Global climate in context as the world approaches 1°C above pre-industrial for the first time

11 November 2015 (Met Office) – Global annual average surface temperature in 2015 is looking set to reach 1°C above the pre-industrial average (as represented by the 1850-1900 reference period) for the first time, according to the HadCRUT4 dataset produced by the Met Office and the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. […]

China burns much more coal than reported, complicating climate talks

[cf. Peak Coal in China? Not so fast –Des] By Tom Phillips, with additional reporting by Luna Lin 4 November 2015 (Beijing) – China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, has been dramatically underreporting the amount of coal it consumes each year, it has been claimed ahead of key climate talks in Paris. Official Chinese data, […]

The Bill Gates message on global warming needs debugging

Guest post by Richard Pauli24 October 2015 (Desdemona Despair) – Bill Gates has a new interview on the web site of The Atlantic magazine. Many will read it because it’s Bill Gates, but I suspect he positioned himself there because of public pressure to take a stand on global warming. Bill Gates now faces growing […]

Food industry to U.S. Congress: We need you to act on global warming

By Natasha Geiling 1 October 2015 (ClimateProgress) – On Thursday, ten leaders from some of the world’s biggest food companies urged Congress to support a strong global agreement on climate action, in advance of the U.N. climate talks happening in Paris this December. In a letter published in both the Washington Post and Financial Times, […]

Even if every nation meets its pledge to fight climate change, we’re still fried

By Brian Merchant28 September 2015 (Motherboard) – If every nation that has so far pledged to cut down on its carbon emissions made good on its promises, the global average temperature would still rise 3.5˚ Celsius by the end of the century. According to a new study from MIT Sloan and Climate Interactive, even with […]

California Democrats cave to Big Oil, drop plan for 50 percent oil cut

By Adam Nagourney9 September 2015 LOS ANGELES (The New York Times) – In a major setback for environmental advocates in California, Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate Democrats abandoned a 50 percent cut in petroleum use by 2030 that was a centerpiece of emissions legislation, blaming an intense campaign against the mandate by the oil industry. […]

August 13th is Earth Overshoot Day this year – In less than eight months, humanity has used up nature’s budget for the entire year

OAKLAND, CA, USA, 12 August 2015 (GFN) – In less than eight months, humanity has used up nature’s budget for the entire year, with carbon sequestration making up more than half of the demand on nature, according to data from Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank with offices in North America, Europe and […]

Recession rather than shale gas caused US carbon cuts: study – ‘Substitution of gas for coal has had a relatively minor role’

By Simon Evans21 July 2015 (Carbon Brief) – It is a truth almost universally acknowledged that the shale gas revolution has led to a fall in US emissions. But what if that wasn’t true? New research published in Nature Communications suggests it was the global financial crisis, not fracking, that has done most to reduce […]

Other countries ‘airy-fairy’ on climate change, says Tony Abbott, as Australia delays new emissions target announcement

By Lisa Cox13 July 2015 (Sydney Morning Herald) – The Abbott government does not get enough credit for its emissions reduction policies, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said, as he revealed Australia will not announce post-2020 climate targets until August. Mr Abbott told a media conference on Monday that targets Australia will take to a […]

As Bonn climate talks conclude, another failure for Planet Earth, humanity – ‘Even if we have 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, the impacts will continue for another 100 years’

By Jon Queally11 June 2015 (Common Dreams) – As ten days of UN-sponsored climate talks came to end in Bonn, Germany on Thursday morning, global campaigners demanding far-reaching solutions to the crisis of a warming planet expressed dissatisfaction on multiple levels, charging that the continued foot-dragging of governments is sentencing future generations to unparalleled catastrophe […]

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