16
April 2010 - ClimateCodeRedblog In an Australia Day
speech this year, prime minister Rudd evoked the "two great spirits,
that of the can-do, that of the fair go, (which) essentially hold
together the narrative of our nation" and "this great... ennobling
attitude of Australians where we have the sense and the spirit of the
fair go etched deeply into the Australian soul". But are those attitudes
simply to be lauded in others when the nationalist "spirit" peaks on
ceremonial occasions, or they should they inform our national leadership
in facing global warming, the great challenge of our time? read
more... Climate change media to 21 April 2010 PICKS OF THE WEEK ••••••• ••••• Potential Anthropogenic
Tipping Elements in the Earth System ••••• Copenhagen emissions
targets so weak that the world is ‘in peril’ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7104776.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178 Ben Webster, Times Online, April 21, 2010 The national pledges on cutting emissions made
under the Copenhagen Accord are so weak that they have left the world
“in dire peril” from rising temperatures, according to a leading
scientific research institute. ••••• Evo Morales' message to
grassroots climate talks – planet or death Andres Schipani, guardian.co.uk, 21 April 2010 Bolivia's president opened the inaugural
international 'people's conference' at Cochabamba, with delegates from
125 nations ••••• Ice cap thaw may awaken
Icelandic volcanoes Alister Doyle, Reuters, 16 April 2010 A thaw of Iceland's ice caps in coming decades
caused by climate change may trigger more volcanic eruptions by removing
a vast weight and freeing magma from deep below ground, scientists said
on Friday. AND Planes or volcano? What's emitting the most
CO2? AND Behind all that ash, emissions clear AND Wake-up call of volcano disruption AND Volcano shows our lack of sustainability AND Iceland volcano gives warming world chance
to debunk climate sceptic myths ••••• Aviation is one of the
weakest links in our overstretched system George Monbiot, SMH, 21 April 2010 Man proposes; nature disposes. We are seldom
more vulnerable than when we feel insulated. The miracle of flight
protected us from gravity, atmosphere, culture, geography. It made
everywhere feel local, interchangeable. Nature interjects, and we
encounter the reality of thousands of kilometres of separation. ENERGY&INNOVATION-------------- A Clean Energy Competitiveness Strategy for
America Jesse Jenkins and Devon Swezey, Breakthrough
blog, 15 April 210 Current climate legislation in Congress, with
its low price on carbon, ineffective renewable electricity standard, and
collection of efficiency regulations, will not be enough for the United
States to catch up to countries like China in building the clean energy
industries of the future. Without a clean energy competitiveness
strategy that can competed with those implemented around the world,
America will lose out on one of the greatest economic opportunities of
the 21st century. Solar Power in Ontario Could Produce Almost
as Much Power as All U.S. Nuclear Reactors, Studies Find Science Daily, 16 April 2010 Solar power in southeastern Ontario has the
potential to produce almost the same amount of power as all the nuclear
reactors in the United States, according to two studies conducted by the
Queen's University Applied Sustainability Research Group located in
Kingston, Canada. Carbon offsets: Green project offends Indian
farmers who lose land to windmills Ben Arnoldy, SC Monitor, April 20, 2010 A Dutch bank that bought carbon offsets to
neutralize its carbon footprint was unaware that poor Indian farmers had
been aggrieved by the green project. POLITICS&POLICY--------------- The environment: not an election issue George Monbiot, guardian.co.uk, 15 April 2010 As the three main political parties focus on
the economy, green issues have hardly featured in the election debate Australia Looking Petty on Climate Financing Greenlines, SMH, April 16, 2010 Tongues are wagging around the diplomatic
community in Canberra — why is Australia still missing on international
climate change financing? EcoEquity's Tom Athanasiou on the Climate
Justice Movement Yasmine Ryan, TakePart, 16 April 2010 SCIENCE&IMPACTS----------------- Global temperatures hit hottest March on
record: US agency AFP, 15 April 2010 Global temperatures fueled by El Nino seasonal
warming last month chalked up the hottest March on record, US weather
monitors reported Thursday. Dry Regions Becoming Drier: Ocean Salinities
Show an Intensified Water Cycle ScienceDaily, 18 April 2010 The stronger water cycle means arid regions
have become drier and high rainfall regions wetter as atmospheric
temperature increases. ls this the end of migration? Alasdair Fotheringham, Independent, 18 April
2010 Climate
change is affecting bird behaviour at a staggering rate. Some 20
billion have already changed their flight plans Global warming reduces grain output Bloomberg, 19 April 2010 Rising temperatures and inadequate rainfall are
causing grain output to stagnate in India, threatening food security in
the world’s second-most populous nation, according to a weather
scientist. Geologists Drill into Antarctica and Find
Troubling Signs for Ice Sheets' Future Clay Farris Naff, Scientific American, April
19, 2010, New sediment cores from an Antarctic research
drilling program suggest that the southernmost continent has had a more
dynamic history than previously suspected The Future History of the Arctic by Charles
Emmerson; After the Ice by Alun Anderson; True North by Gavin Francis Robin McKie, The Observer, 18 April 2010 The Arctic's future is vital to the human race,
as a clutch of new books suggests Link Between Solar Activity and the UK's
Cold Winters ScienceDaily, 19 April 2010 A link between low solar activity and jet
streams over the Atlantic could explain why, despite global warming
trends, people in regions North East of the Atlantic Ocean might need to
brace themselves for more frequent cold winters in years to come. PSYCHOLOGY, STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATIONS ------------- Cracking Big Coal Robert S. Eshelman, The Nation, May 3, 2010 Scott Parkin, an organizer at the San
Francisco-based Rainforest Action Network (RAN), is a straight-talking,
get-things-done kind of guy, more at ease toiling behind the scenes in
environmental struggles than serving as a personification of them. Climate change media to 7 April 2010 PICKS OF THE WEEK ••••••• ••••• Climate change scepticism -
its sources and strategies ABC Science Show, 3 April 2010 Excerpts from a symposium at the recent
American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Diego
which looks at the sources and strategies of scepticism to climate
change science. ••••• The making of a sea-level story http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2010/04/science-story-the-making-of-a-sea-level-study/ Martin Vermeer, RealClimate, 6 April 2010 This post is not so much about the science as
about the process, and about how a geodesist from Helsinki and an
oceanographer from Potsdam, who to this day have never even met, came to
write, to the surprise of both of us, a joint paper on sea level rise. AND A new view on sea level rise Stefan Rahmstorf, Nature Reports Climate
Change, 6 April 2010 Has the IPCC underestimated the risk of sea
level rise? ••••• The war against carbon starts now Joseph Romm, Climate progress, 5 April 2010 Part 1: The Carbon War Room starts to bust
barriers in shipping ••••• Approved: power plant with emissions equal to 2.9m cars Louise Hall, SMH, 7 April 2010 The state government has approved a new power
station at Lithgow despite an independent report warning it would
increase the state's greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 2.9
million cars. AND.. an oldie but a real goodie... ••••• Kim Stanley Robinson On Google and Climate Change ENERGY&INNOVATION-------------- South Africa is becoming a high-carbon zone
to attract foreign investment Joss Garman, guardian.co.uk, 1 April 2010 With its proposed Medupi power station, South
Africa is an industrialised global climate player and major polluter. Plastic Electronics Could Slash the Cost of
Solar Panels ScienceDaily, 3 April 2010 Apr. 3, 2010 A new technique developed by Princeton
University engineers for producing electricity-conducting plastics could
dramatically lower the cost of manufacturing solar panels. Utilities Learning to Mind the Gap Between
Smart Meters, Consumers Katherine Ling, Greenwire, April 6, 2010 Just as the bamboo-munching bears put a cute
face on the campaign for endangered species, the digital devices known
as smart meters have been hailed by experts as the interface to
educating consumers about their electricity use as the nation aims to
overhaul its grid and energy use. Slashed Subsidies Send Shivers Through
European Solar Industry Greenwire/NYT, 31 March 2010 Generous government subsidies made cloudy,
chilly Germany the world's biggest market for solar power. New Path to Solar Energy Via Solid-State
Photovoltaics ScienceDaily, 1 April 2010 A newly discovered path for the conversion of
sunlight to electricity could brighten the future for photovoltaic
technology. Pollution index reveals the hidden costs of
electricity Jennie Curtin, the Age, 3 April 2010 The price Australia pays for its reliance on
coal-fired electricity is highlighted by the release of the National
Pollutants Inventory. East Coast Winds Would Support a Stable
Power Grid Phil Berardelli, Science, April 5, 2010 Individual wind turbines and even whole wind
farms remain at the mercy of local weather for how much electricity they
can generate. But researchers have confirmed that linking up such farms
along the entire U.S. East Coast could provide a surprisingly
consistent source of power. In fact, such a setup could someday replace
much of the region's existing generating capacity, which is based on
coal, natural gas, nuclear reactors, and oil. POLITICS&POLICY---------------- Rising Tide protesters case against Baywater
power station clears court hurdle Jukieanne Strachan, The Herald, 27 March 2010 Environmentalists have cleared the first hurdle
in their Land and Environment Court battle against Macquarie
Generation. Dirty
Coal Party (video) UK pushes for twin-track deal on climate
change Michael McCarthy, The Independent, 1 April 2010 More than half the world's solar energy is
produced in Germany, where the solar industry employs 80,000 people,
even though the country sees just an hour's worth of sun on an average
December day and gets half the annual sunshine of Arizona. But the party
is about to end. AND U.N. climate talks resume, scant chance of
2010 deal Building a Green Economy Paul Krugman, NY Times, 5 April 2010 If you listen to climate scientists — and
despite the relentless campaign to discredit their work, you should — it
is long past time to do something about emissions of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases. Firm Accused Of Carbon Scam May Face Legal
Claims David Fogarty, Planet ark, 29 March 2010 A firm accused of defrauding Australian
investors of A$3.5 million ($3.2 million) in a carbon investment scam
and blacklisted by the nation's securities regulator is still operating
and may face legal claims. SCIENCE&IMPACTS----------------- Climategate: The lion that squeaked Clive Hamilton, ABC Unleashed, 1 April 2010 It was the "final nail in the coffin" of global
warming science, declared James Delingpole of London's Daily Telegraph,
the moment you should start dumping shares in renewable energy
companies. How methane leaks through permafrost Recently a team from Russia, the US, and Sweden
found that the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS) is releasing around 8
teragrams of methane from subsea sediments each year. Now team member
Natalia Shakhova and colleague Dmitry Nicolsky have come up with a new
model for the Dmitry Laptev Strait region of the shelf to explain
exactly how the methane is escaping through the permafrost layer above
it. Arctic thaw frees overlooked greenhouse gas:
study Reuters, 5 April 2010 Thawing permafrost can release nitrous oxide,
also known as laughing gas, a contributor to climate change that has
been largely overlooked in the Arctic, a study showed on Sunday. Ice plumbing is protecting Greenland from
warm summers Anil Ananthaswamy, New Scientist, 1 April 2010 If some of the spectacular calving of ice
shelves in Antarctica is down to global warming, then why did we not see
break-ups on the same scale in Greenland, which is much warmer? It
turns out that, counter-intuitively, it's because Greenland is warmer. AND Accelerated ice loss from Greenland Drought turns southern China into arid plain Jonathan Watts, guardian.co.uk, 7 April 2010 The government has embarked on a massive
rain-making operation, firing thousands of cloud-seeding rockets into
the sky PSYCHOLOGY, STRATEGY AND
COMMUNICATIONS ---------------- Climate change scepticism - its sources and
strategies ABC Science Show, 3 April 2010 Excerpts from a symposium at the recent
American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Diego
which looks at the sources and strategies of scepticism to climate
change science. Climate is not a class issue Padding Manning, SMH, 3 April 2010 Can capitalism deal with climate change? It's
an article of faith for this column that a relatively free market
operating in a democratic system will respond more quickly and
effectively to climate change than a centralised dictatorship. Myths and falsehoods from the assault on
global warming science Media Matters, 6 April 2010 The conservative media have mounted an all-out
attack on climate science in an attempt to discredit efforts to fight
man-made global warming. Media Matters for America has debunked
prominent myths and falsehoods associated with this smear campaign. Climate change media to 31 March 2010 PICKS OF THE WEEK ••••••• ••••• UK 'Climategate' inquiry largely clears
scientists Rapheal G. Satter, AP, March 31, 2010 The
first of several British investigations into the e-mails leaked from one
of the world's leading climate research centers has largely vindicated
the scientists involved. AND The peer reviewed
literature has spoken ••••• ‘Cap and Trade’ Loses Its
Standing as Energy Policy of Choice John M.
Broder, NY Times, 25 March 2010 Less than a
year ago, cap and trade was the policy of choice for tackling climate
change ••••• UN suspends latest carbon
credit verification firms Cath
Everett and James Murray, BusinessGreen, 30 March 2010 Credibility
of CDM receives yet another blow as major auditing firm is suspended AND Spain
latest to crack down on carbon fraudsters ••••• US oil company donated
millions to climate sceptic groups, says Greenpeace John
Vidal, guardian.co.uk, 30 March 2010 Report identifies Koch
Industries giving $73m to climate sceptic groups 'spreading inaccurate
and misleading information' ••••• Geoengineers get the fear Jeff
Tollefson, Nature 464:656, 30 March 2010 Researchers fail
to come up with clear guidelines for experiments that change the
planet's climate. ••••• A very fast train is a model
of sustainability Michael
R. James, The Age, 29 March 2010 Tucked away in Clive
Dorman's recent traveller's blog was a discussion of high speed trains
(HST) in Australia. While bringing the voyager's enthusiasm for such
trains — versus the increasingly painful flying experience —
unfortunately a series of myths or inaccuracies were repeated. ENERGY&INNOVATION-------------- 44%
Increase in Global Solar Power in 2009 31
March 2010 NYC Treehugger Matthew McDermott notes, “Despite
difficult financial circumstances, the global solar industry added
additional capacity of 6.4 gigawatts in 2009.” This growth represents an
increase of 44%. AND A 100% renewable
electricity supply for Europe and North Africa is possible Climate
change protest targets coal ships ABC News, 29
March 2010 Rising Tide, a group fighting the
causes of climate change, says it plans to block Newcastle Harbour again
next year after staging what it describes as a successful protest at
the weekend. World cool on Rudd's clean coal funding Sid
Maher, The Australian, 29 March 2010 Australian taxpayers are
the only financial backers for Kevin Rudd's $100 million-a-year global
clean coal initiative, as world leaders have failed to match their
resounding endorsement of the idea at the G8 meeting last July with a
single dollar. How China overtook the US in
renewable energy Simon Rogers, guardian.co.uk, 25 March
2010 A new report
shows that China is now the world's number one investor in renewable
technology. AND Pew report: China overtakes US as
top clean tech investor AND Australia lagging in clean energy investment Engineering the Earth Eric Roston, Bloomberg Business Week,
25 March 2010 Jeff Goodell sizes up the
silver-bullet technologies that may be needed to combat rising planetary
temperatures. AND Scientists Call for 'Climate Intervention'
Research With 'Humility' Gas announcement 'jumped the gun' Cameron
Atfield, SMH, 26 March 2010 Environmentalists have slammed
this week's announcement of a $60 billion deal to export liquefied
natural gas to China before the gas fields and associated infrastructure
received proper environmental approvals. POLITICS&POLICY---------------- Lambert/Monckton
debate on Youtube The trillion-dollar question is:
who will now lead the climate battle? Paul Harris
in New York, John Vidal and Robin McKie, The Observer, 28 March 2010 Political
and business leaders gather this week in an attempt to revive the
world's faltering challenge to global warming. But they face a battle to
lift the cloud of scepticism that has descended over climate science
and chart a new way forward Where have all the green jobs gone? Dominic
Hughes, BBC News, 28 March 2010 When the financial crisis
first hit about 18 months ago, many politicians claimed "green jobs"
would be the answer to reviving economic growth. Rudd
ominously silent on climate change Ross
Gittins, SMH, 29 March 2010 We know Kevin Rudd has what it
takes to win elections and it would be amazing to see him lose the one
this year. So we know he can survive as prime minister. A much harder
question is whether he has what it takes to be a good prime minister. How Heathrow runway
plans came unstuck Chris
Ames, guardian.co.uk, 26 March 2010 The
government tried to fix the case for Heathrow's third runway but
couldn't spin away the economic and environmental realities Climate can-do in Cancun? Adam
Morton, the Age, 27 March 2010 If the Copenhagen climate
summit was a complete failure, nobody told the President of the
Maldives. Reducing
gas emissions by a quarter isn't giving 100 per cent on climate change Patrick
Hearps, SMH, 26 March 2010 ClimateWorks
Australia's carbon growth plan strives for mediocrity. Home
owners at risk of coastal erosion should be compensated Louise Gray,
UK Telegraph, 25 March 2010 Homes at risk
of coastal erosion should be given compensation, according a new report
by MPs that calls on the Government to double spending on flood
protection to £1 billion every year. Climate researchers
'secrecy' criticised – but MPs say science remains intact James
Randerson, The Guardian, 31 March 2010 Leaked emails from
UK's Climate Research Unit show scientists withheld information - but
inquiry blames university and a little
irony... Heathrow activists jet to Bolivian meeting http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1261251/Activists-jet-12-000-miles--climate-meeting.html SCIENCE&IMPACTS----------------- Global warming 'will split South
Uist in two' as rising sea surges inland Jenny Fyall,
New Scotsman, 27 March 2010 People living
in low-lying South Uist have warned that their island could be split in
two unless action is taken to tackle the impact of flooding and
sea-level rise. Stunner:
Nature review of 20 years of field studies finds soils emitting more
CO2 as planet warms Joseph Romm,
Climate Progress, 25 March 2010 Biogeochemist:
"... perhaps most likely explanation is that increasing temperatures
have increased rates of decomposition of soil organic matter, which has
increased the flow of CO2. If true, this is an important finding: that a
positive feedback to climate change is already occurring at a
detectable level in soils." AND Soils emitting more carbon dioxide RESEARCH Temperature-associated increases in
the global soil respiration record Ecosystems under threat from ocean
acidification PhysOrg,
March 29, 2010 Acidification of the oceans as a
result of increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide could have
significant effects on marine ecosystems, according to Michael Maguire
presenting at the Society for General Microbiology's spring meeting in
Edinburgh this week. AND Death of Coral Reefs Could Devastate Nations AND In hot water: coral bleaching sparks fears
over Lord Howe reefs 'Very dramatic' changes in
Greenland: ice loss spreads north Jeremy
Hance, mongabay.com, 28 March 2010 Over the past
ten years scientists have measured increasing ice loss along southern
Greenland. Now a new study in Geophysical Research Letters shows that
the ice loss has spread north with likely consequences for global sea
level rise New epoch to usher in cataclysmic extinction The Star, 29 March 2010 Thousands of
species to disappear as new age dawns, scientists say. Humankind may
be at the dawn of a new age, one that might not bring the word
"Aquarius" to mind. Steady as She Goes for Ocean's Conveyor Richard
A. Kerr, Science, 26 March 2010 Europe can rest easy. A new
analysis of data from satellites and drifting sensors finds no evidence
that the Atlantic portion of the "Conveyor Belt"—the great warm current
flowing ultimately from the Pacific toward the frigid far North
Atlantic—is slowing SW China Drought Caused by
Climate Change: Experts Jiang
Aitao, Xinhua, 28 March 2010 Meteorologists have attributed
the once-in-a-century drought parching southwest China to climate
change. PSYCHOLOGY, STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATIONS ---------------- Climate
Crisis of Feelings Sanjay
Khanna, Huffington Post, 25 March 2010 The climate
crisis affects the psyche. Shifts in the economy and ecology are
increasing psychological and social stress. One possible remedy is to
encourage regular cooperation and community involvement to build up
psychological and social resilience. Brazen Environmental Upstart Brings
Legal Muscle, Nerve to Climate Debate Anne
C. Mulkern, Allison Winter and Robin Bravender, Greenwire, 30 March
2010 A tiny activist group with a shoestring budget and an
aggressive attitude is fast becoming a rising power in environmental
policy. |