The Future of Global Energy: Looks Like Coal, Part 2 | Power Line

So just last week I noted here that the developing world was going whole hog for coal, but it looks like it isn’t just countries like India and China. Germany—yes, Germany, the nation that has a California-like fantasy that it will get 80 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2050—is building 23 new coal-fired power plants, partly to replace the nuclear power plants that it improvidently decided to shut down last year as the tsunami in Japan.

New Climate Changes Help Grass Come Back to U.S. Rangelands

Global climate changes could help some shrub-dominated deserts revert to ecosystems that support the growth and establishment of grasslands, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) studies suggest. These findings indicate that sufficient increased precipitation over a sequence of years—and carefully managed grazing—could help keep woody plants in check in the U.S. Southwest.

An uncorrected assumption in BEST’s station quality paper | Watts Up With That?

Post Normal Science: Deadlines | Climate Etc.

Today, I observe that deadlines change the behavior of those doing science. We see that in climategate; we see that in the events of the past week. That’s doesn’t entail anything about the truth of science performed under pressure. But it should make us pause and consider if truth will be found any faster by rushing the results and hiding the data.

Ohio Valley Summer Temperatures Have Been Plummeting For 80 years | Real Science

July of 2009 was the coldest on record in the Ohio Valley, and July temperatures have been plummeting in that region since 1930. July 1934 and 1936 were both much hotter – even after NCDC adds 1.5 degrees on to recent temperatures relative to the 1930s.

Palm Trees Migrating To Antarctica | Real Science

Temperatures in Antarctica have hit a balmy -109F over the last two days, which can mean only one thing – tropical vacation