19th December 2009 COP
Discord
A new Copenhagen Accord agreed by the US, China, India, Brazil
and South Africa aims to deliver additional funding for mitigation
and adaptation, but fails to set legally binding commitments.
16th December 2009 There
is Hope
The multinational delegation of Carbon Masters from the University
of Edinburgh at COP-15 have given a powerful and inspirational
message to delegates in Copenhagen.
7th December 2009 14
Days
The 15th Conference of the Parties begins in Copenhagen today,
with more than 15,000 delegates from 192 nations converging to
broker a post-2012 climate agreement.
3rd December 2009 Family
Planning
The Optimum Population Trust, in the UK, has suggested that funding
family planning and contraception is a more cost-effective way
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
3rd December 2009 India
Indication
Jairam Ramesh, the Indian Environment Minister, has announced
that India will cut its carbon intensity by 20-25 percent by 2020,
providing sufficient international support is available.
21st November 2009 Climate
Hack
The Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, UK,
has been attacked by computer hackers who have obtained and published
emails on one of its servers.
1st November 2009 Storm
Warning
Gordon Conway, chief scientist of the UK's Department for International
Development, has warned that climate change could devastate Africa
due to drought, floods and disease.
1st November 2009 Retreat
Australia Fair
A parliamentary report on the risks posed by sea level rise to
coastal communities in Australia has called for urgent action.
They estimate that $150 billion dollars of property is at risk.
1st November 2009 Popsicle
Polyps
Simon Harding, of the Zoological Society of London, is one of
several researchers that have suggested freezing coral samples
is now required to preserve many species for the future.
11th October 2009 Sediment
Signals
Aradhna Tripati and colleagues at the University of California
have shown that carbon dioxide concentrations were at ~400ppm,
and sea levels 25-40m higher, 20 million years ago.
19th September 2009 Unhealthy
Climate
An open letter from leading medics in the Lancet and the British
Medical Journal has highlighted the huge threat to human health
posed by global climate change in the 21st century.
19th September 2009 Reduced
Arctic Melt
Walt Meier and colleagues at the US National Snow and Ice Data
Center have reported that the 2009 summer melt of Arctic sea ice
has been less than that in 2007 and 2008.
28th August 2009 Adapted
Figures
Martin Parry of the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London,
and colleagues, have revised upwards the estimated costs of protecting
society from the impacts of climate change.
28th August 2009 Climate
Hijack
Richard Black, of the BBC, has assessed whether the predominance
of climate change in politics and the media has been to the detriment
of other key environmental issues.
25th August 2009 Climate
Ents
Melanie Harsch and colleagues at Lincoln University in New Zealand
have found that tree lines around the world are extending to higher
altitudes and latitudes in response to climate change.
17th August 2009 Horse
Trading
The Australian Parliament has rejected plans for a national greenhouse
gas trading scheme. The Government plans to reintroduce the legislation
in three months' time.
17th August 2009 REDD
Road
Mark Schrope has provided an updated analysis of the potential
for an international deal on reducing emissions from deforestation
and degradation, and its on-going political tensions.
6th August 2009 On
Thinner Ice
Ron Kwok and colleagues at NASA have reported widespread thinning
of Arctic sea ice. Multi-year sea ice thinned by around 7 inches
per year between 2003 and 2008.
9th July 2009 Two
Degrees
The G8 and a host of other developed and developing countries
have agreed that global temperatures must not rise by more than
2 degrees C above the pre-industrial average.
30th June 2009 Aerosol
Parasol
Gunnar Myhre of the Center for International Climate and Environmental
Research in Oslo has found the cooling effect of aerosols in the
atmosphere to be much less than previously thought.
30th June 2009 Energy
Gap
The Royal Society has published a report demanding more investment
in renewable energy in the UK and recommending higher consumer
energy prices to help support it.
30th June 2009 Representative
Vote
The US House of Representatives has voted in support of a new
climate change bill aimed at reducing US greenhouse gas emissions
by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
15th June 2009 Climate
Change Migration
Koko Warner, of the United Nations University in Bonn, Germany,
has highlighted the need for migration impacts to be mainstreamed
in climate change adaptation policy.
15th June 2009 Falling
Short
Joeri Rogelj and colleagues at the Potsdam Institute for Climate
Impacts Research have calculated that current national emissions
targets stand little chance of avoiding 2 degrees C of warming.
15th June 2009 Japanese
Target
The Japanese Government has announced a target reduction in greenhouse
gas emissions of 15 percent by 2020, equating to an 8 percent
cut relative to the 1990 baseline year.
7th June 2009 Your
Planet Needs You
Dave Reay, of Edinburgh University and GHGonline, has just published
a new book on climate change for children. It is published jointly
by the Science Museum and Macmillan.
28th May 2009 Hot
Chile
Fernando Santibanez and colleagues at the University of Chile
have highlighted the threat that climate change poses to Chile
- and in particular its agiculture - in the coming decades.
18th May 2009 Rise
and Fall
Jonathon Bamber and colleagues at the University of Bristol, UK,
have revised downwards the predicted sea level rise that would
result from loss of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
18th May 2009 Unhealthy
Climate
Anthony Costello and colleagues at the Institute for Global Health
have cited climate change as the biggest threat to human health
in the 21st century in a new report in the Lancet.
13th May 2009 White
Coral
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg and co-authors of a new WWF report have warned
that reefs in Asia's Coral Triangle may be wiped out by 2100 due
to climate change, pollution and fishing.
5th May 2009 Deal
or No Deal
Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has announced that plans
for an emissions tradin scheme in Australia have been delayed
until July 2011 because of the difficult economic climate.
24th April 2009 Carbon
Captured
Ed Miliband, UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary, has revealed
plans for a new generation of carbon capture and storage (CCS)
coal-fired power stations.
24th April 2009 Brighter
Shade
Lina Mercado, of CEH in the UK, and colleagues, has reported that
atmospheric pollution has increased primary production and carbon
dioxide uptake since the 1960s.
24th April 2009 CO2
'Pollutant'
The US Government has designated carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases as substances that may endanger human well-being and so
should be regulated as pollutants.
13th April 2009 American
Tide
Walter Vergara, of the World Bank, and others attending a climate
change conference in Copenhagen, have highlighted the risk to
the Americas of accelerating sea level rise.
13th April 2009 Carbon
Masters
Carbon Masters from Indonesia, Tanzania, India, Nepal, the UK
and the US have told the Scottish Parliament of the climate change
impacts already being seen in their home nations.
13th April 2009 Climate
Disease
Kevin Lafferty, of the US Geologocal Survey in Santa Barbara,
has argued that climate change is more likely to shift the ranges
of many infectious diseases, rather than expand them.
22nd March 2009 Resilience
Reports
The US National Association of Insurance Commissioners has decided
to make insurers provide climate risk reports, detailing how climate
change is likely to affect them.
22nd March 2009 Paddy
Potential
Xiaoyuan Yan and colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences
have highlighted the potential for improved management to reduce
methane emissions from rice cultivation.
22nd March 2009 Shifting
Europe
The United Nations has raised concerns that the European Union
is shifting its stance on how investment in low carbon technologies
in the developing world should be spent.
22nd March 2009 Methane
Mire
Amanda Leigh Mascarelli of Nature Reports Climate Change has examined
the recent evidence for, and implications of, accellerating hydrate
and permafrost methane emissions.
23rd February 2009 Climate
Watch
The Exxon Mobil and Massey Energy corporations have been put on
a 'Climate Watch' list by investors due the risks to their competitiveness
posed by a lack of climate change action.
23rd February 2009 Puddle
Trouble
Christina Alsvik Pedersen, of the Norwegian Polar Institute, and
colleagues, have linked melt water pools on the surface of Artcic
sea-ice with unexpectedly rapid ice melt rates.
4th February 2009 Touching
the Void
Britton Stephens, and colleagues from the US National Center for
Atmospheric Research, are using jet aeroplanes to investigate
how greenhouse gases enter and leave our atmosphere.
4th February 2009 Acid
Bath
A declaration from The Ocean in a High CO2 World Symposium has
highlighted the threat of severe damage to marine ecosystems if
carbon dioxide emissions are not radically reduced.
4th February 2009 Biogas
Boon
The UK's National Grid have suggested that increased use of biogas
from landfill sites and sewage plants could meet two-thirds of
the nation's renewable energy targets for 2020.
4th February 2009 Talking
the Walk
Ken Kostel, writing for Nature Reports Climate Change, has examined
the barriers faced in communicating climate science in terms of
its impacts on food production.
20th January 2009 Lighter
Europe
Robert Vautard and colleagues at the Atomic Energy Commission
in France have linked the rapid rate of warming in Europe since
the 1970s with reduced air pollution.
8th January 2009 Met
Metrics
Happy New Year. The UK's Met Office has predicted that, despite
ongoing La Nina conditions, 2009 will be in the top five warmest
on record. 2008 was the 10th warmest on record.