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The hurricanes battering the Caribbean are a deadly reminder of the immense force of nature. They show with stark clarity what happens when those with the most power fail to protect those with the least, and when those with the greatest ability to tackle the growing threat of climate breakdown shirk their responsibility to those who face its worst effects.
The story of our recent past and our present is of a handful of powerful people acting against the interests of everyone else. Those who make it to the top – of multinational corporations and of government – defend themselves and the status quo against all attacks, deepening inequality in society and sowing the seeds of planetary destruction. The future doesn’t need to be like this, but if we want to write a different story we need to start now.
Related: I’m defying the council I serve on to stop it felling trees | Alison Teal
Greens are pioneers or we are nothing – and in the coming months we will be bolder and braver than ever before
Continue reading...Our climate paper underlined that strong action towards the 1.5C Paris goal is perhaps more valid than ever, but reading some of the media coverage you might think the opposite was true
On Monday, we published a paper in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience that re-evaluated how much carbon dioxide we can still afford, collectively, to emit into the atmosphere and still retain some hope of achieving the ambitious goals of the Paris climate agreement to “pursue efforts” to keep global temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. The carbon budget we found, to yield a two-in-three chance of meeting this goal, was equivalent to starting CO2 emission reductions immediately and continuing in a straight line to zero in less than 40 years: a formidable challenge.
Formidable, but not inconceivable. The distinction matters, because if it were already completely impossible to achieve the Paris ambition, many might argue there was no point in pursuing those efforts in the first place – or that the only option left is immediately starting to cool the planet with artificial volcanoes.
Continue reading...Guy and Kim Abrahams say case does not need to proceed after changes in bank’s 2017 annual report
Commonwealth Bank shareholders Guy and Kim Abrahams have dropped their world-first court proceedings against the bank for failing to disclose climate change risks in annual reports.
They said CBA’s 2017 annual report, which was published last month, included an acknowledgement for the first time from CBA directors that climate change posed a significant risk to the bank’s operations, with a promise to undertake climate change scenario analysis on its business in the upcoming year to assess the risk.
Related: Commonwealth Bank shareholders sue over 'inadequate' disclosure of climate change risks
Related: Apra says companies must factor climate risks into business outlook
Continue reading...Rob Vertessy, who retired as the BOM’s director in 2016, has hit back at ‘time wasters’ and ‘amateurs’ who are given a forum by the Australian
For Rob Vertessy, the attacks on his government agency became tedious and time-consuming and no less irritating because they were coming from a motivated group of “amateurs”.
Vertessy spent a decade at Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. He retired in April 2016 after five years as the agency’s director.
Related: Former weather bureau chief says agency debilitated by climate deniers' attacks
They understand that there is an organised climate denial network and that it has a fever swamp.
Related: Coal in decline: Adani in question and Australia out of step
Related: Tourists doubting value of trip to Great Barrier Reef, dive operator tells inquiry
Continue reading...Rob Vertessy says attacks such as the claim the bureau was ‘fabricating temperature records’ are dangerous and wrong
Misleading attacks on Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology by climate deniers in the Australian are “debilitating” to the agency and limiting its ability to predict risks and protect the community, the former head of the bureau has told the Guardian.
Rob Vertessy, who retired as director of the BoM in April 2016, said climate deniers’ attempts to confuse the public about the science of climate change were dangerous, in an interview for the Guardian’s Planet Oz blog.
Continue reading...PM ranks US plan to withdraw from Paris treaty alongside North Korean nuclear tests as threat to global security
Theresa May has issued a veiled warning to Donald Trump, arguing that his plan to withdraw from the Paris climate change treaty ranks alongside North Korea’s nuclear missile tests as a threat to global prosperity and security.
In a speech to the United Nations general assembly, the prime minister, whose authority at home has been severely tested since June’s general election result, sought to project her vision of a “rules-based” international order.
Related: Theresa May to fly Boris Johnson back early from US to discuss Brexit
Continue reading...The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific concepts
After Harvey, Irma and now Maria, I wonder how wild animals and birds manage in hurricanes? Do they “migrate” temporarily at the first signs of the impending storm or have other ways of surviving? Or do they simply perish in huge numbers?
Jo Macdonald, Dorset
Continue reading...• This summer’s minimum is the eighth lowest on record
Shrinking ice cap increasingly linked to extreme weather events around the world, say scientistsThe Arctic ice cap melted to hundreds of thousands of square miles below average this summer, according to data released late on Tuesday.
Climate change is pushing temperatures up most rapidly in the polar regions and left the extent of Arctic sea ice at 1.79m sq miles at the end of the summer melt season.
Related: Arctic ice melt 'already affecting weather patterns where you live right now'
Continue reading...Our new paper illustrates the rapid, consistent warming of Earth’s oceans
We’ve known for decades that the Earth is warming, but a key question is, how fast? Another key question is whether the warming is primarily caused by human activities. If we can more precisely measure the rate of warming and the natural component, it would be useful for decision makers, legislators, and others to help us adapt and cope. Indeed, added ocean heat content underlies the potential for dangerous intense hurricanes.
An answer to the “how fast?” question was partly answered in an Opinion piece just published on Eos.org, the daily online Earth and space science news site, by scientists from China, Europe and the United States. I was fortunate enough to be part of the research team.
A key reason for the exceptionally active Atlantic hurricane season this year is because of the regional build-up of ocean heat along with its global warming component that fuels hurricanes.
Continue reading...Abbott wants to lead an insurgency to sink Turnbull’s climate and energy policy, which has always been a proxy for his leadership. It’s pure political expediency
Tony Abbott has been an implacable force against rational climate action in this country for the best part of a decade, and nothing has changed.
Having destroyed one set of energy policies designed to achieve orderly economic transformation and emissions reduction, and created a monumental policy botch-up as a consequence, he’s determined to destroy another.
Related: Tony Abbott warns against 'unconscionable' renewable target
Related: The Coalition wants to shift the energy policy blame. Voters just want it fixed | Katharine Murphy
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