Latest news

An Institute of Public Affairs-sponsored journal article has been seized on by conservative media outlets. But there are a few problems

People who work for climate science denial thinktanks tend not to spend all that much time worrying about getting stuff into scientific journals.

Perhaps because it’s easier, people who are paid to tell the public and policy makers that human-caused climate change is overblown bunk would rather pump out newspaper columns, do softball interviews or push out their own self-published reports. There’s a lot less scrutiny in that kind of public relations.

Related: Coal in decline: an energy industry on life support

Related: Coal in decline: Adani in question and Australia out of step

The analysis by the authors seems to work like magic

In reality there a very few periodic or quasi-periodic oscillations in the Earth system. In reality most are random and not periodic. Volcanoes are the biggest issue. Their method assumes that any periodicity caused by volcanoes prior to 1880 has simply continued though to 2000. We know this is not the case and have a good handle on what volcanic activity has been – it was nothing like it was prior to 1880. Their approach is therefore completely unphysical. They also assume that oscillations seen at a given proxy location will also cause the same oscillation on global average or hemispheric average temperatures. We know this is not the case.

Related: 'They're insatiable': Jay Weatherill on his clash with the Coalition on energy – Australian politics live podcast

Related: Victoria moves to become first state to enshrine renewable energy targets in law

Target of 2040 to ban sale of conventional cars should be made more ambitious, says report

An ambitious target to phase out sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 could halve UK oil imports, a study by environmental and aid organisations suggests.

The government has announced plans to ban the sale of conventional combustion engine cars and vans by 2040 as part of its efforts to tackle air pollution and climate change, a move the groups welcomed as a step in the right direction.

Related: Britain to ban sale of all diesel and petrol cars and vans from 2040

Broadcaster says he is more optimistic about the future of the planet after a global shift in attitudes to the natural world

Sir David Attenborough has said he is more encouraged about the future health of Earth than he has been for some time after a “worldwide shift” in attitudes about concern for the natural world and the damage that humans are doing to the planet.

The veteran wildlife broadcaster said there are “signs of hope” for the health of the planet and called the Paris climate change agreement a “big advance” in an interview at the Edinburgh TV festival despite President Donald Trump’s disengagement.

In the USA, the southeastern states are most vulnerable to the costly impacts from human-caused climate change

Humans are causing Earth’s climate to change. We know that. We’ve known it for decades. Okay so what? The follow-up questions should be directed to what the effects of warming will be. What will the costs be to society, to the natural biosystem, and to human lives? Let’s be honest, if the consequences of warming are not large, then who cares? But, if the consequences are severe, then we should take action now to reduce the warming. This really comes down to costs and benefits. Are the benefits of reducing emissions greater or less than the costs?

But there is a nuance to the answer. The costs are not uniformly distributed. Some regions will suffer more and other regions will suffer less. In fact, some regions will actually benefit in a warming climate. We understand that the world is interconnected and costs will inevitably be shared to some extent. But it is clear we won’t all suffer the same.

In the absence of major efforts to reduce emissions and strengthen resilience, the Gulf Coast will take a massive hit. Its exposure to sea-level rise – made worse by potentially stronger hurricanes – poses a major risk to its communities. Increasingly extreme heat will drive up violent crime, slow down workers, amp up air conditioning costs, and threaten people’s lives.

Unmitigated climate change will be very expensive for huge regions of the United States. If we continue on the current path, our analysis indicates it may result in the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the country’s history.