Latest links.

Climate report gives warning to leaders, say NZ scientists – Environment – NZ Herald News

Countries gearing up for the next round of top-level climate talks have been warned the agreement hashed out in the dying minutes of the Copenhagen conference could lead to 3C warming or more.

via Climate report gives warning to leaders, say NZ scientists – Environment – NZ Herald News.

Auckland heading for driest quarter in more than 50 years – National – NZ Herald News

Auckland is headed for the driest three months since records began more than 50 years ago.

via Auckland heading for driest quarter in more than 50 years – National – NZ Herald News.

China takes lead in clean-power investment – chicagotribune.com

Reporting from Washington – China overtook the United States for the first time last year in the race to invest in wind, solar and other sources of clean energy, according to a comprehensive new report that raises questions about American competitiveness in a booming global market.

via China takes lead in clean-power investment – chicagotribune.com.

Excavation jars with pure image: expert – Environment – NZ Herald News

New Zealand should be prepared for international criticism for its plan to open conservation land to mining, a tourism expert says

NZ Herald News.

US to lobby for endangered species listing for polar bear | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Melting sea ice in the Arctic will kill thousands of bears in coming years, the US says, and continued commercial trade must not be allowed to make the situation worse

guardian.co.uk.

Arctic Shelf Leaking Potent Greenhouse Gas

The frozen cap trapping billions of tonnes of methane under the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean is leaking and venting the powerful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, new research shows.

IPS ipsnews.net

U.N. says emissions vows not enough to avoid rise of 2 degrees C | Reuters

Emission cuts pledges made by 60 countries will not be enough to keep the average global temperature rise at 2 degrees Celsius or less, modeling released on Tuesday by the United Nations says.

Reuters

Bill Gates: the Most Important Climate Speech of the Year

On Friday, the world's most successful businessperson and most powerful philanthropist did something outstandingly bold, that went almost unremarked: Bill Gates announced that his top priority is getting the world to zero climate emissions.

Worldchanging

Skeptical Science: Examining Global Warming Skepticism

Scientific skepticism is healthy. Scientists should always challenge themselves to expand their knowledge and improve their understanding. Yet this isn’t what happens in global warming skepticism. Skeptics vigorously criticise any evidence that supports man-made global warming and yet eagerly, even blindly embrace any argument, op-ed piece, blog or study that refutes global warming.

So this website gets skeptical about global warming skepticism. Do their arguments have any scientific basis? What does the peer reviewed scientific literature say?

Skeptical Science: Examining Global Warming Skepticism.

10 big questions on climate change answered

WeatherWatch weather analyst Philip Duncan's blogs on climate change have attracted a lot of reader interest. He took readers' 10 most commonly asked questions and put them to Dr James Renwick, Principal Scientist, Climate Variability & Change at Niwa.

NZ Herald

Interview with Tuvalu Climate Negotiator Ian Fry

an Fry, the chief climate change negotiator for Tuvalu, fought on behalf of low-lying island nations during the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, last month.

°Celsius.

Government declares drought in Northland

The Government is coming to the aid of drought-stricken farmers in Northland, says Agriculture Minister David Carter.

“The Government has declared Northland as a medium-level drought zone, following a recent meeting of the Northland Rural Support Trust, and a drought recovery package is now in place to help affected farmers,” says Mr Carter.

Scoop

NZ not ready to meet Accord deadline – Copenhagen Summit 2009

Prime Minister John Key says New Zealand will not be signing a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the post-2012 period under the Copenhagen Accord's deadline of February 1.

NZ Herald News

Counting burps – it’s a gas

Hundreds of Australian sheep are to have their burp outputs measured by scientists who are hoping to breed a burp-less variety.

NZ Herald News.

Beyond Copenhagen: Dialogue, not diktat | Comment is free | The Guardian

As it drifts from the present into the past, the Copenhagen climate change conference looks both better and worse. Worse, because a considered reading of the accord, which was its only tangible output, reveals that it is not just inadequate but in fact utterly empty. Better, because of the novel manner in which this ultimate failure was reached. As the sight of the daily chaos drops out of view, it becomes easier to appreciate that the rich world was forced to haggle with the bigger emerging economies on more equal terms than ever before.

The Guardian.

Copenhagen called climate ‘crime scene’

The United Nations process at Copenhagen was slammed as “appalling” by New Zealand's climate change ambassador yesterday, in comments to international media.

NZ Herald News.

NZ near bottom of climate change performance ranking

New Zealand's performance on climate change has been ranked as very poor by European climate groups.

via Radio New Zealand

Truce allows Copenhagen talks to resume

A TENTATIVE truce between rich and poor nations has allowed a resumption of talks at the Copenhagen climate conference after a dramatic intervention by the President of the Maldives.

The Age

U.S. media tarnishes message of Copenhagen climate protest | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

COPENHAGEN — The Global Day of Action began Saturday in the South Pacific where the sun rises. The day of international protest started as an uplifting global demonstration calling for a “Real Deal” to come out of the climate negotiations in Copenhagen. More than 3,000 marches and candlelight vigils in 139 countries occurred yesterday — some yielding as many as 50,000 protesters — all with the intent of spreading this one common, unified message to policy makers.

Detroit Free Press.

Copenhagen climate summit negotiations ’suspended’

Negotiations at the UN climate summit have been suspended after developing countries withdrew their co-operation.

BBC News