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Australian PM Dumps Paris Target
Read moreMalcolm Turnbull has capitulated to rebels in his own party, dumping a plan to embed Paris Agreement targets into national legislation. To appease critics and lessen the prospect of a backbench revolt, the Prime Minister will instead propose setting emissions targets by regulation, which does not need the assent of Parliament. The reconfigured climate and […]
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The ‘Brazilian Trump’ Leading the Presidential Race Wants to Leave the Paris Climate Accord
Read moreBrazil’s leading presidential candidate, the right-wing Jair Bolsonaro, wants to follow in the footsteps of President Donald Trump and take his country out of the Paris climate agreement. Bolsonaro mentioned taking Brazil out of the Paris accord when he announced his presidential bid in late July. Bolsonaro retweeted a picture of his son, Edward, with former […]
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Global Forest Loss Over Past 35 Years More Than Offset by New Growth
Read moreA team of researchers from the University of Maryland, the State University of New York and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has found that new global tree growth over the past 35 years has more than offset global tree cover losses. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes using satellite data […]
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Trigger Warning: Empirical Evidence Ahead
Read moreTrigger warnings utterly counter-productive, scientists find. Trigger warnings increase peoples’ perceived emotional vulnerability to trauma. Trigger warnings increase peoples’ belief that trauma survivors are vulnerable. Trigger warnings increase anxiety to written material perceived as harmful. Abstract Background and objectives Trigger warnings notify people of the distress that written, audiovisual, or other material may evoke, and […]
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Wind Farms See a Slump In Returns
Read moreThe record temperatures that have swept across the UK this summer are set to continue into October, potentially having a monumental impact to the country’s wind industry. Last month wind generated power was down by an average of 20%, according to weather data company Vaisala OYJ, with wind speeds in some parts of Europe down throughout 2018. […]
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Easter Island’s Society Might Not Have Collapsed
Read more“The idea of competition and collapse on Easter Island might be overstated,” says lead author of a new study, Dale Simpson Jr., an archaeologist from the University of Queensland. “To me, the stone carving industry is solid evidence that there was cooperation among families and craft groups.” The first people arrived on Easter Island (or, […]
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Coral Bleaching Is A Natural Event That Has Gone On For Centuries, New Study
Read moreCoral bleaching has been a regular feature of the Great Barrier Reef for the past 400 years, with evidence of repeated mass events dating back to well before European settlement and the start of the industrial revolution. A study of coral core samples has extended the known history of bleaching by more than 350 years […]
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Bolsonaro: I Will Take Brazil Out of Paris Agreement
Read moreThe frontrunner in the Brazilian presidential race, Jair Bolsonaro, has said he would follow Donald Trump and take Brazil out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. UN officials have reacted furiously, fearing this would be a devastating blow to international climate negotiations. The withdrawal of South America’s largest emitter would be particularly embarrassing given that […]
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Have Investors Lost Interest In Green Energy?
Read moreBefore 2011 global investment in clean energy (wind, solar, biomass, biofuels etc.) grew rapidly. Then in and around 2011 many governments abandoned renewables subsidies in favor of capacity auctions, and growth in global clean energy investment ceased. Investment in North and South America has not increased since 2007 and in Asia it has not increased […]
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Chinese Subsidy Cuts Trigger Collapse Of New Solar Modules
Read more“Without subsidies there’s no return on investment for over a decade, so investors and property owners aren’t interested in distributed solar.” China’s Photovoltaic Industry Association expects to see 30-35 gigawatts of new solar capacity in 2018, a drop of 43% on last year. China’s solar manufacturers are unhappy with recent government policy changes that have put […]
