Scientists have each year become more confident in their forecasts of the consequences of climate change and global warming for us, for Homo sapiens, and many other species.  Enlightened self-interest should lead us to address this threat to our existence. But it isn’t. Politicians are more concerned about bequeathing debt to the next generation than they are about greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, a far more dangerous inheritance. Nevermind the patter watch the hands George Monbiot has clinically, and with substantial evidence, laid bare the chasm between  the rhetoric and extravagant PR commitments, “higher targets appear to be a substitute for action.” Having targets and policy objectives is not…

Last month was the hottest April on record globally – and the seventh month in a row to have broken global temperature records. Nasa data shows that the global temperature of land and sea was 1.11C warmer in April than the average temperature for April during the period 1951-1980. more The BBC have a graphic which shows how the average global temperature has risen “The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for April 2016 was 1.10°C (1.98°F) above the 20th century average of 13.7°C (56.7°F)—the highest temperature departure for April since global records began in 1880. This value surpassed the previous record set in 2010 by 0.28°C (0.50°F).…

New data from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggest that January of 2016 was, for the globe, a truly extraordinary month. Coming off the hottest year ever recorded (2015), January saw the greatest departure from average of any month on record, according to data provided by NASA. The record breaking heat wasn’t uniformly distributed — it was particularly pronounced at the top of the world, showing temperature anomalies above 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 1951 to 1980 average in this region. Read more in the Washington Post Will The Arctic Be The World’s New Economic Hotspot?

2015 was the first full year to break the 1C barrier above pre-industrial levels – a key benchmark for warming UK Met Office figures show that 2015 was 0.75C warmer than the long-term average between 1961-1990. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a US federal agency, 2015 is the fourth time an annual global temperature has been set this century. 2015 also saw record high temperatures for 10 months, with five months showing the highest departure from the average of any month on record. Go to the graphic and watch the average temperature rise relentlessly year after year play “There is no evidence that [the] warming trend has…

Deserted slopes and empty ski lifts resulted in sales of ski packages in Europe slumped by 20% in December resulting in heavy discounting. Just before Christmas Alpine ski resorts desperate to open after the warmest December on record in France. The Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise resort in Savoie used helicopters to transport 100 tonnes of snow to the slopes part of the 100,000 cubic metres of snow produced by water cannon. 120,000 people work in the French ski industry, only 40% of seasonal workers in resorts  have foudn employment this year and there are reports in the French media that in some resorts staff have accepted a 30% cut in in working time…

Today is the winter solstice. 2015 is a deviant year – the  shortest day of the year traditionally falls on 21st December but it is a day later this year, the foibles of man’s calendars. Its all to do with the fact that our calendar work on 365 days, whereas the  earth’s orbit around the sun takes 365.5 days, the sun will set at 15:54 today, just under eight hours of daylight in the UK. In the Northern Hemisphere winter begins today – as I write this it is 13.3C – and last night the lowest temperature was in Faversham was 12.3C. For an explanation of the mechanics of our…

International aviation and shipping emissions have been excluded from the Paris climate agreement Article 31 (d) of the Paris Agreement requires parties to “provide an explanation of why any categories of anthropogenic emissions or removals are excluded.” Those who negotiated the Paris agreement should be held to account for giving aviation and marine transportation a get out of gaol free card  Effectively a “country” with the carbon emissions of the UK has secured exclusion ……. And effective action has been delayed – as Kevin Anderson explained graphically and eloquently at WTM last month we need to be reducing carbon emissions urgently now, we cannot risk waiting for cvhange by 2050,…

You have to admire the lobbying skills of ICAO and the IMO – aviation and marine fossil fuel emissions remain outside the draft agreement on fossil fuel emissions Para 20 is really weak – a missed opportunity {International transport emissions} 20. [Parties [shall][should][other] pursue the limitation or reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation and marine bunker fuels, working through the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization, respectively, with a view to agreeing concrete measures addressing these emissions, including developing procedures for incorporating emissions from international aviation and marine bunker fuels into low-emission development strategies.] The full document is available here.