Tackling climate change won't harm economic growth - report
Climate and energy news
Dangerous climate warming
Dangerous climate change is inevitable and governments andsociety should begin to prepare for the worst, according to anacademic, reports the Herald Scotland. Philosopher John Foster willmake the claim during a speech next week, the paper says, where hewill argue that efforts to manage greenhouse gas emissions havefailed.
Climate risk and green growth underpin UK’s 2015strategy
Yesterday climate secretary Ed Davey unveiled his plan for aglobal climate deal in Paris next year. RTCC looks at the symbolismin Davey’s choice of venue and speaker, with business interests andthe economy centre stage. It also looks at the chances of a twodegrees deal being agreed.
Public may end up paying for obsolete smart metersthat save little, MPs warn
Households will bear the cost of installing new ‘smart’meters that are likely to benefit energy suppliers the most, acommittee of MPs warns today. The government’s £11 billion roll-outof smart gas and electricity meters will cost every home about £215over the next 15 years yet households will save at most just 3% ayear on the average energy bill by 2030, MPs say, and only if theyuse the meters to cut their usage. Suppliers will benefit by notneeding to send out staff for meter readings.
UN climate chief says 125 leaders confirmed for NYsummit
UK prime minister David Cameron is the latest world leader tosignal his intention to attend a climate summit in New York on 23September, reports RTCC. UN climate chief Christiana Figueres saysthe decision by the leaders of China and India not to attend willnot affect the credibility of the talks.
Polar bears are being used as political weapons,says scientist
Dr Mitchell Taylor, a polar bear expert and professor atLakehead University in Ontario, tells MailOnline that “there noreliable scientific evidence that polar bear numbers havedeclined”. The poster boys of global warming are being used aspolitical weapons in the argument over climate action, it says. Thepaper also reports claims that large ancient Egyptian mammalswere wiped outby past climatechange.
UN says time running out on climate change aftercarbon dioxide levels rise
The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen atthe fastest rate for 30 years amid evidence that the world’sforests are no longer soaking up as much of the greenhouse gas,according to a UN report. The findings indicate that a naturaldefence against global warming may be breaking down, meaning thatfuture emissions could result in a faster rise in globaltemperatures. Everyone else has the story too. Here’sour take.
UK carbon budgets to make each household £565 ayear better off
Each household in the UK will be an average of £565 a yearbetter off by 2030 if the UK government sticks to its carbonbudgets, even before you even consider the climate change benefitsthat may result from decarbonisation according to a CambridgeEconometrics report covered in Business Green. The website alsocarries two opinion pieces exploring the report- andits economic underpinnings- in moredetail. We took a look here. J
Climate and energy comment
Carbon test: The PM must seize initiative atclimate change summit
The latest report from the World Meteorological Associationis alarming, according to yesterday’s Independent editorial. Itsays this is the first time the WMO has warned the world’s oceansand forests may be reaching saturation point in their ability toabsorb our carbon emissions. With this backdrop, the Independentsays prime minister David Cameron should seize the green initiativeat the 23 September climate summit in New York.
Sorry policy-makers, the two-degrees warmingpolicy is likely a road to disaster
There are serious questions about whether the two degrees ofwarming limit is safe, argues Alexander White in the Guardian.Despite this, national pledges may only manage to limit it to 3degrees and current trajectory actually puts the world on coursefor 4 degrees, he says. Alexander White, TheGuardian
Greater wind speed variability adds to theproblems of accommodating renewables on thegrid
Wind speeds over the UK have become more variable recently,reports Carbon Commentary. It used to be the case that averagemonthly wind speeds only very infrequently departed more than 30per cent from the norm for the month. In the last year, however, hesaid that we’ve had two months of very high speeds and one of verylow, meaning wind turbines need larger amounts of backuppower.
New climate science
Global market integration increases likelihoodthat a future African Green Revolution could increase crop land useand CO2 emissions
Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences
A new study has found that a ‘green revolution’ in Africacould result in an increase in carbon dioxide emissions. Theresearch showed that improvements in agricultural productivity inAfrica from 2025 to 2050 could increase global cropland expansionby 1.8 million hectares and global carbon emissions by 267 milliontonnes. The benefits of agricultural innovation, the study found,would be cheaper food, improved farming returns and reducedpoverty.
Odor tracking in sharks is reduced under futureocean acidification conditions
The sense of smell of sharks could be impaired by oceanacidification, a new study suggests. Scientists at the GeorgiaInstitute of Technology used forecasts of carbon dioxideconcentrations to create future ocean conditions in a series ofpools. The study found that smooth dogfish sharks were less able totrack food odours in water with higher carbon dioxidecontent.
Recent seasonal asymmetric changes in the NAO (amarked summer decline and increased wintervariability)
International Journal of Climatology
British winters are becoming more unsettled, new researchshows. The study analysed winter weather for the past 115 years andfound that year-to-year variations from wet, mild and stormy toextremely cold and snowy conditions have become more pronounced -particularly for December. The most contrasting conditions werefound in the most recent decade.