Thẻ: Climate change

The world is reducing its reliance on fossil fuels – except for in three key sectors

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theguardian.com

Dramatic changes in energy industry and EVs reducing fossil fuel use, but shipping, aviation and industry a long way from net zero

@olliemilmanFri 9 Feb 2024 12.00 GMT

Humanity has made some uneven progress in reducing our addiction to fossil fuels – but there remain three areas of our lives in which we are notably not on track to kick the habit over the next 30 years, according to a new analysis.

Record levels of investment in clean energy (solar has been called the cheapest source of electricity in history by the International Energy Agency) and a decline in coal-powered generation means less and less of the world’s power will come from fossil fuels between now and 2050, the analysis from Rhodium shows.

Similarly, the blossoming electric vehicle market is going to drive down emissions from cars and trucks, with global oil consumption for on-road vehicles set to drop by 50% over the next three decades, the forecast finds.

But even with these dramatic changes reshaping two of the world’s hungriest consumers of fossil fuels, emissions are still a long way from hitting net zero by 2050, as scientists say they must if dangerous global heating – spurring worsening heatwaves, floods, droughts and more – is to be avoided.https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2024/02/archive-zip/giv-13425ZCBwhBxEyLin/

A major reason for this is the stubborn, ongoing carbon pollution from three areas: aviation, shipping and industry.

.https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2024/02/archive-zip/giv-13425v3zDOTaHHQGz/

There is currently no widespread alternative to jet fuel or ship diesel, meaning steady or even rising fossil fuel use as developing countries’ economies grow. A range of industrial processes – such as cement-making and the production of plastic – will collectively fail to meaningfully cut carbon-intensive fuels by 2050, too.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in the last few years – wind and solar are really poster children of success and electric vehicles are at a turning point now,” said Hannah Pitt, associate director at Rhodium, which made the projections based on anticipated policies until 2050.

“That makes up a good chunk of emissions but there is much less progress in other sectors. With aviation and shipping, there’s just not as much innovation and no clear cost-effective alternatives to fossil fuels.

“And then we have industrial processes that make up a huge fraction of emissions and each require their own tools and innovations to bring that down, and emissions are staying stubbornly high.”

All told, global fossil fuel use will likely flatten or decline by mid-century before starting to grow again due to rising energy demand in various parts of the world, according to the report’s projections. Gas will lead the way, rising significantly in use even as oil and coal decline.https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2024/02/archive-zip/giv-13425v3zDOTaHHQGz/

Pitt said we are still a long way from breaking our dependence on fossil fuels in everything from switching on a light at home, to driving a car, to getting an Amazon package delivered, to flying to a holiday destination.

“The success with renewables and EVs shows it can be done, but it really will take a lot of different policies and innovations. There’s no one solution,” said Pitt.

“This is a good reminder that climate change touches every piece of our economies, and it needs solutions to each of those areas. There is a lot of work to do.”

Climate Change Is Main Driver of Historic Amazon River Drought, Study Finds

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earth.org

Climate Change Is Main Driver of Historic Amazon River Drought, Study Finds

The months-long drought – a 1 in 100 years event – has dried up large parts of the Amazon River, with water levels at their lowest in more than a century. 

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Climate change is the main driver behind the exceptional drought that has been affecting the Amazon River since mid-2023, with the return of El Niño further exacerbating the situation, new research suggests.

A group of scientists from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group used published peer-reviewed methods to assess the role of climate change and El Niño in influencing the drought, which is affecting an estimated 30 million people that rely on the river for transport, food, and power. They found that climate change-driven high temperatures were the main driver of the historic drought – a 1 in 100 year event on the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). On the other hand, the El Niño – a phenomenon that warms the Pacific Ocean and historically a driver of drought – had a “much smaller influence.”

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COP28 Ends With Deal on Transition Away From Fossil Fuels

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bloomberg.com By Jennifer A Dlouhy, Jess Shankleman, and Laura Millan Updated on 

  • First time fossil fuels have made it to a global climate deal
  • Steps needed to turn agreement into tangible actions: Al Jaber
Standing ovation after COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber brokered an agreement to a commitment to transition away from fossil fuels.
Standing ovation after COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber brokered an agreement to a commitment to transition away from fossil fuels.Photographer: Nayla Razzouk/Bloomberg

The COP28 climate talks in Dubai ended in a deal that saw a commitment to transition away from all fossil fuels for the first time.

The president of this year’s UN-sponsored summit, the UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber, brokered an agreement that was strong enough for the US and European Union on the need to dramatically curb fossil fuel use while keeping Saudi Arabia and other oil producers on board.

The agreement calls for countries to quickly shift energy systems away from fossil fuels in a just and orderly fashion, qualifications that helped convince the skeptics. Under the deal, countries also are called to contribute to a global transition effort — rather than being outright compelled to make that shift on their own.

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Trees alone will not save the world

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economist.com

But better markets and better monitoring will let them do more

An image showing a trio of three-dimensional trees made out of an image of a leaf against a bark background.
image: ben denzer

“Everything you see, as far as the eye can see, belongs to us,” says David Beleznay. “Us” is Mosaic, a forest-management company that looks after the upkeep and logging of much of Vancouver Island; Mr Beleznay is its director of climate and watersheds. “As far as the eye can see” takes in a long, deep valley whose forested flanks rise to the rocky top of Mount Arrowsmith. Towering evergreens—Douglas fir, cedar, hemlock—drape the island from its central peaks to the water’s rocky edge.

This drapery is, though, a bit patchy in places. Directly behind Mr Beleznay’s parked pickup are some “polygons”, as the industry calls them, where the trees have been clear-cut, leaving behind jumbled soil, stumps and woody debris; tiny saplings poke through it higgledy-piggledy. Mosaic has an eye to water quality in forest streams, to maintaining biodiversity, to being a partner to the island’s first nations. But the forest it manages is also the basis of a timber business.

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British research ship crosses paths with world’s largest iceberg as it drifts out of Antarctica

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APnews.com BY SYLVIA HUIUpdated 4:23 PM GMT+7, December 5, 2023

Britain’s polar research ship RRS Sir David Attenborough has crossed paths with the world’s largest iceberg as it was drifting out of Antarctic waters. (Dec. 5)Photos

BY SYLVIA HUIUpdated 4:23 PM GMT+7, December 5, 2023Share

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s polar research ship has crossed paths with the largest iceberg in the world — a “lucky” encounter that enabled scientists to collect seawater samples around the colossal berg as it drifts out of Antarctic waters, the British Antarctic Survey said Monday.

The RRS Sir David Attenborough, which is on its way to Antarctica for its first scientific mission, passed the mega iceberg known as the A23a on Friday near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

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History fades as rising sea levels slowly destroy Thailand’s temple murals

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theguardian.com Saltwater damage could see precious historical Buddhist artworks dating back hundreds of years slowly fade entirely from view

by Rebecca Ratcliffe and Navaon Siradapuvadol in NonthaburiWed 29 Nov 2023 02.37 GMT

If you look closely, you can just about see the characters and scenes that once stretched across the walls of Wat Prasat, a temple in Nonthaburi. There’s the dark shape of an elephant’s head, a figure slouching on its back; outlines of swords pointing upwards to the centre of the display; patches of curved roofs.

“The mural used to be more vivid,” says Phra Maha Natee, the abbot of Wat Prasat. Even when he was a novice monk, 20 years ago, the image – which shows one of the jātakas stories that recall the Buddha’s past lives – was easier to understand. “The colour was brighter and sharper,” he says.

The murals offer a glimpse into a past era – a time of prosperity but also social upheaval, when a more empowered nobility had emerged, as did a desire, say historians, for Buddhism to play a more stronger role in reinforcing discipline in society. They date back to the mid or later years of the Ayutthaya kingdom in Siam, which existed from 1351 to 1767, in what is now Thailand and are a treasured early example of the art form.

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COP28 climate summit just approved a ‘loss and damage’ fund. What does this mean?

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theconversation.com Published: December 1, 2023 2.24am GMT

Day one of the COP28 climate summit saw the first big breakthrough: agreement on a “loss and damage” fund to compensate poor states for the effects of climate change.

Met with a standing ovation in Dubai, the agreement means wealthy states and major polluters will put millions of dollars towards a fund that will in turn distribute funds to poor states harmed by climate change. The fund will be administered by the World Bank. Initial commitments amount to US$430 million.

It will come as a huge relief to the United Arab Emirates, the summit’s host. The country was under pressure even before talks began about its fossil fuel expansion plans and the fact the president of the climate talks is chief executive of a national oil company. This undoubtedly featured in the UAE’s decision to commit US$100 million to the fund.

Other countries to make initial commitments to the fund include the United Kingdom ($75 million), United States ($24.5 million), Japan ($10 million) and Germany (also US$100 million). Pressure will now build on other wealthy countries, including Australia, to outline their own commitments to the fund.

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COP28: four key issues that will dominate the latest UN climate summit

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theconversation.com Published: November 29, 2023 4.56pm GMT

The United Nations Environment Programme recently published a report with an unusually strong title for a UN body: “Emissions Gap Report 2023: Broken Record – Temperatures hit new highs, yet world fails to cut emissions (again)”. Yet again, it highlights how far countries are off track from safeguarding the planet – and us.

As the world gathers in the United Arab Emirates for the annual UN climate change conference (or, more formally, Conference of the Parties, COP), the stakes are as high as ever. The head of the UN climate change secretariat Simon Stiell has urged for this meeting – COP28 – to be a “turning point.”

Can this COP deliver on that goal? Perhaps.

As an academic focused on international climate governance, I’ve seen how trust is vital for an ambitious outcome. Delegates negotiate all night. They trade off issues against another. And at the end of the long summit, negotiators and ministers rely on each other to uphold bargains made over hundreds of hours of talks. But, though COP28 will be my 11th climate COP, I’ve never seen trust so low among countries.

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Most sponsors of Cop28 have not signed up to UN-backed net zero targets

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theguardian.com

Firms including Bank of America have made no commitment to cut emissions in line with target system, analysis finds

Sandra Laville Environment correspondentWed 29 Nov 2023 06.00 GMT

Most companies sponsoring the UN climate talks in Dubai are not committed to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions in line with globally recognised net zero targets, it has been revealed.

Only one of the more than 20 sponsors of Cop28 has signed up to UN-backed net zero science-based targets, (SBTi), according to an analysis.

Most of the corporate sponsors, which include the oilfield services company Baker Hughes as well as Bank of America, have made no commitment to reduce emissions to net zero in any time period under the target system.

The global accountancy firm EY, formerly Ernst and Young, which has been hired as the independent verifier of the climate record of all the sponsors, has also not set targets with the net zero scheme.

The targets are recognised as one of the leading voluntary global validations of a company’s commitment to tackling global heating.

The targets are clearly defined science-based pathways for companies and financial institutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and they are reviewed and validated by the SBTi.

Six firms sponsoring the Dubai climate talks, which begin on 30 November, including EY, have made a commitment to set net zero targets, by registering with the scheme. This requires them to submit their plans for validation within 24 months.

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What drought in the Amazon means for the planet

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washingtonpost.com By Nicolás Rivero November 10, 2023 at 6:30 a.m. EST

View of an area affected by severe drought in the Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil, on Oct. 28. (Andre Coelho/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

The Amazon — the lush, tropical basin that holds the world’s biggest river, rainforest and a fifth of its fresh water — is running dry.

The region is entering its fifth month of a drought that has been particularly punishing in the northern reaches of the rainforest, in the region around the city of Manaus. The Rio Negro, a northern Amazon tributary, fell to the lowest levels in its recorded history last month. Wildfires have advanced where waterways have retreated.

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A moment of truth for the oil and gas industry

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Climate change and clean energy confront oil and gas producers with profound choices

Full report here

Oil and gas producers face pivotal choices about their role in the global energy system amid a worsening climate crisis fuelled in large part by their core products, according to our major new special report.

The Oil and Gas Industry in Net Zero Transitions finds that the oil and gas sector – which provides more than half of global energy supply and employs nearly 12 million workers worldwide – has been a marginal force at best in transitioning to an energy system with net zero emissions, accounting for just 1% of clean energy investment globally.

The report shows how the industry can take a more responsible approach and contribute positively to the new energy economy, highlighting that the UN’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai is “a moment of truth” for the oil and gas sector.To start, all oil and gas companies should commit to tackling emissions from their own operations, according to the report. These emissions need to decline by 60% by 2030 to align with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. Companies also need to dramatically change how they allocate their financial resources. In 2022, clean energy investments accounted for a mere 2.5% of the industry’s total capital spending. The report finds that producers looking to align with the aims of the Paris Agreement would need to put 50% of capital expenditures towards clean energy projects by 2030.What’s more, companies must abandon the notion that they can continue with business as usual simply by ramping up the deployment of carbon capture technologies.

The report finds that if oil and gas consumption were to evolve as projected under today’s policy settings, limiting warming to 1.5 °C would require an entirely inconceivable 32 billion tonnes of carbon capture by 2050, with annual investment rising from $4 billion last year to $3.5 trillion.Opportunities lie ahead despite these challenges, however. Nearly a third of the energy consumed in 2050 in a decarbonised energy system comes from technologies that could benefit from the oil and gas industry’s skills and resources, including hydrogen, offshore wind and liquid biofuels.

Lizards, fish and other species are evolving with climate change, but not fast enough

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theconversation.com

Climate change is threatening the survival of plants and animals around the globe as temperatures rise and habitats change.

Some species have been able to meet the challenge with rapid evolutionary adaptation and other changes in behavior or physiology. Dark-colored dragonflies are getting paler in order to reduce the amount of heat they absorb from the sun. Mustard plants are flowering earlier to take advantage of earlier snowmelt. Lizards are becoming more cold-tolerant to handle the extreme variability of our new climate.

However, scientific studies show that climate change is occurring much faster than species are changing.

A tiny, royal blue fish with gold stripes looks into the camera. The downward slant of its mouth and shadow at the top of its eye give it an annoyed look.
Zebrafish have evolved to thrive in water a degree or so warmer than normal, but they struggle to survive at higher temperatures. isoft/E+ Getty Images

What is evolutionary adaptation?

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Vietnam will struggle to meet 2030 offshore wind goal, top official says

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Reuters.com

HANOI, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Vietnam will have a hard time reaching its offshore wind power target for 2030, a top executive at a state-owned energy company said, with foreign investors also warning of multiple regulatory hurdles that would need to be cleared.

The Southeast Asian country has good offshore wind power potential given strong winds and shallow waters near densely populated areas, according to the World Bank, which estimates the sector could add at least $50 billion to Vietnam’s economy.

Offshore wind is also a priority for Group of Seven (G7) members that have promised funds to boost the country’s renewable energy sources and reduce its reliance on coal.

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Thailand’s forest communities fall victim to country’s climate promises

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devex.com

Greenhouse gas emissions can be offset by carbon sinks such as forests, but expanding these areas can put Indigenous communities, reliant on the forests, at risk.

By Rebecca L. Root // 11 October 2023

Khao Sok rainforest in Thailand. Photo by: Sebastian Kautz / Alamy

From Khao Sok National Park in the southwest to Phu Chi Fa Forest Park in the north, forests cover around 30% of Thailand’s total area. Approximately 23 million people live near or in these lush green landscapes, depending on them for sustenance and livelihoods. But that’s now at risk, due to both climate change-related threats and the policies implemented to protect the forests.

Warangkana Rattanarat, Thailand country director for The Center for People and Forests, warned that the arrival of El Niño earlier this year has caused long droughts and less rain, damaging crops and other forest resources. This has affected the availability of food, as well as the income local people can derive from forest resources, she added.

The country has also experienced floods and the highest temperatures on record this year, impacting forests and the communities within them. In the GermanWatch Global Climate Risk Index 2021, Thailand ranked at number nine globally for long-term climate risks.

Additionally, there are land and tenure rights issues for Indigenous forest communities to contend with, and national climate commitments that have the potential to negatively impact such communities, said experts.

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