Climate on track to devastate world’s poorest economies: Study

Some 65 nations will see GDP drop 20 percent by 2050 if temperatures rise, new report released at COP26 says.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/8/climate-on-track-to-devastate-worlds-poorest-economies-study
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US Department of Energy wants to dramatically reduce the cost of carbon capture technology

The US Department of Energy wants to accelerate the development of carbon capture technology. On Friday, the agency announced a program called Carbon Negative Shot. Part of its Energy Earthshots initiative, the goal here is to foster the development of carbon capture technology that can sequester CO2 at a cost of less than $100 per ton, and can be deployed at the gigaton scale. To put that in perspective, that much carbon is equivalent to the annual emissions of approximately 250 million cars.

“By slashing the costs and accelerating the deployment of carbon dioxide removal — a crucial clean energy technology — we can take massive amounts of carbon pollution directly from the air and combat the climate crisis,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “With our Carbon Negative Shot, we can help remove the greenhouse gases already warming our planet and affecting our health — positioning America as a net-zero leader and creating good-paying jobs for a transitioning clean energy workforce.”

If it wasn’t clear already, the Energy Department has set an ambitious target. In September, Orca, the largest direct carbon capture facility ever, opened in Iceland. The plant will capture 4,000 tons of CO2 per year at a cost of about $600 per ton for bulk purchases. Chimeworks, the company that operates Orca, aims to reduce the cost to $300 or less per ton by 2030. That’s a long way away from the Energy Department’s goal of less than $100 per ton, but sustained and substantial support and investment from the government is exactly what could make that happen.

Source: https://www.engadget.com/department-of-energy-carbon-negative-shot-204740973.html?src=rss
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Igor Bonifacic

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‘The time for change is now’: demonstrators around the world demand action on climate crisis

Up to 100,000 people expected at Glasgow march amid criticism over heavy policing at Cop26 summit

People on almost every continent were gathering for marches and rallies on Saturday to mark a Global Day for Climate Justice, halfway through the Glasgow climate change summit.

Activists in the Philippines, eight hours ahead of the UK, had already finished their rally as protesters gathered in Scotland. There were also rallies in South Korea, Indonesia, the Netherlands and France. The Belgian arm of Extinction Rebellion occupied a street in Brussels.

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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/06/nicola-sturgeon-says-glasgow-climate-march-will-be-policed-appropriately
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Libby Brooks, Nina Lakhani, Jonathan Watts, Matthew Taylor and Weronika Strzyżyńska

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COP26: Quitting coal and rebounding CO2 emissions

Five things you need to know about COP26 – the United Nations climate change conference – on Thursday.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59155316?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
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Ocasio-Cortez defends climate provisions in spending bill: ‘I have to live in this future’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is defending the importance of climate change provisions in Democrats’ budget reconciliation package, saying as the youngest member of the progressive caucus, she will have to “live…

Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/579178-ocasio-cortez-defends-climate-provisions-in-spending-bill-i-have-to-live-in
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Jordan Williams

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Supreme Court agrees to consider EPA’s authority to limit greenhouse gases

The legal challenge comes from coal companies and energy-producing states, led by West Virginia.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-agrees-consider-epa-s-authority-limit-greenhouse-gasses-n1282751
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Pete Williams

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Wealthy Countries Are Spending More on Border Security Than Climate Aid

Wealthier countries are going to be several years late in delivering their promises to give money to poorer countries to help adjust to the impacts of climate change, the United Nations said Monday. A new report shows where wealthier countries could start finding extra money: their increasingly beefy military budgets.

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Source: https://gizmodo.com/wealthy-countries-are-spending-more-on-border-security-1847931924
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Molly Taft

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Over 100 million people in Africa threatened by climate change

WMO report warns 1.3 billion people remain ‘extremely vulnerable’ as continent warms more and faster than world average.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/19/climate-change-threatens-more-than-100-million-in-africa-un
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White House vows to treat climate change as “systemic” financial risk

A new White House report released Friday morning says climate change poses “systemic risks” to the U.S. financial system, and presents a “roadmap” to building a “climate-resilient” economy.

Why it matters: Top aides emphasized that framing to promote wide-ranging moves that will weave climate risk into many agencies’ new policies and regulations.

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Driving the news: The roadmap describes a series of existing and upcoming efforts, including …

• White House plans to consider the effects of climate change in long term budget forecasts.
• Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to weave climate risks into federally insured or guaranteed mortgages.
• Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to revise building standards in flood zones.
• Labor Department plans to ensure retirement fund managers can weigh climate change in investment decisions, reversing Trump-era policies.

The big picture: The report asserts that “U.S. financial markets and institutions face systemic risks from climate change.” Senior officials called the conclusion significant.

• “That term, systemic risk, carries a lot of weight,” Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director at the National Economic Council, told reporters Thursday night.
• “Its inclusion in this roadmap reflects our belief that because many financial models and investment portfolios still rely on out of date assumptions of climatic stability, climate change is already creating severe disruptions to our economic and financial system,” he said.

What we’re watching: The report is among multiple analyses and strategy documents called for under a May executive order on climate-related financial risk.

• A separate strategy later this year is expected to focus more heavily on federal oversight of how banks and other financial institutions address the topic.
• The May order tasks the Treasury Department, as head of the multi-agency Financial Stability Oversight Council, with crafting analysis on improving risk disclosures and stitching climate-related financial risks into regulation and supervision.

Source: https://www.axios.com/white-house-climate-change-systemic-risk-finance-caeac699-4f8d-460f-8d0f-d5ab691db1db.html
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Ben Geman

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Rocket Report: Virgin Galactic stands down, SpaceX faces environmental lawsuit

Enlarge / Blue Origin’s New Shepard launches its second human spaceflight on Wednesday. (credit: Blue Origin)

Welcome to Edition 4.20 of the Rocket Report! If this is edition 4.20 of the newsletter, you know we’re going to bring extra smoke. So let’s get to it.

As always, we welcome reader submissions, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

Virgin Galactic substantially delays next mission. The space tourism company announced Thursday afternoon that it will delay a planned human flight for the Italian Air Force, Unity 23, and begin a “planned enhancement program” for its VMS Eve carrier aircraft and VSS Unity spacecraft. Effectively, this means that the vehicles will be taken out of service for the next eight months for repairs and upgrades. As one reason for this decision, the company cited a recent test that “flagged a possible reduction in the strength margins of certain materials used to modify specific joints, and this requires further physical inspection.”

Read 30 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/rocket-report-virgin-galactic-stands-down-spacex-faces-environmental-lawsuit/
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Eric Berger

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The climate disaster is here

Earth is already becoming unlivable. Will governments act to stop this disaster from getting worse?

Continue reading…

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2021/oct/14/climate-change-happening-now-stats-graphs-maps-cop26
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Oliver MilmanAndrew Witherspoon Alvin ChangRita Liu

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NASA Is Preparing for the Ravages of Climate Change

The agency knows it needs to adapt to climate-driven events that will increasingly threaten coastal launch sites and other key space infrastructure.

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/nasa-is-preparing-for-the-ravages-of-climate-change/
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Ramin Skibba

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Brazil: massive sandstorm smothers parts of São Paulo state – video

A sandstorm made by powerful winds whipping up dust from the ground has engulfed Barretos and surrounding towns north of the city of São Paulo. The storms were triggered by the worst drought to hit Brazil in nine decades, which depleted hydroelectric reservoirs, forcing the grid operator to fire up more expensive thermoelectric plants and the government to implement a ‘water scarcity’ power rate

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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2021/oct/09/brazil-massive-sandstorm-smothers-parts-of-sao-paulo-state-video
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‘Blah, blah, blah’: Greta Thunberg lambasts leaders over climate crisis

Exclusive: Activist says there are many fine words but the science does not lie – CO2 emissions are still rising

Greta Thunberg has excoriated global leaders over their promises to address the climate emergency, dismissing them as “blah, blah, blah”.

She quoted statements by Boris Johnson: “This is not some expensive, politically correct, green act of bunny hugging”, and Narendra Modi: “Fighting climate change calls for innovation, cooperation and willpower” but said the science did not lie.

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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/28/blah-greta-thunberg-leaders-climate-crisis-co2-emissions
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Damian Carrington Environment editor

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Biden looks to climate to sell economic agenda

President Biden is trying to return the focus to his economic agenda as the White House ratchets up its messaging effort on the massive spending package that’s now being subject to a messy fight in Congress….

Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/572084-biden-looks-to-climate-to-sell-economic-agenda
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Morgan Chalfant

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Big Oil Coined ‘Carbon Footprints’ to Blame Us for Their Greed. Keep Them on the Hook.

This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

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Source: https://gizmodo.com/big-oil-coined-carbon-footprints-to-blame-us-for-thei-1847570535
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Rebecca Solnit

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How a hot blob off New Zealand is contributing to drought in South America

Study reveals the vast patch of warm water has produced a dry ridge of high pressure across the south Pacific, blocking storms from reaching Chile

A vast patch of warming water off the coast of New Zealand – referred to as a “warming blob” – has contributed to a decade long drought affecting parts of South America, according to scientists.

Researchers based in New Zealand and Chile have examined the rapidly warming hot blob which rose to prominence in 2019 after spikes in water temperature of up to 6C were recorded.

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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/27/how-a-hot-blob-off-new-zealand-is-contributing-to-drought-in-south-america
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Lisa Cox

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Greta Thunberg ‘Urgently’ Seeks Help to Evacuate Afghan Youth Climate Activists

Fridays For Future—the global climate strike organization that was founded three years ago by Greta Thunberg—is in trouble. On Thursday, the Twitter account repping the group’s activists working in the “Most Affected Peoples and Areas” (MAPA) put out a desperate plea begging for anyone with resources to help evacuate…

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Source: https://gizmodo.com/greta-thunberg-urgently-seeks-help-to-evacuate-afghan-1847565795
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Shoshana Wodinsky

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Greenland’s extraordinary rainfall and melt event could portend faster ice melt

A recent satellite image of the southwestern portion of the Greenland Ice Sheet shows the existence of cerulean blue pockmarks — phenomena that provide scientists with a worrying message about sea-level rise and the risk of massively consequential changes in ocean behavior.

Why it matters: The melt ponds, rivers and moulins, cracks in the ice where surface water can plummet to where the ice sheet meets bedrock, are a symptom of a summer season that has brought large spikes in melt extent.

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• This is significant since ice melt from Greenland is the largest contributor to global sea level rise.
• In addition, there’s increasing evidence that the cold freshwater coming from the ice sheet may be helping to disrupt one of the most important ocean circulation systems on Earth, which includes the Gulf Stream.

Driving the news: The melt ponds and other surface water formations are partly the result of a heavy rainfall event and widespread melting that occurred during mid-August.

Details: On Aug. 14, rain was observed for the first time on record at the National Science Foundation’s Summit Station, typically the coldest spot on the world’s largest island.

• The station is located at the top of the Greenland Ice Sheet, some 10,551 feet in elevation.
• The rain lasted for several hours and the temperature stayed above freezing for nine hours, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). How much rain fell is not known, in part because the weather station there lacks a rain gauge, since rain is not something meteorologists expected when it was built.
• There have been three Summit Station melt events, or periods with temperatures above freezing, in just the past 10 years: 2012, 2019 and this year. This frequency is itself a huge departure from the past.
• Ted Scambos, a climate scientist at the University of Colorado, told Axios that prior to 1990, melt events likely occurred at the summit on the order of about once every 150 years.

On the transit to Kangerlussuaq, we flew over set of massive melt ponds and rivers that had begun to refreeze. Our Captain Jim Haffey, who’s flown the ice sheet for 25 years, said it was more melt than he’d ever seen. #omgnasa pic.twitter.com/lG3bHOq8RG

— Josh Willis (@omgnasa) August 23, 2021

Context: In terms of melt extent, the August 14-16 event was exceptional, but ranked behind another spike this past July, as well as a record event in 2012. It was, however, unusual for its occurrence so late in the season, when colder weather typically starts to set in.

• The NSIDC found that melt extent peaked at 337,000 square miles on Aug. 14, with melting observed across more than 50% of the ice sheet’s surface. This marked this season’s second melt event that exceeded 309,000 square miles, the first occurred in July.
• According to University of Liege scientist Xavier Fettweis, the heavy rains that fell during the warm spell led to a rate of surface mass loss that was the highest ever recorded in mid-August since 1950, and seven times larger than average.
• During the warm episode, a total of 7 billion tons of rain fell on the ice, which is about 20% of the annual rainfall total for the typically frigid island. This makes it the largest single rainfall event on the ice sheet since reliable records began more than 70 years ago, Fettweiss told Axios via email.

What’s next: The rain at higher elevations of Greenland may set the ice sheet up for a “huge” sea level rise contribution next summer, Fettweiss noted, because of the formation of “ice lenses” or “slabs” more than six feet thick at the surface. These would prevent melt runoff from percolating down into the snowpack and expand Greenland’s runoff area.

• This means 2022’s meltwater may go directly into the ocean, adding to sea level rise, rather than percolating down into the snow and ice and refreezing.

Another view of melt ponds and surface water on the ice sheet, plus surface darkening, in southwestern Greenland on Aug. 22, 2021. (NASA Worldview)

• “When you put rain on ice, in terms of melting it’s the same thing as putting gasoline on a fire. It really makes it much stronger and bigger,” Columbia University climate researcher Marco Tedesco told Axios in an interview.
• “This is changing Greenland because it’s really switching from a frozen state to a more liquid state,” he said, noting this can lead to “an acceleration of sea level rise.”

Between the lines: The cause of the warm episode that triggered the rainfall was the combination of a high pressure area southeast of Greenland, which pumped mild southwesterly winds over the icebound island, and a low pressure area over northeastern Canada, which reinforced that air flow.

• Atmospheric circulation changes are a future ice melt wild card that is not well incorporated into projections of ice sheet melt, Tedesco said.

Source: https://www.axios.com/greenland-ice-sheet-rain-melt-ponds-sea-level-9d561025-f8bb-45ad-81f0-0d5c6cfb5107.html
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Andrew Freedman

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Schumer’s high-stakes climate play

It’s just over two months until a pivotal United Nations climate summit, and if Capitol Hill’s importance to the equation wasn’t already clear, it sure is now.

Catch up fast: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer released an analysis showing the Democrats-only reconciliation plan — and to a much lesser degree the bipartisan infrastructure deal — would essentially put the U.S. on track to meet President Biden’s pledge under the Paris Agreement.

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• The April pledge, called a “nationally determined contribution (NDC),” vows a 50%-52% cut in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Why it matters: Schumer’s analysis Wednesday of the energy and climate parts of the wider $3.5 trillion plan — which his office says is based on expert input — could help the U.S. show the pledge has teeth.

• But that’s only true if the bill avoids lots of political landmines and passes. If it fails or gets gutted, that would raise doubts about the U.S. ability to make good on the NDC.
• If other big polluters think the U.S. is serious about slashing planet-warming emissions, it may help spur more tangible action.

Between the lines: White House officials say there are multiple ways to achieve the NDC, and the administration has an expansive executive agenda.

• But Schumer’s analysis says the quiet part out loud: The tough path runs straight through Capitol Hill.

The big picture: The Beltway debate comes as scientists are issuing dire findings about effects of climate change already arriving and danger in store absent immediate, deep and sustained global emissions cuts.

• The outcome of the reconciliation plan is uncertain on both sides of Capitol Hill.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi needs to corral restive moderates while keeping support from progressives, while Schumer can’t lose a single Democrat.

What we’re watching: Whether Schumer’s move helps convince moderates wary of the bill’s size that it’s worthwhile spending and progressives — who have angled for more aggressive measures — that it achieves plenty.

How it works: Two key parts of the Senate reconciliation plan are focused on electricity: payments and penalties that push utilities to speed up zero-carbon power deployment, and new and expanded clean energy tax credits.

• “It will be much harder to claim we are on track for our own NDC commitment without the program to achieve 80% clean electricity by 2030 and the very significant clean energy incentives that are part of the reconciliation package,” Jason Bordoff, head of a Columbia University energy think tank, tells Axios.

What they’re saying: A White House spokesperson said the reconciliation bill and the bipartisan plan are “critical to unlocking the full economic opportunities that come with taking on the climate crisis.”

“Congress can and must position our communities and workers to seize these opportunities and meet the moment.”

Source: https://www.axios.com/schumer-budget-climate-change-paris-pledge-energy-47a02df5-aebc-4cc2-96e5-16533c66bb90.html
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Ben Geman

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