November 15, 2008
SPPI
The scare: The Times of India reported in the autumn of 2008 that James H. Diaz, program director for environmental and occupational health at Louisiana State University, had said that as international travel increased and climate patterns changed the US was becoming a more stable ecosystem for malaria mosquitoes. Diaz said that warm, dry summers followed by heavy rain caused mosquitoes to rush their breeding and to seek out more blood meals, which in turn bred more mosquitoes in less time.

November 15, 2008
The Heritage Foundation
In one of the first moves in the lame duck session, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) is calling for a vote on an omnibus lands package that would create 10 new "heritage" areas and restrict millions of acres as federal wilderness land. As a result, the bill would eliminate major recreation and restrict new oil and gas leasing, logging, mining, and all other business activity in these areas. In total, 3 million acres would be withdrawn from energy leasing. The Congressional Budget Office places an $8 billion price tag on the omnibus lands bill: $7.1 billion in discretionary spending and over $915 million in mandatory spending.[1]

November 14, 2008
by Benny Peiser

Just as the UK toughens up its Climate Change Bill targets, cracks are emerging in the global effort to cut CO2 emissions. Andrew Forster spoke to climate policy analyst Benny Peiser about the 'big picture' debate that could colour transport policy here

Green pressure groups and opposition MPs may have welcomed the Government's toughening up of the Climate Change Bill's emissions reduction targets but for Benny Peiser it merely illustrates that Britain's politicians have no grasp of reality when it comes to cutting emissions.

FULL INTERVIEW

NASA
Dr. Tony Phillips
Nov. 7, 2008: After two-plus years of few sunspots, even fewer solar flares, and a generally eerie calm, the sun is finally showing signs of life.

"I think solar minimum is behind us," says sunspot forecaster David Hathaway of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

His statement is prompted by an October flurry of sunspots. "Last month we counted five sunspot groups," he says. That may not sound like much, but in a year with record-low numbers of sunspots and long stretches of utter spotlessness, five is significant. "This represents a real increase in solar activity."