Energy Environ. Sci. , 2019, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/C8EE02079E, Analysis Brett Parkinson, Paul Balcombe, Jamie F Speirs, Adam Hawkes, Klaus Hellgardt Different technologies produce hydrogen with varying cost and carbon footprints over the entire resource supply chain and manufacturing steps. This paper examines the relative costs of carbon mitigation from a... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2019, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/C8EE02555J, Paper Yue Ma, Kai Chen, Jun Ma, Gaojie Xu, Shanmu Dong, Bingbing Chen, Jiedong Li, Zheng Chen, Xinhong Zhou, Guanglei Cui 5 V lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are promising candidates for high energy density batteries. However, the conventional carbonate-based liquid electrolyte is vulnerable to oxidative decomposition caused by free radicals attacking,... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Title: Climate Change Could Change the Ragweed Sneezin' Season Category: Health News Created: 11/15/2018 12:00:00 AM Last Editorial Review: 11/16/2018 12:00:00 AM
As ESA’s ɸ-week draws to a close, it’s worth remembering that the science and technology involved in observing our planet from space isn’t entirely for the preserve of experts. With a growing interest in the environment and the climate, there are plenty of opportunities for the general public to take part.
Scientists have traced strange landforms on Pluto back to their ancient glacial origins. A letter by SETI Institute scientist Oliver White and colleagues shows how ridged landforms on Pluto provide evidence for glaciers on the dwarf planet some 4 billion years ago. Their research targeted the landscape that borders the ice-covered impact basin Sputnik Planitia - the western portion of Pluto's "heart." It has noticeable ridges that can’t be explained by any simple terrestrial or planetary
"A massive weather modification network – the largest ever — is being planned for the Tibetan Plateau. The plan, according to recent reports, is to cover an area of the size of Spain with thousands of fuel burning chambers (roughly akin to upside-down rockets) to blast silver iodide into the atmosphere, stimulating cloud formation and precipitation." LINK
"As droughts, forest fires and centennial floods become more commonplace, people around the world are feeling the consequences of climate change. As a result, some scientists are putting forth ideas to engineer the climate, collectively summarized as ‘Geoengineering’. But no matter whether one thinks of massive attempts to filter greenhouse gases from the air or planetary sheets of reflective material, geoengineering will have significant political effects." LINK
The Union of Concerned Scientists has overturned its longstanding opposition to nuclear power. Other green groups should follow suit, says Mark Lynas
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2019, Advance Article DOI : 10.1039/C8EE02617C, Communication Xinzhi Chen, Wenjun He, Liang-Xin Ding, Suqing Wang, Haihui Wang A cathode-supported solid electrolyte membrane framework with enhanced interfacial contact can significantly improve the electrochemical performance of all solid state batteries. To cite this article before page numbers are assigned, use the DOI form of citation above. The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Greenhouse gas emissions from the land-use and agriculture sector are set to increase unless the... The post CCC: Farming needs a ‘revolution’ for UK to meet climate goals appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2019, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/C8EE02656D, Communication Jing Wang, Wei Liu, Gan Luo, Zhijun Li, Chao Zhao, Haoran Zhang, Mengzhao Zhu, Qian Xu, Xiaoqian Wang, Changming Zhao, Yunteng Qu, Zhengkun Yang, Tao Yao, Yafei Li, Yue Lin, Yuen Wu, Yadong Li Herein, we construct a novel electrocatalyst with Fe-Co dual sites embedded in N-doped carbon nanotubes ((Fe,Co)/CNT), which exhibits inimitable advantages towards the oxygen reduction reaction. The electrocatalyst shows state-of-the-art ORR... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Most of Earth’s surface has been plotted, mapped and measured. And along the way, scientists have turned up a plethora of craters big and small. But there was always one major crater missing. 12,800 years ago, during the Pleistocene, Earth was warming up from its last Ice Age. Temperatures slowly rose while glaciers retreated, that is, until something major happened that triggered a cold snap big enough to leave its mark on the geologic record. Over the course of just decades – the blink
The US could meet its pledge to cut emissions under the Paris Agreement through “natural... The post US could meet Paris emissions pledge with ‘natural climate solutions’, study says appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Anthropogenic climate change and urbanization appear to boost rainfall and exacerbate flooding risks, according to two Nature papers.
Rainfall in some of the biggest storms in recent years was fueled by climate change.
Grand Canyon for Sale: Public Lands versus Private Interests in the Era of Climate Change. Nash Stephen. University of California Press, 2017. 304 pp., illus. $29.95 (ISBN 9,780,520,291,478 cloth).
Mammoths, mastodons and other ancient elephants were wiped out at the end of the last ice age by climate change and spear-wielding humans.
Arctic predators have been eating twice as many shorebird eggs, threatening populations and potentially migration itself -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
What were once relatively safe havens in the Arctic are now feasting sites for predators of baby birds.
The world may never again use as much coal as during a peak in 2014,... The post Global coal use may have peaked in 2014, says latest IEA World Energy Outlook appeared first on Carbon Brief.
There’s a "dark matter hurricane" blowing through our corner of the Milky Way galaxy. Right this second, it's passing over Earth. And this fast-moving stream could reveal major details about dark matter, a new study finds. The dark matter is traveling in what is known as the S1 stream. Scientists think that streams like this one are the cosmic debris leftover when small galaxies stray too close to the Milky Way. Our gravitational forces tear the smaller galaxy apart, leaving behind a trav
"As Earth continues to move toward a warmer climate, scientists are working to develop strategies to artificially cool the planet in the case that the situation becomes truly dire. But, many of these geoengineering tactics come with their own set of consequences, including changes in precipitation that could trigger droughts in some parts of the world." LINK
"In 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that limiting global warming to 2C by 2100 could not be achieved without employing technologies to drawdown carbon from the atmosphere." LINK
Next to Pluto’s heart-shaped plains are strange rolling hills unlike anything we’ve seen on Earth, and they may be left over from receding ancient glaciers
Wei, L.; Ji, D.; Miao, C,; Muri, H.; Moore, J. (2018): Global streamflow and flood response to stratospheric aerosol geoengineering. In: Atmos. Chem. Phys 18 (21), S. 16033–16050. DOI: 10.5194/acp-18-16033-2018. " In the Southern Hemisphere, the northern parts of landmasses have lower streamflow under G4, and streamflow of southern parts increases relative to RCP4.5. We furthermore calculate changes in 30-, 50-, and 100-year flood return periods relative to the historical (1960–1999) period under the RCP4.5 and G4 scenarios. Similar spatial patterns are produced for each return period, although those under G4 are closer to historical values than under RCP4.5. Hence, in general, solar geoengineering does appear to reduce flood risk in most regions, but the overall effects are largely determined...
"A couple weeks ago, I introduced solar geoengineering (see also 1, 2, 4 in the series). This is a set of proposed technologies that would reduce climate change by blocking or reflecting a small portion of incoming sunlight. It appears that it would be effective in reducing climate change, inexpensive, rapid, and technically feasible. It would also pose environmental risks and social challenges. Here, I offer a brief overview of the relevant legal landscape." LINK
Darton, R.; Yang A. (2018): Removing Carbon Dioxide from the Atmosphere – Assessing the Technologies. In: Chemical Engineering Transaction 69, S. 91–96. "Separation processes such as CO2 capture involve dissipation of energy in diffusion, the losses being greater when higher transfer rates are utilised to reduce equipment size. A process for generating power for air capture by humidifying dry air is analysed using an equivalent reversible process, which yields minimum utility requirements and maximum (reversible) efficiency. Comprehensive socio-economic and environmental assessments of NETs are needed. The Process Analysis Method provides a triple-bottom line sustainability assessment, but results are dependent on uncertain external factors such as the introduction of flue gas-CCS and the growth...
Brent, K.; McDonald, J.; McGee, J.; Gogarty B. (2018): Carbon Dioxide Removal Geoengineering. In: Australian Law Journal 92 (10), S. 830–838. Online verfügbar unter http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/journals/2018/10/30/australian-law-journal-update-vol-92-pt-10-special-issue-climate-change-and-the-law/. "Australia has vast land and marine estates so has a natural advantage to contribute to the research, field-testing and development and implementation of CDR. Despite this, there has been little analysis to date of how Australian law might govern CDR research, testing and development. Using case studies of BECCS and ocean fertilisation CDR techniques, this article examines the capacity of current Australian law to govern CDR research. We find that general environmental legislation might provide...
Deadline: 11. January 2018 "The Summer School [CARBON AND CLIMATE IN THE PARIS WORLD: GETTING OUT OF THE FOSSIL FUEL CARBON BUDGET CRUNCH.] is open to young researchers (PhD students and Post-Docs) worldwide. Participation is highly competitive and will be limited to a maximum of 65. The registration fee (1300 CHF) includes half board accommodation, excursion, and teaching material. Successful applicants will be notified in February 2019." LINK
"The IPCC does not bet on geo-engineering proposals – for example, deep-ocean sequestration of massive amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide, or “dimming the sun” by spraying the atmosphere with aerosols – to combat global warming. These largely theoretical solutions could have untold consequences for people and ecosystems, worsening not only the climate crisis, but also the other social and ecological crises we face." LINK
This is a re-post from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Over the past two years, the Trump administration, aided by the Republican-controlled Congress, has eroded the Obama administration’s policy efforts to curb global warming. Climate activists had hoped to reverse some of those losses in this year’s midterm elections, but the results were a mixed bag. Here is the rundown of where we stand. What can House Democrats do with the majority? The Democrats won control of the House of Representatives and will hold about 232 seats (53 percent) starting in 2019. This gives them control over legislation in that chamber of Congress. Democrats will become House committee chairs, who choose the bills that receive a hearing and a vote in a given committee. Democrats...
Publication date: 1 January 2019Source: Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 203Author(s): Camille Li, Andreas BornAbstractThe Dansgaard-Oeschger events of the last ice age are among the best studied abrupt climate changes, yet a comprehensive explanation is still lacking. They are most pronounced in the North Atlantic, where they manifest as large temperature swings, on timescales of decades or shorter, between persistent cold (stadial) and warm (interstadial) conditions. This review examines evidence that Dansgaard-Oeschger events are an unforced or “spontaneous” oscillation of the coupled atmosphere-ice-ocean system comprising the North Atlantic, Nordic Seas and Arctic, collectively termed the Northern Seas. Insights from reanalysis data, climate model simulations, and idealized box model...
The water churns in a chaotic flurry of fins and flippers. Hungry onlookers hover, swoop, and scurry, hoping to get in on at least the final stages of the action. There are deep growls, sprays of blood, and flashes of iridescent blue and yellow scales against black volcanic rock. It’s a scene so wild and unprecedented that when local fishermen first started reporting it a few years ago, their accounts might have been dismissed as unbelievable. But this is the Galápagos, a place where remarka
Here's a look at the southernmost continent, a place of extremes.
Nest predation of shorebirds that raise young in the Arctic are up threefold since the mid-20th century, and climate change may be to blame, according to a study.
A redesign for batteries that use aluminum and oxygen could help these inexpensive, lightweight power cells last longer.
These colorful looking koosh ball are sea anemones, a predatory sea creature related to coral and jellyfish. Scientists at the University of Plymouth are conducting a long-term investigation into the behavior of sea anemones, and what looks like a muppet battle is actually an experiment in action. The group has discovered that environmental changes like different flow regimes and decreased oxygen levels often lead to conflict beneath the waves. Understanding just how these changes affect
"Power mushrooms” sounds like something out of Super Mario, but a lab in New Jersey has made them a reality. Hoping to create a new source of renewable energy (and to test out some ideas), a team at the Stevens Institute of Technology engineered a symbiotic relationship between the common button mushroom, some cyanobacteria and a few electrodes made of “graphene nanoribbons” (GNRs) — basically really thin layers of electrically conductive carbon atoms. As a paper in Nano Letters makes
Jan Wohland is a PhD student at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Dr Dirk Witthaut is a junior... The post Guest post: Combining renewables with direct air capture for ‘net negative’ emissions appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Today’s launch of the newest EUMETSAT weather satellite continues the development of a programme which gives the UK’s Met Office access to world-leading weather data from polar orbit. The Metop-C satellite was launched from the European Space Port in Kourou, French Guiana. It completes a network of three platforms flying in a polar orbit at an altitude of 817km, which enables global observations of weather and atmospheric composition, and monitoring of ocean and land surfaces.
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2019, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/C8EE02538J, Communication Peng Zhang, Sibo Wang, Buyuan Guan, X. W. David Lou Designing advanced structures for semiconductor photocatalysts is an effective approach to enhance their performance. However, it is not easy to fabricate functional photocatalytic materials with complex nano-architectures. Here we develop... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk Image by Karin Kirk. When you don’t like the message, attack the messenger. It’s an age-old tactic and an easy way to energize opposition while distracting from the real issue at hand. With climate change, ad-hominem attacks on scientists are intended to shake public trust in the scientific evidence that underpin the whole issue. After all, who could be more villainous than the world’s climate scientists? Does one really think this group of bicycle-riding, organic-cotton-wearing PhDs might be pulling off a skillfully-coordinated global conspiracy, one involving 100 years of research from hundreds of scientists all over the world? The notion of scientists-as-conspiracists seems preposterous –...
‘Oumuamua — a curious, cigar-shaped rock — was the first interstellar space rock ever discovered in our solar system, though scientists debate whether it should be classified as an asteroid or comet. Now, a new study suggests that the strange object could actually be an alien light sail, or solar-powered spacecraft. Abraham Loeb and Shmuel Bialy from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) conducted the study, titled "Could Solar Radiation Pressure Explain 'Oumuamua's Peculi
‘End of the Megafauna’ ponders the mystery of what killed off so many of Earth’s big animals over the last 50,000 years.
Warming trend spoils Europe’s winter wonderlandsWarming trend spoils Europe’s winter wonderlands, Published online: 06 November 2018; doi:10.1038/d41586-018-07321-0The thick snowdrifts of years gone by could become a rarity across the continent.
"The scale of volcanic cooling has given some climate scientists an idea: Could we forestall the worst consequences of global warming by spraying sulfur particles into the atmosphere — basically, by using technology to emulate a massive volcano?" LINK
"Just in time for Halloween, an episode that’ll scare the daylights out of you. Frank Keutsch joins us to explain what geoengineering is, why it isn’t a magic fix for climate change, and why we still need to greatly reduce CO2 emissions." LINK
"A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is calling on the US government to launch a concerted effort to develop new and improved negative emissions technologies (Nets) to remove and sequester carbon dioxide directly from the air. The panel concludes that these technologies, which involve chemical processes to capture carbon dioxide from the air, are economically viable and crucial to mitigate the threat of climate change." LINK
"In my previous posts , I described how most emissions scenarios that are expected to keep warming within 2 or 1.5°C rely on negative emissions technologies (NETs) at large scales and how the new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change addresses NETs (as well as how solar geoengineering could offer an additional means to reduce climate change)." LINK
Last Wednesday, Carbon Brief hosted its fourth annual quiz night at a bar in central... The post The Carbon Brief Quiz 2018 appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Climate change reaches all the way to the bottom of the sea.
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... SkS in the News... SkS Spotlights... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Startling new research finds large buildup of heat in the oceans, suggesting a faster rate of global warming A post-sunset swimmer at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, Calif., this month. (Mike Blake/Reuters) The world’s oceans have been soaking up far more excess heat in recent decades than scientists realized, suggesting that Earth could be set to warm even faster than predicted in the years ahead, according to new research published Wednesday. Over the past quarter-century, Earth’s oceans have retained 60 percent more heat each year than...
Eufrasio-Espinosa, R.; Lenny Koh, S. (2019): The UK Path and the Role of NETs to Achieve Decarbonisation. In: Narasinha Shurpali, Avinash Kumar Agarwal und V. K. Srivastava (Hg.): GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS. Challenges, technologies and solutions, Bd. 36. [S.l.]: Springer (Energy, Environment, and Sustainability), S. 87–109. "The objective of this chapter is to present a review of the current state of the greenhouse gas emissions in the UK and describe what factors are influencing the recent decline of CO2 levels. We also provide a general overview of the strategies leading to the transition into a low-carbon economy and the sectors contributing to this process. Finally, we explore whether negative emissions technologies are ready for implementation in UK’s decarbonisation path." LINK
Markusson, N.; McLaren, D.; Tyfield, D. (2018): Towards a cultural political economy of mitigation deterrence by negative emissions technologies (NETs). In: Glob. Sustain. 1, S. 180. DOI: 10.1017/sus.2018.10. "In the face of limited carbon budgets, negative emissions technologies (NETs) offer hopes of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. It is difficult to determine whether the prospect of NETs is significantly deterring or delaying timely action to cut emissions. This paper sets out a novel theoretical perspective to this challenge, enabling analysis that accounts for interactions between technologies, society and political and economic power. The paper argues that, seen in this light, the scope of NETs to substitute for mitigation may be easily exaggerated, and thus that the risk...
Duan, L.; Cao, L.; Bala, G.; Caldeira, K. (2018): Comparison of the Fast and Slow Climate Response to Three Radiation Management Geoengineering Schemes. In: J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. DOI: 10.1029/2018JD029034. "Geoengineering has been proposed as a backup approach to rapidly cool the Earth and avoid damages associated with anthropogenic climate change. In this study, we use the NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM) to conduct a series of slab‐ocean and prescribed sea‐surface‐temperature simulations to investigate the climate response to three proposed radiation management geoengineering schemes: stratospheric aerosol increase (SAI), marine cloud brightening (MCB), and cirrus cloud thinning (CCT)." LINK
Geden, O.; Peters, G.; Scott, V. (2018): Targeting carbon dioxide removal in the European Union. In: Climate Policy, S. 1–8. DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2018.1536600. "Here we assess how best to ‘target’ CDR to motivate EU policymakers exploring which CDR target strategy may work best to start dealing with CDR on a meaningful scale. A comprehensive CDR approach would focus on delivering the CDR volumes required from the EU by 2100, approximately at least 50 Gigatonnes (Gt) CO2, according to global model simulations aiming to keep warming below 2°C. A limited CDR approach would focus on an intermediate target to deliver the CDR needed to reach ‘net zero emissions’ (i.e. the gross negative emissions needed to offset residual positive emissions that are too expensive or even impossible to mitigate)...
US Supreme Court allows historic kids' climate lawsuit to go forwardUS Supreme Court allows historic kids' climate lawsuit to go forward, Published online: 03 November 2018; doi:10.1038/d41586-018-07214-2Case aims to compel the government to slash greenhouse-gas emissions.
For years, astronomers have wondered where the Red Planet got its organic carbon compounds, which are thought to be necessary for life as we know it on Earth. That organic carbon often comes from biological sources on Earth, but researchers have been working to figure out how they're created on Mars. Now, a new analysis of Martian meteorites indicates that the organic carbon on Mars may have come from naturally-occurring “batteries." By analyzing three meteorites that fell to Earth from M
The Pacific nation of Palau is banning some sunscreens because they may be damaging to coral reefs. Anyone caught flouting the rules will be fined up to $1000
A new report by the Met Office, published today, reveals further details about changes in the UK’s climate since the 1960s. By documenting temperature and rainfall climate extremes, including periods of warmth, cold and spells of wet or dry weather, the report reveals changes in some types of extreme weather.
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sunday, Nov 11 through Saturday, Nov 17. Editor's Pick Policies of China, Russia and Canada threaten 5C climate change, study finds Ranking of countries’ goals shows even EU on course for more than double safe level of warming Vendors near a state-owned coal-fired power plant in China. Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images China, Russia and Canada’s current climate policies would drive the world above a catastrophic 5C of warming by the end of the century, according to a study that ranks the climate goals of different countries. The US and Australia are only slightly behind with both pushing the global temperature...
Energy Environ. Sci. , 2019, Accepted Manuscript DOI : 10.1039/C8EE02730G, Paper Yong Zhang, Seul-Gi Kim, Donghwa Lee, Hyunjung Shin, Nam-Gyu Park We report a novel approach for fast phase transition of FAPbI3 (FA = formamidinium) at low-temperature and effectively removal of interfacial recombination in MAPbI3 (MA = methylammonium). This method also... The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below. Climate change mitigation Zero CO2 emissions for an ultra-large city by 2050: case study for Beijing Climate change communication Developing a model of climate change behavior among adolescents Petro-hegemony and the matrix of resistance: What can Standing Rock’s Water Protectors teach us about organizing for climate justice in the United States? Information leverage: The adoption of clean cooking fuel in Bhutan Storylines: an alternative approach to representing uncertainty in physical aspects of climate change (open access) Climate Policy When less is more: limits to international transfers under article 6 of the Paris Agreement (open access) Combining Carbon...
Researchers recovered audio recordings of the fish's mating calls in the eye of the storm.
"GENEVA, November 9 - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is inviting experts and governments to review the Second Order Drafts of two Special Reports that will be launched next year. The Expert and Government Review for the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) takes place between 16 November 2018 and 11 January 2019. The Special Report on Climate Change and Land (SRCCL) can be reviewed from 19 November 2018 to 14 January 2019." LINK
"As the visibility of solar geoengineering research grows, we thought it would be useful to provide a publicly accessible record of the solar geoengineering projects that have been funded over the past ten years." LINK
Bala, G.; Gupta, A. (2018): Solar Geoengineering Research in India. In: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0122.1. "We present here a brief account of the Indian scientific research into solar geoengineering. Climate modeling constitutes the major component of this geoengineering-relevant climate science research. The recent funding initiative by the Department of Science and Technology, the main funding agency for scientific research in India, in support of geoengineering modeling research and its efforts to bring natural, social and political scientists together for an evaluation solar geoengineering at meetings are also discussed. Finally, the directions for future scientific research into geoengineering in India are also discussed." LINK
Antibiotic resistance has spread around the world - so much so that even penguins living near Antarctic research bases have resistant bacteria in their gut
Newfound cave paintings from the ice age were obscured for centuries by graffiti.
( Norwegian University of Science and Technology ) Our carbon emissions are much higher than are needed for us to have happy, healthy lives. But cutting these emissions requires us to think differently about how we measure growth and progress.
Study shows Houston’s urban landscape may have physically changed Hurricane Harvey’s structure -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Radar surveys have revealed a crater left when a kilometre-wide asteroid hit Greenland – and the impact could explain a climate mystery
Tall buildings in Houston made hurricane Harvey dump more rain on the region, before the water ran straight off the city's hard surfaces causing epic flooding
Scientists think there's a 'dark matter hurricane' coming, but it's definitely not going to kill you. It's actually kind of exciting.
This is the first entry in a Dana's new monthly column with Yale Climate Connections Now designated as California’s deadliest fire, the still-raging Camp Fire by November 13 had led to 42 deaths, with many residents still unaccounted for and more than 7,000 structures destroyed. (Image credit: NASA) California has been ravaged by record wildfires in recent years. 2017 was the state’s costliest and most destructive fire season on record . The Mendocino wildfire in July 2018 was California’s largest-ever by a whopping 60 percent. Even though California’s wildfire season has traditionally ended in October, the Camp Fire raging in November 2018 is the state’s most destructive on record. The data tell the story: Six of California’s...
Sir John Armitt is the chair of the National Infrastructure Commission. He was awarded a... The post The Carbon Brief Interview: Sir John Armitt appeared first on Carbon Brief.
A new map reveals the ancient precursors to Antarctica.
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk Credit: Image by Karin Kirk. Don’t feed the trolls. You’ve heard this advice before, but how can anyone sit on their hands when the trolls are just so … wrong? When you encounter a rude and inaccurate comment, often the best bet is to ignore it altogether. But if you’re feeling inspired, you can look beyond the toxicity and aim for a productive outcome. The thing you ought not do, however, is take the bait and lock horns with the offender. That’s a certain path to a lose-lose situation. What would you do if confronted with this comment? The High Priest of Environmental Causes Al Gore was out promoting his waste of cellulose In January, 2006 – when promoting his Oscar-winning...
Even if governments step up action on energy, fossil fuel consumption will keep growing for at least another 20 years according to a major new report
This autumn has been very dry in California and this has undoubtedly increased the chance of occurrence of the deadly wildfires that the state is seeing. When assessing the influence of global warming (from human burning of fossil fuels) on … Continue reading →
"It's a stark prognosis: To save the world from the worst effects of climate change, it's likely not enough to cut carbon dioxide emissions; we need to start scrubbing carbon pollution from the atmosphere, too." LINK
"The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report said there are 12 years left to save the planet. It triggered the usual frantic and ridiculous reactions. NBC News even proclaimed: "A last-ditch global warming fix? A man-made 'volcanic' eruption" to cool the planet." LINK
"Solar Radiation Modification (SRM), also known as Solar Radiation Management, Radiation Modification Measures or SolarGeoengineering, would aim to address a symptom of climate change by reflecting more sunlight back into space, or byallowing more infrared radiation from Earth to escape, in order to reduce the Earth’s temperature. It includes numerousproposed methods which differ significantly. None are ready for deployment. Solar Radiation Modification could not be asubstitute for reducing emissions, or removing atmospheric CO2." LINK
Madronich, S.; Tilmes, S.; Kravitz, B.; MacMartin, D.; Richter, J. (2018): Response of Surface Ultraviolet and Visible Radiation to Stratospheric SO2 Injections. In: Atmosphere 9 (11), S. 432. DOI: 10.3390/atmos9110432. "Climate modification by stratospheric SO2 injections, to form sulfate aerosols, may alter the spectral and angular distributions of the solar ultraviolet and visible radiation that reach the Earth’s surface, with potential consequences to environmental photobiology and photochemistry. We used modeling results from the CESM1(WACCM) stratospheric aerosol geoengineering large ensemble (GLENS) project, following the RCP8.5 emission scenario, and one geoengineering experiment with SO2 injections in the stratosphere, designed to keep surface temperatures at 2020 levels." LINK
Taillardat, P.; Friess, D.; Lupascu, M. (2018): Mangrove blue carbon strategies for climate change mitigation are most effective at the national scale. In: Biology letters 14 (10). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0251. "In 2014, mangroves mitigated greater than 1% of national fossil fuel emissions for countries such as Bangladesh, Colombia and Nigeria. Considering that the Paris Agreement is based on nationally determined contributions, we propose that mangrove blue carbon may contribute to climate change mitigation at this scale in some instances alongside other blue carbon ecosystems." LINK
Lal, R.; Smith, P.; Jungkunst, H.; Mitsch, W.; Lehmann, J.; Ramachandran N. et al. (2018): The carbon sequestration potential of terrestrial ecosystems. In: Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 73 (6), 145A-152A. DOI: 10.2489/jswc.73.6.145A. "Terrestrial ecosystems, comprising vegetation and soil in uplands and wetlands, significantly impact the global carbon (C) cycle and, under natural conditions, are a sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). However, conversion of natural to managed ecosystems (i.e., agroecosystems, urban lands, and mined lands) depletes ecosystem C stocks, aggravates gaseous emissions, and exacerbates radiative forcing. Thus, the onset of agriculture around 8000 BC presumably transformed these sinks into a source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) (Ruddiman...
Deadline: 9. December 2018 "The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Auckland invites applications for the position of Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in the multi-disciplinary engineering area of climate engineering and adaptation." LINK
No Deadline "We have an opening for a Earth Scientist/Engineer to analyze and develop new options for reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. You will participate across all aspects of Livermore’s Carbon Initiative, analyzing the economic cost and carbon footprint of new systems, comparing them to existing and proposed approaches while focusing on how the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (CLCFS) and other statewide policies and initiatives can be used to incentivize such projects. This position is in the Atmospheric, Earth & Energy Division." LINK
Researchers digging through naval records uncovered a strange and alarming consequence of a massive 1972 solar storm.
Climate change is shrinking Arctic sea ice and opening the region to ship traffic. Whales, seals and other marine mammals could be at risk unless nations adopt rules to protect them.
As people search for solutions to the climate change crisis on Earth, scientists are working to create renewable energy sources as alternatives to fossil fuels. Now, scientists at Stanford University hope to offer a new solution as they are developing a single device that collects solar energy and shoots radiation out into space - acting as both a heater and air conditioner. Collecting the sun's energy via solar power has been a leading alternative energy source for many years. But this n
A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below. Climate change impacts Mankind Altered Disease Risk from Climate Change (A special issue in EcoHealth) Climate change perception: an analysis of climate change and risk perceptions among farmer types of Indian Western Himalayas Climate change adaptation and mitigation – a hitherto neglected gender-sensitive public health perspective Associations between ambient temperature and daily hospital admissions for rheumatic heart disease in Shanghai, China Investigation on fatal accidents in Chinese construction industry between 2004 and 2016 Drivers of diversity in human thermal perception – A review for holistic comfort models (open access) Quantifying the effect...
Researchers thought there were large lakes under East Antarctica's Recovery Glacier. Now they can't find them.
Australian scientists call for ‘feral horse’ culls in alpine national parkAustralian scientists call for ‘feral horse’ culls in alpine national park, Published online: 09 November 2018; doi:10.1038/d41586-018-07371-4Researchers say the animals cause environmental damage.
“Don’t forget to write!” Friends and loved ones bid adieu to members of the latest research team to begin the long trek to Antarctica this weekend. The goal of this latest expedition, which is scheduled to return mid-February, is to see whether concentrations of an atmospheric molecule called hydroxyl, or OH, has changed over time since the industrial revolution. The answer will greatly affect climate models: OH is responsible for degrading molecules like methane, one of our most poten
On Saturday, 10 November 2018, the research icebreaker Polarstern will leave its homeport of Bremerhaven, bound for Cape Town, South Africa. This will mark the beginning of her Antarctic season, in which oceanographic fieldwork in the Weddell Sea, a resupply mission to the Neumayer Station III, and explorations of the Larsen C ice shelf region and the South Shetland Islands are on the agenda. The ship is expected to return to Bremerhaven in June 2019.
Wiping out high-altitude cirrus clouds might be the best way to artificially cool the climate by geoengineering the planet
It was five years ago this month that ESA’s GOCE gravity-mapping satellite finally gave way to gravity, but its results are still yielding buried treasure – giving a new view of the remnants of lost continents hidden deep under the ice sheet of Antarctica.
The Democrats' takeover of the House inspires hope for science-based policies, but voters struck down several ballot initiatives to counteract climate change.
The third MetOp satellite, MetOp-C, has been launched on a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana to continue the provision of data for weather forecasting from polar orbit.
( American Chemical Society ) In the quest to replace fossil fuels, scientists are always on the lookout for alternative, environmentally friendly sources of energy. But who could have imagined a bionic mushroom that produces electricity? It sounds like something straight out of Alice in Wonderland, but researchers have now generated mushrooms patterned with energy-producing bacteria and an electrode network. They report their results in the ACS journal Nano Letters.
Over the Pacific side of the Arctic, a pattern of unusual warmth noted in last month’s post continued. While sea ice extent in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas remains below average, extent remains especially low on the Atlantic side of … Continue reading →
Mining cryptocurrency uses more energy than conventional mining of copper or platinum and at least as much as mining gold finds new research published today in the journal Nature Sustainability. The digital currencies aren’t helping climate change either, as they produce millions of tons of CO2 emissions. Market trends for the virtual currency are on the rise suggesting energy requirements for cryptocurrencies will only continue to increase, researchers say. Cryptocurrencies are digital a
"An incubator that became famous for spawning internet-based unicorns like AirBnB, DropBox, and Stripe is not the most obvious vehicle for supporting next-generation geoengineering approaches. But with sluggish action on climate change, they’ve decided to bring Silicon Valley’s disruptive potential to bear on carbon sequestration technology." LINK
"Since we've only made moderate progress in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, climate science has turned to seriously investigating options that have typically been in the “far-fetched” category. That includes something called “solar radiation management”—increasing the reflectivity of the atmosphere to, in essence, shade the planet. That could provide a bit of human-caused cooling to temporarily offset some human-caused warming." LINK
"Spraying aerosols high in the stratosphere could dampen global warming over land, but may not prevent the oceans from heating up, new research says." LINK
"We need to consider all options if we are to keep global warming below 1.5°C - even engineering the climate." LINK
"According to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world's main scientific authority on global warming, keeping global temperatures from rising more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels is a feasible goal. The IPCC's stance represents a move in the direction of the kind of "radical realism" that many civil-society actors have long advocated." LINK
Statewide proposals on ways to tackle greenhouse gases, renewable energy and Medicaid expansion will be voted up or down on Tuesday -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Coral scientists decry loss of funding for leading Australian reef instituteCoral scientists decry loss of funding for leading Australian reef institute, Published online: 05 November 2018; doi:10.1038/d41586-018-07270-8Research council fails to shortlist the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in its latest funding round.
With deforestation in Malaysia, monkeys and humans are getting closer — and mosquitoes are infecting humans with malaria from monkeys.
"An international group of researchers and policymakers met in Australia’s capital this week for the country’s first major conference dedicated to the topic of 'negative emissions'." LINK
Emmerling, J.; Tavoni, M. (2018): Exploration of the interactions between mitigation and solar radiation management in cooperative and non-cooperative international governance settings. In: Global Environmental Change 53, S. 244–251. DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2018.10.006. "This paper provides an evaluation of the risks of excess climate engineering due to lack of international cooperation. Using both an analytical and numerical model, we show how lack of cooperation leads to overprovision of climate engineering above what would be socially optimal. The regions with the highest climate change impacts deploy climate engineering at the expenses of the others. Yet, these poor countries still host the majority of the residual climate change impacts. These results suggest the importance of embedding...
Fasullo, J.; Tilmes, S.; Richter, J.; Kravitz, B.; MacMartin, D.; Mills, M.; Simpson, I. (2018): Persistent polar ocean warming in a strategically geoengineered climate. In: Nature Geosci. DOI: 10.1038/s41561-018-0249-7. "Enhancement of the Earth’s albedo through the injection of sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere has been proposed as an approach to offset some of the adverse effects of climate change. Here we analyse an ensemble of simulations of the twenty-first century climate designed to explore a strategic geoengineering approach. Specifically, stratospheric sulfur injections are imposed at 15° and 30° in both hemispheres with the aim to minimize the changes in surface temperature, both in the global mean and in its gradients between hemispheres and from equator to pole." LINK
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week from Sunday through noon on Friday. Editor's Pick Earth’s carbon dioxide levels are likely the highest they've been in 15 million years Earth’s average global temperature from 2013 to 2017, as compared to a baseline average from 1951 to 1980. We’ve entered some profoundly unfamiliar planetary territory. Amid a backdrop of U.S. politicians still questioning whether the changing climate is attributable to humans (it is), it's quite likely that we’ve actually boosted Earth's carbon dioxide — a potent greenhouse gas — to the highest levels they’ve been in some 15 million years. The number 15 million...
A selection of new climate related research articles is shown below. Climate change Temperature, precipitation, wind Radiosondes show that after decades of cooling the lower stratosphere is now warming Verification of an approximate thermodynamic equation with application to study on Arctic stratospheric temperature changes Global Wind Speed and Wave Height Extremes Derived from Long-duration Satellite Records The interannual variability of wind energy resources across China and its relationship to large‐scale circulation changes Changes in Canada's Climate: Trends in Indices Based on Daily Temperature and Precipitation Data (open access) Recent trends of surface air temperatures over Kenya from 1971 to 2010 Central European air temperature:...
If you're in Greenland and a strange cloud darkens the sky, that cloud might be made up of something scientists call "glacier flour."