Monday Blogroll: Weather, Water, Energy Edition 10-02-06

Interesting interview in the Christian Science Monitor on where smart investors will put their money in global warming and what happens to "green power" if oil prices keep dropping. Short answer: oil's in trouble, solar is getting better, along with wind. New word to remember: "ultracapacitors." . . . Pollution of the Yangtze River has finally gotten bad enough to get attention from Chinese officials. The really scary news in this piece is that China has around 300 m. people (aka, the size of the US pop) without access to drinking water, with more than 70% of rivers and lakes polluted. Which is still better than its 90% of underground water supplies for its cities. . . . If China doesn't depress you enough, the New York Times/International Herald Tribune have been running a great series on India's water problems. And Erik Looms at AlterDestiny has his own insightful take on the series, India, and China. . . . Remember the old joke about "he's such a good salesman, he could sell refrigerators to Eskimos"? How about air conditioners? Turns out that Canadian Inuit Territory officials have ordered installation because villages have seen 80s up there in recent years. The rest of the article is also depressing proof of the impact of global warming. Let's send Sen. Inhofe (REPUB-OK) up there to investigate. Maybe he'll fall through the ice like some of the residents have been doing (h/t Governing's 13th Floor). . . . Remember when Reagan blamed trees for air pollution? The WaPo has a story blaming wildlife for water pollution. . . . A U of CO study using NASA satellite data shows that the Greenland icesheet really kicked off its melting in 2004, as temps in southern Greenland have risen 4.4 degrees F (ours, not that weird C one) in the last 20 years. This corresponds to melting of the Antarctic ice sheets on the bottom of the planet. We won't bore you with what happens if the oceans get a massive dumping of cold fresh water. Just remember--"ultracapacitors."