A 100% Renewable Grid isn’t just Feasible, it’s Already Happening
By Joe Romm, Climate Progress
The ongoing debate around whether it’s feasible to have an electric grid running on 100 percent renewable power in the coming decades often misses a key point: many countries and regions are already at or close to 100 percent now.
Dangerous Climate Tipping Point is ‘About a Century Ahead of Schedule’ Warns scientist
By Joe Romm, Climate Progress
The impacts are serious. A slow-down in deepwater ocean circulation “would accelerate sea level rise off the northeastern United States, while a full collapse could result in as much as approximately 1.6 feet of regional sea level rise,” as the authors of the U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA) explained in November.
Stunning Drops in Solar, Wind Costs Mean Economic Case for Coal, Gas is ‘Crumbling’
By Joe Romm, Climate Progress
Prices for solar, wind, and battery storage are dropping so rapidly that renewables are increasingly squeezing out all forms of fossil fuel power, including natural gas.
Stunning New Research Finds Fracking a Major Source of Carbon Pollution in Pennsylvania
By Joe Romm, Climate Progress
The evidence is now overwhelming that natural gas is not part of the climate solution, it is part of the problem. A new study finds that the methane escaping from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry “causes the same near-term climate pollution as 11 coal-fired power plants.”
2017 Crushed a Major Temperature Record and Scientists are Sounding the Alarm
By Joe Romm, Climate Progress
It’s been very cold over North America for days, but globally, 2017 has ended up smashing the record for the hottest year on record without an El Niño. And that has scientists worried, since the warmest years usually happen when the long-term human-caused global warming trend gets a short-term boost from an El Niño’s enhanced warming in the tropical Pacific.
Natural Gas has no Climate Benefit and May Make Things Worse
By Joe Romm, Climate Progress
The evidence is overwhelming that natural gas has no net climate benefit in any timescale that matters to humanity. In fact, a shocking new study concludes that just the methane emissions escaping from New Mexico’s gas and oil industry are “equivalent to the climate impact of approximately 12 coal-fired power plants.” If the goal is to avoid catastrophic levels of warming, a recent report by U.K. climate researchers finds “categorically no role” to play for new natural gas production.
‘It’s Global Warming, Stupid’: Five Years after Sandy, We’ve Learned Nothing
By Joe Romm, Climate Progress
It’s been five years since Superstorm Sandy devastated the Northeast. The monster storm — which killed more than 100 people, destroyed entire communities, and inflicted more than $70 billion in damages — should have completely changed the way we approach climate impacts, resilience, and global warming policy. But it didn’t.
Warm Waters Juiced Ophelia into the Most Powerful Eastern Atlantic Hurricane Ever Seen
By Joe Romm, Climate Progress
Ex-hurricane Ophelia smashed into Ireland Monday morning with record-breaking gusts of up to 119 mph. The powerful extra-tropical storm — which has already killed two people and blacked-out some 360,000 Irish homes and businesses — is what’s left of the most powerful Eastern Atlantic hurricane ever seen.