The Medieval Warm Period in Southeastern Mexico

What was its predominant characteristic? … and what impact did it have on the region’s inhabitants?

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The Medieval Warm Period in Southeastern Mexico

Denier peer-review trickery

The most used attack on climate change has to do with the Mann ‘hockey stick’, and the medieval warm period . Deniers love to claim that the medieval warm period was warmer that today (or that Greenland used to be green) mainly because ..

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Denier peer-review trickery

Howard Hampton introduction video

Video played at the Ontario NDP Fresh Ideas, New Energy Convention 2007.

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Howard Hampton introduction video

A Few Things Ill Considered : How to Talk to a Climate Sceptic

Climate Change is Natural. It Happened Before.

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A Few Things Ill Considered : How to Talk to a Climate Sceptic

The Value Of Paleoclimate Records In Assessing Vulnerability to …

The drought is consistent in timing with dry conditions inferred from tree-ring data in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau, but regional differences in intensity emphasize the importance of basin-specific paleoclimatic data in …

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The Value Of Paleoclimate Records In Assessing Vulnerability to …

The Sun seen to repeat the Dalton minimum

The solar cycle 5 was the first half of the Dalton minimum (1800-1825 plus a decade before and five years after these two cycles) that was correlated with (and maybe brought) a period a cooling.

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The Sun seen to repeat the Dalton minimum

The Sun remains quiet, is an other Dalton Minimum on the way? (edited)

Russ Steele David Archibald writes with “Each day’s passing of anaemic Solar Cycle 24 sunspot activity reinforces the imminent cooling.” As Cycle 23 gets longer and longer and is looking more and more like Cycle 4 that resulted in the. …

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The Sun remains quiet, is an other Dalton Minimum on the way? (edited)

Research Opportunity In “Paleoclimatology”

The post holder will join the Geothermics/Geothermal Paleoclimatology team of the CGE. This team develops research activities in the fields of Geothermal Paleoclimatology , as well as on other aspects of General Geothermics, …

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Research Opportunity In “Paleoclimatology”

cambrian bronzeage

most of the bedrock is smooth and grinded flat by the last iceage . sprinkled all over the landscape and the shoreline is oilshale since this used to cover the cambrian rock but nowdays is eroded away

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cambrian bronzeage

SST Reconstructions

2007. Indo-Pacific Warm Pool MD9821-60 Last Millennium Mg/Ca, d18O, SST, SSS Data. IGBP PAGES/World Data Center for Paleoclimatology Data Contribution Series # 2007-018.NOAA/NCDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder CO, USA

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SST Reconstructions

hello from ireland

during the last iceage , the glaciers scaped off the soil leaving only the limestone bedrock. this bedrock has eroded giving a landscape with grykes, hole and pavements

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hello from ireland

The Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period in the South Shetland …

When did they occur? … and how cold and warm — relative to the rest of the Holocene in the case of the LIA and today in the case of the MWP — were they?

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The Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period in the South Shetland …

daily travel photo – mungo national park, nsw, australia

these are fossiled wombat bones sticking out of the sand in mungo natoinal park. the wombat probably died near a lake before the end of the last iceage about 20000 years ago. these bones are constantly appearing in mungo as the sand …

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daily travel photo – mungo national park, nsw, australia

A Problem With Global Warming— It Stopped in 1998

( paleoclimatology ), Carleton University, Ottawa. (Dr) Madhav Khandekar, former research scientist, Environment Canada. Member of editorial board of Climate Research and Natural Hazards

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A Problem With Global Warming— It Stopped in 1998

Lack of tangible goals tempers pledge on climate change

Lack of tangible goals tempers pledge on climate change

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Nearly everyone had something to cheer about after the major industrial powers and a big group of emerging nations pledged to pursue “deep cuts” in emissions of heat-trapping gases in coming;decades.
President George W.
The developing countries received a promise that the rich countries would take the lead in curbing emissions. Bush, who had insisted that any commitment to combat global warming must involve growing economies as well as the rich nations, recruited China and India to the table and received rare accolades from some environmentalists for doing;so.
But behind the congratulatory speeches on Wednesday, some experts said, was a more sobering reality. And environmentalists said the agreements renewed chances of reviving two ailing climate pacts, the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 1997 Kyoto;Protocol.
The statement issued by the industrialized Group of 8 pledged to “move toward a carbon-free society” by seeking to cut worldwide emissions of heat-trapping gases in half by 2050. The documents issued by the participating countries had very few of the concrete goals needed to keep greenhouse gases from growing at their torrid pace, they;said.

Mentions of mandatory restrictions on emissions were carefully framed. But the statement did not say whether that baseline would be emissions at 1990 levels, or the less ambitious baseline of current levels, already 25 percent;higher. The statement urged nations to set “midterm, aspirational goals for energy;efficiency. Caps or taxes were endorsed where “national circumstances” made those acceptable. But experts have said that that process would have to work at the scale of billions of tons of carbon dioxide a year within a decade or two to avert a huge rise in carbon dioxide concentrations, while proposed projects are all measured in millions of;tons.”
There were new commitments to demonstrate that carbon dioxide from coal combustion could be captured, compressed and stashed permanently underground. But developing countries have noted that in the past those pledges have gone;unfilled.
The Group of 8 statement also pledged to increase aid to help developing countries improve energy efficiency or cut their vulnerability to climate risk.
Schlesinger and others said that neither the statements this week nor the two previous climate treaties seemed likely to significantly slow the rise over decades of heat-trapping gases, most notably carbon dioxide – an unavoidable byproduct of burning fossil fuels and;forests.
“I would characterize this outcome as 'talking the talk' rather then 'walking the walk' on climate change policy,” said Michael Schlesinger, a climatologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who has written extensively on climate;policy.
This reality was on display in Japan in the days leading up to the leaders' formal;sessions.
Beyond any vagueness in the statements is the challenge that climate policy must compete with other pressing global problems, particularly rising prices for;energy.
One day, in particular, he said, was “gloriously incoherent.
Gwyn Prins, an expert on climate policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, was there for discussions preceding the formal talks and noted that current concerns about energy security were already clearly interfering with discussions aimed at climate;stability.
The most discouraging aspect of the statements out of Japan, for many experts, was seeing the persistent gap between what science is saying about global warming and what countries are;doing.” At a meeting in the morning, participants focused on finding ways to reduce gas prices, he said, while a session that afternoon focused on raising them through caps or taxes on fossil;fuels. David Victor, an expert on climate policy at Stanford University, said that the power of any American president was limited, and that another barrier to cutting emissions was;Congress. David Victor, an expert on climate policy at Stanford University, said that the power of any American president was limited, and that another barrier to cutting emissions was;Congress.
“Nearly every government is examining beyond Bush, and while they are hopeful that the next president will surely be more constructive on this issue, they don't know what the president can really bring to the table,” he said. “It is hard for the U.S. president to negotiate with strength when his ability to offer commitments hinges on national legislation that he does not;control.”
Cutting emissions in half is just the first step in curtailing warming, climate experts have long said, because the main greenhouse gas generated by human activities, carbon dioxide, can persist for a century or more in the atmosphere, once it is released. That means that later in the century, emissions must drop nearly to zero, or large-scale techniques must be developed to pull carbon dioxide directly from the;atmosphere.

many years ago, before the last iceage, lived three families. not …

many years ago, before the last iceage , lived three families. not broken. intact.

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many years ago, before the last iceage, lived three families. not …

Disunity at G-8 over Zimbabwe

Police outnumber protesters at group of 8 meeting in Japan

G-8 focuses on Africa, climate as summit opens in Japan

Do disasters stimulate economic growth?

Disunity at G-8 over Zimbabwe

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TOYAKO, Japan : As world leaders convened in this resort town in northern Japan on Monday for three days of talks on issues including climate change and rising food and energy prices, the agenda quickly shifted to the political crisis in Zimbabwe, exposing a split between Western and African;leaders.
The leaders of seven African countries and eight industrialized nations emerged divided after three hours of closed-door meetings dominated by Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe was sworn in the previous month for a sixth term as president after weeks of violence against his opposition, followed by a one-candidate runoff that leaders around the world called a;sham. But with Mugabe warning Western nations not to interfere, and the African Union already on record as rejecting sanctions, the head of the union, the Tanzanian president, Jakaya Kikwete, suggested that a power-sharing agreement was the;answer.
The United States and Britain have proposed an international arms embargo and sanctions on the Zimbabwe government. Bush after the meetings, “and therefore the parties have to work together to come up to – to come out, work together, in a government, and then look at the future of their country;together.
“We are saying no party can govern alone in Zimbabwe,” Kikwete said at a news conference with President George W. The only area that we may differ on is the way;forward.”
Addressing Bush, he said: “We understand your concerns, but I want to assure you that the concerns you have expressed are indeed the concerns of many of us on the African continent.
But he did not mention any discussion of sanctions and ignored reporters' questions on the issue.”

Bush said he and other Western leaders had “listened carefully” to their African;counterparts. I'm extremely disappointed in the elections, which I labeled a sham;election. Bush said: “You know I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe. Technically, the group includes the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia and Japan.”
The leaders are gathered on the mountainous northern Japanese island of Hokkaido for the Group of Eight summit meeting.
The talks draw protesters and a shadow meeting as well. The annual event has broadened to include leaders from around the world, including the so-called Africa outreach group of seven African leaders, from Tanzania, Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and South;Africa.
About 150 people, some made up as clowns or dressed in black-spotted cow suits, marched through central Sapporo. Two hours north of the official meeting site, in Sapporo, the largest city in Hokkaido, globalization foes held a third day of protests focused on agriculture Monday, including a march and an alternative gathering of nongovernmental;organizations.
The marchers, who chanted “No more G-8!” in English and Japanese, included Japanese farmers and a handful of activists from Europe, the United States and Latin America. While Japan has not been as hard hit as many poor countries by rising food prices, organizers said the current food crisis was a chance to rethink agricultural trade, and rely more on locally grown;products. The police formed a cordon around the march and followed in four blue and white;buses. In the heavy-handed style of Japan's security during the summit meeting so far, there were about the same number of police officers as protesters. “This is an opening for us to appeal to the public with new;ideas.
“We face a food crisis, but the G-8 has no answers,” said a march organizer, Yoshitaka Mashima, who is vice chairman of the Japan Family Farmers Movement. Bush has made helping Africa, especially his program to fight global AIDS, a centerpiece of his foreign policy agenda, and has said repeatedly that he intends to use the meeting this year to press his fellow G-8 leaders to live up to their 2005 pledge to double development aid to Africa by;2010. Bush has made helping Africa, especially his program to fight global AIDS, a centerpiece of his foreign policy agenda, and has said repeatedly that he intends to use the meeting this year to press his fellow G-8 leaders to live up to their 2005 pledge to double development aid to Africa by;2010.
According to the advocacy group One, which is based in the United States and focuses on fighting poverty and AIDS around the world, just 14 percent of those pledges have been;filled.
Dan Price, a deputy national security adviser to Bush, said the African leaders had spoken of the “essential need” for wealthy nations to live up to their pledges at the Monday;meeting.
But despite the focus on poverty and disease, it was clear that Zimbabwe weighed most heavily on the leaders';minds.
Bush said the leaders had spent “a fair amount of time” talking about the political situation;there.
The African Union leaders have publicly offered only limited criticism of Mugabe over the violence before the June 27 runoff. In the weeks before the vote, state-sponsored enforcers beat and killed followers of Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader who won 48 percent to Mugabe's 43 percent in the first round of elections. Days before the runoff, Tsvangirai;withdrew.

Police outnumber protesters at group of 8 meeting in Japan

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DATE, Japan : They descended on this sleepy fishing town, some with faces wrapped in white bandannas, carrying red banners and shouting slogans. But the 200 anti-globalization marchers, demonstrating against world leaders meeting on Tuesday, quickly found themselves outnumbered by the police, who formed a moving cordon around;them. “We're not trying to crash the summit's;gates.
“This security is really overkill,” said one marcher, Bill Hackwell, an antiwar activist who arrived last week from San Francisco. But whether this has helped the meeting escape the violence of previous sites is a matter of debate, with many here criticizing the police presence as excessive — and very;expensive.”
As Japan hosts leaders of the Group of 8 on its bucolic northernmost island of Hokkaido, it has deployed one of the heaviest security operations in the group's history. “We did not need all these policemen tromping around;Hokkaido.
“If violent protesters did not show up, it was because Hokkaido is so far away,” said Masaaki Ohashi, vice chairman of the 2008 Japan G-8 Summit NGO Forum, a coalition of Japanese nongovernmental groups meeting on the summit meeting's sidelines. That is more than double the $130 million that Germany spent last year when it held the;meeting.”
According to the National Police Agency, Japan is spending about $280 million for security at the meeting, which ends Wednesday. Germany marshaled about 16,000 police officers and 1,100 soldiers.

Japan has mobilized about 21,000 police officers, including 16,000 from other parts of Japan, who have essentially locked down an entire corner of Hokkaido, an island the size of Ireland.
The police presence was heavy around Date (pronounced DA-tay), which is about 12 miles south of the summit meeting site on Lake Toya. Japan has also deployed extra police officers in Tokyo and other main cities, where they stand guard at train stations and street corners and staff;roadblocks. Offshore, armed cruisers were visible, a rare sight in a nation that does not have a full-fledged;military. Groups of police officers stopped cars for inspection and sealed off roads leading to the site. In Germany last year, tens of thousands of people clashed with the police and blocked roads.
So far, the violent protests that marred some previous summit meetings have not happened in Japan. Four were arrested, including a photographer for Reuters, after scuffles with the;police. The largest demonstration here took place on Saturday, when about 3,000 demonstrators, mostly Japanese, marched in Hokkaido's main city of Sapporo. Still, Japanese officials said they wanted the police presence just in case, to avoid a repeat of the protests in;Germany.
Anti-globalization activists here say the smaller, more peaceful protests reflect their nation's political apathy and the low level of violence in Japan. Government officials and international relations experts say tighter security is needed because of the threat of violent protests and terrorist;attacks.
The buildup also seemed to reflect a broader international trend toward ever increasing levels of security at global events. 11 attacks in the United;States. 11 attacks in the United;States.
The summit meetings themselves have grown more elaborate. The first such global meeting, in 1975 in France, was an informal gathering of six heads of state and a handful of journalists. This year, in addition to the core group of eight industrialized nations, leaders from 14 developing nations also attended to discuss issues from climate change to African aid. About 5,000 journalists;attended.
For Japan, the summit meeting was also a chance to raise its global profile at a time when it faces economic eclipse in Asia from China and;India.
“Japan just wants to be very thorough and be ready for all contingencies,” Junichi Takase, a professor of international relations at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, said of the security measures. “The number of police might seem excessive to Americans or Europeans, but it makes Japanese feel more;secure.”
But there have also been extensive complaints of harsh security practices. Police officers have singled out non-Asians for questioning at airports, and ordered hotels across Japan to copy the identification of all non-Japanese, according to visitors and Japanese NGOs. Japanese immigration authorities have been particularly hard on known foreign political activists, delaying or barring their entry into Japan ahead of the summit;meeting.
According to Japanese NGOs, about 30 people have been denied visas or entry at the border, including 23 South Korean farm and labor activists turned away or held by immigration officials last;week.

G-8 focuses on Africa, climate as summit opens in Japan

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RUSUTSU, Japan : Africa was in the spotlight Monday as leaders from the world's major economic powers gathered for an annual summit that will also grapple with climate change and the global food;crisis.
The Group of Eight leaders – representing the U., Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Russia – were to meet with seven African leaders to address key problems such as food supplies, infectious diseases and economic;development.S.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also has urged G-8 leaders to take a tough stance on Zimbabwe in the wake of President Robert Mugabe's widely denounced presidential election runoff;victory.
Activists have accused some G-8 nations, particularly France, Canada and Italy, of skimping on aid to Africa, and urged them to ramp up their;contributions.S.
U. Bush, arriving Sunday for his eighth and final Group of Eight summit, emphasized the urgency of providing aid for Africa, calling on wealthy nations to provide mosquito nets and other aid to prevent children from “needlessly dying from mosquito;bites. President George W. We'll be very constructive in the dialogue about the environment – I care about the environment – but today there's too much suffering in the continent of Africa,” Bush said during a press conference after a one-on-one meeting Sunday with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, host of the;gathering.”

“I'm concerned about people going hungry.
Aid to Africa was the centerpiece of the G-8 summit three years ago in Gleneagles, Scotland, where leaders called for increasing aid to US$50 billion a year through 2010 – with half of that going to Africa itself – and to cancel the debt of the most heavily indebted poor;nations.
“Now is the time for the comfortable nations to step up and do something about it,” Bush;said.
Collectively, the G-8 has delivered just US$3 billion of the US$25 billion pledged to Africa in 2005, according DATA, a group founded by U2 singer Bono and music producer Bob;Geldof.
Advocacy groups for Africa and hunger gave the G-8 a mixed report card on progress in reaching its commitments to;Africa.S.
Germany, the U.
“We desperately need to see more money from the G-8, and for it to be new money,” said Max Lawson from Oxfam International, another advocacy;group. and Britain were following through on commitments, while progress from Japan, France, Italy and Canada was either unclear or weak, DATA;said.
The related topic of soaring food prices was another key topic on the agenda at the summit, with some experts predicting that the leaders would announce a food aid package and possibly funds to invest in agricultural development in poorer;nations.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported in April that foreign aid by major donor countries slumped in 2007 as debt-relief plans tapered off and amid a global economic downturn in Japan and some other rich;nations.
“In the 21st century, we must be able to feed the planet,” Sarkozy said in an interview published in Japan's Yomiuri newspaper;Monday.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he has received international support for his idea of creating an experts group to tackle the global food crisis, similar to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate;Change. A transcript of his remarks was also provided by his;office. A transcript of his remarks was also provided by his;office.
Germany's Merkel said the leaders will confer on how to toughen sanctions against Zimbabwe, and hoped that they would get support from African colleagues on the;matter.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, whom Zimbabwe's opposition has accused of favoring Mugabe, and Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua are scheduled to meet with the G-8 leaders. Also invited are the leaders of Algeria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Senegal and Tanzania and the chairperson of the African Union;Commission.
Talks were expected to shift Tuesday and Wednesday to climate change as leaders will try to move forward UN-led talks aimed at forging a new global warming accord by the end of 2009. The negotiations have stalled because of deep disagreements over what targets to set for greenhouse gas reductions, and how much developing countries such as China and India should be required to;participate.
It was unclear whether nations would be able to agree to a goal of cutting their emissions by 50 percent by 2050. A more ambitious goal of setting close toer-term targets for 2020 was considered well beyond;reach.
Associated Press writer Joseph Coleman contributed to this;report

Do disasters stimulate economic growth?

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The earthquake that struck Sichuan Province in May left behind scenes of almost apocalyptic devastation in China: mountaintops sheared off into valleys, cities reduced to rubble and dust, cracked dams, collapsed bridges, and at least 80,000;dead.
If the Chinese government is to be believed, the earthquake also did something else: it helped the country's economy.3 percent – a small but not insignificant part of a 2008 growth rate most estimates put at just under 10;percent. A little over a month after the quake, the State Information Center, a Chinese government research body, announced that the massive rebuilding effort, and the billions of dollars it would pump into the Chinese economy, would far outweigh the economic losses from the quake, enough to bump up national economic growth by 0. In fact, some economists argue that hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, ice storms and the like, despite the widespread destruction they leave behind – indeed, largely because of it – can spur economic;growth.
Traditionally, analysts have cautioned that Chinese growth figures should be greeted with skepticism, but, according to one school of economic thought, there may be something to the idea that the quake served as a brutal stimulus.
“When something is destroyed you don't necessarily rebuild the same thing that you had.
Rebuilding efforts serve as a short-term boost by attracting resources to a country, and the disasters themselves, by destroying old factories and old roads, airports and bridges, allow new and more efficient public and private infrastructure to be built, forcing the transition to a sleeker, more productive economy in the long;term. It bumps you up,” said Mark Skidmore, an economics professor at Michigan State University. You might use updated technology, you might do things more efficiently.”

Studies have found that earthquakes in California and Alaska helped stir economic activity there, and that countries with more hurricanes and storms tend to see higher rates of growth. “Disasters help people think about things;differently.
The study of the economics of disasters remains a small field, with few major papers. Some of the most recent work has found a link between disasters and subsequent;innovation.
But as more people move to riskier areas, and the world's climate shifts, the debate over natural disasters and their impact has been gaining in resonance. And skeptics charge disaster economists with oversimplifying enormously complex economic systems and seeing illusory effects that stem only from the crudeness of the available economic measuring;tools. While not even the most fervent believer in the economy-catalyzing qualities of disasters would wish for one, the study of the costs and possible benefits of such events may help us better understand how to target recovery efforts – and, perhaps, how to replicate the salutary effects of disasters without the disasters;themselves. The population of coastal hurricane zones and cities, from San Francisco to Mexico City to Tokyo, that sit on or near major seismic faults, continues to grow, and climatologists warn that climate change could increase the number of extreme weather events in many parts of the world. In the 1950s and 1960s, analysts at the RAND Corporation think tank, trying to work out the total impact of a nuclear attack on the United States, created models for how such an attack would affect our economy.
The economic study of natural disasters has roots in the study of human disasters – in particular, the effects of wars, real and imagined. In his 1961 book, “On Thermonuclear War,” Kahn wrote that, thanks to the United States' strong growth rate at the time, even a nuclear attack that destroyed all of its major metropolitan areas and killed one-third of its population “does not seem to be a total economic catastrophe. The best-known of these thinkers was Herman Kahn, a physicist and systems analyst notorious for his willingness, even eagerness, to reduce the seemingly unthinkable to dry actuarial calculations.”'
Natural disasters provided an opportunity to see how societies actually recovered from such large-scale shocks. It may simply set the nation's productive capacity back a decade or two plus destroying many 'luxuries. The book was largely a case study of the Alaska earthquake of 1964, the most powerful ever recorded in North America. The book was largely a case study of the Alaska earthquake of 1964, the most powerful ever recorded in North America. Dacy and Kunreuther found that the money that rushed into the Alaskan economy after the temblor, as well as generous government loans and grants for rebuilding, meant that many Alaskans were actually better off afterward than;before.

Division at G-8 over climate goal

Division at G-8 over climate goal

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RUSUTSU, Japan : Rich nations and emerging powers on Wednesday declared climate change “one of the great global challenges of our time.” But they set no short-term goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with the largest developing countries demanding more action by wealthy nations before;moving. The session, organized by President George W.
The declaration grew out of an unprecedented meeting that brought together 16 nations, rich and poor, and the European Union on global warming.
But a group of the largest emerging economies, led by India and China, now the leading source of greenhouse gases, refused to sign on to that goal. Bush, took place here on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaido, where leaders of the Group of 8 pledged Tuesday to “move toward a carbon-free society” by seeking to halve worldwide emissions of heat-trapping gases by;2050.
That fissure prevented the 16 countries from “reaching any meaningful understanding” in the special session on Wednesday, said Alden Meyer, who is tracking the talks for the Union of Concerned Scientists. They are holding out until rich nations like the United States take more aggressive steps to cut pollution over the next;decade. Phillip Clapp, of the Pew Environment Group, said the declaration helped prepare the way for the next American president to grapple with climate change when the United Nations negotiates a binding treaty in Copenhagen in;2009. Others said the declaration was important at least symbolically and could set a course for action. “It would have been better if the United States and the other G-8 countries would have been willing to step up to the plate and make a strong commitment about what they would do over the next 10;years.
“It is good that the developing countries have embraced the principle of a global target that they will participate in,” Clapp said. Since last year, he has pushed an effort to cut emissions that would include all “major;economies.”

Early in his presidency, Bush rejected the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, which set emissions limits, saying the cuts would hurt the American economy and the limits did not apply to large developing countries. Bush still claimed success.”
The meeting on Wednesday did not produce a long-term emissions goal accepted by all those countries, which was the Bush administration's aim since announcing the “major economies” effort in May 2007. “And that's what took place;today. “In order to address climate change, all major economies must be at the table,” he said before returning to Washington.
“This is an enormous movement for a man who questioned the science on global warming, who was opposed to international treaties and who was opposed to international targets,” Clapp said.”
For Bush, who is trying to salvage his legacy on climate change after years of international pressure to move more aggressively, the back-to-back declarations were an important;step. “Major economies meeting turns into major embarrassment meeting for G-8,” the WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund, said in a;statement. Although the meeting put the United States on record for the first time as embracing a specific long-term goal, environmentalists complained that the declaration by the Group of 8 did not go far enough. But rich and poor nations are disputing how to set targets, and who should bear most of the;responsibility.
Together, the countries that issued the declaration are responsible for more than 80 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists have said are warming the planet. Advocates say the cuts should be pegged to 1990 emissions levels, but Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan said Wednesday that the starting point would be “the recent;situation. Advocates say the cuts should be pegged to 1990 emissions levels, but Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan said Wednesday that the starting point would be “the recent;situation.”
The Group of 8 declaration did not mention a base line. But Fukuda said, “I think we have everyone's understanding on;this.”
Martin Fackler contributed reporting from Rusutsu, and Andrew C. Revkin from New York. Martin Fackler contributed reporting from Rusutsu, and Andrew C. Revkin from New;York.

In Japan for G-8 meeting, Bush defends Olympic move

A deal on emission cuts, but not on timing

In Japan for G-8 meeting, Bush defends Olympic move

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RUSUTSU, Japan : President George W. Bush arrived Sunday on the lush and mountainous northern Japanese island of Hokkaido to talk to world leaders about climate change, soaring oil and gas prices and aid to Africa.
“I view the Olympics as an opportunity for me to cheer on our athletes,” Bush said at a press conference in nearby Toyako, after the two leaders met privately. But first, he defended his decision to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics next month – and got a little help from his host, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan, who announced he would go,;too.”
Human rights advocates have been urging a boycott of the Games, to protest China's crackdown on anti-government protest in Tibet, and its support for the regime in Sudan. He said not going the opening ceremony “would be an affront to the Chinese people” that might make it “more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese;leadership. But after meeting privately with Bush, Fukuda seemed to adopt the president's;reasoning. Other world leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, are skipping the opening ceremonies.”
Bush's visit to this scenic hot springs resort, on the edge of a volcanic lake, marks his last meeting as president with the leaders of industrialized nations, the so-called Group of 8.
“Olympics are sports events,” the prime minister said, adding, “I don't think you have to really link Olympics with;politics.

The gathering, which officially begins Monday, will feature Bush's first meeting as president with the new leader of Russia, Dmitri Medvedev. The trip, which coincided Sunday with Bush's 62nd birthday, marks the beginning of the president's exit from the world stage, and it comes as other nations are frustrated with the United States over the weak dollar, and rising oil and food prices, which are threatening the global;economy.
Climate change is another major topic; after years of international pressure to take a more aggressive approach in confronting the problem of global warming, Bush is now hoping to lead the way to an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emission by the end of this;year. Bush hopes to use his time in Hokkaido to press his fellow leaders to live up to their past promises to increase aid to Africa, a centerpiece of his own foreign policy;agenda. Both Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate, and Senator John McCain, the Republican, have criticized the White House over what they regard as Bush's lack of commitment to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases, which scientists believe are warming the;planet.
But Bush's efforts, particularly on climate change, are complicated by the election back home.S.
“Everyone's sort of waiting for the next U. “Either way, you're going to see a very different approach than President;Bush. president,” said Alden Meyer, who as director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit group based in Washington, is here monitoring the talks.
Fukuda has said he would like to conclude the meeting with an agreement from the countries to adopt a 50 percent cut in heat-trapping gases by the year 2050.”
As the host of this year's gathering, Japan is casting itself as a model of energy efficiency – so much so that guests at the Rusutsu Resort, where the international press corps is staying, received a note from the resort's chief executive officer informing them that his company has “acquired CO² emission rights” and has planted more than 100,000 eucalyptus trees in Queensland, Australia, to demonstrate its commitment to combating global;warming. Before leaving for last year's Group of 8 meeting in Germany, Bush proposed his own solution: a series of meetings among high-polluting nations – the so-called “major emitters” – in an attempt to forge an international consensus. But Bush has long resisted such a mandatory target unless developing nations, like China and India, sign on.
One independent expert monitoring the talks here in Hokkaido, Phil Clapp of the Pew Environmental Group, said negotiators are considering a proposal, put forth by China, in which China would agree to a long-range target for reducing emissions by 2050 in exchange for a commitment from the United States to set a “solid aggressive target” for reducing emissions in the short-term, by;2020.
One independent expert monitoring the talks here in Hokkaido, Phil Clapp of the Pew Environmental Group, said negotiators are considering a proposal, put forth by China, in which China would agree to a long-range target for reducing emissions by 2050 in exchange for a commitment from the United States to set a “solid aggressive target” for reducing emissions in the short-term, by;2020.
In April, Bush called for the United States to stop the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and Clapp said he remained hopeful that a deal could be worked;out.

A deal on emission cuts, but not on timing

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RUSUTSU, Japan : Calling climate change “one of the great global challenges of our time,” the world's richest nations and emerging powers joined Wednesday for the first time to commit themselves to pursuing long-range cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions but split on how to achieve that;goal.
The declaration grew out of a meeting that brought together 16 nations and the European Union – a group dubbed the “major economies” – on the issue of global warning.
The session, organized by President George W. The 16 are the Group of 8 industrialized nations: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States; the Group of 5 emerging economies: Brazil China, India, Mexico and South Africa; and three other major trading nations: Australia, Indonesia and South;Korea.
On Tuesday, G-8 leaders pledged to “move toward a carbon-free society” by cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases in half by 2050. Bush, took place on the northernmost Japanese island, Hokkaido, where G-8 leaders wrapped up three days of meetings;Wednesday. They are holding out until rich nations like the United States take more aggressive steps to cut pollution over the next;decade. But the poorer Group of 5 countries refused to sign on to that goal.

However, an environmental campaigner, Phillip Clapp of the Pew Environmental Group, said the declaration had helped set the stage for the next American president to grapple with climate change when the United Nations conducts negotiations on a binding treaty in Copenhagen, in;2009.
That division prevented the 16 countries from “reaching any meaningful understanding” at the Wednesday session, according to one expert, Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned;Scientists. “It would have been better if the United States and the other G-8 countries would have been willing to step up to the plate and make a strong commitment about what they would do over the next 10;years.
“It is good that the developing countries have embraced the principal of a global target that they will participate in,” Clapp said. “In order to address climate change, all major economies must be at the table,” he said before flying back to Washington.”
Bush claimed success.”
But the meetings did not produce a long-term emissions goal accepted by all the countries, rich and emerging, which was the goal the Bush administration had sought since announcing the “major economies” effort last;year. “And that's what took place;today. Bush has long insisted that any international treaty include developing nations like China and;India.
For Bush, who is trying to salvage his legacy on climate change late in his administration after years of international pressure to take a more aggressive stance, the back-to-back declarations were still an important step. “Here he is leading the way trying to get a global target.
“This is an enormous movement for a man who questioned the science on global warming, who was opposed to international treaties and who was opposed to international targets,” said Clapp, a often critic of the president's policies.”
Beyond climate change, the three-day meeting tackled issues including rising food and energy prices, aid to Africa and the political crisis in;Zimbabwe. He's gotten the developing countries to acknowledge there should be a global;goal.
After Bush met with President Hu Jintao of China on Wednesday, Hu thanked Bush, saying, “I highly appreciated that President Bush has on various occasions expressed his opposition to politicizing the Olympic;games.
Debate over the Beijing Olympics bubbled up on the sidelines, as Bush, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan all said they would attend the opening ceremonies, which drew criticism from human rights;advocates. What he really wants, he said, is to see the U. What he really wants, he said, is to see the U.S.-China basketball game. “If you could help me get a ticket,” he told Hu, “I'd appreciate;it.”
But climate change dominated the agenda of the summit meeting. Although the talks put the United States on record for the first time as embracing a specific long-term goal, environmentalists complained that the declaration by the G-8 did not go far;enough.
The WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund, said in a statement: “Major economies meeting turns into major embarrassment meeting for;G-8.”
Together, the countries that issued the declaration are responsible for more than 80 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists have said are warming the planet. But there is a dispute between rich and poor nations over how to set targets and who should bear the brunt of the;responsibility.

Tree-Ring Data – World Data Center for Paleoclimatology

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Tree-Ring Data – World Data Center for Paleoclimatology

G-8 promises to halve emissions by 2050

G-8 promises to halve emissions by 2050

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RUSUTSU, Japan : Pledging to “move toward a low-carbon society,” leaders of the world's richest nations Tuesday endorsed the idea of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, but did not specify whether the starting point would be current levels or 1990 levels, and refused to set a short-term target for reducing the gases that scientists agree are warming the planet.
The declaration by the Group of 8 – the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Russia – came under intense criticism from environmentalists, who called it a missed opportunity and said it ignored the urgent need to cut emissions more rapidly. Bush to adopt a more aggressive stance on climate change, said they were pleased with the agreement, which is nonbinding.
But European leaders, who have long pressed President George W.
“This is a strong signal to citizens around the world,” the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said at a news conference close to here. They cast it as an important step toward laying the groundwork for a binding international treaty, to be negotiated in Copenhagen in 2009 under the auspices of the United Nations. Now we need to go the extra mile to secure an ambitious global deal in Copenhagen. “The science is clear, the economic case for action is stronger than ever. In addition to global warming, they tackled food security, the global economy and aid to Africa at the meeting, which is being held in a mountain-top hotel under the gaze of 21,000 police officers guarding against potential protesters.”
The climate change document was among a series of communiqués the Group of 8 leaders issued Tuesday, the second day of their three-day gathering on the mountainous northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.” On the global economy, the leaders insisted they “remain positive,” but conceded financial markets face “serious strains.

On food security, the leaders said they were “deeply concerned that the steep rise in food prices” could push “millions more back into poverty. But advocates said the Africa communiqué rolled back important past commitments on health and education.”
On aid to Africa, they agreed to monitor their own progress, a victory for Bush, who has complained countries are not living up to a 2005 promise to double development assistance by 2010. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda of Japan, the host of the meeting, made addressing global warming a high priority for the talks, just as Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany did last year, when she was the host to the G-8 gathering at Heiligendamm.
It was climate change that drew the most attention.
But there was confusion over whether the cuts would be from current levels or the 1990 levels discussed at Heiligendamm.
In a brief appearance with Bush before the agreement was announced, Merkel said she was “very satisfied” with the leaders' progress.
That prompted harsh criticism. Fukuda, in a question-and-answer session with reporters, seemed to indicate it would be current levels.”
Another American climate change expert who is here in Japan for the meeting, Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists, called the communiqué “a missed opportunity,” adding, “What was needed was a clear signal that the world's major industrialized countries would provide real leadership in cutting their own emissions of heat-trapping gases by 2020. Phil Clapp, an expert in climate change at the Pew Environment Group who is here monitoring the talks, said, “The science shows that we have to reduce 80 to 90 percent from current levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.org, an international online advocacy group.”
The feelings of advocates were perhaps best summed up in a full-page advertisement in The Financial Times on Tuesday placed by Avaaz.
“Hello Kiddies,” the headline read.
“Hello Kiddies,” the headline read. “Be a Grown-Up. Set 2020 climate targets now.”
Cutting emissions in half is just the first step in curtailing warming, climate experts have long said, because the main greenhouse gas generated by human activities, carbon dioxide, can persist for a century or more in the atmosphere once released.
As long as more is emitted than oceans or plants can absorb, its concentration will rise. Such natural sinks only soak up about half of the current annual output of about 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide. And fuel emissions are projected to rise relentlessly, driven by fast-expanding economies in Asia. On Wednesday, the Group of 8 will take up the climate control issue again, this time with the “Outreach 5″ leaders of developing nations, including China and India.

A lockdown on Hokkaido as police outnumber summit protesters

Medieval Warm Period (Regional: Antarctica) — Summary

What do we know about the medieval climate of Antarctica? …

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Medieval Warm Period (Regional: Antarctica) — Summary

A lockdown on Hokkaido as police outnumber summit protesters

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DATE, Japan : They descended on this sleepy fishing town, some with faces wrapped in white bandannas, carrying red banners and shouting slogans.
But the 200 anti-globalization marchers, protesting Tuesday against world leaders meeting at a lake resort a half-hour away, quickly found themselves outnumbered by the police, who formed a moving cordon around them, and followed in half a dozen blue buses and vans. “We're not trying to crash the summit's gates.
“This security is really overkill,” said one marcher, Bill Hackwell, an antiwar activist who arrived last week from San Francisco. But whether this has helped the current meeting escape the violence of previous summit sessions is under intense debate, with many here criticizing the police presence as excessive, and overly expensive.”
Japan, host to the leaders of the Group of 8 wealthiest nations on its bucolic northernmost island of Hokkaido, has deployed one of the heaviest security operations in the history of the G-8 talks. “We did not need all these policemen tromping around Hokkaido.
“If violent protesters did not show up, it was because Hokkaido is so far away,” said Masaaki Ohashi, vice chairman of the 2008 Japan G-8 Summit NGO Forum, a coalition of Japanese nongovernment groups meeting on the sidelines. According to the National Police Agency, Japan is spending ¥30 billion, or about $280 million, for security at the meetings, which ends Wednesday.”

Indeed, activists say this may be one of the costliest and most heavily guarded Group of 8 sessions yet.
Japan has mobilized about 21,000 police officers, including 16,000 from other parts of Japan, who have essentially locked down an entire corner of Hokkaido, an island about the size of Ireland. That is more than double the $130 million that Germany spent on security last year when it hosted the previous Group of 8 meeting in Heiligendamm. Japan has also deployed extra police in Tokyo and other main cities, where they stand guard at train stations and street corners and patrol roadblocks. That is more than last year, when Germany marshaled about 16,000 police officers and 1,100 soldiers. Groups of police officers stopped cars for inspection and sealed off roads leading to the summit site.
The police presence was heavy around Date (pronounced DA-tay), which is about 20 kilometers, or 12 miles, south of Lake Toya, the summit venue.
So far, Japan has not seen the sort of violent protests that marred some previous G-8 sessions; tens of thousands clashed with the police and blocked roads in Germany last year. Offshore, armed patrol boats were visible, a rare sight in a nation that does not even have a full-fledged military. Four people were arrested, including a photographer for the Reuters news service, after scuffles with the police. The largest demonstration here came Saturday, when about 3,000 mostly Japanese demonstrators marched in Hokkaido's main city of Sapporo, more than an hour north of Lake Toya. Still, Japanese officials said they wanted the police presence just in case, to avoid a repeat of the protests in Germany.
Anti-globalization activists here say that the smaller, more peaceful protests reflects Japan's political apathy and the low level of overall violence in this low-crime society. Government officials and international relations experts say that ever-growing security is unavoidable, because of the threat of violent protests and terrorist attacks.
The buildup also seemed to reflect a broader international trend toward ever-increasing levels of security at global events. 11 attacks in the United States. 11 attacks in the United States.
The tighter security comes as the annual meetings themselves have grown more elaborate. The first such global meeting, in 1975 in France, was an informal gathering of six heads of state and a handful of journalists.
This year, in addition to the core group of eight industrialized nations, including the United States, leaders from 14 developing nations also attended to discuss issues ranging from climate change to African aid. About 5,000 journalists also attended.
For Japan, the conference was also a chance to raise its global profile at a time when it faces economic eclipse in Asia from China and India, the region's rising powers. International relations experts say the security measures were just Japan's way of being safe instead of sorry.
“Japan just wants to be very thorough and be ready for all contingencies,” said Junichi Takase, a professor of international relations at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies. “The number of police might seem excessive to Americans or Europeans, but it makes Japanese feel more secure.”

vacant possession: casual cruelty

… warming cycle to man’s modern technology willfully ignore the similar fluctuations known to history as the medieval warming period (when greenland supported viking farms), the roman warming period, and the holocene climatic optimum , …

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vacant possession: casual cruelty

Paleoclimatology

Paleoclimatology (also Palaeoclimatology) is the study of climate change taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth. It uses records from ice sheets, tree rings, sediment, and rocks to determine the past state of the climate ..

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Paleoclimatology

what does paleoclimatology mean?

PALEOCLIMATOLOGY as NOUN Meaning the study of the climate of past ages Synonym(s) palaeoclimatology (what does palaeoclimatology mean?) Hypernyms(s) paleoclimatology is a kind of… Example: animal is a hypernym of mammal, …

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what does paleoclimatology mean?

Long Term Variability of Fresh Water Flow into the San Francisco …

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Long Term Variability of Fresh Water Flow into the San Francisco …