‘The first 10 days of Biden’s presidency have represented a startling handbrake turn from Donald Trump’s term, where climate science was routinely disparaged or sidelined and policies to cut planet-heating emissions were jettisoned. A complete rewiring of the economy is now needed to avert what the president calls an “existential threat” to civilization.’

Source: Dizzying pace of Biden’s climate action sounds death knell for era of denialism | Environment | The Guardian

‘…What could stand in Biden’s way in passing major climate reform on issues — such as phasing out coal and oil with clean energy technology — is moderate Senate Democrats and Republicans from fossil-fuel states who oppose policies they view as harmful to the industry in their home state.’

Source: Biden’s climate change agenda to face obstacles with Senate | CNBC

‘Scientists have resolved a controversial but key climate change mystery, bolstering climate models and confirming that Earth is hotter than it’s been in at least 12,000 years, and perhaps even the last 128,000 years, according to the most recent annual global temperature data.’

Source: Scientists solve a major climate mystery, confirming Earth is hotter than it’s been in at least 120 centuries | Space

‘The climate emergency has arrived and is accelerating more rapidly than most scientists anticipated, and many of them are deeply concerned. The adverse effects of climate change are much more severe than expected, and now threaten both the biosphere and humanity. There is mounting evidence linking increases in extreme weather frequency and intensity to climate change.’

Source: The Climate Emergency: 2020 in Review – Scientific American

‘…According to an analysis of their public statements and votes, 90 of the 147 Republican members of Congress who voted to overturn the results of the presidential election explicitly deny or have denied that climate change is human-caused and dangerous.’

Source: Lawmakers who denied Biden’s victory also embrace a deadlier conspiracy: climate denial – HEATED

‘…For those of us who cover climate change for a living, the blatant lies about election fraud that fed the mob felt very familiar. A big part of our job is dealing with the disinformation that people and institutions spread to muddy the waters about climate change.’

Source: The Capitol Riot and Climate Disinformation – The New York Times

‘Five nuclear reactors are expected to close in 2021 which will set a record for the most nuclear capacity retirements in one year, reflecting competition from cheaper sources of renewable energy and low natural gas prices, according to the Department of Energy.’

Source: Record number of nuclear power plants set to close in 2021 – Midland Reporter-Telegram

‘…The record warmth — which fueled deadly heat waves, droughts, intense wildfires and other environmental disasters around the world in 2020 — occurred despite the development in the second half of the year of La Niña, a global climate phenomenon marked by surface cooling across much of the equatorial Pacific Ocean.’

Source: 2020 is Tied With 2016 as Hottest Year Ever on Record – The New York Times

‘…Single-use plastic is a climate change issue — as well as an observable, measurable menace to the environment that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic and the need for plastic protective gear. Most plastic is made from fossil fuels, and millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions are released from the extraction of these resources, and the manufacture and incineration of plastic.’

Source: Hey, Joe Biden, plastic trash is a climate issue too – Los Angeles Times

‘…People caused the climate crisis, of course, but the definition of which people gets more precise over time. Research indicates that the wealthiest ten per cent of the world’s population—those with net incomes above thirty-eight thousand dollars a year—account for more than half of all carbon emissions. The wealthiest one per cent produce more than twice the carbon that the poorest fifty per cent do. But the effects of climate change are unjustly reversed: the less you did to cause it, the sooner and harder you feel its effects.’

Source: Where We Stand on Climate | The New Yorker