UK seventh most vulnerable to flooding, US pledges $1bn for climate resilience, and Japan is burning ice
Climate and energy news:
Wild weather puts climate back on global agenda
before 2015 deadline
Climate and energy comment:
Is ‘burning ice’ the solution to Japan’s energy
crisis?
A Japanese company is planning to tap the vast quantaties of
methane hydrate believed to be trapped beneath the seabed around
the country. The Telegraph piece looks at Japan’s interest in the
unconventional fuel for creating a new domestic energy source – and
how feasible plans for exploiting it are.
Barrage over climate change link to
floods
The BBC’s science editor gives his take on the strength of
the science surrounding the link between climate change and the
UK’s recent run of exceptional weather. On the consensus reached in
the latest UN climate report that climate change is upping the odds
of heavy downpours in the UK and Europe, Shukman concludes “as so
often, you can read its documents in different ways”.
Weird weather? Four weather events that could be
linked to climate change
“The sheer amount of different extreme weather events going
on simultaneously around the world means this could be the winter
when climate change becomes ‘real’ our minds”, says EnergyDesk. The
piece looks at four types of extreme event the world has seen
recently, asking what the science says about the possible links to
climate change.
New climate science:
Beyond Wellie Boots and Photo Ops: Exploring the
Politics of Climate Change in the U.K.
A new review looks at the rise of climate change as a
political issue in the UK. What once looked to be an all-party
consensus is now gridlocked by “tribalism” but the political fringe
may change the dynamic, say the researchers.
Tradeoffs and Synergies between Biofuel Production
and Large Solar Infrastructure in
Deserts
Environmental Science &
Technology
Solar energy installations in deserts are on the rise,
fueled by technological advances and policy changes, reports a new
study. But construction and operation of these solar plants
requires vast amounts of water. The researchers compare water use
and greenhouse gas emissions with biofuel production, another
widely promoted potential energy source.