Another Week of Global Warming News, April 13, 2014

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Published on Thursday, 24 April 2014 13:20
Written by editor

Model ensemble predictions showing a coming El Nino

Model ensemble predictions showing a coming El Nino Models are converging on a prediction of a large El Nino for 2014-2015.

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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Confronting a New Age of Consequences

April 13, 2014

co2now gfx skeptisci app gfx

Here’s some bleak humour for ye:

Looking ahead to COP20 and future international climate negotiations:

Poking through the embers of previous negotiations:

The IPCC WG3 report Mitigation of Climate Change was released this Sunday morning:

Some initial WG3 commentary:

Before the release, WG3 leaks were popping up here and there:

Surprisingly little Post WG2 commentary:

This seems to be one of the more remarkable developments lately. I keep wondering “Where is the catch?”:

    • 2014/04/07: BBerg: Shell, Unilever Seek 1 Trillion-Ton Limit on CO2 Output
      Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Unilever NV joined 68 other companies in urging world governments to cap cumulative carbon emissions since the industrial revolution to 1 trillion metric tons to contain rising temperatures. The emissions cap is needed to stabilize the increase in temperatures since the 19th century to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), according to an e-mailed statement. That’s the level beyond which scientists say the rising seas, more intense storms and melting glaciers caused by global warming may become dangerous.

This won’t put an end to claims of natural variation, but if it is verified and replicated, it could be another arrow in the quiver:

How is the German Energy Transition [Energiewende] doing?

And on the Bottom Line:

Who’s getting the subsidies?

What’s the World Bank up to?

John Cook and friends continue their point-counterpoint articles:

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.]
And the IAEA is now saying 40 years too.
[Now some people are talking about a century or more. Sealing it in concrete for 500 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:

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

The Arctic melt continues to garner attention:

As for the charismatic megafauna:

That Damoclean sword still hangs overhead:

As for the geopolitics of Arctic resources:

While in Antarctica:

The food crisis is ongoing:

The state of the world’s fisheries is a concern. See also, and:

Food Prices are still problematic:

Regarding the genetic modification of food:

Regarding labelling GM food:

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

In the Western Pacific, Tropical Cyclone Ita is takinng aim at Queensland:

TD Peipah [05W] faded mercifully East of the Phillipines: