Snow in Arizona and other Absurdities

Interesting reading in the blogs today; here's a list of links:

Lloyd's of London gets serious about climate change.

With new weather patterns, exposures are changing and insurers need to act now, says the new Lloyd’s report Climate Change: Adapt or Bust.

From The Loom , a post about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's upcoming report on global warming. (February 2nd)

One thing that apparently will set this new edition apart will be a section that looks at the impact global warming is having on nature--plants blooming earlier, species moving towards the poles, and so on.

CEOs of 10 major US corporations call for greenhouse gas cap. Immediately, too! Good news.

It is recommending Congress implement short- and mid-term greenhouse gas reduction targets. Specifically, U.S. emissions should be between 100 to 105 percent of today´s levels within the five years after enacting legislation. Within the next 10 years, those they should be between 90 and 100 percent of current levels and between 70 and 90 percent within 15 years.

(Also commented on in politics is applesauce. )

And tomorrow evening, Bush will be giving his SOTU address, in which he is expected to mention climate change. The question is, will he be anywhere near on the same page as the scientists and policy-makers (or even in the same book)?

Chris Mooney comments on this in The Intersection: Will Bush Flip-flop on GHG Emissions?

Question for some enterprising blog reader: Has Bush ever voluntarily discussed global warming, or even mentioned that phrase (or "climate change"), in a previous SOTU address?

And here in Canada? Well, Chris Tindall sees Canada's "New Government" giving back a fraction of what it just took away, in support of environmental programs. Odiyya in The Conscious Earth looks at Harper's pro environment initiatives and notes:

To date, the net impact of Harpers green approach has been a one year delay in implementing what was already on the books.

Down to local conditions:

Pam in Tucson (Tortoise Trail) reports on a snow day in Tucson schools. How long is it since they saw that, I wonder?

Some great pictures of cacti under snow at The Firefly Forest . A "must-see".

And here? It's still raining, hard and steady. 7 degrees C. downtown. Not a trace of snow anywhere, except in heaps at the corners of mall parking lots. My primula is still blooming.