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Scientists say climate targets cannot be met using the technologies, which either risk huge damage to the environment or are very costly
Ways of sucking carbon dioxide from the air will not work on the vast scales needed to beat climate change, Europe’s science academies warned on Thursday.
From simply planting trees to filtering CO2 out of the air, the technologies that some hope could be a “silver bullet” in halting global warming either risk huge damage to the environment themselves or are likely to be very costly.
Continue reading...In next five years greenhouse gases may push global warming past threshold set by Paris deal
Global temperatures could break through the internationally agreed upper 1.5C limit within the next five years, according to a forecast by British scientists that raises fresh questions about the world’s efforts to tackle climate change.
The Met Office forecasting service said that in the period from 2018 to 2022, annual global average temperatures are likely to exceed 1C above pre-industrial levels and could top the 1.5C threshold set as an aspiration by the global Paris climate change deal in 2015.
Related: From Miami to Shanghai: 3C of warming will leave world cities below sea level
Related: World's scientists to join forces on major 1.5C climate change report
Continue reading...Nearly half of US military sites are threatened by wild weather linked to climate change, according to a new Pentagon study whose findings run contrary to White House views on global warming.
Drought, wind and flooding that occurs due to reasons other than storms topped the list of natural disasters that endanger 1,700 military sites worldwide, from large bases to outposts, said the US Department of Defense (DoD).
Related: Trump drops climate change from US national security strategy
Continue reading...Climate experiment shows trees release water but stop absorbing carbon in extreme heat
Australian researchers growing trees in climate change conditions have found the leaves “sweat” to survive extreme heatwaves.
The year-long experiment showed that trees continue to release water through their leaves as an evaporative cooling system during periods of extreme heat, despite the carbon-fixing process of photosynthesis grinding to a halt.
Related: Australia had third-hottest year ever in 2017, weather bureau says
Related: A third of the world now faces deadly heatwaves as result of climate change
Continue reading...Further indication that oil firms are planning for growth of battery-powered vehicle market
BP will add rapid charging points for electric cars at its UK petrol stations within the next two months, in the latest sign of an oil giant adapting to the rapid growth of battery-powered cars.
The British oil firm’s venture arm has invested $5m (£3.5m) in the US firm Freewire Technologies, which will provide motorbike-sized charging units at forecourts to top up cars in half an hour.
Continue reading...The IPCC is taking guidance on how to communicate its crucial findings beyond speciality scientific and policy circles
The remit of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is one of the more complicated jigsaw puzzles in the world.
Since 1988, it has overseen thousands of scientists pulling together tens of thousands of academic papers on atmospheric physics, meteorology, geography, marine science, economics, land-use and much more. A multi-layered process of expert assessment takes place every six or seven years where a set of carefully worded statements is approved by representatives of 120 of the world’s governments, specifying what we know about the defining challenge of the 21st century: climate change.
Continue reading...Temperatures forecast to hit 40C as even prime minister Jacinda Ardern struggles to keep cool
A week-long heatwave has floored New Zealand, breaking temperature records across the country and causing a nationwide shortage of fans.
Temperatures have soared above 37C (98.6F) in parts of the South Island, with records broken in Dunedin, Wanaka, Christchurch and many other cities and towns.
Related: Milford Track: 'World's finest walk' in danger of becoming just another bucket list tick
Related: In 2017, the oceans were by far the hottest ever recorded | John Abraham
Continue reading...US scientists taking measurements above the Amazon rainforest have recorded the effects of smoke and aerosols on the weather
Mankind has made the world warmer, but we’ve also made it stormier. In a study conducted over the Amazon rainforest, scientists have shown that tiny particles – smaller than one-thousandth of the width of a human hair – cause storms to intensify, and potentially have knock-on effects for weather around the world.
Jiwen Fan, from the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory studied storm formation near the Brazilian city of Manaus. Its 2 million people make Manaus the largest city in the Amazon, and the busy streets and smokey chimneys produce a near permanent pollution plume.
Related: Alexander von Humboldt on the loss of his meteorological instruments
Continue reading...To avoid dangerous climate change, we can’t rely on natural gas replacing coal
Over the past decade, coal has been increasingly replaced by cheaper, cleaner energy sources. US coal power production has dropped by 44% (866 terawatt-hours [TWh]). It’s been replaced by natural gas (up 45%, or 400 TWh), renewables (up 260%, or 200 TWh), and increased efficiency (the US uses 9%, or 371 TWh less electricity than a decade ago).
...abundant gas consistently results in both less coal and renewable energy use […] the quantity of methane leaked may ultimately determine whether the overall effect is to slightly reduce or actually increase cumulative emissions […] only climate policies bring about a significant reduction in future emissions from US electricity generation … We conclude that increased natural gas use for electricity will not substantially reduce US GHG emissions, and by delaying deployment of renewable energy technologies, may actually exacerbate the climate change problem in the long term.
Fortunately, rapidly falling costs are already making renewables and battery storage cost-competitive with natural gas, and cheaper than coal. If we’re going to succeed in avoiding the most dangerous climate change consequences, that transition away from all fossil fuels and towards clean energy can’t happen soon enough.
Continue reading...In ITV interview US president also says he would take tougher stand on Brexit than Theresa May
Donald Trump has said the United States could re-enter the Paris climate change agreement –and that he would have taken a “tougher stand” in Brexit negotiations than Theresa May.
The US president said his country could join the international accord if it had a “completely different deal” but called the existing agreement a “terrible deal” and a “disaster” for the US.
Related: Obama tells Prince Harry: leaders must stop corroding civil discourse
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