Scientists ringing alarm bells about the melting of Antarctica have focused most of their attention, so far, on the smaller West Antarctic ice sheet, which is grounded deep below sea level and highly exposed to the influence of warming seas. But new research published in the journal Nature reaffirms that there’s a possibly even bigger — if slower moving — threat in the much larger ice mass of East Antarctica, says Mooney. The Totten Glacier holds back more ice than any other in East Antarctica, which is itself the biggest ice mass in the world by far. Warmer waters in this area could ultimately be even more damaging than what’s happening in West Antarctica — and the total amount of ice that could someday be lost would raise sea levels by as much as 13 feet. iNews translates this as “2.9 metres”. Time magazine clarifies: “Without intense efforts to stem man-made global warming, the glacier’s melting process could cross the point of no return within the next 100 years, according to report. The result would add more than 6.6 feet (2 meters) of sea level rise over the coming several centuries, in addition to several feet of rise from other sources.” MailOnline says the glacier “may be teetering on the edge of a critical threshold”. BBC News says: “Most of the big glaciers in the east of the White Continent appear relatively quiescent; Totten is something of an exception. It is experiencing a thinning rate of about half a metre per year, according to the latest satellite measurements.” Meanwhile, in the Conversation, one of the authors of the study explains their findings.

The US would still meet its obligations under the Paris accord on climate change if Donald Trump were elected president, a senior US administration official has told the Guardian. He said the path of the US towards a lower-carbon economy was already set, and was dependent on market forces that would not easily succumb to political tinkering. “Would [Trump’s policies] shift the emissions trajectory in the United States? That doesn’t look likely. Why not? Because he’s not going to raise the price of gas,” said the State Department official, in an exclusive interview with the Guardian. “Why would he do that? That’s completely anti what he believes.” Trump said this week that he would renege on the landmark Paris agreement on climate change if he were elected president this November. He told Reuters: “At a minimum I will be renegotiating those agreements, at a minimum. And at a maximum I may do something else.” Meanwhile, a range of publications, including the Washington Post, Grist, Media Matters for America and Climate Progress, pointing out what Trump’s idea is “so bizarre” and why “he can’t undo” the Paris agreement.

A Norwegian group of climate scientists will form an alliance today with investors including BlackRock Inc and the World Bank to try to assess the financial risks of rising global temperatures. The Center for International Climate and Environmental Research, Oslo (CICERO) says it wants to help investors judge risks from global warming, such as more heatwaves, floods, downpours, the extinction of animals and plants and rising seas. Representatives of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, World Bank Treasury, Swedish pension fund AP2, Nordic bank SEB and Norwegian bank DNB would be among those on an advisory board for the CICERO Climate Finance project, to be launched on Thursday. Meanwhile, Climate Home reports that Bank of England governor Mark Carney has added his name to a high level list of leading insurers who have committed to help developing countries cope with climate impacts.

Norway has awarded Arctic drilling licences to 13 oil companies on including in a hitherto unexplored part of the Barents Sea, drawing condemnation from environmental groups. It is the first time since 1994 the country has opened a new sector to the oil industry. Norway’s output has halved since 2000 and a collapse in crude prices has slashed state revenues. Three of the 10 licences, which consist of 40 blocks in total, are in the immediate vicinity of the maritime border with Russia, in an area the two countries long disputed before an accord was concluded in 2010. The Telegraph adds that two UK oil explorers – Centrica and Tullow Oil – have won Arctic drilling licences.

A new report says that global agricultural emissions must be slashed to prevent the planet warming by more than 2C over the next century. The current focus is on reducing emissions from transport and energy. But an international team of scientists argues that if farm-related emissions aren’t tackled then the Paris climate targets will be breached. An estimated one-third of our greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. The report, published in Global Change Biology, by researchers from the universities of Vermont and Sheffield and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change examines non-CO2 emissions, such as methane and nitrous oxide. The researchers have calculated for the first time that these emissions must be reduced by one gigatonne per year in 2030. They estimate that the mitigation plans currently in place would only cut emissions by 21-40%. The Washington Post also reports the study.

Researchers have designed an inventive test suggesting that the arguments commonly used by climate change contrarians don’t add up, not only according to climate scientists (we know what they think already) but also in the view of unbiased experts from other fields, reports Harvey. “The trick? Disguising the data — and its interpretation — as if it was part of an argument about something else entirely.” The report quotes Stephan Lewandowsky, the new study’s lead author and a psychologist at the University of Bristol: “What we find is that whatever so called climate skeptics say about [climate] data just doesn’t characterize the data adequately. It’s as simple as that. It’s judged to be misleading, false, and just incorrect basically,” by independent experts from fields like economics and statistics.

Portugal kept its lights on with renewable energy alone for four consecutive days last week in a clean energy milestone revealed by data analysis of national energy network figures. The Guardian adds: “Electricity consumption in the country was fully covered by solar, wind and hydro power in an extraordinary 107-hour run that lasted from 6.45am on Saturday 7 May until 5.45pm the following Wednesday, the analysis says. News of the zero emissions landmark comes just days after Germany announced that clean energy had powered almost all its electricity needs on Sunday 15 May, with power prices turning negative at several times in the day – effectively paying consumers to use it.” Grist also highlights that “Europe keeps hitting clean energy milestones”.

Chazan takes a look at the restructuring on German utilities Eon and RWE observing that they have had “little choice but to shake up their operations as Germany embraces renewable energy”. He adds: “Eon is not alone in finalising a far-reaching overhaul this year. Rival RWE has embarked on an equally drastic restructuring, as both companies respond to a crisis in the German power industry that many have described as existential. The trigger was the Energiewende, Germany’s decisive shift away from fossil fuels and nuclear power towards renewables. The transformation has shaken up the industry in ways no one saw coming. ‘What happened went beyond my worst case [scenario],’ says Johannes Teyssen, chief executive of Eon. Germany has become an incubator for changes that are now taking hold across the industrialised world, and which will accelerate as a result of a climate change accord finalised in Paris in December.”

The editorial looks ahead to a decision tomorrow by councillors in North Yorkshire on whether to approve a fracking application: “With the use of fossil fuels in decline and the future of nuclear power in this country in doubt, thanks to the wrangling over the suspect Hinkley Point, fracking could prove a vital piece of the energy puzzle…Fracking can help to reduce our dependence on imported gas and Middle Eastern oil. Subject to stringent planning regulations, permission for it should be expedited. The creation of a new industry has the potential to create thousands of jobs…Nimbyism must not be allowed to trump the national interest.”

The editor of Climate Home notes that women now hold six influential positions within the global climate talks. “As of 17 May, the six most influential positions within the UN process are all held by women, a significant increase on last year’s total of two. Outgoing UN climate chief Christiana Figueres has held her role for six years, but it’s the steady arrival of other women in top jobs that is a sign of change. France environment minister Segolene Royal is now president of the talks, aided by two UN ‘climate champions’: Moroccan minister Hakima El Haite and Paris Agreement architect Laurence Tubiana. This week, Saudi Arabian diplomat Sarah Baashan and New Zealand’s former climate ambassador Jo Tyndall completed the team, taking charge as co-chairs of the UN talks.” King poses the question: “Can they make a difference on the ground?”

The Times columnist criticises those who peddle “anti-science” views on climate change, GM crops and e-cigarettes: “When it comes to fear, prejudice, poor science, confirmation bias and conspiracism, few lobbies can match the anti-man-made-climate-change brigade. The overwhelming scientific consensus, including from those most expert in the field, is that carbon dioxide emissions lead to global warming, that we are responsible for a significant proportion of this phenomenon, and that, within a range, the consequences will be severe. But there is a voluble and powerful lobby (step forward Lord Lawson of Blaby and most of the US Republican party) dedicated to the business of getting the rest of us to join them in jamming our fingers in our ears and singing Nymphs and Shepherds at the top of our voices.”

Warren, the chairman of the British Energy Efficiency Federation, says that new European Commission rules could save 10m tonnes of CO2 – but Leave campaigners ignore these benefits when attacking EU efficiency standards: “More worrying is the bland presumption that any and all such regulations are without purpose. The anti-Europeans should at any rate be honest enough to admit that the logic of their anti-regulatory dogma is that they could not care less about…eliminating the potential to cut overall carbon dioxide emissions by 10 million tonnes. Nonetheless the fantasy world of the Brexit camp continues.”

Rising global temperatures could trigger the Totten glacier on the East Antarctic ice sheet to become unstable within the next 100 years, a new study says. Researchers analysed how the Totten glacier has grown and retreated in the past, and the findings reveal that were it to shrink back another 100-150km, the head of the glacier would be sitting on unstable bedrock. This could trigger a period of rapid retreat over the coming centuries, the study says, contributing between 0.9 and 2.9m to rising sea levels.