February 1985 was the last month when global temperatures
were below the twentieth century average, meaning a majority of
people alive today have not experienced average global
temperatures. Climate change is gradually shifting our sense of
what is normal, and scientists will need to “remind the public
about just how rapid and unprecedented the changes truly are”, the
Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organisation tells
Reuters.

Environment ministers from four of the world’s leading
emerging economies meet in Delhi on Thursday to discuss plans to
address climate change, RTCC reports. The BASIC group will discuss
its position ahead of climate talks in Lima this year and Paris
next year that hope to secure a global deal on reducing greenhouse
gas emissions.

Energy regulator Ofgem may decide that cables to connect
offshore wind turbines to the grid cannot benefit from rules
allowing power companies to install infrastructure on people’s land
if it is an ‘extension’ of a power plant. Ofgem will consult with
power company RWE, which wants to install cables connecting an
offshore wind farm in Lincolnshire, before making a final
decision.

Rapid warming in the Arctic is melting froze ground known as
‘permafrost’, leading to a range of knock-on effects – from large
holes appearing in the ground, to more carbon being released into
the atmosphere. This Mail article surveys the warming
region.

India’s science minister says global population levels need
to be stabilised to tackle climate change and environmental
degradation, RTCC reports, noting that “Few politicians have dared
to make a link between population levels and climate change.” The
article also considers the effects stabilising global population
would have on carbon emissions.

A new study suggests that even if the world can agree a
global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions in Paris next year, the
level of ambition that might be possible is probably not enough to
limit global warming to no more than two degrees celsius. The study
contains, according to the researchers, “a good deal of guesswork”,
but suggests that policymakers need to think beyond getting a
global deal that may not limit temperature rise
sufficiently.

A new comment piece in Nature outlines the most pressing
questions for research in the south pole’s vast ice sheet – which
holds 90 per cent of earth’s ice and 70 per cent of its fresh
water. “Once seen as a desolate place frozen in time, Antarctica is
now known to be experiencing relentless change”, says Mahlon C.
Kennicutt II, Professor of oceanography at Texas A&M
University. The piece calls for greater collaboration and
environmental protection for the region.

The North Atlantic leg of a large ocean current system –
known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation – slowed
down by about 30 per cent during 2009-2010, according to UK
scientists who have been monitoring the system since 2004. This
meant a lot less heat was transported northwards in the Atlantic
ocean, leading to severe winter conditions over northwestern
Europe, say the scientists.