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Daily Briefing |

TODAY'S CLIMATE AND ENERGY HEADLINES

Briefing date 29.03.2016
Arctic sea ice extent breaks record low for winter, US at risk of man-made earthquakes, & more

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News.

Arctic sea ice extent breaks record low for winter
The Guardian Read Article

A record expanse of Arctic sea remained as open water this winter as “freakishly” high temperatures produced deep changes in the north. With the ice cover down to 14.52m sq km, the lowest winter maximum since records began in 1979, scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre now believe the Arctic is locked onto a course of continually shrinking sea ice. “I’ve never seen such a warm, crazy winter in the Arctic,” NSIDC director Mark Serreze told the Guardian. It was the third straight month of record lows in the sea ice cover, and scientists now expect more than ever that the Arctic will be entirely ice-free in the summer months within 20 or 25 years. Temperatures were up to 6C above normal in most regions of the Arctic throughout the winter, the Times reports, a combination of the El Niño weather phenomenon and climate change. The new report is “just the latest disturbing data point in a disturbing trend wherein climate changes are happening even faster than we had forecast,” Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University, told the Telegraph. The Daily Mail also covers the topic.

Feds: 7M in US at risk of man-made earthquakes
The Hill Read Article

For the first time, the United States Geological Society (USGS) factored potential man-made earthquakes into its 2016 seismic activity outlook, concluding that such earthquakes are possible in a host of states with prevalent oil and natural gas drilling. A “dramatic” increase in earthquakes over the past six years led the the USGS to distinguish between natural and man-made quakes officials said. There were an average of 24 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or larger between 1973 and 2008, but an average of 318 per year between 2009 and 2015, the Hill reports. Researchers at the USGS and other institutions have tied earthquake surges in eight states, including Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Kansas and Arkansas, to oil and gas operations, Scientific American reports. The USGS seismic risk maps are used by emergency management officials as well as the country’s major engineering and design associations, Reuters says. The New York Times and Grist also have the story.

Shell prepares North Sea sale after BG tie-up
The Sunday Times Read Article

Shell has reportedly begun sounding out buyers for parts of its North Sea operations, amid a slump that has seen tens of thousands working in the area lose their jobs, the Sunday Times reports. Following a £35bn takeover of rival BG, Shells’ chief executive Ben van Beurden is under pressure to justify the price and has pledged to divest up to $30bn (£21bn) of assets, and has called the region “old and mature”. About 2,500 of Shell’s 7,500 employees work in the North Sea. The Sunday Times reports that there have been early talks with Neptune Oil & Gas. The Independent and the Financial Times also have the story.

China pushes for mandatory integration of renewable power
Reuters Read Article

China has ordered power transmission companies to provide grid connectivity for all renewable power generation sources, the country’s energy regulator said yesterday. China has become the world’s biggest wind and solar power user, but a large amount of renewable power has not been able to reach the grid because transmission capabilities are lagging generating capacity by around three to five years, Reuters writes. The State Grid is planning to build new ultra-high voltage (UHV) long-distance transmission lines to join up the gaps.

North Sea gas pipeline faces threat of closure
The Times Read Article

ConocoPhillips is drawing up plans to shut down one of the North Sea’s biggest gas pipeline systems, the Times reports. The potential closure of the Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System, one of 15 big gas networks in the UK section of the North Sea, threatens to knock out 10% of the UK’s gas capacity and a string of active fields.

Scientists Find a Way to Predict U.S. Heat Waves Weeks in Advance
The New York Times Read Article

Deadly summer heat waves in the eastern United States may be predictable nearly two months before they occur, scientists said yesterday. The key to such an advance forecast is the occurrence of a distinctive pattern of water temperatures across a wide stretch of the North Pacific Ocean, according to the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience. Advanced warning could help can help farmers, utilities and big cities prepare for hot weather, the Daily Mail says. Science Daily also has the story.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef hit by 'worst' bleaching
BBC New Read Article

With 95% of corals from Cairns to Papua New Guinea now severely bleached, scientists are calling for the Great Barrier Reef to be officially classified as threatened. Unesco voted not to put the reef on its World Heritage “in danger” list last year, despite The National Coral Bleaching Taskforce reckoning that only 520 reefs have no sign of bleaching. Climate change and El Nino are behind the rise in sea temperatures, with “in the water” reports of up to 50% mortality among bleached corals.

Comment.

Climate change may be a burning issue – but election campaign tells another story
Oliver Milman, The Guardian Read Article

As Alaskans choose their Democratic nominee after a winter wiped out by high temperatures, the climate question has been near invisible among Republican candidates, observes Oliver Milman in the Guardian. And “even though Democratic candidates have been more willing to discuss climate change, the topic hasn’t been front and centre ahead of Saturday’s caucus”. Several factors are damping down debate, Milman writes: a lack of disagreement between candidates within the parties, and the feeling that despite record numbers of Americans believing climate change is human-caused and a looming problem, for most Americans it has yet to become a crisis.

Climate, weather and the politics of energy
Nick Butler, The Financial Times Read Article

The link between climate change and some extreme weather events, confirmed by a new study in the US, “can only strengthen the case of those arguing for policy change”, writes columnist Nick Butler in the Financial Times. This is an “important advance”, he writes, “as this linkage becomes more obvious the public demand for action will grow more intense”. Yet dealing with extreme weather raises a political problem, as such weather is caused by climate change that has already happened, and it does not recognise political boundaries.

Oil and its struggle to survive in cruellest sea
Robin Pagnamenta, The Times Read Article

In the first of a series, Sir Ian Wood, former chairman of Wood Group, speaks to The Times about the oil industry’s struggle to survive in the face of the ongoing price crisis. He says, “If we are not careful, we will recover only ten billion barrels of the 20 billion that are left [in UK waters]. Leaving that much oil in the ground, albeit under hundreds of metres of turbulent sea, is anathema to every true oilman.” The second part in yesterday’s Times looks at how the slump hit the UK’s oil capital, Aberdeen.

When companies track their climate emissions
Julia Rosen, Ensia Read Article

Voluntary greenhouse gas accounting has become common in the private sector, but is it helping, asks journalist Julia Rosen. Such accounting has become common as it allows companies to to evaluate whether certain projects or products would be viable under future climate regulations, and reveals opportunities to save money. “But, it’s unclear if reporting alone will be enough to drive meaningful reductions in corporate greenhouse gas emissions”, Rosen writes.

Science.

Uncertainties around reductions in Chinas coal use and CO2 emissions
Nature Climate Change Read Article

Uncertainty around preliminary figures suggesting Chinese coal consumption dropped 2.9% in 2014 means they are inappropriate for estimating broader CO2 emissions, according to a new study. Contrary to estimates from the International Energy Agency that China underwent an unprecedented 1.5% reduction in fossil CO2 emissions in 2014, the new study says emissions probably increased by around 0.8%. Coal-derived energy consumption stayed flat but is likely to have decreased in 2015, the authors add.

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