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Early warning system for climate tipping points given £81m kickstart
Ambitious UK project aims to forecast climate catastrophes using fleets of drones, cosmic ray detection, patterns of plankton blooms and more
An ambitious attempt to develop an early warning system for climate tipping points will combine fleets of drones, cosmic ray detection and the patterns of plankton blooms with artificial intelligence and the most detailed computer models to date.
The UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria), which backs high-risk, high-reward projects, has awarded £81m to 27 teams. The quest is to find signals that forewarn of the greatest climate catastrophes the climate crisis could trigger. Tipping points occur when global temperature is pushed beyond a threshold, leading to unstoppable changes in the climate system.
Continue reading...‘The path forward is clear’: how Trump taking office has ‘turbocharged’ climate accountability efforts
‘Make polluters pay’ laws, led by blue states AGs, and accountability suits will be a major front for climate litigation for the coming years
Donald Trump’s re-election has “turbocharged” climate accountability efforts including laws which aim to force greenhouse gas emitters to pay damages for fueling dangerous global warming, say activists.
These “make polluters pay” laws, led by blue states’ attorneys general, and climate accountability lawsuits will be a major front for climate litigation in the coming months and years. They are being challenged by red states and the fossil fuel industry, which are also fighting against accountability-focused climate lawsuits waged by governments and youth environmentalists.
Continue reading...Censored Science Can’t Save Lives
War Is Killing The Planet
There are many ways Trump could trigger a global collapse. Here’s how to survive if that happens | George Monbiot
It could be wildfires, a pandemic or a financial crisis. The super-rich will flee to their bunkers – the rest of us will have to fend for ourselves
Though we might find it hard to imagine, we cannot now rule it out: the possibility of systemic collapse in the United States. The degradation of federal government by Donald Trump and Elon Musk could trigger a series of converging and compounding crises, leading to social, financial and industrial failure.
There are several possible mechanisms. Let’s start with an obvious one: their assault on financial regulation. Trump’s appointee to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Russell Vought, has suspended all the agency’s activity, slashed its budget and could be pursuing Musk’s ambition to “delete” the bureau. The CFPB was established by Congress after the 2008 financial crisis, to protect people from the predatory activity that helped trigger the crash. The signal to the financial sector could not be clearer: “Fill your boots, boys.” A financial crisis in the US would immediately become a global crisis.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...Fossil fuel industry accused of seeking special treatment over oilfield emissions
Lobbyists argued it was unfair for their industry to be treated the same as others as end product – oil and gas – inevitably produced emissions
Experts have accused the fossil fuel industry of seeking special treatment after lobbyists argued greenhouse gas emissions from oilfields should be treated differently to those from other industries.
The government is embroiled in a row over whether to allow a massive new oilfield, Rosebank, to go ahead, with some cabinet members arguing it could boost growth and others concerned it could make the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 impossible to reach. Labour made a manifesto commitment to halt new North Sea licensing, but Rosebank and some other projects had already been licensed and were awaiting final approval when the party won the general election.
Continue reading...Footage shows coral bleaching at Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef – video
Divers have documented evidence of what conservationists say is widespread coral bleaching at the Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia’s north-west coast. Waters off WA have been affected by a prolonged marine heatwave since September, with ocean temperatures 1.5C higher than average over a five-month period
Large areas of WA’s Ningaloo corals could die in ‘weeks ahead’ after widespread bleaching documented
Large areas of WA’s Ningaloo corals could die in ‘weeks ahead’ after widespread bleaching documented
Conservationists call for urgent government action as prolonged heatwave affects renowned reef, including Turquoise Bay, Tantabiddi and Bundegi
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Divers have documented evidence of what conservationists say is widespread coral bleaching at the Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia’s north-west coast.
Photographs show bleaching at several sites along the 260km-long reef, including Turquoise Bay, Coral Bay, Tantabiddi and Bundegi (Exmouth Gulf).
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Continue reading...US energy secretary says Australia should ‘get in the game of supplying uranium’
Chris Wright also tells conservative conference Australia developing shale gas would be a ‘tremendous resource’ – despite Australia already being one of the world largest producers and exporters of both LNG and uranium
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The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, has said he “would love to see Australia get in the game of supplying uranium and maybe going down the nuclear road themselves”.
Australia is already the world’s fourth-largest producer of uranium, but nuclear power remains banned at national level.
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Continue reading...California’s Push for Electric Trucks Sputters Under Trump
Praise Song for a False Spring
How Trump Is Quietly Upending Federal Rules
Pepper-sprayed activist posed no threat to Victoria police officer who later said ‘they needed that’, court hears
Class action trial over police use of OC spray on climate protests at 2019 mining conference begins in Melbourne
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A climate protester was unarmed and posed no threat when he was hit with “excruciatingly painful” pepper spray by a Victorian police officer who later remarked “they needed that”, a court has heard.
But a lawyer representing the state – in the first class action against Victoria police in relation to alleged excessive use of oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray – said the protester was part of a group that “piled” into an area and blocked their attempts to make arrests.
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Continue reading...Brazil asks UN to ditch proposed levy on global shipping
Those supporting the deal hope it will raise billions to help poor countries deal with climate breakdown
Brazil has asked the UN to throw out plans for a new levy on global shipping that would raise funds to fight the climate crisis, despite playing host to the next UN climate summit.
The proposed levy on carbon dioxide emissions from shipping will be discussed at a crunch meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) that begins on Monday. Those supporting the deal, including the UK, the EU and Japan, are hoping the levy will raise billions of dollars a year, which could be used to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate breakdown.
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