Waves are swelling to heights never before seen in the ArcticOcean, and new research suggests this could be tied to the loss ofsea ice caused by climate change. The larger waves could acceleratethe rate of sea ice loss, it indicates, completing the destructivecircle. “Swell waves carry more energy so you would expect them tohave a larger impact (on sea ice). They’re able to flex and stressand strain ice more than a short wave could”, the research’s leadauthor says. The difficulty of collecting data in the Arctic’sinhospitable climes is currently limiting the research, however -though efforts are being made to add more buoys for better data,Climate Central reports.

A new study from a team of scientists from the PotsdamInstitute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) suggests climate changecould explain increases periods of extreme heat, Climate Progressreports. It’s likely linked to changes in the movements of thejetstream, the research shows. Jet stream waves appear to bestalling for longer in one place, PIK’s data shows, possiblyaccounting for extreme weather.

A US researcher has found only around 10 per cent of frackingchemicals “can be characterised as a known hazard”, ScientificAmerican reports. There remains a lack of information about whichchemicals are used in the fracking process, howeve. That’sobstructing research efforts into shale gas productions’environmental impacts, the researcher says. William Stringfellowfrom Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory examined a list offracking chemicals drawn largely from information provided bycompanies to the voluntary registry Fracfocus, and informationrequested by the US Environmental Protection Agency.”As attentiongrows, it’s not necessarily in the industry’s interest to maintainits secrecy”, he says.

Oil and gas drilling has been shown to induce small tomid-sized earthquakes. But these tremors seem to shake the groundless than natural quakes, new research shows. “Maybe inducedearthquakes aren’t quite as fearsome as they may seem”, says SusanHough, a seismologist at the US Geological Survey who authored theresearch. The result only holds at sites more than 10 kilometersfrom the quakes epicentre, however. People standing nearer thetremor would feel the same amount of shaking. Nonetheless, theresearch suggests “[t]he hazard from induced quakes is going to bedown a notch relative to tectonic quakes”, Hough says.

A new $100 million fund seeks to help the world’s poorestcommunities cope with the impacts of climate change. The GlobalResilience Partnership (GRP) set up by the U.S. Agency forInternational Development (USAID) and the Rockefeller Foundationwill focus on South and Southeast Asia, the Sahel and the Horn ofAfrica. The funders expect to receive more donations overtime.

Climate change could cut India’s GDP by up to 8.7 per cent ayear in 2100, an Asian Development Bank report claims. The Maldivesfaces a hit of 12.6 per cent, Nepal 9.9 per cent and Bangladesh 9.4per cent, the report says. The figures are based on temperaturerises of 4.6 degrees, which scientists anticipate if the worldcontinues to emit at the current rate. Reutersalso has the story. India’sprime minister, Narendra Modi, has promised to overhaul thecountry’s approach to international climate talks, though he is notexpected to attend a summit on the issue led by UN GeneralSecretary Ban Ki Moon next month.

New Southampton University researchfinds population growthand urban expansion were the main causes of this summer’s flooding,not climate change, the Times reports. It highlights how thisconflicts with the Met Office’s position, which said “all theevidence suggests there is a link”. It also quotes a NottinghamUniversity professor saying rising sea levels suggest climatechange will play a more significant role in flooding in thefuture.

The European Commission has begun infraction proceedingsagainst the UK regarding violations of regulations limiting nitrousoxide emissions from the Aberthaw coal power plant. Under the EU’sIndustrial Emissions Directive (IED), the plant would have to beshut by 2016 unless its emissions can be curbed from 1,000 mg/Nm3to 200 mg/Nm3. The government is lobbying for the plant to beexempted from the IED, with a representative saying “for the timebeing, the closure of the plant is not considered”.

“It’s not just humans that are to blame for global warming”,the Daily Mail says in an article looking at new research on hownatural activity from the sun impacts the climate. It shows solaractivity in the modern day was causing about 0.1 degrees of warmingin the 11-year solar cycle, one researcher tells the Mail.”‘Climateskeptics like to say sun is causing more global warming than wethink but I don’t think so”, he says, “[w]hat our paper shows is weneed to include all processes – greenhouses, the sun and so on,especially for local climates which is important ofcourse”.

In a letter to the Solar Trade Association (STA), the primeminister has defended the government’s decision to exclude solarfarms larger than five megawatts from the Renewables Obligationsubsidy scheme. The STA maintains that the end of the RO wouldpropel a boom-and-bust market. In the letter, the prime ministerargued that the solar industry should be “well placed” to competeagainst other technologies for the government’s new subsidy scheme,contracts for difference. The STA remains concerned that schemecould lock some solar providers out of the market,however.

Boris bikes – and their US equivalents – are bright blueclimate champions, in a way. Each mile someone rides on abike-share bike instead of driving a car means about one pound ofcarbon dioxide is kept out of the atmosphere, Scientific Americanclaims. But it’s hard to know how many people have traded their carfor a bike-share bike. And each city is different, with bike-shareusage depending on geography, weather, and laws about wearing ahelmet. That makes it hard to estimate exactly how much carbondioxide may have been prevented from entering the atmosphere as aconsequence of the schemes.

“The renewables revolution is fast gathering pace and we arenow just a few pieces of the jigsaw away from an ultra-low emissiongrid” – that’s the optimistic view from BusinessGreen editor, JamesMurray. Favourable conditions meant the equivalent of every fifthlightbulb was lit using renewable power in the first half of 2014,according to new government data. It’s a similar picture across theworld, he says – as renewables continue to break generationrecords. While there remain a number of challenges for therenewables industry, noone is more aware of such issues than theindustry itself, he argues. And it’s making big progress onaddressing issues of supply variability, land use impacts, andbringing down costs, he says.

A rise in the number of reported floods in the UK over thepast 129 years can mainly be explained by increased exposure,resulting from urban expansion and population growth, according tonew research by the University of Southampton.

As sea ice warms it becomes more permeable to carbon dioxide,allowing more of the gas to enter the ice at the point where itmeets the water. Scientists already know about this mechanism but anew paper shows how large the effect can be. 58 per cent of thecarbon dioxide absorbed by the Southern Ocean surroundingAntarctica ends up in the sea ice, say the authors.