An engineering marvel just saved Venice from a flood. What about when seas rise?
The Washington Post got an up-close look at the $6-billion MOSE barrier system, including a hidden world of underwater tunnels....
INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
Climate change is a global issue. It matters not who creates the greenhouse gases, they spread globally. The converse is also true. Mitigation efforts occur locally but they spread globally. Global safety is dependent upon our interdependence.
CCR is primarily focused on America’s contribution to climate change and America’s efforts to mitigate climate change. That is huge enough for one website. This does not mean that CCR is oblivious to global connections and global effects. The US can contribute massively to the global effort as well as learn from the many countries outside its borders.
Unfortunately, in May 2017, Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. That withdrawal took effect on November 4, 2020. The good news is that President Joe Biden, on his first day in office, rejoined the Paris Agreement (which took effect on February 19, 2021) and appointed John Kerry as his energy czar. As Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry will play perhaps the most critical role internationally in managing a planetary crisis. To succeed, he’ll need to repair the diplomatic damage done by former President Donald Trump while steering through clashing interests at home: a defiant private sector on the one hand, and strident climate activists on the other.
The Climate Action Tracker follows governments to assess their compliance with the Paris Agreement. The US is currently rated as “critically insufficient.” Most recently the CAT said, “US emissions in 2020 will be lower as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Trump Administration’s continuous rollback of climate policy and its response to the pandemic will counteract some of the drop in emissions. Instead of initiating a green recovery the administration used the pandemic as justification to continue relaxing environmental regulations, allowing polluting industries to emit more greenhouse gases during the crisis and exempting them from penalties for violating these rules.”
CURRENT NEWS
Europe’s Wind Industry Is Stumbling When It’s Needed Most
Makers of wind turbines are reporting mounting losses, and fret about losing out to rivals from China, as countries chase ambitious clean energy targets....
Extreme heat will change us
By Alissa J. Rubin, Ben Hubbard, Josh Holder et al.
On a treeless street under a blazing sun, Abbas Abdul Karim, a welder with 25 years experience, labors over a metal bench. Everyone who lives in Basra, Iraq, reckons with intense heat, but for Abbas…
How The Forest Dies
By Terrence McCoy
In her 60 years of life in the Amazon, Antonia Franco dos Santos has never had much money. Food was sometimes scarce. But never in the forest, with its heavy rains and endless rivers, had…
Will Taxing the Windfall Profits of Oil Giants Fix Countries’ Economies?
By Patricia Cohen Photo: Sam Bush, The New York Times
Major oil and gas companies have raked in multibillion-dollar profits at unheard-of levels. Households around the world are reeling from soaring energy prices, while governments are struggling with outsize spending and slowing economic growth.
China’s surprise visit to US-EU event hints at cooperation on methane
China, the world's largest methane emitter, is yet to sign a pledge to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas 30% by 2030 The post China’s surprise visit to US-EU event hints at cooperation on methane…
Assessing the Global Climate in October 2022
October 2022 ranked fourth warmest for the globe. Globally, land-only temperatures ranked second-warmest on record behind 2015. Europe had its warmest October, and Africa tied 2003 for its third-warmest October. Beneficial rainfall returned to parts…
Climate Change and Human Activity Erode Egypt’s Treasured Antiquities
The effects of global warming on the country’s monuments are already striking. And the changing weather is only amplifying centuries of destructive human impact....
How Nepal Grew Back Its Forests
An effort decades in the making is showing results in Nepal, a rare success story in a world of cascading climate disasters and despair....
Carbon dioxide emissions increased in 2022 as crises roiled energy markets
By Brad Plumer Photo: Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images
Global emissions from fossil fuels are likely to reach record highs this year, new data shows, putting nations further off track from stopping global warming.
The US-China climate deal was a rare bright spot in an otherwise thorny relationship. Should it be mended?
By Ella Nilsen Photo: Alberto Pezzali, AP
One of the biggest surprises at last year’s United Nations climate summit came in the form of a handshake. US climate envoy John Kerry and his China counterpart Xie Zhenhua did so at COP26 in…
KEY RESOURCES
International Programme for Action on Climate
11/02/21
The Annual Climate Action Monitor Helping Countries Advance Towards Net Zero
The Annual Climate Action Monitor
11/02/21
The Climate Action Monitor, part of the International Programme for Action of Climate (IPAC), provides a diagnostic policy framework for assessing country progress towards climate objectives. Its goal is to provide a digest of progress…
Tracking climate mitigation efforts in 30 major emitters
11/02/21
This report by NewClimate Institute, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and FTSE Russell tracks climate mitigation efforts in 30 countries and regions. Our analysis shows that emissions trends remain far from the goals…
Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Pledges by Selected Countries: Nationally Determined Contributions and Net-Zero Legislation
10/26/21
Human-related emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) have increased globally over time. These increasing emissions contribute to a changing climate, which is a concern for governments, organizations, and other stakeholders. Many governments are taking steps to…
UNITING THE WORLD TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE.
09/16/21
The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Net Zero Emissions Legislation Around the World
09/01/21
This table shows the 39 jurisdictions around the world that the Law Library of Congress has identified as having a net zero emissions or climate neutrality goal enshrined in legislation. This includes the European Union…
A net zero climate-resilient future – science, technology and the solutions for change
04/08/21
This Statement has been created by the Science Academies of the Group of Seven (G7) nations. It represents the Academies view on the need for the G7 countries to anticipate the risks associated with climate…
OFF-SHORE WIND IN EUROPE
02/28/20
This report summarises construction and financing activity in European offshore wind farms from 1 January to 31 December 2018.
IPCC
01/31/19
The IPCC provides regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. Created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United…
MORE NEWS
A climate change report card for the world
By Sarah Kaplan Illustration: Washington Post 11/07/22
Last year’s United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, had the same optimistic energy as the first day of a new school year. The United States — a truant since the nation withdrew from the…
New milestone in battle against illegal, unregulated fishing
Photo: Veejay Villafranca, Fao 11/07/22
The Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) is the first internationally binding instrument specifically designed to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing by denying port access to foreign vessels that engage in or support such…
Copernicus: Europe experiences warmest October on record
11/07/22
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the EU, routinely publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting on the changes…
Countries Made Bold Climate Promises Last Year. How Are They Doing?
11/07/22
At last year’s U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, world leaders pledged to halt deforestation, phase out fossil fuel subsidies and offer up more climate aid. Following through has been tough....
How Putin and Friends Stalled Climate Progress
11/05/22
A handful of powerful world leaders rallied around Russia and undercut global cooperation....
20 climate photographs that changed the world
By Gabrielle Schwarz Photo: Magnus Kristensen/Ritzau Scanpix 11/05/22
They are the images that made us sit up and take notice. As world leaders gather for Cop27, these pictures prove that global heating isn’t a distant possibility – it’s already here.
Nations converge to address climate change
By Lisa Friedman Photo: Sayed Sheasha/Reuters 11/04/22
World leaders will gather in Egypt next week to confront climate change at a moment of colliding crises: a war in Europe that has upended energy markets, rising global inflation, deep political divisions in many…
As climate disasters grow more costly, who should pay the bill?
By Alejandra Borunda 11/04/22
First came a record-shattering, months-long heat wave, roiling Pakistan from March to May. Just a few weeks later came months of crushing, punishing rains that flooded a third of the entire country. The floods’ economic…
Glaciers in Yosemite and Africa will disappear by 2050, U.N. warns
By Rick Noack Photo: Gian Ehrenzeller, AP 11/03/22
Glaciers in at least one-third of World Heritage sites possessing them, including Yosemite National Park, will disappear by mid-century even if emissions are curbed, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization warned in a new…
Report: Countries need an impossible amount of land to meet climate pledges
By Blanca Begert Photo: Jan Sochor, Getty Images 11/03/22
To reach net-zero carbon goals with their current plans, countries around the world will need 1.2 billion hectares of land, an area larger than the United States and equivalent to the world’s total cropland, for…
Global Warming Fuels More Frequent Wildfires In The Arctic—Which Leads To More Global Warming, Study Finds
By Madeline Halpert Photo: Getty Images 11/03/22
TOPLINE Rising global temperatures have sparked more frequent wildfires in the Arctic in recent years, according to a new study published in Science, a trend that is expected to worsen as earth’s temperature continues to…
Can a Nation Replace Its Oil Wealth With Trees?
By Dionee Searcey and Others Photo: Arlette Bashizi 11/03/22
Evening and the rainforest. A riverbank packed with elephants. Treetops so dense they obscure all but a chimpanzee’s hairy arm. And, as the sun sets, a twinkle on the horizon: an offshore oil platform.
China Is Burning More Coal, a Growing Climate Challenge
By Keith Bradsher and others Photo: Gilles Sabrie, The New York Times 11/03/22
China is poised to take advantage of the global urgency to tackle climate change. It is the world’s dominant manufacturer and user of solar panels and wind turbines. It leads the world in producing energy…
Global warming twice as fast in Europe as in rest of world, study says
By Victoria Bisset 11/03/22
Temperatures in Europe have risen at more than twice the global average over the past 30 years, a new report has found, as the continent recovers from a summer of record heat. Temperatures in Europe…
Glacier and Ice Sheet Melt
11/01/22
The melting of ice sheets and glaciers around the world is accelerating and contributing to rising sea levels. Melting in Greenland is particularly dramatic, with the record year of 2012 witnessing surface melt far in…
In Hunt to Solve ‘Fairy Circle’ Mystery, One Suspect Is Dismissed
By Rachel Nuwer Photo: Dr. Stephan Getzin 11/01/22
The strange, barren spots pepper the vast Namib Desert, which stretches from southern Angola to northern South Africa. They are known as “fairy circles,” and for a natural phenomenon with such a whimsical name, scientific…
The world’s melting glaciers are yielding up their secrets too quickly
By Rick Noack Photo: Fabrice Coffrini, Getty Images 11/01/22
At about 8,000 feet above sea level, Switzerland’s Forcle Glacier has for thousands of years been deeply ensconced in a frigid mountain valley overlooked by some of Europe’s highest peaks. To early human hunters who…
Why Greta Thunberg is shunning the U.N. climate conference this year
By Shannon Osaka Photo: Henry Nicholls/Reuters 10/31/22
Greta Thunberg, the activist from Sweden, was catapulted to worldwide fame at a climate conference. In 2018, the then-15-year-old wandered the halls of a United Nations conference venue in Poland in a black zip-up hoodie…
EU approves effective ban on new fossil fuel cars from 2035
By Kate Abnett Photos: Regis Duvignau, Reuters 10/28/22
The European Union struck a deal on Thursday on a law to effectively ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, aiming to speed up the switch to electric vehicles and combat…
Prices are down. Supplies are good. Europe’s gas crisis gets a reprieve.
By Loveday Morris and Others Photo: Krisztian Bocsi, Bloomberg News 10/28/22
Not long ago, German officials were locked in agonizing debates over which industries should be cut off if the country found itself running out of natural gas. Today, with storage facilities almost full to the…
War in Ukraine Likely to Speed, Not Slow, Shift to Clean Energy, I.E.A. Says
By Brad Plumer Photo: Martin Meissner/Associated Press 10/27/22
The energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is likely to speed up rather than slow down the global transition away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner technologies like wind, solar and electric vehicles,…
Why Natural Gas Prices in Europe Are Suddenly Plunging
By Stanley Reed Photo: Clara Vannucci, The New York Times 10/26/22
The war in Ukraine is raging, Russian natural gas exports to Europe are dwindling and the winter heating season is approaching. That would seem like a recipe for higher prices, yet the cost of the…
Ukraine’s Soviet-Era Centralized Heating Is Both a Wartime Risk And Climate Solution
By Ciara Nugent Photo: Oleksandr Lapshyn, Getty Images 10/25/22
When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, it left behind an unexpected gift for the climate change era. Underneath the towns and cities of Eastern Europe, Soviet planners designed vast networks of pipes that carried…
John Kerry is looking for money (to help save the climate)
By Bill McKibben Photo: Linh Pham/Bloomberg 10/24/22
Private capital may require some “concessions” before it helps developing countries transition to clean energy.
‘Always Annoying’: Hassles of Cross-Border Trains Hamper E.U.’s Green Ambitions
By Erika Solomon Photo: Emile Ducke, The New York Times 10/22/22
The lanky man bent down to examine a rusted railroad track that cut across the empty square of a small, forgotten town, shaking his head at the weeds poking up. “Disappointing,” was his verdict, the…
The World Bank and IMF say they’ll do more to address climate change
By Richard Clark and Others Photo: Rehan Khan, Shutterstock 10/21/22
Climate change was at the fore of last week’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington, D.C. Protesters gathered outside the meetings to demand that the two preeminent international financial institutions take…
China accidentally made our gas much cheaper
By Robinson Meyer Photo: Franco Origlia / Getty 10/19/22
You’d be forgiven, at this point, for believing in what the MSNBC host Chris Hayes calls the “gas prices monocausal theory” of American politics. Every major political dynamic, every twist and turn in approval polling…
World rocked by 29 billion-dollar weather disasters in 2022
by Jeff Masters Photo: Copernicus Sentinel 10/19/22
Florida’s Hurricane Ian, a $20 billion drought and heat wave in Europe, and deadly floods in Pakistan are among the catastrophes so far this year.
Concern about climate change shrinks globally as threat grows – study
By Riham Alkousaa Photo: Yara Nardi, Reuters 10/19/22
Concerns about climate change shrank across the world last year, a survey shows, with fewer than half those questioned believing it posed a "very serious threat" to their countries in the next 20 years. Only…
How Cold Seawater Can Heat Helsinki’s Homes
By Thomas Gualtieri and Others Photo: Helen Oy 10/18/22
Helsinki is tapping an unexpected source of energy to heat its homes: cold water extracted from deep in the Baltic Sea. The Finnish capital is joining Europe’s rush to find new sources of energy and…
How Cold Seawater Can Heat Helsinki’s Homes
By Thomas Gualtieri and Others Photo: Helen Oy 10/18/22
Helsinki is tapping an unexpected source of energy to heat its homes: cold water extracted from deep in the Baltic Sea. The Finnish capital is joining Europe’s rush to find new sources of energy and…
Nigeria Floods Kill Hundreds and Displace Over a Million
By Ruth Maclean 10/17/22
Nigeria is suffering its worst flooding in a decade, with vast areas of farmland, infrastructure and 200,000 homes partly or wholly destroyed. Then there are the lives that have been lost.
20 Nations at High Risk From Global Warming Might Halt Debt Payments
By Lisa Friedman Photo: Allison Joyce, Getty Images 10/14/22
Twenty countries most vulnerable to climate change are considering halting their repayment of $685 billion in collective debt, loans that they say are an “injustice,” Mohamad Nasheed, the former president of the Maldives, said on…
Greece’s entire electrical grid ran on 100% renewables for the first time
By Bill Chappell Photo: Konstantinos Tsakalidis/Bloomberg 10/13/22
Renewable energy sources covered Greece's electricity demands for about five hours last Friday, the Independent Power Transmission Operator, or IPTO, said. Renewables also posted a new record that day, reaching a peak of 3,106 megawatt…
US, Germany back ‘fundamental reform’ of World Bank to scale climate finance
By Chloe Farand Photo: Ian Samuel, Flickr 10/12/22
A group of 10 major economies are building momentum to scale-up climate finance for developing countries by reforming how development banks spend money, starting with the largest: the World Bank. On Tuesday, Germany and the…
Extreme heat could make parts of Asia, Africa uninhabitable in decades
By Andrew Jeong Photo: Akhtar Soomro, Reuters 10/11/22
By the year 2100, extreme heat events will make parts of Asia and Africa uninhabitable for up to 600 million people, the United Nations and the Red Cross said Monday. Projected death rates from heat…
Once devastated, these Pacific reefs have seen an amazing rebirth
By Enric Sala 10/11/22
The most astonishing and heartening coral rebirth the world has ever seen came to light recently. To understand how it happened, you have to go back to April 2009. That’s when I assembled and led…
London’s Secret Fix for Air Pollution: Making Drivers Pay Up
By Feargus O’Sullivan, Hayley Warren and Jeremy Cf Lin 10/11/22
London’s traffic congestion once meant that residents of the British capital had to endure some of the worst air quality in the developed world. In a bid to tackle an issue directly linked to deaths…
How to Recycle a 14-Story Office Tower
By Jessica Camille Aguirre Photo: Max Pinckers, The New York Times 10/06/22
When the Dutch National Bank moved into its Amsterdam headquarters in 1968, the new buildings were epic and stylish. A sprawling Modernist landmark that took up an entire city block off the banks of the…
Head of World Bank under pressure after White House condemns his ‘climate denial’ comments
By Fiona Harvey Photo: Issei Kato, AP 09/25/22
David Malpass, president of the World Bank, faces an uncertain future this week, after the White House joined a chorus of influential figures in condemning his apparent climate denialism. Malpass remains in post for now…
World Bank’s Malpass faces calls to resign after climate change doubts
By Valerie Volcovici and Others Photo: Mike Theiler, Reuters 09/22/22
World Bank President David Malpass came under heavy criticism on Wednesday after he declined to say whether he accepts the scientific consensus on global warming, rekindling concerns about the bank's lack of a deadline to…
Senate Ratifies Pact to Curb a Broad Category of Potent Greenhouse Gases
By Lisa Friedman and Others Photo: Adnan Abidi, Reuters 09/21/22
The Senate voted on Wednesday to approve an international climate treaty for the first time in 30 years, agreeing in a rare bipartisan deal to phase out of the use of planet-warming industrial chemicals commonly…
Senate approves first climate treaty in decades
By Alex Guillen Photo: Greg Nash - Pool, Getty Images 09/21/22
The Senate ratified its first international climate treaty in three decades on Wednesday, approving an agreement worked out in 2016 that will phase down refrigerant chemicals that are among the most potent climate pollutants. While…
Biden to skip UN meeting as climate change moves to ‘back burner’
By Erin X. Wong Photo: Ron Sachs/CNP/Bloomberg 09/20/22
The US president’s decision to skip informal talks in New York comes as global turmoil threatens to overshadow climate disasters at this week’s United Nations meeting.
Adults around the world think climate change impacts will be severe: poll
By Sharon Udasin Photo: AP Photo/Felipe Dana 09/15/22
More than half of adults surveyed worldwide said that climate change has already had a severe impact on their lives, a World Economic Forum-Ipsos poll released Thursday revealed.
European Union Signals a Move Away from Wood Energy
By Sarah Hurtes Photo: Andrea Mantovani, The New York Times 09/15/22
European lawmakers voted this week to phase out some wood-energy subsidies, a recognition that more than a decade of government incentives has contributed to deforestation without curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
Putin will make people choose between heating and eating this winter
By Thomas L. Friedman Photo: Etienne De Malglaive/Getty Images 09/13/22
While some Russian soldiers in Ukraine are voting with their feet against Vladimir Putin’s shameful war, their hasty retreat doesn’t mean that Putin is surrendering. Last week, in fact, he opened a whole new front…
The many paradoxes of Charles III as ‘climate king’
By Shannon Osaka Photo: Andrew Matthews/Pool 09/13/22
When King Charles III assumed the throne, some were quick to point out his environmental bona fides. But the new monarch’s beliefs are messy.
India’s Electric Vehicle Push Is Riding on Mopeds and Rickshaws
By Emily Schmall and Others Photo: Atul Loke 09/04/22
In the United States, luxury-car buyers are snapping up Teslas and other electric cars that cost more than $60,000, and even relatively cheap models cost more than $25,000. Here in India, those are all out…
Climate Change Remains Top Global Threat Across 19-Country Survey
By Jacob Poushter and Others Photo: Christopher Furlong, Getty Images 08/31/22
With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, a hot war between Russia and Ukraine ongoing, inflation rates rising globally and heat records being smashed across parts of the world, countries are facing a wide variety of…