nuclear reactors need investment of E10 billion to E25 billion, a draft Commission report says following a safety review designed to avoid a repeat of the Fukushima disaster. The report is expected to be finalised by Thursday (4 October) and debated by EU ministers later this month.
• 2012/10/02: EUO: Leaked EU nuclear stress tests reveal hundreds of defects
  Hundreds of defects have been found throughout Europe's nuclear reactors and mostly in France, according to a EU stress test report leaked to the German and French media. The stress tests assess whether any of Europe's 143 licensed nuclear power plants can withstand extreme events such as earthquakes and terrorists attacks. The tests were introduced after the nuclear accident in Japan's Fukushima some 18 months ago. EU energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger is to present the final report and recommendations in the upcoming EU summit on 18 and 19 October.
• 2012/10/01: NewsObserver: Duke Energy nuclear plant repairs could hit $3.4 billion
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au): S Korea shuts down malfunctioning nuclear reactors
  South Korea has shut down two nuclear reactors at separate plants after apparent malfunctions. The government is reassuring people there is no threat of a radiation leak.
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au): Work resumes on Japanese nuclear reactor
  A Japanese power firm has resumed construction of an atomic reactor, despite government plans to phase out nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. The reactor - 650 kilometres north of Tokyo - is being built by the J-Power company which had planned to have it operational in two years' time. The company says it has now resumed construction of the reactor which was halted work after the Fukushima meltdowns.
• 
  

  Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

   

• 2012/10/05: ABC(Au): Waste dump to top agenda at anti-nuclear forum
  More than 100 anti-nuclear activists from around the country are gathering in Alice Springs for the annual conference of the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance. Nat Wasley from the Alliance says one of the big issues that will be discussed is the proposed nuclear dump at Muckaty Station near Tennant Creek.
• 2012/10/01: TStar: Nuclear waste: bury it deep, say the planners
  Don't expect the cut and thrust of debate when nuclear waste planners gather to discuss what to do with the world's tonnes of radioactive spent fuel. That argument is over, an international conference heard Monday. We have to bury it deep, delegates were told. And we have to do it now. "There is no alternative to geological disposal," bluntly declared Luis Echavarri, of the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency.
• 
  

  More people are talking about the electrical grid:

   

• 2012/10/03: SP: Designing the grid for renewables
  

  And then there is the matter of efficiency & conservation:

• 2012/10/04: TreeHugger: Build Your Own Energy-Efficient LED Lamp
• 2012/09/: MakeProjects: Little Big Lamp
• 2012/10/05: TreeHugger: The 40 Year Lightbulb: Firefly LED Lights Cut Energy Costs 90%
  

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

• 2012/10/05: TreeHugger: Electric Cars Only as Green as the Electricity Powering Them, Another Study Says
• 2012/10/04: BBC: Electric cars 'pose environmental threat'
  Electric cars might pollute much more than petrol or diesel-powered cars, according to new research. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology study found greenhouse gas emissions rose dramatically if coal was used to produce the electricity.
• 2012/10/03: CSM: The numbers conundrum for Tesla's electric car 'Superchargers'
• 2012/10/02: NYT: Why Your Car Isn't Electric
• 2012/10/05: Guardian(UK): Are electric cars bad for the environment?
• 2012/10/03: AutoBG: Smart ForTwo Electric Drive will be cheapest EV at $25,000
• 2012/09/30: AutoBG: Hyundai fuel cell chief says EV makers jumped the gun
  

  As for Energy Storage:

• 2012/10/05: TreeHugger: Sugar May be the Key to Cheaper, Better Batteries
• 2012/10/03: TreeHugger: Frozen Air Batteries Could Store Wind Energy for Peak Demand
• 2012/10/01: AutoBG: EnerDel still in battery business, now working with Purdue on li-ion research
• 2012/10/02: TMoS: A Huge Breakthrough for Renewable Energy
• 2012/10/01: BBC: Liquid air 'offers energy storage hope'
  Turning air into liquid may offer a solution to one of the great challenges in engineering - how to store energy. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers says liquid air can compete with batteries and hydrogen to store excess energy generated from renewables. IMechE says "wrong-time" electricity generated by wind farms at night can be used to chill air to a cryogenic state at a distant location.
• 
  

  Meanwhile in the greenwashing chronicles:

   

• 2012/10/02: JEB: Greenwash
• 2012/10/03: ABC(Au):TDU: Environmental absolution one greenwash at a time
  Far from representing a great social movement, Earth Hour is an opportunity for the most culpable to absolve themselves, writes Guy Pearse.
• 
  

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

   

• 2012/10/05: TP:JR: October 5 News...
• 2012/10/04: TP:JR: October 4 News...
• 2012/10/03: TP:JR: October 3 News...
• 2012/10/02: TP:JR: October 2 News...
• 2012/10/01: TP:JR: October 1 News...
  

  Other (weekly) lists:

• 2012/10/07: SkS: 2012 SkS Weekly News Round-Up #4 by John Hartz
• 2012/10/02: BPA: Agriculture News
  

  The carbon lobby are up to the usual:

• 2012/10/05: WtD: Genesis of the watermelon myth: how right-wing popularism shaped climate scepticism for the past two decades
• 2012/10/05: UCSUSA:B: Fact Check: Koch-Funded Group Misleads Michigan Voters on Clean Energy
• 2012/10/05: DD: Climate-change denial getting harder to defend, but 'skeptics' keep shifting their arguments
• 2012/10/04: Bundanga: Was I prophetic? What is The Auditor hiding?
• 2012/10/04: WtD: Climate sceptics versus the enemies within: conspiracy culture, right wing popularism and the art of counter-subversion (Part 1)
• 2012/10/04: Stoat: WUWT: taking incompetence to a whole new level
• 2012/10/04: Stoat: Death of a salesman
• 2012/10/03: Bundanga: How to talk to a science denier, and why
• 2012/10/01: Stoat: Attacked!
• 2012/10/01: UKISS: What Utter Woeful Tripe
• 2012/10/01: TP:JR: Debunking The Supposed Decline In Clean Energy
  

  This week in intimidation:

• 2012/09/24: UCSUSA: [link to 881k pdf] Science in an Age of Scrutiny -- How Scientists Can Respond to Criticism and Personal Attacks
  

  As for climate miscellanea:

• 2012/10/04: 350orBust: David Suzuki & Jeff Rubin Address Our Economy's Disconnect With Reality
• 2012/10/04: al Jazeera: The first snow storm of the season
  The US and Canada will both see plenty of snow in the upcoming days which may prove to be both beautiful and dangerous
• 2012/10/04: LoE: 20 years of unsustainable development
• 2012/10/03: Maribo: Search trends show more interest in the Pacific garbage patch than other ocean threats
• 2012/10/05: Grist: Does early snow disprove global warming?
• 2012/10/02: ABC(Au):TDU: Why sustainability is bad for the environment
• 2012/10/05: TheConversation: No, you're not entitled to your opinion - You are only entitled to what you can argue for
• 2012/10/02: Grist: Fires, droughts focus climate - but will we seize the moment?
• 2012/10/02: Grist: DJ Spooky wants to remix the climate fight
• 2012/10/01: TP:JR: Irony Alert: Postal Service's New 'Forever' Stamp Is Shrinking Alaskan Glacier!
  

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

• Surface Temperatures Benchmarking and Assessment
• ISTI: International Surface Temperature Initiative
• Knight Science Journalism Tracker [note COA]
• Murder is Bad - Even in Nigeria
• Oceana
• NOAA:ERD: Incident News
• IETA: International Emissions Trading Association
• Sustainable Energy For All
• Science in Public
• Wiki: Bakken formation [Bakken oil shale]
• ForestWatchers
• FAO Cereal Supply and Demand Brief
• Wiki: Progress (history)
• SRMGI: Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative
• Salmon Are Sacred - Calling the Wild Salmon People
• Super Heroes 4 Salmon
• NOAA: Arctic Report Card

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.

"Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we've been ignorant of their value." -Buckminster Fuller

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