World’s major cities to face ‘unknown’ climate conditions by 2050
London’s climate in 2050 could be similar to Barcelona’s current climate, with Madrid feeling more like Marrakesh and Seattle more like San Francisco
Category: Climate Change & Our Warming World
As funding for the Resilient Cities programme ends, plans to counter risks from climate & social change continue
More than 70 cities that are part of the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) network, set up in 2013, have crafted “resilience strategies” that include about 3,500 activities designed to combat shocks and stresses – everything from floods to an influx of refugees.
Global warming and heat stress could cost 80 million jobs by 2030 according to UN
Heat stress from global warming of 1.5C could lead to a 2.2 per cent drop in working hours – and cost the global economy $2.4 trillion, the UN says
Could a simple glue be the solution to carbon capture at power stations?
Is glue the answer to climate change? Researchers at the Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI) at Swansea University have proven that it could certainly help. They have developed a new material capable of capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) with the key ingredient being a common epoxy resin you probably have at home.
UK’s net-zero emissions 2050 pledge undermined by biomass energy loophole
The United Kingdom and the European Union are setting goals to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. But that declaration is deeply flawed, analysts say, due to a long-standing United Nations carbon accounting loophole that turns a blind eye toward the conversion of coal burning power plants to burning wood pellets.
In courtrooms, climate change is no longer up for debate
In September 2017, San Francisco experienced its hottest day on record, with temperatures reaching a searing 106 degrees. Weeks later, the city joined Oakland to announce it would sue five major fossil fuel firms — BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips — for the costs of building sea walls and other infrastructure to protect residents from global warming.
Melting glaciers threaten Asia’s drought buffer, scientists warn
Countries from India to Kazakhstan are far more dependent on melting glaciers for water than previously thought, particularly in summer droughts, scientists said this week, warning that rising temperatures were threatening supply.
Lab-grown meat might be worse for the climate than farting cows
Scientists and companies working to grow meat from animal cells will need to minimise energy use and avoid fossil fuels if claims that cultured meat is better for the climate than real meat are to hold true, researchers said.
Cultured meat production with high energy inputs could spur global warming more in the long-term than some types of beef cattle farming if the world shunned a low-carbon path, said a study published on 19th February by the UK-based Oxford Martin School.
Burning crop residues is a major contributor to air pollution in South Asia
Urban emissions of black carbon from fossil fuel combustion are not always the main contributor to severe air pollution in south Asian megacities like New Delhi, shows a new study by researchers from Stockholm University and the Indian Institute for Tropical Meteorology, published in the journal Nature Sustainability.
On a sinking island, climate science takes a back seat to the Bible
Tiny, waterlogged Tangier Island, off the coast of Virginia in Chesapeake Bay, is full of people of faith. They believe in God. Climate science, not so much. In recent years, they’ve garnered some media attention for the paradox of largely rejecting sea-level rise while simultaneously suffering its wrath. Earl Swift, an author of six previous books and a former correspondent for The Virginian-Pilot, immersed himself for the better part of two years with the 481 inhabitants of Tangier. His new book, “Chesapeake Requiem: A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island,” is part regional history, part crabber ride-along, part disaster narrative in slow motion.
