Protecting the Planet (WEA course, May 2021)

Week 6. Climate change effects: climate, biodiversity, sea levels etc, and some solutions.

Updates and Extra Notes.

Climate Change Effects and Some Solutions.

Undated:

1. Electric vehicles: letter from Sustrans points out ‘building a battery pack for an EV is incredibly energy-intensive, and it takes significant mileage before the EV has worked off the CO2 released during its manufacture. Also particulate matter (45% of it) comes from tyre and brake wear in London. We should be doing all we can to promote walking and cycling.

2. Environmental Performance Indicators: link: https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu/epi-country-report/USA

22^nd Jan 2018: Lloyds of London plans to stop investing in coal companies. Insurance is one of the industries worst affected by hurricanes, wildfires and flooding in recent years. Lloyds offers a marketplace for almost 90 syndicates of other insurers (it doesn’t underwrite operations directly). Big insurance companies have moved £15bn away from coal in the past two years, says the Unfriend Coal network (NGOs, Greenpeace, 380.org). AXA has dropped companies with at least 30% coal, and Church of England uses 10% as criterion. Analysis by ClimateWise shows that the ‘protection gap’ – the difference between the costs of natural disasters and the amount insured had quadrupled to $100bn a year since the 1980s.

27^th Jan 2018, New Scientist, Michael Le Page – scientists do not agree how much warming will result from a given increase in CO2, known as the equilibrium climate sensitivity (equilibrium because there is a time-lag before the temperature settles). The consensus is that if we double the amount, the rise would be between 1.5 and 4.5C. But Peter Cox has narrowed this down to between 2.2 and 3.4 (Nature, doi.org/gcsmn4). Other studies put it higher (e.g. between 3 and 4.2C). There is agreement that the low values are unlikely, but the higher values may be wrong since it takes thousands of years for temperatures to stabilise. In the long run the true figure could be 6C or more. If we continue to emit CO2 at current levels, it is agreed the world will heat by 4C by 2100 – this is a projection of the actual warming, not a measure of sensitivity

Jan. 2018, Damian Carrington: At current rates of tree planting it would take a century to plant the 70,000 hectares of trees promised for 2025.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/17/uk-to-miss-legal-climate-targets-without-urgent-action-official-advisers-warn

Feb. 2018 Coral reefs (1): https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/25/can-tourist-ban-save-dicaprios-coral-paradise-thailand-maya-bay-philippines-boracay

Feb. 2018. Arctic: 2^nd Feb, Oliver Milman - polar bears are sliding towards extinction faster than previously feared. Research by US Geological Survey and Uni of California Santa Cruz, published in Science, shows polar bears have a 50% higher metabolism than previously thought, and so require more prey to meet their energy needs at a time when sea ice is receding. There are some 26,000 polar bears in the arctic today. They are leading a feast and famine lifestyle. The arctic is warming at twice the average global rate, and has declined by about 13% a decade since 1979. In the past 10 years Greenland has lost two trillion tonnes of its ice mass

12^th April 2018. Changes to the Gulf Stream are more dramatic than first thought:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/11/critical-gulf-stream-current-weakest-for-1600-years-research-finds

‘The new research shows the current is now 15% weaker than around 400AD, an exceptionally large deviation, and that human-caused global warming is responsible for at least a significant part of the weakening.

The current, known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (Amoc), carries warm water northwards towards the north pole. There it cools, becomes denser and sinks, and then flows back southwards. But global warming hampers the cooling of the water, while melting ice in the Arctic, particularly from Greenland, floods the area with less dense freshwater, weakening the Amoc current.

Two studies have been carried out, [both published in Nature – see links in original article] and ‘both studies found that Amoc today is about 15% weaker than 1,600 years ago, but there were also differences in their conclusions. The first study found significant Amoc weakening after the end of the little ice age in about 1850, the result of natural climate variability, with further weakening caused later by global warming.

The second study suggests most of the weakening came later, and can be squarely blamed on the burning of fossil fuels. Further research is now being undertaken to understand the reasons for the differences.

However, it is already clear that human-caused climate change will continue to slow Amoc, with potentially severe consequences. “If we do not rapidly stop global warming, we must expect a further long-term slowdown of the Atlantic overturning,” said Alexander Robinson, at the University of Madrid, and one of the team that conducted the second study. He warned: “We are only beginning to understand the consequences of this unprecedented process – but they might be disruptive.”

A 2004 disaster movie, The Day After Tomorrow, envisaged a rapid shutdown of Amoc and a devastating freeze. The basics of the science were portrayed correctly, said Thornalley: “Obviously it was exaggerated – the changes happened in a few days or weeks and were much more extreme. But it is true that in the past this weakening of Amoc happened very rapidly and caused big changes.”’

14^th June 2018. (Matthew Taylor) Ice in Antarctica is melting at a record-breaking rate, faster than at any previously recorded time, according to a study in Nature, and another study warns it could contribute to sea-level rises of 25cm globally, which on top of other factors would lead to more than a metre rise by 2070. If the entire west Antarctic ice sheet melts, this would bring around 3.5m of sea-level rise. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/13/antarctic-ice-melting-faster-than-ever-studies-show

The Nature article shows that before 2012 the loss was 76bn tonnes a year – now it is 219bn (contributing 0.6mm sea-level rise per year).

The second study looks at different scenarios, and argues there are some changes that can be prevented.

Wildfires. 30^th June 2018.

Fires are burning on the moors near Manchester, and hundreds of fire-fighters are trying to deal with them. Experts are warning that more fires are likely in future as the climate warms. Guillermo Rein, prof of fire science at Imperial College says fires will be more frequent and more severe, especially in northern Europe, including the UK and Ireland. Dr Richard Payne of Uni of York agrees, and warns that such fires will exacerbate climate change as peat stores masses of CO2.

Prof Susan Page of Uni of Leicester says the peat fires release toxic chemicals and small particulates with long-term health implications, especially for children. (Matthew Taylor).

19^th July 2018 Glaciers (1), Ashifa Kassam, Toronto (Guardian): Hundreds of glaciers in Canada’s high Arctic are shrinking – using satellite imagery in new research 1,700 glaciers on Ellesmere Island were examined. Journal of Glaciology last month showed they had shrunk about 650 sq miles over 16 years – i.e. a loss of about 6%. A previous study showed slower rate of loss. Average temperature in Ellesmere Island rose by 3.6C between 1948 and 2016. Between 1995 and 2016 there was a ‘sudden increase in warming’ with temperatures rising about 0.78C per decade.

See also: 11^th Dec 2019. Glaciers: (2) Greenland’s ice loss greater than thought (Fiona Harvey). Ice is being lost 7 times faster now than in the 1990s – much faster and at greater scale than predicted by IPCC. Sea level rises are likely to reach 67cm by 2100 (7cm more than IPCC predicted). 400 million people would be at risk of flooding every year (instead of 360 million) by 2100. Sea-level rises add to risk of storm surges. Andrew Shepherd (Leeds university) is a lead author of the new study, in Nature. Comparisons are made between measurements taken by the UK, Nasa and European Space Agency.

Greenland has lost 3.8tn tonnes of ice since 1992. In the past decade it lost 254bn tonnes a year (33bn in 1990s). There has been a slowing since 2013, after a peak in 2011, but this summer showed more ice melting. Ice from on top of land contributes to sea-level rise, whereas floating ice doesn’t (as in Arctic). Warming seas also expand.

Ian Sample adds: Arctic sea ice shrank to the second lowest level on record this summer, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports. Average temperatures were 1.9C above the long-term average – second highest since 1900. Sea ice was at its lowest extent in 41 years.

18^th Sep 2018. Adam Vaughan coal-fired power stations are being used more now that gas prices have risen. In Sep. Coal-burning increased by15% = 1,000 extra tonnes of CO2 per hour. If the trend continues the sector’s emissions will rise by 1.2m tonnes this year – report by Imperial College London. We need a 80% cut by 2050 to meet target set by Committee on Climate Change. Coal could account for 10.5% of electricity generation this winter, up from 10% last year. In 1990 energy sector produced 200m tonnes. Now roughly 75m? [Diagram in article]

Dec. 2018. COP24 at Katowice:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/16/what-was-agreed-at-cop24-in-poland-and-why-did-it-take-so-long

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/15/progress-and-problems-as-un-climate-change-talks-end-with-a-deal

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/12/un-chief-antonio-guterres-attempts-to-revive-flagging-climate-change-talks

Carbon Taxes: Phillip Inman, 23/12/18, has an interesting slant: we need supranational bodies to get involved, as national governments have failed. The biggest emitters are the major steelmakers, smelters, and energy firms. In 2015, excluding road transport, 81% of emissions were untaxed. (According to OECD). The riots in France have shown that you can’t just slap a tax on fuel. Taxes on carbon will put up the price of .e.g. petrol and diesel. How to find a policy that encourages car-drivers to support it?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/22/war-fuel-tax-cant-be-won-no-green-alternative

Carbon Taxes: Phillip Inman, 23/12/18, has an interesting slant: we need supranational bodies to get involved, as national governments have failed. The biggest emitters are the major steelmakers, smelters, and energy firms. In 2015, excluding road transport, 81% of emissions were untaxed. (According to OECD). The riots in France have shown that you can’t just slap a tax on fuel. Taxes on carbon will put up the price of .e.g. petrol and diesel. How to find a policy that encourages car-drivers to support it?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/22/war-fuel-tax-cant-be-won-no-green-alternative

11^th March 2019. Greta Thunberg and school strikes for climate:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/greta-thunberg-schoolgirl-climate-change-warrior-some-people-can-let-things-go-i-cant - interview by Jonathan Watts.

3^rd April 2019. Guardian, Leyland Cecco, Toronto: Canada is warming faster than the rest of the world (apart from the Arctic): Global temperatures have increased by 0.8C since 1948, Caanada has seen an increase of 1.7C (more than double the global average). In the Arctic, temperatures are up by 2.3C. Melting ice (sea ice and glaciers) is leading to positive feedback – which may be affecting Canada too. The country is mired in political battle over climate: Trudeau tried to put taxes on fossil fuels, but four provinces have refused to co-operate, so he may impose taxes. Conservatives say they will reverse the policy if they win the next election.

The global impacts of rising temperatures—including more hurricanes, sea-level rise and drought—will probably sound familiar. But a temperature change of just a couple of degrees can also have dramatic effects locally. Studies have shown that a single-degree rise in temperature can increase local levels of air pollution, allow disease-carrying ticks to expand into an area, cause the local extinction of native species and even cause enough heat stress to increase rates of mental illness. (Ecowatch Sep 2018)

Category 6 superstorms –highest category now is 5, but now there is from 5% - 8% more water vapour in the atmosphere than a generation ago, and warmer global temperatures and warmer oceans, and dry conditions in the parts of the world where superstorms originate means it is only a matter of time before one hits the US. Jeff Nesbit, Guardian 17^th Sep 2018. Author of ‘This is the Way the World Ends’ (pub 25^th Sep.)

See also: 14^th June 2019: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jun/14/africa-global-heating-more-droughts-and-flooding-threat (Robin McKie) - “Essentially we have found that both ends of Africa’s weather extremes will get more severe,” ... Last month levels of carbon dioxide reached 415 parts per million, their highest level since Homo sapiens first appeared on Earth –

April 2019. Emissions Trading schemes and Brexit: https://leftfootforward.org/2019/04/brexit-is-an-opportunity-to-improve-on-the-eus-failed-emissions-trading-system-but-the-tories-arent-taking-it/?mc_cid=06e3915a5d&mc_eid=dea8023bf6

April 2019 New Zealand – coral reefs (2): not the pristine environment we might think!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/18/decades-of-denial-major-report-finds-new-zealands-environment-is-in-serious-trouble

April 2019 Coral reefs (3)Ecowatch report, 5^th April 2019 https://www.ecowatch.com/coral-bleaching-great-barrier-reef-2633671617.html?rebelltitem=6#rebelltitem6:

A study published in Nature Wednesday found that the death of corals in 2016 and 2017 has significantly decreased the ability of new corals to grow and thrive. In 2018, there has been an 89 percent decline in the number of new corals on the reef compared to the historic record.

Bleaching occurs when warm water forces corals to expel the algae that gives them colour and nutrients. Reefs can recover from such events, but it takes about a decade. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered four since 1998 and, if greenhouse gas emissions continue at current levels, there could be two bleaching events every decade beginning in 2035.

The extent of the most recent bleaching events — covering 900 miles of reef — also made it harder for baby corals to replenish impacted coral populations, BBC News explained.

See also: Ecowatch, Jan 2020 (4): https://www.ecowatch.com/coral-reef-replanting-2644924347.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

See also: May 2020. Coral Reefs (5)

https://www.conservation.org/blog/tired-of-writing-obituaries-for-coral-reefs-surfing-scientists-find-new-ways-to-save-them?

April 2019. Restoring Nature. Link to Ecowatch article on letter to Guardian, signed by George Monbiot, Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein and others on restoring nature to capture carbon:

https://www.ecowatch.com/natural-climate-change-solutions-2633669096.html

20^th April 2019 Effects of increased CO2. (Daniel Grossman, Brazil, Guardian). Experiments are being carried out to see how the Amazon rainforest reacts to increased levels of CO2. The last time levels were as high as now was in the Pliocene, and then beech trees grew at the South Pole... Will the extra CO2 harm the trees or protect them? It seems to depend on other factors... Chambers are being built round some of the trees, and CO2 is pumped into the chambers, to the level predicted for 2050 (50% higher than now, and when temperatures are predicted to be up to 3.5 above now).

19 April, AP: polar bears are prowling in Kamchatka peninsula, hundreds of miles from their usual habitat. The ice is receding and the bears are looking for new sources of food. Ice off the coast of Greenland, normally frozen even in summer, has been melting – twice last year. The bears are sedated and removed to their normal habitat. The oldest ice has melted by 95% over the past 30 years according to the Arctic Report Card last year.

April 2019. Link to Ecowatch article on letter to Guardian, signed by George Monbiot, Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein and others on restoring nature to capture carbon:

https://www.ecowatch.com/natural-climate-change-solutions-2633669096.html

Ecowatch report, 5^th April 2019. https://www.ecowatch.com/coral-bleaching-great-barrier-reef-2633671617.html?rebelltitem=6#rebelltitem6

Bleaching occurs when warm water forces corals to expel the algae that gives them color and nutrients. Reefs can recover from such events, but it takes about a decade. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered four since 1998 and, if greenhouse gas emissions continue at current levels, there could be two bleaching events every decade beginning in 2035.

The extent of the most recent bleaching events — covering 900 miles of reef — also made it harder for baby corals to replenish impacted coral populations, BBC News explained.

See also: Ecowatch, Jan 2020: https://www.ecowatch.com/coral-reef-replanting-2644924347.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

June 2019: Buildings: (letters 18/6/19) modern buildings are lightweight, unshaded, with overglazed walls, reliant on mechanical heating, cooling and ventilation systems, with no internal mass to absorb or release excess heat. (Susan Roaf, Oxford)

June 2019. EU:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/10/eu-priorities-climate-buzzwords-critics

UK: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/18/uk-climate-plan-unclear-says-european-commission

June 2019. Fossil Fuel Divestment:

15^th June 2019, Jillian Ambrose: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/15/climate-crisis-coal-asia-power-generation-fossil-fuels.

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund is preparing to leave fossil fuels behind. Last week, Norway’s parliament confirmed by unanimous vote that its $1tn sovereign wealth fund would dump $13bn of fossil fuel investments. Wind and solar renewable power is the world’s fastest-growing energy source: it grew by 14.5% last year, led by a surge of investment in China. But the strides do not go far enough, fast enough. “You have to run very fast just to stand still,” Dale says.

June 2019, vicious circle as changing climate causes more demand for energy: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/11/energy-industry-carbon-emissions-bp-report-fossil-fuels

Carbon emissions climbed by 2% in 2018, faster than any year since 2011, because the demand for energy easily outstripped the rapid rollout of renewable energy.

July 2019, brilliant summary from Arwa Mahdawi (Life and Arts 24/7/19):

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/23/the-world-is-literally-on-fire-so-why-is-it-business-as-usual-for-politicians

every day seems to bring new record-breaking temperatures or extreme conditions. June was the hottest month recorded on Earth; July is on course to break that record. The Arctic is having a sweltering summer that has spark ed unprecedented wildfires. According to the World Meteorological Organization, these fires emitted as much carbon dioxide in one month as the whole of Sweden does in a year.

As large sections of the Arctic burn, major cities sizzle. New York, where I live, has just emerged from a heatwave that the mayor declared a “local emergency”. The city’s infrastructure, which is held together by chewing gum and rat droppings at the best of times, buckled under the strain of millions of heaving air conditioners, leaving more than 46,000 New Yorkers without power on Sunday. Now it is Europe’s turn to swelter; the Met Office says temperatures could reach 37C (99F) in London on Thursday.

What makes this extreme weather even more uncomfortable is the grim realisation that we have done this to ourselves. The climate crisis has made heatwaves the new normal. You can’t turn to a colleague and remark: “Hot, isn’t it?” without thinking about the fact that, unless something drastic is done, it is going to get hotter and hotter. According to scientists at the Crowther Lab in Switzerland, nearly 80% of cities will undergo dramatic climate changes by 2050; London, for example, will feel like Barcelona does today. Residents of cities such as Jakarta and Singapore, meanwhile, will experience “unprecedented climate conditions” characterised by extreme rainfall and severe droughts.

As the implications of the climate crisis become impossible to ignore, many of us are growing increasingly terrified. The climate emergency isn’t just damaging the planet; it is also harming our mental health – a phenomenon called “eco-anxiety”. As Alexandria Harris wrote in her 2015 book Weatherland, “small alterations in familiar places can disturb us more than dystopian visions”.

We need to significantly change our behaviour and, even more importantly, overhaul our economic system. After all, only 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions. You know all this already; we all do. But our politicians still are not taking meaningful action. Capitalism is carrying on with business as usual. The world is literally on fire – and it feels as though we are fiddling with paper straws while it burns.

10^th Sep 2019. Climate change and Rivers in Australia:

In Australia, New South Wales government will move native fish from the Lower Darling river to safe havens, before temperatures rise in the summer. Last year there were mass fish killings. River mussels were in decline, and the river red gum trees were under severe stress. ‘If the river red gums die, and some are hundreds of years old, there will be a domino effect. Banks will collapse, there will be massive erosion and it will send sediments down the river’ said Prof Fran Seldon of Griffith University.

Last December and January fish began dying in their hundreds of thousands in the far west of the state, carpeting weirs and water holes with dead fish. Part of the problem is a lack of flow in the river because of drought and irrigation. Temperatures reached 40C.

Some Murray cod are at least 25 years old. Critics say it is a photo-op rather than a real solution.

Note there have been serious bushfires in Australia this year...

And wildlife: 27^th Dec 2019. Volatile weather led to an influx of migrant species in 2019, but also put pressure on other species. Painted ladies arrived in large numbers for the first time in a decade, also the Clifden nonpareil moth and dragnonflies such as the red-veined darter and vagrant emperor. Grey seals were thriving, and orchids did well.

But fires on the moors damaged habitat for curlew and twite. It was also a bad year for natterjack toads (where pools dried up) and water voles (because of flooding resulting in the loss of young). Arctic terns, guillemots and shags suffered significant losses because of rain in Northumberland. Other examples in article by Steven Morris).

Dec. 2019. Christian Aid study identifies 15 events in 2019 caused by climate breakdown that cost more than $1bn each. (Fiona Harvey 28^th)

January: floods in Argentina and Uruguay displaced 11,000 people. March: Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi killed 1,300. Cyclone Fani in India and Bangladesh. Indian monsoon killed 1,900. Storm Eberhard in Europe in March. Typhoons Faxai and Hagibis in Japan in September and October. Californian wildfires caused more than $25bn damage. Hurricane Dorian killed 673 on US east coast.

Dec. 2019. 28^th. Ian Sample. Thwaites glacier in Antarctica is melting faster than it used to. Has lost ca. 540bn tonnes ice since 1980s. Several glaciers are doing similar things but this is the one we are most worried about.

Feb. 2020. Drax to stop burning coal, but biomass is controversial. Jillian Ambrose.

Converting coal plants to biomass could fuel climate crisis, scientists ...

Drax owner plans to be world's first carbon-negative business | Drax ...

Drax power plant to stop burning coal, with loss of 230 jobs | Drax ... – but it is building more gas-fired units, and it gets £2.1m subsidies per day (!) for its biomass units.

Feb. 2020. Jonathan Watts. Methane emissions 40% higher than oil industry reports

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/19/oil-gas-industry-far-worse-climate-impact-than-thought-fossil-fuels-methane

The findings, published in Nature, suggest the share of naturally released fossil methane has been overestimated by “an order of magnitude”, which means that human activities are 25-40% more responsible for fossil methane in the atmosphere than thought.

Methane lasts 9 years in the atmosphere.

Scientists say they have found evidence that frozen methane deposits in the Arctic Ocean have started to be released over a large area of the continental slope off the East Siberian coast, the Guardian can reveal.

High levels of the potent greenhouse gas have been detected down to a depth of 350 metres in the Laptev Sea near Russia, prompting concern among researchers that the discovery could have “serious climate consequences”.

The slope sediments in the Arctic contain a huge quantity of frozen methane and other gases – known as hydrates. Methane has a warming effect 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide over 20 years. The United States Geological Survey has previously listed Arctic hydrate destabilisation as one of four most serious scenarios for abrupt climate change.

The international team onboard the Russian research ship R/V Akademik Keldysh said most of the bubbles were currently dissolving in the water but methane levels at the surface were four to eight times what would normally be expected and this was venting into the atmosphere.

Sep 2020.

Carbon pricing: from edie.

https://www.edie.net/news/11/Higher-carbon-prices-could-raise--27bn-for-green-recovery-by-2030--experts-tell-UK-Government/ That is the key recommendation of a new white paper from the Zero Carbon Campaign – a commission of leading scientists, business leaders, environmental and academic experts tasked with developing practical policy and business recommendations for transitioning to a net-zero economy.

Sep. 2020. Glaciers – more about the melting process: https://theconversation.com/svalbard-glaciers-lost-their-protective-buffer-in-the-mid-1980s-and-have-been-melting-ever-since-146706 - lovely pictures here!

Effects on ecosystems: Miguel Lurgi

Lecturer in Biosciences, Swansea University, from The Conversation, 25/9/20

We found that warmer rocky shores harbour a larger number of generalist predators – those which can consume a greater range of prey species. These findings support the idea that we can expect more species with a general diet and fewer specialist consumers as environments warm. On rocky shores, this will mean that top predators, such as abalone, will affect the populations of more prey populations than they currently do, such as limpets, mussels and barnacles, and so alter the delicate balance of the ecosystem.

But competition for space between shellfish and seaweed was also lower in these warmer communities. Species have fewer competitors, as a smaller number of species with fewer interactions dominate. Here lies an ironic twist: as species compete with fewer and fewer other species, they tend to develop more intimate competitive relationships with the ones that remain.

Sep 2020: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/climate-activists-portugal-suing-europe-countries Umberto Bacchi, Global Citizen one of four applicants from Portugal's Leiria region, which was among the worst hit by 2017 fires that killed about 120 people. The two other petitioners live in Portugal's capital, Lisbon, which has suffered extreme heat in recent years, with temperatures reaching a record of 44C (111.2°F) in August 2018. Thousands of climate lawsuits have been filed against governments and companies worldwide in the past few years, but this case is the first to be brought before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR),

The action targets the 33 largest greenhouse gas emitters among the 47 member states of the Strasbourg-based ECHR, including all European Union countries, Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine, they said. The nonprofit Global Legal Action Network is supporting the case.

Cop 26: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/07/cop26-climate-conference-britain-un-glasgow - the importance of taking action now.

Date? Methods of removing CO2 include growing seaweed, which absorbs the gas and then sinks. Tim Flannery (Australian Museum, Sydney) Covering 9% of the ocean with seaweed would remove enough CO2 to restore pre-industrial levels- but this would deprive marine animals of oxygen.

Oct. 2020

5^th Oct 2020. Guardian environment pledge, and piece by editor:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2020/oct/05/the-guardian-climate-pledge-2020-environment-emergency-carbon-emissions?INTCMP=enviro_moment_2020_epic

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/05/the-guardians-climate-promise-we-will-keep-raising-the-alarm

A year ago, the Guardian made a pledge to our readers. We promised to keep speaking out about the climate emergency, despite the formidable and well-funded forces who would much rather the subject remained buried. We adopted new language to emphasise the existential nature of the situation...

That support has enabled us to maintain a relentless focus on the environment, with almost 3,000 articles over the last 12 months...

... many researchers now see a correlation between species-jumping viruses such as Covid-19 and humanity’s deep, destructive incursion into the natural world. Links between high air pollution and increased coronavirus infection rates have also become apparent, thanks to persistent Guardian reporting. It’s becoming clearer than ever that people’s mass migration from the global south over the past decade has been principally caused by changing weather. And we are coming to understand, more deeply than ever, how global heating disproportionately affects communities of colour...

As Christiana Figueres, the UN’s climate chief when the Paris deal was sealed in 2015, told our environment editor, Damian Carrington: “Without the work of the Guardian the delivery of the Paris agreement would have been far harder or perhaps even impossible … At a time when the darkness of fake news and doubt in science is everywhere, the Guardian is a point of light.”

Oct. 2020 Ecowatch: https://www.ecowatch.com/earth-warmest-september-record-2648126919.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2

Monitors of the Paris Climate Agreement will view the figures with particular alarm: for the 12-month period through to September 2020, the planet was nearly 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.4 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial levels.

This is close to the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold for severe impacts to the planet detailed in a 2018 UN climate report.

The Paris Agreement, of which many UN nations are signatories, has nations aim to cap global warming "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and at 1.5 degrees if possible.

18^th Oct 2020. From Ecowatch:

https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-crisis-un-disaster-forecast-2648188179.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

A new report from the United Nations found that political leaders and industry leaders are failing to do the necessary work to stop the world from becoming an "uninhabitable hell" for millions of people as the climate crisis continues and natural disasters become more frequent, as Al-Jazeera reported.

The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019 was released Monday to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, which falls on Oct. 13, according to a statement from the office behind the report.

The bulk of the disasters were climate-related, as there were sharp increases in the number of floods, storms, heat waves, droughts, hurricanes and wildfires in the last two decades, according to CNN.

The report found that the world is on a worrying trend line as natural disasters become more frequent and more expensive. In the last 20 years, there were more than 7,300 natural disasters worldwide, accounting for nearly $3 trillion in damages. That's almost double the prior two decades when there were just over 4,200 natural disasters that totaled $1.6 trillion in economic losses, according to the statement.

1^st Oct 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/01/global-heating-warming-up-nights-faster-than-days

The climate crisis is heating up nights faster than days in many parts of the world, according to the first worldwide assessment of how global heating is differently affecting days and nights.

The findings have “profound consequences” for wildlife and their ability to adapt to the climate emergency, the researchers said, and for the ability of people to cool off at night during dangerous heatwaves.

The scientists compared the rises in daytime and night-time temperatures over the 35 years up to 2017. Global heating is increasing both, but they found that over more than half of the world’s land there was a difference of at least 0.25C between the day and night rises.

In two-thirds of those places, nights were warming faster than the days, particularly in Europe, west Africa, western South America and central Asia. But in some places – southern US, Mexico and the Middle East – days were warming faster.

The changes are the result of global heating causing changes to clouds. Where cloud cover increases, sunlight is blocked during the day but the clouds retain more heat and humidity at night, like a blanket.

This leads to nights getting increasingly hotter compared with days. Where cloud cover is decreasing, mostly in regions that are already dry, there is more sunlight during the day, which pushes temperatures up more rapidly...

The research is published in the journal Global Change Biology...

Wildlife is already in deep trouble, with global populations having plunged by an average of 68% since 1970.

Some changes caused by temperature rises have previously been recorded by other scientists. The predation of aphid insects and the hunting by African wild dogs are increasing at night, potentially upsetting food chains...

However, plant growth was also reduced in places where the days warmed more, as there were fewer clouds and less rainfall. Both effects are likely to cut crop yields and, for example, reduce nectar and pollen production that many insects rely on.

18^th Oct 2020. From Ecowatch:

https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-crisis-un-disaster-forecast-2648188179.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

20^th Oct from Ecowatch:

By Kenny Stancil

As the climate crisis fuels devastating wildfires across the western United States and melts Arctic sea ice at an alarming rate, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday that Earth just experienced the hottest September on record and that 2020 is on pace to be one of the three hottest years on the books.

According to NOAA, "the 10 warmest Septembers have all occurred since 2005, with the seven warmest Septembers occurring in the last seven years."

"We've broken the climate system," tweeted meteorologist Eric Holthaus. "We are in a climate emergency." ...

A report published Tuesday by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction examined the "staggering" increase in climate-related disasters, which doubled from 3,656 between 1980 and 1999 to 6,681 between 2000 and 2019, as Common Dreams reported.

https://www.ecowatch.com/earth-hottest-september-noaa-2648227038.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2

Earth Just Had Its Hottest September Ever Recorded, NOAA Says

Common Dreams

Oct. 16, 2020 09:04AM EST Climate

By Kenny Stancil

According to NOAA, "the 10 warmest Septembers have all occurred since 2005, with the seven warmest Septembers occurring in the last seven years."

"We've broken the climate system," tweeted meteorologist Eric Holthaus. "We are in a climate emergency."

Twitter

NOAA found that 2020 has a 65% chance of beating out 2016 as the warmest year on record, a 35% chance of being the second-warmest ever, and will almost certainly rank in the top three.

Climate scientists emphasized that this year's record-setting temperatures have been accompanied by an unprecedented wave of extreme weather events. A report published Tuesday by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction examined the "staggering" increase in climate-related disasters, which doubled from 3,656 between 1980 and 1999 to 6,681 between 2000 and 2019, as Common Dreams reported.

Nov. 2020. Damian Carrington: renewables could be largest power source in 2025 according to IEA. Almost 90% of new electricity generation in 2020 will be renewable. Solar capacity has increased by 18 times since 2010 and wind power by four times. Hydro produced 45% green energy in 2020 (down from before).

Electricity counts for about a fifth of global energy use, and most carbon emissions come from transport, industry and heating.

Dec. 2020:

Denmark is halting exploration of oil and gas in the North Sea (though it will continue to use the wells already in operation). (5th & 6th Dec)

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/dec/04/denmark-to-end-new-oil-and-gas-exploration-in-north-sea

Electric vehicles charging station:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/07/uk-first-all-electric-car-charging-forecourt-opens-in-essex

Dec 2020.

8^th Dec edie: https://www.edie.net/news/7/Register-for-edie-s-next-webinar--Making-2021-the--super-year--for-corporate-sustainability/ edie's next webinar will explore the redefinition of corporate sustainability leadership in 2021, through the lens of buildings and transport, the Sustainable Development Goals and net-zero strategies, featuring expert insight from Anglian Water, Business in the Community and EDF Energy

From Ecowatch: https://www.ecowatch.com/paris-agreement-promises-policies-2649440418.html?rebelltitem=15#rebelltitem15 comparison different countries CO2 emissions, targets etc

Divestment: https://www.ecowatch.com/ny-pension-fossil-fuel-divestment-2649439380.html?mc_cid=1b8d8fa427&mc_eid=4131df1c3b NY fund will divest.

Net zero - from Reuters Events: https://reutersevents.com/events/reports/docs/magazine-december-2020.pdf

The number of net-zero pledges from cities regions and companies has roughly doubled in less than a year since late 2019. As of October, they cover at least 826 cities, 103 regions, and 1,565 companies across all continents, according to a report from the NewClimate Institute.

Even companies in emissions-intensive and hard-to-abate industries, such as fossil fuels, materials and transportation services, are setting ambitious targets, the institute says. The problem is that implementation has yet to follow suit, the NewClimate Institute points out.

“Only a limited number of subnational governments and companies have developed action plans towards their net-zero targets or incorporated them into binding legislation.” Only 8% of companies’ net-zero goals include interim targets to chart a decarbonisation pathway, with just a fifth making use of onsite renewable energy generation and 70% relying on renewable energy certificates, which have little impact on the energy transition.The findings are born out elsewhere. A recent poll of C-suite executives and sustainability professionals by project developer and consultancy South Pole found “a major chasm” between net- zero ambition and concrete action. “Aspirations are high, but action is concerningly low,” says Renat Heuberger, CEO of South Pole. “It’s a big issue that 2050 is 30 years away. There is a risk that announcing targets without corresponding measures starting in 2020 just kicks the can down the road.”

EU targets for carbon reduction: https://meta.eeb.org/2020/12/10/make-or-break-talks-on-eu-climate-action-begin-today/

Europe and sustainable batteries: https://meta.eeb.org/2020/12/10/sustainable-batteries-revised-eu-laws-can-pave-the-way-for-greener-transport/

100 councils and mayors press for UK target of net zero in 2045 https://www.edie.net/news/9/UK-s-net-zero-target-should-be-2045--100-councils-and-mayors-tell-Boris-Johnson

Net zero by 2040 or sooner – Amazon declares, also: https://www.edie.net/news/6/13-big-businesses-including-Unilever-and-Microsoft-join-Amazon-s-Climate-Pledge/

Ecocide:

International panel to draw up new law to criminalise ecosystem destruction (1st Dec):

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/nov/30/international-lawyers-draft-plan-to-criminalise-ecosystem-destruction

From Ecowatch: https://www.ecowatch.com/paris-agreement-promises-policies-2649440418.html?rebelltitem=15#rebelltitem15 comparison different countries CO2 emissions, targets etc

Divestment: https://www.ecowatch.com/ny-pension-fossil-fuel-divestment-2649439380.html?mc_cid=1b8d8fa427&mc_eid=4131df1c3b NY fund will divest.

Jan 2021.

Phoebe Weston: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/top-scientists-warn-of-ghastly-future-of-mass-extinction-and-climate-disruption-aoe

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/climate-crisis-record-ocean-heat-in-2020-supercharged-extreme-weather

https://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-rain-belt-food-insecurity-2650024434.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/27/climate-crisis-world-now-at-its-hottest-for-12000-years

29th Jan. 2020. Phoebe Weston. Glaciers are disappearing, initially benefitting alpine plants because more space, but eventually leaving place for more aggressive plants which could drive out alpine plants. Paper in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Up to 22% of species studied on four glaciers would disappear from the area once the glaciers have gone. 29% of species would flourish, but 22% could face local extinction in the long term (150 years). This is the ‘escalator to extinction’ – plants that can move higher up would be OK, but in the Alps is nowhere to go.

[31^st Jan 2021. Ethical aspects of egg production: 7bn male chicks are killed worldwide every year. They are not wanted to produce eggs, obviously, and to grow them for meat requires faster-growing varieties. Experiments are being carried out to change the sex of the eggs by subjecting them to noise. Zoe Corbyn. 31^st Jan 2021.]

Feb 2021.

3^rd Feb Karen McVeigh. Sea level rises:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/02/sea-level-rise-could-be-worse-than-feared-warn-researchers - could be by 1.35 metres by 2100, previous estimate 1.1 metre – new approach includes looking at the past.

5^th Feb Phillip Inman: green housing

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/05/uks-green-plan-offers-mixed-hopes-for-post-covid-jobs-boom - headline in daily paper: UK ‘set for jobs boom’ on back of sustainable energy boost...

Sandra Laville: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/10/hundreds-of-millions-in-green-grants-for-english-homes-pulled-despite-delays

Alternative/renewable energy: (all Jillian Ambrose)

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/08/powering-up-uk-hills-could-be-used-as-energy-batteries

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/08/queens-treasury-windfarm-bp-offshore-seabed-rights

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/10/why-oil-giants-are-swapping-oil-rigs-for-offshore-windfarms

Feb. 2021. Shell’s carbon emission goals:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/11/shell-grow-gas-business-energy-net-zero-carbon

Shell has set new carbon emissions goals to become a net zero carbon energy company by 2050, but will continue to grow its gas business by more than 20% in the next few years.

The company said its oil production reached a peak in 2019, and would continue to fall by 1-2%. But it will expand its capacity to export 33.3m tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year, by another 7m tonnes a year by the middle of the decade. In contrast, BP has promised to cut its oil and gas production by 40% by 2030.

Shell plans to offset its own emissions and those from the fossil fuels it sells through carbon capture projects and “nature-based solutions” such as planting trees or restoring natural habitats.

The company is involved in three capture projects, one of which is operational, that will be able to capture 4.5m tonnes of carbon a year. It hopes increase its access to these schemes by more than five-fold so it can capture another 25m tonnes of carbon a year by 2035.

Shell’s carbon targets for the next 14 years, which will help determine executive pay, will be based on the “carbon intensity” of its energy. This is not the same as the absolute emissions created, and means Shell could lower its carbon intensity by selling more clean energy alternatives without reducing the amount of fossil fuels produced. (*)

Shell promised to reduce its net carbon intensity by between 6% to 8% by 2023, compared with 2016, which would widen to 20% by 2030 and 45% in 2035 before reaching an absolute emissions cut of 100% by 2050.

(*) The world’s 50 biggest oil companies are poised to flood markets with an additional 7m barrels per day over the next decade, despite warnings from scientists that this will push global heating towards catastrophic levels.

New research commissioned by the Guardian forecasts Shell and ExxonMobil will be among the leaders with a projected production increase of more than 35% between 2018 and 2030 – a sharper rise than over the previous 12 years.

The acceleration is almost the opposite of the 45% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 that scientists say is necessary to have any chance of holding global heating at a relatively safe level of 1.5C.

The projections are by Rystad Energy, a Norwegian consultancy regarded as the gold standard for data in the industry...

Lorne Stockman, a senior research analyst at Oil Change International, which monitors oil companies, said: “Rather than planning an orderly decline in production, they are doubling down and acting like there is no climate crisis. This presents us with a simple choice: shut them down or face extreme climate disruption.”

See also: https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2021/feb/11/shell-strategy-looking-like-a-bundle-of-compromises - gives a much more friendly picture than Jillian Ambrose’s!!

Two books on Climate Crisis reviewed by Bob Ward (Bob Ward is policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science):

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/14/how-to-avoid-a-climate-disaster-by-bill-gates-the-new-climate-war-by-michael-e-mann-review

E10 fuel (10% ethanol) proposed:

https://airqualitynews.com/2021/02/25/government-plans-e10-petrol-roll-out-from-september/

According to the Department for Transport (DfT), E10 fuel, which is a mixture of petrol and ethanol and is made from materials including low-grade grains, sugars and waste wood, could cut transport CO2 emissions by 750,000 tonnes per year, the equivalent of taking 350,000 cars off the road.

The two petrol blends that are currently widely available in the UK contain no more than 5% ethanol, but this new fuel has up to 10%.

The E10 fuel will be widely available at petrol stations across the country from September.

A small number of older vehicles including classic cars, and some from the early 2000s, will continue to need E5 fuel, which is why supplies of E5 petrol will be maintained in the super grade.

The DfT has said that this project will also boost job opportunities in the North East, securing up to 100 jobs with the reopening of AB Sugar’s Vivergo plant.

Dr Mark Carr, Group Chief Executive of AB Sugar, added: ‘We are delighted to be re-opening the Vivergo Fuels site today located in the heart of the Northern Powerhouse...

‘We will be recruiting around 85 highly skilled green jobs in addition to the core team that remained in place during its closure in the North East of England and re-opening a new market for wheat farmers in the UK.’

March 2021. Ecowatch: Europe’s drought crisis:

https://www.ecowatch.com/europe-drought-crisis-2651103839.html?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=323078e5a6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-323078e5a6-86106053

March 2021. Red Cross says 10 million climate refugees in last 6 months:

https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-refugees-red-cross-2651129063 "In just the last six months, there have been 12.6 million people internally displaced around the world and over 80% of these forced displacements have been caused by disasters, most of which are triggered by climate and weather extremes," said Helen Brunt of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

(March 2021) Oatly – CO2 footprint: ‘Food industry, show us your numbers!’

When we want to know our carbon footprint for a plane journey it’s easy, but what about a glass of milk? Yet the food industry generates twice as many GHG emissions as all transportation combined – cars, buses, planes, trains etc. – that is, 25% of all ghg emissions (J.Poore, T.Nemecek 2018) and transportation for 14%.

Oatly: 0.38 kg CO2e/kg (CarbonCloud) www.oatly.com

28^th April 2021. From edie:

Good piece by Sarah George: https://www.edie.net/news/11/MPs-accuse-Treasury-and-HMRC-of-shirking-climate-responsibilities-- on tax as a way of helping prevent climate crisis...

That is according to a damning new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today (28 April).

Building on the Committee’s recent report on net-zero delivery, which accused the Government of having no credible plans in the short and mid-term to back up its long-term climate goals, the report takes a specific look at the ways in which Government finance must transform.

These recommendations come after a Green Alliance briefing, published earlier this week, revealed that more than six in ten Brits support ‘green’ tax reforms.

These recommendations come after the controversial North Sea Transition Deal was published. Despite calls to cap production and funnel funding into supporting affected communities with reskilling, the Government failed to rule out new licencing.

Summarising the report, PAC chair Meg Hillier MP said: “The economic revolution required to abandon fossil fuels and reach net-zero must be the greatest co-ordinated ask, of governments around the globe, in history.

“But the UK government has been blithely issuing ever more ambitious climate targets for years now, with no sign of a roadmap to reach any of them. The departments in charge seem stuck in a bygone era, with little sign of the innovative thinking needed to achieve all this.

“Every week brings reports of some climate record disturbingly broken - the hottest year, the hottest decade, warming seas rising faster than we feared, carbon emissions raging back even as the economy takes more faltering steps. Now, we are six months from hosting the next major global climate summit and the climate storm is breaking all around us. HMRC and HMT need to catch up fast.”