Global temperature [ from earlier post ] The above image, from an earlier post, shows that the February 2024 temperature was 1.76°C above 1885-1915, potentially 2.75°C above pre-industrial (bright yellow inset right). The image was created by Sam Carana for Arctic-news.blogspot.com with an April 2024 data.giss.nasa.gov screenshot. The red line (6 months Lowess smoothing) highlights … Read more
The above image shows a trend (magenta), based on NOAA August 2008 through June 2024 data (black) and added on a canvas that is 31.42-year wide. If this trend continues, the clouds tipping point could get crossed in early 2036 due to the rise in carbon dioxide (CO₂) alone. [ from earlier post ] Rising CO₂ emissions … Read more
Water vapor feedback There are numerous self-amplifying feedbacks that accelerate the temperature rise. One of them is the water vapor feedback. Just the temperature rise itself will cause more water vapor to be in the atmosphere. [ from Moistening Atmosphere ] The February 2024 temperature was 1.76°C above 1885-1915, which could be as much as 2.75°C above … Read more
This story was originally published by Yale Environment 360. After a decade of declining to finance large hydroelectric dams, the World Bank is getting back into the business in a big way. Throughout the last half of the 20th century, the bank was the world’s leading supporter of big hydro. But over the last two decades, it followed a zigzag pattern … Read more
Europe’s climate service said on Friday that 2024 was the hottest calendar year on record and the first in which average temperatures exceeded the key limit of 1.5C above pre-industrial times, raising the importance of efforts to protect people from dangerous impacts. The confirmation – widely trailed before the announcement – came as wildfires made … Read more
Mark Maslin is professor of natural sciences at University College London (UCL) and Iain Hanson is honorary professor at the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, UCL. Many of us feel guilt when we fly because it is a very obvious source of carbon emissions. Aviation causes around 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But we … Read more
The world’s richest people are likely to have already used their fair share of the annual global carbon budget, according to research by international NGO Oxfam. Based on data from 2019, the anti-poverty charity has estimated that the 77 million “super-rich” people in the global top 1% of earners – whose average income is $310,000 … Read more
Oscar Berglund is a senior lecturer in international public and social policy at the University of Bristol and Tie Franco Brotto is a PhD candidate at the University of Bristol’s School for Policy Studies. Climate and environmental protest is being criminalised and repressed around the world. The criminalisation of such protest has received a lot … Read more
As 2024 turns to 2025, we asked subscribers to our newsletter what the top climate issues of the upcoming year will be. With climate destruction growing, their responses clearly indicate they want to see more ambition in tackling climate change and more honesty on how climate action is going. Here’s our summary of responses from … Read more
The year 2024 has officially been declared the warmest year globally, with average temperatures surpassing 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time. This historic announcement was made by the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union’s Earth observation program, on Friday. The declaration comes amid raging wildfires in Los Angeles, California—an escalating disaster exacerbated … Read more