El Niño likely to boost CO2 in 2016, US coal company funded groups questioning climate change, & more
News
El Niño likely to boost CO2 in 2016
2016 will very likely mark the first time that CO2 levels in the atmosphere, as measured on Hawaii’s famous Mauna Loa volcano, has been above 400 parts per million (ppm) for the entire year, scientists say. Atmospheric CO2 has been boosted by the recent El Niño, which has warmed and dried the tropics, limiting the ability of forests to take up CO2 from the atmosphere and triggering huge fires around the globe. Now 400ppm has been crossed, CO2 levels will not fall back below it in our lifetimes, lead scientist Prof Richard Betts from the Met Office tells the Guardian: “Even if we cut emissions, we wouldn’t see concentrations coming down for a long time, so we have said goodbye to measurements below 400ppm at Mauna Loa.” Surpassing 400ppm won’t see anything change to the climate overnight, but it is a symbolic threshold, Betts tells the Washington Post: “I don’t think anything sort of special will happen just because we’re going past 400. But I do think that these numbers are important for awareness, really. … It’s a reminder of the long-term effects we’re having on the system.” iNews, Climate Home and the MailOnline also cover the story.
Biggest US coal company funded dozens of groups questioning climate change
Peabody Energy, America’s biggest coalmining company, has funded at least two dozen groups that cast doubt on human-caused climate change, analysis by the Guardian shows. Court documents filed as part of Peabody’s bankruptcy proceedings show the company funded trade associations, corporate lobby groups, industry front groups and conservative thinktanks that are known to oppose environment regulations. Among the recipients of Peabody’s money are the Centre for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change in the US, which argues that CO2 is the “the elixir of life”. Another beneficiary is Laurence Tribe, a professor at Harvard Law School and a former mentor of President Obama, reports The Hill. Peabody has been paying Tribe $75,000 a month to help fight Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Grist also cover the story.
Pressure mounts over ‘suppression’ of UK fracking impacts report
Pressure is growing on the UK government to release a report into the impacts of shale gas fracking, which campaigners have accused ministers of suppressing. The report, written by the UK Committee on Climate Change, was submitted to the government in March, but it can only be published when the secretary of state for energy has responded. The report is likely to recommend that the fracking industry follow strict guidelines to minimise leakage of the greenhouse gas methane. Friends of the Earth tells the Guardian that the government should publish the report as soon as possible: “and certainly before any decision about fracking in Lancashire. If it doesn’t, the suspicions that it is trying to keep the report quiet will continue.”
Australian prime minister unveils £500m plan to save the Great Barrier Reef
Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has pledged £500m to try to save the Great Barrier Reef, following warnings the famous 1,500-mile stretch of coral reefs is under threat due to pollution and climate change. Turnbull said the money will finance projects including solar panels, improved sewage treatment, and helping farms and businesses to prevent pollutants and fertilisers entering waterways. The pledge was made as part of Turnbull’s election campaign and is dependent on his coalition government being re-elected in July.
Revealed: first mammal species wiped out by human-induced climate change
Human-caused climate change appears to have driven the Great Barrier Reef’s only endemic mammal species to extinction, say scientists. Recent surveys show no trace of the the Bramble Cay melomys, a small rodent that lives on a tiny island in the eastern Torres Strait. Scientists from Queensland’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection and the University of Queensland say the “root cause” of the extinction was sea level rise, which has brought regular inundations of sea water onto the island, killing the animals and destroying their habitat.
Comment
What would Brexit mean for Britain’s green targets?
“Of all the EU regulations to shape UK policies, environmental directives have been some of the most controversial,” writes Gosden as she unpacks what Britain leaving the EU could mean for policies on green energy, recycling and air quality. On renewables, for example, Brexit appears unlikely to make a difference to UK energy policy in the long-term, Gosden writes. This is “because Britain’s own unilateral Climate Change Act actually imposes even tougher requirements for cutting carbon emissions.” Elsewhere, Craig Bennett – chief executive of Friends of the Earth – writes in the Guardian that the “EU has benefited the UK’s nature and environment, and leaving poses a significant risk.” Bennett ponders why the Leave campaign doesn’t like talking about the environment. The answer is because protecting the environment is “anathema to the very essence of the leave campaign,” he says: “Dealing with the environmental challenges of the future – be they climate change, the destruction of nature or deadly air pollution – requires countries to collaborate, cooperate and yes, at times, compromise.” Also on the EU referendum, the BBC looks at whether Brexit would compromise the future of UK science as a whole.
World Meat Free Day 2016: Why vegetarianism could be our future
On World Meat Free Day, Dore writes that “environmental concerns may mean we should all be considering the choice permanently,” rather than forgoing meat for just one day. Eating an average of 85.8kg of meat per person per year, the UK is ranked 22nd for meat consumption. Dore takes a look at the environmental, monetary concerns and health benefits to lowering meat intake. Also in the Independent, Mike Berners-Lee points out that if the UK went entirely vegetarian, we could “cut the greenhouse gas footprint by 25%.” But same reduction can also be made through more modest changes, split across three different actions, he says: “reduce meat, switch type of meat and, of course, cut waste”.
Science
El Niño and a record CO2 rise
The rise of CO2 in the atmosphere because of human activity has been given an extra boost this year by El Niño, says a new paper. The phenomenon warms and dries tropical ecosystems, reducing their uptake of carbon and exacerbating forest fires. Using a seasonal climate forecast model and a statistical relationship with sea temperatures, the scientists predict 2016 will be the first time CO2 stays above 400ppm at Mauna Loa all year round. They forecast a record rise of 3.15ppm rise since last year, compared to the recent average rate of 2.1ppm per year.
Potential carbon emissions dominated by carbon dioxide from thawed permafrost
The amount of carbon released from thawing permafrost soils is likely to increase by a factor of two for a 10C temperature rise, according to a new set of experiments. The researchers found that aerobic soils release more than twice as much carbon as waterlogged, anaerobic soils. While the microbial decomposition mechanism by which thawing permafrost can amplify warming has been known about for while, the magnitude of the effect has so far remained unclear, the paper explains.
Other stories
- OPEC points to oil demand exceeding its production for first time in 3 years (Reuters)
- The oil barons’ revolution (BBC News Scotland)
- Households to pick up the tab if energy suppliers go bust (The Telegraph)
- A Simple Idea Could Help Wildlife Survive Climate Change (Climate Central)
- Citi, Deutsche and JPMorgan censured for backing fossil fuel (The Financial Times)
- Melting Arctic Could Supercharge Climate Feedback Loop (Climate Central)
- Supreme Court rejects case challenging key White House air pollution regulation (The Washington Post)
- Scottish greenhouse gas figures due (BBC News)
- Prudential raises its bet on green energy (The Financial Times)
- A price worth setting? (The Environmentalist)
- Energy storage will be vital for decarbonising power sector, say S&P (BusinessGreen)
- At ground zero of warming, Greenland seeks to unlock frozen assets (Reuters)
- World Bank’s Zambia solar auction sets African low price benchmark (Reuters)
- Enter the suits: business must deliver on the Paris climate deal (Climate Home)
- Is coal the only way to deal with energy poverty in developing economies? (The Conversation)