Greenhouse gas emissions rise at fastest rate for 30 years
Press Association, The Guardian
Surging carbon dioxide levels have pushed greenhouse gases to record highs in the atmosphere, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has said.
Concentrations of carbon dioxide, the major cause of global warming, increased at their fastest rate for 30 years in 2013, despite warnings from the world’s scientists of the need to cut emissions to halt temperature rises…
A Zero Emissions Manifesto for the Climate Justice Movement
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. and Tom Weis, Ecowatch
“Zero emissions is an ambitious but achievable goal.” —UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Zero has become the most important number for humanity. Why?…
What Does Climate Adaptation Actually Look Like? Check Out This Awesome New Infographic Series from Cambridge
Chris Rose, De SmogBlog
A new series looking at the likely impacts of climate change could help companies, politicians, financial planners, entrepreneurs, defence analysts and leaders of various industrial sectors learn how to adapt to the increasing pressures of global warming.
Based on work already done by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) announced Thursday it had released a briefing series so that people, organizations and governments would be better prepared for a challenging and volatile future…
Climate film gets activists pumped for NYC march
Ben Adler, Grist
When’s the last time you saw people lining up on the street to watch a commercial? How about an hour-long commercial about climate change? That’s what happened Sunday night for the New York premiere of Disruption.
Billed as a documentary, the 52-minute film — now available for free online — is 350.org’s extended promotion for the upcoming People’s Climate March. The event, planned for Sept. 21 in Midtown Manhattan, is intended to be the biggest climate march ever, calling for immediate action on climate mitigation and justice. It’s timed to draw the attention of the world leaders who are coming to New York for the Sept. 23 U.N. Climate Summit.
Study: Climate change threatens half of bird species in North America
Brad Plumer, Vox
As global warming progresses, many animals, birds, fish, and plants will have to relocate in order to maintain their current climate conditions. Some species will be able to adapt just fine. Others will struggle. Still others might just die off.
Case in point: The National Audubon Society has a big new report out today looking at how 588 different bird species across North America will see their habitats shift because of global warming…
Limits to Growth was right. New research shows we’re nearing collapse
Graham Turner and Cathy Alexander, The Guardian
The 1972 book Limits to Growth, which predicted our civilisation would probably collapse some time this century, has been criticised as doomsday fantasy since it was published. Back in 2002, self-styled environmental expert Bjorn Lomborg consigned it to the “dustbin of history”.
It doesn’t belong there. Research from the University of Melbourne has found the book’s forecasts are accurate, 40 years on. If we continue to track in line with the book’s scenario, expect the early stages of global collapse to start appearing soon…
The End of Fracking Is Closer Than You Think
Robert S. Eshelman, Vice
Canadian geologist David Hughes has some sober news for the Kool-Aid-drinking boosters of the United States’ newfound eminence in fossil fuel production: it’s going to go bust sooner rather than later…
Nova Scotia to ban fracking
Bruce Erskine, The Chronicle Herald
There will be no fracking in Nova Scotia.
Energy Minister Andrew Younger announced Wednesday that the Liberal government plans to introduce legislation in the fall prohibiting hydraulic fracturing in shale oil and gas projects in the province…
Drillers Piling Up More Debt Than Oil Hunting Fortunes in Shale
Asjylyn Loder, Bloomberg
Floyd Wilson raps his fingertips against the polished conference table. He’s just been asked, for a second time, how he reacted when his Halcon Resources Corp. (HK) wrote off $1.2 billion last year after disappointing results in two key prospects.
Wilson once told investors that the acreage might contain the equivalent of 1.2 billion barrels of oil. He fixes his interlocutor with a blue-eyed stare and leans forward. At 67, he bench-presses 250 pounds (110 kilograms) and looks it. Outside the expansive windows of his 67th-floor executive suite, downtown Houston steams in its July smog.
He responds, unsmiling, with a one-syllable obscenity: “F—.”…
Aramco CEO puts oil majors’ unsustainable capex in perspective.
Jeremy Leggett, Triple Crunch Log
Mark Lewis for Kepler Cheuvreux: (e-mail circular, no url): “Saudi Aramco’s CEO, Khalid A. Al-Falih, warned earlier this week about the huge amount of investment that will be required to bring on new oil supply over the next two decades (a full transcript of Mr. Al-Falih’s comments is available on the Saudi Aramco website here).”
“As Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil company by both output and exports of crude oil, we think Mr. Al-Falih has a unique vantage point on global oil markets, and that his comments are therefore worth paying close attention to…
People Who Live Near Fracking More Likely To Become Sick, Study Finds
Emily Atkin, Climate Progress
People living close to natural gas wells in southwestern Pennsylvania are more than twice as likely to report respiratory illnesses and skin problems than those living farther away, according to a new study from Yale University.
Dr. Peter Rabinowitz, a former Yale School of Medicine professor who now teaches at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health, got the results by randomly surveying 180 households with 492 people in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Washington County is in the heart of the Marcellus Shale, one of one of America’s fracking hotspots — and arguably the epicenter of fracking-related pollution complaints and industrial accidents…
EU pushes for urgent energy deal in U.S. trade pact
Anna Yukhananov, Reuters
The United States should commit to exporting oil and natural gas to Europe under a transatlantic trade deal in light of the European Union’s geopolitical situation, the EU trade commissioner said on Tuesday.
Tension between Russia and the West over the future of Ukraine is spurring the European Union to renew efforts to end decades of dependence on Russian gas. One solution would be greater access to abundant U.S. resources…
They obviously haven’t read Asher Miller’s reality check on US exports. – SO
When Adding Bike Lanes Actually Reduces Traffic Delays
Eric Jaffe, Mother Jones/City Lab
A big reason for opposition to bike lanes is that, according to the rules of traffic engineering, they lead to car congestion. The metric determining this outcome (known as "level of service") is quite complicated, but its underlying logic is simple: less road space for automobiles means more delay at intersections. Progressive cities have pushed back against this conventional belief—California, in particular, has led the charge against level of service—but it remains an obstacle to bike lanes (and multi-modal streets more broadly) across the country.
But the general wisdom doesn’t tell the whole story here. On the contrary, smart street design can eliminate many of the traffic problems anticipated by alternative mode elements like bike lanes. A new report on protected bike lanes released by the New York City Department of Transportation offers a great example of how rider safety can be increased even while car speed is maintained…
‘A vector of inequality, degradation and violence’
Gabriel Levy, People and Nature
Review of The Ecological Hoofprint: the global burden of industrial livestock by Tony Weis (Zed Books, 2013)…
An Economic Hit Man Speaks Out: John Perkins on How Greece Has Fallen Victim to "Economic Hit Men"
Michael Nevradakis, Truthout
John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, discusses how Greece and other eurozone countries have become the new victims of "economic hit men."…
To Save Family Farms from Corporate Buyout, Retiring Farmers Connect with a New Generation
Liz Pleasant, Yes! Magazine
In the next 20 years, many American family farmers are likely to retire—putting enormous amounts of land on the market. Here’s how they’re connecting with young farmers to make sure the family farm survives…
