Climate Change May Have Souped Up Record-Breaking Texas Deluge
News
New study: 99% of Mount Everest’s glaciers could
be gone by 2100
The glaciers around Mount Everest could be very sensitive to
climate change, almost completely disappearing by 2100, new
research suggests. Carbon Brief has the details. The study, also
covered by Climate Progress, Climate Centraland
the Washington Post, is
the first detailed modelling of the large Dudh Koshi basin in
Nepal’s Everest region.
Climate and energy news
Climate Change May Have Souped Up Record-Breaking
Texas Deluge
ClimateWire via Scientific American
Flooding in Texas and Oklahoma caused by intense rainfall on
Monday night may have been exacerbated by climate change, reports
ClimateWire. The New York Timessays scientists
are warning that such unpredictable and heavy rainfall is the sort
of weather extreme we should expect more of with global
warming. Climate Progresscarries views from
a range of scientists on the matter. Meanwhile scientists are also askingif a
huge, deadly heatwave in Indiahas been
caused or added to by climate change.
Norway’s $900 billion sovereign fund told to
reduce coal assets
The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s with
$916 billion, has been told to reduce its exposure to coal by a
parliamentary committee, Reuters reports. The Financial Timessays opposition and
governing parties have agreed the fund should withdraw its
investments from businesses that rely more than 30% on coal sales
or coal-fired power sales. The plan will be put to a vote of the
Norwegian parliament on Thursday and, with cross-party agreement,
it is expected to pass, the paper says.
Exxon, Chevron holders say ‘no’ to adding climate
experts to boards
Calls to appoint climate experts to the boards of Exxon and
Chevron have been rejected by a majority of shareholders at the
firms’ annual general meetings, Reuters reports. The meetings also
rejected calls to stop investing in high-carbon oil projects,
reportsRTCC. The Guardianhad a preview of the
Exxon meeting, saying CEO Rex Tillerson had a history of sparring
with activists. The Exxon meeting also rejected a resolution on
fracking, says The Hill. However, shareholders owning
more than 3% of the firm have won the right to nominate board
members, says The Financial Times.
Queen’s Speech: Wind farm planning shake-up
criticised
Energy firms have criticised government plans, announced in
yesterday’s Queen’s Speech, to hand power over windfarm planning
applications to councils, reports the BBC. However, Greenpeace Energydesksuggests the
planning changes may have minimal impact, with expected changes to
subsidies a bigger issue. The Telegraphreports that the
planned end to new subsidy may not apply in Scotland, where the
government is strongly in favour of onshore wind.
France ready to step in if climate talks stall,
says Tubiana
The current 90-page negotiating text for the planned UN deal
due to be agreed in December must be slimmed down by August or
France will step in in its role as host of the Paris climate talks,
says the country’s top climate diplomat. Speaking to RTCC, Laurence
Tubiana said France did not want to have to step in and would be
pushing other countries to agree shorter text before the summer
ends.
US can meet carbon targets without Congress, says
report
The US climate target to cut emissions by 26-28% of 2005
levels by 2025 can be met without new legislation, according to a
new report from the World Resources Institute covered by Business
Green. The Financial Timessays the study
found the goal would be missed without additional policies.
Climate and energy comment
Inside the war on
coal
Politico’s Michael Grunwald charts the history of the Sierra
Club’s “Beyond Coal” campaign, which has played a part in closing
more than a third of US coal capacity over the past five years. The
feature is part of a Politico special issueon energy
and coal.
How fossil fuel burning nearly wiped out life on
Earth – 250m years ago
A mass extinction caused by climate change at the end of the
Permian period wiped out 96% of the world’s species at the time,
says George Monbiot. He uses the evidence to deride Republican
arguments rejecting president Obama’s description of climate change
as a global security threat.
Fossil industry faces a perfect political and
technological storm
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph
The “political noose is tightening” on the world’s fossil
fuel industry says the Telegraph’s Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. He
argues it’s a “fair bet” the UN climate talks in December will
agree a global carbon tax that would change the financial calculus
for the coal, oil and gas industries.
Climate of change: The Catholic church’s dance
with science
Seth Borenstein, Associated
Press
AP’s Seth Borenstein reports on the Catholic church’s
historic dance with science, which he says has more often been a
“supportive waltz” than a “high-tension tango”. Pope Francis’s
upcoming encyclical on climate change adds a new twist to the mix,
Borenstein says. Carbon Brief has an explainer on the encyclical here.
New climate science
Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns
in South Africa’s national
parks
International Journal of Climatology
A new paper charts the changes in temperature and rainfall
in South African national parks during the past 50 to 100 years.
Temperatures in several parks have already reached those predicted
for 2035, say the authors, The paper calls for agencies that manage
protected areas to better understand how the climate is changing
locally and respond actively to impacts.
Ocean impact on decadal Atlantic climate
variability revealed by sea-level
observations
A natural cycle known as the Atlantic Multidecadal
Oscillation (AMO) can drive changes in European summer rainfall,
Atlantic hurricanes and global temperature. But observations don’t
stretch back far enough to test the theory that changes in ocean
circulation drive highs and lows in the AMO. A new study gets a
step closer by using sea level rise to estimate past changes in
ocean circulation, which the authors say allows a better
understanding of the AMO’s recent and future behaviour.
Other stories
- Nick Stern: Shell is asking us to bet against the
world on climate change (Guardian Sustainable Business
Blog) - Energy industry calls for new emissions targets to
aid low-carbon growth (The Guardian) - Memo to Jeb Bush: denying human-caused global
warming is ignorant (The Guardian) - ‘Forgotten’ forests need climate cash to halt
emissions (RTCC) - ()