News: Archive for December, 2018
‘A new definition of federally protected wetlands that the Trump administration unveiled this week would make an estimated 6 million acres of Florida’s wetlands vulnerable to developers and other interests that seek to wipe them out, according to figures from the Environmental Protection Agency.’
Source:Â Â Trump wetlands rule rollback makes about 6 million acres in Florida unprotected | Tampa Bay Times
‘The Trump administration is poised to roll back Clean Water Act protections on millions of acres of waterways and wetlands, including up to two-thirds of California’s inland streams, following through on a promise to agriculture interests and real estate developers to rewrite an Obama-era rule limiting pollution.’
‘Fifteen-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the U.N. plenary last night in Katowice, Poland, condemning global inaction in the face of catastrophic climate change.’
‘KATOWICE, Poland – Trump Administration representatives, impossible to embarrass and weirdly courageous, braved mocking laughter, blatant disrespect and even a walk-out on Monday as they reprised their surreal public performance of a year ago by promoting coal burning for energy at a climate conference that seeks in part to drastically reduce coal usage to fight climate change.’
Source: COP24: Trumpers tout clean coal; protesters call it ‘climate suicide’ | mongabay.com
‘Instead of tacitly accepting that inaction is preordained for the remaining two years of the Trump presidency, Congress should send Mr. Trump legislation addressing this crisis. ‘
Source:Â John Kerry: Forget Trump. We All Must Act on Climate Change | The New York Times
‘The world has been put on notice that its best efforts so far will fail to halt the devastation of climate change, as countries came to a partial agreement at UN talks that failed to match up to the challenges faced.’
Source:Â UN climate accord ‘inadequate’ and lacks urgency, experts warn | The Guardian
‘The expected increase, which would bring fossil fuel and industrial emissions to a record high of 37.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, is being driven by a nearly 5 percent growth of emissions in China and more than 6 percent in India, researchers estimated, along with growth in many other nations. Emissions by the United States grew 2.5 percent, while those of the European Union declined by just under 1 percent.’
Source: ‘We are in trouble.’ Global carbon emissions reached a record high in 2018 | Washington Post
‘Washington (CNN)The Trump administration will reverse an Obama-era coal emissions rule as part of its effort to loosen restrictions on the coal industry, just days after a US government report warned that aggressive action is needed to curb greenhouse gases and ease the impact of global warming.’
Source:Â EPA rolls back coal rule despite climate change warnings | CNN
‘Voluminous emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, rapid global warming, and a decline in biodiversity—the storyline is modern, but the setting is ancient: The end of the Permian Period, some 252 million years ago. For the end-Permian, the result was catastrophic: the greatest loss of plant and animal life in Earth history’
‘The stakes are high: While countries agreed in Paris to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels, the plans that various countries have written so far are wildly insufficient to that task. Currently, the world is on pace for around 3 degrees Celsius of warming or more, bringing far higher risks of deadly heat waves, floods, the collapse of polar ice caps and other potential calamities.’
Source:Â COP24, the New Round of Global Climate Talks, Has Begun. We Answer Three Key Questions. | The New York Times