Haitham Al-Ghais, the secretary general of OPEC, warned member countries of “undue and disproportionate pressure against fossil fuels” at the COP28 summit In a letter dated 6 December 2023. Photo: Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

OPEC leader tells members to block any COP28 climate summit deal to curb fossil fuels – “Reject any text or formula that targets energy i.e. fossil fuels rather than emissions”

By Lisa Friedman 8 December 2023 (The New York Times) – The head of the OPEC oil cartel, alarmed that nations gathered at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai are considering an agreement to phase out fossil fuels, has directed the group’s members to scuttle any deal that would affect the continued production and […]

Life expectancy at birth, by sex: United States, 2000-2022. Data: National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, mortality data file. Graphic: NVSS / CDC

U.S. life expectancy creeps up as Covid deaths fall – “We’re halfway back to what we lost. But we certainly have a very long ways to go before we get to where life expectancy should be.”

By Emily Anthes and Benjamin Mueller 29 November 2023 (The New York Times) – Life expectancy in the United States has begun to climb again as the threat of Covid-19 has receded, increasing by more than a year from 2021 to 2022, according to data released on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The […]

Climate scientist Dr. Graeme Pearman at his home in Bangholme, Victoria. On warning the world about abrupt climate change, he laments, “I often wonder: where did I go wrong? Why didn’t people respond? Is that my responsibility?” Photo: Nadir Kinani / The Guardian

“Where did I go wrong?” The scientist who tried to raise the climate alarm

By Graham Readfearn 20 November 2023 (The Guardian) – “I often wonder: where did I go wrong?” Graeme Pearman says. “Why didn’t people respond? Is that my responsibility?” When Guardian Australia meets him at his home on the outskirts of Melbourne, the veteran climate scientist is frustrated. “If you go through the whole process and […]

King Charles III meets with Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan President of the United Arab Emirates at a bilateral meeting at Expo City in Dubai, during the COP28 summit on 30 November 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The King is visiting Dubai to attend COP28 UAE, the United Nation's Climate Change Conference. Photo: Andrew Matthews / Getty Images

The central problem for COP28: Where will all this money come from? “What used to be available at Libor plus 50 (basis points) or Libor plus 100 is not available at those rates any more”

By David Blackmon 3 December 2023 (Forbes) – As the UN convenes its COP28 Conference in Dubai amid the conclusion of another year during which the global community used record amounts of coal, oil and natural gas, concerns are mounting about the future direction and prospects for success of the energy transition. Much of the […]

A person points at a stack of trays holding treated limestone, used to absorb CO2 from the air, at Heirloom’s new plant, in Tracy, California, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on 9 November 2023. Photo: Heirloom Carbon / REUTERS

Why carbon capture is no easy solution to climate change – “Not all technologies are going to be possible in all locations”

By Leah Douglas 27 November 2023 (Reuters) – Technologies that capture carbon dioxide emissions to keep them from the atmosphere are central to the climate strategies of many world governments as they seek to follow through on international commitments to decarbonize by mid-century. But they are also expensive, unproven at scale, and can be hard […]

A post-wildfire debris flow in the burn scar of the Walker Creek Fire caused significant damage in central Washington in the summer of 2022. Photo: Washington State Department of Natural Resources

When burn scars become roaring earthen rivers – “We’re screwed for mudslides”

By Kylie Mohr 1 November 2023 (High Country News) – Two Septembers ago, the residents of Grotto, Washington, woke to the Bolt Creek Fire ripping through the mountains above their homes. “This doesn’t happen here,” Patricia Vasquez remembers saying at the time, shocked. While areas east of the state’s Cascade mountains frequently burn in the […]

Screenshot from “Honest Government Ad: COP31 🇦🇺 & the Pacific”, by The Juice Media, showing the rapid, record-breaking decline of Antarctic sea ice in 2023. Photo: The Juice Media

Video: Honest Government Ad: COP31 🇦🇺 and the Pacific – “Let this major fossil-fuel exporter that’s cockblocked climate action for decades co-host a crucial summit with the most climate-vulnerable nations in the world while ignoring their pleas to stop harming them”

1 August 2023 (The Juice Media) – Hello. Bonjour. Ciao stronzi. Namaste. Ham maadarachod hain. I’m from the Australien Government with a message to the world. As cities bake, fires rage, reefs die, jet streams weaken, and 6-Ligma events cause climate scientists to shit their dacks, many are wondering if we’ve finally broken our favourite […]

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore speaks during an interview with Reuters at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 3 December 2023. Photo: Amr Alfliky / REUTERS

Al Gore slams COP28 climate summit host UAE, says its emissions soared – “He should not be taken seriously. He’s protecting his profits and placing them in a higher priority than the survival of the human civilization”

By Valerie Volcovici 3 December 2023 DUBAI (Reuters) – Climate advocate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Sunday slammed the UAE – host of the COP28 climate summit – saying its position as overseer of international negotiations on global warming this year was an abuse of public trust. The comments, made to Reuters […]

Churchgoers leave Sunday morning service in Kioa, Fiji. Photo: Andrew Quilty / The Guardian

Australia offers refuge to Tuvaluans as rising sea levels threaten Pacific archipelago – “We are sinking, but so is everyone else”

By Pauline Rouquette 11 November 2023 (France24) – Canberra announced on Friday that it is offering climate refuge to Tuvaluans, unveiling the terms of a pact that would enable citizens of the 26-square kilometre archipelago – the fourth smallest state in the world – to move to Australia to “live, study and work”. Located near […]

Taylor Swift fans wait for the doors of Nilton Santos Olympic stadium to open for her Eras Tour concert amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, 18 November 2023. A 23-year-old Taylor Swift fan died at the singer’s Eras Tour concert in Rio de Janeiro Friday night, according to a statement from the show’s organizers in Brazil. Photo: Silvia Izquierdo / AP Photo

Brazil hits hottest temperature ever recorded during searing spring heat wave – “I can’t even get up because I’m so tired. It’s even hard to sleep.”

By Rebecca Falconer 22 November 2023 (Axios) – Brazil has sweltered through its hottest day since record-keeping began, as an extreme spring heat wave envelopes the country. By the numbers: The town of Araçuaí, in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, beat the nation’s previous record from November 2005 on Sunday when the temperature reached 44.8°C (112.6°F), per […]

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