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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>An acceleration of equatorial trade winds transferred heat to the deep ocean and led to the slowed surface warming of the past few years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The situation is temporary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/09/global-warming-pause-trade-winds-pacific-ocean-study"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/09/global-warming-pause-trade-winds-pacific-ocean-study</font></a>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Al Gore reviews Elizabeth Kolbert’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">
The Sixth Extinction</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/books/review/the-sixth-extinction-by-elizabeth-kolbert.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140210&tntemail0=y&_r=0"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/books/review/the-sixth-extinction-by-elizabeth-kolbert.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140210&tntemail0=y&_r=0</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth have charged that the US State Department hired a firm with fossil fuel industry ties to write the environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/12/new-evidence-state-department-keystone-xl-environmental-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-evidence-state-department-keystone-xl-environmental-review"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/12/new-evidence-state-department-keystone-xl-environmental-review/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-evidence-state-department-keystone-xl-environmental-review</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Ivanpah, at 392 megawatts the world’s largest solar thermal plant, uses as much water as two holes on a nearby golf course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/13/3289361/worlds-largest-solar-plant/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/02/13/3289361/worlds-largest-solar-plant/</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>More on Ivanpah, including cost, construction, and the non-issue of fried birds (traceable to the Wall Street Journal).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Ivanpah-Worlds-Biggest-Solar-Power-Tower-Project-Goes-Online?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Ivanpah-Worlds-Biggest-Solar-Power-Tower-Project-Goes-Online?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The current drought in CA has instructive precedents in the last few thousand years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140214-drought-california-prehistory-science-climate-san-francisco-2/"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140214-drought-california-prehistory-science-climate-san-francisco-2/</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>A review of over 200 studies shows that the EPA has greatly underestimated methane leakage from natural gas production and has understated methane emissions generally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140213142225.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28Latest+Science+News+--+ScienceDaily%29"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140213142225.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28Latest+Science+News+--+ScienceDaily%29</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>I have considered the futility of natural gas as a desirable transition fuel settled for a couple of years but thought to run this confirming story from a current
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Science</i> article, which is receiving wide notice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The study confuses things by concluding that natural gas is still better than coal on the scale of 100 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>Because methane (which is over 90% of natural gas) is around 100 times worse than CO2 in the short term, and because short term heating of the Arctic is a major concern, it matters little whether natural gas is competitive with even dirtier fuels in
the medium term or, for that matter, worse than diesel fuel in the short term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>We simply have no business relying on any fossil fuel this late in the process of climate disruption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The Science article:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></font><a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/343/6172/733.summary?rss=1"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.sciencemag.org/content/343/6172/733.summary?rss=1</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>The current flooding in England suggests that it is time to abandon a concept of adaptation which preserves current social and economic norms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span>We should instead be working for resilience under extreme conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</span></font></font><a href="http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/james-blog/2329080/its-time-to-talk-about-climate-resilience"><font color="#0000ff" size="3" face="Calibri">http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/james-blog/2329080/its-time-to-talk-about-climate-resilience</font></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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