China and India's emissions must peak and decline
News
China and India must cut their emissions ‘or
else’, says Davey
The UK will not sign a global deal on climate change unless
it includes commitments from China and India, climate secretary Ed
Davey said in an interview with The Times. Davey is about to visit
the two countries. He said they should be allowed to continue
increasing their emissions but with clear targets for when they
would peak and start to decline. He would like China to peak by
2025 and said there might not be a deal unless China committed to a
peak.
Climate and energy news
California reviews fracking water disposal amid
contamination concerns
The most populous US state is to review disposal rules for
fracking wastewater to make sure it is not contaminating drinking
water. In the US, fracking firms are allowed to inject wastewater
back into the ground. The practice will not be allowed in the UK,
at least initially. California’s Division of Oil, Gas and
Geothermal Resources said there was no direct evidence of drinking
water contamination and said the move was a precaution.
Germany is most energy efficient major economy,
study finds
With new European energy efficiency targets for 2030 due to
be proposed on Wednesday, a new study has ranked the world’s major
economies for their energy saving performance so far. The study of
16 major economies by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy ranked Germany the world’s most energy efficient and Mexico
the least. The UK comes in at number six, trailing Italy, France
and – perhaps surprisingly – China.
Former Environment Secretary Owen Paterson to
deliver keynote speech at climate-sceptic organisation’s
lecture
Owen Paterson has unleashed a torrent of words against what
he calls “the green blob”, just days after being sacked as
environment secretary. He is preparing to speak publicly of his
doubts that climate change is man-made at the annual lectureof Lord Lawson’s
climate-sceptic lobby group the Global Warming Policy Foundation.
Paterson has also penned an articlefor the Telegraph in which
he says he is proud to have stood up to the “green blob”, his
phrase for the environmental lobby. The article praises Australian
and Canadian prime ministers Tony Abbot and Stephen Harper for
“standing up to” the green lobby over climate change. He calls
shale gas a source of “affordable energy” that could “lift people
out of fuel poverty” and asks to be “judged by [his] opponents”.
The Mail reportsfurther comments from
Paterson calling his sacking a “smash in the teeth for 12 million
rural voters”. In the 2010 general election, 10.7 million voted for
the Conservative Party.
Australian droughts caused by manmade
emissions
RTCC reports on “contentious” findings that parts of
Australia are drying out as a result of fossil fuel emissions.
Long-term declines in rainfall in south and south-west Australia
are man-made, according to the US research.
Climate and energy comment
Giant wind farm will cost millions and ruin
Brighton view
The recently approved Rampion windfarm, due to be built off
the south coast city, will spoil the view and produce “derisory”
power output says Christopher Booker. He goes on to say that it
will average 240 megawatts “nearly ten times” less than a gas-fired
power station due to open in Pembroke.
New climate science
Uncovering an anthropogenic sea-level rise signal
in the Pacific Ocean
A new study aims to uncover how much of the sea level rise
in the Pacific Ocean is caused by human-caused warming. After
removing the signal from natural variability – associated with the
Pacific Decadal Oscillation – the scientists link the pattern of
regional sea level in part to a warming Indian Ocean, explained by
anthropogenic warming.
Well-estimated global surface warming in climate
projections selected for ENSO phase
The current slowdown in global warming has raised questions
about the accuracy of climate model projections, says a new paper.
But how they represent natural variability is key. If you select
just the models that are largely in phase with the El Niño/Southern
Oscillation – which scientists think drives changes in the pace of
warming – they do a good job of predicting the timing of the recent
slowdown.
Changes in global net radiative imbalance
1985-2012
The amount of energy entering the top of atmosphere compared
to the amount that’s leaving – known as the radiative flux
imbalance – grew between 2000 and 2010, compared to the average
between 1985 and 1999. This means the planet as a whole retained
more heat since 2000, despite surface temperatures rising slower
than in previous decades.
Enhanced acidification of global coral reefs
driven by regional biogeochemical
feedbacks
The average amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in the water
around global coral reefs has increased 3.5 times faster than in
the open ocean within the past 20?years, new research shows. On top
of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, the causes could be more
nutrients and organic matter running off the land into coastal
ecosystems.
Convergence of terrestrial plant production across
global climate gradients
The size and age of plants has more of an impact on their
productivity than temperature and precipitation, according to a new
study. The findings matter for making predictions of climate change
effects on worldwide food production, say the
researchers.