The Arctic is one of the most vulnerable parts of the world when it comes to climate change, and has the potential to contribute some costly climate-related effects, such as sea-level rise from melting glaciers. But one of the biggest emerging talking points in conversations about climate change in the Arctic involves something else — permafrost.
Full StoryAs climate change melts permafrost in the Arctic, huge amounts of carbon dioxide and methane are released into the atmosphere, speeding global warming in the process. A new University of Cambridge study shows that by the end of the 22nd century, the global economic toll of those greenhouse gases will total $43 trillion.
The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows that permafrost soils contain roughly 1,700 gigatonnes of carbon locked in frozen organic matter, which has begun to thaw as the globe warms. Until now, there have been no estimates of the economic costs of releasing that carbon into the atmosphere.
Full StoryThe University of Notre Dame will stop burning coal for electricity in response to Pope Francis’ call to action on climate change, the school’s president announced Monday.
The Rev. John I. Jenkins also said Notre Dame will cut its carbon footprint by more than half by 2030.
Full StoryThick white smoke from Indonesian slash-and-burn farming enveloped Malaysia's capital and other areas Sunday, triggering school closures for the following day as weeks of choking haze showed no sign of abating.
Pollution readings in Kuala Lumpur soared into the "very unhealthy" territory in the Malaysian government's hourly air-quality index.
Full StoryU.S. President Barack Obama met China's Xi Jinping at the White House on Friday and emerged with a climate change plan, despite tough talk on cyberspying and human rights.
Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to a 21-gun salute and full ceremonial military honors, underlining the huge symbolic importance of the state visit.
Full StoryIndia promises to hike renewable energy targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, in long-awaited pledges to be announced next week for upcoming UN climate change talks, a newspaper report said Thursday.
India, a major CO2 polluter, will increase solar and wind energy capacity but it's unclear whether it will commit to a timeline for reducing its overall carbon emissions blamed for climate change, the report said.
Full StoryA crunch UN summit probably isn’t the time to flesh out plans to expand carbon markets worldwide, the World Bank’s special climate envoy Rachel Kyte told reporters last Friday.
The global lender is driving efforts to put a price on a pollution as a key tool to slash CO2 emissions and tackle climate change.
Full StoryThe world has experienced record-breaking warmth every month so far in 2015, making this year virtually guaranteed to be the hottest on record, according to a U.S. science agency.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said that 2015 was 97% likely to be the hottest year so far, eclipsing 2014, the current warmest year.
Full StoryPacific islands nations failed to convince Australia and New Zealand to back stronger targets on limiting global warming as the showdown at the Pacific Islands Forum on Thursday ended in a stalemate.
The 16 leaders at the forum agreed to disagree on whether to take a two degree or 1.5 degree warming limit stance to UN talks in Paris in December.
Full StoryTwo new studies are adding to concerns about one of the most troubling scenarios for future climate change: the possibility that global warming could slow or shut down the Atlantic’s great ocean circulation systems, with dramatic implications for North America and Europe.
The research, by separate teams of scientists, bolsters predictions of disruptions to global ocean currents — such as the Gulf Stream — that transfer tropical warmth from the equator to northern latitudes, as well as a larger conveyor system that cycles colder water into the ocean’s depths. Both systems help ensure relatively mild conditions in parts of Northern Europe that would otherwise be much colder.
Full Story