Two degrees? Sounds nice. The reality will be rather different If we continue to emit ever-greater quantities of CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, then average global temperatures will rise by 2°C over the next three decades compared to pre-industrial times. Most scientists agree that anything higher is dangerous, though many argue that even this is too much. As the battles to reach an agreement in Paris begin, and with so much at stake, it is perhaps curious that few people really understand what a 2°C rise in average temperatures will mean. When our climate changes so much from day to day, an increase of this seemingly small magnitude appears almost trivial. But it is not. Rather than thinking about how much nicer it will be to have summers that are 2°C warmer, we should think about the planet more like we think about our bodies. The average temperature of the planet today is around 15°C, one degree more than it was in 1750. The warming of the world may also change our values.
90 entreprises sont responsables de deux tiers des émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre Une étude pointe les 90 entreprises qui ont produit le plus de gaz à effet de serre. Les pétroliers Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP et Shell arrivent en tête. Parmi les groupes français, Total et le cimentier Lafarge sont les entreprises qui contribuent le plus aux émissions de CO2 et de méthane. Deux tiers des émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre accumulées dans l’atmosphère depuis le début de la révolution industrielle sont causées par seulement... 90 entreprises ! Les cinq premières entreprises privées sont les géants pétroliers américains Chevron (3,5 % des émissions) et ExxonMobil (3,2 %), la britannique BP (2,4 %), la néerlandaise Shell (2,1 %) et l’entreprise américaine ConocoPhillips (1,1 %). Quelles sont les compagnies qui provoquent le réchauffement climatique ? Sophie Chapelle Photo : CC Graeme Maclean
Zementindustrie verursacht sechs Prozent Dienstag, 26. Januar 2016, 08:06 Uhr 17 Millionen Tonnen pro Jahr – das ist die Treibhausgasfracht, mit der die Zementindustrie in Deutschland jährlich die Erde aufheizt. Weltweit trägt die Branche mit sechs Prozent zum menschengemachten Klimawandel bei: Das Institut für Feuerungs- und Kraftwerkstechnik (IFK) der Universität Stuttgart startete jetzt das Projekt "CEMCAP", mit dem Abscheide- und Speichertechnologien erprobt werden sollen, die den Treibhausgas-Ausstoß der Zementindustrie eindämmen. Denn bei der Zementproduktion lässt sich die Entstehung von Kohlendioxid nach übereinstimmender Expertenmeinung nicht vermeiden. Sehr viel Zement auf einem Haufen: Downtown Manhattan. Nur etwa ein Drittel der Treibhausgas-Emissionen durch die Zementherstellung entfällt auf die Energiebereitstellung aus meist fossilen Brennstoffen, etwa um ausreichend hohe Temperaturen für die Zementklinker-Produktion zu gewährleisten. klimaretter.info/reni
Land Use Decisions Impact Forest Benefits A new study by Harvard University's Harvard Forest and the Smithsonian Institution reveals that, if left unchecked, recent trends in the loss of forests to development will undermine significant land conservation gains in Massachusetts, jeopardize water quality and limit the natural landscape's ability to protect against climate change. Scientists researched and analyzed four plausible scenarios for what Massachusetts could look like in the future. The scenarios were developed by a group of forestry professionals, land-use planning and water policy experts, and conservation groups. The scenarios reflect contrasting patterns and intensities of land development, wood harvesting, conservation and agriculture. The two-year study entitled "Changes to the Land" is distinctive in its forward-looking approach and its use of sophisticated computer models to conduct a detailed acre-by-acre analysis of the entire forested landscape of Massachusetts over 50 years. Continue reading at ecoRI News.
About CO2 emissions from the cement industry constitute 5% (or 1.9 Gt annually) of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions[1]. In 2013, approximately 20% of global CO2 emissions from cement production originated from Europe (EU28)[2]. Given the ambitious energy and climate targets that the EU has proposed and agreed on (40% emissions reduction by 2030[3], 80-95% emissions reduction by 2050), CO2 emissions from energy-intensive industries will need to be eliminated or significantly reduced. CO2 generation is an inherent part of the cement production process, due to the calcination of the most important raw material, limestone (CaCO3 converted to CaO and CO2): about 60 % of the CO2 emissions from cement production are due to this conversion, whereas 40% come from the burning of fuels (which are to a large extent fossil) to provide heat for the clinker production. As the first project within the EU Framework Programs, CEMCAP thus focuses on the challenge of capturing CO2 from cement plants.
Ozone layer will take five more decades to fully recover Remember when the world came together to save the ozone layer — even Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher? The Montreal Protocol, a treaty that went into effect in 1989, curbed the use of CFCs and other chemicals that tear up the planet’s UV-absorbing sheath of ozone. But that was nearly a generation ago — and things still haven’t been fully patched up in the lower stratosphere. The ongoing fragility of the ozone layer reminds us how long it can take for atmospheric conditions to stabilize after we have screwed them up. In 2006, the ozone hole grew larger than ever. Prognosis for a full recovery? It’s worth remembering that the chemicals that destroyed the ozone layer can persist in the atmosphere for decades.
Exclusive: Climate Hustle’s Marc Morano Turns Down $20k Global Warming Bets From Bill Nye The Science Guy One of America’s most outspoken deniers of the link between fossil fuel burning and global warming has refused $20,000 in bets that the planet will keep getting hotter. Offering the two bets to Marc Morano, of the conservative think tank the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), is popular television science presenter Bill Nye, “the science guy”. Nye said he was willing to bet Morano that 2016 would be one of the ten hottest years on record. He also offered a bet the current decade would be the hottest on record. As DeSmog has reported, Climate Hustle features a roll call of climate science deniers and is set to rehash old myths. Showbusiness “bible” Variety magazine reported as an “exclusive” today that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was endorsing the movie - an “exclusive” based on a press release from 31 March. Nye said he had only been shown clips of the film, which will be distributed by Fathom Events. Morano told DeSmog: “I did turn down Nye's temperature bets.
Compte rendu video du Petit-déjeuner / débats Comment s'adapter aux changements climatiques ? Comment s’adapter aux changements climatiques ? Entre connaissance et mise en œuvre : dynamiques d’acteurs en Midi-Pyrénées Le mardi 26 novembre, 9h à 11h au Centre international de Conférence de Météo-France, Toulouse Télécharger le document « Repères » remis aux participants ( Pdf, 637 Ko ) Le Groupe intergouvernemental d’experts sur l’évolution du climat (GIEC) vient de publier son 5ème rapport où il assure que « l’influence de l’homme sur le système climatique est claire. Cela est manifeste dans la plupart des régions du globe. » En Midi-Pyrénées, le Schéma Régional Climat Air Energie piloté par l’Etat et la Région a été élaboré en concertation avec de nombreux acteurs. Comment s’adapter aux changements climatiques aujourd’hui en Midi-Pyrénées ? Pour répondre à ces questionnements, les experts en présence : Mot d’accueil par Dominique ANDRE, directeur adjoint la Production de Météo-France Du GIEC à Météo-FrancePhilippe DANDIN, directeur de la climatologie à Météo-France Terra memoria (12)
CO₂ zählen ist kein Klimaschutz Sonntag, 08. Mai 2016, 10:01 Uhr Unter Klimaschutz wird heute meist das Einsparen einer bestimmten Menge CO2-Äquivalent verstanden. Das ist eine simplifizierende Sichtweise, die zu einem bedenklichen Ablasshandel führt. Notwendige Änderungen am ökonomischen System werden so verschleppt. Ein Standpunkt von Camila Moreno, Lili Fuhr und Daniel Speich Chassé In den letzten zehn Jahren sind CO2-Emissionen praktisch zu einem Synonym für den Klimawandel, ja für Umweltzerstörung schlechthin geworden. Der starre Blick der globalen Umweltpolitik auf CO2 spiegelt eine allgemeine Besessenheit von Messungen und Buchhaltung wider. Indem wir uns auf sie verlassen, neigen wir dazu, die historischen Auswirkungen jeder dieser Abstraktionen zu übersehen – und auch die Dynamik der Macht und Politik, die sie weiterhin formen. Warnendes Beispiel: Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt Drei entscheidende Fehler Neue Märkte für "Ökosystemdienstleistungen" Räume für das Wachsen von Alternativen Übersetzung: Jan Doolan
Wasted food is a huge climate problem If wasted food became its own pungent country, it would be the world’s third biggest contributor to climate change. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization had previously determined that roughly one-third of food is wasted around the world. Now it has used those figures to calculate the environmental impacts of farming food that is never eaten, along with the climate-changing effects of the methane that escapes from food as it rots. The results, published in a new report [PDF], were as nauseating as a grub-infested apple: Without accounting for [greenhouse gas] emissions from land use change, the carbon footprint of food produced and not eaten is estimated to 3.3 Gtonnes of CO2 equivalent: as such, food wastage ranks as the third top emitter after USA and China. In the West, most of our food waste occurs because we toss out leftovers and unused ingredients — and because stores won’t sell ugly produce.
1912 Newspaper Article Anticipates Anthropogenic Global Warming Claim: A 14 August 1912 article from a New Zealand newspaper contains a brief story about how burning coal might produce future warming by adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Origin:On 11 October 2016, the Facebook page “Sustainable Business Network NZ” posted a photograph of a clipping from the 14 August 1912 edition of the Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette that included a brief item headlined “Coal Consumption Affecting Climate”: The furnaces of the world are now burning about 2,000,000,000 tons of coal a year. This article’s authenticity is supported by the fact it can be found in the digital archives of the National Library of New Zealand. An even deeper dive reveals that the text of this news item has its origins in the March 1912 issue of Popular Mechanics where it appears as a caption in an article titled "Remarkable Weather of 1911: The Effect of the Combustion of Coal on the Climate — What Scientists Predict for the Future".
Global Warming Increases Risk Of Record Heat September 6, 2013 redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports – Your Universe Online Last July was the hottest month in the history of US weather record keeping, but it may not hold that title for long, researchers from Stanford University claim in a recently-published report. According to Noah Diffenbaugh, an associate professor of environmental Earth system science at the California institution, and research assistant Martin Scherer, extreme weather is more than four times more likely to occur now than it was during the pre-industrial era. In research that was part of a larger report edited by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and published Sept. 5 in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, the duo reportedly found strong evidence that elevated atmospheric greenhouse gas levels have increased the likelihood of future instances of severe heat similar to that which occurred in the US during the summer of 2012.
Oil Investors at Brink of Losing Trillions of Dollars in Assets. Gore: It's That Road Runner Moment Climate: Now or Never A major threat to fossil fuel companies has suddenly moved from the fringe to center stage with a dramatic announcement by Germany’s biggest power company and an intriguing letter from the Bank of England. A growing minority of investors and regulators are probing the possibility that untapped deposits of oil, gas and coal -- valued at trillions of dollars globally -- could become stranded assets as governments adopt stricter climate change policies. The concept gaining traction from Wall Street to the City of London is simple. Limits on emissions of carbon dioxide will be necessary to hold temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius, the maximum climate scientists say is advisable. A Global Push to Save the Planet With representatives from more than 190 countries gathered to discuss climate rules in Lima, the argument that burning all the world’s known oil, gas and coal reserves would overwhelm the atmosphere is moving beyond the realm of environmental activists.