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All of nature’s thermometers indicate a rapid rise in global temperatures.
The US Global Change Research Program recently released a Climate Science Special Report. It is clearly written – an authoritative summary of the science, and easy to understand.
The first main chapter deals with changes to the climate and focuses much attention on global temperatures. When most people think of climate change, they think of the global temperature – specifically the temperature of the air a few meters above the Earth surface. There are other (better) ways to measure climate change such as heat absorbed by the oceans, melting ice, sea level rise, or others. But the iconic measurement most people think of are these air temperatures, shown in the top frame of the figure below.
Continue reading...Ruling by advertising watchdog could have knock on effect on other electric car advertising
The car company BMW has been censured by the UK’s advertising watchdog for claiming an electric car equipped with a small petrol engine was “clean” and “zero emissions”, in a ruling that could have a knock-on effect on other electric car advertising.
The advertising was published in the form of a Facebook post that used testimonials from real customers to extol the virtues of the BMW i3. That model is unusual among electric vehicles, as in addition to the electric drive, it also has a small petrol engine. However, unlike “hybrid” cars, which have a petrol-driven engine that can take over from the electric system when it runs out of charge, on longer journeys or at higher speeds, the i3’s petrol engine is only used to maintain the charge on the electric drive.
Related: Electric cars: everything you need to know
Continue reading...Martin Parkinson says Abbott sacked him for following legally mandated directions of Rudd and Gillard governments
The head of Malcolm Turnbull’s department says he has no “personal animus” towards Tony Abbott, but he says the former prime minister damaged the public service when he sacked him for following the legally mandated directions of the Rudd and Gillard governments.
Martin Parkinson was sacked by Abbott from the Treasury department after he came to power in 2013, alongside a handful of other departmental heads. He was brought back to the public service by Turnbull to be secretary of the department of prime minister and cabinet.
Related: Abbott's removal of top public servants smacks of ideology, not values
Continue reading...Part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the largest US wilderness, risks being transferred to the hands of the fossil fuel industry. Join the fight against this
• Trip Van Noppen is president of Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the last intact wild landscapes on Earth – and the largest wilderness left in the US. The 19.6m-acre swath of mountains and tundra is publicly owned and ecologically unique. Now, thanks to the Republican tax bill making its way through Congress, a part of the refuge we’ve long fought to protect risks being transferred to the hands of the fossil fuel industry.
History will judge the decision as an egregious error.
This is all for the short-sighted purpose of funding irresponsible tax breaks and subsidizing the oil and gas industry
Related: The battle to protect Alaska’s great wildlife sanctuary | Rebecca Solnit
Continue reading...New migrants are arriving while rising temperatures drive others away, and egg laying is taking place earlier in the year
Climate change is radically reshuffling Britain’s birds, with some species disappearing while new migrants are settling. Timings are being reset too, with egg laying getting earlier in the year, while autumn departures for warmer climes are delayed by up to a month.
The State of the UK’s Birds report for 2017, published on Tuesday, reveals the profound impact of global warming on Britain’s bird life, which is set to become even greater in the future.
Related: Weatherwatch: climate change means lots of birdsong, even in November
Continue reading...Blue Planet 2 producers say final episode lays bare shocking damage humanity is wreaking in the seas, from climate change to plastic pollution to noise
The world’s oceans are under the greatest threat in history, according to Sir David Attenborough. The seas are a vital part of the global ecosystem, leaving the future of all life on Earth dependent on humanity’s actions, he says.
Attenborough will issue the warning in the final episode of the Blue Planet 2 series, which details the damage being wreaked in seas around the globe by climate change, plastic pollution, overfishing and even noise.
Related: Great Barrier Reef scientists confirm largest die-off of corals recorded
Continue reading...The future is about resources, not technology. The planet really needs developing nations to get it right
The climate change talks in Bonn have now wrapped up with little firm action. Next year they move to Poland. But whatever is discussed or agreed in European cities over the coming years, the answers to climate change will not come from the west (beyond a few technological tweaks), but Asia.
Related: ‘Planet at a crossroads’: climate summit makes progress but leaves much to do
Related: China's great green wall grows in climate fight
Continue reading...If we want the US’s majestic national parks, clean air and water for future generations we must press leaders to address food’s environmental impact
Our collective minds are stuck on this idea that talking about food’s environmental impact risks taking something very intimate away from us. In fact it’s just the opposite. Reconsidering how we eat offers us hope, and empowers us with choice over what our future planet will look like. And we can ask our local leaders – from city mayors to school district boards to hospital management – to help, by widening our food options.
We simply need less meat and dairy and more plant-based options in our food system if we’re to reach our climate goals
Related: Goodbye – and good riddance – to livestock farming | George Monbiot
Continue reading...The GOP strategy on taxes and climate: reject evidence and expert opinion, lie, and wage culture wars
The parallels between the Republican Party positions on taxes and climate change are striking. Both are morally appalling and reject the available evidence and expert opinion.
The Initiative on Global Markets’ panel of economic experts was recently asked about the Republican tax plan. Among the experts who took a position either way, there was a 96% consensus that the plan would not substantially grow the economy more than the status quo, and a 100% consensus that it would substantially increase the national debt.
Economists aren't exactly big fans of current GOP tax plans https://t.co/B0jodtnv2v pic.twitter.com/4qqqzwsePd
Unemployment is down to 4.1%, lowest in 17 years. 1.5 million new jobs created since I took office. Highest stock Market ever, up $5.4 trill
“This is not going to be a deficit-producing effort,” McConnell says, believing economic growth will pay for bill.
VIDEO: CEOs asked if they plan to increase their company's capital investments if the GOP's tax bill passes. A few hands go up. "Why aren't the other hands up?" Gary Cohn asks.#WSJCEOCouncil pic.twitter.com/TD2oAlN27S
In NPR interview, Paul Ryan said he “thinks” the tax cuts will pay for themselves despite analysis to the contrary. “I’m telling you that’s what I believe will happen. I’m not going to tell you I’m sure.” https://t.co/CdXtuJmf0P
The US is experiencing a deep epistemic breach, a split not just in what we value or want, but in who we trust, how we come to know things, and what we believe we know — what we believe exists, is true, has happened and is happening … the right has created its own parallel set of institutions, most notably its own media ecosystem … “conservative media is more partisan and more insular than the left.”
Analysis: Deeply unpopular Congress aims to pass deeply unpopular bill for deeply unpopular president to sign https://t.co/3Bkhw6Pn5A
.@RepChrisCollins (R-NY) on tax reform: "My donors are basically saying, 'Get it done or don’t ever call me again.'"
Lindsey Graham says “the financial contributions will stop” if tax reform fails.
Continue reading...We are in the midst of a host of battles over the fate of the nation and the earth, and the outcome is in no small part up to us. We can win if we try
It has been a grueling year for people who care about human rights, climate change, and whatever remains of value in federal institutions from the judiciary to the diplomatic corps. This is a terrible, terrible era, one in which tremendous harm is being done to many people, to the planet and to the federal government.
Related: In the age of Trump, it’s time to ditch the special relationship | Jonathan Freedland
Active, engaged, informed, creative, dedicated, energetic resistance works – and we need lots more of it
Related: 'Guilty, your honor': Michael Flynn, who led the 'lock her up' chants, enters his plea
Virtually everything the Putin regime is said to have done in the 2016 election was made possible by the internet
Related: Top US firms including Walmart and Ford oppose Trump on climate change
Related: Michael Flynn's wrongdoing is just the tip of the iceberg | Richard Wolffe
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