I has certainly been a big week for Climate Change Issues!
Below is a great summary found on the Climate Emergency Network =
climateemergencynetwork@yahoogroups.com
Posted by David Spratt

Climate change media to 19 May 2009
A weekly service of CarbonEquity and the Climate Action Centre Melbourne
www.carbonequity.info

To subscribe to this list (one email per week) send blank email to
carbonequityproject-subscribe@...

PICKS OF THE WEEK •••••••
•••• The Global Warming Debate
A Layman's Guide to the Science and Controversy
http://cce.890m.com/
AND
Skeptical Science
http://www.skepticalscience.com

•••• Action needed on zero carbon targets: ACT Liberals
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/12/2568407.htm
ABC News, 12 May 2009
The ACT Liberals say the Government should be focussing on cutting
carbon emissions in the short term, instead of setting long term
targets.

•••• Voluntary Actions and the Rudd Government's changes to its
proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction System
http://bravenewclimate.com/2009/05/15/voluntary-actions-cprs-changes
Tim Kelly, Brave New Climate, 15 May 2009
The Federal Government has not fully understood the problems of
voluntary actions under its CPRS, and its proposed mechanisms for
voluntary action are unrealistic, contradictory (therefore self
cancelling), unfair and ineffective.

•••• Fears of collapse as coral reefs feel the heat
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/global-warming/fears-of-collapse-as-coral-reef\
s-feel-the-heat-20090512-b1u3.html
Marian Wilkinson, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 May 2009
THE most spectacular stretch of coral reefs on the planet is in danger
of collapse from climate change, overfishing and pollution, according
to a report being presented today at the World Oceans Conference in
Indonesia.

•••• Climate change: biggest health risk of 21st century
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2242266/climate-change-biggest-\
health
James Murray, BusinessGreen, 14 May 2009
Lancet report warns that increased incidence of tropical diseases,
food shortages, natural disasters and heatwaves threaten global
humanitarian and economic disaster

ENERGY AND INNOVATION-------------------

Transport for all need not cost $600b: expert
http://www.smh.com.au/national/transport-for-all-need-not-cost-600b-expert-20090\
515-b62n.html
Andrew West, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 May 2009
A sweeping, multibillion-dollar transport plan, to be unveiled next
week, would link almost every home, office and university in Sydney to
upgraded train, tram and bus services within 30 years.

'Rebound effects' of energy efficiency could halve carbon savings,
says study
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/14/rebound-effects-energy-efficie\
ncy
Alok Jha, The Guardian, 14 May 2009
Research urges governments and climate policymakers to look beyond
simple energy solutions and consider the indirect and economy-wide
effects when forming legislation.

Throwing good money after bad energy
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25476356-5017909,00.html
Olga Galacho, Herald-Sun, 14 May 2009
Will Martin Ferguson ever pull his head out of the coal pit and see
the light?

A potential breakthrough in harnessing the Sun's energy
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=8887
David Bielle, Online Opinion, 13 May 2009
In the high desert of southern Spain, not far from Granada, the
Mediterranean sun bounces off large arrays of precisely curved mirrors
that cover an area as large as 70 soccer fields.

Growth of Renewables Transforms Global Energy Picture
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2009/2009-05-13-01.asp
ENS, 13 May 2009
In 2008 for the first time, more renewable energy than conventional
power capacity was added in both the European Union and United States,
showing a "fundamental transition" of the world's energy markets
towards renewable energy, finds a report released today by REN21, a
global renewable energy policy network based in Paris

CPRS/CARBON TRADING DEBATE------------------------

From a theory to a consensus on emissions
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/us/politics/17cap.html
John M. Broder. New Yprk Times, 16 May 2009
How did cap and trade become the policy of choice in the debate over
how to slow the heating of the planet? And how did it come to eclipse
the idea of simply slapping a tax on energy consumption?

Climate protest over Kevin Rudd's ETS halts Sydney traffic
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25491732-2702,00.html
The Australian, 16 May 2009
About 200 climate change activists rallied in central Sydneytoday to
protest against the Rudd Government's emissions trading scheme

Scientists back climate bill despite target doubts
http://www.theage.com.au/national/scientists-back-climate-bill-despite-target-do\
ubts-20090513-b3a0.html
Adam Morton, The Age, 14 May 2009
Australia's leading climate scientists believe the Federal Government
is not doing enough to cut greenhouse emissions. But they want its
climate legislation quickly passed in Parliament anyway.

Protesters scale Parliament
http://media.smh.com.au/national/breaking-news/protesters-scale-parliament-51693\
8.html

POLITICS AND POLICY------------------------

China will have to help save the planet
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/china-will-have-to-help-save-the-planet-2009051\
7-b7ay.html
Paul Krugman, The Age, 18 May 2009
It is unfair to expect China to live within constraints that we didn't
have to face when our own economy was on its way up. But that
unfairness doesn't change the fact that letting China match the West's
past profligacy would doom the planet as we know it.

The public deserves the full picture on climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/may/14/nasa-scientist-clima\
te-change
Gavin Schmidt, The Guardian, 14 May 2009
Simplistic stories and cliché pictures of polar bears have failed to
engage people in the true debate, says Nasa scientist

Crowd spells out feeling about climate change
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/crowd-spells-out-feeling-about-climate-chan\
ge-20090517-b7dc.html
Adam Morton, The Age, 18 May 2009
Protest organisers said 5000 people gathered on St Kilda beach to
spell out their frustration with the Federal Government's climate
change policies.

Treating climate change as a security threat
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-05-13-military-global-warming/
Geoffrey Lean, Gristmill, 13 May 2009
Old soldiers, as they say, never die—and at 97 the legendary
Vietnamese Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap seems intent on proving the point.

Earth to Exxon: "Be a Mammal, not a Dinosaur"
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/blog/2009/05/earth-to-exxon-be-a-mammal-not.\
html
Graham Cogley, 11 May 2009
Why don't they get the message? Environmentalists take different
approaches to putting the message across. Some have allowed
distinguished careers to evolve into activism.

Climate change items in the 2009 Federal Budget
http://bravenewclimate.com/2009/05/13/climate-change-items-i-the-2009-federal-bu\
dget/
Posted by Barry Brook on 13 May 2009
So, the Australian 2009-2010 Federal Budget is delivered. `Clean
energy' stands as one of the infrastructure centrepieces – an
investment that is hoped to both pull the economy out of recession and
get us on the pathway to a low carbon economy.

Environmentalists Attack House Global Warming Deal
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1898896,00.html
Michael Weisskopf, Time, 16 May 2009
If it's this hard for Democrats to agree on tough global warming
curbs, polar icecaps beware.

Gore talks about politics, polls and protests
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/05/15/15climatewire-gore-talks-about-politics-\
polls-and-protests-12208.html
Christa Marshall, New York Times, 15 May 2009
Former Vice President Al Gore has "not ruled out" engaging in civil
disobedience against new coal plants.

SCIENCE AND IMPACTS----------------------

Deep CO2 Cuts May Be Last Hope for Acid Oceans
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46869
Stephen Leahy, IPS, 15 May 2009
Ocean acidification offers the clearest evidence of dangers of climate
change.

Land clearances turned up the heat on Australian climate
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227084.700-land-clearances-turned-up-the\
-heat-on-australian-climate.html
New Scientist, 16 May 2009
DEFORESTATION by European settlers may be to blame for making
Australia's drought longer, hotter and dryer than it would be otherwise.

New Insight Into Decline Of Arctic Sea Ice Cover
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090514083753.htm
ScienceDaily, 15 May 2009
The mechanical behavior of the Arctic sea ice cover appears to favor
its rapid decline. Scientists from INSU-CNRS, Université J. Fourier
and Université de Savoie have analyzed the trajectories of drifting
buoys anchored in the ice and found that the mean drift rate and
deformation rate of Arctic sea ice has strongly increased over the
last three decades.

Drought and floods cut rice harvest back to 5pc
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25459210-30417,00.html
Asa Wahlquist, The Australian, 11 May 11, 2009
The rice harvest has been ravaged by both drought and flooding, with
the NSW Riverina expected to deliver just 5 per cent of its normal
output.

Huge Bolivian glacier disappears
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8046540.stm
James Painter, BBC News, 12 May 2009
Scientists in Bolivia say that one of the country's most famous
glaciers has almost disappeared as a result of climate change. The
Chacaltaya glacier, 5,300m up in the Andes, used to be the world's
highest ski run. But it has been reduced to just a few small pieces of
ice.

All dry on the western front
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25468050-30417,00.html
Cheryl Jones, The Australian, 13 May 2009
It has been labelled the cousin of El Nino, the Indian Ocean's
equivalent of the climatic engine in the Pacific that drives the cycle
of droughts and floods in Australia's southeast

If W. Antarctic Ice Sheet melts, how high will sea levels rise?
http://features.csmonitor.com/discoveries/2009/05/15/if-w-antarctic-ice-sheet-me\
lts-how-high-will-sea-levels-rise/
Pete Spotts, Christian Science Monitor, 15 May 2009
Jonathan Bamber scans his audience – a mix of young scientists-in-
training and graybeards – and asks: "If I melted the West Antarctic
Ice Sheet tomorrow, how much would sea level rise?

BOOKS-----------

The Carbon Diaries 2015
http://ecolibris.blogspot.com/2009/05/fridays-green-book-carbon-diaries-2015.htm\
l

Stern advice for Copenhagen
http://www.nature.com/climate/2009/0905/full/climate.2009.34.html

De-bunking Ian Plimer---
Kurt Lambeck president of the Australian Academy of Science and
professor of Geophysics at ANU
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bst_20090427_0752.mp3
Prof Barry Brook's blog review:
http://bravenewclimate.com/2009/04/23/ian-plimer-heaven-and-earth/
Ian Enting from Melbourne Uni's refutation
http://bravenewclimate.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/plimer1a1.pdf
Tim Lambert's debunking at Deltoid
http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2009/04/the_science_is_missing_from_ia.php
Ian Plimer lies about source of his figure 3
http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2009/05/ian_plimer_lies_about_source_o.php

IN PICTURES------------------

Endangered Indonesian coral reefs
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2009/may/13/marine-life-coral?pict\
ure=347327418