As the Arctic is 30 degrees Celsius (50 F) warmer than what it should be right now, finding local solutions to cool down the poles suddenly doesn’t seem this far-fetched anymore.
Arctic
Both poles are warming up fast
While some people still want to deny climate change or that Mankind has anything to do with it, the facts are stubborn: our planet is warming fast and it is our handy work.
IPCC fifth report is a stark warning
As you perhaps know, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is publishing in 2014 its fifth Assessment Report. If the fourth, published in 2007, was a strong warning against business as usual, the latest one is even more serious.
Today the Working Group II considered ” the vulnerability and exposure of human and natural systems, the observed impacts and future risks of climate change, and the potential for and limits to adaptation. “
The findings are really scary and should – hopefully will – urge our governments towards more drastic and faster action towards greenhouse gases emissions reduction.
Shell to keep from drilling the Arctic one more year
Here are good news, as according to Grist : ” The Arctic will be safe from drilling efforts by accident-prone Shell this year, and the oil company says it is reconsidering its very future in the region.” ” (…) The company announced on Thursday that it won’t pursue exploratory drilling in the Arctic this year, … Read more
Worth an article : My July & August 2013 tweets
If you have been away from Twitter and your environmental news sources for all summer, here is the perfect article to know what were the most important news besides the ones I covered here.
Given this selection I believe it is safe to say we are reaching tipping points for both the seriousness of our multiple crises and in some way, how we are starting to address some of them (mostly climate change).
I believe this selection of news offers a good complement to this website. So if you are on Twitter and like this selection, don’t hesitate to start following me.
Don’t say climate change, prefer ” climate crises “
To a recent study, global warming could cause a 50 percent increase in violent conflict. Given that it has already sparked the matches of war in Darfur and Syria, one can be scared. As the Guardian noted :
” A group of researchers have trawled the scientific literature and concluded from 60 studies, from Somalia and China to Colombia and the Middle East, that unusually warm weather generates more aggression and conflict. “
” In parts of equatorial Africa, they suggest, every added degree of heat increases the chance of conflict between groups by 11 to 14%. “
Is global warming causing a cold spring ?
Temperatures in northern Europe and parts of the United States are currently colder than average – see these articles from The Independant, Der Spiegel and the Washington Post. Given this, one can reasonably ask : Did the record Arctic melt triggered this cold winter ? To climatologists, it seems likely as previous studies have shown. … Read more
Shell stops drilling in the Arctic
In the last few years the ice of the Arctic has been melting increasingly fast. This has increased the willingness of oil companies of all colors and stripes to dig there. Among them, the Royal Dutch Shell.
Given how Arctic oil would be difficult to retrieve safely and how little they would ease the pressure on prices – see my previous posts on the matter – it’s no surprise that the company has suspended for this year its activities there.
Both the Economist and the Huffington Post – as well as many other sources – have dedicated articles to the news. Let’s hope Arctic oil drilling will never happen.
Soot’s underestimated role in climate change
According to the most comprehensive research on the subject, soot – also known as black carbon – may have a significantly higher role in climate change than previously estimated.
According to a BBC article quoting the study : ” (soot) dark particles are having a warming effect approximately two thirds that of carbon dioxide, and greater than methane. “
Tackling its emissions – which come mostly from wood and coal burning as well as diesel engines in developed countries – would be easy to tackle.
Arctic ice 18 percent below previous records
We have seen it this year quite a few times : the arctic has been melting this year at an unprecedented rate to a never seen before low level. Indeed, the new low level is 18 percent below the previous record, which dated from 2007. This has led a scientist from Cambridge to believe that the … Read more
Worth an article – my August 2012 tweets
I have been committed since January 2007 to bring you each month a selection of the latest headlines and best researches on sustainable development, climate change and the world energy sector.
However, I don’t blog as much as I would like to and generally write around 25 posts per month. But many more news are worth reading. This is why I use Twitter to share dozens of news that are worth your time.
I believe it offers a good complement to this website. So if you are on Twitter and like this selection, don’t hesitate to start following me.