Uh-oh, have to admit I got taken in by one of Jim's headlines. I'll try not to make that mistake again. Thanks for the tip, Neven. In any event, it was the Jakobshavn one, which did seem reasonably alarming, as you said. And Jim, thanks for your diligent work.

The Greeks did fine without any fossil fuels, but they had slaves. Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer in renewable energy, just don't want to skip over that point.

Self sufficiency seems like a good thing, I just wouldn't count on it saving you from a general collapse. There are 9 billion people in the world, and a few hundred of them are likely to find you no matter where you are. Better to slug it out and try to get things to change than spend precious time and resources nurturing the illusion you can survive while hundreds of millions do not.

More on the possible Super El Nino here: http://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/monster-el-nino-emerging-from-the-depths-nose-of-massive-kelvin-wave-breaks-surface-in-eastern-pacific/

I believe Watts's Law, as identified here, is merely a subset of a more general law. I'm not sure I can wordsmith it here, but something like "Any new weather extreme signals the beginning of a recovery from that extreme." Goes well with the Escalator graphic.

NSIDC is now showing that current ice extent has crossed below the 2007 line.