Petrochemical firm Ineos has bought exploration rights todrill for shale gas in northwest England from smaller rival IGas ina £30 million deal. The Telegraphsays the deal willsee Ineos drill up to 11 wells and frack six of them, but couldaffect planned paymentsto communities.Ineos hopes to be the UK’s largest shale gas companysays Business Green. Meanwhile DurhamUniversity’s Liam Herringshaw asks what happened to Europe’s shale gasboom.

Building on floodplains is putting thousands of homes atrisk, according to a report from MPs covered by Business Green. TheUK’s programme on adapting to climate change is failing to addressthe issue, the MPs say. The need to adapt is “unavoidable” andflooding poses the biggest adaptation challenge to the UK, the MPssay.

Recent global warming is not contested and Christians have aduty to address the problem, according to a Vatican official whohelped draft Pope Francis’ expected ‘encyclical’ on climate change.Cardinal Peter Turkson says Christians should be tackling theproblem “irrespective of the causes”, reports the Associated Press.The Pope’s climate message is due to be released in June or July.

Florida’s governor Rick Scott has denied reports he bannedemployees of the state’s environment agency using the terms”climate change” and “global warming”, reports RTCC.The Washington Postsays at minimumofficials “perceived” a ban. It compares Florida’s attempt tocontrol the message on climate to similar efforts by formerpresident George W. Bush.

Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England has defendedhis institution’s study of climate change risks to the insuranceindustry, which has been described as “green claptrap” by NigelLawson, former chancellor and noted climate skeptic. Climate changeis one of the biggest risks facing the insurance industry, Carneysays.

A new way of counting countries’ emissions redraws the mapof responsibility for climate change and could bridge divisionsbetween rich and poor nations, reports RTCC. The new methodallocates emissions to those that import products while creditingexporting nations for using cleaner technology. This cuts Chinaless slack than conventional consumption-based emissionsaccounting, says RTCC.

Wind firms can compete with other energy sources if Europe’sinstalled offshore capacity doubles and costs are cut by a fifthwithin five years, Reuters reports. It covers an Ernst & Youngreport that says 2020 is a make or break year for the industry.The Financial Timesreports thatGermany is to install more offshore wind than the UK this year forthe first time, though it will remain the world’s top offshore windlargest user.

Governments are pursuing directly contradictory policies ofmaximising fossil fuel extraction while claiming to support the aimof limiting warming to below two degrees, argues George Monbiot. AUN climate agreement should include a global budget limiting fossilfuel extraction, he says. The current UN negotiating text includessimilar proposals.

Experiments to investigate geoengineering climate”technofixes” would reduce political incentives to reduce carbonemissions, argues Clive Hamilton. He criticises a recent USNational Research Council report for treating this risk as merelytheoretical. The Guardian’s DanaNuccitellilooks at research on whether talkingabout geoengineering helps reduce doubts about climate science.

Just because we don’t know everything doesn’t mean we knownothing, argues Michael Shermer. He describes what he calls the”planting of doubt” by industries associated with the ill effectsof carbon emissions, tobacco and flame retardant chemicals. Oncethe “secrets of dubious doubters” is revealed, he says, “the magicbehind their tricks disappears”.

Scientists have examined what would happen if a major oceansystem known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulationslowed down as a result of climate change. Impacts include coolingthroughout the northern hemisphere, less rainfall in midlatitudesand a strengthening of the North Atlantic storm track. Such changesmay raise issues of water availability and crop production, say theauthors.

Scientists have found that changes in the Earth’s orbitaffected the climate as far back as 1.4 billion years ago.Sediments in the Chinese Xiamaling rock formation reflect changesin wind, rain and ocean circulation patterns indicative of what areknown as Milankovitch cycles. While natural factors have alwayscaused fluctuations, by far the biggest influence on today’sclimate is greenhouse gas warming.

Recent changes in the tropical Pacific may have had a dualrole in driving the so-called surface warming slowdown and theprolonged drought across parts of western North America. A newmodel study finds tropical wind anomalies account for 92% of theNorth American drought, suggesting human activity is not thedominant driver. This means if the wind anomalies persist, thedrought is likely to continue.