It has been the hottest Easter Monday on record in all four nations of the UK, the Met Office has said.
BBC 22nd April 2019 read more »
Times 23rd April 2019 read more »
More than 50 firefighters tackled a major wildfire in Moray which threatened a wind farm. The alarm was raised just before 15:00 on Monday when flames were spotted near Paul’s Hill wind farm at Knockando, south west of Elgin. One of the three fronts they were tackling was six miles long.
BBC 23rd April 2019 read more »
The National Trust has said it is “devastated” after more than 280 hectares (700 acres) of moorland – home to an endangered species of bird – was destroyed in a fire started by a barbecue. An area above the village of Marsden, West Yorkshire, was engulfed in flames as temperatures soared on Easter Sunday.
Guardian 22nd April 2019 read more »
BBC 21st April 2019 read more »
At first glance, Extinction Rebellion look hysterical. They implore the government to do everything it can to make the country carbon-neutral by 2025, an effort that would involve a mobilisation of people and resources larger than any since the Second World War. It would require the state to ration air travel, replace every gas boiler in the land, and borrow vast sums to invest in wind and solar power as well as technologies to capture what remaining carbon we would produce. It seems hysterical because it is totally out of whack with the tenor of our national debate on climate change. But the truth is that the threat of climate change is neither distant nor vague, and it is existential. At current rates of global emissions, we are on course for between four and five degrees of warming by 2100. That means that within the lifetime of today’s children, Spain could become a desert and the Alps a brown and snowless image of the Atlas mountains. It means that the world would be able to produce only half the food it produces now, that tropical diseases could spread as far north as Chicago, and that untold millions of climate refugees would flee the uninhabitable equator. The knock-on effects would hit Britain like a rolling barrage, steadily eroding our quality of life. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world has only 11 years to cut emissions nearly in half if we are to avoid irreversible changes, such as the release of methane from melting permafrost. With that in mind, Extinction Rebellion’s demands look less hysterical and more like a rational, if desperate, effort to save us.
Times 23rd April 2019 read more »
Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist, has given her support for a general strike for the climate, saying the student movement she inspired needs more support from older generations to ensure politicians keep their promises under the Paris agreement. Speaking at a public event in London as Extinction Rebellion protests continued in the capital, the initiator of the school strike for climate movement was typically frank about the scale of the problem the world faces and the impact her campaign has made. “People are slowly becoming more aware, but emissions continue to rise. We can’t focus on small things. Basically, nothing has changed,” she said. At several points, she stressed the need for the protests to spread. “This is not just young people being sick of politicians. It’s an existential crisis,” Thunberg said. “It is something that will affect the future of our civilisation. It’s not just a movement. It’s a crisis and we must take action accordingly.” In a question and answer session, Franny Armstrong, the director of the climate documentary The Age of Stupid, asked whether it was time for a general strike. “Yes,” replied Thunberg in unison with the other members of the panel. Traditional unions have so far been wary of joining the strikes. Although workers’ federations in Italy made Thunberg an honorary member, most others have given either tepid support or none due to concerns about the possible impact on jobs. But there is growing support in the UK, the US and other countries for a Green New Deal that would increase spending on renewable energy.
Guardian 22nd April 2019 read more »
Over the past 50 years climate change has served to make the poorest countries in the world “considerably poorer”, while enriching some of the wealthiest and most polluting, a study has found. Increasing global temperatures are set to worsen natural disasters, droughts and famines that could displace millions in future, but US researchers have shown they have already caused decades of worsening inequality. Research, led by Stanford University, shows between 1961 and 2010 wealth per person in the world’s poorest countries was between 17 to 30 per cent lower that would have been expected without global warming. While equatorial nations in Africa, Asia and South America have been hardest hit by hotter temperatures, those at more northerly latitudes – like Canada and Norway – have seen their economies grow by a third. The UK’s economy today is 10 per cent larger than it would have been without man made warming, while Sudan’s – the hardest hit nation – is 36 per cent smaller.
Independent 22nd April 2019 read more »
Caroline Lucas: The success of the strike is not incidental. Every red light is flashing on the Earth’s dashboard. The 20 warmest years on record all happened in the last 22 years. Nature and wildlife populations are at crisis levels across the world. Wildfires and droughts are becoming increasingly common – with people in the global south already dying from the effects of climate change which were mostly caused by countries in the north. Here in the UK, communities are under serious threat from flooding, sea level rises, extreme heat and more. Of course Greta had to act. And of course thousands followed her.
Guardian 22nd April 2019 read more »
After nearly a thousand arrests of non-violent demonstrators in London over the last week, it is clear that the Extinction Rebellion movement has changed the conversation about climate change, where so many of us have tried and failed hitherto. This is a therefore a unique moment of opportunity, for all with eyes to see how quickly we are collectively sabotaging a livable future. The letter to the Times by business leaders that follows was pulled together by the inestimable John Elkington at short notice. I would appeal to all in the business world who worry about climate change to engage with the XR business platform that the letter refers to. A survival reflex could yet emerge in society, but as the anguished people of all ages blocking London streets and the thousands of striking schoolchildren know only too well, time is running out fast. Letter: Sir, Contrary to belief, there is business support for the Extinction Rebellion (XR) agenda. The multi million-pound costs that the Extinction Rebellion protests have imposed on business are regrettable, as is the inconvenience to Londoners. But future costs imposed on our economies by the climate emergency will be many orders of magnitude greater. Hard pressure drives change, but even the most committed businesses will need time to respond. We welcome the news that Extinction Rebellion is evolving a new platform, XR Business, to engage business leaders, investors and advisers. To drive things forward, the idea is to convene a meeting of XR activists and experts with business leaders and influencers. Most businesses were not designed in the context of the developing climate emergency. Hence we must urgently redesign entire industries and businesses, using science-based targets. To kick start the process, businesses should make a declaration that we face a climate emergency and organise a session at a full board meeting to consider the case for urgent action. We will encourage the senior management teams of which we are part to do likewise.
Jeremy Leggett 22nd April 2019 read more »
US scientists have identified yet another hazard linked to the thawing permafrost: laughing gas. A series of flights over the North Slope of Alaska has detected unexpected levels of emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide from the rapidly warming soils. Nitrous oxide, which chemists know also as laughing gas, is an estimated 300 times more potent as a climate warming agent than the principal greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. It was present in data recordings at levels at least 12 times higher than all previous estimates.
Climate News Network 22nd April 2019 read more »
