9 November 2015, Carbon Brief, Global temperature rise set to hit 1C of warming this year, Met Office says. Scientists expect 2015 to be the first year where global annual average temperature passes 1C above pre-industrial levels. As of the end of September, global temperature is sitting at 1.02C above the 1850-1900 average, and is “expected to hold” for the rest of the year, a short Met Office report says. This is another piece of evidence of “systematic warming” of the Earth’s climate, saysDr Peter Stott, head of the climate monitoring and attribution at the Met Office Hadley Centre. The news generated some media interest, including headlines in the BBC and Guardian. It comes on the same day as the World Meteorological Organisation announced that the global average concentration of carbon dioxide surpassed 400 parts per million in spring 2015, notes the Independent. ‘Important marker’ Each year, major meteorological organisations around the world calculate the global average surface temperature. It’s just one measure of how the world is changing in response to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. These provisional figures for 2015 come from HadCRUT4, a dataset of observed global temperatures jointly put together by the UK Met Office and the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia. The data suggests that 2015 will reach, and surpass, 1C above pre-industrial temperatures for the first time in human history. The cross in the top right-hand corner of the chart below shows where the 2015 temperature currently sits compared to the last 150 years. Read more here
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9 November 2015, One Step off the Grid, Community renewables development guide launched by Victorian govt. Victoria’s community renewable energy sector got a boost this week with the state government’s release of a guide to developing community owned-projects, as part of its upcoming Renewable Energy Action Plan. State energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio launched the Guide to Community-Owned Renewable Energy for Victorians at the annual general meeting of Australia’s first community-owned wind farm, Hepburn Wind, in Daylesford. According to a media release, it will help local groups make informed decisions about establishing community renewable projects, including wind, solar, small-scale hydro, geothermal, bioenergy (from waste products) and energy storage technologies. The guide also covers the development of sound business proposals, sources of possible funding (including crowdsourcing, grants and financing options), selecting the most suitable technologies, managing the project, stakeholder consultation and connecting to the grid. Read More here
9 November 2015, Renew Economy, Graph of the Day: Cities under water at 2°C and 4°C. Around half a billion people are at risk from sea level rise if the world continues on a business-as-usual path for carbon emissions, a new report has found – while limiting warming to the recommended 2°C would cut this risk by more than half. The US report by Climate Central, accompanied by an online interactive mapping system, shows that carbon emissions causing 4°C of warming – what business-as-usual points toward today – could lock in enough sea level rise to submerge land currently home to 470 to 760 million people as the “unstoppable rise” unfolds over centuries. The research also reveals, however, that aggressive carbon cuts limiting warming to 2°C could bring the number as low as 130 million people. The report – authored by Climate Central scientists Benjamin Strauss and Scott Kulp, and Anders Levermann of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research – assesses implications for all coastal nations and cities – post-2100 – using relationships between warming caused by carbon emissions, the long-term global sea level rise it locks in, and global elevation and population data. The news is worst for China, which is found to be most at risk with 145 million people living on land ultimately threatened by rising seas if emission levels are not reduced. Below are the mapped projections for Shanghai, at 4°C on the left, and 2°C on the right. Read More here
7 November 2015, The Guardian, Obama rejects Keystone XL pipeline and hails US as leader on climate change. Barack Obama ended seven years of high-wire political drama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, saying the decision reflected America’s determination to be a global leader in the fight against climate change. The move, less than four weeks before more than 190 countries gather in Paris to try to reach a global deal to reduce carbon pollution, reinforces Obama’s commitment to making climate change the domestic and international legacy of his second term in the White House – even in the face of Republican hostility. “America is now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action on climate change,” Obama said from the White House on Friday, flanked by both secretary of state John Kerry and vice-president Joe Biden. “Frankly, approving that project would have undercut that global leadership, and that is the biggest risk we face: not acting.” The president went on: “Today, the United States is leading on climate change.” Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL was the biggest victory in years for grassroots campaigners, who chained themselves to the gates of the White House and built unlikely alliances with landowners and ranchers in heartland states like Nebraska and Texas, to mobilise opposition to what had once been seen as a routine project. As secretary of state, “I feel like the boots have beaten the big oil suits for the first time in our country’s history,” said Jane Fleming Kleeb, leader of Bold Nebraska, which had fought the pipeline’s route across the state. TransCanada, the Canadian firm behind the pipeline, said it was disappointed with Obama’s decision. “Today, misplaced symbolism was chosen over merit and science – rhetoric won out over reason,” Russ Girling, the chief executive of TransCanada, said in a statement. Read More here