White thick smoke of methane gas seeps up between layers of garbage and waste at a dumping zone in Belgharia, India that has been leaking uncontrolled methane since 2008. Jonas Gratzer / LightRocket via Getty Images
Large methane leaks rose 32 percent in the first eight months of 2020, according to Paris-based data firm Karryos, as Reuters reported.
<p>The rise in the harmful greenhouse gas is notable because it happened during worldwide lockdowns that led to drops in carbon emissions. It also happened despite pledges from the oil and gas sector to limit their carbon emissions.</p><p>Karryos, which analyzed <a href="https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-5P/Mapping_methane_emissions_on_a_global_scale" target="_blank">satellite data</a> to calculate the extent of methane emissions, says there are roughly 100 methane leaks happening around the world at any given moment.</p><p>"Such increases in methane emissions are concerning and in stark contradiction to the direction set in the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>," said Antoine Rostand, president of Kayrros, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/10/14/number-global-methane-hot-spots-has-soared-this-year-despite-economic-slowdown/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported. "Despite much talk of climate action by energy industry stakeholders, global methane emissions continue to increase steeply."</p>
<p>According to Karryos' data, in some methane hotspots, emissions rose 40 percent higher than over the same time frame in 2019. Those areas were Algeria, Russia and Turkmenistan. In addition to those three countries, the U.S., Iraq and Iran were the three largest methane emitters in the first two-thirds of 2020, as The Washington Post reported.</p><p>Methane does not stick around the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, but it is a far more potent gas in the short term. In fact, according to <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/10/14/eu-considers-crackdown-methane-leaks-imported-oil-gas/" target="_blank">Climate Change News</a>, methane's impact on the heating of the planet is 84 times higher than CO2 over its first 20 years.</p>
<p>The technology to reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas industry is already available. According to the <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/methane-emissions-from-oil-and-gas" target="_blank">International Energy Agency</a>, if the industry used current technology, it could lower its methane emissions by three-fourths in the next decade, as Climate Change News reported.</p><p>Rostand said the largest leak that Karryos was able to detect was in Iraq, which released 400 tons per hour. The leak extended 150 miles into Saudi Arabia. In the U.S., the largest leak emitted 150 tons of methane per hour, which is equivalent to 10 coal-fired plants running at maximum capacity, as The Washington Post reported.</p><p>"We see from the sky, not on the ground, but what we are observing is the wrong trend. We should have expected decreases ... but that has not been the case," Rostand told the oil and gas news site <a href="https://www.upstreamonline.com/environment/methane-emissions-show-concerning-spike-in-covid-19-pandemics-wake-kayrros/2-1-893265" target="_blank">Upstream</a>.</p>
<p>Fixing methane gas leaks is expensive and requires significant equipment upgrades, which the industry has been slow to invest in as its profits have plummeted in 2020 due to decreasing demand.</p><p>"It's a pure consequence of cost cutting," Rostand said, as Reuters reported.</p><p>The European Union has responded to the data and issued a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/eu_methane_strategy.pdf" target="_blank">new strategy</a> Wednesday to address emissions from methane, as Climate Change News reported. The E.U. is the world's largest importer of natural gas and has the potential to make a significant impact in the regulation of methane emissions.</p><p>"The Commission will examine options as regards possible methane emission reduction targets or standards or other incentives on fossil energy consumed and imported in the EU in the absence of significant commitments from international partners," the strategy states.</p>
<p>So far, the binding targets for emissions reductions are still under consideration. They will need to be implemented and enforced for the E.U. to reach its climate targets and to achieve its stated goal of net zero emissions by 2050, according to Climate Change News.</p><p>According to the Clean Air Task Force, significant regulations from the E.U. could reduce methane emissions from the gas industry by 5 million tons per year, which is equivalent to shutting down nearly 120 coal-fired power plants, as The Washington Post reported.</p><p>"It is clearly time to reduce these emissions," Rostand said Wednesday, according to The Washington Post. "They are easy to fix. We have the technology to fix them." Without that investment, he said, "gas that leaks methane is as bad as coal."</p>
<p> <em>Correction: This article has been corrected to reflect that large methane leaks (more than 5 tons per hour) rose 32 percent, not total methane emissions.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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The Climate Crisis Has Already Cost the Great Barrier Reef More Than Half Its Corals
14 October
Oceans
The Great Barrier Reef has lost more than 50 percent of its coral in the last 25 years. Andreas Dietzel
The Great Barrier Reef has lost more than 50 percent of its coral in the last 25 years, and the climate crisis is to blame.
<p>Researchers from the <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/" target="_blank">ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies</a> (CoralCoE) made an in-depth study of how coral communities and their colony sizes had changed between 1995 and 2017 along the entire length of the reef. The results, published in the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.1432" target="_blank">Proceedings of the Royal Society B</a> Wednesday, sound an urgent call for climate action.</p><p>"There is no time to lose — we must sharply decrease greenhouse gas emissions ASAP," the researchers <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/the-great-barrier-reef-has-lost-half-its-corals" target="_blank">said in a CoralCoE press release</a>.</p>
<p>The researchers found a decline in every size and species of coral in both shallow and deep water. The corals were especially devastated by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/great-barrier-reef-coral-bleaching-2353658528.html" target="_self">back-to-back bleaching events in 2016 and 2017</a>, study author and James Cook University professor Terry Hughes told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/14/great-barrier-reef-corals-have-more-than-halved-in-past-25-years-study-shows" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>While all the corals were impacted, these bleaching events took an especially heavy toll on branching and table-shaped corals, Hughes said in the press release. This is a big deal because these architectural corals provide habitats for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fish" target="_self">fish</a>. Without them, fisheries decline.</p><p>"The reef is flatter and less three dimensional now," Hughes told The Guardian.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-bleaching" target="_self">Coral bleaching</a>, which <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/great-barrier-reef-ecological-memory-2623045702.html" target="_self">occurs</a> when hot water temperatures drive the algae that gives corals food and color from their homes, also struck the southern part of the reef at the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coral-bleaching-great-barrier-reef-2645576557.html" target="_self">beginning of 2020</a>. This event was not included in the study, so the reef may be even more depleted than the researchers calculated.</p><p>The study's findings also have implications for the reef's ability to reproduce itself.</p><p>"A vibrant coral population has millions of small, baby corals, as well as many large ones — the big mamas who produce most of the larvae," lead author of CoralCoE Dr. Andy Dietzel said in the press release. "Our results show the ability of the Great Barrier Reef to recover — its resilience — is compromised compared to the past, because there are fewer babies, and fewer large breeding adults."</p>
<p>Bob Richmond, a research professor and director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Manoa who was not involved with the study, told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/10/13/warming-has-killed-half-coral-great-barrier-reef-study-finds-it-might-never-recover/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2_x37PLr_SITwRm2VbrAgbOw3aqJPxPKbgnCZHX8kweHAe2g8Ngj6lw6Q" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> he was impressed with the work and agreed the reef was in trouble.</p><p>"If I don't see one-year-old, two-year-old, three-year-old corals, I know that reef is dead," he said. "It just doesn't know it yet."</p><p>The Great Barrier Reef stretches almost 133,000 square miles, making it the largest <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-reefs" target="_self">coral reef</a> in the world, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/great-barrier-reef-coral-loss-intl-scli-climate-scn/index.html" target="_blank">according to CNN</a>. It provides a habitat for more than 1,500 species of fish and 411 species of hard corals.</p><p>It is also hugely important for the economy of Australia, The Washington Post pointed out. It drew more than two million tourists every year before the pandemic. Despite this, Australia continues to be the world's top <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" target="_self">coal</a> exporter.</p>
<p>Hughes explicitly called out Australia's pro-fossil fuel policies as a "profound policy-failure" for managing the reef on <a href="https://twitter.com/ProfTerryHughes/status/1316262459313803270" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. He said the only hope for the reef's survival was to limit global warming in line with the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>.</p><p>"There's not much time to lose," he told The Guardian. "I think if we can control warming somewhere between 1.5-2C [above pre-industrial levels], as per the Paris agreement, then we'll still have a reef. But if we get to 3-4C because of unrestrained emissions then we won't have a recognisable Great Barrier Reef."</p>
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'Uninhabitable Hell:' UN Report Warns of Planet's Future for Millions Without Climate Action
13 October
Climate
A UN report, The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019, was released to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. Colin Anderson Productions pty ltd / Stone / Getty Images
A new report from the United Nations found that political leaders and industry leaders are failing to do the necessary work to stop the world from becoming an "uninhabitable hell" for millions of people as the climate crisis continues and natural disasters become more frequent, as Al-Jazeera reported.
<p><a href="https://www.undrr.org/publication/human-cost-disasters-overview-last-20-years-2000-2019" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019</a> was released Monday to mark the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, which falls on Oct. 13, according to a <a href="https://www.undrr.org/publication/human-cost-disasters-overview-last-20-years-2000-2019" target="_blank">statement</a> from the office behind the report.</p><p>The bulk of the disasters were climate-related, as there were sharp increases in the number of floods, storms, heat waves, droughts, hurricanes and wildfires in the last two decades, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/13/world/un-natural-disasters-climate-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>The report found that the world is on a worrying trend line as natural disasters become more frequent and more expensive. In the last 20 years, there were more than 7,300 natural disasters worldwide, accounting for nearly $3 trillion in damages. That's almost double the prior two decades when there were just over 4,200 natural disasters that totaled $1.6 trillion in economic losses, according to the statement.</p>
<p>"It is baffling that we willingly and knowingly continue to sow the seeds of our own destruction," said UNDRR chief Mami Mizutori and Debarati Guha-Sapir of Belgium's Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, in a joint foreword to the report, as CNN reported.</p><p>"It really is all about governance if we want to deliver this planet from the scourge of poverty, further loss of species and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a>, the explosion of urban risk and the worst consequences of global warming."</p>
<p>The report said that the future would be full of more climate-related disasters as the planet warms up and heat-trapping gases are continuously emitted into the atmosphere. The researchers said the greatest threats in the coming decades would come from heat waves and droughts, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/environment-disasters-un/sharp-rise-in-natural-disasters-in-last-20-years-asia-hardest-hit-u-n-idUSKBN26X1HG" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p><p>Asia saw the bulk of the natural disasters over the last 20 years. China had the largest number of disasters with 57, followed by India, the Philippines and Indonesia. The only country outside of Asia to crack the top 5 was the U.S, which ranked second with 467 natural disasters from 2000 to 2019, according to the paper, as Reuters reported.</p><p>"If this level of growth in extreme weather events continues over the next twenty years, the future of mankind looks very bleak indeed," said Guha-Sapir, according to Reuters. "Heatwaves are going to be our biggest challenge in the next 10 years, especially in the poor countries."</p>
<p>In a virtual briefing to announce the release of the report, Mizutori said the world must act swiftly and decisively to invest in disaster reduction, climate crisis adaptation, and prevention. She asked that political leaders around the world reaffirm their commitment to the 2015 <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> and turn their attention to zero-emissions infrastructure, as Al-Jazeera reported.</p><p>The report said that the world's current trajectory that has us heading towards a 3.2-degree Celsius increase in temperature will trigger such extreme climate disasters that the improvements to disaster response will be rendered "obsolete in many countries," as CNN reported.</p><p>"We have seen little progress on reducing climate disruption and environmental degradation," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in an <a href="https://www.un.org/en/observances/disaster-reduction-day/messages" target="_blank">International Disaster Day message</a>, as CNN reported. "To eradicate poverty and reduce the impacts of climate change, we must place the public good above all other considerations."</p>
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Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence participate in the vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City, Utah on Oct. 9, 2020. PBS NewsHour / YouTube
The climate crisis was discussed for roughly 10 minutes at Wednesday night's vice-presidential debate in Salt Lake City, Utah between Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence.
<p>The first question about the climate crisis came about 40 minutes into the debate when moderator Susan Page turned to Pence and brought up the record number of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricanes</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildfires" target="_self">wildfires</a> in 2020. She then asked if he agreed with the scientific consensus that man-made climate change is making hurricanes and fires larger and more dangerous.</p><p>Pence did acknowledge that the climate is changing, but he would not say that human activity is causing it. He insisted that the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" target="_self">Trump</a> administration would listen to the science before pivoting to attack both the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> and the Green New Deal.</p><p>In her reply, Harris insisted that Joe Biden believes in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a>. She drew a contrast with President Trump who has questioned science.</p><p>"We have seen a pattern with this administration, which is they don't believe in science," Harris said while looking straight at the camera.</p><p>She brought up that when Trump met with California Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, Trump said about global warming, "I don't think science knows, actually," as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-california-biden-climate-science-2647658093.html">EcoWatch</a> reported at the time.</p>
<p>Pence argued that the country has lowered CO2 emissions through hydraulic fracturing, or <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fracking/">fracking</a>, and through innovation. Pence then claimed that Biden and Harris wanted to ban fracking.</p><p>"I will repeat, and the American people know, that Joe Biden will not ban fracking," Harris said in her reply. "That is a fact."</p><p>The issue of fracking is something Pence glommed on to in what analysts see as a direct plea to voters in Pennsylvania where the oil and natural gas industry is prominent, as <a href="https://time.com/5897789/vp-debate-climate-change/" target="_blank">TIME</a> reported.</p><p>Harris, in her rebuttal, noted that clean energy infrastructure is actually part and parcel of an economic recovery, pointing out that Moody's said Biden's plan will create 7 million more jobs than Trump's plan.</p><p>"Joe Biden has been very clear that he thinks about growing jobs," she said. "Part of those jobs that will be created by Joe Biden are going to be about clean energy and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a>."</p>
<p>Pence also refused to attribute the wildfires and the increased moisture and slow movements of hurricanes to human activity. As the moderator attempted to enforce Pence's time limit, he argued that there are no more hurricanes than there were 100 years ago. Prior to that, he addressed the wildfires.</p><p>"With regard to wildfires, President Trump and I believe that forest management has to be front and center, and even Gov. Gavin Newsom from your state has agreed, we have to work on forest management," Pence said.</p><p>He neglected to mention that nearly 60 percent of California's forests are on federal land, as <a href="https://abc7news.com/politics/sen-kamala-harris-vp-mike-pence-spar-on-california-wildfires-during-debate/6854295/" target="_blank">KGO</a>, San Francisco's ABC affiliate, reported.</p><p>When Harris replied, she brought up the wildfires currently burning, the plight of the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Delta approaches, and the Iowa farmers whose fields were flooded by a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/derecho-storm-midwest-2646947250.html" target="_self">derecho storm</a>.</p><p>She segued from there to attack the Trump administration's hostile attitude towards science, noting that the terms "science" and "climate change" were removed from a government website about energy and the environment.</p><p>"Let's talk about who is prepared to lead our country over the course of the next four years on what is an existential threat to us as human beings," she emphasized.</p><p>When asked directly by Page if the climate crisis is an existential threat, Pence dodged the question and started to discuss taxes.</p>
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The Earth has experienced its warmest September since record-keeping began, according to a European Union agency's report. skeeze / Pixabay
The Earth has experienced its warmest September since record-keeping began, according to a European Union agency's report published Wednesday.
<p>The <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/climate-bulletins" target="_blank">Copernicus Climate Change Service</a>, which tracks global temperatures, published statistics that show 2020 is, so far, tying with 2016 for the warmest calendar year. <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/global-heating-could-pass-key-mark-in-5-years-un/a-54116525" target="_blank">Global temperatures in January, May and September</a> exceeded those in 2016 and tied in April and June.</p><p>"There is currently little difference between 2020 and 2016 for the year-to-date," Copernicus researcher Freja Vambourg said.</p><p>The report showed that temperatures in Europe were particularly warm, with the cooling La Nina weather event in the eastern Pacific cooling parts of the southern hemisphere.</p><p>Arctic sea ice saw its second-lowest September average extent on record, more than 40% below the 1981-2020 average. Temperatures in Siberia were "especially high."</p>
Paris Agreement Temperature Rise Maximum Is Close
<p>Monitors of the Paris Climate Agreement will view the figures with particular alarm: for the 12-month period through to September 2020, the planet was nearly 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.4 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial levels.</p><p>This is close to the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold for severe impacts to the planet detailed in a 2018 UN climate report.</p><p>The Paris Agreement, of which many UN nations are signatories, has nations aim to cap global warming "well below" 2 degrees Celsius and at 1.5 degrees if possible.</p><p>Overall, September 2020 was 0.05 degrees Celsius warmer than September 2019.</p>From Your Site Articles
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participate in the first presidential debate moderated by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University on Sept. 29, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. Scott Olson / Getty Images
The first presidential debate seemed like it would end without a mention of the climate crisis when moderator Chris Wallace brought it up at the end of the night for a segment that lasted roughly 10 minutes.
<p>The raucous event in Cleveland, Ohio was notable for President Donald's Trump's constant interruptions and bullying behavior as he spoke over the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, and Wallace. "Mr. Trump purposefully and repeatedly heckled and blurted over his rival and the moderator alike in a 90-minute melee that showcased the president's sense of urgency to upend a race," is how Shane Goldmacher of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/us/politics/presidential-debate-recap.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> summarized the night.</p><p>It was with that backdrop that Wallace said toward the end of the evening, "I'd like to talk about climate change." He then spoke about the forest fires in the West, turned toward Trump and noted that Trump said he doesn't believe that science knows if the climate crisis is triggering record-setting wildfires.</p>
<p>"Over your four years, you have pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord," Wallace said. "You have rolled back a number of Obama environmental records. What do you believe about the science of climate change, and what will you do over the next four years to confront it?"</p><p>"I want crystal clean water and air, we now have the lowest carbon … if you look at our numbers now we are doing phenomenally," Trump said in response. He then insisted that people are people are very happy he has started to withdraw the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord before turning the discussion to how states in the West need to improve their forest management.</p><p>That distraction from the question pushed Wallace to interrupt Trump. "What do you believe about the science of climate change, sir?" And then later in the segment, he asked, "Do you believe that human pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, contribute to the global warming of the planet?"</p><p>Trump said he did, to an extent, and then pivoted again to forest management.</p>
<p>As Trump spoke of the need to better manage the forests, Biden looked bemused, often laughing at the president's answers and shaking his head.</p><p>"But sir, if you believe in the science of climate change, why have you rolled back the Obama Clean Power Plan, which limited carbon emissions in power plants? Why have you relaxed fuel economy standards that are going to create more pollution from cars and trucks?" Wallace asked.</p><p>Trump dismissed that idea, insisting that more new cars will be bought which will make them safer.</p><p>When Biden had a chance to speak about his $2 trillion green energy plan, the former vice president spoke about his track record in bringing down the cost of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> and said that coal-fired and oil-fired power plants were going extinct in America.</p>
<p>He also spoke of replacing the federal automotive fleet of vehicles with electrical vehicles. He mentioned a plan to weatherize millions of buildings and homes to reduce the need for both heating and air conditioning. He then insisted the country could reach net-zero emissions in 15 years while creating millions of jobs to overhaul the country's energy infrastructure.</p><p>When Trump tried to tie Biden to the yoke of the Green New Deal and erroneously labeled the price tag at $100 trillion, Biden insisted that his plan was not the Green New Deal, but his own.</p><p>Discussing the costs, Biden pointed to the steep price tag of ecological disaster.</p><p>"We spend billions of dollars now, billions of dollars, on floods, hurricanes, rising seas," he said. "We're in real trouble."</p>
<p>The pivot toward the climate crisis was a surprise. Before the debate, Wallace, a Fox News host, had said the debate would focus on a handful of topics: the Supreme Court, the coronavirus pandemic, the economy, election integrity and "race and violence in our cities," according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/29/energy-202-climate-change-left-off-debate-list-even-though-polls-show-it-growing-concern-among-voters/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a>.</p><p>The omission of the climate crisis was striking, as activists worried that debate moderators would ignore the number one issue today to young people, just as it was in the 2016 debates, according to The Washington Post.</p><p>The omission also raised the ire of Democratic lawmakers. Prior to the debate, 40 Democratic senators sent a letter to the debate commission insisting upon questions that address the climate crisis.</p><p>"Without these topics, any discussion on the economy, racial justice, public health, national security, democracy, or infrastructure would be incomplete," said the letter, as The Washington Post reported.</p>
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In New Election Video, Pathway to Paris Reminds Us That ‘People Have the Power’
22 September
Politics
People Have the Power - VOTE 2020
Climate-action nonprofit Pathway to Paris first launched in 2014 with an "intimate evening" of music and conversation after the People's Climate March in New York City.
<p>Six years later, and intimate musical evenings feel like relics from another era. But the group is still bringing artists and activists together to achieve its goal of making the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris climate agreement</a> a reality. To that end, the group dropped a new music video <a href="https://vimeo.com/459419656" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tuesday</a> to remind people the world over that they have the power to act on the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>The eight-minute video features musicians and activists from 24 countries, 38 cities and six continents singing "People Have the Power" by Pathway to Paris supporter Patti Smith and the late Fred Sonic Smith. It was released in conjunction with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-week-2020-2647708978.html" target="_self">Climate Week NYC</a> and in celebration of Pathway to Paris' sixth anniversary. While the group <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/patti-smith-thom-yorke-flea-pathway-to-paris-album-1946624877.html" target="_self">cut its teeth on live concerts</a>, such as a two-night affair in Paris that coincided with the signing of the groundbreaking 2015 agreement, the organization's founders say its work is more urgent than ever now that large public gatherings are not safe.</p>
<p>"The current pandemic surrounding Covid-19 has shown moments and threads of hope and optimism, but it also has shown just how fractured the communication of our planet remains," Pathway to Paris co-founder Jesse Paris Smith said in a press release for the new video. "This same frustration has been experienced for decades with the climate crisis and just about any unifying global issue of great urgency. We struggle to adapt and survive based on the information we are given and the immense lack of alignment in our decision making. There couldn't be a more urgent time for the country and the planet to unify as one collective force, and yet we see more examples of the failure of this concept to take hold. Our current reality is one of immense suffering and a promise of continued disaster if we do not get together on our agreements, set more ambitious goals, and make drastic plans for change <em>today</em>."<br></p>
<p>To further this goal, Smith and fellow co-founder Rebecca Foon launched the video with the hope of encouraging people to make change by voting. They encourage U.S. viewers to vote in the upcoming <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/2020-election" target="_self">November election</a> and viewers the world over to vote wherever and whenever local elections occur. They also suggest people use their voice by signing petitions, contacting representatives, writing letters and having conversations about climate change with friends and family.</p><p>Joining Foon and Smith in the video to endorse this message are a wide range of celebrities, activists and ordinary people including Patti Smith, Joan Baez, Tony Hawk, Cyndi Lauper, Dr. Vandana Shiva and Bill McKibben.</p><p>"We are in a time where our interconnectedness has never been more pronounced. This time presents an opportunity for us as a planet to truly see how our epic challenges are deeply connected, and our collective solutions need to address these challenges holistically. Due to the state of emergency we find ourselves in globally (current science highlights that we might hit 1.5 degrees as soon as 2024), we need to put our resources and attention as quickly as possibly in designing and creating a world that is no longer dependent on the use of fossil fuels while building a green economy that is rooted in equity, justice, human rights and ethics if we want a future for ourselves and our children," Foon said in the press release.</p>
<p><br>Foon and Smith, both musicians themselves, noted that the pandemic has taken a toll on an industry that relies on live performances. The group has already organized two virtual festivals since quarantine measures began, one for Earth Day in April and one for World Environment Day in June.</p><p>"It is a bit terrifying to imagine the impact that the disappearance of culture and community will have on the upcoming election, though we must continue to find ways to connect and collaborate in the virtual plane, while following quarantine and social distancing guidelines," Smith said in the press release.</p>
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An Extinction Rebellion environmental activist mother group protests outside Google's UK headquarters in London, England on Oct. 16, 2019. The group urged Facebook and Google to stop allowing climate deniers to profit on their platforms. Ollie Millington / Getty Images
Tech behemoths Google and Facebook have upped their respective pledges to the environment, joining the ranks of Apple and Microsoft. Earlier this year, Microsoft pledged to go carbon negative by 2030, meaning it will account for all the carbon it has ever produced and add enough mitigation to counteract its effect.
<p>Now Google is following in Microsoft's footsteps and going one step further. The tech giant pledged to be carbon neutral in 2007 and has made an investment to match all of the electricity it uses with <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a>. The company is now claiming that it has purchased enough carbon offsets to bring its carbon footprint dating back to the company's founding, according to a <a href="https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/our-third-decade-climate-action-realizing-carbon-free-future" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">blog post</a> by Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet.</p><p>"The science is clear: The world must act now if we're going to avert the worst consequences of climate change," Pichai wrote. "We are committed to doing our part. Sustainability has been a core value for us since Larry and Sergey founded Google two decades ago."</p>
<p>Additionally, the company will become the first to commit to run entirely on carbon-free energy in all of its data centers around the world. Data centers are intensive energy consumers.</p><p>"This is far more challenging than the traditional approach of matching energy usage with renewable energy, but we're working to get this done by 2030," Pichai wrote. He added, "This is our biggest sustainability moonshot yet, with enormous practical and technical complexity. We are the first major company that's set out to do this, and we aim to be the first to achieve it."</p><p>To achieve the ambitious moonshot, Google will pair wind and solar energy together and it will use its robust artificial-intelligence to predict its future electricity demands, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54141899" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported.</p>
<p>The announcement won praise from climate activists.</p><p>"Today's announcement, combined with Google's promise in May to no longer create artificial intelligence solutions for upstream oil and gas exploration, shows that Google takes its role in combating climate change seriously," said Elizabeth Jardim, senior corporate campaigner at Greenpeace USA, according to the BBC.</p><p>In a move that follows the lead of industry leaders, Facebook announced that it will achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. It's an ambitious goal, but far behind Apple, Microsoft and Google on its climate commitments, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/15/facebook-and-google-announce-plans-become-carbon-neutral" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>"Facebook's global operations will achieve net-zero carbon emissions and be 100 percent supported by renewable energy. We are also setting an ambitious goal to reach net-zero emissions for our value chain in 2030," wrote its director of sustainability, Edward Palmieri, in a blog post, as <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/facebook-commits-to-net-zero-carbon-emissions-by-2030-1.4354701" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Irish Times</a> reported. Facebook houses its data centers for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp in Ireland.</p><p>"Over the next decade, Facebook will work to reduce carbon emissions from our operations and value chain, including by working with suppliers on their own goals, helping the development of new carbon removal technologies and making our facilities as efficient as possible," Palmieri added, as The Guardian reported.</p>
<p>The announcement is designed to bring Facebook in line with the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, which aims to curb global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as The Irish Times reported.</p><p>And yet, despite its climate pledges, Facebook has not stopped the thousands of climate misinformation and denial sites on its platform, as The Irish Times noted.</p>
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'Greenhouse Gaslighting': Trump Declares Himself the #1 Environmental President
09 September
Politics
Trump exits from the stage after speaking at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse on Sept. 8, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
President Trump told a crowd in Jupiter, Florida Tuesday that he is an environmental president, claiming that "it's true: number one since Teddy Roosevelt. Who would have thought Trump is the great environmentalist?" according to the White House transcript of the speech. He added, "And I am. I am. I believe strongly in it."
<p>The dubious claim was made as he vowed to sign a 10-year moratorium on offshore oil and gas <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-oil-drilling" target="_self">drilling</a> off the Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina coast. Essentially, he is signing a moratorium that is already in place that his own administration proposed lifting, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/us/politics/trump-drilling-environment-florida.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>The New York Times also noted how dubious the claim Trump made is when he called himself a great environmentalist after he has abandoned the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, rolled back clean air and clean water initiatives, lowered emissions standards on vehicles, allowed toxic pollution to spew into the atmosphere, and warmly embraced a toxic pesticide known to cause brain damage in children.</p>
<p>When he signed the measure Tuesday at the campaign stop near the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, he said, "This protects your beautiful gulf and your beautiful ocean, and it will for a long time to come," as <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-claims-environmental-progress-weakened-rules-72878809" target="_blank">ABC News</a> reported. And yet, at no time during the speech did he note that he tried to expand offshore drilling coast-to-coast, but only dialed it back after then Florida Governor Rick Scott asked the President not to lift the moratorium for his state.</p><p>In the speech, Trump tried to cast himself as a great protector of the environment in a state that is crucial to his reelection. While he and Joe Biden are in a statistical dead heat in Florida, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a> is an issue that weighs on the minds of both Republicans and Democrats in the state. Florida, which is mostly at sea level, is often battered by hurricanes, susceptible to heat waves, and vulnerable to rising oceans, according to The New York Times.</p>
<p>Trying to claim the mantle of environmentalism, Trump said, "My administration is proving every day that we can improve our environment while creating millions of high-paying jobs. This is a really sharp contrast to the extreme, radical left that you've had to deal with." Without citing any evidence, he added, "Joe Biden's plan would destroy America's middle class while giving a free pass to the world's worst foreign polluters like China, Russia, India, and many others. They don't have to clean up their lands, but we have to clean up ours. The left's agenda isn't about protecting the environment, it's about punishing America."</p><p>Trump also failed to mention his recent consideration of opening up the Gulf of Mexico to expanded drilling, as <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/10/interior-drilling-florida-waters-november-election-310595" target="_blank">POLITICO</a> reported. Nor did he mention that signing a moratorium for oil and gas exploration off the Atlantic Coast is purely theater since any declaration would have to go through Congress, which is extremely unlikely to take up the issue prior to Election Day, according to the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-09-08/trump-recasting-a-dubious-record-declares-himself-the-great-environmentalist" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a>.</p>
<p>Trump's bizarre claims of environmentalism after a track record of reducing protections stunned environmentalists who often see Trump as the president with one of the worst environmental legacies in history.</p><p>"He's ignoring science, he's ignoring experts and now he's even ignoring his own record," said Pete Maysmith, a senior vice president for the League of Conservation Voters, a nonprofit group, to the Los Angeles Times. "Florida is ground zero for climate change with extreme weather and hurricanes in particular. Donald Trump has attempted to roll back over 100 environmental protections, including dozens related to climate change and clean water. He's an environmental disaster and Florida's paying the price."</p><p>The Sierra Club zeroed in what Trump has done to the environment in Florida.</p><p>"Failing to adequately fund Everglades restoration, attempting to sell off our waters to corporate polluters and rolling back more than 100 environmental protections doesn't make you anything other than the worst president ever for the environment and climate," said Ariel Hayes, the political director of the Sierra Club, as The New York Times reported. "Voters in Florida and across the country have watched Trump achieve this status for nearly four years, and no amount of greenhouse gaslighting will change that."</p>
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Earth May Temporarily Pass Dangerous 1.5℃ Warming Limit by 2024, Major New Report Finds
09 September
Science
This first overshoot beyond 1.5℃ would be temporary, however, it casts new doubt on whether Earth's climate can be permanently stabilized at 1.5℃ warming. ronniechua / Getty Images
By Pep Canadell and Rob Jackson
The Paris climate agreement seeks to limit global warming to 1.5℃ this century. A new report by the World Meteorological Organization warns this limit may be exceeded by 2024 – and the risk is growing.
<p>This first overshoot beyond 1.5℃ would be temporary, likely aided by a major climate anomaly such as an El Niño weather pattern. However, it casts new doubt on whether Earth's climate can be permanently stabilized at 1.5℃ warming.</p><p>This finding is among those just published in a report titled <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/resources/united_in_science" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United in Science</a>. We contributed to the report, which was prepared by six leading science agencies, including the <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global Carbon Project</a>.</p><p>The report also found while greenhouse gas emissions declined slightly in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they remained very high – which meant atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have continued to rise.</p>
Greenhouse Gases Rise as CO₂ Emissions Slow
<p>Concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), have all increased over the past decade. Current concentrations in the atmosphere are, respectively, 147%, 259% and 123% of those present before the industrial era began in 1750.</p><p>Concentrations measured at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory and at Australia's Cape Grim station in Tasmania show concentrations continued to increase in 2019 and 2020. In particular, CO₂ concentrations reached 414.38 and 410.04 parts per million in July this year, respectively, at each station.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzg0MDgzNC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjkzMDg1MH0.e4zqCoSy25OUxUDXXIZAr1ean1E0fA4f_G_ldkc8FR4/img.png?width=980" id="d77d7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f2e32f2e254053d45401842536eb0171" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂0) from WMO Global Atmosphere Watch.
<p>Growth in CO₂ emissions from fossil fuel use slowed to around 1% per year in the past decade, down from 3% during the 2000s. An unprecedented decline is expected in 2020, due to the COVID-19 economic slowdown. Daily CO₂ fossil fuel emissions declined by 17% in early April at the peak of global confinement policies, compared with the previous year. But by early June they had recovered to a 5% decline.</p><p>We estimate a decline for 2020 of about 4-7% compared to 2019 levels, depending on how the pandemic plays out.</p><p>Although emissions will fall slightly, atmospheric CO₂ concentrations will still reach another <a href="https://theconversation.com/carbon-dioxide-levels-over-australia-rose-even-after-covid-19-forced-global-emissions-down-heres-why-144119" target="_blank">record high</a> this year. This is because we're still adding large amounts of CO₂ to the atmosphere.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzg0MDg5MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMDY3MzQyOH0.GRT7pQPLC0t8GbDl5PeBoyaItfesVVTTwpqcDpoh7As/img.png?width=980" id="2b24a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1095250846b6bc1cf2dd96aece3e6388" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Global daily fossil CO₂ emissions to June 2020. Updated from Le Quéré et al. 2020, Nature Climate Change.
Warmest Five Years on Record
<p>The global average surface temperature from 2016 to 2020 will be among the warmest of any equivalent period on record, and about 0.24℃ warmer than the previous five years.</p><p>This five-year period is on the way to creating a new temperature record across much of the world, including Australia, southern Africa, much of Europe, the Middle East and northern Asia, areas of South America and parts of the United States.</p><p>Sea levels rose by 3.2 millimeters per year on average over the past 27 years. The growth is accelerating – sea level rose 4.8 millimeters annually over the past five years, compared to 4.1 millimeters annually for the five years before that.</p><p>The past five years have also seen many extreme events. These include record-breaking heatwaves in Europe, Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, major bushfires in Australia and elsewhere, prolonged drought in southern Africa and three North Atlantic hurricanes in 2017.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzg0MTA4MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzU5MDk0NH0.jlf6tIgtZolfcHT1tuEcY-2IKB5sdAhFLeKFUph-CBo/img.png?width=980" id="e5010" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="73e0a6c1336e03055dde6bb6c6056963" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Left: Global average temperature anomalies (relative to pre-industrial) from 1854 to 2020 for five data sets. UK-MetOffice. Right: Average sea level for the period from 1993 to July 16, 2020. European Space Agency and Copernicus Marine Service.
1 in 4 Chance of Exceeding 1.5°C Warming
<p>Our report predicts a continuing warming trend. There is a high probability that, everywhere on the planet, average temperatures in the next five years will be above the 1981-2010 average. Arctic warming is expected to be more than twice that the global average.</p><p>There's a one-in-four chance the global annual average temperature will exceed 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels for at least one year over the next five years. The chance is relatively small, but still significant and growing. If a major climate anomaly, such as a strong El Niño, occurs in that period, the 1.5℃ threshold is more likely to be crossed. El Niño events generally bring warmer global temperatures.</p><p>Under the Paris Agreement, crossing the 1.5℃ threshold is measured over a 30-year average, not just one year. But every year above 1.5℃ warming would take us closer to exceeding the limit.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzg0MTE1MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MDI3NjU1MX0.IRPU1NxnSbpfZl_nNVW0PTVIaroDEMyA2wXjty-9pOA/img.png?width=980" id="0e056" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8460dfeba271f5a7c050670a6ba7080b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Global average model prediction of near surface air temperature relative to 1981–2010. Black line = observations, green = modelled, blue = forecast. Probability of global temperature exceeding 1.5℃ for a single month or year shown in brown insert and right axis. UK Met Office.
Arctic Ocean Sea-Ice Disappearing
<p>Satellite records between 1979 and 2019 show sea ice in the Arctic summer declined at about 13% per decade, and this year reached its lowest July levels on record.</p><p>In Antarctica, summer sea ice reached its lowest and second-lowest extent in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and 2018 was also the second-lowest winter extent.</p><p>Most simulations show that by 2050, the Arctic Ocean will practically be free of sea ice for the first time. The fate of Antarctic sea ice is less certain.</p>Urgent Action Can Change Trends
<p>Human activities emitted 42 billion tons of CO₂ in 2019 alone. Under the Paris Agreement, nations committed to reducing emissions by 2030.</p><p>But our report shows a shortfall of about 15 billion tons of CO₂ between these commitments, and pathways consistent with limiting warming to well below 2℃ (the less ambitious end of the Paris target). The gap increases to 32 billion tons for the more ambitious 1.5℃ goal.</p><p>Our report models a range of climate outcomes based on various socioeconomic and policy scenarios. It shows if emission reductions are large and sustained, we can still meet the Paris goals and avoid the most severe damage to the natural world, the economy and people. But worryingly, we also have time to make it far worse.</p>From Your Site Articles
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A new study finds that wealthy Americans living in spacious houses in upscale neighborhoods are responsible for 25% more emissions on average than those living in smaller houses in poorer areas. Pxfuel
Dreaming of a white-picket-fence home in an affluent suburb? Chances are your carbon footprint will be 15 times larger than your less-well-off neighbor.
<p>A new study finds that wealthy Americans living in spacious houses in upscale neighborhoods are responsible for 25% more emissions on average than those living in smaller houses in poorer areas.</p><p>Rich people live in bigger houses and consume more energy, generating greater climate-warming emissions, according to the research published in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.</p><p>"Although houses are becoming more energy-efficient, U.S. household energy use and related greenhouse gas emissions are not shrinking," lead author Benjamin Goldstein, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, said in a statement, adding that "this lack of progress undermines the substantial emissions reductions needed to mitigate climate change."</p>
<p>The U.S. has the highest per capita emissions of any country and has <a href="https://climateanalytics.org/media/historical_responsibility_report_nov_2015.pdf" target="_blank">historically pumped </a>the largest amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. About a quarter of U.S. emissions are produced by households, which is more than Germany's total emissions.</p><p>Goldstein and his team tracked energy consumption patterns of nearly 100 million households by reviewing their 2015 tax records. They looked at incomes, building types, the climate, and the kind of power grid supplying homes to generate the first-ever national carbon emissions rankings of states down to the zip code.</p><p>House acreage plays an outsized role in determining a household's carbon footprint, and lower-income people generally live in smaller spaces. Carbon emissions linked to residences are a result of everything from the use of dishwashers and lights, to heating and cooling.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUwMjEyNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzg1NjY2Nn0.k6yBmhmgEPusOS99_5ylZaAuyVJD6mfTwk-4rjOc0fI/img.jpg?width=980" id="c3008" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3b1a7f7d6f8d03b886e4a5954631a861" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
U.S. household greenhouse gas intensity in 2015 by state. Household GHG intensity represented by kilograms CO2-equivalents per square meter (kg CO2-e/m2) by state. Benjamin Goldstein
<p>"Regional variations were driven mainly by the amount of energy needed to heat and cool homes and by the type of fuel used to generate electricity," the study authors said.</p><p>This is why regions where the demand for heating or cooling is higher guzzle more energy and produce more carbon emissions, especially states in the northeast. Maine, Vermont and Wisconsin were the largest consumers of energy in 2015.</p><p>Vermont is the home state of Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, who promised to declare climate change a national emergency if elected president and has pushed for a more ambitious domestic policy on climate change. Sanders ended his presidential run earlier this year and has endorsed Joe Biden, the former vice president. Biden last week unveiled a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/07/14/890814007/biden-outlines-2-trillion-climate-plan" target="_blank">$2 trillion plan</a> to tackle climate change.</p><p>The least energy-intensive states were Florida, Arizona and California. Overall, central states fared the worst when it came to their carbon footprint per unit of floor space in 2015.</p>
<p>Donald Trump, who is vying to be re-elected this November, is openly dismissive of climate change concerns. In 2015, 195 countries came together to sign the Paris Agreement laying down targets for reductions in carbon emissions by 2030 and 2050. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the global climate treaty last year.</p><p>Despite this, Democrats hope a new president will be installed in the White House, who will push an even stronger climate agenda than Barack Obama, who helped forge the Paris climate treaty.</p><p>The goal under the treaty for housing is to reduce emissions by 80% from their 2005 levels. An analysis by the researchers suggests that U.S. households won't meet the 2050 targets set for residential emissions, even if the electricity grid relies on cleaner sources of energy.</p><p>Only if homes are smaller and more tightly packed together would that target be achievable. But it would still require Americans to use energy more sparingly and more efficiently.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/energy-guzzling-mcmansions-make-the-american-dream-a-climate-nightmare/" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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World Mayors Call for Car-Free Streets, End to Fossil Fuel Subsidies as Part of ‘Green and Just Recovery’
16 July
Politics
Cyclists ride through an intersection in downtown Brooklyn on July 30, 2019 in New York City. Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Mayors from some of the world's major cities have unveiled their vision for how the world can recover from the coronavirus pandemic while encouraging environmental justice and fighting the climate crisis.
<p>The <a href="https://c40.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#36000001Enhz/a/1Q000000kVoY/kuR1PLHMGR2K9eEbo8aivV.xPegZVTqwt.EjX.4a.hk" target="_blank">C40 Mayors' Agenda for a Green and Just Recovery</a>, announced Wednesday, includes measures already being adopted in many cities to recover from the pandemic in a way that addresses inequalities and keeps global heating to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a> goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. As part of their vision, the mayors are calling on national governments to end all subsidies for the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> industry.</p><p>"Nations must seize this moment to decisively move away from investments in high carbon and fossil fuel intensive industries and increase investments in a low carbon future," the mayors wrote, according to a press release emailed to EcoWatch.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.c40.org/about" target="_blank">C40 Cities</a> are a group of 96 world cities representing more than 700 million of the world's people and a quarter of the world's economy. In April, they formed the Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force to craft a way to respond to the pandemic without abandoning their climate goals, <a href="https://grist.org/climate/the-worlds-mayors-want-a-pandemic-recovery-that-takes-cars-off-the-streets-covid/" target="_blank">Grist reported</a>, and Wednesday's proposal is the result.</p><p>"Right at the outset of the pandemic, C40 Mayors felt the need to collaborate even more closely, to be able to rapidly learn from each other and take the most appropriate decisions to tackle the COVID-19 challenge," task force chair and mayor of Milan, Italy Giuseppe Sala said in the press release. "A visionary Mayoral Task Force was created to elaborate on a pathway towards a new, better normal, to the benefit of all cities of the world."</p>
<p>The mayors' <a href="https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/C40-Mayors-Agenda-for-a-Green-and-Just-Recovery?language=en_US" target="_blank">agenda</a> is divided roughly into two parts: what cities can do on their own, and what they are calling on national and international institutions to help them achieve. On the city level, the mayors called for green jobs, support for essential workers, investments in public services and the creation of greener, more livable cities.</p><p>Part of this vision means a shift away from cars and towards public transportation, walking and cycling, Grist pointed out. The plan includes calls to "give streets back to people" by devoting more roadspace to pedestrian or bike paths. It also promotes the idea of a 15-minute city, in which residents can find everything they need within a short walk or bike-ride of their home.</p><p>These changes are already being implemented in some cities, <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20200716113048-9jhn0" target="_blank">Thomson Reuters Foundation reported</a>. Seattle, for example, has permanently banned cars from 20 miles of city streets. Montreal has created 185 miles of new bike and walking paths in two months. Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, is working on building a network of electric cable cars.</p>
<p>Cities are also investing in green jobs and green energy. Los Angeles has supported the installation of solar panels on the homes of almost 2,000 low-income families and hired 200 recently incarcerated people to do it. Cape Town, South Africa is training and paying people from low-income communities to retrofit houses.</p><p>"Once again, it is city mayors who are showing us the way forward in confronting the COVID-19 public health crisis, reducing inequality and addressing the climate crisis. City mayors understand that we must take action that protects people's lives and livelihoods now and in the future by recovering better and building a more resilient and sustainable economy," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in support. "Cities are agents and engines of change and they can deliver solutions that will reduce carbon emissions to get to carbon neutrality by 2050 while creating better and more sustainable jobs."</p>
<p>But the mayors also acknowledged that they could not achieve this vision alone. They called on national and international governments and institutions to support them by adapting six commitments. In addition to ending fossil fuel subsidies, the other commitments are:</p><ol><li>Ensuring all recovery plans are green</li><li>Ensuring all recovery plans prioritize equality and inclusivity</li><li>Supporting public transportation</li><li>Supporting clean energy</li><li>Investing in cities to help with the recovery</li></ol><p>The plan also has the support of youth climate activists like University of California, Los Angeles undergraduate Briana Carbajal.</p><p>"COVID-19 made us face ourselves at our worst. We began questioning everything we know about how we exist on this planet. Out of this tragedy, I am hopeful that it has provided us with a grim enough reflection on the ways we have failed each other, and our home, so that we may move forward to remedy ourselves of racial injustice, environmental degradation, and willful ignorance," she said in the press release. "The Green and Just Recovery is a necessity on the path to healing. A path I am grateful my generation is leading."</p>
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Authors of a new study warned Thursday that increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is nearing a level not seen in 15 million years. Dawn Ellner / Flickr / CC by 2.0
By Jessica Corbett
As a United Nations agency released new climate projections showing that the world is on track in the next five years to hit or surpass a key limit of the Paris agreement, authors of a new study warned Thursday that increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is nearing a level not seen in 15 million years.
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<p>For the study, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67154-8" target="_blank">published</a> in the journal<em> Scientific Reports</em>, researchers at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom examined CO2 levels during the Late Pliocene about three million years ago "to search for modern and near future-like climate states," co-author Thomas Chalk <a href="https://twitter.com/ChalkyOceans/status/1281182408554020864" target="_blank">explained</a> in a series of tweets.</p><p>"A striking result we've found is that the warmest part of the Pliocene had between 380 and 420 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere," Chalk <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/09/co2-in-earths-atmosphere-nearing-levels-of-15m-years-ago" target="_blank">told</a> the <em>Guardian</em>. "This is similar to today's value of around 415 parts per million, showing that we are already at levels that in the past were associated with temperature and sea-level significantly higher than today."</p><p>When CO2 levels peaked during the Pliocene, temperatures were 3ºC to 4ºC hotter and seas were 65 feet higher, the newspaper reported. Chalk said that "currently, our CO2 levels are rising at about 2.5 ppm per year, meaning that by 2025 we will have exceeded anything seen in the last 3.3 million years."</p><p>"We are burning through the Pliocene and heading towards a Miocene-like future," warned co-author Gavin Foster, referencing a period from about 23 to 5.3 million years ago. It was during the Miocene, around 15 million years ago, when "our ancestors are thought to have diverged from orangutans and become recognizably hominoid," the <em>Guardian</em> noted.</p>
<div id="1a097" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3be1f37aee62477983e577219c84d7a9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1281182404116385792" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">https://t.co/3sNdmN8mCz New study covered by @guardiannews, we look at CO2 levels in the Late Pliocene (~3 million… https://t.co/xRhhLcpdJ5</div> — Tom Chalk (@Tom Chalk)<a href="https://twitter.com/ChalkyOceans/statuses/1281182404116385792">1594292663.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Reporting on the study elicited concern and calls for action from environmentalists and advocacy groups.</p><p>"Every kilo of CO2 we emit is one we have to sequester later, provided the food doesn't run out first," <a href="https://twitter.com/xrfinland/status/1281177680948473857" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Extinction Rebellion Finland, urging the international community to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ActNow" target="_blank">#ActNow</a>.</p><p>Nathaniel Stinnett, executive director of the U.S.-based Environmental Voter Project, also <a href="https://twitter.com/NCStinn/status/1281186259998777351" target="_blank">responded</a> to the report on Twitter, saying, "Big Oil and Gas are killing us."</p><p>A new report released Thursday by the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) about global temperatures likely coming in the next five years provoked similar alarm and demands.</p>
<p>"It's still not too late to avoid the worst effects of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimateEmergency?src=hashtag_click" target="_blank">#ClimateEmergency</a>. But governments need to act NOW," <a href="https://twitter.com/Greenpeace/status/1281166638897860608" target="_blank">declared</a> Greenpeace, pushing for a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GreenRecovery" target="_blank">#GreenRecovery</a> from the Covid-19 pandemic.</p><p>The WMO report projects that the annual global temperature is likely to be at least 1°C warmer than pre-industrial levels in each of the next five years. Although it is "extremely unlikely" the average temperature for 2020–2024 will be 1.5°C warmer than pre-industrial levels, WMO warned certain periods could hit that temperature.</p><p>Specifically, there is about a 70% chance that one or more months during those five years will be at least 1.5°C hotter than pre-industrial levels and about a 20% chance that one of the next five years will be at least that warm, according to WMO's Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, led by the United Kingdom's Met Office.</p>
<div id="23d44" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a800573625ce69a53bedfe537b572116"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1281123005695959040" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Annual mean global temperature likely to be at least 1° C above pre-industrial levels in each of coming 5 years (20… https://t.co/WOBeEOhbCe</div> — World Meteorological Organization (@World Meteorological Organization)<a href="https://twitter.com/WMO/statuses/1281123005695959040">1594278501.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In a statement Thursday, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas also <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/new-climate-predictions-assess-global-temperatures-coming-five-years" target="_blank">pointed</a> to the coronavirus pandemic—which prompted global lockdowns that briefly <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/05/20/after-coronavirus-triggers-17-emissions-drop-experts-say-only-fundamental-structural" target="_blank">caused</a> planet-heating emissions to drop—as an opportunity to pursue bold recovery plans that incorporate policies that combat the climate crisis, such as rapidly transitioning to renewable energy worldwide.</p><p>"WMO has repeatedly stressed that the industrial and economic slowdown from Covid-19 is not a substitute for sustained and coordinated climate action," Taalas said. "Due to the very long lifetime of CO2 in the atmosphere, the impact of the drop in emissions this year is not expected to lead to a reduction of CO2 atmospheric concentrations which are driving global temperature increases."</p><p>"Whilst Covid-19 has caused a severe international health and economic crisis, failure to tackle climate change may threaten human well-being, ecosystems, and economies for centuries," he continued. "Governments should use the opportunity to embrace climate action as part of recovery program and ensure that we grow back better."</p><p>Taalas added that "this study shows—with a high level of scientific skill—the enormous challenge ahead in meeting the Paris agreement on climate change target of keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C."</p><p>While some scientists and activists have criticized the 2015 Paris climate agreement as not ambitious enough, it is backed by nearly all nations on Earth. U.S. President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/04/delivering-catastrophic-message-moment-great-urgency-trump-formally-begins-ditching" target="_blank">began</a> the one-year withdrawal process in November 2019 but former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, has vowed to rejoin the accord if he wins this year's election.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/09/humanity-track-soon-hit-15oc-paris-accord-limit-atmospheric-co2-nears-level-not-seen" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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