Weather, Water, Energy 5-30-07

Too much for detail, just hit the links and learn:

From Terra Daily, days of snow melt rising in Greenland, Moscow recording record heat, circulations changing in Indian Ocean due to weakening winds caused by warming, China (knowing the US will jerk the world around, too) refusing to work with Europe on greenhouse gas emissions targets as usual, US and Australia refusing to work with Asia on carbon trading system, India making Gandhi proud by refusing to cut greenhouse emissions because they might hurt its economy, the CA Public Employees Retirement System (one of the biggest in the country) calls out Exxon-Mobil on their evil regarding global warming, and Pelosi proving Dem leadership just as worthless on global warming as on Iraq, economy, race relations, edu . . . well, everything.

From Grist, David Roberts noting the enormous subsidies already on the table for coal liquefication here and here (while demonstrating the superiority of conservation) and lauding CA for its recent crimping of coal-fired plants.

From Christian Science Monitor, more on the “tipping point” in our warming future and how that temp may be less than current models have been predicting, yet another indication that, yes, the models are wrong—reality will be worse, and a thoughtful review of Bill McKibben’s latest book on “deep economy.”

From the Environmental News Network, word from Oxfam that it will cost $50b. yearly to fight global warming and that the Oxfammers believe the wealthy nations should pick up the tab, including 44% of that coming from the US. I’m generally one who believes it’s better to confront problems rather than stay silent and hope they work out, but this is one time when these do-good groups would do the most good by shutting up and not generating these kinds of headlines. Just plays into the Busheviks and their “hurts our economy” crap.

And from state news sites, an interesting and hopefully precedent-setting partnership between the U of AK (Alaska, not Arkansas) and the gov’s subcabinet on climate change as the state probably most immediately affected by global warming takes it seriously while the rest of us vote multiple times on “American Idol,” other states “getting it” including several Western states which are seeing growing populations and dwindling water from rivers like the Colorado, a FL article encouraging people to start that hurricane protection planning NOW and another one on Lake Okeechobee’s lowest levels on record and the effect on south FL’s water supply (not good), and finally, going solar (at least partly) in all state buildings in OR.

See why I didn't do individual comments on each?