Atmospheric CO2 levels accelerate upward, smashing records

By Barry Saxifrage 10 April 2017 (National Observer) – The primary driver of global warming, disruptive climate changes and ocean acidification is the ever-increasing amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Despite decades of global efforts towards climate policies, clean energy and efficiency, CO2 levels continue to rise and are actually accelerating upward. For those […]

Scientists highlight Antarctic ice upheaval in response to prehistoric climate change – “The Antarctic ice cap is not some enduring monolithic block but a much more slippery ephemeral beast”

28 March 2017 (University of Southampton) – A team of scientists led by the University of Southampton has found that the Antarctic ice cap underwent dramatic cycles of expansion and melt-back millions of years ago when carbon dioxide levels were similar to those experienced today. The research, led by palaeoclimatologist Dr Diederik Liebrand as part […]

Carbon dioxide levels could reach their highest point in 50 million years by the end of the century

By Chelsea Harvey 5 April 2017 WASHINGTON (The Washington Post) – Continuing to burn fossil fuels at the current rate could bring atmospheric carbon dioxide to its highest concentration in 50 million years, jumping from about 400 parts per million now to more than 900 parts per million by the end of this century, a […]

Deforestation increased 79 percent in Amazon rainforest protected areas from 2012 to 2015

By E. Araújo, P. Barreto, S. Baima, and M. Gomes [Translation by Google.]26 March 2017 (Imazon) – Conservation Units (CUs) cover 22% of the Amazon forest and are an effective strategy to conserve animals, plants and environmental services, contain deforestation and maintain the planet’s climate balance. However, deforestation rates in PAs have been increasing – […]

Forest fragmentation may be releasing much more carbon than we think

By Morgan Erickson-Davis31 March 2017 (Mongabay) – The earth’s forests have been broken into around 50 million fragments, the edges of which add up to a length that would make it a third of the way to the sun and which increase annual tropical deforestation carbon emissions by 31 percent. This, according to a new […]

Curbing emissions with a new “carbon law” – “Alarming inconsistencies remain between science-based targets and national commitments”

23 March 2017 (Stockholm Resilience Centre) – An international team of researchers led by centre director Johan Rockström propose a solution for the global economy to rapidly reduce carbon emissions. The authors argue a carbon roadmap, driven by a simple rule of thumb or “carbon law” of halving emissions every decade, could catalyse disruptive innovation. […]

Coal lobbyist Trump attorney seeks to bypass U.S. kids’ climate lawsuit – “Their political goal is to put oil and gas profits over the future of our country’s posterity”

By Karl Mathiesen9 March 2017 (Climate Change News) – The U.S. administration is seeking a fast-track appeal against a climate change lawsuit brought by 21 young people. Jeffrey Wood, a temporary Trump appointee at the Justice Department and recently a fossil fuel lobbyist,3 called on the federal court in Oregon to send the case to […]

Carbon dioxide levels rose at record pace for 2nd straight year in 2016 – “The rate of CO2 growth over the last decade is 100 to 200 times faster than what Earth experienced during the transition from the last Ice Age”

10 March 2017 (NOAA) – Carbon dioxide levels measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Baseline Atmospheric Observatory rose by 3 parts per million to 405.1 parts per million (ppm) in 2016, an increase that matched the record jump observed in 2015. The two-year, 6-ppm surge in the greenhouse gas between 2015 and 2017 is unprecedented in […]

Soils could release much more carbon than expected as climate warms – “By 2100, the warming of deeper soil layers could cause a release of carbon perhaps as high as 30 percent of today’s human-caused annual carbon emissions”

By Dan Krotz9 March 2017 (Berkeley Lab) – Soils could release much more CO2 than expected into the atmosphere as the climate warms, according to new research by scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Their findings are based on a field experiment that, for the first time, explored what […]

EPA chief Scott Pruitt says carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming

By Tom DiChristopher9 March 2017 (CNBC) – Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday he does not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming. “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, so […]

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