Our mission is to:
- Provide Free Resources for Individuals and Organizations to Measure and Lower their Emissions
- Give Access to Most Cost-Effective Carbon Offset Projects to go Carbon Neutral Now
You can also utilize the EPA spreadsheets to obtain a more precise estimate of your carbon footprint.
The Emission Reduction Program for small businesses gives customisable templates which are easy to use.
Offset Certificates finance verified projects that help to slow down the rate of global warming.
Climate scientists are warning that we may soon hit the point of no return where climate change becomes irreversible no matter what actions we take.
Measure
We provide information and resources to help people and organisation quickly and easily measure their carbon footprint.
Reduce
Giving people and companies information on the choices they can make to reduce their emissions and lower their carbon footprint
Offset
Helping people with information on the most cost- effective certified projects from different regions around the world.
The first step in becoming carbon neutral is to calculate your carbon footprint which is the amount of greenhouse gases that you, or your organisation, produces in daily life.
The next step is to reduce your emissions which for people may involve changing some consumption habits and lifestyle choices, and for companies establishing a robust emission reduction program.
The final step is to compensate for the emissions you cannot entirely eliminate with carbon offset certificates which finance certified projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere in other parts of the world.
Social Media Network
Is This the Only Way to Curb Global Warming?
A new report from the United Nations environment program (Unep) finds that on current pledges, the world is heading for a 3.2 degree rise. Although G20 nations collectively account for 78 percent of all emissions, only five members have committed to a long-term emissions target. Of these, the UK and France are the only two to have passed legislation confirming their commitments in law. Germany, Italy…
Fighting waste by counting flies
An innovative tech collaboration is helping to finesse a low-cost rubbish recycling process that relies on the insatiable appetite of black soldier fly larvae. Biotech company ARC Ento Tech, based on the NSW Central Coast, is helping to process landfill in the state by using the larvae of this common fly to eat the organic waste that’s part of mixed solid waste. Once all the organic…
North Atlantic heating up
Sea surface temperature at record high The image below, created with Climate Reanalyzer screenshots, shows that the sea surface temperature (SST 60°S – 60°N mean) was 21.2°C on April 24, 2024, reaching yet another record high. These record high sea surface temperatures are reached as long-term sea surface temperatures are falling and as El Niño is predicted to weaken, which is fueling fears that feedbacks are…
Record-hot 2024 shows world must adapt to extremes, says EU climate service
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 worse by drought conditions rampaged across Los Angeles, causing at least…
Support the right to repair
At Solutions for the Planet we support the right to repair Why? · One study showed that between 2004 and 2012, the proportion of major household appliances that died within five years rose from 3.5% to 8.3%. · An analysis of junked washing machines at a recycling centre showed that more than 10% were less than five years old. · Another study estimates that because of…
Congestion Pricing in New York
Since January 5, 2025, vehicles are being tolled to enter the Congestion Relief Zone in Manhattan South, New York, under the Congestion Pricing Program of the City of New York.On February 19, 2025, the federal government, through the Department of Transportation, stated its disapproval of the program. A WhiteHouse social media post shows a TIME magazine-style cover featuring Trump wearing a crown with the text ‘Congestion pricing is…
New Report Finds Costs of Climate Change Impacts Often Underestimated
Climate economics researchers have often underestimated – sometimes badly underestimated – the costs of damages resulting from climate change. Those underestimates occur particularly in scenarios where Earth’s temperature warms beyond the Paris climate target of 1.5 to 2 degrees C (2.7 to 3.6 degrees F). That’s the conclusion of a new report written by a team of climate and Earth scientists and economists from the Earth…
Cold extremes do in fact decrease under global warming
The title of this post might seem like a truism, but for about a decade some people have claimed the opposite, and many people have spent much time and effort trying to understand why. Much of that effort was wasted. A decade ago, Nature Geoscience published Cohen et al (2014), a review paper on potential connections between the Arctic warming and extreme events (which has been…
Are Global Supply Chains A Thing of the Past?
How Climate Change Will Impact Global Supply Chains Global supply chain issues have hit the news recently as the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the true vulnerabilities of global supply chains dependencies and sourcing relationships. As a result, it has become abundantly clear that we cannot take global production for granted. COVID is not the only global event threatening supply chains. As climate change continues to…
CSIRO’s solar venture secures $15 million funding
FPR Energy, a new venture from CSIRO, has secured $15 million in seed funding with the aim of commercialising next generation solar thermal technology. The company was launched in collaboration with global advisory and funds management firm RFC Ambrian and Japanese utility Osaka Gas, raising the largest seed funding for a CSIRO co-founded venture to date. FPR Energy aims to cut emissions in heavy industries such…
December Puzzler
Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The December 2024 puzzler is shown above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us where it is, what we are looking at, and why it is interesting. How to answer. You can use a few words or several paragraphs. You might simply tell us the location, or you can dig deeper and offer details about what satellite and…
Tracking toward mass extinction
by Andrew GliksonWhere “Two plus two equals five if the party says so” (George Orwell)and when drilling methane wells reduces global warming Having turned a blind eye to climate science, ignoring the evidence that extreme atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) rise and ocean acidification have led to mass extinctions of species through time, humanity allows an exponential growth of carbon emissions to track toward a global…
Sea ice decline January 2025
Antarctic sea ice [ Antarctic sea ice, click on images to enlarge ]The above images, adapted from University of Bremen and ClimateReanalyzer.org, illustrate the decline in thickness (in cm) and of Antarctic sea ice between August 27, 2024, and January 9, 2025, and the sea ice concentration on January 9, 2025.The compilation image below shows the Southern Hemisphere on January 5, 2025, when the sea surface temperature off the…
Jane Fonda rallies disaffected young US voters: ‘Do not sit this election out’
The Hollywood actor and activist backs Harris for president as she warns of climate emergency and talks Taylor SwiftYoung people’s understandable unhappiness with the Biden administration’s record on oil and gas drilling and the war in Gaza should not deter them from voting to block Donald Trump from again becoming president of the United States, the Hollywood actor and activist Jane Fonda has warned.“I understand why…
Stepping up to mandatory Scope 3 emissions reporting: a smooth transition
As Australia ushers in a new era of climate-related financial disclosure, many organisations are gearing up for a significant shift in their reporting practices. Since 1 January 2025, the disclosure of Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions transitioned from voluntary to mandatory, marking a crucial step in the country’s commitment to addressing climate change. Scope 3 emissions, which encompass indirect GHG emissions occurring in an entity’s…
Phantastic Job!
A truly impressive paper was published this week with a new reconstruction of global temperatures over the last ~500 million years. There is something tremendously satisfying about seeing a project start, and then many years later see the results actually emerge and done better than you could have imagined. Especially one as challenging as accurately tracking half a billion years of Earth’s climate. Think about what…
A Winter Wanderer in the Weddell Sea
Under the cloak of darkness, Iceberg A-83 wiggled away from glue-like sea ice and drifted farther from the Brunt Ice Shelf—but not without sustaining some damage. Read More…
GHG Accounting Made Easy
Accurately measure and record a company’s carbon footprint This will assist in measuring the emissions of an organisation using internationally recognised GHG Accounting Standards To see the full program: click here (password required) These tutorials and resources are provided to enable organisations to conduct a GHG emission survey and carbon footprint calculation. It can be done by the company’s own staff without the delay involved in engaging…
California fires live: 6m people under critical fire threat as dangerous winds expected; governor says conditioning aid ‘un-American’
Forecasters warn of ‘particularly dangerous weather situation’ in California; Gavin Newsom hits back at House speaker for ‘politicizing’ tragedy‘Running to danger’: 1,000 incarcerated firefighters on LA frontlinesTell us about financial consequences you are facingLA mayor, Karen Bass, has shared a phone number for residents who have evacuated to get assistance in finding and retrieving pets in evacuation areas.Posting on X, Bass wrote:Pets are family.The City is…
UN biodiversity talks agree finance roadmap, postponing decision on a new fund
In a late night session in Rome, the COP16 biodiversity talks – which resumed this week after failing to reach consensus last year – adopted a finance roadmap that will work towards a 2030 deadline, pushing back a final decision on how to channel scarce funding to help countries protect nature. Under the roadmap, countries will assess whether to create a new, independent global biodiversity fund…
February Puzzler
Update on March 11, 2024: This image shows Spirit Lake, located in south-central Washington, on April 26, 2023. Congratulations to Ivan Kordač for being the first to correctly identify the lake. Special mention goes to David Sherrod, who pointed out the lake’s floating log raft and mentioned a recent debris flow in the region (which occurred several weeks after this image was acquired). Read more about…
Atlantic ocean heat threatens to unleash methane eruptions
The image below shows that the monthly Atlantic surface temperature anomaly in February 2024 was 1.176°C when compared to a 1951-1980 base.[ click on images to enlarge ] The image below shows that the monthly Atlantic surface temperature anomaly in February 2024 was 1.435°C when compared to a 1901-2000 base. The difference illustrates the importance of selecting a base to calculate anomalies from. The anomaly indicates how much…
Eclipse Challenge: Clouds and Our Solar-Powered Earth
Energy from the Sun warms our planet, and changes in sunlight can also cause changes in temperature, clouds, and wind. Clouds are ever changing and give you clues and information on what is happening in the atmosphere. Clouds can tell you if air is moving vertically (or upward) when you see cumulus type clouds growing in the distance. Clouds can also tell you which direction the…
Wood Pellet Giant Drax Targets California Forests: Excerpt
“Plans for two industrial pellet plants would increase carbon emissions and hurt the health of rural communities, campaigners warn. By Phoebe CookeonMar 4, 2024 @ 10:56 PST Series: Drax: The UK’s ‘Carbon Neutral’ Biomass Power Plant The wood pellets Drax produces are treated as “carbon neutral” under international accounting rules, based on an assumption that new-growth trees will capture the carbon lost by wood burnt for…
Global North countries must step up on protecting their own forests
Sikeade Egbuwalo is the biodiversity lead at Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment. Here in Nigeria, we are suffering badly from forest loss and degradation. We are losing our unique wild animals and plants and suffering from encroaching deserts, failing rainy seasons, declining wetlands and diminishing food supplies. Our Indigenous communities are struggling to survive on the land where they have sustainably lived for millennia. To tackle…
Climate Choir Melbourne supporting Extinction Rebellion
Climate Choir Melbourne supporting Extinction Rebellion protestors at their sit down on the busiest intersection in Melbourne City, Australia. The police were very restrained. Are they in agreement with the protestors? They do have family of their own.
Oppenheimer’s legacy – Portents of a nuclear war on a burning planet
The MADNESS of NUCLEAR and CLIMATE HORRORby Andrew GliksonThe 24-hour media news cycle clouds the minds of people, perpetrators and hapless victims alike, to the future dimension, whether that of future generations or of the natural world itself.During the 20-21ˢᵗ centuries, as mean global temperature keeps rising toward 4°C, a failed brain neuron or a damaged computer chip can trigger a nuclear catastrophe, while the 24-hour media…
Why downplay the need for action?
The 2024 global average surface temperature was 1.55°C above the 1850-1900 average, according to WMO’s consolidated analysis of six datasets. [ click on images to enlarge ] Differences between datasets are mainly due to the ways temperatures are measured, e.g. ERA5 measures the temperature of the air above oceans, whereas NASA and NOAA measure the surface temperature of the water, which is lower. There can also be…
Free Emission Reduction Program
Emission Reduction ProgramTo facilitate the implementation of the policies and procedures by an organisation to reduce their emissions. To see the full program: click here (password required) As a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, businesses have a vital role to play in mitigating climate change. By developing a comprehensive emissions reduction program, companies can make a positive impact on the environment and help reduce their carbon…
Temperature rise in the Tropics (update 5)
The temperature in the Tropics (23.5°S-23.5°N, 0-360°E) reached a new record high on April 24, 2024 of 27°C (or 80.6°F). The image below shows the monthly temperature anomaly over the past few years through March 2024, when the anomaly reached a record high of 1.448°C (or 2.606°F). Note that the anomaly in the top image is calculated from 1979-2000 as a base, while anomalies in the above image…
A man still holding a garden hose. A woman who stayed with her pets. Details emerge about the LA fire victims
Death toll rises to at least 24 as first identifications emerge of Los Angeles residents killed in firesCalifornians: have you been affected by the wildfires?At least 24 people have died in the wildfires surging across the Los Angeles area, the largest of which are burning about 25 miles west and north of downtown, plunging the second-largest city in the US into shock and fear.On Friday, officials…
Confronting Florida’s Coral Collapse
After a brutally hot summer in 2023 that caused widespread bleaching and coral death, summer 2024 was more favorable for the state’s vulnerable reefs. Read More…
Models downplay wrath of what they sow
Models that analyze what is driving up the temperature all too often omit specific sources, or when included, models all too often downplay their contribution. Accordingly, policies that are promoted based on such models are all too often ineffective or even counter-productive. Methane is all too often referred to as ‘natural gas’ originating from wetlands, swamps, cows and pigs, as if calling methane ‘natural’ implied that human…
People rescued from rooftops as flooding hits northern Italy – video
Firefighters have been rescuing people stranded on their balconies and rooftops after Storm Boris triggered flooding and landslides in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. Two people were reported missing in Traversara, a hamlet in Ravenna province, and about 1,000 people have been evacuated from their homes. Storm Boris has battered parts of Italy after causing havoc in eastern and central EuropeTwo missing and 1,000 evacuated…
Citizen Scientists Capture Brilliant Photos of the Aurora
On May 11, 2024, the day-night band of VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the Suomi NPP satellite spotted the aurora borealis over the United States during the strongest geomagnetic storm in over two decades. That same night, observers on the ground captured spectacular photographs of the dazzling light. The following photos represent just a handful of those shot by citizen scientists as part of NASA’s Aurorasaurus…
Mechanisms behind a steep rise in temperature
The image below shows the temperature rise from end 2022 through February 27, 2025, with trends added. The shading in the above image reflects the presence of El Niño conditions (pink shading) that push up temperatures, La Niña conditions (blue shading) that suppress temperatures, or neutral conditions (gray shading). Such short-term variables are smoothed out in the black linear trend that shows a steady rise of about 0.5°C…
October Puzzler
Update on October 30, 2024: This Landsat image shows ghost forests in North Carolina. Congratulations to Eric JF Kleijssen for being the first reader to identify the location. Read more about the area in “Ghost Forests Creep into North Carolina.” Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The October 2024 puzzler is shown above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to…
Twenty years of blogging in hindsight
It’s 20 years since we started blogging on climate here on RealClimate (December 10, 2004). We wanted to counter disinformation about climate change that was spreading through various campaigns. In those days it was an unusual move that prompted a welcome from Nature. One thing that I didn’t anticipate then was the vast global scale that fake news and conspiracy theories later would attain. Neither did…
August Puzzler
Update on August 23, 2024: This Landsat 8 image shows several golf courses north of Chicago. Congratulations to Jeff Pettett for being the first reader to identify the location and spot the golf courses. Read more about the area in “Golfing in Illinois.” Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The August 2024 puzzler is shown above. Your challenge is to use the comments…
Making the national electricity market fit for purpose
The Australian Government has commenced a review into how Australia’s largest electricity grid and market will operate in the coming decades, aiming to keep costs low for households and business while better managing the rapid increase and integration of rooftop solar and utility-scale reliable renewables. An independent panel, led by Associate Professor Tim Nelson with Paula Conboy, Ava Hancock and Philip Hirschhorn, will undertake widespread consultation…
Can we really ‘electrify everything’?
At the Energy LIVE 2024 conference in Houston, Texas, the path to a net-zero emissions future was a hot topic. In a session titled ‘The Great Electrification Debate’, energy experts Dr Tej Gidda and Dr Peter Benyon, both from GHD, discussed whether full electrification is possible on a global or regional scale. Speaking to an audience of industry insiders, policymakers and innovators, Gidda and Benyon presented…
July Puzzler
Update: This Landsat 8 image shows ship wakes and wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean near Block Island, which flanks southern New England. Congratulations to Rafael and Jim Steinert for being the first to identify these features and the image’s location. Read more about the area in “A Piece of Rhode Island in the Atlantic.” Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The July…
2024: The Hottest Year on Record as Los Angeles Burns
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 by climate change. The unprecedented heat of 2024 was largely driven…
Support grows for global tax on shipping emissions to fund climate action
The number of governments backing a proposal for a global levy on maritime emissions has grown, according to the head of the United Nations shipping body, in a shift celebrated by Pacific island states which are particularly vulnerable to climate change. “You will see that an increased number of member states are now adding their support for the levy,” Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime…
Another Puff from Whakaari
The perpetually restless and occasionally explosive volcano in New Zealand has been emitting steam, volcanic gases, and a bit of ash. Read More…
Very high temperatures in Tropics
Temperatures in the Tropics (23.5°S-23.5°N, 0-360°E) have been very high in 2024 (see black line, image below), much higher than they were at this time of year in 2023 (orange line). The above image shows that on May 24, 2024, the temperature was 26.7°C (or 80.06°F), an anomaly of 1°C (or 1.8°F) compared to 1979-2000. The image below shows the average monthly temperature anomaly over the past few years through…
Temperatures in the Tropics
The image below shows that temperatures in the Tropics (23.5°S-23.5°N, 0-360°E) were very high during the second half of April 2024, and these very high temperatures were sustained during the first part of May 2024. The temperature was 26.9°C (or 80.42°F) on May 11, 2024, an anomaly of 1.1°C (or 1.98°F) from 1979-2000. The image below shows the average monthly temperature anomaly over the past few years through April…
March Puzzler
Update on April 23, 2024: This image shows Sortebræ, a large surge-type glacier in eastern Greenland, on September 6, 1986. Congratulations to Steward Redwood for being the first to correctly identify the glacier. Read more about the glacier and see how it has retreated in recent decades in our Image of the Day story. Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The March 2024…
How Shell greenwashed gas with sham Chinese carbon credits
Since 2022, Shell has sold more than 20 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as “carbon neutral” under a new industry-led standard. Climate Home News and Dialogue Earth can now reveal that this scheme has relied in part on “phantom” carbon credits that failed to cut emissions as claimed. The energy giant shipped the fossil fuel to buyers in East Asia and beyond, some of whom…
Snow on the Turtle Mountains
Patches of forest thrive on a plateau that straddles the border between North Dakota and Manitoba. Read More…
- Climate Crisis Denial is Organised
- Trump pulls out of UN climate agreement, 66 bodies deemed ‘contrary’ to US interests: SBS NEWS
The US will withdraw from the treaty underpinning all major international climate agreements and the UN climate science body, according to a White House memo.United States President Donald Trump has openly scorned the scientific consensus that human activity is warming the planet and has […]
- AI ‘Slop’ Websites Are Publishing Climate Science Denial (excerpt from DeSmog article)
AI ‘Slop’ Websites Are Publishing Climate Science Denial MSN hosted AI-generated content that cited non-existent climate experts and institutions. […]
- Exxon knew there would be a climate crisis.
- Trump ditches UN climate treaty as he moves to dismantle America’s climate protections
On Jan. 7, 2026, President Donald Trump declared that he would officially pull the United States out of the world’s most important global treaty for combating climate change. He said it was because the treaty ran “contrary to the interests of the United States.” His order didn’t say […]
Another Puff from Whakaari
The perpetually restless and occasionally explosive volcano in New Zealand has been emitting steam, volcanic gases, and a bit of ash. Read More…
Feedbacks
Water vapor feedbackThere 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 the pre-industrial temperature.A 2.75°C rise corresponds with almost ⅕ more water vapor in the atmosphere, as…
Australia is a mess. Cop31 is a chance to redefine ourselves from climate laggard to global leader | Anna Cerneaz
Hosting the conference would help us overcome our colonial mentality and the fossil fuel lobby, both of which have held us back from tackling climate changeGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAs the world grapples with the climate crisis, Australia stands at a crossroads. Our bid to co-host the UN’s climate conference, Cop31, with Pacific nations is not just a diplomatic event;…
Nature 2023: Part II
This is a follow-on post to the previous summary of interesting work related to the temperatures in 2023/2024. I’ll have another post with a quick summary of the AGU session on the topic that we are running on Tuesday Dec 10th, hopefully in the next couple of weeks. 6 Dec 2024: Goessling et al (2024) This is perhaps the most interesting of the papers so far…
Utilities One — Doing Great Things with Great Dedication
Many talented people are forced to leave their native countries in search of a better life. Of course, not all of them achieve outstanding results. However, when perseverance, luck, and hard work come together, they can realize their dreams and achieve their objectives. And this can all become true because their accomplishments push them towards their personal goals and facilitate society’s positive change. Serghei Busmachiu is…
Global warming to blame for low temperatures in North America
A temperature of -40°C (-39.9°F) was recorded at the circle on February 19, 2025 14:00 UTC, as illustrated by the above image.What made this possible? Temperature anomalies were very high in January 2025 in the Arctic, as illustrated by the image on the right. Arctic sea ice extent is currently at a record low for the time of year. Temperatures of the water in the Arctic Ocean…
What is happening in Los Angeles is our future | Francine Prose
The news from California is clear, but we don’t want to see it. It’s too confounding, big, complex. But we can sense the dangerWhen I send anxious texts to friends in Los Angeles – friends who have been evacuated or who are waiting to leave , friends escaping a fire zone, wondering if their life’s work has been destroyed, worrying about the smoke’s effect on an…
What are Verified Carbon Removal Projects?
UN endorsed projects that slow down the rate of global warmingBuying time for the world to make the transition to low-emission economies. Projects have different standards, such as Verra and Gold Standard, and are subject to a rigorous certification and verification process, and must submit regular updates and reports. To be certified, projects must have verifiable attributes. AdditionalityThe project is justified and the the carbon emission…
2024 Thought Leaders: Cuong Vo
What growth opportunities do you predict for your industry in 2025? As industries evolve, there will be a growing demand for effective and highly customisable automation solutions. Manufacturers will seek solutions tailored to their unique operational needs, allowing them to quickly adapt to changing consumer demands. This trend will drive modular automation solutions, where systems can easily be reconfigured or expanded. We are also seeing the…
NASA Flights Link Methane Plumes to Tundra Fires in Western Alaska
In Brief: Methane ‘hot spots’ in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are more likely to be found where recent wildfires burned into the tundra, altering carbon emissions from the land. In Alaska’s largest river delta, tundra that has been scorched by wildfire is emitting more methane than the rest of the landscape long after the flames died, scientists have found. The potent greenhouse gas can originate from decomposing…
Climate Change Institute: Working Towards a Sustainable Future
🌍 Who We Are: The Climate Change Institute is a global platform dedicated to providing free resources and tools for individuals and businesses to measure, reduce, and offset their carbon emissions. By offering accessible solutions, we empower people to take actionable steps toward achieving carbon neutrality and combating climate change. 💡 Measure Your Carbon Footprint Understanding your impact on the environment is the first step toward…
Did Curiosity Kill The Cat?
The title intrigued me – Did curiosity kill the cat or is it a vital skill to have in our ever-changing world? The first speaker, Dawn Austwick (Chief Executive, National Lottery Community Fund) delved into where the phrase came from, that plagued many of us as children when asking too many questions of parents and teachers. Dawn suggested that rather than being a vice, curiosity is the very…
October Puzzler
Update on October 30, 2024: This Landsat image shows ghost forests in North Carolina. Congratulations to Eric JF Kleijssen for being the first reader to identify the location. Read more about the area in “Ghost Forests Creep into North Carolina.” Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The October 2024 puzzler is shown above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to…
Atlantic ocean heat threatens to unleash methane eruptions
The image below shows that the monthly Atlantic surface temperature anomaly in February 2024 was 1.176°C when compared to a 1951-1980 base.[ click on images to enlarge ] The image below shows that the monthly Atlantic surface temperature anomaly in February 2024 was 1.435°C when compared to a 1901-2000 base. The difference illustrates the importance of selecting a base to calculate anomalies from. The anomaly indicates how much…
Models downplay wrath of what they sow
Models that analyze what is driving up the temperature all too often omit specific sources, or when included, models all too often downplay their contribution. Accordingly, policies that are promoted based on such models are all too often ineffective or even counter-productive. Methane is all too often referred to as ‘natural gas’ originating from wetlands, swamps, cows and pigs, as if calling methane ‘natural’ implied that human…
New loss and damage fund boss urged to keep costs down
With just $69 million in the bank account of the fledgling loss and damage fund so far, its new executive director was urged to keep running costs as low as possible at his first board meeting this month. Board members from 26 governments around the world questioned the fund’s current and planned spending on consultants, business-class plane tickets and the need to have a deputy executive…
2024: The Hottest Year on Record as Los Angeles Burns
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 by climate change. The unprecedented heat of 2024 was largely driven…
Mount Taranaki’s Ring of Forest
The precise geometry of the protected area encompassing an iconic New Zealand volcano is unmistakable from space. Read More…
The Stakes: how JD Vance’s home town has won millions in climate investment that he calls a ‘green scam’
Locals called it a ‘miracle’ when the steel plant in JD Vance’s home town got $500m for an upgrade. But Trump’s running mate calls shifting the US to cleaner energy a ‘green scam’A hulking steel plant in Middletown, Ohio, is the city’s economic heartbeat as well as a keystone origin story of JD Vance, the hometown senator now running to be Donald Trump’s vice-president.Its future, however,…
Temperature rise may soon accelerate even more
The April 2024 temperature was 1.32°C higher than 1951-1980, as illustrated by the above image, created with NASA content. Local anomalies are as high as 6.2°C. The April 2024 temperature was 1.62°C higher than 1900-1930, as illustrated by the above image, created with NASA content. The red line highlights acceleration of the temperature rise (Lowess Smoothing). The image below, created with NOAA content, uses a LOESS filter (green line) to…
Ambition and honesty: What Climate Home readers want in 2025
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 our always passionate, well-informed readers and our analysis of when, where…
July Puzzler
Update: This Landsat 8 image shows ship wakes and wind turbines in the Atlantic Ocean near Block Island, which flanks southern New England. Congratulations to Rafael and Jim Steinert for being the first to identify these features and the image’s location. Read more about the area in “A Piece of Rhode Island in the Atlantic.” Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The July…
Can a different approach to risk accelerate the energy transition in the Global South?
Neshwin Rodrigues and Duttatreya Das are energy analysts at Ember High cost of capital is a major barrier to the rollout of renewable energy across the Global South. The Alliance of Small Island States has highlighted this repeatedly, and last year the International Energy Agency (IEA) concluded that across a range of developing and emerging economies, raising capital to build utility-scale solar projects costs twice as…
Free Emission Reduction Program
Emission Reduction ProgramTo facilitate the implementation of the policies and procedures by an organisation to reduce their emissions. To see the full program: click here (password required) As a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, businesses have a vital role to play in mitigating climate change. By developing a comprehensive emissions reduction program, companies can make a positive impact on the environment and help reduce their carbon…
Spotlight on nature protection at COP 29
Preserved Forest Area in the Realidade District, Humaitá, Amazonas © Greenpeace Brasil Just ten days after Nature COP took place in Cali, Colombia, high-level negotiations kicked off at the annual climate summit or COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan. While the Nature summit closed with some wins and some frustration on finance ambition, the climate summit now presents another test for countries to agree on a new finance…
The cost of convenience: Why ditching plastic is a justice issue
Plastic products have been marketed to us as innocuous items of convenience. Plastic bags, food containers, candy wrappers, packaging of all kinds, meant to make life easier on the go, or to protect our purchases from damage. A cheap and forgettable addition to our increasingly cluttered lives. But of course, these petrochemical by-products are far from harmless and they have now been produced in such abundance…
UN report: Pollution From Planned Fossil Fuel Production Would Overshoot Paris Climate Goals
To protect the climate, most coal, oil, and natural gas must be left in the ground, a recent study reported. In the 2015 international Paris Climate Agreement, nearly every country agreed to try and limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and preferably closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial temperatures. Achieving these goals will require dramatic…
UN biodiversity talks agree finance roadmap, postponing decision on a new fund
In a late night session in Rome, the COP16 biodiversity talks – which resumed this week after failing to reach consensus last year – adopted a finance roadmap that will work towards a 2030 deadline, pushing back a final decision on how to channel scarce funding to help countries protect nature. Under the roadmap, countries will assess whether to create a new, independent global biodiversity fund…
Smoke Streams from Palisades and Eaton Fires
Several plumes billowed from Los Angeles-area fires in the days after their ignition. Read More…
Aust breakthrough could transform solar PV
UNSW Sydney researchers have made an important breakthrough that could transform photovoltaic technology, making solar cells more environmentally friendly, cost-effective and efficient. The scientists, from UNSW’s School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, managed to achieve a best-ever efficiency of 13.2% for high bandgap kesterite solar cells. While kesterite is a naturally occurring mineral, it can also be artificially created at low cost by combining copper,…
Wednesday 27
<
How hot will it get?
Currently, the temperature in the Northern Hemisphere is higher than it was last year at this time of year, as illustrated by the image below, created with University of Maine content. The image shows that a temperature of 21.1°C was reached in the Northern Hemisphere on June 17, 2024. The question is: Will temperatures over the next few months exceed the high temperatures reached last year? El Niño…
Paris Agreement thresholds crossed
High temperatures persist The image below, created with NASA data while using a 1903-1924 custom base, illustrates that the temperature anomaly through July 2024 has been more than 1.5°C above this base for each of the past consecutive 13 months, and even more when compared to a pre-industrial base. The red line shows the trend (one-year Lowess Smoothing) associated with the rapid recent rise. On August 19, 2024,…
March Puzzler
Update on April 23, 2024: This image shows Sortebræ, a large surge-type glacier in eastern Greenland, on September 6, 1986. Congratulations to Steward Redwood for being the first to correctly identify the glacier. Read more about the glacier and see how it has retreated in recent decades in our Image of the Day story. Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The March 2024…
In Rural and Urban Communities Alike, Energy Costs Burden Low-Income Families
Weatherization programs can help. As the leaves turn and the temperature drops, many people worry about the cost of home heating. Ariel Drehobl of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy says that for low-income families, it can cause stress around figuring out how to pay your bills and a tradeoff between keeping your heat on and being able to afford other necessities like food,…
September Puzzler
Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The September 2024 puzzler is shown above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us where it is, what we are looking at, and why it is interesting.How to answer. You can use a few words or several paragraphs. You might simply tell us the location, or you can dig deeper and offer details about…
‘Tis the season for sustainable food at Christmas
There’s nothing quite like an Aussie-style Christmas lunch or dinner — fresh seafood, roast meats, vibrant salads and summertime desserts enjoyed with family and friends. For many, it’s a day to indulge and savour every delicious bite — but it can also provide us with an opportunity to reflect on how we can consume more sustainably. With the majority of food waste in Australia coming from our homes…
A comprehensive method for assembly and design optimization of single-layer pouch cells
For academic researchers, the cell format for testing lithium-ion batteries is often overlooked. However, choices in cell format and their design can affect cell performance more than one may expect. Coin cells that utilize either a lithium metal or greatly oversized graphite negative electrode are common but can provide unrealistic testing results when compared to commercial pouch-type cells. Instead, single-layer pouch cells provide a more similar…
Tragedy set to unfold in Tropics (update)
The temperature in the Tropics (23.5°S-23.5°N, 0-360°E) reached a new record high on March 13, 2024. The image below shows the situation over the years through March 13, 2024, when the average daily surface air temperature was 26.9°C and 1.4°C above 1979-2000 (black line is 2024).The previous record high temperature was reached on April 24, 2016, when it was 26.8°C, and 1°C above 1979-2000 (grey line…
Wildfires ravaging northern Portugal – in pictures
Since last week, wildfires have been raging in central and northern Portugal. At least seven people have died and 50 have been injured. More than 5,000 firefighters have been mobilised to battle the blazes Continue reading…
February Puzzler
Update on March 11, 2024: This image shows Spirit Lake, located in south-central Washington, on April 26, 2023. Congratulations to Ivan Kordač for being the first to correctly identify the lake. Special mention goes to David Sherrod, who pointed out the lake’s floating log raft and mentioned a recent debris flow in the region (which occurred several weeks after this image was acquired). Read more about…
Cairo’s Colorful Nightscape
The older and newer cities of the Greater Cairo region look very different at night when viewed from above. Read More…
Keeping Tabs on North Cascades Glaciers
Scientists use satellites in orbit and boots on the ice to monitor glacial changes on the flanks of Mount Baker and elsewhere in Washington state. Read More…
November Puzzler
Update on December 17, 2024: This Landsat image shows the Messak Settafet plateau in southwestern Libya. Congratulations to Jim Wright for being the first reader to identify the location, and to Nerissa-Cesarina Urbani for naming the plateau. Read more about the area in “Human Fingerprints on an Ancient Landscape.” Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The November 2024 puzzler is shown…
‘It’s guerrilla warfare’: Brazil fire teams fight Amazon blazes – and the arsonists who start them
Firefighters and police in Rondônia battle fires intensified by both the climate crisis and a criminal assault on the rainforestThe occupants of the vinyl-coated military tents at this remote jungle camp in Brazil’s wild west compare the hellscape surrounding them to catastrophes old and new: the extinction of the dinosaurs, the bombardment of Gaza, the obliteration of Hiroshima during the second world war.“It’s as if a…
Why downplay the need for action?
The 2024 global average surface temperature was 1.55°C above the 1850-1900 average, according to WMO’s consolidated analysis of six datasets. [ click on images to enlarge ] Differences between datasets are mainly due to the ways temperatures are measured, e.g. ERA5 measures the temperature of the air above oceans, whereas NASA and NOAA measure the surface temperature of the water, which is lower. There can also be…
New Report Finds Costs of Climate Change Impacts Often Underestimated
Climate economics researchers have often underestimated – sometimes badly underestimated – the costs of damages resulting from climate change. Those underestimates occur particularly in scenarios where Earth’s temperature warms beyond the Paris climate target of 1.5 to 2 degrees C (2.7 to 3.6 degrees F). That’s the conclusion of a new report written by a team of climate and Earth scientists and economists from the Earth…
Boxing Out the Competition: How Green Packaging Helps Businesses
As more and more consumers are pushing businesses to become environmentally sustainable, many are looking at packaging as a way to reduce waste and emissions. Plastic packaging has been the norm for many decades due to it being inexpensive, hygienic, and easily accessible. However, with 34.5 million tons of plastic generated each year, the adverse effects of plastic packaging far outweigh its uses, and it’s time…
Temperatures in the Tropics
The image below shows that temperatures in the Tropics (23.5°S-23.5°N, 0-360°E) were very high during the second half of April 2024, and these very high temperatures were sustained during the first part of May 2024. The temperature was 26.9°C (or 80.42°F) on May 11, 2024, an anomaly of 1.1°C (or 1.98°F) from 1979-2000. The image below shows the average monthly temperature anomaly over the past few years through April…
Repression of climate and environmental protest is intensifying across the world
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 of attention in certain countries, including the UK and Australia. But…
- Human Activity is Driving Rapid Sinking of World’s River Deltas
New research, published in Nature, documents the rate of elevation loss in the world’s deltas, and finds that people are the primary reason for it.
- Remembering World-Renowned Soil Scientist, Agriculture and Food Security Center Director Pedro Sanchez
Walter Baethgen reflects on his friendship with Sanchez.
- Get Ready for Smokier Air: Record 2023 Wildfire Smoke Marks Long-Term Shift in North American Air Quality
A new analysis of air quality data from the past 70 years shows a broader, continent-wide trend toward smokier skies.
- New Policies, Same Inequalities for Agricultural Workers in Mexico
Who will benefit from the new agricultural support programs that promise to help rural farmworkers?
- TRACX Program Connects Educators Worldwide with Ocean Science Research
Last summer, teachers from around the globe got a hands-on opportunity to engage in research alongside scientists at the Gulf Coast Repository at Texas A&M University.
- It’s Been One Year Since Wildfires Devastated Los Angeles. What Have We Learned?
In the wake of the fires, our disaster expert says that “we have the lessons we need to do better and recover better, but there is a stubbornness to learning and applying them.”
The Orwellian rules-based Climate
By Andrew Glikson “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to wake” (James Joyce) Figure 1. Extinctions CC from: The five mass extinctions in Earth History. The rate of the current rise of greenhouse gas levels and thereby temperatures is higher by more than an order of magnitude than that of previous mass extinctions. (Figures 11.2, 11.5). Glikson. A.Y., 2023 The Trials of Gaia.War ─…
Do fossil fuels cause climate change?
We’ve all been there. You’re talking to someone who says that fossil fuels aren’t causing climate change. Or that climate change is happening naturally, and not because of anything that humans do. Maybe you know these things aren’t right, but you don’t speak up. You’re worried that you don’t know enough. If you’d like to have more confident conversations about how fossil fuels drive climate change,…
Well done humans!!!!
Congratulations humanity! For the first time in recorded history we have breached 2C above preindustrial levels! (Glacecakes Tumblr)
Australian Open set to reduce plastic waste by 400 kg
Sustainability Victoria is serving up reusable cups at Australian Open 2025 to reduce single-use plastic waste and encourage people to reuse. Tennis fans will be able to sip sustainably during AO 2025 with 38,000 reusable cups from Sustainability Victoria replacing single-use cups in selected bars around the precinct. It’s projected 50,000 single-use cups will be avoided at the tournament, equivalent to 400 kg of plastic. Future reuse…
Have feedbacks taken over?
For about one year now, global temperature anomalies have been extremely high, as illustrated by the image below, created with a screenshot from Copernicus, showing an anomaly from 1991-2020 of 0.86°C on June 1, 2024. What could be behind these persistently high temperatures? Many causes such as El Niño and sunspots have been discussed in earlier posts. How much do emissions contribute to these high temperatures?Despite pledges…
How the climate crisis fuels devastating wildfires: ‘We have tweaked nature and pissed it off’
John Vaillant, the author of Fire Weather, explains why fires such as those in Los Angeles are different from those beforeWhen writing about the hot, dry Santa Ana winds and how they affect the behavior and imaginations of southern Californians, Joan Didion once said: “The winds show us how close to the edge we are.”I’ve lived here my entire life. I evacuated my family’s hillside home…
High Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Danger
Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) takes into account the effect of temperature, RH (relative humidity), wind speed, and solar radiation. WBGT is used by weather.gov to warn about extreme heat stress when in direct sunlight, as is forecast to occur in grey areas on July 26, 2024 at 21 UTC. [ click on images to enlarge ] The inset shows that a temperature of 113°F or 45°C…
Sydney ferry honours solar pioneer
Sydney’s newest ferry has been named in honour of UNSW Sydney Scientia Professor Martin Green, a solar pioneer dubbed ‘the father of modern photovoltaics’. Green is renowned for leading the development of the passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC), which has become the world’s most commercially viable and efficient silicon solar cell technology. Today, PERC technology is used in the production of more than 90% of…
Storing CO2 in construction materials
New research out of the University of California, Davis and Stanford University has found that storing carbon dioxide in building materials could hugely reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The study, conducted by civil engineers and earth systems scientists, has been published in the journal Science. “The potential is pretty large,” said Elisabeth Van Roijen, who led the study as a graduate student at UC Davis. Van…
Is CMIP6 SSP585 the worst-case scenario?
The image below, adapted from Climate Reanalyzer, shows the temperature in the year 2100, in a CMIP6 SSP585 scenario. The image shows how much the temperature will have risen in 2100, at 2 meters above the surface and compared to the period 1979-2000. The image below shows a progressive temperature rise reaching 4.589°C in 2100 compared to the same period, i.e. 1979-2000 and in a CMIP6…
Did a Terminal Temperature Acceleration Event start in December 2024?
Terminal Temperature Acceleration? On December 30, 2024, the temperature was at a record high for the time of year. Given that La Niña suppresses temperatures, the question is what is driving up the temperature. The red dots in the above image are Copernicus ERA5 global daily mean near-surface (2m) air temperature anomalies December 13, 2022 through December 30, 2024, compared to a 1991-2020 base (left vertical axis)…
June Puzzler
Update on July 23, 2024: This false-color image shows a plume—likely an orographic cloud—streaming from near the summit of Antarctica’s Mount Siple. Colors in this image represent brightness temperature, which is useful for distinguishing the relative warmth (orange and pink) or coolness (purple and blue) of various features. Congratulations to Ivan Kordač for being the first to correctly identify the the image’s polar location. Read more about the…
Analysis: Biden’s climate legacy
The policy framework, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), was engineered and passed through Congress by the Biden Administration with cross-party support. It has been hailed as the biggest and most significant policy framework ever approved in the US political system. As a result, when looking at outgoing President Biden’s climate legacy, this policy alone means that the 46th president’s overall score is high. But the test…
Mount Taranaki’s Ring of Forest
The precise geometry of the protected area encompassing an iconic New Zealand volcano is unmistakable from space. Read More…
Congestion Pricing in New York
Since January 5, 2025, vehicles are being tolled to enter the Congestion Relief Zone in Manhattan South, New York, under the Congestion Pricing Program of the City of New York.On February 19, 2025, the federal government, through the Department of Transportation, stated its disapproval of the program. A WhiteHouse social media post shows a TIME magazine-style cover featuring Trump wearing a crown with the text ‘Congestion pricing is…
Go Carbon Neutral with the Climate Change Institute
Our mission is to: Provide Free Resources for Individuals and Organizations to Measure and Lower their Emissions Give Access to Most Cost-Effective Carbon Offset Projects to go Carbon Neutral Now Offset By Tonne Household Offsets Subscriptions Vehicle Offsets Home/Office Flight Offsets Measure your Carbon Footprint Measure your emissions with the Free Carbon Calculator and take the first step to becoming carbon neutral.Learn More You can also…
Tracking toward mass extinction
by Andrew GliksonWhere “Two plus two equals five if the party says so” (George Orwell)and when drilling methane wells reduces global warming Having turned a blind eye to climate science, ignoring the evidence that extreme atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) rise and ocean acidification have led to mass extinctions of species through time, humanity allows an exponential growth of carbon emissions to track toward a global…
Zimbabwe plans to expand coal use to address drought-induced blackouts
Zimbabwe is planning to ramp up its use of coal and gas to meet its energy needs after the worst drought in decades dried out the water supply to the hydropower plant, which powers the country. As a result, the Southern African nation is failing to meet its power demand, the government wrote in a new climate plan to cut emissions by 2035 submitted to the…
Fighting waste by counting flies
An innovative tech collaboration is helping to finesse a low-cost rubbish recycling process that relies on the insatiable appetite of black soldier fly larvae. Biotech company ARC Ento Tech, based on the NSW Central Coast, is helping to process landfill in the state by using the larvae of this common fly to eat the organic waste that’s part of mixed solid waste. Once all the organic…
Climate Choir Melbourne supporting Extinction Rebellion
Climate Choir Melbourne supporting Extinction Rebellion protestors at their sit down on the busiest intersection in Melbourne City, Australia. The police were very restrained. Are they in agreement with the protestors? They do have family of their own.
What are Verified Carbon Removal Projects?
UN endorsed projects that slow down the rate of global warmingBuying time for the world to make the transition to low-emission economies. Projects have different standards, such as Verra and Gold Standard, and are subject to a rigorous certification and verification process, and must submit regular updates and reports. To be certified, projects must have verifiable attributes. AdditionalityThe project is justified and the the carbon emission…
How COP16 2.0 can unlock business investment to properly fund nature
Steve Edwards is head of biodiversity at South Pole. The 16th United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP16) in Colombia late last year underscored an urgent truth: global efforts to halt biodiversity loss remain inadequate. While many hoped the event would catalyse clear and enforceable pathways for nature protection, the outcomes fell short, marked by vague targets and limited accountability. This presents a critical challenge…
Thickest sea ice breaking away from Greenland
Large pieces of sea ice are breaking away from the northern tip of Greenland, to be carried by ocean currents to the Fram Strait east of Greenland. On their way they will melt away, illustrating how ocean heat can make even the thickest parts of the sea ice disappear in a matter of days. The thick sea ice north of Greenland is breaking away due to…
Very high temperatures in Tropics
Temperatures in the Tropics (23.5°S-23.5°N, 0-360°E) have been very high in 2024 (see black line, image below), much higher than they were at this time of year in 2023 (orange line). The above image shows that on May 24, 2024, the temperature was 26.7°C (or 80.06°F), an anomaly of 1°C (or 1.8°F) compared to 1979-2000. The image below shows the average monthly temperature anomaly over the past few years through…
September Puzzler
Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The September 2024 puzzler is shown above. Your challenge is to use the comments section to tell us where it is, what we are looking at, and why it is interesting.How to answer. You can use a few words or several paragraphs. You might simply tell us the location, or you can dig deeper and offer details about…
California fire agency engineer arrested on suspicion of starting five wildfires
Cal Fire says Robert Hernandez ignited blazes while off duty in forest land in north of stateA California department of forestry and fire protection employee was arrested on Friday on suspicion of starting five brush fires in northern California in recent weeks, officials said.Robert Hernandez, 38, was arrested at the Howard forest fire station in Healdsburg, California, on suspicion of arson to forest land, the state…
The Korean Peninsula at Night
Images of nighttime lights reveal patterns in population and urban development. Read More…
More floods are coming to Britain, but you ought to know this: the system that should protect us is a scandal | George Monbiot
A network of public bodies are supposed to safeguard us from flooding. But, like old boys’ clubs, they are bastions of self-interestLabour’s first stage of government resembles a vast forensic excavation. As it works through the Conservatives’ midden of horrors, it discovers an ever greater legacy of underinvestment, neglect and corruption. However disappointing the new government’s compromises might be, we shouldn’t forget how overwhelming this task…
The cost of convenience: Why ditching plastic is a justice issue
Plastic products have been marketed to us as innocuous items of convenience. Plastic bags, food containers, candy wrappers, packaging of all kinds, meant to make life easier on the go, or to protect our purchases from damage. A cheap and forgettable addition to our increasingly cluttered lives. But of course, these petrochemical by-products are far from harmless and they have now been produced in such abundance…
Cloudy with a chance of warming: how physicists are studying the dynamical impact of clouds on climate change
For all of us concerned about climate change, 2023 was a grim year. According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), it was the warmest year documented so far, with records broken – and in some cases smashed – for ocean heat, sea-level rise, Antarctic sea-ice loss and glacier retreat. Capping off the warmest 10-year period on record, global average near-surface temperature hit 1.45 °C above pre-industrial…
As Extreme Weather Intensifies, FEMA Needs Competent Leadership and Funding
On January 10, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released their annual analysis finding that 2024 was the hottest year on record globally and that global average temperatures likely surpassed an increase of 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels. On the same day, NOAA released its US Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters analysis for 2024 and found that last year an estimated 568 people…
Retired priest speaks of ‘painful’ treatment by church over her climate protests
The Rev Sue Parfitt has lost right to conduct religious ceremonies after her arrest at a Just Stop Oil demonstrationAn 82-year-old retired priest has spoken of her pain at losing her right to conduct religious ceremonies because of her participation in Just Stop Oil protests.The Rev Sue Parfitt was arrested in May after allegedly causing damage to the glass around Magna Carta at the British Library…
How the operating window of LFP/Graphite cells affects their lifetime
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells are ubiquitous in electric vehicles and stationary energy storage because they are cheap and have a long lifetime. This webinar will show our studies comparing 240 mAh LFP/graphite pouch cells undergoing charge-discharge cycles over 5 state of charge (SOC) windows (0%–25%, 0%–60%, 0%–80%, 0%–100%, and 75%–100%). To accelerate the degradation, elevated temperatures of 40°C and 55°C were used. In…
Are Global Supply Chains A Thing of the Past?
How Climate Change Will Impact Global Supply Chains Global supply chain issues have hit the news recently as the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the true vulnerabilities of global supply chains dependencies and sourcing relationships. As a result, it has become abundantly clear that we cannot take global production for granted. COVID is not the only global event threatening supply chains. As climate change continues to…
A Winter Wanderer in the Weddell Sea
Under the cloak of darkness, Iceberg A-83 wiggled away from glue-like sea ice and drifted farther from the Brunt Ice Shelf—but not without sustaining some damage. Read More…
How to win Trump’s Trade War: Build a greener, more resilient future
Donald Trump’s trade war is on hold – for now. It’s not a fight we wanted or sought out, but given Trump’s desire to bludgeon us into becoming the 51st state we need to be prepared. There is a way that we can come out of this stronger. In moments of disruption, great things can happen. We need to demand a response that takes care of…
Wildfires ravaging northern Portugal – in pictures
Since last week, wildfires have been raging in central and northern Portugal. At least seven people have died and 50 have been injured. More than 5,000 firefighters have been mobilised to battle the blazes Continue reading…
Applications open for CSIRO’s ‘Innovate to Grow’ program
Applications are open for CSIRO’s latest ‘Innovate to Grow’ program, which helps Australian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to advance their research goals in the recycling and circular economy sector. The eight-week Innovate to Grow: Recycling and Circular Economy program is delivered in partnership with Deakin University’s Recycling and Clean Energy Commercialisation Hub (REACH), which is supported by the Australian Government’s Trailblazer Universities Program. Led by…
New loss and damage fund boss urged to keep costs down
With just $69 million in the bank account of the fledgling loss and damage fund so far, its new executive director was urged to keep running costs as low as possible at his first board meeting this month. Board members from 26 governments around the world questioned the fund’s current and planned spending on consultants, business-class plane tickets and the need to have a deputy executive…
Feedbacks
Water vapor feedbackThere 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 the pre-industrial temperature.A 2.75°C rise corresponds with almost ⅕ more water vapor in the atmosphere, as…
Wood Pellet Giant Drax Targets California Forests: Excerpt
“Plans for two industrial pellet plants would increase carbon emissions and hurt the health of rural communities, campaigners warn. By Phoebe CookeonMar 4, 2024 @ 10:56 PST Series: Drax: The UK’s ‘Carbon Neutral’ Biomass Power Plant The wood pellets Drax produces are treated as “carbon neutral” under international accounting rules, based on an assumption that new-growth trees will capture the carbon lost by wood burnt for…
Extreme weather ran amok in 2024, report
A report produced by World Weather Attribution (WWA) and Climate Central finds that 2024 was quite a year for extreme weather events fuelled by climate change. Several trends manifested and strengthened throughout the year, with extreme weather dominating from the beginning to the end, which scientists say is the warmest ever recorded. The impacts are pretty staggering, with the analysis finding that the climate crisis contributed…
Keeping Tabs on North Cascades Glaciers
Scientists use satellites in orbit and boots on the ice to monitor glacial changes on the flanks of Mount Baker and elsewhere in Washington state. Read More…
New sustainability expo to help Australia transition to net zero
A newly launched sustainability trade show and multi-stream conference, named NET ZERO EXPO, has been designed to showcase tools and solutions for businesses, councils, property developers and households to cut emissions, reduce energy costs, prepare climate reports and meet evolving customer expectations. The event will run twice in Australia in 2025: first in Sydney on 27–28 August, then in Melbourne on 16–17 September. “We want the…
November Puzzler
Update on December 17, 2024: This Landsat image shows the Messak Settafet plateau in southwestern Libya. Congratulations to Jim Wright for being the first reader to identify the location, and to Nerissa-Cesarina Urbani for naming the plateau. Read more about the area in “Human Fingerprints on an Ancient Landscape.” Every month on Earth Matters, we offer a puzzling satellite image. The November 2024 puzzler is shown…
Snow on the Turtle Mountains
Patches of forest thrive on a plateau that straddles the border between North Dakota and Manitoba. Read More…
Paris Agreement thresholds crossed
High temperatures persist The image below, created with NASA data while using a 1903-1924 custom base, illustrates that the temperature anomaly through July 2024 has been more than 1.5°C above this base for each of the past consecutive 13 months, and even more when compared to a pre-industrial base. The red line shows the trend (one-year Lowess Smoothing) associated with the rapid recent rise. On August 19, 2024,…
¡AI Caramba!
Rapid progress in the use of machine learning for weather and climate models is evident almost everywhere, but can we distinguish between real advances and vaporware? First off, let’s define some terms to maximize clarity. Machine Learning (ML) is a broad term to distinguish any kind of statistical fitting of large data sets to complicated functions (various flavors of neural nets etc.), but it’s simpler to…
Temperatures in the Tropics
The image below shows that temperatures in the Tropics (23.5°S-23.5°N, 0-360°E) were very high during the second half of April 2024, and these very high temperatures were sustained during the first part of May 2024. The temperature was 26.9°C (or 80.42°F) on May 11, 2024, an anomaly of 1.1°C (or 1.98°F) from 1979-2000. The image below shows the average monthly temperature anomaly over the past few years through April…
Bloomberg Is a Climate Leader. So Why Aren’t Activists Excited About a Run for President?
Michael Bloomberg has poured his time and hundreds of millions of dollars into projects aimed at getting the world ‘beyond carbon,’ but can he win the presidency? One of the Trump administration’s favorite environmental talking points is that the United States has reduced carbon emissions more than any other country. It’s not an achievement that Trump can take any credit for. But his latest potential challenger,…
What is Climate Change?
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing our planet today. It refers to significant changes in global temperatures and weather patterns over time. While climate change is a natural phenomenon, scientific evidence shows that human activities are currently driving an unprecedented rate of change. The primary cause of recent climate change is the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities. Key contributors include:
- Burning of Fossil Fuels: Coal, oil, and natural gas combustion for energy and transportation releases large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases.
- Deforestation: Trees absorb CO2, and cutting them down reduces the Earth’s capacity to sequester carbon.
- Agricultural Practices: Methane emissions from livestock and rice paddies, along with nitrous oxide from fertilizers, contribute to the greenhouse effect.
- Industrial Processes: Certain industrial activities release various greenhouse gases, including CO2, methane, and fluorinated gases.
Effects of Climate Change
The impacts of climate change are widespread and varied, affecting ecosystems, weather patterns, sea levels, and human societies. Key effects include:
- Rising Temperatures: Global temperatures have been steadily increasing, leading to more frequent and severe heatwaves.
- Melting Ice and Rising Sea Levels: Polar ice caps and glaciers are melting, contributing to rising sea levels, which threaten coastal communities.
- Extreme Weather Events: Increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes, droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events.
- Biodiversity Loss: Many species are struggling to adapt to changing conditions, leading to shifts in ecosystems and potential extinctions.
- Human Health Risks: Increased heat can lead to heat-related illnesses, while changing weather patterns can affect food and water supply, leading to malnutrition and waterborne diseases.
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies
Addressing climate change requires both mitigation and adaptation strategies. Efforts to reduce or prevent the emission of greenhouse gases include:
- Transitioning to renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydroelectric power.
- Enhancing energy efficiency in buildings, transportation, and industries.
- Promoting reforestation and sustainable land use practices.
- Developing resilient infrastructure to withstand extreme weather.
- Implementing water management practices to cope with variable water supplies.
- Protecting and restoring natural ecosystems to enhance their resilience.
Climate change is a complex and multifaceted issue that requires global cooperation and immediate action.
By understanding its causes, effects, and the strategies available to address it, we can work towards a sustainable future for our planet.
It is imperative for governments, businesses, and individuals to take proactive steps to mitigate climate change and adapt to its inevitable impacts.