Posts in category: Related News / Articles

The government must increase fines on utility companies that dig up pavements for roadworks and then pour in concrete rather than fixing the mess. Read More

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The journey towards a greener future is well underway, with unprecedented investments in clean energy marking the dawn of a new era in global power generation. The International Energy Agency heralds solar energy as the cheapest electricity source in history, a testament to the transformative potential of renewables. Rhodium’s analysis further illuminates this shift, projecting a significant decline in the world’s reliance on fossil fuels by 2050, thanks to the surge in solar investments and the retreat from coal-powered generation.

Parallel to the renewable energy revolution is the rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market, which is set to redefine transportation. The forecast suggests a dramatic decrease in global oil consumption for on-road vehicles, anticipating a 50% reduction over the next three decades. This shift signifies a monumental step forward in reducing emissions from one of the most prolific sources of fossil fuel demand.

However, this promising progress towards decarbonization faces substantial challenges in completely phasing out carbon emissions by the mid-century. Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, a target scientists deem crucial to averting the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, remains a formidable task. Heatwaves, floods, droughts, and other climate-related disasters continue to threaten our world, underscoring the urgency of addressing emissions comprehensively.

A significant hurdle in this endeavour is the persistent carbon pollution from three critical sectors: aviation, shipping, and industry. The absence of widespread alternatives to jet fuel and ship diesel constrains efforts to decarbonize these areas, with fossil fuel use expected to remain steady or even increase as economies in developing countries expand. Furthermore, specific industrial processes, including cement production and plastics manufacturing, present additional challenges in reducing reliance on carbon-intensive fuels. Read More

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Australia’s land surface has warmed by 1.5C since 1910, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s long-term record of temperatures.

The figure is revealed in the bureau’s annual climate statement, which found that 2023 was Australia’s joint-eighth warmest year on record, with the national temperature 0.98C above the average between 1961 and 1990.

Countries worldwide have agreed to “pursue efforts” to keep global heating to 1.5C. Still, this temperature goal is widely accepted as relative to a pre-industrial period from 1850 to 1900 and combines land and ocean temperatures across the globe. Read more

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Tens of thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo live in temporary accommodation and wait for government help after the country experienced its worst flooding in six decades.

More than 300 people have died, and 280,000 households in more than half the country have been forced to leave their homes since heavy rains started at the end of November. Over 1,500 schools, 267 health centres, 211 markets and 146 roads have been damaged. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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The World Health Organization has set guidelines for how many tiny particles and how much toxic gas can dirty the air but stresses that no pollution level is safe to breathe. Doctors writing in the International Journal of Public Health want the limits met by the decade’s end. Still, the European Parliament wants to wait till 2035, the European Commission intends to set weaker limits for 2030 without setting a date to align with the WHO, and the European Council wants to let poorer countries wait till 2040.

However, the proposed delay to EU air pollution limits will mean hundreds of thousands more people dying early and “widen the inequality gap” between Eastern and Western Europe, a group of public health experts have said, as EU negotiators thrash out key rules to clean up the air. Read More

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A comprehensive investigation spanning ten months, from 2021 to 2022, has unearthed alarming evidence that 17 landfills across England are discharging a highly toxic liquid. This hazardous substance is replete with banned and potentially carcinogenic compounds known as “forever chemicals,” with some concentrations found to be 260 times above the safety threshold for drinking water. Despite the gravity of these findings, the government has admitted to a lack of precise information regarding the locations of these contaminated sites.

The study, commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency, aimed to assess the chemical composition of leachate in both operational and closed landfills. Established from the 1960s to the present, these sites were scrutinized to garner a comprehensive overview of the pollutants they harbour, revealing a significant threat to public health and environmental safety. Read More

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After more than 1,000 days of drought, the Catalan government has formally announced a state of emergency, extending water restrictions to Barcelona and the surrounding region.

It is estimated that 500mm of rain will be needed in Catalonia to make up the deficit. Water reserves have fallen below 16%, low enough to trigger the emergency declaration.

Measures already in place in the north of the region, including a 20% reduction in agricultural irrigation and a ban on watering public parks, will be extended to Barcelona. Read more

News Credit: The Guardian

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The daily atmospheric carbon dioxide from Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the acid test of how the world is succeeding in combatting climate change. Just before the 28th annual United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention meeting opens in oil-rich Dubai, it is a depressing reading.

The atmospheric carbon dioxide has been 422.36 parts per million, 5.06ppm more than the same day in 2022. The rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide in the last 12 months is probably the largest ever recorded – more than double the previous decade’s annual average.

Adding to the perspective, the concentration was nearly 395.64 ppm a decade ago. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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In most of Europe, fitting a heat pump is one of people’s most powerful actions to reduce their carbon footprint. But in Norway, where clean-yet-inefficient electrical resistance heaters have long been common, upgrading to a heat pump is often a purely financial decision. Two-thirds of households in the Nordic country of 5 million people have a heat pump, more than anywhere else.

For years, Norwegians and their neighbours heated their homes with fossil fuels. But during the 1973 oil crisis, when prices shot up, the country’s political leaders made a conscious choice to promote alternatives, and, unlike their counterparts elsewhere, they did not back away from that decision once the crisis eased.

Denmark rolled out an extensive district heating system. Norway, Sweden and Finland moved more towards heating with wood or electricity. They began to price carbon in the 1990s, and a mix of grants and taxes tipped the balance further away from oil long after the crisis. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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A report says that the richest 1% of humanity is responsible for more carbon emissions than the poorest 66%, with dire consequences for vulnerable communities and global efforts to tackle the climate emergency.

The most comprehensive study of global climate inequality ever undertaken shows that this elite group, made up of 77 million people, including billionaires, millionaires and those paid more than US$140,000 (£112,500) a year, accounted for 16% of all CO2 emissions in 2019 – enough to cause more than a million excess deaths due to heat, according to the report.

The report further finds that it would take about 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99% to produce as much carbon in a year as the richest billionaires. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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