Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge on emissions is an encouraging step at a frightening moment
Predictions that this will be the first calendar year in which the 1.5C warming limit enshrined in the Paris agreement is surpassed provide a stark backdrop to the UN’s 29th climate conference. This year – 2024 – has already seen the hottest-ever day and month, and is expected by experts to be the hottest year too. Addressing delegates on Tuesday, the UN chief, António Guterres, referred to a “masterclass in climate destruction”. The escalating pattern of destructive weather events, most recently in Valencia, is a warning of what lies ahead.
When the 1.5C figure was included in the 2015 deal, it was known to be a stretch. The treaty says countries must hold the average temperature “well below 2C above pre-industrial levels” and aim for 1.5C. Busting this target in 2024 will not mean it has been definitively missed; the measurement of global temperatures relies on averages recorded over 20 or more years. But the crossing of this threshold is a menacing moment. Around the world, people as well as governments and climate specialists should take notice – and act.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/12/2024 - 13:26
11/12/2024 - 12:37
A recent study highlights that over one-third of Vietnam's 329 mammal species are threatened with extinction.
More evidence that Europe's ancient landscapes were open woodlands: Oak, hazel and yew were abundant
11/12/2024 - 12:34
A new study finds that the disturbance-demanding plant species oak, hazel and yew were abundant in Europe's forests before modern humans arrived, strengthening the argument that ancient vegetation was not the shady closed-canopy forests often imagined.
11/12/2024 - 12:33
Researchers have found evidence that mangrove forests -- which protect tropical and subtropical coastlines -- are drowning in the Maldives. Their finding indicate that rising sea level and a climate phenomenon known as the Indian Ocean Dipole have led to some Maldivian islands losing over half of their mangrove cover since 2020.
11/12/2024 - 11:50
Continue reading...
11/12/2024 - 11:43
King Felipe VI reportedly plans to revisit Valencia amid alerts for heavy rain, high waves and strong winds
People in flood-hit Spain stacked sandbags and braced for new storms on Tuesday as the political repercussions from last month’s deadly climate disaster rumbled on.
Amid fresh weather warnings, local media reported that King Felipe VI would soon return to the site of the flash floods, after he was pelted with mud and eggs on his first visit last week owing to local fury at the poor preparation and response of the authorities.
Continue reading...
11/12/2024 - 11:27
Greenpeace and Uplift say Rosebank and Jackdaw licences were granted unlawfully by former Tory government
Climate campaigners have urged a Scottish court to cancel the licence to drill the UK’s largest untapped oilfield, arguing it will cause “sizeable” and unjustified damage to the planet.
Greenpeace and Uplift accuse the former Conservative government of having unlawfully given the Norwegian oil giant Equinor a licence to exploit the Rosebank oilfield, which sits 80 miles (130km) north-west of Shetland and holds nearly 500m barrels of oil and gas.
Continue reading...
11/12/2024 - 11:23
Keir Starmer has confirmed that the UK has committed to an 81% cut to emissions by 2035. The prime minister also said the British government was due to launch the CIF Capital Markets Mechanism, a climate finance scheme, on the London Stock Exchange to help developing countries
UK has ‘huge opportunity’ to lead on green investment, Starmer says
Cop29 – live updates
Continue reading...
11/12/2024 - 11:16
Twenty-nine-metre tall fir destined to be chopped down and transported to St Peter’s Square in the Vatican
Environmental campaigners in Italy’s northern Trentino province have started a campaign to stop the felling of a 200-year-old fir tree intended to form the centrepiece of the Vatican’s Christmas decorations.
The so-called “Green Giant” is 29 metres tall and is due to be chopped down next week in a forest in the Ledro valley before being transported to the Vatican and positioned in St Peter’s Square, where it will be unveiled on 9 December.
Continue reading...
11/12/2024 - 11:00
Restaurants are a major part of Asheville’s $3bn tourist economy. But no drinking water in most areas and little recovery money put staff in limbo
Josiah McGaughey’s fine dining restaurant, Vivian, is still standing. Many of its neighbors in the River Arts district in Asheville, North Carolina, were leveled by Hurricane Helene’s flooding in late September.
“We were graciously spared the worst of the damage,” said McGaughey, who opened the business with his wife, Shannon, in 2017. Then, it was a pop-up serving elevated cuisine on paper plates at a local brewery. During the recent storm, Vivian’s building sustained some roof damage. “We lost water and power, as did everyone else. But we also lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of product.”
Continue reading...
