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2016 'very likely' to be world's warmest year
2016 will be the hottest year on record, UN says
World Meteorological Organisation figures show global temperature is 1.2C above pre-industrial levels and will set a new high for the third year running
2016 will very likely be the hottest year on record and a new high for the third year in a row, according to the UN. It means 16 of the 17 hottest years on record will have been this century.
The scorching temperatures around the world, and the extreme weather they drive, mean the impacts of climate change on people are coming sooner and with more ferocity than expected, according to scientists.
Continue reading...On Trump and climate, America is split in two by these demographics | Dana Nuccitelli
Rural white men support Trump and oppose stopping climate change; the opposite is true of urban minorities
The world is shocked that America elected Donald Trump as its 45th president. Exit polls show that the country is sharply divided on Trump along the same lines as its sharp divisions on climate change.
Political ideology was the single strongest determining factor in the election. 90% of Republicans voted for Trump, while 89% of Democrats voted for Clinton. Ideology is also the primary factor associated with acceptance or denial of human-caused global warming, as climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe explained eloquently in this video:
Continue reading...Antarctic quest to find 'oldest ice'
UK to investigate human health impact of microplastics
Chief medical officer for England Prof Dame Sally Davies to carry out study into health impacts of tiny particles of plastic consumed by fish
The government is to conduct an investigation into the impact on human health of microplastic particles found in shellfish and other marine animals.
The study by the chief medical officer for England, Prof Dame Sally Davies, is to be carried out as part of a wider, year-long review of the health effects of pollution.
Continue reading...SA nuclear waste dump proposal will go to referendum if it gets bipartisan support
Premier Jay Weatherill says Indigenous people will have final say even if public backs dump in referendum
South Australia’s proposal for a high-level nuclear waste dump in the state’s north will go to a referendum, the premier, Jay Weatherill, has announced, but only if it has bipartisan support.
The government has been considering the proposal following a recommendation by a royal commission into the nuclear fuel cycle that found the state could reap billions of dollars by storing waste from other countries. But the royal commission found public and political support for the dump was essential if it was to go ahead.
Continue reading...Fossil-fuel CO2 emissions nearly stable for third year in row
But while increase in emissions has been halted, CO2 concentrations in atmosphere still at record high and rising
Global carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels have seen “almost no growth” for a third consecutive year, according to figures released as world leaders begin to arrive in Marrakech for a UN climate summit.
Related: Donald Trump presidency a 'disaster for the planet', warn climate scientists
Continue reading...Renewable energy made up a record 21.7% of Australia's electricity market last month
Latest Cedex report says October had the biggest proportion of renewables of any month since data made available
Australia’s renewable energy sector hit a record in October, with 21.7% of electricity in the national electricity market coming from renewables, according to the latest Cedex report.
That represents the biggest proportion of any month since the data was made available by the Australian Energy Market Operator in 2005, according to the report from the engineering consultants Pitt&Sherry and the Australia Institute.
Continue reading...My dream home is a den in the woods
Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk Today, however, I cannot be a hermit. There are stick-swinging children, scurrying woodlice and cross-looking treecreepers
When modern life seems too much, I dream of living in the woods. I’ll be a mad, feral woman eating hazelnuts and tending a fire obsessively. It’s this specific wood where I would go, with its deciduous mix of ash, oak and chestnut, its sandy badger sett, wild garlic, bluebells in spring, and the clear, fast-flowing water of the gravel-bottomed stream. Known as Fox’s Grove, it’s just a few miles from the centre of Norwich.
Today, I am not a hermit. I have a troop of children for company, who are enthusiastically den-building and stick swinging. They’ve collected plenty of dead wood and a wigwam shape is emerging from their collective imagination. I am happily redundant, sitting under a large beech tree, on a comfortably curved root. My fingers are drawn to the mulchy earth, into leaves and soil, as I inhale that musty, fungus scent.
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