| Who is responsible for climate change? Get a handle on carbon with our interactive map showing the current, historical and consumption emissions of nations. Guardian Interactive teamAlex GraulDuncan Clark |
9th December 2011 | |
| Durban climate change talks: the final day Latest developments from the final day of the UN COP17 climate change talks in Durban12.12pm: Some sober words from our friend James Murray over at Business Green:. Durban: What is so special about 2015?Unfortunately, from an environmental perspective the new roadmap could prove pretty disastrous. In short, diplomats are working on a treaty to ensure that emissions peak years after scientists are recommending that they peak. Meanwhile, the fixation on agreeing a roadmap for a timeline to agree a framework that may eventually become a protocol, means the crucial issue of how countries share emissions reductions is again being filed in the tray marked "too difficult".. Durban ... |
9th December 2011 | |
| Rich 'in climate deal conspiracy' Ex-deputy prime minister John Prescott accuses rich nations of trying to scupper a new climate deal. [The rich have a deathwish, apparently...] |
9th December 2011 | |
| Brazil eases Amazon forest rules The Brazilian Senate approves changes to the country's forest code, which environmentalists say will spur Amazon deforestation. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Derailing Durban's climate change conference | Amy Goodman With the US dragging its feet at the Durban climate change conference, the influence of a powerful industry lobby is worryingHigh above the pavement, overlooking Durban's famous South Beach and the pounding surf of the Indian Ocean, and just blocks from the United Nations Climate Change Conference, where up to 20,000 people gathered, seven activists fought against the wind to unfurl a banner that read "Listen to the People, Not the Polluters". It was no simple task. Despite the morning sun and blue sky, the wind was ferocious, and the group hanging the banner wasn't exactly welcome. They were with Greenpeace, hanging off the roof of the Protea Hotel Edward. |
9th December 2011 | |
| The clique that is trying to frame the global geoengineering debate | Clive Hamilton Suspicious of the UN, resistant to regulation and leading inquiries - how has this group become the 'go-to scientists'?The contradictory and ambivalent recommendations of the report of the Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative (SRMGI), published last week, reflect the emerging faultlines in the global debate over geoengineering.The global debate has been heavily dominated by a very small group of North American scientists actively engaged in geoengineering research. They are present in almost all of the expert deliberations, including SRMGI. They have been the leading advisers to parliamentary and congressional inquiries and their views will, in all likelihood, dominate the deliberations of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as it grapples for the first time with the scientific and ethical tangle that is climate engineering. |
9th December 2011 | |
| The environment in 2017: a polluted wasteland hit by floods and droughts Pollution and climate change create misery with petrol and energy prices at record levels and flooding rifeIn 2017, the snarled-up roads of just six years earlier are a fading memory for many. A huge road and bridge building programme has left the nation with hundreds of miles of fresh tarmac, but the free passage motorists enjoy owes more to record petrol prices and falling incomes keeping people off the roads.Air pollution eases on the motorways, but the stubborn hotspots in cities remain in flagrant breach of European law. The latest austerity measures have slashed funding for clean-up projects, despite the costs to health and the certainty of heavy fines for the UK. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Naomi Klein's Inconvenient Climate Conclusions A critic of capitalism argues that climate progress can only come through a global economic reboot. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Talk of a 'new climate deal' at COP17 is a distraction from inaction Talk of a long-term climate deal to cut carbon emissions is allowing industrialised countries to delay taking action, says Murray Worthy from the World Development Movement |
9th December 2011 | |
| CO2 Emissions in 2010 Show Biggest Increase Ever Recorded Global carbon emissions soared 5.9 percent in 2010, the largest increase ever recorded, according to the Global Carbon Project, an international collaboration of scientists that tracks carbon emissions. The increase comes after a short-lived decline in emissions in 2008 and 2009 and is a sign that global CO2 emissions are once again on the rise as world economies bounce back from recession. The overall jump of more than 500,000 million tons of CO2 emissions from 2009 to 2010 was likely the largest absolute increase since the Industrial Revolution, according to the Global Carbon Project. Emissions in China, the world's largest source of CO2 releases, rose by 10.4 percent to 2.2 billion tons of carbon injected into the atmosphere. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Australian Green Party Leader: U.S. Climate Denial Machine "Being Directed Straight into Australia" Via Murdoch's News Corp The Winning Aussie Strategy: Fighting Back Against Deniers and Talking About Climate Change If President Obama needs a role model for his stance (or lack thereof) on climate change, he should look no further than the Deputy Leader of Australia's Green Party, Christine Milne. In a wide-ranging interview with Climate Progress at the COP 17 climate talks in Durban today, Senator Milne outlined her strategy for helping pass a comprehensive climate bill in Australia this year - even when faced with "a massive campaign against the climate science" that rivals the War on Science being waged in America (see Aussie Scientist ... |
9th December 2011 | |
| What Are the Near-Term Climate Pearl Harbors? What Will Take Us from Procrastination to Action? "So they [the Government] go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.... Owing to past neglect, in the face of the plainest warnings, we have entered upon a period of danger.... The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.... We cannot avoid this period, we are in it now...." - Winston Churchill, November 12, 1936, House of Commons What kind of climatic mini-catastrophes might move public and policymaker opinion over the next decade? |
9th December 2011 | |
| Climate talks mean life or death for island states So while climate change delegates haggle over deadlines, binding targets and finance, some of the world's poorest states are warning that rising sea levels and storms will sweep them away unless the world agrees to tackle global warning. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Global industry CO2 output rising even in weak economy: study SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Global carbon dioxide emissions from industry rose about three percent in a weak global economy this year, a study released on Monday showed, adding fresh urgency to efforts to control planet-warming gases at U.N. climate talks in South Africa. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Paleoclimate record points toward potential rapid climate changes (PhysOrg.com) -- New research into the Earth's paleoclimate history by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies director James E. Hansen suggests the potential for rapid climate changes this century, including multiple meters of sea level rise, if global warming is not abated. |
9th December 2011 | |
| National interests hinder climate accord attempt (AP) -- Delegates attending a 194-nation climate conference agree the world needs to send less carbon into the atmosphere, but national interests and economic worries have so far hindered attempts to reach an agreement that would oblige governments to curb the emissions that are warming the planet. |
9th December 2011 | |
| World 'heading for 3.5 C warming': study Current pledges for curbing carbon emissions will doom the world to global warming of 3.5 C, massively overshooting the UN target of 2 C, researchers reported at the climate talks here on Tuesday. |
9th December 2011 | |
| New analysis shows pulling CO2 from the air would not be cost-effective in the foreseeable future Since most of the world?s governments have not yet enacted regulations to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, some experts have advocated the development of technologies to remove carbon dioxide directly from the air. But a new MIT study shows that, at least for the foreseeable future, such proposals are not realistic because their costs would vastly exceed those of blocking emissions right at the source, such as at the powerplants that burn fossil fuels. [At what cost the future?] |
9th December 2011 | |
| The brutal logic of climate change mitigation by David Roberts. In my last post, I discussed a new peer-reviewed paper by climate scientists Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows. It paints a grim picture: The commonly accepted threshold of climate "safety," 2 degrees C [3.6 degrees F] temperature rise over pre-industrial levels, is now properly considered extremely dangerous; even 2 degrees C is drifting out of reach, absent efforts of a scale and speed beyond anything currently proposed; our current trajectory is leading us toward 4 or 6 (or 8 or 10) degrees C, which we now know to be a potentially civilization-threatening disaster. |
9th December 2011 | |
| The most important news story of the day/millennium The most important piece of news yesterday, this week, this month, and this year was a new set of statistics released yesterday by the Global Carbon Project. It showed that carbon emissions from our planet had increased 5.9 percent between 2009 and 2010. In fact, it was arguably among the most important pieces of data in the last, oh, three centuries, since according to the New York Times it represented "almost certainly the largest absolute jump in any year since the Industrial Revolution." read more |
9th December 2011 | |
| Permafrost loss worse climate peril than thought The threat to climate change posed by thawing permafrost, which could release stocks of stored carbon, is greater than estimated, a group of scientists said on Wednesday. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Carbon traders cut as climate talks stall Investment banks are cutting traders and analysts in climate-related businesses after a slump in shares and carbon emission permits. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Harnessing desert sun to power Europe Connecting North Africa and Europe with a solar energy power network |
9th December 2011 | |
| Pacific micro-state switches entirely to renewable energy Tokelau challenged world leaders at the UN climate talks in Durban to follow its leadTokelau, a Pacific micro-state with only 1,500 people and three cars, today challenged world leaders at the UN climate talks in Durban to follow its lead and switch entirely to renewable energy.The pinprick of low-lying land halfway between new Zealand and Hawaii, is two days' boat ride - and no aeroplane - from anywhere. But, cyclones permitting, next September it will switch off its old diesel generators and be powered by a $7.5m solar PV system designed to provide 90% of its energy. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Barack Obama urges nations to follow lead of Wangari Maathai The US president called on countries to preserve their forests after the example of the Kenyan environmentalist. President Obama made his only contribution to the global climate talks on Wednesday by urging countries to preserve their forests and follow the example of Nobel peace prize winner and Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai who died earlier this year."Wangari's work stands as a testament to the power of a single person's idea that the simple act of planting a tree can be a profound statement of dignity and hope first in one village, then in one nation, and now across Africa," he told ministers and conservationists at the UN talks in Durban, via a video message.Obama urged countries to follow Maathai's lead. |
9th December 2011 | |
| UK set to exceed carbon targets, analysis shows Government says study shows affordable low-carbon economy achievable - but next 20 years will require huge investment |
9th December 2011 | |
| Cost of Photovoltaic Solar Energy Lower Than Usually Reported, Study Says The cost of photovoltaic solar energy systems is not nearly as expensive as some energy analysts have projected, according to a new study from Queen's University in Ontario. In fact, Queen's researcher Joshua Pearce predicts that solar photovoltaic systems are approaching the "tipping point" at which they will be capable of producing energy at about the same price as traditional energy sources. In a study published in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Pearce says that many recent analyses of the costs of photovoltaic solar power - which typically include factors such as installation and maintenance costs, finance charges, life expectancy of the system, and the amount of electricity - have ignored the 70-percent reduction in solar panel costs since 2009. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Exploring the Spiritual Side Of the Journey of the Universe Mary Evelyn Tucker has been one of the innovators in the study of the connections between religion and ecology. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, she talks about her work and about a new film she co-produced that points to the spiritual dimension of responding to the world's environmental challenges. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Carbon Pricing to Save Green Climate Fund Carbon pricing will be the core mechanism to finance the Green Climate Fund and with it climate change adaptation projects in developing countries. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Bolivia Submits Sustainable Forest Life Proposal to COP17 based on the Principle of "Non-commodification of Forests" FORESTS ARE MORE THAN JUST A COMMODITY:FORESTS ARE MORE THAN JUST A COMMODITY: Bolivia Submits Sustainable Forest Life Proposal to COP17 based on the Principle of "Non-commodification of Forests." |
9th December 2011 | |
| French Alpine glaciers in retreat Glaciers in the French Alps have lost a quarter of their area in the past 40 years, scientists reporting at a conference say. |
9th December 2011 | |
 Polar bear 'cannibalism' picturedA photojournalist snaps an image of cannibalism among polar bears - a situation that may be becoming more common as sea ice dwindles. |
9th December 2011 | |
| VIDEO: Chile glacier record retreat footage Researchers in Chile release time-lapse footage of the dramatic retreat of a glacier in Patagonia. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Floods and strong winds hit Cumbria Reports of vehicles stuck in water near Windermere and Troutbeck, and drivers warned of extremely poor conditions. Parts of Cumbria have been hit by localised flooding as high winds blew in from Scotland, and flood warnings were in place on many rivers.The Highways Agency advised drivers in the north-east, north-west and Yorkshire to check the weather forecast and road conditions before they travel because of the strong winds. It has issued an amber alert for high-sided vehicles, caravans and motorbikes.Heavy rain led to flooding in south Cumbria. Cumbria police said they had received a number of reports of vehicles stuck in water around the tourist areas of Windermere and Troutbeck.Sections of the A591 at Ambleside and Windermere were closed because of the flooding, along with a section of the A592 at Troutbeck Bridge. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Frozen Planet: On Thin Ice In the final episode of Frozen Planet, David Attenborough travels to the Arctic and Antarctic to observe the effects of climate change |
9th December 2011 | |
| Drought risk high for England next summer, government warns Environment secretary Caroline Spelman calls on water companies and public to plan now for 2012 water shortage. Drought will almost certainly hit parts of England next summer unless there is sustained rainfall this winter, according to the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman.Her warning came on Thursday as South East Water applied to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for a drought order to help refill Ardingly reservoir, where the level of usable water is now just 12%, to secure supplies for East and West Sussex.Spelman warned that water companies and the public needed to plan now for a potential drought in 2012. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Hidden Contours of Antarctica Depicted in Map of 'Ice-free' Continent Scientists with the British Antarctic Survey have published the most detailed map yet of what Antarctica's landscape would look like without its thick covering of ice, showing that large portions of the frozen Click to enlargeBEDMAP/BASAn 'ice-free' Antarctica continent actually rest on the sea bed rather than on land. Using data collected by aerial flights, satellite technology, and research ships over 50 years, British researchers were able to illustrate mountain peaks that are the size of the European Alps but are hidden below thousands of feet of ice. Less than 1 percent of the continent's rock base is currently visible above the ice, which is three miles thick in places. |
9th December 2011 | |
| It's "Extremely Likely That at Least 74% of Observed Warming Since 1950? Was Manmade; It's Highly Likely All of It Was Back in 2009, NASA's Gavin Schmidt was asked, "what percentage of global warming is due to human causes vs. natural causes?" His answer: Over the last 40 or so years, natural drivers would have caused cooling, and so the warming there has been ... caused by a combination of human drivers and some degree of internal variability. I would judge the maximum amplitude of the internal variability to be roughly 0.1 deg C over that time period, and so given the warming of ~0.5 deg C, I'd say somewhere between 80% to 120% of the warming. |
9th December 2011 | |
| WMO: 2011 Is Warmest La Niña Year on Record and Science "Proves Unequivocally" It's "Due to Human Activities" Global temperatures in 2011 are currently the tenth highest on record and are higher than any previous year with a La Niña event, which has a relative cooling influence. The 13 warmest years have all occurred in the 15 years since 1997. The extent of Arctic sea ice in 2011 was the second lowest on record, and its volume was the lowest. "Our role is to provide the scientific knowledge to inform action by decision makers," said [World Meteorological Organization] Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. "Our science is solid and it proves unequivocally that the world is warming and that this warming is due to human activities," he said. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Highs winds leave thousands without power in California LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Heavy winds returned to the Los Angeles area early on Saturday as over 100,000 homes and businesses lost power, due to fallen trees and other damage from an ongoing windstorm. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Global Temperature News There are two interesting pieces of news on the global temperature evolution. First, today a paper by [Grant Foster and Stefan Rahmstorf] was published by Environmental Research Letters, providing a new analysis of the five available global (land+ocean) temperature time series. Foster and Rahmstorf tease out and remove the short-term variability due to ENSO, solar cycles and volcanic eruptions and find that after this adjustment all five time series match much more closely than before (see graph). That's because the variability differs between the series, for example El Niño events show up about twice as strongly in the satellite data as compared to the surface temperatures. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Coral reefs in warming seas Disease outbreaks are often associated with hot weather. Because many bacteria typically multiply more rapidly in warmer conditions, it's a commonly held notion that warm-weather outbreaks are a straightforward consequence of greater numbers of the microbial culprit. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Biodiversity and climate change - from bad to worse (PhysOrg.com) -- A major new scientific review, involving more than 30 scientists from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands sets out our current knowledge of the impacts of climate change on biodiversity in the latest special edition of the scientific journal Pacific Conservation Biology. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Rapid retreat of Chile glacier captured in images (AP) -- Researchers in Chile released a series of time-lapse photos Wednesday showing the dramatic retreat of a glacier in Patagonia. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Tropical sea temperatures influence melting in Antarctica Accelerated melting of two fast-moving outlet glaciers that drain Antarctic ice into the Amundsen Sea Embayment is likely the result, in part, of an increase in sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, according to new University of Washington research. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Global warming 'not slowing down,' say researchers (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have added further clarity to the global climate trend, proving that global warming is showing no signs of slowing down and that further increases are to be expected in the next few decades. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Scientists confirm Himalayan glacial melting Glaciers in the Himalayas have shrunk by as much as a fifth in just 30 years, scientists have claimed in the first authoritative confirmation of the effects of climate change on the region. |
9th December 2011 | |
| First Arcticane of Wintertide Image Credit : Copyright 2011 EUMETSATSomething not completely dissimilar to a hurricane or a typhoon has been gusting at incredibly high speeds through the lowlands of Scotland today - and further afield. Yet, regardless of whether this heralds the start of a proper snow-and-ice winter, it's not likely to prevent 2011 being one of the hottest years ever. July and August, worldwide, were nearly the hottest on record in 2011. Meanwhile, the Blob Chart tells the story in a way that nobody can deny.Meanwhile, in Durban, South Africa, the world's governments struggle to make sense. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Drought traps ships on Danube The waters on the Danube are so low that 100 loaded ships are stuck near the Hungarian border, blocked by sand bars. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Unusual drought triggers alarm across Balkans The waters of the mighty Danube are so low that dozens of cargo ships are stuck, stranded in ghostly fog or wedged into sand banks on what is normally one of eastern Europe's busiest transport routes. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Whales, dolphins, seals: newcomers crowd into British waters Scientists predicts cetaceans from as far away as the Pacific will live here as climate change heats up our waters The waters around the British Isles could soon be home to several new species of mammals as a rising number of foreign visitors are being reported around our coasts. Experts believe the rare sightings of cetaceans from tropical climes could mean sea creatures are scouting for new ... |
9th December 2011 | |
| Unusual winter weather may be connected to rapid Arctic climate change, report ... - Washington Post (blog) msnbc.comUnusual winter weather may be connected to rapid Arctic climate change, report ...Washington Post (blog)It's often said that the Arctic is the proverbial "canary in the coal mine" of global warming, an overused expression that applies in this instance, since the profound changes occurring there as a result of the warming climate are a ...Holiday calendar: Santa's shrinking domainmsnbc.com (blog) So Long Polar Bears: Climate Change Fanatics Now Promoting Gorillas and TigersTown HallConnecting Ice And AirChemical Engineering Newsall 15 news articles raquo; |
9th December 2011 | |
| Natural wonder of roosting swallows disappoints _ is it climate change? - Washington Post This Sunday, the barn swallows didn’t put on their show. Millions of birds, having migrated more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) from Europe and Britain for the southern summer, usually roost in the tall reeds poking through the surface of Lake Victoria at the foot of a hillock called Mount Moreland. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Climate change may drive vacation plans - Futurity: Research News A new study published in the International Journal of Biometeorology finds that of nine parks that experienced significant increases in mean spring temperatures since 1979, seven also saw shifts in the timing of peak attendance. |
9th December 2011 | |
| 2011 Breaks Record For Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters Twelve weather disasters causing $1 billion or more in damage hit the United States in 2011, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced today, making this year’s weather the most extreme on record. That’s more billion-dollar catastrophes in one year than the U.S. saw in the entire decade of the 1980s, even after the figures are adjusted for inflation, The Associated Press reported. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Deaths from heatwaves to rise 'without emission cuts' - Sydney Morning Herald Sydney Morning HeraldDeaths from heatwaves to rise 'without emission cuts'Sydney Morning HeraldPhoto: Edwina Pickles AUSTRALIAN death rates from climate change-related heatwaves will climb steadily this century unless greenhouse emissions are sharply cut, the most comprehensive national report into global warming and health has found. ...Health risks rise with changing climate. Landall 85 news articles raquo; |
9th December 2011 | |
| Welcome to Peak Water: Scientists Say Time Is up to Prepare for Melting Glaciers A Peruvian watershed has likely passed 'peak water,' dropping river flows 30 percent. New lakes are draining the Himalaya, and say good-bye to Rocky Mountains' glaciers. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Food security has jumped up the agenda at Durban climate conference The impact of climate change on food insecurity is creating growing interest in agro-ecological methods of farming at the COP17 climate negotiations in Durban, says UN advisor Olivier De Schutter |
9th December 2011 | |
| Scientists reveal where growing conditions today mirror future climates With climate change posing a threat to food production around the world, scientists are developing a form of virtual time travel that can offer farmers in many countries a glimpse of their future by identifying regions where growing conditions today match those that will exist 20 years from now, according to a new report from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). |
9th December 2011 | |
| Today's severe drought, tomorrow's normal (PhysOrg.com) -- While the worst drought since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s grips Oklahoma and Texas, scientists are warning that what we consider severe drought conditions in North America today may be normal for the continent by the mid-21st century, due to a warming planet. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Ancient dry spells offer clues about the future of drought As parts of Central America and the U.S. Southwest endure some of the worst droughts to hit those areas in decades, scientists have unearthed new evidence about ancient dry spells that suggest the future could bring even more serious water shortages. Three researchers speaking at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco on Dec. 5, 2011, presented new findings about the past and future of drought. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Global warming changes balance between parasite and host in fish (PhysOrg.com) -- Parasitic worms that infect fish, and have a devastating effect on fish reproduction, grow four times faster at higher temperatures ? providing some of the first evidence that global warming affects the interactions between parasites and their hosts. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Q&A: Time for a New Agricultural Revolution Negotiators at the 17th Conference of Parties owe it to the world's more than seven billion people to deliver a deal with a work plan for agriculture, a sector that is expected to be the worst affected by climate change. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Northern states of Mexico wilt under dry weather The sun-baked northern states of Mexico are suffering under the worst drought since the government began recording rainfall 70 years ago. Crops of corn, beans and oats are withering in the fields. About 1.7 million cattle have died of starvation and thirst. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Ships stranded, crops in jeopardy, power shortages as drought hits eastern Europe BEZDAN, Serbia - The waters of the mighty Danube are so low that dozens of cargo ships are stuck, stranded in ghostly fog or wedged into sand banks on what is normally one of eastern Europe's busiest transport routes. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Global warming may impact walnut supply, warn scientists Warmer, drier summers and extreme weather due to climate change would be troublesome, if not fatal, for walnut trees, say researchers. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Global warming will boost solar power in Europe but cause losses elsewhere | Duncan Clark Scientists have predicted how changes to temperature and the distribution of sunlight will effect solar technologiesAmid all the discussion about how energy sources may impact on climate change, we often overlook the fact that climate change will in turn impact on energy sources. As the world warms, this will become an increasingly important issue, affecting everything from nuclear power stations needing cold water for cooling through to melting ice opening up new fossil fuel reserves in the Arctic.Given the current row about how much the UK should subsidise solar power, it was interesting to come across a scientific paper looking at how solar technologies will be affected by global warming in the coming century. |
9th December 2011 | |
| The EU's climate evangelism has got us nowhere | Sunita Narain Europe must stop trying to bend developing countries to agree to a legal deal in the hope that this will bring the US on boardI am at the UN climate talks in Durban, an irritated witness to the fact that when it comes to climate change, not only is the world deeply divided between rich and poor, but the world's media is even more riven.Over the last two days, the Western media - including this newspaper - has targeted India for being a deal-breaker. The intent is to drive a wedge in the Basic negotiating bloc (comprising Brazil, South Africa, India and China). |
9th December 2011 | |
| Small Island States Fear "Annihilation" From Failed Climate Negotiations, Protests Mark COP17 Closing Hours Karl Hood, Grenada's Minister of Foreign Affairs and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), responded to a question from veteran ABC correspondent Bill Blakemore about the fact that climate scientists believe it is impossible to keep global warming below 1.5C above pre-industrial levels: "If they're saying that 1.5 isn't possible, are you asking us then to accept annihilation?" Watch Hood respond to Blakemore's question: H/T ThinkProgress for the news and the video Yesterday, U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern said that he considers the 2°C goal codified by the G8 and the Cancun Accords to be a "guidepost," not a "cap that you must meet." The frustration felt by delegates from AOSIS, the Least Developed Countries (LDC), and others - especially the YOUNGO youth delegates whose ... |
9th December 2011 | |
| Climate talks 'at decision time' The UK's Climate Change Secretary issues a call to arms for a credible and binding deal at a UN climate summit in Durban, warning that time runs short. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Canada wins few friends on climate Canada being portrayed as "climate villain" at Durban talks |
9th December 2011 | |
| Forestry sell-off plan overlooked benefits, panel says Another blow to government's green credentials as report says public owned forests and woodlands are 'greatly undervalued'The benefits of England's publicly owned forests were "greatly undervalued" by the planned state sell-off, a government-appointed panel will say on Thursday in a report that deals a new blow to the coalition's green credentials.The independent report, seen by the Guardian, says the £20m cost to the state of maintaining the forests and woodlands is "very modest and delivers benefits far in excess of this" and contrasts the sum with the £250m spent on reinstating weekly bin collections.The social benefits of the natural environment - estimated at £1bn-£2bn for woodlands alone - were highlighted by the government's own landmark assessment in June, but the new report makes clear these benefits were overlooked in the forestry proposals. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Poorer countries overtake rich world's consumption carbon footprint | Duncan Clark The financial crisis of 2009 saw the developing world's carbon emissions from consumption shoot past the developed world's years earlier than expected, new research showsThe carbon footprint from consumption in the developing world has overtaken that of the developed world, according to research published on Monday. The change happened years earlier than expected due to the fact that the developing world's emissions were largely unaffected by the global financial crisis.Emissions within the borders of developing countries outstripped those emitted in developed countries (as defined by the Kyoto Protocol's 'Annex B') in around 2005. But the rich world still accounted for the majority of the carbon footprint of consumption due to the goods it imports from China and other developing economies.Experts expected this situation to remain unchanged until around 2015, but the research in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that developing nations came to represent the majority ... |
9th December 2011 | |
| Why aren't we investing more on improving energy storage technology? | Leo Hickman Researchers currently seem to be concentrating on developing clean energy sources - but storage is just as importantI don't understand why researchers are not trying harder to crack better energy storage solutions. Instead, all the focus seems to be on finding new clean sources of energy. That's important, of course, but if we could vastly improve energy storage we could presumably make do with the energy sources we already have? And intermittent renewables such as wind and solar would be so much more attractive.P Holmes, by email. Earlier this year, I heard scientists based at the Culham science park near Oxford arguing that there needs to be a Manhattan Project for fusion power. |
9th December 2011 | |
| How the US Is Undermining Critical Climate Talks and Putting the World in Jeopardy The only thing the U.S. brought to the table was a wrecking ball. This isn't just a delay, it's a death sentence. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Hopes Fade for Binding Climate Deal as Durban Summit Enters Final Stages Talks have entered their 10th day, but doubt is growing that a legally binding deal to combat climate change will be reached by Friday. |
9th December 2011 | |
| China Pushes for Post 2020 Legally-binding Climate Deal China's conditions for a treaty included a renewal of carbon-cutting pledges by rich nations, along with hundreds of billions of dollars in climate financing for poorer countries. |
9th December 2011 | |
| On the Climate High End, Methane Time Bombs and the Lure of the New Prepare for a fresh dose of whiplash with your climate headlines |
9th December 2011 | |
| As Coal Use Declines in U.S., Coal Companies Focus on China With aging coal-fired U.S. power plants shutting down, major American coal companies are exporting ever-larger amounts of coal to China. Now, plans to build two new coal-shipping terminals on the West Coast have set up a battle with environmentalists who want to steer the world away from fossil fuels. BY JONATHAN THOMPSON |
9th December 2011 | |
| EU warns time running out for climate deal DURBAN (Reuters) - The European Union said key developing states backed its roadmap for a binding pact to fight global warming, but warned U.N. climate talks could still collapse on Friday unless all major polluters came on board. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Warmer world is the challenge of a generation As the latest round of climate talks begin, it seems clear that the world will warm by at least 2 °C. But that's no reason to give up the fight |
9th December 2011 | |
| Global winds could explain record rains, tornadoes Two talks at a scientific conference this week will propose a common root for an enormous deluge in western Tennessee in May 2010, and a historic outbreak of tornadoes centered on Alabama in April 2011. |
9th December 2011 | |
| The problem with renewables and 'cost parity' by Sean Casten. At what point do hamburgers reach cost parity with salad? Assume for a moment that this is a serious question and try to figure out how you'd answer it. What is the relevant metric of comparison? Cost per pound? Cost per calorie? Outside of a few rabid vegans, no one seriously tries to do that math, for self-evident reasons. But every time another story comes out about renewables nearing cost parity with fossil sources, that's exactly what we do. The problem is the metric. Competing power generation technologies are typically compared on a dollar-per-megawatt-hour ($/MWh) basis, but -- like the cost per pound of your lunch -- the fact that this number can be calculated doesn't make it meaningful. |
9th December 2011 | |
| A Levelling The Spectator has allowed me to rebut Nils-Axel Morner's rubbish about sea levels. By George Monbiot, published in the Spectator 8th December 2011. If people are committed to an unscientific position, no evidence or argument will shake them out of it. Whether they subscribe to AIDS denial, excessive fear of radiation, vaccine scaremongering, homeopathy or creationism, they tend to demand impossible standards of proof from their opponents but to accept any old rubbish that supports their beliefs. So if you are among those who reject the vast weight of scientific evidence for manmade climate change, I don't expect this article to persuade you. |
9th December 2011 | |
| US college student shames US climate delegation in Durban Abigail Borah, a Middlebury College student and climate activist from the United States, was ejected from a plenary session at the COP17 climate summit this morning after interrupting introductory remarks by US chief negotiator, Todd Stern. Here statement was met with loud applause from the crowd. Stern later shifted his position - or at least his language - on a timetable for a new set of international talks. read more |
9th December 2011 | |
| Declaration of the indigenous peoples of the world to COP17 We, the Indigenous Peoples of the world, united in the face of the climate crisis and the lack of political will of the States, especially the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, demand the immediate adoption of legally binding agreements with shared but differentiated responsibilities, to halt global warming and to define alternative models of development in harmony with Mother Earth. read more |
9th December 2011 | |
| Reading China's Climate Change Tea Leaves All eyes were on the Chinese these past two weeks as representatives from 194 parties, international financial institutions, and nongovernmental organizations gathered in Durban, South Africa for the seventeenth round of climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC. Up until the meeting in Durban, China, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, refused to make a binding international commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Many in the international community view a binding international emissions commitment from the Chinese as a critical barrier to slowing the pace of climate change. Then, to the surprise of many at the meeting, the Chinese delegation last weekend kicked off a flurry of speculation with a series of statements that appeared to signal a willingness to open the door to reconsidering its previous refusals. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Inuit hunter takes climate-change message to Durban conference - Globe and Mail It took 30 hours of flying, but Inuit hunter Jordan Konek has arrived in the land of surfers and palm trees with a message for the world’s politicians: Climate change is real, and it could devastate Canada’s Arctic people. |
9th December 2011 | |
| Britain can't afford to go cool on climate change - The Guardian (blog) The chancellor believes we cannot save the planet until we save the economy. He is wrong on many counts |
9th December 2011 | |
| Economist: We'll just move to Siberia to escape climate change by Brad Johnson. Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. The inability of mainstream economists to grapple with the consequences of unrestrained global warming has been a recurring theme at ThinkProgress Green. However, the gold medal for sociopathic insouciance about a world of unimaginable biodiversity collapse, global desertification, the death of the oceans, and the inevitable wars and chaos that would bring would have to go to Karl Smith, one of the bloggers at the influential economics blog Modeled Behavior. In his post "In Praise of Dirty Energy: There Are Worse Things Than Pollution and We Have Them," the assistant professor of public economics and government at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill argues that despite the risks, "we should pursue the development of fossil fuels as rapidly as possible including looking for ways to streamline regulation in North American regarding fossil fuel ... |
9th December 2011 | |
| "Never Trust a COP" - The Media Co-op More than 10,000 people answered the call to march through the streets of Durban, South Africa, last Saturday as part of a gobal day of action for climate justice and an end to climate change. The march coincided with the halfway point of negotiations at 17th meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17). |
9th December 2011 |
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