- The big news last week was President Obama’s rejection of TransCanada’s application for the Keystone XL pipeline. There were many articles about that after I sent out the Weekly Roundup, so I’m including a few here:
- Bill McKibben reflected in The New Yorker and The Guardian on the fight against the pipeline and what it might mean for what lies ahead.
- Ben Adler in Grist provided a retrospective on the fight against the pipeline.
- Reuters examined the impact of Keystone on the role of direct action in bringing about the needed changes in energy production.
- Michael Regan examined TransCanada’s options in the Christian Science Monitor.
- Climate Action Network Canada recommended that the Canadian government work with Alberta to phase out the oil sands sector.
- The World Meteorological Organization announced on Monday that the global average CO2 concentration exceeded 400 ppm in the early months of 2015. While individual measuring stations have previously reported concentrations above 400 ppm, this is the first time that the global average has exceeded that value. Also on Monday, the U.K.’s Met Office reported that Earth’s average temperature for the first 9 months of 2015 exceeded historical values by 1 degree C for the first time.
- A new paper in Science reports that the base of yet another Greenland glacier is melting from the bottom because of warm sea water, potentially destabilizing it. The glacier has lost 95% of the ice shelf that used to stabilize it, thereby opening up a major floodgate from Greenland to the ocean. Over time, this glacier alone will contribute around 1.5 ft to sea level rise. In The New York Times Magazine Jon Gertner takes a deep dive into what we can learn from the Greenland ice sheet about our chances of responding on time to climate change.
- Carbon dioxide emissions and climate change are having major impacts on the oceans, yet they have seldom been considered in climate negotiations. The authors of five papers published Thursday in the journal Science hope to change that by documenting the major impacts and calling them to the attention of negotiators. Roz Pidcock of Carbon Brief looks at what the scientists had to say about the deep ocean. Also published this week, but in the journal Nature, is a study presenting maps showing the impacts of climate change on shallow-water fish and invertebrates by 2025 and 2115 under a business-as-usual scenario.
- In terms of total area burned, 2015 was the first fire year on record in the U.S., primarily because of the large number of fires in Alaska and Washington. Global Forest Watch Fires allows anyone to see the movement of fires in near real-time. By using that tool, World Resources Institute was able to gain insights into the 2015 fire season.
- In a new report the World Bank said that climate change could drive more than 100 million people into poverty by 2030. Meanwhile, the current El Nino threatens millions in east and southern Africa with hunger, disease, and water shortages.
- The 43 member states of the Climate Vulnerable Forum have called upon all nations at the upcoming Paris Climate Summit to adopt a goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees C, rather than the current 2 degree goal. Meanwhile, analyses of India’s energy plans have indicated that they will make it difficult for the world to even meet the 2 degree goal. So, a major question is how India will bring electricity to the 300 million people lacking it without wrecking the global climate.
- In a settlement with New York’s attorney general, Peabody energy, the nation’s largest coal company, has agreed to disclose the financial risks of climate change to its investors.
- According to a report released on Monday by Greenpeace, global use of coal fell between 2.3% and 4.6% in the first nine months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. As a result, coal consumption is poised for its biggest decline in history. On the other hand, the head of the World Coal Association has a different opinion. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has released its World Energy Outlook 2015. In it the IEA states that renewable energy is expected to overtake coal as the major source of electricity production by the early 2030s. Simon Evans of Carbon Brief provides an analysis of the major IEA findings. You can download the executive summary of the World Energy Outlook 2015 here.
- According to a report compiled by Oil Change International and the Overseas Development Institute, the G20 nations provide approximately $450 billion annually in a variety of subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. Of that amount, approximately $20 billion are provided in the U.S. Nevertheless, a new report from the group Carbon Transparency states “Climate action by the G20 has reached a turning point, with per capita emissions falling in 11 members, and renewable energy growing strongly.”
- A new economic analysis by ICF International (funded by NextGen Climate America) shows that shifting to renewable energy to reduce America’s CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 would create two million additional jobs and increase GDP by 0.9%.
- If you want to get an idea about what the future may hold for solar panels, batteries, and energy storage then you will want to check out what Skeptical Science has to say about graphene. Then you can go to GreenBiz to get their take on BP’s Technology Outlook, which conjectures about the next 25 years.
- The Union of Concerned Scientists has released a new report on the life cycle analysis of electric vehicles. A brief summary and a link to the full report can be found here. In addition, the author of the report comments on her findings.
- Ivy Main has a new blog post explaining how the addition of more nuclear energy to the electrical grid makes it more difficult to integrate wind and solar energy.
- Many believe that a revenue-neutral carbon tax is the most effective way to reduce CO2 emissions, thereby lowering the driver of climate change. Although there is not yet a serious effort to pass such a tax at the federal level, some states are giving the proposal serious consideration. Climate scientist James Hansen has published an article entitled “Environment and Development Challenges: The Imperative of a Carbon Fee and Dividend.” It can be downloaded in pdf format.
These news items have been compiled by Les Grady, member and former chair of the CAAV steering committee. He is a licensed professional engineer (retired) who taught environmental engineering at Purdue and Clemson Universities and engaged in private practice with CH2M Hill, the world’s largest environmental engineering consulting firm. Since his retirement in 2003 he has devoted much of his time to the study of climate science and the question of global warming and makes himself available to speak to groups about this subject. More here.
Climate Action Alliance of the Valley 