climate december 2012

Happy new year with the blisterdata holiday double issue!  : D

Arctic frost flowers photograph Bowman via Colossal

 COP-18 DOHA

Wikipedia entry on Doha climate conference  Dec 12
The information-is-beautiful guide to Doha 
UN FCCC COP-18 Doha page
The Guardian's Doha news page
Animation:
... the history of climate talks in 83 seconds 7 Dec 12
Postmortems:
... German climatologists demand end of COPs 13 Dec 12
...China and US hold the key 12 Dec 12
... COP18 failed to turn down the heat 12 Dec 12
...look on my works ye mighty and despair 11 Dec 12
...2015 will be the moment of truth 10 Dec 12
...only domestic policy works 10 Dec 12
Articles:
After COP, eyes on U.S. for next round 9 Dec 12
Kyoto Protocol extended at Doha talks 9 Dec 12
Doha reaches climate compromise 9 Dec 12
Should the rich compensate the poor over climate? 9 Dec 12
staying below 2 C: the choices we face (graphic) 8 Dec 12
... Climate Action Tracker
EU pushes for Kyoto deal as talks wind down 8 Dec 12
Qatari hosts under fire as talks drag on 7 Dec 12
Germany's lame showing at Doha 6 Dec 12
US envoy's CO2 numbers don't add up 6 Dec 12
... the EIA 2013 report: US 9% cut by 2020
Poland blocks Doha deal 5 Dec 12
UN's Ban Ki-Moon urges climate action 3 Dec 12
S Cooke: why UN climate agreements fail 3 Dec 12 
U.S. challenges China's emissions leniency demand 3 Dec 12
M. Monbiot: Neoliberalism and Doha 3 Dec 12
5+ C temp rise is now in the ballpark 2 Dec 12
Doha talks face multiple challenges 25 Nov 12
Will U.S. take more central role? 24 Nov 12
Obama under pressure to show he is serious  23 Nov 12
EU weakened over new emissions targets 23 Nov 12

QUOTE

Observed emission trends are in line with ... the highest temperature projections in the scenarios, with a mean temperature increase of 4.2-5C in 2100.

The challenge to keep global temperatures below 2 C
G. P. Peters et al., Nature Climate Change Dec 2012, doi:10.1038/nclimate1783

Greenland, which had above-average temperatures for much of the year, recorded its all-time highest May maximum temperature, when temperatures soared to 24.8 C at Ivittuut/Narsasuaq on May 29th.

WMO statement on the state of global climate in 2012
World Meteorolog Org 20 Nov 12 (press release here)

THE WEIRDING WEATHER

Insane 21 C Christmas heat in Munich 24 Dec
Germany record heat predicted for Christmas 23 Dec
West Antarctica warms up twice as fast as expected 23 Dec 12
... Real Climate: the heat is on in West Antarctica 23 Dec 
Record low temps in Russia--minus 57 C 22 Dec 12
Record low temps in Romania, Bulgaria 20 Dec 12
Historic low levels on the Mississippi river 14 Dec 12
2012 probably warmest year on record ever 7 Dec 12
Balmy November virtually assures 2012 to be hottest year 6 Dec
... NOAA State of the Climate Nat'l Overview Nov 12
Hurricane Sandy's sister, typhoon Bopha 7 Dec 12
US drought could be most extreme weather event 2012 5 Dec 12
C. Hedges: Katrina, all over again 3 Dec 12
Bopha most southerly typhoon ever recorded in W-Pacific 3 Dec
UNEP: permafrost thawing across Siberia and Alaska 27 Nov 
Nearly 28 years since last colder-than-average month 16 Nov 12
... more analysis on Grist 16 Nov 12
... the NOAA report 15 Nov 12

FIGURING IT ALL OUT

U.S. 2012's record drought set to continue into 2013 31 Dec
R Solnit 2013 as year zero for Earth and for us 24 Dec
Report: ecosystems in upheaval, biodiversity in collapse 20 Dec
2012 another record-setter, fits climate forecasts 20 Dec
Report: IPCC underestimates climate risks 10 Dec 12
Study: arctic wildfires speed melting of Greenland ice 7 Dec 12
CO2 measurements spike above 400 ppm 6 Dec 12
Development Cooperation Report: call for radical change 4 Dec
Heat-trapping pollution rose by 3 pct last year 2 Dec 12
... the OECD Development Co-operation Report Dec 2012
Explaining extreme events of 2011 from a climate perspective 
... Peterson, T. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. 93 (2012): 1041-67
Turn down the heat: why a 4 C warmer world must be avoided
... Schnellnhuber, H./PIK (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2012)

(acidification is now a biological reality for some molluscs)
Oceanography: a sea butterfly flaps its wings
... Ries, J., Nature Geoscience 5 (2012): 845-846
... 'Dissolving' shells portend marine disaster 26 Nov 12
... Rise of acid ocean eats away base of food chain 25 Nov 12

CLIMATE SILENCE AND DENIAL

Poll: climate skeptics swayed by weather, not by science 15 Dec
The GOP's existential crisis 14 Dec 12
Rep adviser doubted Romney win after Hurricane 6 Dec 12
Forecasting denial: why TV weathercasters ignore climate 5 Dec
P. Krugman: Rubio's denial of geology 22 Nov 12
Republican 2016 contenders are all creationists 20 Nov 12
Ten numbers the rich would like fudged 19 Nov 12

MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION

CO2 turns into an industrial resource in Germany 26 Dec 12
US wind industry threatened by fiscal cliff 8 Dec 12
South Florida climate efforts move towards action 7 Dec 12
J Hansen a carbon price must follow 30 Nov 12
Pavegen--kinetic energy from students 29 Nov 12
What Obama must do now for the environment 28 Nov 12
Germany subsidizes low-emission household fridges 23 Nov 12
Laos cricket farms: insect meat boosts food security 4 Nov 12

CIVIL EVOLUTION

Story of the year: it's global warming, stupid 31 Dec 12
Buenos Aires: bicycles no longer mere recreation 30 Dec 12
P Krugman is growth over? 28 Dec 12
China opens world's longest high-speed rail route 26 Dec 12
Canada's Idle No More movement spreads 24 Dec 12
Niko Paech: economist and growth critic 11 Dec 12
J Kunstler homeless 3 Dec 12
The Limits of Growth--forty years later 22 Nov 12

(survey of analytical climate ethics)
"Climate change and ethics"
... T. Hayward, Nature Climate Change 2 (2012): 843-848

(Danish bicycling-is-the-new-cool blog)
Copenhagen Cycle Chic
... what German cities can learn from Copenhagen biking

WELCOME TO THE ANTHROPOCENE

Coal is doomed: death spiral of a once booming industry 27 Nov
M Moore's open letter to Obama  19 Nov 12
J Kunstler on the International Energy Agency report  19 Nov 12
Midwest drought makes Thanksgiving more pricey 19 Nov 12
World Bank climate report says turn down the heat 18 Nov 12

TOP TEN BEST PLACES TO BE BORN IN 2013

1. Switzerland
2. Australia
3. Norway
4. Sweden
5. Denmark
6. Singapore
7. New Zealand
8. Netherlands
9. Canada
10. Hong Kong

The lottery of life: where to be born in 2013
The Economist 21 Nov 12

NEW WORDS (at least to me)

biodiversity offsetting
Big Oil 
Doha gateway 
peak farmland
Robin Hood tax 
kampfradeln (German neologism for "warrior bicycling")

climate november 2012

NYC blackout stencil by L Hicks via Colossal Nov 2012

STORMS, FLOODS, BLACKOUTS

"Sandy is short for Cassandra, the Greek mythological figure who epitomizes tragedy.  The gods gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy; depending on which version of the story one prefers, she could either see or smell the future.  But with this gift also came a curse: Cassandra's warnings about future disasters were fated to be ignored.  That is the essence of tragedy: to know that a given course of action will lead to disaster but to pursue it nevertheless.  And so it has been with America's response to climate change."
M. Heertsgaard The Nation 30 Oct 12

Sandy shows how brittle US infrastructure has become 30 Oct 12
The deadly force of the superstorm 1 Nov 12
Hurricane Sandy: covering the storm 6 Nov 12
In Sandy's shadow: aftermath photo essay 14 Nov 12

FIGURING IT ALL OUT

Shrinking of fishes exacerbates impacts of global ocean changes on marine ecosystems
W Cheung et al., Nature Climate Change
doi 10.1038/nclimate1691 30 Sep 12
14-24 pct reduction in fish size by 2050 30 Sept 12
Climate change could cause coral reef extinction 2 Oct 12
Arctic melt, sea rise imminent threat to island nations 5 Oct 12
Global warming systemically caused Hurricane Sandy 30 Oct 12
Interview with M Latif about climate change and Sandy 30 Oct 12
Sandy not surprising, say climate experts 31 Oct 12
Fierce storms make south polar ice grow 14 Nov 12

CLIMATE SILENCE AND DENIAL

"America is unique when it comes to giving a platform to climate deniers and skeptics"
S. Lacey, Climate Progress, 6 Oct 12

New Blog: Skeptical Science: getting skeptical about global warming skepticism
... playing with data: skeptics vs. realists (fall 12)
... how it plays out in media practice (scroll to # 411) 14 Oct 12

AXA/IPSOS survey of perceptions of climate risk 4 Oct 12
Climate skepticism highest in Japan, UK, and US 4 Oct 12
Climate silence: it's the right, stupid 23 Oct 12
After hurricane Sandy, Clinton rails against Romney 30 Oct 12
Corporate media breaks climate silence after Sandy 1 Nov 12
Nevins: true leadership in a time of global warming 11 Nov 12
Combating denial: Al Gore's "Dirty Weather Report" 14 Nov 12

MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION

"The biggest blow to green tech has come from the marketplace itself."
D. Brooks, NYT, 19 Oct 12

New photovoltaics double solar power output 30 Sep 12
Geoengineering: asteroid dust 30 Sep 12
350.org: climate math coming to a city near you 8 Nov 12
The bike revolution: 20 mph speed limit pilot areas 15 Nov 12
The bike revolution: tempolimit 30 km/h 15 Nov 12
How Germany is getting to 100 pct renewable energy 15 Nov 12

THE ANTHROPOCENE

Great Barrier Reef loses half of its corals 1 Oct 12
50 people share 50 ideas to save the world in 50 months 1 Oct 12
M Klare: extreme energy means an extreme planet 4 Oct 12
WEF: Global Competiveness Report 2012 Oct 12
WEF: Global Gender Gap Report 2012 pdf 23 Oct 12
USA is No. 22 in the global village in gender equality 24 Oct 12
Capitol Hill's rabid, ravaging Republicans 26 Oct 12
IEA: World Energy Outlook 2012 pdf 12 Nov 12
USA to replace Saudis as world's largest oil producer 13 Nov 12
Tar Sands producers lay tracks to sidestep Keystone XL 13 Nov 12

GULF OF MEXICO WIN

BP pays record fine of $ 4.5 billion 15 Nov 12

U.S. ELECTION 2012

"Not a word has been said in the presidential debates about what may be the most urgent and consequential issue in the world: climate change."
E. Robinson, TruthDig, 22 Oct 12

Romney's denialism raises EU concerns for climate talks 25 Sep 12
2012 election's only bipartisan consensus: climate silence 2 Oct 12
Sandy pushing Obama, Romney to break climate silence 30 Oct 12
Sandy forces climate on election despite fossil lobby 31 Oct 12
Open letter to Obama from world's poorest countries 8 Nov 12
An open letter to Rightist Bill O'Reilly 10 Nov 12
Republican voter suppression strategy backfired 13 Nov 12
McKibben: Obama to face climate, reject Keystone  13 Nov 12

NEW WORDS

Zombie ideas
Systemic cause 
Extreme energy

climate october 2012

Desert win A. Sanchez-Montanes via Colossal

STORMS AND DROUGHT

B McKibben summer of extremes is the new normal  8 Sep 12
Is climate change hell now inevitable? 25 Sep 12
US drought conditions update shows no improvement 27 Sep 12
Climate change takes a bite out of global food supply 29 Sep 12

THIS YEAR'S SUPERMELT

Megastorm worsens the arctic melt-off 15 Aug 12
Arctic ice melting at startlingly rapid rate 22 Aug 12
Arctic sea ice shrinks to lowest extent ever recorded 27 Aug 12
North polar sea ice melt record 28 Aug 12
'Unprecedented,' 'amazing,' 'goliath'--scientists react 7 Sep 12
Northwest passage completely ice-free 15 Sep 12
Arctic sea ice now down 50 pct of what it was in 1973 19 Sep 12
Ice-free arctic is 'uncharted territory' 21 Sep 12

FIGURING IT ALL OUT

(The climate-weather connection)
J Hansen et al., "Perception of Climate Change," PNAS Aug 12
(World Bank declaration)
Food prices jump will hit poor 30 Aug 12
(Oxfam food-climate study)
Extreme weather hammers global food system 5 Sep 12
Impact on climate change on food prices underestimated 5 Sep 12
Food price explosion through extreme weather 5 Sep 12
(AMA info sheet)
Climate change: position of Am Meteorological Soc 20 Aug 12
(IEA press conference)
Global warming may lead to 'Miami Beach in Boston' 21 Jul 12
(Nature Sep 12)
'Vast reservoir' of methane beneath Antarctic ice sheet 29 Aug 12
(discrepancy b/w satellite data and actual visuals)
Is there even less arctic sea ice than satellites show? 14 Sep 12
(Kofi Annan's commission warning)
Report cites US as example of world's failing democracies--commission warns of growing ifnluence of money in politics and attempts to suppress voter turnout 14 Sep 12
(NGO's world risk report 2012)
Weltrisikobericht 2012 Sep 12
(UK research consortium prediction)
Avoiding dangerous climate change is still possible, but just barely 17 Sep 12
... study: Development of emissions pathways meeting a range of long-term temperature targets
(Nature Climate Change Sep 12)
Deeper CO2 cuts needed to save world's dying corals 18 Sep 12
(Prediction by Peter Wadhams, Cambridge)
The arctic could be ice-free by 2016 18 Sep 12
... Arctic sea ice will reach 'final collapse' in four years 18 Sep 12
(German parliamentary commission conclusion)
Climate fight cannot be won by high-tech alone because improvements are offset by rising consumption; German citizens must fundamentally change lifestyle 20 Sep 12
(PNAS paper on 14 tipping points)
Tipping into new climate territory  23 Sep 12

CLIMATE DENIAL

US court tosses EPA's 'good neighbor' pollution rule 24 Aug 12
New mileage standards encourage more gas-guzzling 28 Aug 12
Leadership is the answer to the right's problem with climate change  2 May 12
Heartland Institute compares belief in global warming to mass murder 4 May 12
Cato Institute to be remade in Ayn Rand's image 10 Sep 12
Harvesting a climate disaster: the Farm Bill should help the planet, not just crops 13 Sep 12
Fossil fuel industry pumping millions into anti-Obama efforts 14 Sep 12
Mitt Rommney's disastrous energy plan 14 Sep 12
America's miasma of misinformation on climate change 23 Sep 12

CLIMATE SILENCE

Tampa, one of America's most screwed-up cities, is home to GOP 22 Aug 12
Don't say "climate change"at the Republican National Convention 27 Aug 12
As climate crisis looms, prez campaigns stay quiet 17 Sep 12

THE ANTHROPOCENE

J Atcheson: the epilogue to the world we knew 31 Aug 12
Ivory market frenzy causes record elephant slaughter 4 Sep 12
West Nile cases in U.S. up 25 pct in latest week: CDC 5 Sep 12
The sixth extinction article series The Guardian starting Sep 12
Vanishing arctic ice is Planet's white flag of surrender 15 Sep 12
West Nile: fighting the largest outbreak in US history 17 Sep 12
P Krugman: disdain for workers 21 Sep 12
Plastic debris reaches Southern Ocean, previously thought to be pristine 27 Sep 12

MITIGATION  AND TECHNOLOGY

German liberals (FDP) want to curb wind technology 30 Aug 12
China's green revolution 10 Sep 12
France's Hollande outlines green energy policy 14 Sep 12
Japan sits in the nuclear power trap 14 Sep 12
Tax credit in doubt, US wind power industry withering 20 Sep 12
China and Europe want common CO2 trade 20 Sep 12
Prognosis for Germany: climate change makes Energiewende more difficult 24 Sep 12

CIVIL EVOLUTION

(new philosophy blog)
Ethics for a green future blog
(new site for climate philosophy newsletters)
Int'l Society for Environ Ethics: Climate Philosophy
G Monbiot: along with arctic ice, the rich world's smugness will melt 28 Aug 12
D Wynsham: the six stages of climate grief 4 Sep 12

NEW WORDS

climate grief
ecocommunism

climate september 2012

Moleskin plants R Wieland via Colossal

MELT, HEAT, DERECHO

Heat, storms, wildfires: this is just the beginning 3 Jul 12
Fears of a new Dust Bowl 5 Jul 12
4,500 heat records and counting 7 Jul 12
Warmest half year on record for US mainland 9 Jul 12
Extreme rain, flood, mudslides in Japan 16 Jul 12
US drought covers widest area since 1956 16 Jul 12
US infrastructure in disarray due to weather, climate 26 Jul 12
Oklahoma so hot street lamps are melting 2 Aug 12
Tens of thousands flee floods in Manila 7 Aug 12
July 2012 breaks all heat records 8 Aug 12

THE RIO+20 BUST

Twenty years of failure 11 Jun 12
World leaders to protect plutocratic elites, not Earth18 Jun 12
Nowhere, nothing, nada: Rio+20 Text is only fluff 22 Jun 12
Rio+20: vengeance too long delayed 24 Jun 12

FIGURING IT ALL OUT

Study links global warming to Texas heat waves 10 Jul 12
June Nature: state shift of biosphere is near 18 Jun 12
Ocean acidification moving at rate faster than expected 8 Jul 12
L Brown: world is closer to food crisis than most realize 24 Jul 21
NASA in disbelief over are of melting ice 25 Jul 12
Melting glaciers may worsen NW China's water woes 26 Jul 12
Storms threaten Ozone layer over U.S., study says 26 Jul 12
Increased, heavier snow- & rainstorms since 1948 31 Jul 12
Climate study ties recent heat waves to global warming 4 Aug 12
Ocean acidification could disrupt marine food chains 5 Aug 12
August PNAS climate change causes crazy weather now 5 Aug 12
More of Earth is hotter and global warming is at work 6 Aug 12
Aug Nature Geoscience hundred year forecast: Drought 11 Aug 12

CLIMATE DENIAL

The most anti-environment US Congress in history: here's the record 20 Jun 12
M Klare: Obama channels Cheney's energy policy 21 Jun 12
The silence on global warming 9 Jul 12
US Suburbs criminalize edible gardens 18 Jul 12
Survey: climate skeptics embrace free market ideology 27 Jul 12
Natural gas and its role in the US energy endgame 13 Aug 12
Al Gore: meet Paul Ryan 13 Aug 12

THE ANTHROPOCENE

New Dust Bowl? 5 Jul 12
Wild orchids thrive as rain causes crops to fail 12 Jul
M Fukuoka: the green deserts of western civilization 20 Jul 12
Will drought cause the next blackout? 23 Jul 12
Drought may cost billions in US food exports 2 Aug 12
One billion already hungry as deeper food crises loom 5 Aug 12
M Klare: the coming hunger wars 7 Aug 12
US century drought endangers world food security 13 Aug 12

MITIGATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Sea levels will keep rising now regardless of mitigation 24 Jun 12

CIVIL EVOLUTION

Parisians are way ahead in bicycling 24 Jun 12
Leopold Kohr (1909-1994) wikipedia
The future as a commons: capitalism and eco-tragedy 6 Jul 12
planning World Climate Summit in Katar 2012 18 Jul 12

NEW CONCEPTS

Climate change's evil twin
Velorution
Sustained growth as the opposite of sustainability
Derecho
The global Elders

climate summer 2012

Mural by A Muniz Gonzaga via Colossal

THE HEAT 

Arctic sea ice at lowest June level ever 27 Jun 12
Sea levels are rising faster on the U.S. East Coast 25 Jun 12
Drier, warmer weather expected after more downpours 17 Jul 12
Beijing floods kill thirty 22 Jun 12
Eastern US battles heat wave amid power outages 2 Jul 12
Drought reaches 56 pct of continental US 5 Jul 12
Drought now in 26 US states 12 Jul 12
Forest fires in southern Europe 17 Jul 12
Corn prices headed for record highs as crop shrinks 18 Jul 12
Plane gets stuck in hot pavement at Reagan National 8 Jul 12
World record: 42 C in Death Valley--at night  20 Jul 12
Drought deepens worries about food supplies, prices 31 Jul 12

FIGURING IT ALL OUT

Global warming: a look at J Hansen's scary new math 10 May 12
Climate change, extreme weather linked in studies 10 Jul 12
Peak oil oppositional disorder: neurosis or psychosis? 10 Jul 12
Cooling a warming planet: a global AC surge 10 Jul 12
McKibben: Global warming's terrifying new math 19 Jul 12
Climate emergency action plan 23 Jul 12 

CLIMATE DENIAL

GOP nightmare charts 23 May 12
Ignoring protests and warnings, Obama ushers in era of unprecedented Arctic drilling 24 May 12
Dark ages: US politics & the end of Enlightenment 18 Jun 12
Canada's PM Stephen Harper faces revolt by scientists 9 Jul 12

THE ANTHROPOCENE

A cartography of the anthropocene (first seen summer 2012)
Climate change and the end of Australia 3 Oct 11
Faster than we thought: an epitaph for Planet Earth 23 May 12
Gulf fishermen reel from seafood troubles 24 May 12
Mark Morford: Babies! At the end of the world 6 Jun 12
Rio+20: J Sachs on how business destroyed democracy and virtuous life 22 Jun 12
Things global warming might ruin for your kids 24 Jun 12
Climate change: this is just the beginning 4 Jul 12
The deforestation extinction debt 12 Jul 12
Jim Hansen: climate change worse than we thought 5 Aug 12

MITIGATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Japan at loss after Fukushima 5 Jun 12
German gov softens Energiewende targets 17 Jul 12

CIVIL EVOLUTION

C Hedges: how to think 9 Jul 12
Ban Ki Moon: consumerism is dead 13 Jul 12
Hot enough for you?  Time to teach against fossil fuels 17 Jul 12
Forget the top 1 pct.  Talk about the bottom 50 pct. 20 Jul 12
N Chomsky: destroying the commons/shredding the Magna Carta 23 Jul 12

NEW CONCEPTS (at least to me)

extinction debt
climate silence

climate april 2012

blood stain from suicide in Athens thanks to capitalism 

Story here.

QUOTES

The longer the political elite--whether in Washington or Paris, whether socialist or right-wing, whether Democrat or Republican--ignore the breakdown of globalization, refuse to respond rationally to the climate crisis, and continue to serve the iron tyranny of global finance, the more it will shred the possibility of political consensus, erode the effectiveness of our political institutions, and empower right-wing extremists.

C Hedges the globalization of hollow politics CD 23 Apr 2012

The contiguous United States experienced the warmest March ever in the warmest start of the year ever in the warmest 12-month period ever, according to new data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

CD staff record warm March temps continue CD 9 Apr 2012

There is currently no tax on carbon or even any pressure to live and act responsibly in the US.

Jason Mraz global warming is a now event HP 28 Apr 2012

CLIMATE ART

350.org video Things Happen

MORE TAKES

R Solnit American Dystopia: the 2012 Hunger Games CD 1 May
D Korten a plea for Rio+20: don't commodify Nature CD 25 Apr
C Hedges the globalization of hollow politics CD 23 Apr 2012
R Koehler when we grow up, we'll fall in love w Earth CD 19 Apr
J McWilliams the myth of sustainable meat NYT 12 Apr 2012
P Krugman cannibalize the future NYT 12 Apr 2012
J Walljasper biking boom benefits everyone CD 3 Apr
R Koehler war crimes and the myth of 'bad apples' CD 22 Mar
M T Klare our new 'tough oil' world Nation 13 Mar 2012

EVENTS & NEWS

US: Alabama suffers monster tornado (pics) BF 27 Apr 2012
US: powerful cold storm targets Northeast accuweather 23 Apr
EU: Asian tiger mosquito moves to the north Zeit 24 Apr 2012
Greenland may slip-slide due to surface lake melting SD 16 Apr
US: tornadoes rip through Midwest (pics)  yahoo 15 Apr (text)
US: record warm March temperatures continue CD 9 Apr 2012
US: Alaska snowfall record reuters 8 Apr 2012
See: Alge trotzt Klimawandel mit rasanter Evolution Spieg 8 Apr
EU: Matterhorn crumbling in face of climate change CD 4 Apr
US: dolphins pay heavy price for Deepwater spill Guard 31 Mar
US: 1 conservative makes news, supports electric cars HP 31 Mar
US: Oel schaedigt Korallen in der Tiefe Spiegel 27 Mar 2012
US gov proposes first carbon limits for plants reuters 27 Mar
U.S. inches towards energy independence NYT 23 Mar 2012
Elektroraeder erobern juengere Kundschaft Zeit 21 Mar 2012
U.S. South: floods feared after storms hit Time 20 Mar 2012
U.S. record temperatures soar, highs continue 20 Mar 2012
US: record tornadoes hit Dallas/Ft Worth 12 Mar 2012 (pics)
UK: after two dry winters, spring hosepipe ban Guard 12 Mar

FINDINGS

(ESA's cryosat is now in orbit & at work)
ESA Cryosat website
... Satellit liefert erstmals genaue Daten zum Eis Zeit 24 Apr

(the cognition of the American disenlightenment)
book review: the science of science denial Kos 15 Apr

(heat & humidity --> fungus!)
Emerging fungal thrats to animal, plant and ecosystem health
M Fisher et al Nature 484 (2012): 186-194 12 Apr
... fungus threat escalates for food, wildlife yahoo 11 Apr

(Greenland ice sheet more sensitive than thought)
Multistability and critical thresholds of the Greenland ice sheet
 A Robinson et al, Nature Climate Change 11 Mar 2012
... Groenland-Eis koennte komplett abschmelzen Spiegel  12 Mar

(Tree-ring reconstructions are tricky when trees don't grow)
Underestimation of volcanic cooling in tree-ring based reconstructions
M Mann et al Nature Geoscience 4 (2012): 202-205 5 Feb 2012

(Climate simulations allow weather-link only in the extreme)
Wetterextreme lassen sich global nicht mitteln
T Stocker IPCC interview Die Zeit 29 Mar 2012

(but then again, they DO allow links to extreme weather)
climate change causing extreme weather: IPCC Xinhua 29 Mar
Extremwetter traegt Handschrift des Menschen Spiegel 29 Mar

(We may already have passed the tipping points)
Planet under pressure declaration
... Planet near irreversible point of warming CD 27 Mar 2012
... Planet is in critical state SciDev Net 20 Mar 2012

(ditto)
the geological record of ocean acidification
B Hoenisch et al Science 335 (2012): 1058-1063 2 Mar
... ocean acidification rate may be unprecedented Xinhua 1 Mar

THE MARKET AT WORK

E Brown how Goldman captured Europe CD 18 Apr
S Pizzigati pothole nation CD 16 April 2012
M Niman, post peak oil economy AN 15 Apr 2012
M Krugman Europe's economic suicide NYT 15 Apr 2012
M Klare the new Third World of Energy, the US CD 2 Apr
J Kunstler the fantasy of energy independence CFN 2 Apr 2012
D Orlov trained for success, bred to be eaten COrlov 26 Mar 2012
M Cha Tar Sands: TransCanada wins, Earth loses CD 21 Mar 2012
M Fraser how austerity destroyed our small towns Alternet 12 Mar

DATA

IPCC 2012 SREX Special Report: 
Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation (SREX)
IPCC pdf homepage -- summary 20 p; report 594 p.
... Weltklimarat-Bericht liegt vor Die Zeit 29 Mar 2012
... Mumbai, Miami on list for weather disasters yahoo 28 Mar 

DENIAL & DISENLIGHTENMENT

US: pothole nation 16 Apr 2012
US: 6 scary extreme energy sources being tapped now15 Apr 2012
US: OMG! Weatherman blames tornadoes on c-change! 4 Apr
US: a very sick country CD 2 Apr 2012
Africa aid being outweighed by costs of oil imports Guard 1 Apr 
Bush's hometown runs out of water thanks to climate grist 30 Mar
how cities fail their cyclists in different ways Guard 30 Mar 2012
conservatives losing trust in science, study finds yahoo 29 Mar
big shock: conservatives' belief in science plummets Kos 29 Mar
the war on teachers WP 13 Mar

CIVIL EVOLUTION

Noam Chomsky: Mayday HuffPo 30 Apr 2012
Study: earning $50k = happiness tipping point Time 19 Apr 2012
California solar energy bill HuffPo 17 Apr 2012
Sonnenstrom ist rot Zeit 12 Apr 2012
GM pulls funding from denialist Heartland institute Guard 30 Mar
China explores possibilities of low-carbon future Xinhua 13 Mar 
Vietnam announces nat'l strategy on climate change Xinhua 7 Mar
Subventionen fuer Solartechnik gekuerzt Zeit 1 Mar 2012

NEOLOGISM

Energiewende

The Mad Hun's word on loan from Bavaria

the tough oil world
Michael T. Klare

Saudi-Amerika
Heike Buchter in Die Zeit 29 Mar 2012

REMINDER

We have fifty-five months left.

climate march 2012

CLIMATE ART

"There's No Tomorrow"
animated video(35 min)
by Dermot O'Connor 2012
at idleworm

Global Temperature Evolution 1979-2010 edition

"This is the true global warming signal."  Foster/Rahmstorf 2012

QUOTES

"The close agreement between all five adjusted data sets suggests that it is meaningful to average them in order to produce a composite record of planetary warming.  Annual averages of the result are shown in figure 8.  This is the true global warming signal."

G Foster, S Rahmstorf
"Global temperature evolution 1979-2010"
Environmental Research Letters 6 (2011): 6 DOI

"If you take climate change seriously, you have to throw out the free-market playbook."

N Klein, interview, CD 29 Feb 2012

MORE TAKES

T Friedman pass the books. hold the oil.  NYT 11 Mar 2012
D Suzuki deny deniers their right to deny! HuffPost 9 Mar 2012
F Vahrenholt hier irren die klimapaepste Zeit 6 Mar 2012
N Klein throw out the free-market playbook CD 29 Feb 2012
B Watson growth myth leads to meltdown CD 20 Feb 2012
M Mann battle-hardened by the climate wars Slate 17 Feb 2012
Op-Ed a terrible transportation bill NYT 8 Feb 2012
D Bocking why growth is disreputable Spiegel 27 Jan 2012
G Lakey how swedes broke the 1 percent CD 26 Jan 2012
E Negin it's climate change, stupid HuffPost 23 Jan 2012
N Klein to conservatives, CC is a Trojan Horse Nation 2011
M Moore the winter of our occupation CD 2011

EVENTS & NEWS

US Northeast, Midwest see record high temps 12 Mar 2012
UK anti-Green rollback begins 12 Mar 2012
Australia floods inundate New South Wales 5 Mar 2012
US Midwest storms devastate five states 5 Mar 2012
Spain wilts in driest winter for 70 years 4 Mar 2012
Thailand floods force record economic contraction 20 Feb 2012
Canada's government is muzzling its scientists 18 Feb 2012
Romania military helps frozen towns 13 Feb 2012
USA peak everything--why everything costs more 13 Feb 2012
Italy snow falls in Rome 3 Feb 2012
US Repubs step up attacks on green agenda 2 Feb 2012
Europe cold spell continues, death toll rises 2 Feb 2012
China man-made pollution visible from space 1 Feb 2012
Mexico severe drought strikes country 31 Jan 2012
Alaska all time coldest record nearly broken 30 Jan 2012
USA new federal planting map reflects warming 25 Jan 2012
USA conservatives attack climate in schools 26 Jan 2012
Netherlands life in tidal houses 12 Jan 2012
USA climate change gets less media coverage 4 Jan 2012
USA PBS links extreme weather to climate 1 Jan 2012
Arctic whales benefit from the new polar warmth 2011
Germany autobahn to be covered with giant park 2011

FINDINGS

2011 updates to model-data comparisons
G Schmidt, Real Climate 8 Feb 2012

conservativism thrives on low intelligence and poor info
G Monbiot, Guardian 12 Feb 2012

the Anglophone geography of denial (in German)
M Klingst, "Leugnen und verschleiern," Zeit 9 Feb 2012

scientists: arctic melting leading to Europe's freeze
CD 5 Feb 2012

global warming also to blame for Europe's cold spell (German)
N Reimer, "Erderwaermung mit schuld an Europas Eiseskaelte"
Zeit 3 Feb 2012

leaked data: some biofuels worse than fossil fuels
CD 27 Jan 2012

impact of sea ice cover changes on the NH atmo winter circulation 
R Jaiser et al, Tellus 64 (2012) 2 Jan 2012

THE MARKET AT WORK

Indonesia: concrete balls against train surfers (German)
Spiegel 25 Jan 2012

DATA

J Speth America Number One at the BOTTOM Orion 1 Mar 2012

DENIAL

Op-Ed no need to panic about global warming WSJ 26 Jan 2012

D Rose forget global warming Daily Mail 29 Jan 2012

NEOLOGISM

climate wars
Slate, 17 Feb 2012

REMINDER

we have fifty-seven months left.

climate scholarship

Sigurd Bergmann (Trondheim) and Dieter Gerten (PIK Potsdam) came out with a helpful scholarly anthology on climate, Religion in Environmental and Climate Change (London: Continuum, 2012).  The subtitle is Suffering, Values, Lifestyles.  This anthology is a proceedings; its chapters originate in a symposium held January 2010 at the PIK (Potsdam Institut fuer Klimafolgenforschung / Institute for Climate Impact Research) in Germany near Berlin.  This 2010 conference had been superb: it was interdisciplinary and focused, scholarly and cutting edge, rigorous and creative.  It gathered theologians, anthropologists, ecologists, sociologists, historians, and environmental policy analysts.  The point was to share perspectives from the humanities on the emerging reality of climate change, a reality that challenges human beliefs to the core, and this includes religious creeds.  The subtext of the conference, at least to this here participant, was to do the scholarly groundwork for reinventing western culture. 

When I organized the 2006 climate philosophy conference in Tampa, various American theologians contacted me, wishing to participate, but their submitted proposals were denialist without exception.  I rejected them all, but was regretful that the monotheistic faithful in America are part of the problem.  I would have welcomed theological-philosophical synergies in Tampa, but ultimately had to wait four years before I could enjoy such a heuristic convergence in Berlin.  In Europe, Christians are part of the solution.  How deeply divided the American religious culture is can be seen in the chapters by Laurel Kearns (Drew) and Michael Roberts (unaffiliated; vicar in Lancaster, UK).  Of the other presenters I listened to and chapters I read (an incomplete list), I was most impressed with the papers by Markus Vogt (LMU Munich), Timothy Leduc (York), Susan Crate (George Mason), Froemmig/Reichel (Free University Berlin), and Gulnara Aipaev (National State University Kyrgyzstan).  Here is the list of contributions:

facing the human faces of climate change
Dieter Gerten & Sigurd Bergmann
3-15

global change and the need for new cosmologies
Wolfgang Lucht
16-31

religion in the public sphere: the social function of religion in the context of climate and development policy
Michael Reder
32-45

contemplating climategate: religion and the future of climate research
Timothy Leduc
46-65

climate justice from a Christian point of view: challenges for a new definition of wealth
Markus Vogt
69-84

climate justice and the intrinsic value of Creation: the Christian understanding of Creation and its holistic implications
Friedrich Lohmann
85-106

evangelicals and climate change
Michael Roberts
107-131

religious climate activism in the United States
Laurel Kearns
132-151

the future of faith: climate change and the fate of religion
Martin Schonfeld
152-172

climate and cosmology: exploring Sakha belief and the local effects of unprecedented change in north-eastern Siberia, Russia
Susan Crate
175-199

religious perspectives on climate change among indigenous communities: questions and challenges for ethnological research
Lioba Rossbach de Olmos
200-214

vulnerable coastal regions: indigenous people under climate change in Indonesia
Urte Undine Froemmnig & Christian Reichel
215-235

jaichylyk: harmonizing the will of nature and human needs
Gulnara Aitpaev
236-260

environment, climate and religion in ancient European history
Holger Sonnabend
261-266

As an aside, and for the sake of topical organization, it should be noted that my "the future of faith" is not really scholarship.  Due to its futuristic-speculative subject-matter, it is devoid of empirical contents.  Everything in there is purely conceptual and creatively made up, so it should rather be filed under "climate philosophy".

climate findings

R. Jaiser, K. Dethloff, D. Handorf, A. Rinke, and J. Cohen have found out how global warming causes colder winters.

Their "Impact of  sea ice cover changes on the Northern Hemisphere atmospheric winter circulation" is now in Tellus A 64 (2012): 11595.  The abstract is here.  The full text is here.

Here are excerpts, with the gist in parentheses: 

"The observed decrease in Arctic summer sea ice cover over recent decades is likely due to a combination of decadalscale variability in the coupled ice-ocean-atmosphere-land system and radiative greenhouse gas forcing ... [others] analysed the Arctic sea ice cover changes in the Fourth IPCC Assessment Report model simulations and demonstrated that the observed sea ice retreat is much faster than in the model mean. Their results suggest that Arctic sea ice influences the formation of mid-latitude teleconnection patterns and especially the NAO mode." (p.1-2)

(... which means that the ice melts because of our emissions plus the usual climate wave over the arctic,which is in the warm phase, so it's double trouble; that the melt seen by 2011 is faster than the melt we thought in 2007 we would see; and that there's a link between polar ice melt and weather down south.)

 

"We study the connection between atmospheric planetary waves and baroclinic cyclonic systems in winter, both influenced by Arctic heat anomalies in autumn following low sea ice concentrations and their impact on large-scale circulation changes. [Colleagues] found a temperature amplification above the surface and concluded that changes in meridional atmospheric heat transport may be an important driver for the recent Arctic temperature amplification. By diagnosing the non-linear connections between the Arctic sea ice cover, planetary waves and synoptic storm tracks during winter, the influence of sea ice concentration changes on atmospheric circulation changes has been identified." (p.3)

(... others measured that arctic temps are getting more extreme and blamed heat arriving from down south.  We looked at the polar melt, the long-term seesaw, and storms, and saw that polar melt informs winter weather.)

"For our sensitivity studies, we selected two consecutive winter periods 1990-2000 and 2001-2010. The first 11-year period, 1990-2000, is chosen as a time slice with significantly larger sea ice concentration in the preceding late summer (with a mean value in the Siberian domain of 0.57), referred to as the high ice phase. The second 10-year period, 2001-2010, represents less sea ice concentration (mean value of 0.45), referred to as the low ice phase." (p.3)

(... we looked at the winter weather over the past two decades; the difference between the 1990s and the 2000s is that now there's far less ice up north than there used to be.) 

"A maximum covariance analysis (MCA; von Storch and Zwiers, 1999, see Appendix for details) is used to describe the relation between the fields of averaged August/September sea ice concentration and mean sea level pressure or 500 hPa geopotential heights in the consecutive autumn or winter over the whole time period 1989_2010. The results of this analysis method are pairs of patterns and associated time series for each climatic field, which are coupled through a maximised co-variance of their associated time series. The figures show the pairs of patterns that are expected to occur simultaneously." (p.3)

(... and we found a pattern.)

"The winter 500 hPa geopotential differences between low and high ice concentration ... exhibit pronounced changes over high and middle latitudes. The lower/higher values of geopotential heights over the Arctic Ocean are associated with higher/lower sea ice concentration during the analysed period. In contrast, positive/negative geopotential anomalies are observed over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during the high/low ice phase. Similar changes in the mean sea level pressure fields between both periods are shown in Fig. 2b consistent with the more frequent occurrence of negative AO pattern in the later period." (p.3)

(... which is this: lows in the arctic happen when there's more ice, arctic highs happen when there's less ice.  So now there are more high pressure zones in the arctic air because of the melt.  When there's more ice, there are more highs down south, and when there's less ice, there are more lows down south.  BTW: "hPa" is hectopascal, which measures air pressure.  And "geopotential height" refers to how high in altitude some air pressure level is, as measured from mean sea level up.)

"Comparing both figures, a decrease in atmospheric stability during the low ice period is visible. The difference plot ... shows this reduction in the middle and lower troposphere in autumn continuing until December. Eady growth rates are larger in autumn compared to winter as seen ... Furthermore, they are increased in the low ice period ... This is partly due to decreased atmospheric stability and therefore baroclinicity rises in the later period. [Another figure] shows this increase beginning in late September continuing to November. Meridional baroclinic heat fluxes are enhanced around the beginning of October ... Additional oceanic heat uptake during summer is rapidly returned to the atmosphere during the following autumn. This heat release to the atmosphere in autumn is connected to an earlier onset of baroclinic instability because of static stability and Eady growth rate changes during the low ice phase. Low sea ice concentration is associated with higher temperatures in the lower troposphere in the polar region (658_808 N) peaking at 758 N (indicated by a negative correlation). The temperature increase … reduces the vertical static stability of the lower Arctic atmosphere. ... the Arctic atmosphere remembers the summer sea ice concentration reduction through a warming and de-stabilisation of the lower troposphere. The positive correlation between vertical static stability and sea ice concentration in the Siberian domain ... demonstrates that reduced vertical stability is connected with less sea ice concentration. Because the onset of baroclinic instability is proportional to the strength of the vertical static stability of the atmosphere, reduced stability leads to an earlier onset of unstable baroclinic systems in the Arctic troposphere. To examine the impact on baroclinic systems in more detail, we plot ... the correlation between winter Eady growth rate and late summer sea ice concentration in the Siberian domain. The effect of the changed meridional temperature gradient dominates. The correlation indicates an enhanced baroclinicity north of 758 N in winter for less sea ice in summer, whereas the Eady growth rate between 608 and 708 N is decreased. This may indicate a shift in the occurrence of storms and cyclones to the north. [Colleagues] analysed the JRA-25 atmospheric dataset and detected a shift towards stronger and more frequently occurring cyclones in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic." (p.5-6)

(... as the polar melt goes on, the atmosphere up there gets unruly, which is worst in fall.  In the summer the ice-less arctic ocean soaks up heat, and as soon as it gets cold in fall, the ocean radiates this heat back into the atmosphere.  The less summer ice there is to reflect heat back during summer, the more heat is being soaked up, and the more of this soaked-up heat radiates when fall temps drop, the sooner the fall atmosphere gets unruly.  When winter comes, there are then more storms.)

"[The concluding para of the penultimate section:] We showed that the initial response of the atmosphere to reduced sea ice concentration in late summer is baroclinic in autumn, which changes to barotropic in winter and triggers changes in the large-scale planetary wave trains over the Pacific. These findings are supported by Honda et al. (2009) who demonstrated in an atmosphere-only model that zonally propagating cold atmospheric anomalies from Europe to the Far East in late winter are correlated with the Arctic sea ice cover decrease in the preceding summer-to-autumn seasons." (p.9)

(The winter storms up north bring cold weather down south.)

And the conclusion:

"We showed that Arctic heating anomalies due to low sea ice concentrations in late summer (August/September) trigger changes in baroclinic systems in autumn because of an earlier onset of baroclinic instability that influences the structure of large-scale planetary waves in the following

winter. The baroclinic structure of the direct response in autumn is linked to different patterns of pressure anomalies at the surface and in the mid-troposphere, which are related to the decrease in sea ice concentration. Decreased static stability and changed meridional temperature gradients

induce an earlier onset of baroclinicity north of 758 N with greater amplitude. Winter heat fluxes on baroclinic scales are increased in the whole Arctic troposphere, whereas a non-linear adjustment leads to decreased heat fluxes associated with planetary waves. Arctic EP fluxes due to planetary waves during winter are enhanced between 700 and 200 hPa in the latitudinal belt north of 658 N during the low sea ice phase. The barotropic structure of the atmospheric response in winter is connected to similar patterns of pressure anomalies at the surface and the mid-troposphere. The pattern over the North Atlantic relates the sea ice decline in late summer to a negative NAO phase in winter. The barotropic pattern over the Pacific due to changes in Arctic sea ice concentration is connected to a distinguished planetary wave train over the region. These results deliver a dynamical background for understanding the role of Arctic sea ice decline on the Arctic temperature amplification and its impact on mid-latitudes contributing to the recent shift to the negative NAO phase. The reduced sea ice concentration at the end of the Arctic summer has the potential to change the largescale circulation in the following winter that could feed back on the sea ice concentration. This sea ice_atmosphere relationship suggests a potential for use in operational Northern Hemisphere seasonal forecasts. Sea ice cover loss has the potential to preferentially shift the probability density function of the AO/NAO to the negative phase, in agreement with the investigations by Overland and Wang (2010). The results of the present study showed the large influence of enhanced baroclinicity on planetary waves similar to the connection between snow cover anomalies and the large-scale atmospheric circulation as shown by Cohen et al. (2007). Further investigation is needed to examine the impact of enhanced baroclinic systems on snow anomalies in the Siberian region. It is plausible that both processes are closely related." (p.9-10)

Jaiser et al refer to Honda (2009); the research is Honda, M., Inoue, J. and Yamane, S. 2009. Influence of low Arctic sea-ice minima on anomalously cold Eurasian winters. Geophys.

Res. Lett. 36, L08707. 

They also refer to Francis (2009); the research is Francis, J. A., Chan, W., Leathers, D. J., Miller, J. R. and Veron, D. E. 2009. Winter Northern Hemisphere weather patterns remember summer Arctic sea-ice extent. Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L07503.

I didn't see Jaiser et al. talking much about Petoukov/Semenov (2010)'s awesome paper, but the bibliography includes it: Petoukhov, V. and Semenov, V. A. 2010. A link between reduced Barents-Kara sea ice and cold winter extremes over northern continents. J. Geophys. Res. 115, D21111.  An earlier blistered orb post on that particular paper is here.