The US and India have jointly pledged to try to ratify the UN’s climate change deal before the end of the year. The deal was stuck during a meeting of the two countries’ leaders in Washington DC. India’s support will be important as the deal requires ratification from 55 countries representing 55% of emissions before coming into force. The US wants to cement the deal before Obama’s term comes to an end in January, in order to both secure his legacy and make it harder for a future president to unwind the agreement. The Associated Press, the Hill and Climate Home all cover the news, while the New York Times carries a video of Obama announcing the recent development. Separately, Nigeria has also said that it will ratify the Paris Agreement, edging the deal even closer to entry into force, according to Climate Home.

Solar power in the UK produced more electricity than coal for the whole of May, which was the first ever month to pass this milestone. Solar panels generated 50% more electricity than coal, thanks to lengthening days and falling coal use, generating 1336 gigawatt hours compared to coal’s 893GWh output. The Press Association also covers the news, which was revealed yesterday by Carbon Brief analysis.

In response to the Paris Agreement, Norway’s parliament has agreed to push forward the country’s net zero emission emissions goal to 2030 — 20 years earlier than previously planned. This target was mooted in 2008 but used back to 2050 when negotiators failed to reach a global agreement to tackle climate change in Copenhagen. To reach this goal, Norway will have to purchase carbon credits abroad and lower its own carbon emissions.

Arctic sea ice has hit record low levels for May, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, beating the previous 2004 record by more than half a million square kilometres. The extent is over a million square kilometres below the average for the month. The question remains over whether the overall sea ice low will beat the current 2012 record when it dips to its lowest point in September, but the daily extents in May were two to four weeks ahead of levels seen during that record year.

To achieve the EU’s renewable energy targets, ministers will have to introduce a new type of petrol that includes 10% bioethanol, according to MPs on the energy select committee. Currently, under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, just 5% of petrol is bioethanol, but the EU Renewable Energy Directive requires 10% of transport energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, says the Telegraph.

In his weekly Brain Scanner column, Simon Oxenham looks at claims that wind turbines are bad for your health, and the studies that support and discredit this claim. It is difficult to rule out the nocebo effect — “the placebo effect’s evil twin” — where people experience bad impacts because they fear the impacts, he says. He also questions what is behind the “seemingly never-ending gravy train of funding for this kind of research” and concludes that even if wind farms do cause minor health problems it won’t impact whether we continue to build them.

The government is due to release a report on shale gas, but where has it gone? This is what one of the scientists who submitted evidence towards it asks in a letter to the Guardian. It was supposed to be released by the end of May. “We have also been told unofficially that the CCC has accepted our data on fugitive emissions of methane and that shale gas is two times worse than coal from a climate change perspective,” says Dr Robin Russell-Jones.

The fate of the Great Barrier Reef could be a vote-deciding issue in the upcoming Australian elections, says an editorial in the Guardian. In a poll, 44% said it would change their vote. Both parties have pledged money towards it, but nowhere near the $1bn a year for 10 years that experts say is required.

Variations in weather between 1996 and 2009 caused economic losses of $17-53m to China’s single-season rice sector, a new study finds. Using county-level rice yield data, researchers analysed the impact of weather on China’s rice farming. Among the study’s findings, the researchers discover that higher daily minimum temperature during the early growing (“vegetative”) stage increased rice yield, while higher daily maximum temperature during the vegetative and ripening stages reduced yield.

If the world’s currently-used rain gauges were gathered together, they would take up less than half a football field, a new study says. Rain gauges are indispensable for measuring rainfall, the researchers say, yet their distribution across the globe is limited: over land their distribution and density is variable, while very few gauges exist over the oceans. For example, assuming each gauge used by the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) represents a surrounding area of 5km radius, they cover only about 1% of the Earth’s surface, the researchers note.