Soloman Islanders relocate to avoid impacts of climate change
Climate and energy news
Globally, Last Month Was The Fourth Hottest July
On Record
July was the fourth hottest on record according to the US
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The first
seven months of 2014 were also tied as the third-warmest start to
the year.
The Royal Society Proposes First Framework for
Climate Engineering Experiments
The Royal Society thinks the world needs a framework to
regulate geoengineering experiments and has proposed a draft at a
major conference in Berlin. The draft, which sounds a highly cautious
tone on climate engineering, has been opened for comments from
conference participants.
Anti-fracking group stages day of
action
Anti-fracking protesters superglued themselves to the
entrance of the environment department DEFRA yesterday.
Simultaneous protests took place at the London office of fracking
firm iGas, a Swansea University energy research centre, the office
of prominent fracking firm Cuadrilla near Blackpool and several
other locations. The day of action was staged by protest group
Reclaim the Power. In a blog for the Guardian, solar entrepreneur
Jeremy Leggett argues fracking is an economic bubble waiting to
burst. Meanwhile Ineos, the owner of the Grangemouth oil refinery
in Scotland, has bought part of an exploration licence covering
shale extraction from under 127 square miles of land around its
site. The Financial Times has the story. Scotland has only smallquantities of shale gas and
some shale oil.
Low-carbon technologies deliver over half Spain’s
power as renewables output soars
Renewables met over 37 per cent of Spanish electricity
demand during July, Business Green reports. New wind and solar keep
being built while overall demand is usually lowest in the summer.
At the Energy Collectiv Robert Wilson factchecksclaims Germany gets half
its energy from solar panels. Last year it got 4.5 per cent of its
electricity from the sun, he finds.
A New Frontier for Fracking: Drilling Near the
Arctic Circle
Companies are planning to explore fracking in the Canadian
Arctic report Yale Environment 360. The region has rich shale oil
deposits but many indigenous people and conservationists have
serious concerns about the impact of fracking in more fragile
northern environments.
Texas Judge Throws Out Family’s Lawsuit That
Blames Nosebleeds, Asthma On Fracking
Fumes
A Texas family has lost a lawsuit claiming air pollution
from two companies’ hydraulic fracturing operations were causing
ill health. The judge found insufficient evidence to support the
claim. Another Texas family won nearly $3 million in a similar
claim earlier this year.
MIT Study: Climate Talks on Path to Fall Far Short
of Goals
The most likely outcome of next year’s global climate talks
would all but guarantee dangerous warming by the end of the
century, according to an analysis by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. It expects pledges to put the world on a path to well
above two degrees of warming above pre-industrial
temperatures.
Korolec: Poland is a climate policy success
story
Poland, seen within Europe as a drag on climate action, is
in fact a climate success story according to its climate change
minister Macin Korolec. The coal-intensive nation can be a model
for developing countries, he says, having cut its emissions by 30
per cent between 1988 and 2012. This time period coincides with the
transition from communism to a market economy, with the shut-down
of many inefficient state-owned factories.
‘Alarming’ Rate Of Bird Deaths As New Solar Plants
Scorch Animals In Mid-Air
A concentrating solar power plant using giant mirrors to
focus the sun on a generating tower in the Mojave desert is setting
fire to birds mid-flight, reports the Associated Press. The
“streamers” – named for the stream of smoke the birds leave – were
recorded by federal wildlife investigators. The companies behind
the $2.2 billion, 377 megawatt solar plant include Google. Some are
now calling for a halt to the firms’ plans to build two larger 500
megawatt plants pending more information being gathered on the
problem. Up to one streamer was recorded every two minutes which
would total over100,000 a year, a worryingly high number. However
it’s worth noting that cats kill an estimated365 million to 1 billion
birds a year.
Tory MPs more likely to oppose windfarms than
British public – poll
A poll funded by the wind industry has found strong support
for windfarms among the general public, with 62 per cent saying
they’d be happy to have one in their area. Support drops to 55 per
cent among rural adults. A poll of MPs found strong support among
Labour and Lib Dem parliamentarians but only 12 per cent of
Conservative MPs said they’d be in favour. This shows Tory MPs are
out of sync with the public, a wind industry
spokeswoman tellsBusiness Green. Meanwhile
wind supplied over a fifth of UK electricity on Sunday, Business
Green reports.
Five things Wikileaks taught us about climate
talks
RTCC reflects on the most interesting tidbits of climate
gossiip found in the Wikileaks releases, as Julian Assange
announces his plans to soon leave the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Saudi Arabia was in 2010 seeking to soften its stance against
climate action, for instance.
Climate and energy comment
Global warming denial rears its ugly head around
the world, in English
Dana Nuccitelli explores “global warming denial” among
English-speaking politicians and their advisers in Australia, the
US, UK, and Canada. He draws on the example of Maurice Newman,
business adviser to the Australian prime minister.
Video: Scottish independence: could country become
energy self-sufficient?
The Telegraph probes Alex Salmond’s energy plan and asks
what will happen to North Sea oil should Scotland vote for
independence on September 18. Salmond wantsScotland to get the
equivalent of 100 per cent of its electricity from renewables by
2020 – not 100 per cent of its energy as the Telegraph reports. In
2013 Scotland got 40 per cent of its electricity from
renewables.
New climate science
Impact of historical land-use changes on the
Indian summer monsoon onset
International Journal of Climatology
Scientists have investigated the impact of historical land
use change (between 1750 and 1800) on the Indian Monsoon. They
found a trend towards converting forest to cropland during that
time affected the amount of surface water, delaying the onset date
of the local rainy season and decreasing rainfall by more than
2?mm? per day over the Indian subcontinent.
Waterloo makes public most complete Antarctic map
for climate research
An international team has unveiled a new satellite image of
Antarctica, designed to help scientists all over the world gain new
insight into the effects of climate change. The collaboration was
part of the International Polar Year, aimed at making science
products available for free. You can see the maphere. Next up is a similar map for
Greenland.
Persistent link between solar activity and
Greenland climate during the Last Glacial
Maximum
A new study shows the sun influences the climate –
especially on a regional level – in a similar way regardless of
whether the climate is extreme, as during the last Ice Age, or as
it is today. But while solar energy has indirect impacts on
atmospheric circulation, it’s not the most important factor
affecting earth’s climate, the scientists note.