Trump administration sees a 6°F rise in global temperatures by 2100 – “The amazing thing they’re saying is human activities are going to lead to this rise of carbon dioxide that is disastrous for the environment and society. And then they’re saying they’re not going to do anything about it.”

By Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis, and Chris Mooney 28 September 2018 (The Washington Post) – Last month, deep in a 500-page environmental impact statement, the Trump administration made a startling assumption: On its current course, the planet will warm a disastrous six degrees by the end of this century.A rise of six degrees Fahrenheit, or […]

Trump administration rolls back Obama-era methane pollution rule that aimed to help combat climate change

By Matthew Brown 18 September 2018 BILLINGS, Montana (AP) – The Trump administration on Tuesday rolled back an Obama-era rule that forced energy companies to capture methane — a key contributor to climate change that’s released in huge amounts during drilling on U.S. and tribal lands. A replacement rule from the Interior Department rescinds mandates […]

Trump administration accelerates push to export fracking to Argentina

By Joseph Siess 17 September 2018 (DeSmogBlog) – In June, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry traveled to Bariloche, Argentina, for a G20 Summit where he expressed his desire to help Argentina become more like Texas, his home state.“The technology that has allowed for the shale gas revolution in America, we want to make available […]

Scientists urge immediate, decisive action to tackle deoxygenation in world’s oceans – “The ocean is in a global crisis”

KIEL, 7 September 2018 (UNESCO) – This week, more than 300 scientists from 33 countries met in Kiel, Germany, at an international conference to discuss the decline of oxygen in the ocean, the causes and the consequences. At the conclusion of the conference, the scientists published a haunting appeal, the “Kiel Declaration”, in which they […]

Trump eases U.S. methane rules as Colorado claims its own work

By Dan Elliott 31 August 2018 DENVER (AP) – The Trump administration is rolling back some U.S. regulations on climate-changing methane pollution, calling them expensive and burdensome, but Colorado says its rules are working — and they have industry support.Energy companies have found and repaired about 73,000 methane leaks since 2015 under a state-required oil […]

Methane leaks from U.S. coal mines have the annual global warming impact of 13 million cars

By Mark Olalde 13 August 2018 (Climate Home News) – Across the US, a major, uncontrolled leak of a potent greenhouse gas is going unregulated and largely unnoticed.Climate Home News analysis of government data has identified roughly 300 active and 200 abandoned coal mines, which are the source of almost one-tenth of US methane pollution.Methane […]

Greenhouse gas feedback discovered in freshwater lakes – “The warming climates that promote the growth of aquatic plants have the potential to trigger a damaging feedback loop in natural ecosystems”

4 May 2018 (University of Cambridge) – Latest research finds plant debris in lake sediment affects methane emissions. The flourishing reed beds created by changing climates could threaten to double the already significant methane production of the world’s northern lakes. A new study of chemical reactions that occur when organic matter decomposes in freshwater lakes […]

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 […]

Planet at risk of heading toward “Hothouse Earth” state – “Places on Earth will become uninhabitable”

6 August 2018 (Stockholm Resilience Centre) – An international team of scientists has published a study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) showing that even if the carbon emission reductions called for in the Paris Agreement are met, there is a risk of Earth entering what the scientists call “Hothouse Earth” conditions.A […]

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 […]

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