Professor David Schindler wants Canadians to trust scientists on the global warming science, but does not mention which scientists are more trustworthy and which are not. Prof. Schindler is unfortunately unaware of several peer-reviewed studies in recent literature which have seriously questioned several aspects of the science. [. . . . ]

The science of global warming is far from settled, as Prof. Schindler and his ardent supporters would like to claim. In a review paper soon to be published in the International Journal PAGEOPH (Pure & Applied Geophysics), I have concluded that the dissenting view offered by climate skeptics is more credible than the IPCC scientists’ view of the global warming science.

Dr. Madhav L. Khandekar, research scientist (ret’d), Environment Canada, Unionville, Ont.

[. . . . ] Canadians should be encouraged to think for themselves and journalists such as Terence Corcoran are doing important work publicizing what those of us who are actually specialized in the field find most troubling about Kyoto and the politically correct view of climate change.

That the National Post is prepared to publish op-eds, columns, letters and news stories that give points of view for and against the need for severe greenhouse gas restriction is highly commendable. It is something the CBC, The Globe and Mail and other media who have acted as merely a communications arm for the environmental movement would do well to emulate.

Dr. Tim Ball, environmental consultant, Victoria.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - In a U.N. conference's final hours, the United States and the European Union worked out a modest deal early Saturday to inch ahead in the international effort to put a cap on global warming.

The Americans avoided any commitment to negotiate mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, something President Bush rejected in 2001 when he renounced the Kyoto Protocol, which requires rollbacks in other industrial nations by 2012.

On their side, the Europeans won a new forum for discussing just that -a "seminar" next May at which governments can informally raise a range of climate issues, including next steps on emissions control after 2012. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] Noranda announced last month that it has ended "exclusive" negotiations with Minmet. Derek Pannell, CEO of Noranda, acknowledged at a Montreal investing conference this week that talks may be kaput.

"We haven't closed the door on Minmetals, they may indeed come back; they may not come back," he said.[. . . . ]

The ice-cloaked Arctic Ocean was once apparently a warm, biologically brewing basin so rich in sinking organic material that some scientists examining fresh evidence pulled from a submerged ridge near the North Pole say the seabed may now hold significant oil and gas deposits.

This is just one of many findings from a pioneering expedition that in late summer sent dozens of scientists and technicians on three icebreakers - one with a drilling rig nine stories tall - into the drifting, crunching plates of sea ice to retrieve the first long-term record of climate and ocean conditions there. The expedition drilled 1,400 feet deep, retrieving cores of sediment that, with some gaps, span 56 million years. Scientists from around the world gathered in Bremen, Germany, this month to analyze the samples.

[. . . . ] "Everyone thought this ocean basin was starved of sediment," said Dr. Kathryn Moran, an oceanographer at the University of Rhode Island who was a co-leader of the 14-nation project. "We've already knocked that ball out of the park."

So far, the coring project has mainly garnered the attention of climate experts, but word is slowly spreading among geologists focused on oil as well.

[. . . . ] Samples from the cores are heading to laboratories around the world for months of additional, detailed analysis of their chemistry, fossil contents and even signatures of past shifts in the earth's magnetic field, which provide a precise clock for dating different layers.

The initial success has already bred half a dozen ambitious new proposals to drill in new places around the basin.

"This is a huge leap forward," said Dr. Martin Jakobsson, a geologist at Stockholm University who worked on the project. "We have shown that we can master the ice."

This week Parliament began to debate Bill C-14, the Tlicho Land Claims and Self-Government Act. If you haven't heard of it, you're not alone. It is extremely important, however, for Canadians to learn more about this and other land claims agreements.

If passed, becoming an Act of Parliament, the bill will be the first combined land claims and self-government agreement completed since the Nisga'a Treaty. It will give less [sic] than 2,600 people $152-million over 14 years, year-round hunting and fishing rights and control over 39,000 square kilometres that are currently part of the North West Territories, an area almost the size of Switzerland. In addition, the Tlicho will be able to assess royalties on any mining or oil and gas activity within the newly created region and will have powers previously held by the territorial government, including education and healthcare.

This agreement will see the creation of a Tlicho Government. This government will have the power to enact laws over such things as: fishing; spiritual and cultural beliefs and practices; traditional medicine; heritage resources on Tlicho lands; training; social assistance; child and family services; adoption; education (except post-secondary); wills, intestacy and administration of estates; and marriage. [. . . . ]

[. . . . ] Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch Prime Minister, who currently holds the EU's rotating presidency. "There was a clear support for the [UN] Secretary General, because we all realize that he is very aware of the fact that we need an effective multilateral system." Mr. Annan has been under pressure over the scandal-plagued UN oil-for-food program for Iraq, in which his son was involved, with some U.S. politicians calling for him to step down.