Updates from the news #3 – 15 March 2024
Updates from the news #03 – 15 March 2024 US spring phenology. The National Phenology Network spring leaf index anomaly for 12 March 2024 shows that the West Coast west of the Sierras and Cascades, and Midwest and South all show significantly earlier leaf flush relative to a long term average for 1991-2020. Note that Florida is out-of-synch with the pattern for the South, and … Continue reading Updates from the news #3 – 15 March 2024
Updates from the news #02 -15 February 2024
Updates from the news #02 – 15 February 2024 CO2 concentration at NOAA Mauna Loa Observatory 13 February 2024 – 424.20 ppm (one year ago – 421.18 ppm). Reminder: the safe level is 350 ppm. Latest monthly CH4 mean – October 2023 – 1933.46 ppb (October 2022 – 1920.16 ppb). The global annual increase is shown in this graph. Note that the bars represent the … Continue reading Updates from the news #02 -15 February 2024
Updates from the news #01 – 15 January 2024
Updates from the news #01 – 15 January 2024 This is the first Update since late 2023. These are written mostly for the students in my courses, which during spring semester 2024 are BSC2832 Global Change Ecology and BSC4055 Climate Change and Human Systems – One Health. If you wish to continue to receive these updates through the summer subscribe (free) to http://www.environmentalcentury.net A lot … Continue reading Updates from the news #01 – 15 January 2024
Updates from the news #13; 27 November 2023
The UN Emissions Gap Report 2023 was formally released on 20 November 2023. Advanced press emphasized that fully implementing the revised Nationally Determined Contributions made under the Paris Agreement in December 2015 would limit global heating to 2.9˚C. As pointed out in The Guardian, this best-case scenario is probably 3˚C and there is little doubt that for much of the planet this would be horrific. … Continue reading Updates from the news #13; 27 November 2023
First pass review of the NCA5
The USGCRP released the National Climate Assessment Five on Wednesday 15 November. I recorded a few initial impressions for my upper division course in Climate Change Biology, BSC3307C. You can view the recording here. Be advised that I use terms and concepts that are drawn from previous lectures in my courses on climate change. The first fews slides are a review of recent papers on … Continue reading First pass review of the NCA5
Updates from the news #12; 13 November
Insanity fact #3,787. Fossil fuel expansion is projected to be gobsmackingly mindboggling enormous in the coming years. The U.S., Brazil, and Saudi Arabia plan major increases in oil production. Russia, India, and Indonesia will increase coal production. The U.N. reports that the planned production worldwide is almost 70% more than would be consistent with 2˚C global average heating. According to the IMF, fossil fuel subsidies … Continue reading Updates from the news #12; 13 November
Updates from the news #11; 30 October 2023
The Intercept provides a thorough analysis of how an oil boss was put in charge of a climate summit. Reporting by Ben Stockton and Amy Westervelt describes how leading figures in government such as John Kerry chose to support Sultan Al Jaber, who is the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, known as Adnoc. This is the first time that any CEO, let … Continue reading Updates from the news #11; 30 October 2023
Updates from the news #10; 23 October 2023
Bill McKibben points out that U.S. development of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) will be a major carbon bomb. More than two dozen new or expansion LNG projects are under construction or consideration. This build-out would be a sick joke if the consequences were not so profound. Our political system is truly broken when these projects can move forward even as we experience increasingly devastating consequences … Continue reading Updates from the news #10; 23 October 2023
Updates from the news #9
Updates from the news #9 – 15 October 2023 There continues to be a lot of online discussion of the astonishing leap in global heating during September. The increase was about 5˚C above any previous monthly record. Inside Climate News notes that regardless of the putative cause, most climate scientists (including me) are worried. Among the noise about this, one article stands out to me … Continue reading Updates from the news #9
Updates from the news #8
Updates from the news #8 – 9 October 2023 Second to the stunning analysis of global September heat is the powerful Apostolic Exhortation from Pope Francis on the urgency of addressing climate change. Addressing the Bishops and the 1.3 billion-member Catholic Church, the pontiff bluntly calls out the U.S. for “irresponsible” Western consumption and pushing the world to “the breaking point” on climate. This is … Continue reading Updates from the news #8
Updates from the news #7
1 October 2023 The volume of ice lost from Swiss glaciers during the summers of 2022 and 2023 is about 10% of the total volume. This is equivalent to the loss between 1960 and 1990. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/28/swiss-glaciers-lose-tenth-volume-in-two-years-climate-crisis It is high time that environmental justice issues be addressed for marginalized communities. The EPA and the Dept. of Energy are creating 16 technical assistance centers to facilitate funding … Continue reading Updates from the news #7
Updates from the news #6
Updates from the news #6 – 22 September 2023 In addition to the huge march in NYC last Sunday, Climate Week 2023 has been packed with demonstrations, acts of civil disobedience, and bird-dogging. 75,000 or more mainly young people participated in the March. You can watch video recordings of key panel discussions and presentations here. Civil disobedience actions included blocking the entrances to the Federal … Continue reading Updates from the news #6
Updates from the news #5
Updates from the news #5 – 16 September 2023 Today, 16 September, the State of California announced that it is joining a lawsuit against the largest oil and gas companies in the world ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and BP. The suit also names the American Petroleum Institute (API). The suit accuses these companies of engaging in decades of deception about climate change and associated harms. … Continue reading Updates from the news #5
Updates from the news
Updates from the news #4 – 9 September 2023 Private equity firms are using climate catastrophes to profit from companies that provide clean up. Typically, these firms shortchange their clients, pay low wages, and generally fund shoddy work. There are times when it seems that there is simply no bottom to the evil of neoliberal capitalism. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/07/private-equity-climate-crisis-disaster-cleanup Climate denial is making a strong comeback in … Continue reading Updates from the news
Updates from the news
I am teaching three courses this semester at UF. Essentially all of the content of these courses is relevant to climate change. These are: BSC2862 Global Change Ecology, BSC3307C Climate Change Biology, and IDS2935 Communities and Climate Change. As a service for my students I am posting news updates as information accumulates from my reading of climate change events. I am reposting these updates here … Continue reading Updates from the news
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Climate Change Updates December 2022
Updates from the climate change literature December 2022. Continue reading Climate Change Updates December 2022
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