‘The criticisms of Gore, while sometimes legitimate, are so numerous and impassioned as to reveal something deeper at work: an anxiety about the direction and effectiveness of the movement itself. There’s a profound fear among many activists that time is running out, that we have only a few more years to take the necessary actions to solve the climate crisis.’

Source: Once Upon A Time Climate Activists Cheered Al Gore. Times Have Changed. – Mother Jones

‘Today, Representatives Jared Polis (CO), Jared Huffman (CA), Raul Grijalva (AZ) and Pramila Jayapal (WA) introduced a bill to phase out fossil fuels and completely replace them with clean, renewable energy by 2050. The bill would put in place a comprehensive plan to ramp up renewable energy and energy efficiency, and the electrification of transportation and heating, while putting a halt to the development of fossil fuel infrastructure. It also includes provisions to train workers in the transition to clean energy to encourage the deployment of clean energy in disadvantaged communities.’

Source: House Bill Would Shift America Entirely to Clean Energy By 2050

‘From the common barn swallow to the exotic giraffe, thousands of animal species are in precipitous decline, a sign that an irreversible era of mass extinction is underway, new research finds.’

Source: Era of ‘Biological Annihilation’ Is Underway, Scientists Warn – New York Times

‘…Stephen A. Montzka, a NOAA research chemist who worked on the index, said the spike between 2015 and 2016 — the largest incremental increase in greenhouse gases since 1988 — was largely caused by El Niño. The jump between 1987 and 1988, which came in at a slightly higher 2.8 percent, was also linked to an El Niño.’

Source: Climate-Altering Gases Spiked in 2016, Federal Scientists Report – New York Times

‘A chunk of floating ice that weighs more than a trillion metric tons broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula, producing one of the largest icebergs ever recorded and providing a glimpse of how the Antarctic ice sheet might ultimately start to fall apart.’

Source: An Iceberg the Size of Delaware Just Broke Away From Antarctica – New York Times

‘The United States will meet or exceed its Paris Agreement emissions targets despite an increasingly isolated President Donald Trump withdrawing from the accord, former vice-president Al Gore says.’

Source: Donald Trump ‘isolated’ on climate change: Al Gore says rest of world moving on without US President – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

‘The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, passed at the United Nations by a vote of 122 to 1, was the culmination of a decadelong effort by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons — and a resounding rebuke to the world’s nuclear weapons states, which were glaringly absent and immediately dismissed the effort.’

Source: Nuclear powers rebuked as 122 nations adopt U.N. ban – POLITICO

‘If the amount of the gas that people are putting out has stopped rising, how can the amount that stays in the air be going up faster than ever? Does it mean the natural sponges that have been absorbing carbon dioxide are now changing?’

Source: Carbon in Atmosphere Is Rising, Even as Emissions Stabilize | New York Times