The Science Times (September 21)
“The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitory Service in Europe has monitored over 100 wildfires in the Arctic” since June. “The ‘zombie fires’ have been the worst this year since reliable monitoring began in 2003.” In June alone, the Arctic fires had already released an amount of carbon comparable “to how much the greenhouse gas is emitted in an entire year from smaller nations like Cuba and Tunisia.”
Tags: Arctic, Carbon, Copernicus, Cuba, Emitted, Europe, GHG, Monitoring, Wildfires
Scientific American (February 4)
“Even if ambitious climate targets are met, Himalayan glaciers could lose a third of their volume.” The Earth’s “third pole” is in danger of largely melting away. “If greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current levels, the region could lose as much as two-thirds of its ice.”
Tags: "Third pole”, Ambitious, Climate targets, Earth, Emissions, GHG, Glaciers, Himalayas, Ice, Melting
The Economist (August 4)
“Earth is smouldering. From Seattle to Siberia this summer, flames have consumed swathes of the northern hemisphere.” And humanity is not rising to the challenge. Three years following the Paris Accord, “greenhouse-gas emissions are up again. So are investments in oil and gas. In 2017, for the first time in four years, demand for coal rose. Subsidies for renewables, such as wind and solar power, are dwindling.” While “it is tempting to think these are temporary setbacks and that mankind, with its instinct for self-preservation, will muddle through to a victory over global warming. In fact, it is losing the war.”
Tags: Coal, Demand, Earth, Emissions, Gas, GHG, Global warming, Humanity, Oil, Paris accord, Renewables, Self-preservation, Setbacks, Smouldering, Solar power, Wind
The Economist (July 28)
“No consequence of global warming is as self-evident as higher temperatures. Earth is roughly 1°C hotter today than it was before humanity started belching greenhouse gases into the atmosphere during the Industrial Revolution.” This summer the consequences are widespread: “Heat is causing problems across the world.” But if global warming continues, “the toll on human lives is hard to imagine.” The bright spot is that better government response appears to be saving some lives. “If only the world could take in a similar lesson about the importance of stopping climate change in the first place.”
Tags: Climate change, Consequences, Earth, GHG, Global warming, Government, Heat, Human lives, Industrial Revolution, Response, Temperatures
Gizmodo (December 11)
“Over the past year, Australia released an estimated 140 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in greenhouse gases,” excluding unreliable estimates for land use-related emissions. This marks a new record for down under and places Australia as one of “the worst polluters per capita among countries in its class.”
Washington Post (April 7)
The United States, France, the EU, China, India and 136 other parties have ratified the Paris agreement, which went into force in November. “Now is the time to implement it—to actually reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions, to ensure that policies match national commitments. It is time to develop and market clean technologies, and to seize new national and international economic opportunities.” But the “global fight cannot succeed if all parties are not fully on board and if they don’t assume their share of the burden or seek to capitalize on the opportunities.”
Tags: China, Clean technologies, EU, France, GHG, India, Opportunities, Paris Agreement, U.S.
Chicago Tribune (August 3)
“Shrinking ice caps, rising seas, more flooding, more intense heat waves—these phenomena are happening now. The question is whether we can band together as a planet in time to reverse the effects.” The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just announced limits for greenhouse gas emissions from power generating stations. The EPA’s plan is a step in the right direction. “The more seriously the U.S. acts, the more likely other polluting nations like China and India will do the same in Paris.”
New York Times (November 23)
“We don’t need to change course, or kill jobs, or wage war on anybody or anything” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. All we need to do is continue increasing energy efficiency, which has been key to economic progress. “Without energy productivity improvements, America’s energy needs would have tripled since 1970…. Actual growth was only one-fifth of that. Energy efficiency has emerged as the largest and cheapest alternative to burning fossil fuels to generate electricity.”
Tags: Economic progress, Efficiency, Electricity, Emissions, Energy, Fossil fuels, GHG, Growth, Jobs, Productivity, U.S., War
USA Today (August 3)
“As the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, China and America hold the key on global warming. If the U.S. acts to curb emissions, it puts pressure on China to go along. If it doesn’t, it gives China an excuse to delay.”
