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Tag Archives: greenhouse gas emissions
California’s progress, or lack thereof, in cutting its emissions
California’s progress, or lack thereof, in cutting its emissions The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently published its 2018 inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to which the state achieved its goal of cutting GHG emissions below 1990 levels in 2016, four years in advance of the 2020 target date*. Gov. Jerry Brown claims […]
1.5°C of warming is closer than we imagine, just a decade away
1.5°C of warming is closer than we imagine, just a decade away Global warming of 1.5°C is imminent, likely in just a decade from now. That’s the stunning conclusion to be drawn from a number of recent studies, surveyed below. Paris Commitments now put the world on a path of 3.4°C of warming by 2100 […]
Fixing Global Warming is Bigger Than Paris ‘15
Fixing Global Warming is Bigger Than Paris ‘15 Photo by NOAA Photo Library | CC BY 2.0 The worldwide effort to harness, slow down, lessen, reduce, remove the threat of global warming is epitomized by the Paris ’15 climate accord. This agreement calls for nations of the world to implement plans to slow down greenhouse […]
We ignore urgent global warnings at our peril
We ignore urgent global warnings at our peril City lights in this nighttime view of Earth from space provides “an intuitively graspable view of our planet”. (Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr) A year ago, we revisited the 1992 “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity.” Signed by a majority of Nobel laureates in sciences […]
Averting the apocalypse: lessons from Costa Rica
Averting the apocalypse: lessons from Costa Rica Earlier this summer, a paper published in the journal Nature captured headlines with a rather bleak forecast. Our chances of keeping global warming below the 2C danger threshold are very, very small: only about 5%. The reason, according to the paper’s authors, is that the cuts we’re making […]
Is The Renewable Transition Harming The U.S. Economy?
Is The Renewable Transition Harming The U.S. Economy? Recent data from the 2017 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook suggests that sectors of America’s energy market are quickly shifting towards greener energy, while also dispelling the myth that such shifts will hurt the economy. Despite a GDP growth of 12 percent since 2007, America’s usage of energy has […]
The causes of the recent decrease in US greenhouse gas emissions
The causes of the recent decrease in US greenhouse gas emissions Since their peak in 2007 GHG emissions in the USA have decreased more in absolute terms than in any other country. The results of this review suggest that approximately 40% of this decrease was caused by the replacement of coal with gas in generating […]
Trade Deals and the Environmental Crisis
Trade Deals and the Environmental Crisis With the release of leaked documents from the TTIP (Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) ‘trade’ deal Greenpeace framed its conclusions more diplomatically than I will: the actions of the U.S. political leadership undertaken at the behest of American corporate ‘leaders’ and their masters in the capitalist class make it among the […]
Emissions standstill boosts Paris hopes
Emissions standstill boosts Paris hopes Reduced coal use in China will have a positive impact on poor air quality. Image: V.T. Polywoda via Flickr The link between global economic growth and emissions growth has been further weakened as greenhouse gas levels show no increase for the second year in succession. LONDON, 18 March, 2016 – The world continued […]
The Right Price for Preserving Our Climate
The Right Price for Preserving Our Climate WASHINGTON, DC – When world leaders convene in Paris this week for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, their task will be to reach a global agreement on curbing greenhouse-gas emissions. A successful outcome, demonstrating that countries can work together for the good of the planet, would send […]
Will the Paris Climate Talks Be Too Little and Too Late?
Will the Paris Climate Talks Be Too Little and Too Late? At the upcoming U.N. climate conference, most of the world’s major nations will pledge to make significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. But serious doubts remain as to whether these promised cuts will be nearly enough to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change. […]
Revolution? More like a crawl
Revolution? More like a crawl The energy visionary Vaclav Smil — Bill Gates’s favorite author — says that when our leaders promise quick energy transformations, they’re getting it very wrong. America in 2015 finds itself almost in a new energy reality. It recently became the world’s second–largest extractor of crude oil, and since 2010 has been the leading producer of natural gas, whose abundant and inexpensive […]
How Sustainable is PV Solar Power?
How Sustainable is PV Solar Power? Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems generate “free” electricity from sunlight, but manufacturing them is an energy-intensive process. It’s generally assumed that it only takes a few years before solar panels have generated as much energy as it took to make them, resulting in very low greenhouse gas emissions compared to […]
BC Climate Change Progress Stalled, Critics Say
BC Climate Change Progress Stalled, Critics Say ‘We know we need to do more,’ says environment minister. Lately, Premier Christy Clark has been bragging about British Columbia’s record fighting climate change, but observers say that pride is misplaced. “They’re talking a lot about being a world leader in climate action,” said Jens Wieting, a campaigner […]
How Long Can Oceans Continue To Absorb Earth’s Excess Heat?
How Long Can Oceans Continue To Absorb Earth’s Excess Heat? The main reason soaring greenhouse gas emissions have not caused air temperatures to rise more rapidly is that oceans have soaked up much of the heat. But new evidence suggests the oceans’ heat-buffering ability may be weakening. For decades, the earth’s oceans have soaked up more […]
