2017 was one of three warmest years on record, international report confirms – Greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level reach all-time highs

2 August 2018 (NOAA) – It’s official: 2017 was the third-warmest year on record for the globe, trailing 2016 and 2015, according to the 28th annual State of the Climate report. The planet also experienced record-high greenhouse gas concentrations as well as rises in sea level. The annual checkup for the planet, led by scientists […]

Greenhouse gases emitted by degrading plastic

By Marcie Grabowski 1 August 2018 (UH News) – Several greenhouse gases are emitted as common plastics degrade in the environment, according to researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).Mass production of plastics started nearly 70 years ago, and the production rate is expected to […]

Today marks the earliest recorded Earth Overshoot Day – Humans consume year’s worth of resources in just seven months

By Oliver Buckley 1 August 2018 (Sky News) – Earth Overshoot Day is the date when we have effectively consumed more resources than the planet can naturally replenish over the course of that entire year. The day has shown a trend for appearing earlier and earlier since its inception – and today marks its earliest […]

Graph of the Day: Increase of airborne black carbon density in India from 2005 to 2016

By Kathryn Hansen 28 June 2018 (NASA) – In recent decades, northern India has been plagued by a double-dose of air pollution due to nearby sources of desert dust and increasing amounts of airborne particles from human activities. New research suggests that winds are spreading the problem, moving some of the pollution southward in ever-increasing […]

Atmospheric greenhouse gases continue inexorable rise – 2017 was sixth consecutive year CO2 rose by 2 ppm or more

30 May 2018 (NOAA) – NOAA’s Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI), which tracks the warming influence of long-lived greenhouse gases, has increased by 41 percent from 1990 to 2017, up 1 percent from 2016 — with most of that attributable to rising carbon dioxide levels, according to NOAA climate scientists. [cf. NOAA’s greenhouse gas index […]

“Climate change is real” automakers tell White House in letter – “We have a continuing role in reducing greenhouse gases and improving fuel efficiency”

By Ryan Beene 21 May 2018 (Automotive News) – Automakers urged the White House to cooperate with California officials in a coming rewrite of vehicle efficiency standards, saying “climate change is real.”The plea came in a 3 May 2018 letter to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, […]

Trump White House quietly cancels NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System – “We really shoot ourselves in the foot if we let other people develop the technology”

By Paul Voosen 9 May 2018 (Science) – You can’t manage what you don’t measure. The adage is especially relevant for climate-warming greenhouse gases, which are crucial to manage—and challenging to measure. In recent years, though, satellite and aircraft instruments have begun monitoring carbon dioxide and methane remotely, and NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System (CMS), a […]

Fossil fuel emissions hit record high after unexpected growth in 2017

By Pep Canadell, Corinne Le Quéré, Glen Peters, Robbie Andrew, Rob Jackson, and Vanessa Haverd 13 November 2017 (The Conversation) – Global greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels and industry are on track to grow by 2% in 2017, reaching a new record high of 37 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to the 2017 Global […]

World Meteorological Organization: 2017 likely to be in top 3 hottest years on record

6 November 2017 (WMO) – It is very likely that 2017 will be one of the three hottest years on record, with many high-impact events including catastrophic hurricanes and floods, debilitating heatwaves and drought. Long-term indicators of climate change such as increasing carbon dioxide concentrations, sea level rise and ocean acidification continue unabated. Arctic sea […]

Emissions Gap Report 2017: Governments, non-state actors must do more to reach Paris Agreement

Geneva, 31 October 2017 (UN Environment News) – Governments and non-state actors need to deliver an urgent increase in ambition to ensure the Paris Agreement goals can still be met, according to a new UN assessment.The eighth edition of UN Environment’s Emissions Gap report, released ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, finds […]

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