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Posts by bozz4science

Posts by bozz4science

1) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 67185)
Posted 1 Jan 2023 by bozz4science
Post:
2022 will be warmest year on record in UK, says Met Office
2) Message boards : Number crunching : Download errors on UK Met Office HadAM4 at N216 resolution v8.52 tasks (Message 64681)
Posted 21 Oct 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
Just retried now. Downloads finally work smoothly again at least on my host.
3) Message boards : Number crunching : Download errors on UK Met Office HadAM4 at N216 resolution v8.52 tasks (Message 64672)
Posted 21 Oct 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
Same stuff repeating on my end on a Linux VM (Host 1519938). Tasks are stuck in the "Download: retry in xx:xx" loop. According to the event log some files started to download okay, but got suddenly stuck with the message "Temporarily failed download of …" & "Backing off xx:xx on download of …".
4) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64595)
Posted 7 Oct 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
Europe
- Turkey ratifies Paris climate change agreement as last G20 country (DW)
- Austria adopts carbon pricing in tax overhaul (Reuters)
- Over two feet of rain fell in Italy in only half a day, something not seen in Europe before (CNN) (12hr total of 740mm or 29.2'')
- Can Your Pension Resist Climate Change? U.K. Funds Tally Risks (Bloomberg)
- Tesla's gigafactory electrifies California-Germany culture clash (Reuters)
- Climate is the kingmaker in German coalition-building – The two parties crucial to forming a post-election government differ starkly on climate and energy policy (Politico)
- European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change (EEA)

North America
- Giant sequoias and fire have coexisted for centuries. Climate crisis is upping the stakes (The Guardian)
- Farmers offered climate credits in aspiring carbon market (E&E News)

Middle East
- Cyclone Shaheen hits Oman and Iran, causing flooding and deaths (The Guardian)

South America
- Dying crops, spiking energy bills, showers once a week. In South America, the climate future has arrived. (Washington Post)
- Brazil Says to Seek Help to Protect Amazon at Climate Summit (Bloomberg)
- Global Energy Crisis Comes to Drought-Stricken South America (Bloomberg)

Africa
- African governments want climate finance to hit $1.3 trillion by 2030 (Reuters)
- Scientists sound the alarm over drought in East Africa: what must happen next (The Conversation)
- Water crisis looming globally as drought increases by 29% in Africa — WMO (Vanguard)

Australia
- ‘Eye-watering’: climate change disasters will cost Australia billions each year, study finds (The Guardian)

Asia
- How Putin’s Advisers Convinced Him to Take Climate Risks Seriously (Bloomberg)
- Cambodia: Climate change, Mekong dams threaten world's biggest inland fishery (DW)

Global
- Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded for Study of Humanity’s Role in Changing Climate (NYT)
- Migration will soon be the biggest climate challenge of our time (FT)
- Climate Change Is Devastating Coral Reefs Worldwide, Major Report Says (NYT)
- Climate change set to worsen resource degradation, conflict, report says (Reuters)
- Satellite Startup Wants to Fight Climate Crisis With Next-Level Data (Bloomberg)
- Fossil fuel industry gets subsidies of $11m a minute, IMF finds (The Guardian)
- Climate change: Voices from global south muted by climate science (BBC)
- The Cheap and Easy Climate Fix That Can Cool the Planet Fast (Bloomberg) (about methane pollution)
- Google Maps to show the lowest carbon route for car journeys (The Guardian)
- The Martian Landscape Was Shaped by Massive, Climate Change–Fueled Floods (Smithsonian Magazine)
- To Fight Climate Change, We Need 'Radical' Lifestyle Changes From the World's Wealthiest: Study (Global Citizen)
- Investors with $4 trln assets aim to tackle Asian firms on climate change goals (Reuters)
5) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64551)
Posted 1 Oct 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
North America
America’s Frackers Are Lagging Behind Europe’s Oil Giants In Integrating Renewable Energy (Forbes)

The Great Lakes see the impact of climate change: "The highs are getting higher and the lows are getting lower" (CBS)

Thrust Into the Record Books by Climate Change, Profound U.S. Southwest Drought Isn't Going Away – Relief probably isn’t coming in the short run, but we can keep things from getting worse in the long run by tackling global warming. (Discover Magazine)

U.S. eyes wetland restoration as hedge against climate change (E&E News)

US renewable energy production hits all-time high in H1 2021 (Renewables Now)

California governor signs $15 bln package to tackle climate change (Reuters)

Late Night Shares the Stage With Climate Change (NYT)

Europe
Renewables share in Germany's power consumption falls in Jan-Sept 2021 (Renewables Now)

A New German Model: Hippies and Yuppies of the World, Unite! - Germany’s next governing coalition could set a global example by reconciling ecological and economic interests. (Bloomberg)

Climate Is Germany’s Top Issue No Matter Who Governs After Talks – As politicians negotiate to form a ruling coalition, it’s clear that fighting global warming has officially become a cross-party issue. (Bloomberg)

Climate change to loom large in talks to form new German government – Strong results for green and liberal parties mean climate and energy policies are expected to feature heavily in upcoming coalition talks. (Nature)

Climate change: Construction companies told to stop knocking down buildings - Making bricks and steel creates vast amounts of CO2, with cement alone causing 8% of global emissions (BBC)

Mont Blanc shrinks a metre since last official measurement in 2017 (The Guardian)

UK’s home gas boilers emit twice as much CO2 as all power stations – study (The Guardian)

‘It’s like a war’: Greece battles increase in summer wildfires (The Guardian)

Costs of climate change far greater than green transition, says ECB - Worst-case scenario could knock 10% off Europe’s GDP and lead to 30% rise in corporate defaults (FT)

Asia
Weatherwatch: sea rises threaten low-lying land in Vietnam (The Guardian)

South America
Brazilian Amazon’s Tipping Point May Already Be Here (Bloomberg)

The Country That Makes Breakfast for the World Is Plagued by Fire, Frost and Drought – Brazil’s crops have been scorched, frozen and then dried out by the worst drought in a century, upending global commodity markets. (Bloomberg)

Coffee bean price spike just a taste of what’s to come with climate change (The Guardian)

Africa
Three African Countries Need $280 Billion for Climate Change – Investments of about $280 billion will be needed to cope with the effects of climate change in 35 cities in South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia by 2050, new research shows. (Bloomberg) (Africa is the fastest urbanizing continent and also the hardest hit by global warming)

Global
Artificial intelligence can reveal climate change tipping points (Earth.com)

The beef with beef: Treating beef like coal would make a big dent in greenhouse-gas emissions – Cattle are a surprisingly large producer of greenhouse gases (Economist)

The new Anthropocene diet: Technology can help deliver cleaner, greener delicious food – Whether consumers want it is another question, says Jon Fasman (Economist)

Aquaculture: Floating offshore farms should increase production of seaweed – And they might even help alleviate climate change (Economist)

Charging ahead - How electric cars will dominate global sales within 20 years (National Geographic)

Arctic sea ice hits 2021 minimum – This summer’s minimum ice cover was twelfth-lowest ever and scientists warn that the long-term trend towards shrinking continues. (Nature)

Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and 22 Other Species Declared Extinct (Bloomberg)

Climate change: Arctic's unknown viruses' and nuclear waste – A rapidly warming Arctic could cause the spread of nuclear waste, undiscovered viruses and antibiotic resistant bacteria, a report has found. (BBC)

Climate Change Replaces Pandemic as Insurers’ Biggest Worry (Bloomberg)

Earth is losing its shine and scientists suspect climate change is the culprit (In a study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters on Aug. 29, researchers examined the Earth's "albedo" by analyzing earthshine at the Big Bear Solar Observatory in California between 1998 and 2017) (c|net)

It Pays to Be Proactive With Climate Change Plans (NASDAQ)

Climate change is getting real for investors (FT)
6) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64475)
Posted 17 Sep 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
World weather groups forecast a year of global warming of 1.5C before 2025 (FT)

UN: Pandemic did not slow advance of climate change (DW)

Report: Climate change could see 200 million move by 2050 (AP News)

More Europeans are taking climate change seriously. In the U.S., not so much. (NBC News)

Late-Night Shows Are Teaming Up to Tackle Climate Change (NYT)

Drought puts 2.1 million Kenyans at risk of starvation (The Guardian)

‘Larger than usual’: this year’s ozone layer hole bigger than Antarctica (The Guardian)
7) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : World’s biggest plant to capture CO2 from the air just opened in Iceland (Message 64459)
Posted 13 Sep 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
The plant is fully sustainable as the energy needed for operation comes from the neighboring geothermal facility and that is almost as good as it can get. Source:
Bloomberg

The facility, called Orca and built by Swiss startup Climeworks AG, will suck CO₂ out of the air. Icelandic startup Carbfix will then pump it deep into the ground, turning it into stone forever. Of the 16 installations Climeworks has built across Europe, Orca is the only one that permanently disposes of the CO₂ rather than recycling it.

The Orca plant draws in large amounts of air with huge fans, bringing the air in contact with chemicals that can selectively remove CO₂ while releasing nitrogen, oxygen and other gases back into the atmosphere. The carbon-rich chemicals are then heated to about 100°C to release CO₂ as a pure gas.

Carbfix mixes the gas with water and injects it deep into basaltic rock. The dissolved CO₂ crystallizes into a mineral in about two years, permanently storing it away. The energy for all those steps comes from the Hellisheidi geothermal plant.

Replicating that combination of factors — basaltic rock and cheap zero-carbon energy — at another location won’t be easy. It’s possible to store CO₂ in other geological formations where they don’t turn into rock, akin to what happens to oil and gas. But using zero-carbon energy is key, otherwise the process could generate more CO₂ than it stores.


But why not share this in the climate change news thread?

Sadly I don’t know the technical stuff behind CCS technology so I am rather unqualified to comment on its viability/efficiency. Planting trees, forest management and rewinding sounds more efficient to me but reversing some of our anthropogenic damage caused by CO2 emissions using tech doesn’t sound too bad... as long as the premise of using green energy for plant operation holds true. Maybe we can make this into a thread to discuss CCS tech in general.
8) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64458)
Posted 13 Sep 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
North America
‘Heat dome’ probably killed 1bn marine animals on Canada coast, experts say(The Guardian) (older news)

The United States Isn’t Ready for the New Phase of Climate Change (Foreign Affairs)

States across American west see hottest summer on record as climate crisis rages (The Guardian)

Biden adviser says Ida’s impact shows need for infrastructure, climate change legislation (Politico)

Next Pentagon budget will detail climate change spending (Defense News)

Rain fell on Greenland’s ice sheet for the first time ever known. Alarms should ring (The Guardian)

Europe
European cities must adapt to climate change, EU climate chief says (Euractiv)

Not Easy Voting Green: Germans Wary of Getting Climate Bill (Bloomberg)

Climate change tastes bitter to winemakers (FT)

Asia
Climate change and construction spell disaster for the Himalayas (DW)

Lake Akşehir in Turkey turns bone-dry due to climate change (Daily Sabah)

Climate change casts shadow on Bhutan with glacial lakes at risk (Nikkei Asia)

Middle East
Extreme Heat Becoming More Normal in the Gulf (Bloomberg)

Africa
Climate change fuels clashes in Cameroon that force thousands to flee (UNHCR)

South America
World’s Top Beef Supplier Approves Methane-Busting Cow Feed (Bloomberg)

Australia
‘Not on the same page’: Australia set to face US pressure on climate as ministers head to Washington (The Guardian)

Australia is shaping up to be the villain of COP26 climate talks (CNN)

Global
‘Huge’ Financial Risks Face Climate Change Deniers, Swedish Minister Says (Bloomberg)

We’re Right to Worry About Nightmare Climate Scenarios (Bloomberg)

What Smart People Get Wrong About Climate Change Extremes (Bloomberg)

Forget plans to lower emissions by 2050 – this is deadly procrastination (The Guardian)

Climate change risks triggering catastrophic tsunamis, scientist warns (FT)

More than 200 medical journals call for urgent action on climate change (France24)

Earth’s tipping points could be closer than we think. Our current plans won’t work (The Guardian)

Harvard University will divest its $42bn endowment from all fossil fuels (The Guardian)

Meat accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouse gases from food production, study finds (The Guardian)
9) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64435)
Posted 8 Sep 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
North America
Biden tours flood-hit areas; calls climate change 'existential threat' (Reuters)

Majestic sequoia trees can live for thousands of years. Climate change could wipe them out (CNN)

Hurricane Ida May Spark Mass Migration (Scientific American)

U.S. oil losses from Hurricane Ida rank among worst in 16 years (Reuters)

Europe
This summer was Europe's hottest on record as Mediterranean heat soared (CNN)

Europe’s summer droughts set to intensify under unabated climate change (National News)

Australia
New Zealand records warmest winter ever as scientists blame climate (NBC)

Global
New research reveals animals are changing their body shapes to cope with climate change (The Conversation) and this one from BBC

Time to utilise the full power of AI to accelerate our fight against climate change (World Economic Forum)

Medical Journals Call Climate Change the ‘Greatest Threat to Global Public Health’ (NYT)
10) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64420)
Posted 3 Sep 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
US
Hurricane Ida hits Gulf Coast (Reuters): Ida was the first major hurricane to strike the United States this year. Just three days after emerging as a tropical storm in the Caribbean Sea, it had intensified into a Category 4 hurricane. This is greatly illustrated in a graph, comparing Ida's path with other hurricanes in the past.

Hurricane Ida Aftermath Delivers Deadly Lesson on Climate Change (Bloomberg): Ex-hurricane kills more in Northeast than on Gulf Coast. The storm and its death toll served as grim reminders that as the climate changes, weather once considered freakish strikes with regularity, threatening the viability of all coastal economic centers. “Climate change is happening right now,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said via Twitter. “It is not a future threat. It is a current threat.”

At least 46 dead after Hurricane Ida remnants dump historic rains in Northeast U.S. (Global News): De Blasio, major of NYC, said he’d gotten a forecast Wednesday of 3 to 6 inches (7.5 to 15 cm) of rain for the day. The city’s Central Park ended up getting 3.15 inches in just one hour, surpassing the previous one-hour high of 1.94 inches (5 cm) during Tropical Storm Henri on Aug. 21. Wednesday’s storm ultimately dumped over 9 inches (23 cm) of rain in parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and nearly as much on New York City’s Staten Island.

Hurricane Larry Strengthens Over the Atlantic (NYT): Hurricane Larry, the 12th named storm of the busy 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, grew stronger in the eastern Atlantic Ocean late Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said, the latest in a run of tropical weather that has seen several storms in quick succession, some of them bringing destruction to land. Hurricanes are also becoming wetter because of more water vapor in the warmer atmosphere and a warming planet can expect stronger hurricanes over time, and a higher incidence of the most powerful storms

Europe
Climate change worries fuel nuclear dreams (Politico): Nuclear power has some really big problems, which is why many EU countries are shutting down their reactors – but the accelerating pace of climate change is prompting second thoughts. There is growing queasiness in parts of Europe over plans by France, Germany, Spain and Belgium to shut down 32 nuclear reactors, representing 31.9 GW of CO2-free electricity capacity, by 2035.

Global
Arctic warming linked to colder winters (BBC): A new study indicates that the warming in the Arctic is having a significant impact on winter weather in both North America and East Asia. "We're arguing that melting sea ice across Northwest Eurasia, coupled with increased snowfall across Siberia is leading to a strengthening of the temperature difference from west to east across the Eurasian continent," explained lead author Dr Judah Cohen, who's a professor at MIT

COP26: Climate change summit is 'make or break' for the planet, says MP (BBC): At a previous summit in Paris they agreed to try to stop the warming reaching 2C compared with pre-industrial times, and ideally no higher than 1.5C. But there was a big gap between that goal and the policies for action countries had been coming up with - putting the world on course for far worse climate change. COP26 is about trying to sort that out.

Could climate change trigger a financial crisis? (The Economist): In recent years regulators have begun warning about the threat that climate change poses to the stability of the financial system. There are mainly 3 channels through which climate change can induce risks to the financial system. Following its strategy review in July, the European Central Bank (ecb) will assemble a “climate change action plan”. Central banks around the world come to very similar conclusions about climate change risk, amongst others the BoE, ECB, and FED.

Climate Change and Its Environmental Impacts on Crop Growth (NASA): Hotter climate has a physiological effects on plants. Those changes on plants can be complex and are tied to crop type and the climate effects seen at the regional and local level. “We care about climate change not because of degrees Celsius or parts per million CO2, but because those in turn affect all sectors and our lives,” said Alex Ruane, co-Director of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, referring to not only the large-scale agricultural sector and economy, but also the everyday changes that will happen as communities respond to climate change.
11) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64419)
Posted 1 Sep 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
Global
Climate and weather related disasters surge five-fold over 50 years, but early warnings save lives - WMO report (UN): The WMO (World Meteorological Organization) and UNDRR (UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) released their Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970-2019) today on 1 September 2021, citing that climate change and increasingly extreme weather events, have caused a surge in natural disasters over the past 50 years disproportionately impacting poorer countries. According to the study, these natural hazards accounted for 50 per cent of all disasters, 45 per cent of all reported deaths and 74 per cent of all reported economic losses in that period. Positive news comes from a reduced death toll of these events thanks to improved early warning systems and disaster management.

Study (as PDF)
12) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64418)
Posted 30 Aug 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
North America
Ida Strengthened Quickly Into a Monster. Here’s How. (NYT): According to the National Hurricane Center’s forecast bulletins, the storm’s maximum sustained winds as of Saturday morning were about 85 m.p.h., making it a Category 1 hurricane. Less than 24 hours later they were 65 m.p.h. stronger, bringing Ida close to a Category 5. (Another great article about the how)

Mississippi River Is Flowing in Reverse as Ida Pushes Inland (Bloomberg)

Trudeau Pledges Tighter Rules for Oil Companies to Cut Emissions (Bloomberg): Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government would require Canada’s oil and gas sector to set benchmarks to reduce emissions if he is re-elected

South America
Brazil Hydro Plants May Go Offline From Drought, Bolsonaro Warns (Bloomberg): President Jair Bolsonaro is urging Brazilians to conserve energy to avert power outages at hydroelectric facilities, the latest sign of how an epic drought is threatening Latin America’s biggest economy

At Least One Dead as Tropical Storm Nora Lashes Mexico With Heavy Rain (NYT): Tropical Storm Nora was downgraded from a hurricane on Sunday, a day after it formed, as it battered the western coast of Mexico and unleashed a torrent of rain and flash floods

Europe
Climate change: Boris Johnson condemned over 'downright dangerous' plan to allow North Sea fuel drilling (Sky News)

First German election debate reveals gulf on climate change policy (FT): Laschet, Baerbock and Scholz, the 3 candidates vying to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor, clashed on Sunday evening in their first televised debate, with differences over how to tackle climate change dominating the discussion as race to be chancellor remains too close to call. This was the most intensively debated topic of all with the most disagreement between the 3 parties

A Tale of Two Wildfires: Lessons From Europe’s Blazing Summer (Bloomberg): An interesting read about how and why Europeans need to be prepared to battle and contain wild fires as the planet warms and fires are expected to only get worse in the future; illustrated with the example of the largest fire in Castilla y Leon region in Spain in at least 50 years that was sparked by an overheated car engine that caught fire on Aug. 14

Asia
Singapore Exchange Plans Mandatory Climate-Related Disclosures (Bloomberg): Singapore will require mandatory climate-related disclosures for listed companies under proposals that aim to meet rising investor demand for commitments to tackle climate change

Africa
‘Everything is changing’: the struggle for food as Malawi’s Lake Chilwa shrinks (The Guardian): The livelihoods of 1.5 million people are at risk as the lake’s occasional dry spells occur ever more frequently

The impacts of climate change in Uganda (ReliefWeb): Extended drought periods cause food shortages that motivate families to move because they cannot handle the situation amidst rapidly intensifying weather extremes.

Global
Climate change linked to risk of viruses jumping species in the Arctic (New Scientist): Climate change may increase the risk of viruses becoming capable of infecting new hosts in the Arctic, suggests a study of genetic material from a Canadian lake by the University of Ottawa

Climate change will alter where many crops are grown (The Economist): Interesting article shedding light onto how agriculture will be changed by a changing climate, where crops will be grown in the future, as well as a study that predicts that for every degree that global temperatures rise, mean maize yields will fall by 7.4%, wheat yields will fall by 6% and rice yields will fall by 3.2%. Those three crops supply around two-thirds of all the calories that humans consume and that is with the global population expected to grow considerably.

Economists Are Vastly Underestimating the Economic Impact of Climate Change (Discover Magazine): “We conclude that there are fundamental and insurmountable weaknesses in estimates by economists of the damages from climate change, such that they should not be used to assess the risks from climate change,” says Steve Keen at UCL. This has also profound implications for policy makers as those models strongly inform their decision making

Could climate change make humans go extinct? (LiveScience): According to a somewhat dystopian view of Prof. Michael Mann, professor of atmospheric science at Penn State, a global temperature increase of 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) or more could potentially lead to a collapse of our societal infrastructure and massive unrest and conflict

Climate change: Almost all ocean surface climates could disappear by 2100 (CNET): If carbon emissions stay on the current level, environmental researchers suggest about 95% of ocean surface climates could disappear by 2100 forcing marine life to adapt quickly for a chance to survive
13) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64406)
Posted 25 Aug 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
You're totally right. Sry for this inaccuracy. It happens when you start skimming through loads of news every day and then try to summarise them in a hurry. This is why I always post the link as well as the news outlet for people interested in reading about these news from the source. Btw here is the link to the original announcement about the study from the World Weather Attribution study and here's the link to the paper itself.
14) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64404)
Posted 25 Aug 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
Asia/Middle East
The countries in the Middle East are among the ones to be hit worst by global warming. They will become hotter at a rate more than twice the global average than in a 1.5C scenario.
Record temperatures this year: Kuwait 53.2C (127.76F), Oman, United Arab Emirates & Saudi Arabia all over 50C (122F), Iraq 51.5C (124.7F), Iran 51C (123.8F) (Foreign Policy)

Africa
Extreme droughts are now bringing Madagaskar to the brink of a nation wide collapse due to famine. Cactus leaves and insects are all that the poorest people are forced to survive on. Food prices on local markets already tripled or quadrupled this year. (BBC)

Europe
Germany is facing increased risk to meet electricity peak demand as it is set to power down its last nuclear power plant and the coal exit potentially coming sooner than anticipated. German consumers have the highest power bills in Europe and that is likely to continue as German utilities will have to import electricity from neighbouring countries as expansion of solar and wind capacities has slowed. (Bloomberg)

Unsurprisingly, a study now found the floods in Central Europe were at least 9 times more likely due to climate change (NBC)

US wild fires have now reached Europe as images taken from the European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service have verified. Winds have brought large quantities of smoke, especially CO, moving across the Atlantic, towards the Iberian peninsular (Independent)

US
A wildfire started by lightning in NE Minnesota close to the Canadian border is spreading rapidly and is currently zero percent contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. (NYT)

California is still battling out of control fires that prompted the evacuation of more than 42,000 people. So far this year, more than 41,000 fires have scorched 4,575,051 acres, NIFC data showed. That's more than a million acres higher than the nearly 3,300,00 acres burned by this time last year.

Global
Climate change will alter air travel in several ways Carbon taxes will make flying more expensive, extreme weather, such as tornados and severe thunderstorms will delay more flights in the future and make flying riskier due to stronger turbulences and wild fires could force airports to close temporarily. (Euronews)
15) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64390)
Posted 20 Aug 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
Europe
One of the World’s Biggest Funds Is Putting Oil Stocks on Notice (Bloomberg): The sovereign wealth fund of Norway, which manages $1.4 trillion in assets, said there are oil companies in its portfolio that “absolutely” aren’t doing enough to cut emissions, as the investor signals it will use shareholder votes more actively to bring about change.

German Ministry of the Environment finds that 2030 climate targets are likely to be missed (Tagesschau): According to a report by the Environment Ministry, Germany will fall well short of its climate targets. Without further measures, CO2 emissions will only fall by 49 percent instead of 65 percent by 2030. Climate neutrality by 2045 is also on the line. Without additional efforts, Germany will fall well short of its climate targets for both 2030 and 2040. The report is overdue and should actually have been submitted to the Bundestag in March, but publication has been delayed for months that sparked accusations that the Environment Ministry deliberately withheld the report possibly because of the upcoming Bundestag elections (translated)

US
The methane hunters (Bloomberg): Frackers in America’s largest oil field are letting massive amounts of natural gas spill into the atmosphere. The biggest concentration of the gas in the US showed up as a red splotch over a 150-mile-wide swath of Texas and New Mexico which is contributing as much to global warming as Florida—every power plant, motorboat, and minivan in the state.

Climate Change Is Making the U.S. Poorer Than It Realizes (Bloomberg): Much of the wealth accumulated by former generations in the US is on the line as the resiliency of infrastructure is tested nation wide by climate change driven extreme weather events such as higher winds, harsher freezes, rising sea levels, hotter summer temperatures and more extreme droughts. Now, houses, roads, office buildings, power plants, ports, water treatment facilities, schools, hospitals, electric lines and telecommunications facilities become increasingly vulnerable and must be relocated, hardened against the weather, replaced more frequently and depreciated faster. To protect American infrastructure, it is essential to accelerate the clean energy transition and adopt a prevention-first approach to extreme weather.

Global
Climate change: Data shows soaring carbon footprint released by wildfires (Sky News): According to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service the Siberian fires have this season already emitted far more greenhouse gases (953 MtCOE) than the equivalent Germany releases in a year. It seems we are stuck amidst a severe feedback loop of climate warming, leading to more favourable wildfire conditions, that in turn accelerate global warming through the release of huge quantities of CO2.

Study finds 'very concerning' 74% increase in deaths associated with extreme heat brought on by the climate crisis (CNN): The study suggests that the health dimension of climate change shouldn't be overlooked any longer.

Extreme Heat Is a Clear and Growing Health Issue, Two Studies Find (Bloomberg): A study published in the Lancet showed that more than 356,000 people died in 2019 as a result of extreme heat and that number is likely to grow

A billion children at ‘extreme risk’ from climate impacts – Unicef (The Guardian): According to a UNICEF report, almost half the world’s 2.2 billion children are already at “extremely high risk” from the impacts of the climate crisis and pollution, according to a report from Unicef. However, roughly 1 billion children living across 33 countries are now facing three or four impacts simultaneously, including India, Nigeria and the Philippines, and much of sub-Saharan Africa.[/url]
16) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64382)
Posted 18 Aug 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
Another eventful day ...

US
Climate Change In California Is Threatening The World's Top Almond Producer (NPR): The historic drought across the Western US is taking a heavy toll on California's $6 billion almond industry, which produces roughly 80% of the world's almonds. More growers are expected to abandon their orchards as water becomes scarce and expensive

Escalating U.S.-China Solar Rift Threatens Biden Green Goals (Bloomberg): Multiple firms have China-linked panels halted at U.S. border. With more than 75% of imports of solar modules coming from China-linked factories in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, the current developments threaten to disrupt the U.S. solar market, potentially jeopardizing Biden’s goal of a carbon-free power sector by 2035

Asia/Middle East
Russia's 2021 Wildfires Now Largest in Its Recorded History (Moscow Times): Favorable conditions for wildfires continue to complicate the fight against the blazes. With many still not brought under control, Siberia's wildfires alone are now larger than the rest of the world's blazes combined

Israel seeks help from abroad to battle fires near Jerusalem (Reuters): Wind and dry conditions are fueling the fire that already spread 10 km or 6 miles overnight.

South America
Fires and Deforestation Made 2020 a Nightmare Year for the Amazon (Bloomberg): Wildfires in the southern Amazon last year and in the nearby Pantanal region were the worst on record, mainly due to the deadly combination of drought and human activity. This year, the months of March to June saw the highest burnt area in the Amazon on record

Europe
Wildfires Burn in France and Spain After Scorching Heatwaves (Bloomberg): A common theme these days emerges as prolonged heatwaves bring lasting drought conditions. Combine that with wind and you have the key ingredients for a new blaze. Multiple camping sites in France had to be evacuated during the current holiday season as fires burn next to Saint Tropez

Spain’s Answer to High Power Prices Is More Renewable Energy (Bloomberg): As costs for natural gas and permits to burn carbon in the European Union surged, power prices are increasingly putting pressure on consumers. Spain's government reacts by planning to bring more solar and wind farms with a capacity of 3.3 GW online after power prices soared to multiple records this summer

Climate change: Sweden's only remaining mountaintop glacier loses two metres in height (Sky News): The ice sheet, located on the south side of the Kebnekaise mountain, lost its title as Sweden's highest point in 2019 after a third of it melted. That's the lowest height on record since measurements started in the 1940's

'Countless' animals threatened by fires ravaging Europe (France24): Fires supercharged by climate change, thus falling outside natural patterns are jeopardising the survival of wildlife, which are killed or injured through direct contact with smoke and flames or suffer widespread habitat destruction. Turkey, Greece, Italy, France and Russia are at risk of losing many species as key habitats have received extensive damage, such as Hermann's tortoises (Europe's last land turtle) in France, desert lynx and wild goat in Turkey, red deer in Greece, Sardinian deer in Italy and reindeer, white-tailed and golden eagles in Russia's Yakutia region

Global
Most Miners Are Falling Short of Carbon Cuts Needed for UN Goal (Bloomberg): The mining industry (35 out of 46 companies surveyed) is falling short on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions enough to limit global warming. Most at risk is the aluminium industry that requires the most energy.
17) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Nuclear fusion start-up backed by Jeff Bezos to build first reactor in UK (Message 64379)
Posted 18 Aug 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
Excerpt from the daily Bloomberg's Green newsletter (It's free btw):

Summary:
- Investment flows are at a record high as interest grows
- Some startups are nearing the "net-energy gain" threshold
- Innovations on multiple fronts are driving fusion tech forward, such as better heat resistant materials, new reaction and plasma confinement methods, and advanced computing models
- Practical headaches are still great. Safety concerns are a key issue as materials need to withstand stellar heat for decades without failing

Abstract:
- Private-sector fusion companies in North America and Europe attracted $300 million in investment in 2020, about 20% of their historical total. This year's total may beat 2020 and 2019
- TAE Technologies, based in Orange County, California, has raised $880 million over its 23 years in existence; at least 15% thereof it this year
- First Light Fusion, which grew out of the University of Oxford, raised at least $25 million in 2020 for reactor development
- The promise of these start-ups has drawn attention and resources from high-profile investors looking for carbon-free power. Backed by Jeff Bezos, General Fusion is expecting to build a test facility in the U.K. that switches on by 2025; a commercial plant should follow well within a decade
- Energy companies including ENI, Equinor, Cenovus, and Chevron have invested in fusion
- Interest is so high that the U.S. federal government included $4.7 billion in authorized spending for nuclear fusion and related science in a bill passed in December 2020; the total includes $1.5 billion for ITER
- Scientists have yet to start a fusion reaction that sustainably produces more energy than it uses. But excitement has grown as government and private plans move incrementally closer to the breakeven or "net-energy gain" threshold
- Progress has come from several innovations. Some advances are technological, such as using lasers to confine reactions. Another is advanced computing, which has let engineers design machines to a precision previously unthinkable. One beneficiary of such innovation took another step toward reality this month when German scientists made progress on a device called the Wendelstein 7-X
- A third is all the private sector attention. If one of the startups reliably reaches "ignition"—the holy grail of producing more energy than the reaction uses—it can turn to building plants safely
18) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64375)
Posted 17 Aug 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
US
Hydroelectric drought: How climate change complicates California’s plans for a carbon-free future (The Bulletin): Extreme droughts are affecting large parts of the Western US with many reservoirs recording alarming lows. The Edward Hyatt Power Plant at Lake Oroville was forced to stop hydroelectric generation for the first time since its construction in 1967 while water levels at Lake Powell also fell to their lowest level since the 1930s. This has profound effects not only on agriculture and drink water supply but also on future electricity generation capacity

Colorado River Water Rationed for First Time Amid Drought (Bloomberg): The Colorado River is drying out, necessitating to reduce water deliveries to Nevada and Mexico. Arizona’s annual allotment will be cut by 18% starting next year. Nevada and the nation of Mexico will incur reductions of 7% and 5%, respectively. Water levels are low across the Western US with Lake Powell now standing at only 32% and Lake Meade at 35% of capacity.

Australia
Australia faces international punishment for lagging on climate change action, former UN chief warns (ABC News): According to former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, Australia is not doing enough to restrict carbon emissions. Additionally, the Australian government has so far refused to join other nations in committing to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and increasing more immediate targets for reducing greenhouse gases

Global
Why Snow, Hail and Wildfire Are Expensive for the Insurance Industry (Bloomberg): Insurers are struggling to make accurate risk calculations for these events that used to cause minor damage but are now increasingly costly. Insurance modelling and damage assessment are now set to face new uncertainties of a changing climate that start to show in the latest financials published by large insurance and reinsurance firms amid the latest series of climate related events. Last week, reinsurance giant Swiss Re AG announced that its mid-year insurance losses were the second-highest on record. Insurers had to cover $40 billion in losses caused by natural catastrophes. The previous 10yr average for the first half of the year is $33 billion.
19) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64367)
Posted 16 Aug 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
Asia
Japan floods: death toll grows as rain triggers fresh landslides (The Guardian): Heavy rains across south-western Japan during last week brought as much as 1 m of rain (1000 mm or 40 in) resulting in disruptive mudslides and flooding

Russia expands state of emergency over wildfires in Far East (Euronews): Wildfires are still blazing in Siberia and are now moving into the Yakutia region

US
Parts of the US are getting dangerously hot. Yet Americans are moving the wrong way (The Guardian): As the climate changes, census data shows that Americans are shifting from safer areas of the US to the regions most at risk of heating and flooding. The Census Bureau’s new map of the last decade’s population trends shows big growth in the west and on the coasts – and declines in the inland east coast and Great Lakes region.

Thousands Evacuate as Wildfires Ravage Utah and Northern California (NYT): Firefighters battled the Dixie Fire in California and a new fire in Parleys Canyon in Utah as searing temperatures continued to bake the western United States. Dixie Fire is now the largest single-origin wildfire in California history that firefighters have now battled for more than a month. Still, many wildfires rage across the Western US and call for large scale evacuations in Utah and California.

Global
July was world’s hottest month ever recorded, US scientists confirm (The Guardian): The global land and ocean surface temperature last month was one degree Celsius, 0.9C (1.6F), hotter than the 20th-century average of 15.8C (60.4F), making it the hottest month since modern record keeping began 142 years ago. Europe’s hottest ever recorded temperature was reportedly set in Sicily on Wednesday, where it reached a roasting 48.8C (119.8F).

If your coffee's going downhill, blame climate change (Reuters): Arabica, which accounts for about 60% of the world's coffee, is generally sweeter with more variation in flavour, and can be worth more than twice as much as robusta coffee. Robusta is said to be more robust to higher temperatures and generally offers higher yields. With the world's largest coffee producer Brazil (40% globally) increasingly shifting away from Arabica, the flavor of the world's coffee will be gradually altered as more of the harsher and more caffeine-charged robusta variety, widely used to make instant coffee, makes its way into the pricier ground blends currently dominated by arabica
20) Message boards : climateprediction.net Science : Climate change in the News (Message 64351)
Posted 13 Aug 2021 by bozz4science
Post:
Europe
Turkey floods kill 17 as country battles fresh disaster (The Guardian): Heavy rains and mudslides in northern regions come after devastating wildfires ravaged the south of the country. Although the black sea region is used to occasional floods, agriculture and forestry minister Bekir Pakdemirli said that Turkey is facing a disaster that we have not seen in 50 or 100 years from a meteorological point of view.

US
Climate change is drying out many part-time streams in the United States (Science): The drying trend in the US that is most evident in the SW and is continuously intensifying. A study has found that ephemeral streams across the continental United States have become less reliable over the past 40 years and that is bad news for fauna and flora as their reproduction and survival is linked to the availability of water, especially in deserts

Giant Infernos Blazing for Months Are the New Norm in California (Bloomberg): Due to longer and hotter summers that increase the risk of droughts, forest fires are now burning stronger and longer. Eight of the 10 biggest fires in California history have occurred in just the past four years, and several of those raged for months before they were fully contained, according information from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

California’s Dry Season Is Turning Into a Permanent State of Being (Bloomberg): How 3 forces drive California to an ever increasing arid climate that could result in permeant drought situation. Water rationing, strain on the power grid due to increased electricity demand for AC cooling and less productive agriculture are amongst the most obvious consequences

Overheated, Underprotected: Climate Change Is Killing U.S. Farmworkers (Bloomberg): Record heatwaves have caused fatalities for laborers who plant and harvest U.S. crops. A lack of federal standards and policies makes it difficult to protect these agricultural workers

U.S. Power Emissions Set to Surge Most in More Than 30 Years (Bloomberg): Power consumption is rising with economy recovering from pandemic and utilities are burning more coal after natural gas prices climb. However, levels won't rise back to pre-pandemic levels thanks to an 11% dive in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic

Asia
Thailand’s Oil Giant Is Going on a Green Spending Spree (Bloomberg): PTT which alone makes up roughly 10% of Thailand's economic output is suddenly in a rush to transition to a more sustainable growth path in anticipation of diminishing demand for fossil fuels. Huge investments and acquisitions, both in Thailand and abroad, will drive this transition towards renewables, energy storage, power trading and EVs and increase its global footprint in India, Vietnam and Europe

China’s Green Ambitions Aren’t Halting New Coal and Steel Plans (Bloomberg): While China does plan to become carbon-free in 2060 and the rate of emission growth slowed, the massive investments in renewables come amidst the announcement of the planned construction of 43 new coal-fired generators in 2021 that would result in an additional 150 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year

General
Greenhouse gas emissions must peak within 4 years, says leaked UN report (The Guardian): Group of scientists release draft IPCC report as they fear it will be watered down by governments. The stark warning includes climate breakdown through a series of feedback loops if this goal is not met


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