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Archive for December 11th, 2015
Paris climate talks: Coming down to the wire with key issues still unresolved
Posted by LA Times: Chris Megerian on December 11th, 2015
LA Times: French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius attempted to nudge negotiations closer to a final agreement on fighting global warming Thursday, proposing compromises on some key issues at the United Nations Climate Change Conference while pushing countries to cut deals on remaining disputes.
"We must do this, and we can do this," Fabius, who is leading the talks, told delegates.
The latest draft of a potential agreement represents an attempt by Fabius to synthesize the positions of nearly 200 countries....
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Politics behind climate summit’s 1.5 degree target
Posted by Poliltico: None Given on December 11th, 2015
Poliltico: It was never any surprise that a climate deal wouldn’t cut emissions enough to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, what is surprising is that the debate is now about adopting an even more ambitious target -- 1.5 degrees.
The goal is one that is practically impossible to reach because it would require countries to stop emitting greenhouse gases almost immediately.
“To achieve 1.5 degrees would require developed countries to massively reduce their emissions and massively scale up their...
The troubling science that’s pushing the world toward a much tougher climate goal
Posted by Washington Post: Chris Mooney on December 11th, 2015
Washington Post: Perhaps the most surprising story out of the Paris climate talks so far is the shift that seems to be occurring in favor of at least some acknowledgment -- if not an outright embrace -- of a 1.5 degrees Celsius global temperature target in a final agreement here.
Holding warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels -- rather than to 2 degrees, which up until now has been the most widely accepted target – would be extraordinarily difficult, if not outright impossible. Scientists have...
Telescope Foes Want Equipment Gone
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 11th, 2015
Associated Press: Opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope want construction equipment and vehicles removed from Mauna Kea now that the Hawaii Supreme Court has invalidated the project’s permit.
In a Dec. 2 ruling seen as a victory for opponents fighting the $1.4 billion project, the court said the state land board approved a permit that allowed construction on conservation land before a contested case hearing was held. The court sent the matter back for a new contested case hearing.
“They have no permit. It’s...
Trees either hunker down or press on in drying and warming western US climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 11th, 2015
ScienceDaily: In the face of adverse conditions, people might feel tempted by two radically different options -- hunker down and wait for conditions to improve, or press on and hope for the best. It would seem that trees employ similar options when the climate turns dry and hot. Two University of Washington researchers have uncovered details of the radically divergent strategies that two common tree species employ to cope with drought in southwestern Colorado. As they report in a new paper in the journal Global...
United Kingdom: Climate Change Increased Chances Of Heavy Rains Such As Storm Desmond, Scientists Conclude
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on December 11th, 2015
Blue and Green: Man-made climate change has increased the chances of heavy rainfall in the area of the UK affected by Storm Desmond, scientists conclude.
Researchers from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), University of Oxford and Climate Central used three independent analytical techniques to show that climate change has increased the likelihood of such rains by about 40%, with the range of increase running from 5% to 80%.
The methods include statistical analyses of the historical temperature...
Storm Desmond flooding partly due to climate change, scientists conclude
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 11th, 2015
Guardian: Manmade climate change was partly responsible for Storm Desmond’s torrential rain which devastated parts of Scotland, the Lake District and Northern Ireland, scientists have concluded.
The researchers at Oxford University and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) calculated that climate change had made the flooding event 40% more likely, with the estimate of the increased likelihood ranging between 5% and 80%.
“The increase we found is small but robust,” said Dr Friederike Otto...