'There is no Planet B', Belgian climate protest tells COP28:
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| 'There is no Planet B', Belgian climate protest tells COP28 - Reuters |
Dec 3 · [1/2]A demonstrator holds a placard, during a climate protest coinciding with COP28 being held in Dubai and ahead of the upcoming Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union, in Brussels, Belgium, December 3, 2023. REUTERS/Johanna Geron Acquire Licensing Rights
BRUSSELS, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Police said about 20,000 people protested in the Belgian capital on Sunday to demand more action to fight global warming as delegates from some 200 countries met in Dubai for the United Nation's COP28 climate conference.
Marching to the beat of drums, protesters waved banners saying "ACT NOW" - the "O" stylised to resemble the Earth on fire - and "There is no Planet ... Read more ...
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'A complete lobby fest’: Why the U.N. climate talks grew so big:
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| 'A complete lobby fest’: Why the U.N. climate talks grew so big - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Dec 6 · When the United Nations began holding an annual climate summit in 1995, it was a small and sleepy affair that attracted fewer than 4,000 diplomats and scientists.
Today, the conference has ballooned into a gathering of corporate bigwigs and political power brokers. More than 84,000 people have swarmed this year’s climate talks in Dubai, which feature a dizzying array of panel discussions, corporate-sponsored happy hours and flashy pavilions handing out coffee and chocolate.
Once quick to dismiss the summits, many business lobbyists and C-suite executives now see the gatherings as imperative to attend, whether to meet with government officials, broker business deals or ... Read more ...
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'Betrayed’: NT communities angered after learning only industry was consulted on scrapped net zero policy:
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| 'Betrayed’: NT communities angered after learning only industry was consulted on scrapped net zero policy - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 4 · Advocates say territory government choice to only consult directly with fossil fuel companies before walking away from emissions laws is 'bitterly disappointing’
Northern Territory community members say they feel “betrayed” and unheard after revelations the Fyles government quietly consulted the gas industry before walking away from a net zero emissions requirement for new onshore gas projects.
Guardian Australia revealed on Monday that the NT government abandoned a proposal to set net zero rules for direct emissions from new onshore gas projects after companies including Santos and Inpex objected, according to documents released under freedom of information.
The ... Read more ...
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'Dirty 30’ and its toxic siblings: the most dangerous parts of the Sellafield nuclear site:
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| 'Dirty 30’ and its toxic siblings: the most dangerous parts of the Sellafield nuclear site - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 5 · Cracks in ponds holding highly radioactive fuel rods lead to safety fears
In the early 1950s, a huge hole was dug into the Cumbrian coast and lined with concrete. Roughly the length of three Olympic swimming pools and known as B30, it was built to hold skip loads of spent nuclear fuel.
Those highly radioactive rods came from the 26 Magnox nuclear reactors that helped keep Britain’s lights on between 1956 and 2015. When B30 was first put to work, it was designed to keep the fuel rods submerged for only three months before reprocessing work was carried out.
But when 1970s miners’ strikes shut down coal power stations and forced greater reliance on nuclear plants, ... Read more ...
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'Living dead': Tunisian villages suffer drought, climate change:
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| 'Living dead': Tunisian villages suffer drought, climate change - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 6 · The only road that leads to the village is decrepit and hasn't been paved in decades, and residents say this only deepens their sense of isolation. Some villagers have felt pushed to move to urban areas or abroad. About 300,000 of Tunisia's 12 million people have no drinking water in their homes, according to the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights. Ounissa's cousin, Djamila Mazhoud, 60, said her son and two daughters had all left in search of better lives. "We educated our children so that when we grow old, they take care of us, but they couldn't," she said. "People are either unemployed or eaten by the fish in the sea," she added, using a common phrase for migrants who ... Read more ...
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'Shocking' discovery: Electricity from electric eels may transfer genetic material to nearby animals:
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| 'Shocking' discovery: Electricity from electric eels may transfer genetic material to nearby animals - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · Provided by Nagoya University Read more ...
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'Unintended consequences': friction at COP28 over green trade:
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| 'Unintended consequences': friction at COP28 over green trade - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · Inside the negotiating rooms and on the sidelines of the COP28 climate talks, simmering tensions over wealthy countries' "green trade" policies have been bubbling to the surface, with developing nations fearful they will be penalized. A particularly sore point has been the European Union's new carbon border tax, which sets a price on imported goods based on the emissions involved in creating them. While the EU deems the tax necessary to ensure everything entering the bloc meet its climate goals, powerful emerging economies at COP28 have labeled such policies as protectionist, saying they disadvantage poorer trading partners. Concerns have also been raised that these kind of climate ... Read more ...
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'Unusual' ancient graves found near Arctic, but no remains discovered inside, study says:
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| 'Unusual' ancient graves found near Arctic, but no remains discovered inside, study says - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · Just south of the Arctic Circle, within the vast forests of northern Finland, lies a sandy field dotted with dozens of "unusual" pits. Workers stumbled upon the site, known as Tainiaro, six decades ago, and since then, its origins have remained elusive. But now, upon conducting a comprehensive analysis of the site, researchers have determined it is likely a sprawling hunter-gatherer cemetery dating back some 6,500 years, according to a study published on Dec. 1 in the journal Antiquity. "Such a large cemetery at such a high northerly latitude does not necessarily fit preconceptions about prehistoric foragers in this region," researchers affiliated with Finland's University of Oulu ... Read more ...
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'You don’t bring arsonists to a firefighting convention’: anger after record number of fossil fuel lobbyists get access to Cop28 – live:
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| 'You don’t bring arsonists to a firefighting convention’: anger after record number of fossil fuel lobbyists get access to Cop28 – live - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 5 · Coalition of climate NGOs highlights that there are more fossil fuel lobbyists than delegates from 10 most climate-vulnerable countries combined Read more ...
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(Dis)Solving the Wind Turbine Recycling Problem:
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| (Dis)Solving the Wind Turbine Recycling Problem - Climate Crocks |
Dec 3 · I’ve reported before on new approaches to the “problem” of wind turbine blade recycling.
I put “problem” in quotes, because, like the “problem” of recycling solar panels, the issue exists mainly in the social media disinformation space, egged on by a small army of misinformers and bad actors from various fossil fuel funded “think tanks” and the like.These flimflammers make a living by relying on the ignorance of the average social media surfer, who has no concept of the scale of current fossil fuel waste streams, especially coal ash, which is the second largest waste stream in the US behind only household garbage.In the ... Read more ...
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1.5°C Pathways Can Still Be Achieved, Combining Fairness and Global Climate Protection:
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| 1.5°C Pathways Can Still Be Achieved, Combining Fairness and Global Climate Protection - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · Global warming can still be limited to 1.5°C by 2100 while ensuring that the poor are not hit hardest by climate policies and climate impacts. This is achieved by immediately introducing broad carbon pricing together with re-distributive policies using carbon pricing revenues and further measures to reduce energy consumption, accelerate technological transitions, and transform the land sector. The results from multiple integrated assessment models (IAMs) show that a combination of producer and consumer-oriented measures can work together to rapidly reduce emissions. The comprehensive results on 1.5°C pathways in line with the Paris Agreement are synthesised in a report of ... Read more ...
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A civil discourse on climate change:
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| A civil discourse on climate change - MIT - Global Change |
Nov 20 · d="M12.132,61.991a5.519,5.519,0,0,1-5.866,5.753A5.554,5.554,0,0,1,.4,61.854a5.809,5.809,0,0,1,1.816-4.383,6.04,6.04,0,0,1,4.05-1.37C9.9,55.965,12.132,58.43,12.132,61.991Zm-8.939-.137c0,2.328,1.117,3.7,3.073,3.7s3.073-1.37,3.073-3.7-1.117-3.835-3.073-3.835C4.45,58.156,3.193,59.526,3.193,61.854Z" transform="translate(-0.4 -55.965)" fill="#333"/> d="M17.884,67.531l-3.352-5.753-1.257-2.191v7.944H10.9V56.3h2.793l3.212,5.616c.419.822.7,1.37,1.257,2.328V56.3h2.374V67.531Z" transform="translate(3.765 -55.889)" fill="#333"/> ... Read more ...
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A forestry scientist explains how to choose the most sustainable Christmas tree, no matter what it's made of:
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| A forestry scientist explains how to choose the most sustainable Christmas tree, no matter what it's made of - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Dec 5 · The No. 1 way to reduce emissions with an artificial tree is to reuse it for years. Reuse avoids the carbon impact of producing, packaging and shipping a new one. The break-even point - when your artificial tree's emissions match the emissions of buying a live tree each year - varies from as little as four years to as many as 20 years, depending on the factors considered. Many artificial trees are built to last 30 years or more. My family has had one for 25 years. To lengthen its life span, take care when putting it up and storing it. If the tree gets damaged, see if you can find replacement parts rather than replacing the entire tree. Pay attention to the source About 80% of ... Read more ...
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A landmark climate resolution is what Maine needs to ring in 2024:
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| A landmark climate resolution is what Maine needs to ring in 2024 - newsletter.climatenexus |
Dec 5 · The right climate restoration resolution will recognize Maine's environmental obligations and make climate safety a priority for our state.
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You and I have not only heard of climate change. We’re sick of news of yet another record-breaking high temperature, or ... Read more ...
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A shipboard monitoring system is giving researchers much-needed measurements of Antarctic wind, waves and ice:
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| A shipboard monitoring system is giving researchers much-needed measurements of Antarctic wind, waves and ice - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · The Southern Ocean is "the engine room" for the world's climate and weather system. Across its large expanses of uninterrupted water, winds pick up speed and waves gather energy. Strong winds and large waves fuel the exchange of heat and gas - including carbon dioxide - between the air and sea. As a result, the Southern Ocean has the capacity to store and release more heat than anywhere else on Earth. These processes change throughout the year, as wind speeds and water temperatures fluctuate. They are also influenced by the seasonal ice cycle, in which sea ice melts in austral (southern hemisphere) spring and summer and regrows in autumn and winter. The best place to study these ... Read more ...
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Addressing Corruption In Electric Vehicle Battery Supply Chains:
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| Addressing Corruption In Electric Vehicle Battery Supply Chains - Legal Planet |
Dec 5 · In the race to scale up a global supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, mining justice advocates have sought to ensure that the ongoing clean technology minerals boom does not exacerbate longstanding negative impacts from the global mining industry. Chief among these are corruption risks.
To provide guidance to electric vehicle purchasers (particularly fleets), advocates, and leaders in “downstream” markets about how to support anti-corruption measures in the battery supply chain, Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) partnered with the Natural Resource Governance Institute to issue a new policy brief: Corruption Risks in the EV ... Read more ...
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After a mild fire year, Southern California crews look ahead to 2024:
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| After a mild fire year, Southern California crews look ahead to 2024 - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · On a cool, cloudy morning one day last week, Albert Rivas approached a pile of dry wood in the Angeles National Forest and set it on fire. The pile roared to life, and within minutes, it was spewing flames at least 10 feet tall. Rivas, a firefighter with the United States Forest Service, paused briefly to admire his handiwork before aiming his gasoline- and diesel-filled drip torch at another pile nearby. By morning's end, he and more than a dozen other Forest Service firefighters had burned about 17 acres' worth of woody material around the Lower San Antonio Fire Station at the base of Mt. Baldy - a forest management feat they attributed to favorable weather and fuel conditions. ... Read more ...
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Agreement to phase out fossil fuels would be huge for humanity, says Gore:
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| Agreement to phase out fossil fuels would be huge for humanity, says Gore - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 4 · Exclusive: former US vice-president and climate activist says phase-out can be only measure of success for Cop28
An agreement by countries to phase out fossil fuels would be “one of the most significant events in the history of humanity”, according to Al Gore, amid wrangling by governments at Cop28.
It would be a “welcome surprise” if world leaders agreed at the climate talks to call for an end to fossil fuels, but such a declaration would have “enormous impact” upon the world, Gore told the Guardian at the gathering in the United Arab Emirates.
“If there were a decision here to surprise the world to say 'OK we get it now, we’ve made enough money, we will get on ... Read more ...
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AI image generation adds to carbon footprint, research shows:
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| AI image generation adds to carbon footprint, research shows - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Dec 4 · So you program your thermostat to save heating costs, recycle glass and plastic, ride a bicycle to work instead of driving a car, reuse sustainable grocery bags, buy solar panels, and shower with your mate - all to do your part to conserve energy, curb waste and lower your carbon footprint. A study released last week may just spoil your day. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Hugging Face, a machine learning community website, report that you might still contribute to climate change if you are one of the 10 million-plus users who tap into machine learning models daily. In what they term the first systematic comparison of costs associated with machine-learning models, ... Read more ...
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Air-Conditioning Use Will Surge in a Warming World, U.N. Warns:
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| Air-Conditioning Use Will Surge in a Warming World, U.N. Warns - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 5 · By 2050, electricity use for cooling could double, driving up the greenhouse gas emissions that cause warming.
The future facing a warming planet: As global temperatures rise, more people will turn to air-conditioners to ward off the heat.
But the rise in cooling buildings and other spaces, which is also driven by rising incomes, population growth and urbanization, means that the world could use more than double the electricity it does now to stay cool, according to new United Nations research published on Tuesday at the global climate talks in Dubai.
The surge in electricity use in turn threatens to drive up the very greenhouse gas emissions that cause global ... | By Hiroko Tabuchi Read more ...
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Al Jaber says comments claiming there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels were ‘misinterpreted’ – Cop28 live:
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| Al Jaber says comments claiming there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels were ‘misinterpreted’ – Cop28 live - Guardian |
Dec 4 · Cop28 president and oil chief says phase-down and phase-out of fossil fuels is essential and says his comments were misrepresented Read more ...
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An Assessment of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement as a Climate Solution and Resilience Tool:
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| An Assessment of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement as a Climate Solution and Resilience Tool - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Dec 2 · Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) is a marine carbon removal approach that can also provide relief from ocean acidification. While in its early stages, it is critical to align OAE R\u0026D efforts with sustainable development goals, ocean acidification resiliency efforts, and national and industrial climate pledges. This panel will explore how a variety of stakeholders views ocean alkalinity enhancement research, and how OAE might help to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.\n\nAdam Subhas, Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution\n\nJessie Turner, Director, Ocean Acidification Alliance\n\nGabby Kitch, Carbon Dioxide Removal Program Lead, NOAA\n\nAngela ... | By Ocean Pavilion Read more ...
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An oil executive is leading the UN climate summit. It’s going as well as you’d expect.:
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| An oil executive is leading the UN climate summit. It’s going as well as you’d expect. - VOX - Science |
Dec 4 · The head of COP28 is facing widespread backlash for his comments on fossil fuels.
As the United Nations’ annual climate summit COP28 continues, controversial comments by Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, the head of the conference, are roiling the event and raising questions about how substantive any new fossil fuel agreement emerging from the gathering will be.
In a meeting one week before the conference, Jaber - who is the United Arab Emirates minister of industry and advanced technology as well as the chairman of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company - told a panel he believed there was no science to suggest eliminating fossil fuels would help keep global temperature increases ... Read more ...
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Andy Reisinger: How could the world govern new approaches to tackle climate change?:
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| Andy Reisinger: How could the world govern new approaches to tackle climate change? - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Nov 30 · The world is due to exceed 1.5°C warming, and countries will face more extreme consequences in the near -term, warns Andy Reisinger in a C2GTalk. Significant levels of carbon dioxide removal will be required, and policies are needed to reduce adverse consequences. Solar radiation modification is more uncertain, and would reflect a failure of global governance to cut emissions. Andy Reisinger is an independent consultant specialising in the science-policy interface of climate change, with particular expertise in livestock agriculture and the role of methane as part of mitigation strategies. He was vice-chair of Working Group III (Mitigation) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ... | By C2G Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative Read more ...
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Annual report shows fossil CO2 emissions at record high in 2023:
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| Annual report shows fossil CO2 emissions at record high in 2023 - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have risen again in 2023 - reaching record levels, according to new research from the Global Carbon Project science team. The annual Global Carbon Budget projects fossil carbon dioxide (CO2 emissions of 36.8 billion metric tons in 2023, up 1.1% from 2022. The 2023 edition (the 18th annual report) was published in the journal Earth System Science Data. Fossil CO2 emissions are falling in some regions, including Europe and the U.S., but rising overall - and the scientists say global action to cut fossil fuels is not happening fast enough to prevent dangerous climate change. Emissions from land-use change (such as deforestation) are projected ... Read more ...
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Applying pulp mill waste to soil could be a win-win for the environment and industry:
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| Applying pulp mill waste to soil could be a win-win for the environment and industry - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Dec 4 · Pulp mill waste destined for the landfill could instead be useful as an organic fertilizer that can help reduce the environmental impact of using conventional fertilizers while improving soil and tree growth, University of Alberta research shows. A two-year study conducted on a hybrid poplar tree plantation in northern Alberta showed that compared with using conventional fertilizers alone, adding biosolids - wood and other fibers left over from pulp and paper production - reduced harmful greenhouse gas emissions from the soil. Combining biosolids and conventional fertilizer also improved soil fertility, the study showed. The findings provide new insight into what effect biosolids ... Read more ...
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Are the solutions to fight climate change making progress?:
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| Are the solutions to fight climate change making progress? - BBC |
Dec 5 · It's not all doom and gloom at the COP28 climate summit.
The Earth's climate is changing rapidly and urgent action is needed to avoid the most damaging consequences for people and nature.
But there is hope, and delegates in Dubai are discussing several very concrete ways to limit warming.
So what are some of these "solutions", and how are they progressing?
The most important thing is, of course, to cut down on burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). So let's start with that.
They account for more than three quarters of all global greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for temperatures rising.
As a result, many governments, ... Read more ...
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Ash Can Fertilize the Oceans:
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| Ash Can Fertilize the Oceans - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Nov 23 · Flames roared through Santa Barbara County in late 2017. UC Santa Barbara canceled classes, and the administration recommended donning an N95, long before the COVID pandemic made the mask a household item. Smoke and ash choked the air, but the Thomas Fire's effects weren't restricted to the land and sky. Huge amounts of ash settled into the oceans, leaving researchers to wonder what effect it might have on marine life.
Now scientists at UC Santa Barbara have discovered that wildfire ash adds nutrients to marine systems, and that microbes at the base of the food web can use these nutrients to grow. This contrasts with the impacts of ash in freshwater ecosystems, where it is ... Read more ...
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At a glance - Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?:
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| At a glance - Has the greenhouse effect been falsified? - Skeptical Science |
Dec 5 · On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a "bump" for our ask. This week features "Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?". More will follow in the upcoming weeks. Please follow the Further Reading link at the bottom to read the full rebuttal and to join the discussion in the comment thread there.
Did you know that in the late 1700s, astronomers calculated the Earth-Sun distance to within 3% of the correct average value of ... Read more ...
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Australia ends finance for fossil fuel expansion overseas – now focus turns to local subsidies:
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| Australia ends finance for fossil fuel expansion overseas – now focus turns to local subsidies - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 5 · Albanese government announces at Cop28 it will phase out offshore support for coal, oil and gas within a year
The Australian government has been praised for joining a global partnership committed to stopping billions of dollars in foreign aid and loans being spent on fossil fuel expansion, but the decision has also prompted renewed calls for it to reconsider polluting subsidies at home.
The Albanese government announced at the Cop28 climate summit that it had joined 40 other countries in signing up to the clean energy transition partnership, an agreement first reached in Glasgow two years ago.
It aims to create new rules to end international financing of fossil ... Read more ...
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Big Methane News at COP28:
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| Big Methane News at COP28 - New York Times |
Dec 2 · The measure, which requires oil and gas producers to detect and fix leaks of the greenhouse gas, came as the U.S. vice president spoke at the COP28 climate summit.
Reporting from COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Vice President Kamala Harris pledged at a United Nations climate summit on Saturday that the United States would spend billions more to help developing nations fight and adapt to climate change, telling world leaders that “we must do more” to limit global temperature rise.
Her remarks followed an announcement by U.S. officials at the summit the same day that the federal government would, for the first time, require oil and gas producers to detect and ... | By Jim Tankersley and Lisa Friedman Read more ...
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Botany Must Feature More Prominently on the School Curriculum to Promote Awareness of Climate Change, Study Warns:
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| Botany Must Feature More Prominently on the School Curriculum to Promote Awareness of Climate Change, Study Warns - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · Children must be taught more about the importance of plants if education about climate change and sustainability is to be effective, experts have warned.
Botany should feature more heavily in the school curriculum, and be a greater focus of educational policy, the study says.
It warns neither the importance of plants for sustainability or the threats facing many of them are adequately represented in science education. While the problem has been identified for some time, attempts to address it have often struggled to gain a foothold in science education practice.
Dr Bethan Stagg from the University of Exeter and Professor Justin Dillon from UCL argue teachers should ... Read more ...
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British research ship crosses paths with world's largest iceberg as it drifts out of Antarctica:
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| British research ship crosses paths with world's largest iceberg as it drifts out of Antarctica - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · Britain's polar research ship has crossed paths with the largest iceberg in the world - a "lucky" encounter that enabled scientists to collect seawater samples around the colossal berg as it drifts out of Antarctic waters, the British Antarctic Survey said Monday. The RRS Sir David Attenborough, which is on its way to Antarctica for its first scientific mission, passed the mega iceberg known as the A23a on Friday near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The iceberg - equivalent to three times the size of New York City and more than twice the size of Greater London - had been grounded for more than three decades in the Weddell Sea after it split from the Antarctic's Filchner Ice ... Read more ...
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Building blocks? Cutting pollution from steel, concrete and aluminum:
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| Building blocks? Cutting pollution from steel, concrete and aluminum - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Dec 5 · They hold modern life together in everything from airplane parts to apartment blocks, but steel, concrete and aluminum come with a hefty climate cost that the world could be paying for decades. Heavily reliant on fossil fuels, they account for a significant chunk of greenhouse gas emissions - pollution that is particularly hard to cut fast enough to meet global warming goals. The three sectors say they aim to slash - or even eliminate - their CO2 emissions by 2050, despite growing demand in a rapidly urbanizing world. To do that will require a buildings "revolution", according to the United Nations, while the International Energy Agency wants greater recycling, cleaner energy and ... Read more ...
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Can Carbon Capture Live Up to the Hype?:
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| Can Carbon Capture Live Up to the Hype? - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 6 · The technology to capture and bury carbon dioxide has struggled to ramp up and has real limits. But experts say it could play a valuable role.
World leaders at the annual United Nations climate talks have battled for years over whether they should “phase out” fossil fuels like coal or just phase them “down.”
Now, another phrase has taken center stage at this year’s summit in Dubai: Should countries agree to end the use of “unabated” fossil fuels?
That peculiar word choice might allow nations to continue to burn coal, natural gas or oil as long as they trap and bury the resulting carbon dioxide, and stop the gas from heating the planet.
One big dispute is over ... | By Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich Read more ...
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Clean energy innovation or illusion? JETP climate funds:
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| Clean energy innovation or illusion? JETP climate funds - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · They were billed as an ingenious new way of helping developing countries ditch planet-polluting coal, promising an injection of billions from wealthy governments looking for new ways to tackle carbon emissions. But are the Just Energy Transition Partnerships a major climate solution to moving away from fossil fuels in emerging economies? Or are these multi-billion dollar deals a "mirage"? Vietnam last week laid out a blueprint to transition away from coal power under its JETP deal at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, where calls to rapidly increase renewable energy - and swiftly ditch oil, gas and coal - are dominating discussions. Here's what you need to know about the deals: What ... Read more ...
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Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth - How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe:
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| Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth - How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe - Skeptical Science |
Dec 6 · This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any).
War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. Wars and militaries drive emissions in myriad ways, soak up vital cash, and derail climate deals. So, whether it's the Israel-Hamas conflict or the invasion of Ukraine, war and conflict are fuelling the changes to our climate.
Support ClimateAdam on patreon: https://patreon.com/climateadam
THE ESCALATOR (free to republish) Read more ...
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Climate Change and the Hard-Headed Realist:
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| Climate Change and the Hard-Headed Realist - Legal Planet |
Dec 4 · It’s not surprising that Bernie Sanders said, rather emphatically, that he was not a friend of Kissinger’s. Yet there was one issue where they did agree: climate change.
If there was one thing that Henry Kissinger stood for, it was the hard-headed “realist” view of foreign policy - a view that prioritizes national interest at all costs, rejecting idealism as weak-minded sentimentality. Nobody in all his long career ever called him progressive. We already know that idealists like Pope Francis support climate action. What about the anti-idealist, brutally realist Kissinger?
Kissinger was - and remains even after his death - a polarizing figure. As his biographer Jeremi ... Read more ...
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Climate change by numbers:
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| Climate change by numbers - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · The International Energy Agency said in September that growth in solar power and electric car sales were in line with a "pathway" needed to reach that goal. That would require global renewable energy capacity to triple by the end of the decade - a goal more than 110 nations agreed to at the COP28 talks. This non-binding commitment could end up in the final negotiated text agreed at the end of the two-week talks. © 2023 AFP Read more ...
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Climate Litigation: Reflection and Anticipation for 2024:
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| Climate Litigation: Reflection and Anticipation for 2024 - Union of Concerned Scientists - Global Warming |
Dec 4 · Last year, I made three predictions for what would happen in climate litigation in 2023. Two of my predictions hit the mark, while the other one revealed the complexity of the legal battles waged against climate injustice. Below I reflect on my predictions before venturing into the uncharted territory of 2024.
US cases heard on merits: A mixed bag. My prediction that cases would finally be heard on their merits in the United States encountered a mixed reality. While major oil companies did run out of legal stalling tactics when state courts denied their appeals to switch jurisdiction to federal courts, the pace of progress remained sluggish. There was a glimmer of hope in ... Read more ...
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Climate Summit Leader Tries to Calm Uproar Over a Remark on Fossil Fuels:
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| Climate Summit Leader Tries to Calm Uproar Over a Remark on Fossil Fuels - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 4 · Sultan Al Jaber, responsible for leading the world away from fossil fuels, had said there was “no science” to support a phaseout of oil and gas.
Reporting from the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Simmering tensions around the decision to hold a global climate summit in a petrostate burst into the open on Monday when Sultan Al Jaber, the Emirati oil executive who is leading the conference, launched into an angry public defense of his position on ending fossil fuel use.
Mr. Al Jaber, who runs the state-owned oil company, Adnoc, was under fire for a video that surfaced in which he said there is “no science” behind the idea that fossil fuels must be ... | By Lisa Friedman Read more ...
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Companies made big climate pledges. Now they are balking on delivering.:
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| Companies made big climate pledges. Now they are balking on delivering. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Dec 3 · When the insurance giant AIG rattled the industry last year with an audacious plan to stop writing policies for some of the most heavily polluting fossil fuel projects, environmentalists and lawmakers showered the company with plaudits.
Now they are quickly losing patience with it.
Like so many other large companies pledging to help the world avert climate catastrophe, AIG is finding that making such vows is easier than making good on them. The company is now a target of a Senate investigation into the insurance industry, led by lawmakers who warn that AIG and other companies continue to play a pivotal role in underwriting some of the most carbon-intensive fossil fuel ... Read more ...
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Controversial carbon credits flood COP28, yet still no rules:
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| Controversial carbon credits flood COP28, yet still no rules - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · Many different players have rushed to set up their own carbon credit rules, slowing down negotiations for a common regulatory framework, according to environmental groups. This absence of common rules has given companies free rein to engage in widely-criticized offsetting as part of a voluntary carbon credit market. At COP28, negotiators have been tasked with looking into applying Article Six of the 2015 Paris Agreement. It allows countries to cooperate on hitting their emissions-reduction targets - including by swapping carbon credits. It also envisages a reform of the global carbon credit market that has been dragging on for years. The Climate Action Network, which brings together ... Read more ...
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COP 28 Is a Crunch Point for Countries on the Front Lines of Climate Change:
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| COP 28 Is a Crunch Point for Countries on the Front Lines of Climate Change - Scientific American - Climate |
Nov 29 · To achieve climate justice, developed countries need to put their money where their mouth is
Cyclones, like this Category 5 one that hit Vanuatu in 2015, are becoming stronger because of climate change. In 2023 alone, three highly destructive cyclones, Lola, Judy and Kevin, have caused extensive damage on the small Pacific island.
MR Roderick J. Mackenzie/New Zealand Defence Force via Getty Images
In late October, a monster storm named Lola hit the Southern Hemisphere, a week before the official start of the cyclone season, producing the earliest recorded Category 5 cyclone. Violent winds battered the island nation of Vanuatu, reaching 295 kilometers per hour (183 ... | By Josephine Latu-Sanft Read more ...
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Cop28 bulletin: Al Jaber goes off script, denies science:
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| Cop28 bulletin: Al Jaber goes off script, denies science - Climate Change News - Politics |
Dec 4 · One of the largest demonstrations in the Cop28 venue on Sunday called for a ceasefire in Gaza (Photo: Mariel Lozada)
Do you find it hard to reconcile the Sultan Al Jaber the climate champion with Sultan Al Jaber the oil chief? So does he, if an unscripted moment reported by the Guardian is anything to go on.
In a live event with former UN special envoy Mary Robinson in November, Al Jaber momentarily forgot his PR-approved lines and reverted to industry talking points.
“There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C,” he said.
He dismissed Robinson’s call for a phase-out as ... | By Megan Darby and Sebastian Rodriguez Read more ...
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Cop28 bulletin: Fossil fuel phase-out language takes shape:
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| Cop28 bulletin: Fossil fuel phase-out language takes shape - Climate Change News - Politics |
Dec 6 · Delegates around the Cop28 venue (Photo: IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis)
Negotiators are locked in feverish marathon talks to hammer out the final technical draft of the global stocktake. The version published early Tuesday is a 24-page smörgåsbord of wildly ranging alternatives.
Take the energy package. On the defining battle of Cop28 – the fossil fuels conundrum – the draft text lays out two phase out options.
The first simply calls for “an orderly and just phase out of fossil fuels”, reflecting the position of the “high ambition coalition” (France, Kenya, Colombia and others).
The second is wordier. It has qualifiers that give cover to coal, oil and ... | By Matteo Civillini and Joe Lo Read more ...
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Cop28 bulletin: IPCC chief defends Al Jaber over science firestorm:
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| Cop28 bulletin: IPCC chief defends Al Jaber over science firestorm - Climate Change News - Politics |
Dec 5 · German youth activist Luisa Neubauer at the Cop28 venue (Photo: Flickr/UN Climate Change/Kiara Worth)
“Science has guided my life”, Sultan Al Jaber hit back after being accused of denying the scientific consensus that a massive cut-back on fossil fuels is needed to prevent devastating climate impacts.
Striking a firm, and at times exasperated, tone, the oil executive-turned-Cop28 president slammed press reports as “misrepresentations”, the result of “statements taken out of context”.
Al Jaber insisted he had said “over and over that the phase-down and phase out of fossil fuels is inevitable”. But, “how come does this never get picked up [by the media]?” he asked, ... | By Matteo Civillini and Sebastian Rodriguez Read more ...
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COP28 Climate Summit Awash In Record Number Of Fossil Fuel Lobbyists:
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| COP28 Climate Summit Awash In Record Number Of Fossil Fuel Lobbyists - Huffington Post |
Dec 5 · Nearly 2,500 fossil fuel lobbyists are roaming the halls of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai - a record number that’s nearly four times the industry’s presence at last year’s negotiations.
That’s according to a new analysis from Kick Big Polluters Out, a coalition of groups that advocates for ridding the annual climate talks of fossil fuel industry influence. The coalition combed through a provisional list of COP28 participants and identified at least 2,456 attendees with various ties to fossil fuels.
That number dwarfs the previous record of 636 sector lobbyists at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt. The spike can likely be largely attributed to new rules requiring ... Read more ...
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COP28 Daily Bite - Environmental justice in CDR means…:
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| COP28 Daily Bite - Environmental justice in CDR means… - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Dec 3 · ✊ Today’s COP28 Daily Bite: “Environmental justice in CDR means…â€\n\nUnder the CDR@COP principle of 🌠Local Leadership, Global Impact, Fiona Mugambi, Shantanu Agarwal, and Radhika Moolgavkar provide us with some important food for thought. \n\n💵 “That those least responsible for climate change and most at risk benefit from its economics †| By Sebastian Manhart Read more ...
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COP28 Daily Bite - We can prevent CDR from being used for greenwashing by…:
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| COP28 Daily Bite - We can prevent CDR from being used for greenwashing by… - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Dec 2 · 🌠Today’s COP28 Daily Bite: “We can prevent CDR from being used for greenwashing by…â€\n\n💚 Under the CDR@COP principle of ðŸ—£ï¸ Never an Excuse @ Leila Toplic, @ Shantanu Agarwal, and @ Natalia Dorfman provide their insights. \n\n🛡ï¸â€œMRV can serve as a safeguard against greenwashing†| By Sebastian Manhart Read more ...
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COP28 fossil fuel debate sizzles as world marks record hot year:
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| COP28 fossil fuel debate sizzles as world marks record hot year - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 6 · Copernicus head Carlo Buontempo said that "as long as greenhouse gas concentrations keep rising we can't expect different outcomes". "The temperature will keep rising and so will the impacts of heat waves and droughts." © 2023 AFP Read more ...
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Cop28 president forced into defence of fossil fuel phase-out claims:
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| Cop28 president forced into defence of fossil fuel phase-out claims - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 4 · Sultan Al Jaber, who is state oil CEO, had said phase-out of fossil fuels would take world 'back into caves’
The president of Cop28 has been forced into a fierce defence of his views on climate science, after the Guardian revealed his comment that there was “no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C”.
Sultan Al Jaber, who is also the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company, Adnoc, said at a hastily arranged press conference at the summit in Dubai: “I respect the science in everything I do. I have repeatedly said that it is the science that has guided the principles or ... Read more ...
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Cop28 president says there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels:
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| Cop28 president says there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels - Guardian |
Dec 3 · Exclusive: UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber says phase-out of coal, oil and gas would take world 'back into caves’
The president of Cop28, Sultan Al Jaber, has claimed there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global heating to 1.5C, the Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting can reveal.
Al Jaber also said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.
The comments were “incredibly concerning” and “verging on climate denial”, scientists said, and they were at odds with the position of the UN secretary general, António Guterres.
Al Jaber made the ... Read more ...
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COP28: 7 food and agriculture innovations needed to protect the climate and feed a rapidly growing world:
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| COP28: 7 food and agriculture innovations needed to protect the climate and feed a rapidly growing world - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Dec 4 · For the first time ever, food and agriculture took center stage at the annual United Nations climate conference in 2023. More than 130 countries signed a declaration on Dec. 1, committing to make their food systems - everything from production to consumption - a focal point in national strategies to address climate change. The declaration is thin on concrete actions to adapt to climate change and reduce emissions, but it draws attention to a crucial issue. The global food supply is increasingly facing disruptions from extreme heat and storms. It is also a major contributor to climate change, responsible for one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. This ... Read more ...
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COP28: Health is finally on the agenda, but there's more to do as we face continued climate extremes:
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| COP28: Health is finally on the agenda, but there's more to do as we face continued climate extremes - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · As global leaders gather in Dubai for COP28, health has finally landed firmly on the climate change agenda, with the first "health day" at the annual UN climate summit taking place yesterday (December 3). Including health in discussions on climate change has never been more important. Extreme weather threatens human health in a variety of ways, and this intersection is only getting worse as extreme weather events become more likely with climate change. Two of us (Kathryn and Arthur) attended the health day. It represents a pivotal moment for climate and health on the global stage - but there's still much work to do. How climate change affects our health The Lancet recently ... Read more ...
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COP28: With a 'loss and damage' fund in place, protecting climate refugees is more urgent than ever:
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| COP28: With a 'loss and damage' fund in place, protecting climate refugees is more urgent than ever - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · It has taken decades, but the complex and increasingly urgent issue of "climate mobility" has gradually become central to international climate negotiations. At the COP28 summit currently taking place in Dubai, there are around 25 sessions or side events devoted to the needs and rights of people and communities displaced by climate change. Day one saw a major breakthrough, with agreement on a "loss and damage" fund to compensate "particularly vulnerable" countries. While questions remain over the long-term sustainability of funding sources and how the fund will be administered, it still represents progress. But it is unclear how the fund will be integrated with the Global Stocktake ... Read more ...
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Corporate 'Net Zero' BS is all the rage. Don't get taken in!:
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| Corporate 'Net Zero' BS is all the rage. Don't get taken in! - Just Have A Think |
Dec 3 · Everyone's got a 'Net-Zero' plan these days, haven't they? No self-respecting company would be without one. But are these claims a genuine marker of real decarbonisation within a business or just an exercise in corporate box-ticking? Now a new report has analysed 300 of the world's largest corporations to find out the answer.\n\nHelp support this channels independence at \nhttp://www.patreon.com/justhaveathink \n\nOr with a donation via Paypal by clicking here\nhttps://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick\u0026hosted_button_id=GWR73EHXGJMAE\u0026source=url \n\nYou can also help keep my brain ticking over during the long hours of research and editing via the nice folks at ... | By Just Have a Think Read more ...
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Crocodile Family Tree Mapped:
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| Crocodile Family Tree Mapped - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · Around 250 million years ago, 700 species of reptiles closely related to the modern-day crocodile roamed the earth, now new research reveals how a complex interplay between climate change, species competition and habitat can help explain why just 23 species of crocodile survive today.
The study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, found that when global temperatures rose, the number of species of the crocodile's sea-dwelling and land-based relatives went up, while increases in competition for resources, perhaps with sharks, marine reptiles or dinosaurs, likely brought about their extinction. By contrast, the crocodile's freshwater-dwelling relatives were not affected by ... Read more ...
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Daily report for 3 December 2023:
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| Daily report for 3 December 2023 - enb.iisd |
Dec 4 · Dubai, United Arab Emirates
When climate negotiators arrive in Dubai, they'll have a full agenda: completion of the first Global Stocktake under the 2015 Paris Agreement, operationalizing the funding arrangements for loss and damage, a new collective quantified goal on climate finance, and the global goal on adaptation, among other items.
“Negotiators have been negotiating with people’s lives, not just carbon emissions. They just didn’t realize it,” opined Dr. Diarmid Campell-Lendrum of the World Health Organization, as he helped open “health, relief, recovery, and peace” day.
By the end of the day, 70 states and 39 organizations backed the UAE declaration on ... Read more ...
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Deep Sea Sensor Reveals That Corals Produce Reactive Oxygen Species:
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| Deep Sea Sensor Reveals That Corals Produce Reactive Oxygen Species - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · Just like us, corals breathe in oxygen and eat organic carbon. And just like us, as a byproduct of converting energy and oxygen in the body, corals produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), a family of chemical compounds that are naturally made by cells during cell division, while fighting off pathogens, and performing other physiological functions.
But until now, it was unknown whether healthy, deep-sea corals produce a particular type of ROS, called superoxide (O2•-). Superoxide is a highly reactive ROS known for influencing ocean ecology, organisms' physiology, and driving chemistry in the ocean including the breakdown of carbon and the bioavailability of metals and ... Read more ...
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Deep sea sensor reveals that corals produce reactive oxygen species:
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| Deep sea sensor reveals that corals produce reactive oxygen species - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · Just like us, corals breathe in oxygen and eat organic carbon. And just like us, as a byproduct of converting energy and oxygen in the body, corals produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), a family of chemical compounds that are naturally made by cells during cell division, while fighting off pathogens, and performing other physiological functions. But until now, it was unknown whether healthy, deep-sea corals produce a particular type of ROS, called superoxide (O2•-). Superoxide is a highly reactive ROS known for influencing ocean ecology, organisms' physiology, and driving chemistry in the ocean including the breakdown of carbon and the bioavailability of metals and nutrients. A ... Read more ...
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Does COP have a Prayer? Turns out, Yes.:
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| Does COP have a Prayer? Turns out, Yes. - Climate Crocks |
Dec 5 · Below, Self proclaimed Sadguru has gotten involved in extensive spiritual support efforts at the COP28 meeting. Above, turns out he has a long running, apparently well thought out, tree planting program in India – video by Oregon State Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison.
Among the hubs for climate scientists, activists and fossil fuel lobbyists at the United Nations climate summit is a new addition this year: a place to pray.
The first-ever Faith Pavilion, inaugurated by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, in a video message on Sunday, offers a space for meditation, daily prayers and even a chanting session led by the Indian mystic and ... Read more ...
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Don't be fooled: CCS is no solution to oil and gas emissions:
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| Don't be fooled: CCS is no solution to oil and gas emissions - enb.iisd |
Dec 3 · Alongside high-level ministerial events on the new collective quantified goal on finance (NCQG) and just transitions, negotiations spanned a variety of issues. Informal consultations among others convened on the NCQG, Global Stocktake (GST), mitigation, just transition pathways, and the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA). Several meetings related to market approaches convened, including a joint contact group to discuss the interlinkages between Articles 6.2 and 6.4 of the Paris Agreement.
High-Level Ministerial Events
NCQG: Opening the event, CMA 5 President Sultan Al Jaber emphasized the importance of finance and trust for the UNFCCC process. UNFCCC Executive Secretary ... Read more ...
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Don’t be fooled: CCS is no solution to oil and gas emissions:
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| Don’t be fooled: CCS is no solution to oil and gas emissions - Climate Change News - Politics |
Dec 4 · The oil and gas industry wants you to believe it can capture its emissions and keep drilling as usual. That’s no way to avert climate chaos
Al Wasl Dome at the Cop28 venue in Dubai, UAE (Pic: Flickr/Cop28/Neville Hopwood)
At the Cop28 climate conference taking place in Dubai, oil and gas producers are counting on carbon capture and storage (CCS) for a social license to keep drilling as usual. Don’t fall for it.
While it can be helpful at the margins, CCS cannot possibly deliver reductions in greenhouse gas emissions on the scale needed to avert climate disaster. This can only happen if the main sources of emissions – fossil fuels – are phased ... | By Laurence Tubiana and Emmanuel Guérin Read more ...
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Don’t Fall for Big Oil’s Carbon Capture Deceptions:
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| Don’t Fall for Big Oil’s Carbon Capture Deceptions - Scientific American - Climate |
Dec 4 · Carbon capture technology is a PR fig leaf designed to help Big Oil delay the phase-out of fossil fuels
Moor Studio/Getty Images
It’s that time of year again. The political and media circus of the United Nation’s big climate change meeting COP28 is about to begin, this time in in Dubai. And it’s bound to be quite a show.
In the inevitable crescendo of hype and greenwashing that’s coming our way, we’ll doubtless hear a lot about industrial carbon capture technologies that attempt to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The COP 28 host country, the United Arab Emirates, the world’s largest oil companies and even programs in ... | By Jonathan Foley Read more ...
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Earth is running a fever. And UN climate talks are focusing on the contagious effect on human health:
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| Earth is running a fever. And UN climate talks are focusing on the contagious effect on human health - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 3 · A report last week issued by Unitaid, which helps get new health care products to low- and middle-income countries, explored how product redesign, improvements in manufacturing and other measures could reduce the carbon footprint of 10 products used for health emergencies, women's and children's health, and HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. Forest fires caused in part by climate change can have dramatic effects on homes, health and lives. Heat waves, which can be deadly, also can weigh on mental health, Gibert said, while poor air quality can make life harder for those facing lung and heart ailments and cause respiratory issues, like asthma in kids. "Not a lot of people know that the ... Read more ...
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El Niño helped steer storms away from U.S. this hurricane season. What about next year?:
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| El Niño helped steer storms away from U.S. this hurricane season. What about next year? - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 3 · This year, a record-hot Atlantic Ocean went toe-to-toe with a strong El Niño for which weather phenomena would steer the hurricane season. The winner? "The record-warm Atlantic came out on top," said Phillip Klotzbach, a meteorologist and researcher at Colorado State University. "It wasn't that the El Niño wasn't there and didn't have some impacts, they just didn't extend globally like it normally does." Supercharged sea surface temperatures are linked with more frequent and more intense storm activity, and the global weather phenomenon El Niño often brings a chill to the Atlantic Ocean that slows down storm formation. The collision of these two major factors in 2023 was ... Read more ...
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Electric arc furnaces: Technology poised to make British steelmaking more sustainable:
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| Electric arc furnaces: Technology poised to make British steelmaking more sustainable - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Dec 4 · In a move to embrace sustainable steelmaking, British Steel has unveiled a £1.25 billion plan to replace two blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant with electric arc furnaces. This follows the UK government's commitment in September to invest up to £500 million towards an electric arc furnace at Tata Steel's Port Talbot plant in south Wales. This method of steelmaking can use up to 100% scrap steel as its raw material, resulting in a significant reduction in carbon emissions. It is the future of steelmaking. Steel is an incredible material and for good reason. It's the world's most commonly used metal because it's strong, durable and recyclable, making it the perfect material for ... Read more ...
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Emissions Rise As Fossil Fuel Interests Convene:
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| Emissions Rise As Fossil Fuel Interests Convene - newsletter.climatenexus |
Dec 5 · Projected rate of warming has not improved in past two years, analysis shows
Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels reached record levels again in 2023, as experts warned that the projected rate of warming had not improved over the past two years.
The world is on track to have burned more coal, oil and gas in 2023 than it did in 2022, according to a report by the Global Carbon Project, pumping 1.1% more planet-heating carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at a time when emissions must plummet to stop extreme weather from growing more violent.
The finding comes as world leaders meet in Dubai for the fraught Cop28 climate summit. In a separate report published on ... Read more ...
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Exxon among 50 oil producers in controversial climate pact at COP28:
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| Exxon among 50 oil producers in controversial climate pact at COP28 - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · Exxon Mobil Corp. and Saudi Arabia's Aramco, the world's largest private and state-sector oil companies, led a pledge by 50 oil and gas producers at the COP28 climate summit to cut emissions from their own operations. The deal is controversial given none of the companies are agreeing to reduce oil and gas production. But they are planning to stem releases of methane, one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases, to near zero by 2030 and stop routine flaring of natural gas. The initiative was spearheaded by COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber, the chief executive officer of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., who's invested political capital bringing the oil and gas industry into the climate ... Read more ...
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Fighting climate change should be affordable:
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| Fighting climate change should be affordable - New York Times |
Dec 1 · Mr. Gates is the founder of Breakthrough Energy, which invests in climate solutions that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As we head into COP28, the annual global meeting on climate change underway in Dubai, there are two dominating schools of thought, both of which are wrong. One says the future is hopeless and our grandchildren are doomed to suffer on a burning planet. The other says we’re all going to be fine because we already have everything we need to solve climate change.
We’re not doomed, nor do we have all the solutions. What we do have is human ingenuity, our greatest asset. But to overcome climate change, we need rich individuals, companies and countries ... | By Bill Gates Read more ...
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Fighting Crises With Cash, Except for the Climate Crisis:
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| Fighting Crises With Cash, Except for the Climate Crisis - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 4 · Money is a very big sticking point at this year’s United Nations climate summit. Part of the problem is that American promises often go unmet.
Friedman reported from COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Sengupta from New York
When there’s a global crisis, wealthy countries tend to find money.
That was the case in the United States when big banks were bailed out to soften a global financial crisis. That was the case for the coronavirus pandemic. And for military aid to allies like Ukraine.
But the climate crisis? It’s complicated.
This weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris visited the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, in the United Arab ... | By Lisa Friedman and Somini Sengupta Read more ...
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Finance teams need a crash course in ESG. These organizations can help:
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| Finance teams need a crash course in ESG. These organizations can help - Greenbiz |
Dec 6 · New regulations, investor demands and environmental realities are forcing finance teams to brush up on best practices for sustainable finance and ESG reporting.
New regulations, investor demands and environmental realities are forcing finance teams to adopt new processes related to sustainable finance and ESG reporting - topics most of them haven’t previously prioritized.
There’s often a steep learning curve associated with that transition. A shortage of ESG-savvy finance professionals will prevent most companies from hiring their way out of this challenge. That’s why more should invest in upskilling existing finance and accounting teams about the subject matter ... | By Nico McCrossan Read more ...
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Finding cash for the climate is tough. Two new pledges show why.:
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| Finding cash for the climate is tough. Two new pledges show why. - newsletter.climatenexus |
Dec 4 · Money is a very big sticking point at this year’s United Nations climate summit. Part of the problem is that American promises often go unmet.
Friedman reported from COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Sengupta from New York
When there’s a global crisis, wealthy countries tend to find money. In the United States, that was the case for the coronavirus pandemic. And for military aid to allies like Ukraine.
But the global climate crisis? It’s complicated.
On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris visited the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and promised $3 billion for the Green Climate Fund, which benefits poorer ... | By Lisa Friedman and Somini Sengupta Read more ...
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First images capture world's largest iceberg:
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| First images capture world's largest iceberg - BBC |
Dec 4 · The UK's polar ship, RRS Sir David Attenborough, has come face to face with the world's biggest iceberg.
The planned encounter allowed scientists on board the research vessel a closer look at one of the true wonders of the natural world.
A23a, as the berg is known, covers 3,900 sq km (1,500 sq miles), twice the size of Greater London.
It broke from the Antarctic coast in 1986 and has spent much of the time since stuck fast to the seafloor.
But during the past year, currents and winds have driven the frozen block rapidly across the Weddell Sea. And it is now set to spill beyond the White Continent, into the Southern Ocean.
The Attenborough ... Read more ...
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Forecasting forest health using models to predict tree canopy height:
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| Forecasting forest health using models to predict tree canopy height - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Dec 5 · Tree height is an important indicator of a forest's maturity and overall health. Forest restoration projects rely on tree height as a predictor and measurement of success, but forecasting a forest's future tree height based on observations alone is almost impossible. Too many factors contribute to the growth and health of trees. Because so many factors can impact how a tree develops, researchers enhanced a predictive model called the Allometric Scaling and Resource Limitations (ASRL) model and then deployed it using Google Earth Engine, looking at forests in the northeastern United States. The research is published in the Journal of Remote Sensing. "Potential tree height can reach ... Read more ...
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Fossil CO2 Emissions at Record High in 2023:
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| Fossil CO2 Emissions at Record High in 2023 - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have risen again in 2023 -- reaching record levels, according to new research from the Global Carbon Project science team.
The annual Global Carbon Budget projects fossil carbon dioxide (CO2 emissions of 36.8 billion tonnes in 2023, up 1.1% from 2022.
Fossil CO2 emissions are falling in some regions, including Europe and the USA, but rising overall -- and the scientists say global action to cut fossil fuels is not happening fast enough to prevent dangerous climate change.
Emissions from land-use change (such as deforestation) are projected to decrease slightly but are still too high to be offset by current levels of ... Read more ...
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Fossil fuel firms should volunteer to help vulnerable countries, says Spanish minister:
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| Fossil fuel firms should volunteer to help vulnerable countries, says Spanish minister - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 4 · Co-leader of EU delegation at Cop28 says climate should be at centre of all financial and economic decisions
If fossil fuel companies are serious about tackling the climate crisis, they could contribute to funds for poor and vulnerable countries stricken by its effects, Spain’s environment minister has said.
Teresa Ribera, a co-leader of the EU delegation at the Cop28 UN climate summit in Dubai, said: “Private corporates should be stepping into a different development model in vulnerable countries. We went through some language on that that was broadly supported by all [EU] member states, which is: why not just start by an invitation to the oil and gas companies to ... Read more ...
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Fossil fuel phase-out among options on COP28 table:
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| Fossil fuel phase-out among options on COP28 table - Reuters |
Dec 5 · DUBAI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Countries at the COP28 climate conference are considering calling for a formal phase-out of fossil fuels as part of the U.N. summit's final deal to tackle global warming, a draft negotiating text seen on Tuesday shows.
The proposal is certain to spark heated debate among the nearly 200 countries attending the two-week conference in Dubai, with Western governments pushing for the language to be included, while oil and gas producers are keen to leave it out.
The draft of what could be the final agreement from COP28, released by the U.N. climate body on Tuesday, proposed "an orderly and just phase-out of fossil fuels" which if adopted would ... Read more ...
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Geothermal power: Indonesia eyes ‘phenomenal’ renewable energy potential:
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| Geothermal power: Indonesia eyes ‘phenomenal’ renewable energy potential - SCMP |
Dec 4 · Geothermal energy is a renewable resource captured by drilling holes that are many kilometres deep to tap heat radiating from the planet’s molten core. The best sites for the process are where tectonic plates meet and white-hot magma bubbles through the gaps, spawning hot springs and volcanoes.
“The beauty of Indonesia is that all its islands sit on tectonic plates, so its geothermal energy potential is phenomenal,” said Marit Brommer, executive director of the International Geothermal Association.
The Southeast Asian nation has the largest geothermal reserves in the world, concentrated on the islands of Sumatra and Java.
Experts, however, are split over whether ... Read more ...
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German heat pump rollout at risk as government suspends climate subsidies:
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| German heat pump rollout at risk as government suspends climate subsidies - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 6 · Move could also undermine nine funding programmes, covering schemes from energy efficient homes to cargo bikes provision
Germany has put an indefinite stop to a series of subsidies viewed as key to meeting climate goals, a move that could undermine the rollout of heat pumps as the country attempts to plug a multi-billion-euro hole in its budget.
Nine funding programmes, covering everything from energy efficient homes to cargo bikes for commercial use, are now on hold as Olaf Scholz’s coalition government seeks to make savings of about €17bn (£15bn).
The government was thrown into a quandary last month over how to finance its ambitious environmental and industrial ... Read more ...
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Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels to hit record high:
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| Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels to hit record high - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 5 · Projected rate of warming has not improved in past two years, analysis shows
Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels reached record levels again in 2023, as experts warned that the projected rate of warming had not improved over the past two years.
The world is on track to have burned more coal, oil and gas in 2023 than it did in 2022, according to a report by the Global Carbon Project, pumping 1.1% more planet-heating carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at a time when emissions must plummet to stop extreme weather from growing more violent.
The finding comes as world leaders meet in Dubai for the fraught Cop28 climate summit. In a separate report published on ... Read more ...
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Global Fossil Fuel Emissions Are Rising, Report Finds:
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| Global Fossil Fuel Emissions Are Rising, Report Finds - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 4 · Carbon dioxide emissions from oil, gas and coal rose by 1 percent in 2023, researchers announced at the U.N. climate summit.
Despite years of commitments from countries to slash the emissions of greenhouse gases that are warming the planet, they are still on the rise.
Carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels is expected to rise by 1.1 percent in 2023 compared with 2022, scientists found in an extensive peer-reviewed analysis published this week.
The continued growth in fossil fuel use comes despite rapid renewable energy growth.
“Just supporting renewables alone is not going to solve the climate problem,” said Glen Peters, a senior researcher at the ... | By Delger Erdenesanaa Read more ...
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Good COP, Bad COP. Climate Adam on Petro Politics:
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| Good COP, Bad COP. Climate Adam on Petro Politics - Climate Crocks |
Dec 4 · Speaking on behalf of the climate system, this our red line: humanity needs to agree on the phasing out of fossil fuels by 2050, and on stopping net deforestation at the same time.
"The sharpest climate denier debunker on YouTube." - TreeHugger "@PeterWSinclair is a national treasure." - Brad Johnson, Publisher Hill Heat Follow @PeterWSinclair Pages > About Overview – Find the right video Peter Sinclair: Photos and Bio Links Climate Science Legal Defense Fund >.widget.widget_media_image { overflow: hidden; }.widget.widget_media_image img { height: auto; max-width: 100%; } Recent Posts > Is Enough Private Money Flowing to Clean Energy? PBS NewsHour: Excellent ... Read more ...
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Google Taps Hot Rocks to Cool Climate:
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| Google Taps Hot Rocks to Cool Climate - Scientific American - Climate |
Dec 5 · The potential of geothermal energy as a carbon-free power source is well known. Now companies such as Google are helping to unlock it
A geothermal production well and the Blundell Geothermal Power Plant near Milford, Utah. This well provides 400 degree steam and hot water from deep underground to run the turbines at the power plant.
Jon G. Fuller/VW Pics/ Universal Images Group via etty Images
CLIMATEWIRE | Corporate America has learned to love renewables. Now, it is beginning to dabble in next-generation climate solutions.
An advanced geothermal project supported by Google began generating electricity last week, a big step in the search for technology that ... | By E&E News & Benjamin Storrow Read more ...
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Got Climate Angst? At the U.N. Summit, There’s a Quiet, Spiritual Place.:
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| Got Climate Angst? At the U.N. Summit, There’s a Quiet, Spiritual Place. - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 5 · A pavilion at COP28 offers a space for meditation, prayer and something that feels lacking, at times, from global warming talks: hope.
Reporting from the U.N. climate summit in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates
Among the hubs for climate scientists, activists and fossil fuel lobbyists at the United Nations climate summit is a new addition this year: a place to pray.
The first-ever Faith Pavilion, inaugurated by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, in a video message on Sunday, offers a space for meditation, daily prayers and even a chanting session led by the Indian mystic and yogi Jaggi Vasudev, who goes by Sadhguru.
The pavilion is ... | By Jenny Gross Read more ...
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Greenhouse gas emissions soar – with China, US and India most at fault:
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| Greenhouse gas emissions soar – with China, US and India most at fault - Guardian |
Dec 3 · Satellite tracking data shows many countries and firms do not provide accurate figures
Electricity generation in China and India, and oil and gas production in the US, have produced the biggest increases in global greenhouse gas emissions since 2015, when the Paris climate agreement was signed, new data has shown.
Emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, have also risen, despite more than 100 countries signing up to a pledge to reduce the gas, according to data published on Sunday by the Climate Trace project.
The data shows that countries and companies are failing to report their emissions accurately, despite obligations ... Read more ...
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Harvesting More Solar Energy With Supercrystals:
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| Harvesting More Solar Energy With Supercrystals - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · Hydrogen is a building block for the energy transition. To obtain it with the help of solar energy, LMU researchers have developed new high-performance nanostructures. The material holds a world record for green hydrogen production with sunlight.
When Emiliano Cortés goes hunting for sunlight, he doesn't use gigantic mirrors or solar farms. Quite the contrary, the professor of experimental physics and energy conversion at LMU dives into the nanocosmos. "Where the high-energy particles of sunlight meet atomic structures is where our research begins," Cortés says. "We are working on material solutions to use solar energy more efficiently." His findings have great ... Read more ...
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Harvesting Water from Air With Solar Power:
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| Harvesting Water from Air With Solar Power - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · More than 2.2 billion people currently live in water-stressed countries, and the United Nations estimates that 3.5 million die every year from water-related diseases. Because the areas most in need of improved drinking water are also located in some of the sunniest places in the world, there is strong interest in harnessing sunlight to help obtain clean water.
"This atmospheric water harvesting technology can be used to increase the daily water supply needs, such as household drinking water, industrial water, and water for personal hygiene," said author Ruzhu Wang.
Historically, researchers have faced challenges when injecting salt into hydrogels as the higher salt ... Read more ...
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Has the shared e-scooter industry finally grown up?:
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| Has the shared e-scooter industry finally grown up? - Greenbiz |
Dec 5 · Despite setbacks, cities are still embracing shared e-scooters to help get people out of cars.
E-scooters in an unidentified location. Source: Unsplash/Jonas Jacobsson
Picture this: You’re cruising on a Bird or Lime or Veo or LINK e-scooter in a protected bike lane built by the abundant profits reaped by the e-scooter industry and shared with the city. You got rid of your car two months ago - it was starting to accumulate dust and parking tickets. Arriving at the light rail station, you park neatly in a brightly painted scooter parking corral. The app lets you know that by taking an e-scooter instead of driving, you diverted a car trip’s worth of GHG emissions. You take ... | By Maylin Tu Read more ...
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Head Of Global Climate Summit Manages To Deny Science In Pro-Science Comment:
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| Head Of Global Climate Summit Manages To Deny Science In Pro-Science Comment - Huffington Post |
Dec 4 · Sultan Al Jaber, the oil company boss presiding over the COP28 climate conference, has spent the last week defending himself against a rising tide of public outrage, first over how he reportedly tried to use the international talks to strike backdoor oil and gas deals for the United Arab Emirates and most recently that he dismissed the need to urgently phase out planet-warming fossil fuels.
Ahead of this year’s summit, which kicked off Nov. 30 in Dubai, Al Jaber claimed that there is “no science” to support the idea that phasing out oil, gas and coal is needed to limit planetary warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the goal of the landmark Paris climate agreement, The Guardian ... Read more ...
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Head of UN talks hits back in climate science row:
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| Head of UN talks hits back in climate science row - BBC |
Dec 4 · The president of the ongoing UN climate talks Sultan al-Jaber has hit back at claims that he denies a core part of climate science.
It follows comments he made at an event in November that there was "no science" behind the global aim of limiting temperature rise to 1.5C.
"We very much believe and respect the science," he said on Monday.
The talks in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, are aiming to make progress on climate change.
All countries at the UN climate talks in 2015 agreed to slash releases of warming gases in order to keep average global temperature rise below 1.5C compared to pre-industrial levels.
But in an online event on 21 November with Mary ... Read more ...
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Himalayan Glaciers React, Blow Cold Winds Down Their Slopes:
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| Himalayan Glaciers React, Blow Cold Winds Down Their Slopes - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · Himalayan Glaciers 'fight back' to preserve themselves, but for how long? An international team of researchers, co-led by Professor Francesca Pellicciotti of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), explains a stunning phenomenon: rising global temperatures have led Himalayan glaciers to increasingly cool the air in contact with the ice surface. The ensuing cold winds might help cool the glaciers and preserve the surrounding ecosystems. The results, found across the Himalayan range, were published in Nature Geoscience.
Is global warming causing Himalayan glaciers to melt like ice cream on a hot summer day? Previously, scientists documented an elevation-dependent ... Read more ...
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How a hybrid heating system could lower your bills and shrink your carbon footprint:
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| How a hybrid heating system could lower your bills and shrink your carbon footprint - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Dec 5 · To heat your home without damaging the climate, you will need to replace your gas boiler. UK government advisers recommend switching to appliances that run on electricity. However, if a root-and-branch conversion to electric heating is too expensive, even a partial shift to "hybrid heating" can cut your energy bills and household emissions relatively quickly - although phasing out gas and oil is still essential in the long run for averting climate breakdown. A hybrid heating system combines two or more technologies to heat a building. Typically, this involves pairing a conventional gas boiler with a renewable alternative like an electric heat pump. But there are other ... Read more ...
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How a single word could hold up global talks to save the planet:
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| How a single word could hold up global talks to save the planet - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Dec 4 · Daniel Reifsnyder still remembers the single word that nearly derailed the 2015 Paris climate accord.
Reifsnyder, then a State Department official negotiating the treaty on behalf of the United States, discovered a potentially deal-killing line buried deep in the draft text. It declared that wealthy countries “shall” set targets for cutting their planet-heating emissions.
That line may not seem problematic, but in global talks to save the planet, every word has the potential to sink an agreement to slow Earth’s catastrophic warming.
“'Shall’ is a legal obligation. 'Should’ is not,” said Reifsnyder, now an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia’s Batten ... Read more ...
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How a thumb-sized climate migrant with a giant crab claw is disrupting the Northeast's Great Marsh ecosystem:
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| How a thumb-sized climate migrant with a giant crab claw is disrupting the Northeast's Great Marsh ecosystem - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Dec 5 · Nine years ago, I stood on the muddy banks of the Great Marsh, a salt marsh an hour north of Boston, and pulled a thumb-sized crab with an absurdly large claw out of a burrow. I was looking at a fiddler crab - a species that wasn't supposed to be north of Cape Cod, let alone north of Boston. As it turned out, the marsh I was standing in would never be the same. I was witnessing climate change in action. The Great Marsh is on the Gulf of Maine, the piece of the Atlantic that extends approximately from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Nova Scotia, Canada. The marshes along the gulf are critical breeding sites for many bird species. But the water there is warming faster than almost ... Read more ...
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How are toxic brown carbon nitroaromatics produced in biomass smoke?:
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| How are toxic brown carbon nitroaromatics produced in biomass smoke? - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · Biomass burning from wildfires puts large amounts of aromatic hydrocarbons in the atmosphere every year, which are thought to convert into more light-absorbing and toxic nitroaromatics. "This is a really interesting problem and not easy to investigate," said Marcelo Guzman, a professor of chemistry at the University of Kentucky, explaining his research group publication, "Conversion of Catechol to 4-Nitrocatechol in Aqueous Microdroplets Exposed to O3 and NO2," in the journal ACS ES&T Air. It was an afternoon in late July, and Guzman was concerned because the air quality in central Kentucky had reached an unhealthy level due to the wildfire smoke drifting south from Canada. Thick ... Read more ...
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How Mountains Affect El Niño-Induced Winter Precipitation:
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| How Mountains Affect El Niño-Induced Winter Precipitation - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · A consideration of how mountains influence El Niño and La Niña-induced precipitation change in western North America may be the ticket to more informed water conservation planning along the Colorado River, new research suggests.
The study, coinciding with a recent shift from a strong La Niña to a strong El Niño, brings a degree of precision to efforts to make more accurate winter precipitation predictions in the intermountain West by comparing 150 years of rain and snow data with historic El Niño-Southern Oscillation patterns.
Overall, the analysis shows increasing winter precipitation trends in the north and decreasing trends in the ... Read more ...
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How mountains affect El Niño-induced winter precipitation:
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| How mountains affect El Niño-induced winter precipitation - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · A consideration of how mountains influence El Niño and La Niña-induced precipitation change in western North America may be the ticket to more informed water conservation planning along the Colorado River, new research suggests. The study, coinciding with a recent shift from a strong La Niña to a strong El Niño, brings a degree of precision to efforts to make more accurate winter precipitation predictions in the intermountain West by comparing 150 years of rain and snow data with historic El Niño-Southern Oscillation patterns. Overall, the analysis shows increasing winter precipitation trends in the north and decreasing trends in the south, particularly during the latter part of ... Read more ...
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How to stop the biggest threat to Europe's green transition:
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| How to stop the biggest threat to Europe's green transition - newsletter.climatenexus |
Dec 5 · Mr. Hockenos is a Berlin-based writer.
For years, the European Union has been laying the foundation for what may be the world’s most ambitious climate policy: the European Green Deal, which puts Europe out in front in the global fight against climate change. This formidable bundle of policies steers countries to build renewable energy resources, find ways to improve energy efficiency and significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
But now, the Green Deal is in peril as a school of thought that frames the green transition as an elitist plot against ordinary people gains followers in Europe. It’s a political strategy that is potent in the moment but is bound ... | By Paul Hockenos Read more ...
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How weather apps are trying to be more accurate:
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| How weather apps are trying to be more accurate - BBC |
Dec 3 · Travelling the world by bicycle for two years might be too physically challenging for most of us, but Zoe Ashbridge has found a way to make the pedalling a little bit easier.
She and her partner and travelling companion Stewart use an app called Windy to track the direction of the wind.
"We use it daily," says Zoe, a 33-year-old from Shropshire. "It saves us wasting time and energy.
"Our bikes weigh around 30 to 40kg, and if we're going against the wind, we can get sore knees. It prevents all that. Why spend two hours cycling when the next day it would take 30 minutes?"
Weather apps are continuing to become ever more detailed and bespoke, as technology ... Read more ...
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In France, zero-waste experiments tackle a tough problem: People’s habits:
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| In France, zero-waste experiments tackle a tough problem: People’s habits - Grist Climate and Energy |
Dec 6 · Andrée Nieuwjaer, a 67-year-old resident of Roubaix, France, is what one might call a frugal shopper. In fact, her fridge is full of produce that she got for free. Over the summer, she ate peaches, plums, carrots, zucchinis, turnips, endives - all manner of fruits and vegetables that local grocers didn’t want to sell, whether because of some aesthetic imperfection or because they were slightly overripe.
What Nieuwjaer couldn’t eat right away, she preserved - as fig marmalade, apricot jam, pickles. Reaching into the depths of her refrigerator in September, past a jar of diced beets that she’d preserved in vinegar, she tapped a container of chopped pineapple whose shelf life ... Read more ...
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In Hotter Regions, Mammals Seek Forests, Avoid Human Habitats:
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| In Hotter Regions, Mammals Seek Forests, Avoid Human Habitats - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · The cool of the forest is a welcome escape on a hot day. This is especially true for mammals in North America's hottest regions, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. The study indicates that, as the climate warms, preserving forest cover will be increasingly important for wildlife conservation.
The study, published today in the journal PNAS, found that North American mammals -- from pumas, wolves and bears to rabbits, deer and opossums -- consistently depend on forests and avoid cities, farms and other human-dominated areas in hotter climes. In fact, mammals are, on average, 50% more likely to occupy forests than open habitats in hot regions. The ... Read more ...
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In hotter regions, mammals shown to seek forests and avoid human habitats:
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| In hotter regions, mammals shown to seek forests and avoid human habitats - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · For the study, the authors leveraged Snapshot U.S., a collaborative monitoring program with thousands of camera trap locations across the country. "We analyzed 150,000 records of 29 mammal species using community occupancy models," Tourani said. "These models allowed us to study how mammals respond to habitat types across their ranges while accounting for the fact that species may be in an area, but we did not record their presence because the species is rare or elusive." The study provides a pathway for conservation managers to tailor efforts to conserve and establish protected areas, as well as enhance working landscapes, like farms, pastures, and developed areas. "If we're trying ... Read more ...
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In Michigan, the controversial Line 5 pipeline gets one step closer to the finish line:
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| In Michigan, the controversial Line 5 pipeline gets one step closer to the finish line - Grist Climate and Energy |
Dec 6 · This coverage is made possible through a partnership with Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan.
During a heated public meeting last Friday, Michigan’s top energy regulator granted the Canadian company Enbridge Energy a permit to build a new pipeline and tunnel under the environmentally sensitive Straits of Mackinac, in an important - but not final - step in the controversial project’s approval process.
Construction can’t begin unless the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers grants it a federal permit. Before that happens, the Army Corps has to release its assessment of the project’s environmental impacts.
The Michigan Public Service Commission’s decision ... Read more ...
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Increasing frozen food temperature by 3°C could enhance global food chain sustainability, say experts:
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| Increasing frozen food temperature by 3°C could enhance global food chain sustainability, say experts - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 Read more ...
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Indonesia's coal love affair still aflame despite pledges:
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| Indonesia's coal love affair still aflame despite pledges - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · "There are no more catches in the waters near the shore. We have to sail far," he told AFP. "We have been beleaguered by pollution from all directions." IESR says Indonesia should retire nine GW of coal generation by 2030 to meet its commitments under JETP. But an energy ministry study released in September proposes retiring just over half that amount by 2030. This month, PLN's chief executive Darmawan Prasodjo announced plans to build an additional 31.6 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2033. But that is expected to largely cater to growing demand, with most existing coal plants left running until the end of their lifetimes. "We will do a coal phase down, not a coal phase out," ... Read more ...
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Is Enough Private Money Flowing to Clean Energy?:
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| Is Enough Private Money Flowing to Clean Energy? - Climate Crocks |
Dec 4 · Good News, a lot of private money being drawn to clean energy.
Bad News, climate change is already costing the US a billion dollars every three weeks.
Adapting will cost more than mitigating greenhouse gases.
Assessment from Richard Mattison, S&P Global Sustainable vice chair, attending the COP28 Meeting in Dubai.
"The sharpest climate denier debunker on YouTube." - TreeHugger "@PeterWSinclair is a national treasure." - Brad Johnson, Publisher Hill Heat Follow @PeterWSinclair Pages > About Overview – Find the right video Peter Sinclair: Photos and Bio Links Climate Science Legal Defense Fund >.widget.widget_media_image { overflow: hidden; ... Read more ...
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Is this the end of oil and gas as we know them?:
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| Is this the end of oil and gas as we know them? - BBC |
Dec 5 · The UN climate change conference in Dubai is close to a big breakthrough on reducing the gases heating our planet, its United Arab Emirates hosts believe.
Expressing "cautious optimism", the UAE negotiating team believes COP28 is gearing up to commit to phasing down fossil fuels over coming decades.
Maybe even ditching them altogether.
Hosting a climate conference in a petrostate sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but there are signs that it could deliver real progress on climate.
Surely working out how to get rid of fossil fuels is what this UN climate conference is all about, you are probably thinking.
But bizarre as it may sound, until just a ... Read more ...
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It Could Be a Vast Source of Clean Energy, Buried Deep Underground:
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| It Could Be a Vast Source of Clean Energy, Buried Deep Underground - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 4 · In eastern France, and in other places around the world, deposits of natural hydrogen promise bountiful power. But questions remain.
A worker detaching a probe that tests for hydrogen half a mile deep in the ground, in Lorraine, France. Credit...Violette Franchi for The New York Times
Reporting from Paris
In the rocky soil of Lorraine, a former coal mining region near the French-German border, scientists guided a small probe one recent day down a borehole half a mile into the earth’s crust.
Frothing in the water table below was an exciting find: champagne-size bubbles that signaled a potentially mammoth cache of so-called white hydrogen, one of the ... | By Liz Alderman Read more ...
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It’s Big Oil vs. Science at the U.N. Climate Summit:
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| It’s Big Oil vs. Science at the U.N. Climate Summit - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 5 · As negotiators work to agree on a final text, attention has turned to a fundamental question: Will the talks call for a phaseout of fossil fuels?
Gelles, Friedman and Nereim are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, reporting on the United Nations climate negotiations
With fresh promises to cut methane and billions of dollars in new commitments to help poor countries adapt to a warming planet, a sense of momentum and optimism pervaded the first days of the United Nations climate summit in Dubai.
Now comes the hard part.
Five days into the two-week conference, known as COP28, the talks have become consumed by an intense debate over the future of fossil ... | By David Gelles, Lisa Friedman and Vivian Nereim Read more ...
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It’s official: COP28 has more fossil fuel lobbyists than ever:
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| It’s official: COP28 has more fossil fuel lobbyists than ever - Heated World |
Dec 5 · The number of fossil fuel lobbyists at this year’s U.N. climate summit is nearly four times higher than it’s ever been, revealing an extraordinary amount of influence from the biggest climate polluters on Earth.
Specifically, there are 2,456 fossil fuel representatives at this year’s United Nations Climate Change conference in the United Arab Emirates, according to an analysis of summit attendees published today by the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition.
There were only 636 fossil fuel lobbyists at last year’s COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, making the fossil fuel presence at this year’s summit “unprecedented,” the coalition said.
“The sheer number of fossil fuel ... Read more ...
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Lead Battery Recycling Companies Endangering People's Health in Congo:
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| Lead Battery Recycling Companies Endangering People's Health in Congo - theexamination |
Dec 4 · If you are interested in republishing this story, please contact us.
Read this investigation in French.
VINDOULOU, REPUBLIC OF CONGO: At noon, dusk and in the dead of night, Cyrille Traoré Ndembi grabs his phone and films his nearest neighbor.
The battery recycling factory roars, rattling Ndembi’s bed. Its chimneys belch smoke into the air, sending bitter odors through the windows of the family’s concrete home. Ndembi’s front garden, where his children play, is sprinkled with a black dust laced with lead - one of the most dangerous metals on the planet.
Ndembi calls one chimney “the tower of death.”
Since moving to Vindoulou, a sandy grid of shacks and ... Read more ...
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Major Antarctic glacier passed a tipping point in the last 80 years, research reveals:
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| Major Antarctic glacier passed a tipping point in the last 80 years, research reveals - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica has gone through an irreversible retreat, passing a tipping point within the last 80 years, researchers have found. The paper, "Recent irreversible retreat phase of Pine Island Glacier," now published in Nature Climate Change, has appeared when world leaders gather in Dubai to debate the impacts of climate change at the COP28 conference. While numerical model simulations have been used for some time to study the behavior of glaciers and ice sheets, researchers from Northumbria University and Bangor University combined these for the first time with real-world satellite observations to identify whether a tipping point has been crossed in the ... Read more ...
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Media: EV Sales Down. Kia, Hyundai – “Hold my Beer”:
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| Media: EV Sales Down. Kia, Hyundai – “Hold my Beer” - Climate Crocks |
Dec 3 · Kia and Hyundai – “Hold my Beer.”
Inside EVs:
Hyundai Motor America reported 70,079 vehicle sales in the United States in November (up 10.7% year-over-year), which is the 16th month of consecutive growth. So far this year, the brand sold 726,031 vehicles, over 11% more than a year ago. And there’s even better news for the Korean giant on the electric front.
Last month, sales of the Hyundai E-GMP-based all-electric cars - Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6 - amounted to 2,372 and 1,386 respectively, for a total of 3,758. That’s a 216% increase year-over-year. The share of E-GMP BEVs out of Hyundai’s total volume improved to 5.4%, compared to ... Read more ...
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More than 1,000 climate scientists urge public to become activists:
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| More than 1,000 climate scientists urge public to become activists - Guardian |
Dec 4 · 'We need you,’ says Scientist Rebellion, which includes authors of IPCC reports on climate breakdown, as diplomats meet for Cop28
Wolfgang Cramer’s first involvement with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was in the 90s. He worked on the second assessment report, delivered in 1995, which affirmed the science of anthropogenic climate breakdown. At that point, no one could say they did not know what was happening.
Almost three decades on, Cramer was part of the international scientific team that prepared the sixth IPCC report. Its conclusion, delivered in March, issued human civilisation a bleak “final warning” – the biosphere stands on the brink of irrevocable ... Read more ...
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More than a dozen Illinois schools add EVs to driver’s ed:
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| More than a dozen Illinois schools add EVs to driver’s ed - Yale Climate Connections - Transportation |
Dec 4 · Stay in the know about climate impacts and solutions. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Yale Climate Connections
Teenagers at some Illinois high schools are now taking driver’s education classes in electric cars.
Mitchell: “EVs are the future. I mean, it’s something we can get these kids ready to use.”
Gregg Mitchell is the driver’s ed director at Lane Tech College Prep, a public high school in Chicago.
The school recently added an EV to its fleet of cars, using a grant from ComEd, the local electric utility.
The utility’s EVs for Education program has allowed more than a dozen schools to buy electric cars and chargers for their driver’s ed ... Read more ...
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More Than a Meteorite: New Clues About the Demise of Dinosaurs:
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| More Than a Meteorite: New Clues About the Demise of Dinosaurs - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · What wiped out the dinosaurs? A meteorite plummeting to Earth is only part of the story, a new study suggests. Climate change triggered by massive volcanic eruptions may have ultimately set the stage for the dinosaur extinction, challenging the traditional narrative that a meteorite alone delivered the final blow to the ancient giants.
That's according to a study published in Science Advances, co-authored by Don Baker, a professor in McGill University's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
The work took researchers around the world, from hammering out rocks in the Deccan Traps to analyzing the samples in England and Sweden.
A new season?: 'Volcanic ... Read more ...
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Most Americans want to electrify their homes - if they can keep their gas stoves:
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| Most Americans want to electrify their homes - if they can keep their gas stoves - Grist Climate and Energy |
Dec 6 · Most Americans would prefer to live in a home where almost all major appliances run on electricity - but only if they can keep their gas stoves. Just 31 percent want to go fully electric.
“We realized we didn’t really have a baseline for what people actually want,” said Jennifer Marlon, a research scientist at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication who helped design the question and push for its inclusion. Combine those who said they would go fully electric with the 29 percent who would do so except for their gas stove and six in 10 Americans are ready to decarbonize. ”As a starting point, this is quite encouraging.”
Addressing residential energy use is ... Read more ...
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Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change:
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| Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change - Skeptical Science |
Dec 4 · The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in Paris.
After years of inaction despite constant warnings from climate scientists, hopes had been high for a breakthrough in climate agreements in 2009, leading up to the U.N. summit — known as COP15 — in Copenhagen.
But just a few weeks before that event began, a hacker broke into a server at the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit and released a tranche of climate scientists’ stolen ... Read more ...
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NASA and Boeing chase jet contrails with science of climate impact in doubt:
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| NASA and Boeing chase jet contrails with science of climate impact in doubt - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · Scientific debate is getting heated over what to do about airplane contrails - the wispy lines of water vapor you often see trailing behind a jet. Those harmless-looking vapor trails sometimes spread out to form thin cirrus clouds. Environmental activists and nonprofits focused on climate change routinely assert contrails contribute more to global warming than the carbon dioxide emitted from jet engines. The aviation industry, under pressure to do something, has stepped up research into contrails. In October, Boeing and NASA conducted flight tests out of Everett with a NASA DC-8 research plane flying behind a 737 MAX 10 to sniff its exhaust and analyze its contrails to test if ... Read more ...
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National climate assessment offers new insights on community resilience and adaptation:
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| National climate assessment offers new insights on community resilience and adaptation - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · A major weather event such as a hurricane or wildfire can have lasting, visible impacts on communities, but the longer-term, compounding effects of a changing climate can be harder to see. In its contributions to the recently released Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) highlights ways that communities can adapt and become more resilient as the climate changes. The NCA5, a congressionally mandated report by multiple U.S. government agencies, analyzes the impacts, risks and responses of global climate change in the United States, and the message is clear: Communities must adapt. To help communities make decisions to ... Read more ...
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Nature risk reporting lags far behind climate disclosures, CDP finds:
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| Nature risk reporting lags far behind climate disclosures, CDP finds - Greenbiz |
Dec 4 · The CDP calls for more comprehensive environmental risk reporting as hundreds of organizations back ISSB’s sustainability disclosure standards.
Less than half of businesses are providing the CDP data beyond climate risk. Source: Pexels/junior-teixeira
Most companies that disclose data on their climate risks and dependencies are failing to report their impacts on nature, despite growing awareness of the deep links between the global biodiversity and climate crises.
That is the conclusion of a study released by the environmental disclosure platform CDP, which reveals a huge gulf between the level of climate risk data disclosed by companies, and the amount of ... | By Cecilia Keating Read more ...
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New EPA Methane Rule Will Slash Emissions from Oil and Gas:
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| New EPA Methane Rule Will Slash Emissions from Oil and Gas - Scientific American - Climate |
Dec 4 · At the COP28 climate meeting, the EPA announced the final version of a rule that aims to deeply cut methane emissions by requiring equipment upgrades and regular leak inspections
A natural gas flare burns near an oil pump jack at the New Harmony Oil Field in Grayville, Illinois, US, on Sunday, June 19, 2022.
Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images
CLIMATEWIRE | More U.S. oil and gas operations will be regulated for methane than ever before under sweeping new federal standards, which for the first time cover petroleum infrastructure built prior to 2015.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan announced the new standards on Saturday at the COP28 climate talks in ... | By Jean Chemnick & E&E News Read more ...
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New Study Identifies the Greatest Threat to Wildlife Across North America and Canada: People:
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| New Study Identifies the Greatest Threat to Wildlife Across North America and Canada: People - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · You see posts like these on neighborhood Facebook pages all the time: "An owl just flew into my window and appears stunned! Help!" or "I found a baby squirrel on the ground after the wind storm last night. Who do I call?" The answer is a local wildlife rehabilitation center -- licensed individuals and organizations that take in hundreds of thousands of sick and injured wild animals nationwide each year. Wildlife rehabilitators see the highest number and greatest range of species of any government or nonprofit organization in the country, giving them unique insight into animal health -- and making them great bellwethers of what's happening in the broader environment.
A few ... Read more ...
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New York City’s Composting Conundrum:
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| New York City’s Composting Conundrum - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 5 · Subscriber-only Newsletter
Climate Forward
Community-based programs could lose funding under the mayor’s proposal.
With all that’s going on at COP28, it’s easy to forget that everyday climate activism is happening all over the world, including in a small community garden in Queens. Our colleague Hiroko Tabuchi has this dispatch.
Last weekend at the Rusty Wheelbarrow Farm in Woodside, Queens, a group of composters were hard at work in the dirt, but the mood was grim. New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, has proposed cutting funding for the city’s community composting program, which supports programs like this one.
(The group included me: I was at the Rusty ... | By Hiroko Tabuchi Read more ...
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No lettuce for Florida manatees this winter: Experts end feeding trial after two years:
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| No lettuce for Florida manatees this winter: Experts end feeding trial after two years - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Dec 5 · For the past two winters, Florida wildlife biologists have experimented hand-feeding lettuce to hungry manatees in the Indian River Lagoon as the animals' natural food source, seagrass, was in short supply from pollution problems. This winter, though, there won't be another feeding trial. Wildlife experts say there are two main reasons for that decision: There's enough seagrass in the Mosquito Lagoon - where manatees linger during the colder winter months - for the population to eat this winter, according to an announcement from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The commission also said "there are currently no indications that manatees in this region are in ... Read more ...
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November is the sixth straight month to set a heat record, scientists say:
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| November is the sixth straight month to set a heat record, scientists say - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 6 · The 2015 Paris climate agreement set a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times over the long term and failing that at least 2 degrees (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Diplomats, scientists, activists and others meeting at the United Nations climate conference in Dubai for nearly two weeks are trying to find ways to limit warming to those levels, but the planet isn't cooperating. Scientists calculate with the promises countries around the world have made and the actions they have taken, Earth is on track to warm 2.7 to 2.9 degrees Celsius (4.9 to 5.2 degrees) above pre-industrial times. The northern autumn is also the hottest ... Read more ...
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Novocarbo: One of Germany's largest carbon removal parks:
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| Novocarbo: One of Germany's largest carbon removal parks - Open Air (Carbon Capture) |
Dec 6 · Novocarbo builds and operates carbon removal parks worldwide, pursuing the goal of removing 1 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere by 2030. The Carbon Removal Park in the Baltic Sea is our largest site to date and a unique example in Germany of a holistic approach to CO2 removal and green heat generation. We use state-of-the-art pyrolysis technology to process plant residues into biochar. \n\nhttps://www.novocarbo.com/ | By OpenAir Read more ...
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Ocean-Climate Solutions Innovation Exchange | MRV for Ocean Based CDR: Spotlight on CDR Suppliers:
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| Ocean-Climate Solutions Innovation Exchange | MRV for Ocean Based CDR: Spotlight on CDR Suppliers - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Dec 4 · The second webinar in a series on current innovations in measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) for ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR). In this session, we spotlight leading startups doing electrochemical CDR to get a deeper understanding of the current state of MRV science, how it's being applied, and the challenges and solutions advancing this important field. Insightful talks by CDR scientists Dr. Erika La Plante (Equatic) and Dr. Sophie Chu (Captura) are followed by a moderated audience Q\u0026A. | By Ocean Visions Read more ...
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Oil, gas and coal interests swarm global climate summit in Dubai:
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| Oil, gas and coal interests swarm global climate summit in Dubai - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Dec 5 · Fossil fuel interests are swarming this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference, possibly like never before, according to research released Tuesday by a coalition of advocacy groups.
More than 2,400 people with ties to companies that produce or consume oil, natural gas, and coal - or from trade groups that advocate for those industries - are registered to attend COP28 in Dubai, according to the Kick Big Polluters Out coalition, which reviewed public registrations. That outnumbered nearly all the national and civil society delegations on hand to negotiate at the world’s biggest climate summit, according to the group.
The fossil fuel representation is rising even faster than ... Read more ...
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Opinion: COP28 president is wrong - science clearly shows fossil fuels must go (and fast):
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| Opinion: COP28 president is wrong - science clearly shows fossil fuels must go (and fast) - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · According to the president of COP28, the latest round of UN climate negotiations in the United Arab Emirates, there is "no science" indicating that phasing out fossil fuels is necessary to restrict global heating to 1.5°C. President Sultan Al Jaber is wrong. There is a wealth of scientific evidence demonstrating that a fossil fuel phase-out will be essential for reining in the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change. I know because I have published some of it. Back in 2021, just before the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, my colleagues and I published a paper in Nature entitled Unextractable fossil fuels in a 1.5°C world. It argued that 90% of the world's coal and around ... Read more ...
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Outcry At COP28 President “No Science” Remarks:
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| Outcry At COP28 President “No Science” Remarks - Climate Crocks |
Dec 4 · That awkward phase when your global climate conference is chaired by the Arab CEO of one of the world’s largest oil companies.
The president of Cop28, Sultan Al Jaber, has claimed there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global heating to 1.5C, the Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting can reveal.
Al Jaber also said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.
The comments were “incredibly concerning” and “verging on climate denial”, scientists said, and they were at odds with the position of the UN secretary general, António ... Read more ...
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Overcoming Unprecedented Oil and Gas Industry Influence at UN Climate Talks:
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| Overcoming Unprecedented Oil and Gas Industry Influence at UN Climate Talks - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy |
Dec 5 · Fossil fuel industry influence has been front and center in the UN international climate negotiations - the 28th conference of the parties (COP28) - in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This is alarming but not surprising, given that the nations of the world are finally working toward an agreement to phase out fossil fuels. They know it’s the end of the fossil fuel era, and they’re showing up in force because they’re scared. Vested interests of the fossil fuel industry are pulling out all the stops by co-opting leadership roles, flooding the official negotiating space with lobbyists to water down text, and attempting to distract negotiators with bogus voluntary initiatives. ... Read more ...
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Pacific leaders unite for more climate action at COP28 - Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC):
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| Pacific leaders unite for more climate action at COP28 - Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) - sibconline.sb |
Dec 4 · The impacts of climate change are already being felt around the world, nowhere more so than in the Pacific Island countries. For the leaders of the Pacific Region, the United Nations-backed climate change summit called the 28th Conference of Parties (COP 28) underway in the oil-rich Kingdom of the United Arab Emirates is not just another meeting, but a fight for existence.
With more than 740,000 population, the Solomon Islands is amongst the most vulnerable countries to the impact of the changing climate where communities and livelihoods have been devastated, entire islands going underwater and communities being driven from their homes, livelihoods and resources.
The ... | By Fredrick Kusu Read more ...
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PBS Newshour: COP28 Update and Concerns:
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| PBS Newshour: COP28 Update and Concerns - Climate Crocks |
Dec 3 · Above, interview with Fred Krupp of Environmental Defense Fund, who lauds new methane commitments.
Below, Guardian account of full on climate denial coming from controversial leadership with ties to the fossil fuel industry.
The president of Cop28, Sultan Al Jaber, has claimed there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global heating to 1.5C, the Guardian and the Centre for Climate Reporting can reveal.
Al Jaber also said a phase-out of fossil fuels would not allow sustainable development “unless you want to take the world back into caves”.
The comments were “incredibly concerning” and “verging on climate denial”, ... Read more ...
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PBS NewsHour: Excellent Reporting on Texas’ Renewable Boom:
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| PBS NewsHour: Excellent Reporting on Texas’ Renewable Boom - Climate Crocks |
Dec 4 · Excellent PBS report putting Texas surprising renewable boom in context, with appearances by important players like George W. Bush.
At a moment when Michigan has joined states with an aggressive clean energy mandate, important to point out that Texas’ renewable energy standard predated them all – California, everybody.
Includes a valuable summary of the 2021 Blackout, and shows how that was caused by failure of fossil fuels, primarily gas.For more on that, see my essential interviews with experts on that topic below.
You should look in depth at how the recent CA PUC decisions are destroying the largest “rooftop” solar market in the US and ... Read more ...
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Planet tipping points pose 'unprecedented' threat to humanity: report:
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| Planet tipping points pose 'unprecedented' threat to humanity: report - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 6 · AMOC collapsing was like spotting something that could cause that plane to "fall out of the sky", he said. But there's no way to redesign the Earth to make it safer. Co-author Manjana Milkoreit from the University of Oslo said that "our global governance system is inadequate to deal with the coming threats and implement the solutions urgently required." The authors called for tipping points to be included in the global stocktake being debated at the COP28 talks, as well as in national targets to combat climate change. They also urged more effort to push tipping points in the right direction, such as changing policies on energy, transport, food and green ammonia used for fertilizer. ... Read more ...
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Pope pleads with COP28 to find breakthrough on climate change:
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| Pope pleads with COP28 to find breakthrough on climate change - Reuters |
Dec 2 · DUBAI, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday called on the U.N. climate summit to strive for a essential breakthrough agreement to stem global warming that includes the elimination of fossil fuels, saying climate had "run amok".
The 86-year-old pope had planned to attend the conference but a lung inflammation forced him to remain in the Vatican. His full address was left with delegates and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin shortened it in order to remain within the 3-minute time limit for speeches.
"Sadly, I am unable to be present with you, as I had greatly desired. Even so, I am with you, because time is short," Francis said in his ... Read more ...
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Protecting power grids from space weather:
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| Protecting power grids from space weather - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · Activity from the sun, such as solar flares, can cause fluctuations in Earth's geomagnetic field that send electrical currents flowing through power grids. These geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) can cause problems ranging from temporary voltage instability to widespread blackouts to reduced life spans for transformers. It is therefore important to develop effective mitigation strategies that protect against GIC-induced power disruptions while maintaining power to consumers. Suggested solutions have included installing equipment such as capacitors to block GICs and making changes to network configurations. Mac Manus and a research team worked with the energy company ... Read more ...
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Rains pound southern India ahead of cyclone:
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| Rains pound southern India ahead of cyclone - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · The cyclone is expected to hit India's southeast coast at the town of Bapatla, on the 300-kilometer (185-mile) long stretch between Nellore and Machilipatnam. Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer with climate change. Cyclones - the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the Northwest Pacific - are a regular and deadly menace on coasts in the northern Indian Ocean, where tens of millions of people live. © 2023 AFP Read more ...
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Recent irreversible retreat phase of Pine Island Glacier:
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| Recent irreversible retreat phase of Pine Island Glacier - Nature Climate Change |
Dec 3 · Pine Island Glacier (PIG), a part of the West Antarctic marine ice sheet, has recently undergone substantial changes including speed up, retreat and thinning. Theoretical arguments and modelling work suggest that marine ice sheets can become unstable and undergo irreversible retreat. Here, we use an ice-flow model validated by observational data to show that a rapid PIG retreat in the 1970s from a subglacial ridge to an upstream ice plain was self-enhancing and irreversible. The results suggest that by the early 1970s, the retreat of PIG had reached a point beyond which its original position at the ridge could not be recovered, even during subsequent periods of cooler ocean ... Read more ...
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Record number of fossil fuel delegates at COP28:
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| Record number of fossil fuel delegates at COP28 - BBC |
Dec 5 · The number of delegates at this year's UN climate talks who are also linked to fossil fuel producers has quadrupled since last year, campaigners say.
Around 2,400 people connected to the coal, oil and gas industries have been registered for the COP28 climate talks.
This record number is more than the total attendees from the 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change.
The jump is partly due to registration changes with attendees now required to be open about their employment.
The analysis was carried out by a coalition of green groups opposed to the presence of delegates linked to coal, oil and gas at the talks.
COP28 is the biggest climate ... Read more ...
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Record number of fossil fuel lobbyists get access to Cop28 climate talks:
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| Record number of fossil fuel lobbyists get access to Cop28 climate talks - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 5 · UAE-hosted summit admitted at least 2,456 people affiliated with oil and gas industries, analysis finds
At least 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists have been granted access to the Cop28 climate negotiations, according to an analysis.
The figure calculated by the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition is a record number that raises further questions about the fossil fuel industry’s influence over this year’s UN summit, which is being run by the president of the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company.
The scale of oil and gas influence in Dubai is unprecedented, with almost four times as many industry-affiliated lobbyists than the number registered for Cop27 in Sharm ... Read more ...
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Regulators begin hearings on how much customers should pay for Georgia nuclear reactors:
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| Regulators begin hearings on how much customers should pay for Georgia nuclear reactors - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Dec 5 · Georgia Power Co. is urging the state's utility regulators to approve a deal to pay for the company's new nuclear reactors as a few holdout opponents keep fighting to try to get the Public Service Commission to keep the utility from collecting any cost overruns for the two reactors at Plant Vogtle. Commissioners began hearings Monday on the proposed deal, which would add $8.95 a month to a typical residential customer's monthly bill, atop the $5.42 that Georgia Power is already collecting. The five elected commissioners, all Republicans, are scheduled to vote on the $7.56 billion proposal on Dec. 19. The increase would raise the current typical monthly residential bill of nearly ... Read more ...
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Renewable Energy Could Be a Casualty in the War on Inflation. Here’s Why.:
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| Renewable Energy Could Be a Casualty in the War on Inflation. Here’s Why. - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 5 · High interest rates make green start-up costs soar. Officials at the U.N. climate summit fear the world could miss an opportunity to avert future greenhouse gas emissions.
Tankersley reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Plumer from Washington
A global campaign to tame inflation is hurting the fight against climate change by steering developing countries away from renewable energy, raising anxieties among the officials gathered at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai.
Those officials say they support efforts by central bankers to bring down rising prices by raising interest rates.
But in interviews in recent days, they worried about the ... | By Jim Tankersley and Brad Plumer Read more ...
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Renewables and EVs are soaring. It’s still not enough.:
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| Renewables and EVs are soaring. It’s still not enough. - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Dec 4 · The last year has been filled with energy news that seems hopeful. The world has now installed more than 1 terawatt of solar panel capacity - enough to power the entire European Union. Purchases of electric vehicles have been surging: Over 1 million vehicles have been sold in the United States this year, with an estimated 14 million sold worldwide. And, looking at the rapid growth in wind, batteries and technologies such as heat pumps, you could be excused for thinking that the fight against climate change might actually be going … well.
But a new analysis, released Tuesday morning local time as world leaders gather in Dubai to discuss the progress in cutting emissions, shows ... Read more ...
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Report: 1.5°C pathways can still be achieved while combining fairness and global climate protection:
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| Report: 1.5°C pathways can still be achieved while combining fairness and global climate protection - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 15 · Global warming can still be limited to 1.5°C by 2100 while ensuring that the poor are not hit hardest by climate policies and climate impacts. This is achieved by immediately introducing broad carbon pricing together with re-distributive policies using carbon pricing revenues and further measures to reduce energy consumption, accelerate technological transitions, and transform the land sector. The results from multiple integrated assessment models (IAMs) show that a combination of producer and consumer-oriented measures can work together to rapidly reduce emissions. The comprehensive results on 1.5°C pathways in line with the Paris Agreement are synthesized in a report of the ... Read more ...
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Research shows that wildfires have erased two decades' worth of air quality gains in western United States:
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| Research shows that wildfires have erased two decades' worth of air quality gains in western United States - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · You need only to remember last summer's wildfires in the United States and Canada, which fouled the air from coast to coast, to know the effects these blazes can have on the environment and human health. A new study has tabulated the toll from two decades of wildfires on air quality and human health in the continental U.S. The authors report that from 2000 to 2020, the air has worsened in the western U.S., mainly due to the increase in frequency and ferocity of wildfires causing an increase of 670 premature deaths per year in the region during that time period. Overall, the study's authors report fires have undercut successful federal efforts to improve air quality primarily ... Read more ...
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Researcher: With a cruel summer ahead, why is Australia so unprepared?:
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| Researcher: With a cruel summer ahead, why is Australia so unprepared? - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · 2023 has shattered climate records, accompanied by extreme weather that has left a trail of devastation and despair, according to the World Meteorological Organization at COP 28. Some of the most significant extreme heat events were in southern Europe and North Africa, especially in the second half of July. Temperatures in Italy reached 48.2°C, and record-high temperatures were reported in Tunis (Tunisia) 49.0°C, Agadir (Morocco) 50.4°C and Algiers (Algeria) 49.2°C. Heat-related deaths are on the rise globally. In 2019, a study in The Lancet attributed 356,000 deaths to extreme heat. A recent study puts the excess deaths due to last year's heat waves in Europe at more than 70,000. ... Read more ...
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Researchers Decode Aqueous Amino Acid's Potential for Direct Air Capture of CO2:
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| Researchers Decode Aqueous Amino Acid's Potential for Direct Air Capture of CO2 - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have made a significant stride toward understanding a viable process for direct air capture, or DAC, of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This DAC process is in early development with the aim of achieving negative emissions, where the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the envelope of gases surrounding Earth exceeds the amount emitted.
The recently published research focused on the foundational steps of carbon dioxide sequestration using aqueous glycine, an amino acid known for its absorbent qualities. By combining a series of advanced computational methods, the scientists probed less-explored dynamic ... Read more ...
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Researchers design limestone putty nanogenerator to harvest energy from everyday motion to power small devices:
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| Researchers design limestone putty nanogenerator to harvest energy from everyday motion to power small devices - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · Provided by University of Alabama in Huntsville Read more ...
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Researchers map crocodile family tree to shed light on their evolution:
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| Researchers map crocodile family tree to shed light on their evolution - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · "With a million plant and animal species perilously close to extinction, understanding the key factors behind why species disappear has never been more important. In the case of crocodiles, many species reside in low-lying areas, meaning that rising sea levels associated with global warming may irreversibly alter the habitats on which they depend." Crocodiles and birds share their heritage with dinosaurs, and together with pterosaurs they form a group known as archosaurs or "ruling reptiles," who date back to the Early Triassic. Pseudosuchia is a group of archosaurian reptiles, defined as all species more closely related to crocodiles than to birds. For the study, the researchers ... Read more ...
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Researchers urge caution with 'net zero' in climate policy:
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| Researchers urge caution with 'net zero' in climate policy - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · While a trend reversal in global CO2 emissions is still yet to come, more and more countries are announcing the goal of "net zero" by mid-century. However, researchers now warn that behind such plus–minus strategies lurks a misunderstanding: the idea of simply removing emissions one-for-one to effectively "undo" them is at odds with the nature of Earth systems. The article, co-authored by the Berlin-based climate research institute MCC (Mercator Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change), is published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The interdisciplinary research team investigated what this seemingly balanced combo deal with the atmosphere means for the Earth's ... Read more ...
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Revealed: Sellafield nuclear site has leak that could pose risk to public:
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| Revealed: Sellafield nuclear site has leak that could pose risk to public - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 5 · Safety concerns at Europe’s most hazardous plant have caused diplomatic tensions with US, Norway and Ireland
Sellafield, Europe’s most hazardous nuclear site, has a worsening leak from a huge silo of radioactive waste that could pose a risk to the public, the Guardian can reveal.
Concerns over safety at the crumbling building, as well as cracks in a reservoir of toxic sludge known as B30, have caused diplomatic tensions with countries including the US, Norway and Ireland, which fear Sellafield has failed to get a grip of the problems.
The leak of radioactive liquid from one of the “highest nuclear hazards in the UK” – a decaying building at the vast Cumbrian site ... Read more ...
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Revolutionizing biorefineries: Advancing toward sustainable third-generation technologies in CO2 utilization:
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| Revolutionizing biorefineries: Advancing toward sustainable third-generation technologies in CO2 utilization - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Dec 5 · The evolution of biorefineries, shifting from sugar-based and biomass feedstocks to third-generation (3G) technologies, marks significant progress toward sustainable development. 3G biorefineries use microbial cell factories or enzymatic systems to convert one-carbon (C1) sources such as CO2 into value-added chemicals, powered by renewable energies. Despite the potential of native C1 assimilating microbes, challenges like low carbon fixation efficiency and limited product scope hinder their scalability. Heterotrophic microorganisms, engineered through synthetic biology and computational tools, offer a promising solution to these challenges. The current research focuses on enhancing ... Read more ...
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Satellite observations reveal latitudinal variability and asymmetry in local temperature responses to land cover changes:
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| Satellite observations reveal latitudinal variability and asymmetry in local temperature responses to land cover changes - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · Unlike the symmetric assumption of potential effects, the researchers revealed obvious asymmetries in the actual effects: LCCs with warming effects occurred more frequently, with stronger intensities, than LCCs with cooling effects. Even for the mutual changes between two covers in the same region, warming LCCs generally had larger magnitudes than their cooling counterparts. Attribution analysis indicated that the asymmetric temperature effects were caused by a combination of asymmetric changes in transition fractions and driving variables. These findings demonstrated that the increase in temperature resulting from a specific LCC cannot be counteracted by simply performing its ... Read more ...
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Saudi Arabia says 'absolutely not' to oil phase down at COP28:
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| Saudi Arabia says 'absolutely not' to oil phase down at COP28 - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · Saudi Arabia's energy minister has slammed the door shut to agreeing to phase down fossil fuels at the UN's COP28 climate talks, setting the stage for difficult negotiations in Dubai. A tentative "phasedown/out" was included in a first draft of an agreement on climate action that delegates are haggling over during talks that are scheduled to finish on December 12. But Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, a half-brother of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told Bloomberg that Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, would not agree. "Absolutely not," he said in an interview in Riyadh. "And I assure you not a single person - I'm talking about governments ... Read more ...
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Seeking Higher Ground: Western Resorts Take Skiers Where the Snow Is:
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| Seeking Higher Ground: Western Resorts Take Skiers Where the Snow Is - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 6 · New terrain development at ski resorts, primarily in Colorado, aims to chase and preserve snow, an invaluable commodity.
Despite the La Niña weather pattern that dumped snowfall by the foot last winter at many mountain resorts in the western United States, global warming fundamentally threatens the survival of the ski business. In response, ski areas are increasingly investing in efficient snow-making and carbon emissions reductions. Some areas, especially in the West, are also pursuing another method: developing terrain higher up mountains where colder climes or steeper, tree-filled terrain are more likely to hold the snow.
This winter, three ski areas in Colorado - ... | By Elaine Glusac Read more ...
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Sellafield nuclear site hacked by groups linked to Russia and China:
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| Sellafield nuclear site hacked by groups linked to Russia and China - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 4 · Exclusive: Malware may still be present and potential effects have been covered up by staff, investigation reveals
The UK’s most hazardous nuclear site, Sellafield, has been hacked into by cyber groups closely linked to Russia and China, the Guardian can reveal.
The astonishing disclosure and its potential effects have been consistently covered up by senior staff at the vast nuclear waste and decommissioning site, the investigation has found.
The Guardian has discovered that the authorities do not know exactly when the IT systems were first compromised. But sources said breaches were first detected as far back as 2015, when experts realised sleeper malware – ... Read more ...
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Sellafield: 'bottomless pit of hell, money and despair’ at Europe’s most toxic nuclear site:
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| Sellafield: 'bottomless pit of hell, money and despair’ at Europe’s most toxic nuclear site - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 4 · Described as a nuclear Narnia, the site is a source of economic support for Cumbria – and a longstanding international safety concern
Ministers who visit Sellafield for the first time are left with no illusions about the challenge at Europe’s most toxic nuclear site.
One former UK secretary of state described it as a “bottomless pit of hell, money and despair”, which sucked up so much cash that it drowned out many other projects the economy could otherwise benefit from.
For workers, it is a place of fascination and fear.
“Entering Sellafield is like arriving in another world: it’s like nuclear Narnia,” according to one senior employee. “Except you don’t go ... Read more ...
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Slash-and-Burn Agriculture Can Increase Forest Biodiversity, Researchers Find:
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| Slash-and-Burn Agriculture Can Increase Forest Biodiversity, Researchers Find - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Nov 23 · The slash-and-burn agriculture practiced by many Indigenous societies across the world can actually have a positive impact on forests, according to a new study done in Belize.
This contradicts what had long been the standard view in the past, promoted by the United Nations and others, identifying slash-and-burn as a major cause of deforestation around the world, said Sean Downey, lead author of the study and associate professor of anthropology at The Ohio State University.
"Our study provides quantitative evidence that these traditional agricultural practices can have positive outcomes on forests," said Downey, who is also a core member of Ohio State's Sustainability ... Read more ...
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Snail-Inspired Robot Could Scoop Ocean Microplastics:
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| Snail-Inspired Robot Could Scoop Ocean Microplastics - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · Inspired by a small and slow snail, scientists have developed a robot protype that may one day scoop up microplastics from the surfaces of oceans, seas and lakes.
The robot's design is based on the Hawaiian apple snail (Pomacea canaliculate), a common aquarium snail that uses the undulating motion of its foot to drive water surface flow and suck in floating food particles.
Currently, plastic collection devices mostly rely on drag nets or conveyor belts to gather and remove larger plastic debris from water, but they lack the fine scale required for retrieving microplastics. These tiny particles of plastic can be ingested and end up in the tissues of marine animals, ... Read more ...
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Soil drought weakens forest microclimatic cooling, study finds:
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| Soil drought weakens forest microclimatic cooling, study finds - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Dec 4 · Provided by Stockholm University Read more ...
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Solving the EV charging problem for multi-unit dwellings:
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| Solving the EV charging problem for multi-unit dwellings - Greenbiz |
Dec 5 · California startup Orange is targeting a major EV adoption problem - charging in multi-unit dwellings.
Orange's Outlet brings single-family home charging convenience to multi-unit dwellings. Source: Orange
As the EV industry has grown, a number of players have tried to address the lack of available EV charging at multi-unit dwellings. With 44 million renter households in the U.S., the ability to conveniently charge at an apartment building is critical if EVs are to become mainstream.
However, installing charging at multi-unit buildings is still challenging. "The ideal outcome is for each unit in a multi-unit dwelling to have access to a dedicated EV charger,” ... | By Vartan Badalian Read more ...
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Strange burn: New research identifies unique patterns in Utah wildfires:
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| Strange burn: New research identifies unique patterns in Utah wildfires - PHYS.ORG - Biology |
Dec 4 · On average, Utah wildfires tend to be heavily influenced by sagebrush and shrubland vegetation types - a category that covers a considerable area in the state. The medium-sized fires that the team analyzed in this type of non-forested vegetation had more severe impacts than large fires. In forests though, large fires burned at higher severity - sometimes much higher. "Fires of any size can have considerable ecosystem benefits, including reducing the fuel loads that might later lead to extreme fire behavior, and reducing forest density. Both of these may become even more important in drought conditions," said Lutz. "Prescribed fires that are as large as practically manageable can ... Read more ...
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Strange Burn: New Research Identifies Unique Patterns in Utah Wildfires:
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| Strange Burn: New Research Identifies Unique Patterns in Utah Wildfires - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · For a century fire ecologists have worked to decipher a complex question -- what does a "normal'' wildfire year look like in the West? That's a hard question to answer for many reasons, but new research from a team in the Quinney College of Natural Resources shows that thanks to the state's unique landscapes, Utah's wildfire patterns may never fit into what is considered "normal" for other Western states.
Utah landscapes are diverse -- from dense forests of pinyon-juniper to scattered patches of sagebrush and grasslands, Utah's variable topography produces a tremendous range of wildfire behavior, said Jim Lutz, professor and author on the research. In some ways it defies easy ... Read more ...
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Study finds plant nurseries are exacerbating the climate-driven spread of 80% of invasive species:
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| Study finds plant nurseries are exacerbating the climate-driven spread of 80% of invasive species - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · Provided by University of Massachusetts Amherst Read more ...
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Sulfur-cycling microbes could lead to new possibilities in river-wetland-ocean remediation:
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| Sulfur-cycling microbes could lead to new possibilities in river-wetland-ocean remediation - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · Nutrient cycles such as the carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur cycles are critical processes that free up elements essential to life by recycling them through our water, air, and soil. Sulfur, specifically, is an integral element in producing amino acids, vitamins, and enzymes. A recent review by scientists from Sun Yat-sen University in China looked at research done on the high sulfur cycling (s-cycling) in a river-wetland-ocean continuum (RWO), which is largely mediated by microbial communities. While sulfur itself is an important element, just as critically, its cycle can mediate the carbon and nitrogen cycles, influencing carbon sequestration and greenhouse gases. The ... Read more ...
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Tackling climate change can improve public health in Africa: New report highlights how:
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| Tackling climate change can improve public health in Africa: New report highlights how - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · African countries can simultaneously address climate change and improve public health by reducing air pollution. In many cases these actions also have other societal, economic, environment or health benefits. Addressing these together is challenging because they are often the responsibility of different government departments. International climate change, health and development processes are often also separate discussions. However, for the first time, this year at COP28, a whole day will be devoted to discussing the linkages between climate change and health. In September 2023, the African Union, United Nations Environment Program, Climate and Clean Air Coalition and Stockholm ... Read more ...
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The Climate Summit Embraces A.I., With Reservations:
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| The Climate Summit Embraces A.I., With Reservations - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 3 · The idea of using artificial intelligence to fight emissions has made a splash at COP28, but there’s a catch: The energy it requires could make matters worse.
Reporting from COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Artificial intelligence has been a breakout star in the opening days of COP28, the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Entrepreneurs and researchers have dazzled attendees with predictions that the fast-improving technology could accelerate the world’s efforts to combat climate change and adapt to rising temperatures.
But they have also voiced worries about A.I.’s potential to devour energy, and harm humans and the ... | By Jim Tankersley Read more ...
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The climate summit embraces AI, with reservations:
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| The climate summit embraces AI, with reservations - New York Times |
Dec 3 · The idea of using artificial intelligence to fight emissions has made a splash at COP28, but there’s a catch: The energy it requires could make matters worse.
Reporting from COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Artificial intelligence has been a breakout star in the opening days of COP28, the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Entrepreneurs and researchers have dazzled attendees with predictions that the fast-improving technology could accelerate the world’s efforts to combat climate change and adapt to rising temperatures.
But they have also voiced worries about A.I.’s potential to devour energy, and harm humans and the ... | By Jim Tankersley Read more ...
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The Cop28 president told a shocking lie about fossil fuels – and he’s wrong about climate economics too:
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| The Cop28 president told a shocking lie about fossil fuels – and he’s wrong about climate economics too - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 4 · Sultan Al Jaber’s claim that green policies damage economic growth is wrong and highly damaging
For months Sultan Al Jaber, the president of the Cop28 climate negotiations in Dubai, has been insisting that there is no conflict with his day job, chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) state oil company.
Instead, he argued, the dual role enabled him to persuade fossil fuel companies to change. And some early successes in the talks provided some credibility to that claim.
Now it lies in ruins, following Sunday’s exclusive Guardian report of rejoinders he made to Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and UN special climate envoy, during a live event ... Read more ...
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The Critical Role of Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies, COP 28:
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| The Critical Role of Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies, COP 28 - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Dec 2 · Location: UN Climate Change Pavilion, COP 28\n\nEvent title: The Critical Role of Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies\n \nOrganized by: Microsoft | By UN Climate Change - Events Read more ...
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The Daily Brief: Day 4 - Sunday, Dec 3 - Steve Willis, Herculean Climate Solutions:
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| The Daily Brief: Day 4 - Sunday, Dec 3 - Steve Willis, Herculean Climate Solutions - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Dec 3 · #CDRCOP28\nwww.carbonremovals.org\nwww.hcs1000.org\n\nHost : Megha Raghavan, Carbon Removals at COP\nGuest: Steve Willis, Director, Herculean Climate Solutions | By CarbonRemovals@COP Read more ...
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The Guardian view on a non-proliferation treaty: fossil fuels are weapons of mass destruction:
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| The Guardian view on a non-proliferation treaty: fossil fuels are weapons of mass destruction - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 3 · The planet faces an existential threat if we do not transition from the current extractive model of growth to a low-carbon economy
Colombia’s economy is dependent on fossil fuels, which account for about half of its exports. But at the UN climate summit this weekend, Gustavo Petro, the country’s president, committed to stop the expansion of coal, oil and gas exploitation and reorient his nation away from such “poisons”. Colombia is the first big economy to endorse a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. This is a sensible, globally significant step – which raises the question of why other carbon-exporting OECD members, such as Britain, shouldn’t follow suit.
What is ... Read more ...
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The New Frontier of Methane Regulation?:
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| The New Frontier of Methane Regulation? - Legal Planet |
Dec 5 · Methane is ready for its close-up. The first week of COP28, the UN climate talks taking place in Dubai, saw a handful of big announcements about how world leaders plan to tackle human-made climate change by targeting methane, a powerful short-term climate pollutant. The UCLA Emmett Institute is also drawing attention to the issue of methane. Several members of the Emmett Institute team are at COP28, where we are hosting a side event on methane in conjunction with the release of our new discussion paper, “Advancing Methane Regulation: Implications of New Monitoring Technologies.”
To recap: The Biden administration announced Saturday that it would, for the first time, require ... Read more ...
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The Oceans Are Diverse. Their Champions Should Be, Too.:
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| The Oceans Are Diverse. Their Champions Should Be, Too. - New York Times - Climate Section |
Dec 5 · Turning PointS: Guest Essay
Ocean conservation will succeed only when the people most affected by climate change are part of the effort.
Dr. de Vos is a marine biologist.
This personal reflection is part of a series called Turning Points, in which writers explore what critical moments from this year might mean for the year ahead. You can read more by visiting the Turning Points series page.
Turning Point: In June, the United Nations adopted the Treaty of the High Seas, which established procedures to conserve and sustainably manage the two-thirds of the world’s oceans that lie beyond national boundaries.
I am a South Asian woman of color living and ... | By Asha de Vos Read more ...
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The short-term rain forecast system is broken. Can AI do a better job of predicting deadly floods?:
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| The short-term rain forecast system is broken. Can AI do a better job of predicting deadly floods? - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · The floods that killed 20 people in Waverly, Tennessee, and the surrounding area came with little warning. Meteorologists predicted 2 to 3 inches of rain. But 21 inches fell within the course of that August day in 2021, sweeping away cars, houses, businesses, pets and people, including 7-month-old twins. "They were not prepared at all. As a result, they could not inform people. Entire neighborhoods washed away," says Puja Das, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in interdisciplinary engineering at Northeastern's Sustainability and Data Sciences Lab. Now Das is working with river managers and forecasters to explore a better way to predict devastating rainstorms with the help of ... Read more ...
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The soil microbiome governs the response of microbial respiration to warming across the globe:
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| The soil microbiome governs the response of microbial respiration to warming across the globe - Nature Climate Change |
Dec 3 · The sensitivity of soil microbial respiration to warming (Q10) remains a major source of uncertainty surrounding the projections of soil carbon emissions to the atmosphere as the factors driving Q10 patterns across ecosystems have been assessed in isolation from each other. Here we report the results of a warming experiment using soils from 332 sites across all continents and major biomes to simultaneously evaluate the main drivers of global Q10 patterns. Compared with biochemical recalcitrance, mineral protection, substrate quantity and environmental factors, the soil microbiome (that is, microbial biomass and bacterial taxa) explained the largest portion of variation in Q10 ... Read more ...
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The surprisingly simple way to convince people to go green:
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| The surprisingly simple way to convince people to go green - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Dec 5 · Your decision to buy that heat pump or induction stove might feel like it came after much deliberation and research. You might want to thank your friends and family.
Your trusted inner circle is one of the most potent and overlooked weapons to stave off the worst of climate change. Our individual actions appear small, but they act as billboards for others looking for cues on what to do in their own lives. These social comparisons can add up.
The most powerful thing that gets people and politicians to support biking? Seeing other people ride their bikes, says Michael Brownstein, an associate professor of philosophy at the City University of New York. “It’s a shift of ... Read more ...
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The Young Cofounder Helping Companies Take Carbon Out Of The Atmosphere:
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| The Young Cofounder Helping Companies Take Carbon Out Of The Atmosphere - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Dec 1 · This former Shopify web developer is applying the e-commerce playbook to climate change. In 2020, Spellacy cofounded Patch, a climate-tech platform that enables do-gooder companies to browse and buy carbon credits from more than 50 project developers that list their climate projects—everything from ocean carbon removal to forest protection— on the site. He has secured $84 million in funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and counts more than 400 companies as customers, including software business AutoDesk. In April, San Francisco–based Patch launched an operating system for carbon credit suppliers to easily manage their inventory, logging sales without ... | By Forbes Read more ...
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There’s a crisis in the Yukon River:
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| There’s a crisis in the Yukon River - Washington Post - Climate and Environment |
Dec 3 · EAGLE VILLAGE, Alaska - When Jody Potts-Joseph was growing up, her family mushed sled dogs during the harsh Alaskan winters to hunt and trap, feeding them salmon caught from the Yukon River by the thousands.
But after rebuilding her sled dog team as an adult, Potts-Joseph, a member of the Han Gwich’in tribe, had to turn to store-bought dog food. The river that was once renowned for its salmon doesn’t have enough to offer anymore.
“We haven’t been able to fish for a number of years,” she said as her dogs yelped outside her home in Eagle Village, close to the Yukon near the border with Canada.
Flowing from British Columbia through Alaska to the Bering Sea, the nearly ... Read more ...
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Thin Ice Driving Polar Bears into Conflict with Humans:
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| Thin Ice Driving Polar Bears into Conflict with Humans - Climate Crocks |
Dec 4 · Churchill, Manitoba considers “Bear-dar” for early warning on marauding, hungry bears.NBC’s Anne Thompson has been a hero for her long term reporting on climate impacts.
"The sharpest climate denier debunker on YouTube." - TreeHugger "@PeterWSinclair is a national treasure." - Brad Johnson, Publisher Hill Heat Follow @PeterWSinclair Pages > About Overview – Find the right video Peter Sinclair: Photos and Bio Links Climate Science Legal Defense Fund >.widget.widget_media_image { overflow: hidden; }.widget.widget_media_image img { height: auto; max-width: 100%; } Recent Posts > Is Enough Private Money Flowing to Clean Energy? PBS NewsHour: ... Read more ...
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Three decades of data in Bangladesh show elevated risk of infant mortality in flood-prone areas:
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| Three decades of data in Bangladesh show elevated risk of infant mortality in flood-prone areas - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · A new study from researchers at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and UC San Francisco estimates 152,753 excess infant deaths were attributable to living in flood-prone areas in Bangladesh over the past 30 years. Additionally, across the study period, children born during rainy months faced a higher risk of death than those born in dry months. The paper is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings begin to unspool the long-term public health impacts of recurring environmental hazards such as flooding, wildfires, or extreme heat, many of which are becoming more common or more severe under climate change, said study co-author ... Read more ...
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Three Decades of Data in Bangladesh Show Elevated Risk of Infant Mortality In Flood-Prone Areas:
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| Three Decades of Data in Bangladesh Show Elevated Risk of Infant Mortality In Flood-Prone Areas - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · A new study from researchers at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and UC San Francisco estimates 152,753 excess infant deaths were attributable to living in flood-prone areas in Bangladesh over the past 30 years. Additionally, across the study period, children born during rainy months faced higher risk of death than those born in dry months.
The paper was published Dec. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The findings begin to unspool the long term public health impacts of recurring environmental hazards such as flooding, wildfires, or extreme heat, many of ... Read more ...
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Tiny Electromagnets: Ultra-Thin Carbon:
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| Tiny Electromagnets: Ultra-Thin Carbon - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · Graphene, that is extremely thin carbon, is considered a true miracle material. An international research team has now added another facet to its diverse properties with experiments at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR): The experts, led by the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), fired short terahertz pulses at micrometer-sized discs of graphene, which briefly turned these minuscule objects into surprisingly strong magnets. This discovery may prove useful for developing future magnetic switches and storage devices.
Graphene consists of an ultra-thin sheet of just one layer of carbon atoms. But the material, which was only discovered as recently as 2004, displays ... Read more ...
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To honor my grandfather Nelson Mandela's legacy, we must fight ‘climate apartheid':
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| To honor my grandfather Nelson Mandela's legacy, we must fight ‘climate apartheid' - Msnbc |
Nov 30 · Four years ago, the United Nations published a controversial report predicting that, by 2030, the world could be on the brink of a “climate apartheid.” We’d know we’d arrived at such a scenario, said Philip Alston, then-U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, when “the wealthy pay to escape overheating, hunger and conflict while the rest of the world is left to suffer.”
Dec. 5 will mark the 10th anniversary of my grandfather Nelson Mandela’s passing, but the fight against apartheid that Madiba led is far from over.
Seven years ahead of schedule and at the start of the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit, which is being hosted by the United Arab ... Read more ...
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Top 10 Climate Science Insights Unveiled:
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| Top 10 Climate Science Insights Unveiled - Science Daily - Earth and Climate |
Dec 23 · The report equips policymakers with the latest and most pivotal climate science research from the previous 18 months, synthesised to help inform negotiations at COP28 and policy implementation through 2024 and beyond. Simon Stiell, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary says: "The 10 New Insights in Climate Science report provides an essential tool for decision makers at a critical time in the climate calendar each year. Scientific findings from reports like these should inform the ambitious and evidence-based action plans needed in this critical decade of accelerated climate action."
The 10 full list of insights:
Professor Laura Pereira from the Wits Global Change Institute, ... Read more ...
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Trump Slams John Kerry In Wild Town Hall, Insisting Climate Change Isn't A Problem:
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| Trump Slams John Kerry In Wild Town Hall, Insisting Climate Change Isn't A Problem - Huffington Post |
Dec 6 · Former President Donald Trump didn’t shy away from echoing his adamant denial of climate change during a town hall Tuesday in Iowa hosted by Sean Hannity.
During the event in Davenport, Trump slammed John Kerry and the efforts made by the presidential envoy for climate.
“Our country can be rich again. John Kerry has to be stopped. He’s destroying our country,” Trump told Hannity and the crowd at the town hall.
Kerry, a former senator and secretary of state, announced Tuesday that the U.S. would collaborate with other governments to speed up the process of making nuclear fusion a new source of carbon-free energy, which could be used to power cars and heat and cool ... Read more ...
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UN DESA's Presence at #COP28: Advancing Sustainable Development Goals | United Nations:
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| UN DESA's Presence at #COP28: Advancing Sustainable Development Goals | United Nations - Climate Change (United Nations - Playlist) |
Dec 5 · “What happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica,†said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres upon returning from his recent trip to the southernmost continent to witness the melting sea ice. “We live in an interconnected world.†\n\nJust ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the Secretary-General issued a call for urgent global climate action to “not let the hopes of people around the world for a sustainable planet melt away.â€\n\nUN DESA is answering the call by hosting for the fifth time the SDG Pavilion on the margins of COP28, offering two weeks of panel discussions, fireside chats and interviews aimed at ... | By United Nations Read more ...
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Understanding the Science: Why Do We Need Carbon Removals?:
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| Understanding the Science: Why Do We Need Carbon Removals? - Climate Engineering (Lockley - Playlist) |
Nov 28 · #CDRCOP28\nwww.carbonremovals.org\n\nThe science is clear. We need carbon removals as well as deep emissions reductions and adaptation to tackle global warming. There is no net zero without carbon removals. Decarbonization can (and should) get us most of the way to zero – but we need removals on a gigatonne scale by mid-century to balance those emissions that we are not able to eliminate.\n\nIn this webinar, an esteemed panel of world-leading experts will provide accessible insights and perspective into the current scientific basis supporting this assertion. Join us to gain a solid grounding in the facts, and a clearer framework for why immediate policy action is required to ... | By CarbonRemovals@COP Read more ...
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Unexpected discovery at the air-water interface for CO₂ reaction impacting geophysical and biological cycles:
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| Unexpected discovery at the air-water interface for CO₂ reaction impacting geophysical and biological cycles - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · Ocean acidification, mammal respiration, and aerosol formation all depend on chemistry that occurs at air-water interfaces. In new research, scientists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered which pathway carbon dioxide (CO2) molecules follow on their way from the atmosphere into water - and it's not the one that they expected. The oceans absorb roughly 30% of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In water, the CO2 forms carbonic acid, changing the marine environment in ways that are harmful to some sea life. In our bodies, air that crosses the wet membranes lining our nasal tracts influences the pH of our blood. But just how ... Read more ...
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Unlocking a climate puzzle: Study reveals hidden physics in quasi-linear temperature-radiation link:
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| Unlocking a climate puzzle: Study reveals hidden physics in quasi-linear temperature-radiation link - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · Curious about what drives Earth's climate sensitivity? A recent study in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences explores the complex links transforming the relationship between surface temperature and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) from quartic to quasi-linear. Led by Dr. Jie Sun from Florida State University, this research unravels hidden mechanisms shaping our planet's climate, providing fresh insights into why the temperature and OLR relation deviates from the quartic pattern stated by the Stefan-Boltzmann law. What is the Stefan-Boltzmann law? Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere create a contrast between surface thermal emission, linked to the fourth power of surface temperature, ... Read more ...
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Volunteer divers guard Oman's 'unique' coral reefs:
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| Volunteer divers guard Oman's 'unique' coral reefs - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 4 · "The uniqueness of corals here, is that while other countries are suffering from high sea temperatures during summer, usually in Oman, we have a cool water temperature all around the year due to the cold water currents traveling from the south of Oman during the monsoon season." According to Asfoor, Oman's coral reefs have also adapted to high salinity in Oman's northern seas. "We have a very unique ecosystem happening here, which is not found often anywhere else around the world," she said. "Our goal in Reef Check Oman is to continue protecting it for generations to come." © 2023 AFP Read more ...
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Warning: the UK government’s hydrogen plan isn’t green at all, it’s another oil industry swindle:
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| Warning: the UK government’s hydrogen plan isn’t green at all, it’s another oil industry swindle - Guardian - Energy |
Dec 4 · A taxpayer-funded drive for 'blue’ hydrogen is good news for fossil-fuel lobbyists, but bad news for the climate crisis
With the impacts of the climate crisis so apparent for all to see, it is becoming ever harder for governments to fob off voters with promises of action tomorrow. At Cop28 we’ll see increasingly overt action by fossil fuel companies and petrostates to preserve their traditional power. But it is just as important to scrutinise emerging so-called green or low-emission solutions, which sound plausible, but are often simply big oil’s business-as-usual in a new guise.
The UK’s much touted low carbon hydrogen standard (LCHS) is an example of this. While ... Read more ...
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We need a global policy to encourage low-carbon construction, researcher says:
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| We need a global policy to encourage low-carbon construction, researcher says - PHYS.ORG - Technology |
Dec 5 · International collaboration to create standards and policies for the construction industry is vital to bring down the industry's carbon footprint, argues Professor Matti Kuittinen of Aalto University in a paper published in Buildings & Cities. Construction is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Although the IPCC warned in 2018 that emissions from construction need to go down by 80-90% by 2050, the intervening years have seen resource use for construction continue growing. This is partly because the economics of the industry make companies wary of taking risks - so Kuittinen says that government support and intervention are needed to reverse the trend. Rather than policies ... Read more ...
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We Need an Agreement to Phase out Fossil Fuels at COP28:
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| We Need an Agreement to Phase out Fossil Fuels at COP28 - Union of Concerned Scientists - Energy |
Dec 4 · We’re well into the first week of COP28, the annual UN climate talks, and have secured a promising early win on operationalizing the Loss and Damage Fund. The United States has made important announcements on standards to limit methane emissions, along with a contribution to the Green Climate Fund. But things are definitely getting harder here in Dubai. It’s not just the poor air quality, long lines, and excessive fossil fuel company representation; nations are still too far apart in their positions on a fossil fuel phaseout, the top priority for this COP.
To meet our climate goals, nations collectively have to cut global heat-trapping emissions roughly in half within this ... Read more ...
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We’lI All Need Our Yachts in Water World. Irony Deficiency at COP28:
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| We’lI All Need Our Yachts in Water World. Irony Deficiency at COP28 - Climate Crocks |
Dec 5 · Will I need Deck shoes on a Dead Planet?
COP28.com:
The discussion will focus on a variety of technical solutions developed to make the yachting experience more responsible and sustainable. Sunreef Yachts Eco representatives will share an insight into the R&D activity of the company and practical solutions that can be implemented to ensure cleaner boating. This will include a conversation about electric, hybrid and hydrogen propulsion, battery technology, plant-based composites, bottom paints, modern photovoltaics, sustainable interior finishing, water management, energy management, air conditioning. The focus will also be on the evolution of technology and future ... Read more ...
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What happens after net zero? The impacts could play out for decades, with poorest countries still feeling the heat:
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| What happens after net zero? The impacts could play out for decades, with poorest countries still feeling the heat - PHYS.ORG - Earth |
Dec 5 · Humanity's emissions of greenhouse gases have caused rapid global warming at a rate unprecedented in at least the past 2,000 years. Rapid global warming has been accompanied by increases in the frequency and intensity of heat extremes over most land regions in the past 70 years. While human activities cause emissions of a number of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2) stands out as the leading culprit. This is because of its relatively long atmospheric lifetime and because human activities cause much higher emissions of CO2 than other greenhouse gases. To avoid reaching unsafe global temperatures, climate scientists have concluded we can't prevent continued global warming without ... Read more ...
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