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In an era when massive heat domes blanket large swaths of continents for days, wildfires burn through areas the size of small countries, and hurricanes regularly push the limits of what we once thought possible, sealevel rise can seem like extreme weather’s low-key cousin. Since 1993, sealevel has risen by an average rate of 3.1
Sealevels are rising, and science shows they will continue to rise for generations due to heat-trapping emissions that have already been released. Understanding sealevel rise as a long-term, multi-generational problem is essential to comprehending the scale of climate change and the need for bold action now.
My top 3 impressions up-front: The sealevel projections for the year 2100 have been adjusted upwards again. The IPCC gives more consideration to the large long-term sea-level rise beyond the year 2100. And here is the key sea-level graphic from the Summary for Policy Makers: Source: IPCC AR6, Figure SPM.8.
Sealevel rise presents numerous climate justice issues. New research that I led as part of my PhD dissertation, which was just published in Earth’s Future , digs deep into the topic of sealevel rise and climate justice. Climate justice research can help inform these conversations.
A new dataset released by InfluenceMap provides information on heat-trapping emissions traced to the 122 largest investor and state-owned fossilfuel companies in the world. Fossilfuels are the main driver of climate change and the terrifying effects of it that we see happening across the world.
The world’s biggest fossilfuel companies recently released their 2022 earnings reports, revealing record-breaking profits last year; just five companies–ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, and TotalEnergies–reported a total of nearly $200 billion in profits.
Last week, I participated in the Scientists Speakout Day during the Summer of Heat on Wall Street , to protest and disrupt the financial institutions that are enabling the fossilfuel industry (and, as a result, our current climate crisis).
In an important win for climate accountability in the United States, the US Supreme Court decided that lawsuits filed in Colorado, Maryland, California, Hawai’i, and Rhode Island against fossilfuel companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Suncor, and others will remain in state courts.
While there is enormous potential for UN climate negotiations to transform climate action, meaningful progress has been delayed in part by the fossilfuel industry’s deceptive tactics. Last year’s COP was notable as the first to explicitly mention “fossilfuels” in the final decision document.
A new map tool from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows you where and when critical pieces of coastal infrastructure such as public housing buildings, schools and power plants are at risk of repeated, disruptive flooding due to climate change-driven sealevel rise. Photo credit: Ben Neely/MyCoast.org.
Previous IPCC reports have concluded that human activities such as burning fossilfuels are the primary cause of climate change: about 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossilfuels for electricity, transportation, and industry. The result is a world that is rapidly warming.
By comparing these two data sets, scientists can determine the probability that human activities are responsible for observed changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, sealevel rise, and other climate change indicators. Climate source attribution studies can inform strategies to reduce carbon emissions.
3) ExxonMobil predicted the possibility of linking rising temperatures to fossilfuels ExxonMobil researchers accurately predicted when it would become possible to attribute changes in climate to human activity. Such a constraint would clearly place a limit on the amount of fossilfuels ExxonMobil could extract, produce and market.
GOM communities, not fossilfuel interests, should determine policies that affect GOM people. Sealevels are rising. 1 + 2 = 3 Climate damage and consumer fraud are precisely why four New England states are suing fossilfuel companies and why Pacific fishermen came together to take fossilfuel giants to court.
Over handfuls of rice that nearly 30% of the country is struggling to afford , talk of flash floods, prolonged drought, sealevel rise and extreme weather dominated more than ever before. But sealevel rise and pollution are threatening this critical resource and the livelihoods of over one million fishers around the country.
Scientists have unequivocally confirmed that human activities, primarily the burning of fossilfuels, are driving unprecedented changes to the Earth’s climate, raising fundamental questions about our responsibility to safeguard the environment for future generations.
Fossilfuels are the root cause of climate change, of long-standing environmental injustices, and are also frequently connected to geopolitical strife and violent conflicts. Other countries are dependent upon these fossilfuels, they don’t make themselves free of them. This is a fossilfuel war.
billion in sealevel rise and coastal resilience, and about a half billion in extreme heat mitigation. Proposition 4 invests in a more resilient future by providing much needed funding to address these threats, particularly in the most vulnerable and low-income communities where the needs are greatest.
The subsidence of land caused by the extraction of water and fossilfuels is exacerbating the threat of sealevel rise in many US cities, including New Orleans
But the science is clear : human-caused global warming is definitely and significantly increasing the odds of severe and once-rare extreme events , alongside driving slow-onset disasters—like sealevel rise and the loss of major ice sheets and glaciers —and raising the risk of major tipping points. The math of a divided U.S.
Prior to Glasgow, the NRDC had concluded that India was on track to meet its previous commitment to have 40% non-fossilfuel power generation by 2030. Mumbai is on a peninsula and faces severe risks from sealevel rise. Mumbai, with a population of 21 million, now has a roadmap for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
In fact, the California attorney general’s lawsuit states that “Chevron’s minimal efforts in the area of renewable and lower-carbon energy, coupled with its expansion of its fossilfuel business, belie its statements suggesting that it is part of the climate change solution.” Why does all this matter? “I
We learned the great lengths that oil companies had gone to protect their own investments—even redesigning their offshore oil platforms to guard against sealevel rise—while thwarting efforts by others to protect themselves. The state’s complaint borrows the same frame, as “the road not taken.”
Its no surprise that this anti-science, pro-fossilfuel administration wants to go after the Endangerment Finding. Those harms will worsen rapidly as global warming emissions, primarily from burning fossilfuels, increase. This blatant attempt to do an end-run around scientific evidence deserves to fail.
Now the same district court has gone further, again in favor of environmental groups but now against Royal Dutch Shell (“Shell”) , the world’s largest non-state-owned fossilfuel company. In fact, Shell has the most ambitious emissions abatement plan of all fossilfuel companies , for whatever that is worth.)
We’re witnessing an increase in costly damages thanks to fossil-fueled climate change , which has increased the intensity and frequency of some extreme events , and also thanks to more buildings and people in risky areas. This decade, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $2.58
The court received amicus curiae briefs from many different pro- and anti-fossilfuel organizations and jurisdictions. The plaintiffs allege that they ”have already incurred and will foreseeably continue to incur, injuries and damages because of sealevel rise caused by [the energy companies’] conduct.” trespass.
While temperatures provide a measure of the Earth’s climate, it is even better to use the global sealevel , which provides a far more reliable measure. The global sealevel acts like the mercury in a thermometer because warmer water expands.
Everyone will suffer greatly from sea-level rise and climate change if policymakers cede decision-making to corporate interests. PJM directs the revenues and operation of the largest fossilfuel power plant fleet (124 gigawatts), making it the largest utility in the US.
Meltwater from Greenland’s ice sheets have caused about a quarter of the rise in the world’s sealevels. The report shows that certain trends such as rising seas and shrinking ice sheets will continue even if carbon pollution is halted immediately. Like rising temperatures, ice loss in Greenland will have global consequences.
Many of the claims are based at least in part on allegations of misrepresentations by the companies regarding climate science in order to promote their sales of fossilfuels. Are the companies protected by the First Amendment? The companies are likely to argue that these claims are barred by the First Amendment for two reasons.
We know that burning fossilfuels is the main cause of anthropogenic climate change, and that climate change is the source of adverse impacts on communities and even regional and national economies. by Justin Gundlach. These points are largely undisputed. Peter Frumhoff led off, presenting two key points.
.” More extreme weather events can be expected Petteri Taalas explained that the higher concentrations of GHG would be accompanied by more extreme weather events, including intense heat and rainfall, ice melt, higher sealevels, as well as ocean heat and acidification.
For the AMOC (and other climate tipping points ), the only action we can take to minimise the risk is to get out of fossilfuels and stop deforestation as fast as possible. In 2022, the G20 governments alone subsidised fossilfuel use with 1.4 In 2022, the G20 governments alone subsidised fossilfuel use with 1.4
If people everywhere stopped burning fossilfuels tomorrow, stored heat would still continue to warm the atmosphere. But that doesn’t mean the planet returns to its preindustrial climate or that we avoid disruptive effects such as sea-level rise. Countries aren’t close to ending fossilfuel use. Ricky) Rood.
SSP5, a world of fossil-fuel based economic growth, in which global population peaks and then declines later in this century. SSP3, a world of surging nationalism and regional rivalry , with population growth low in developed countries and high in the developing world. SSP4, a world of surging inequality.
And of course, we need to continue to advocate for a swift transition to renewable energy and independence from fossilfuels to reduce heat-trapping emissions and stop making things worse. We need to make sure that the Justice40 initiative is properly incorporated into every federal program and investment.
Despite formally recognizing for the first time that a transition from fossilfuel use is necessary, nations failed to agree to the fast, fair, and funded phase-out that scientists are calling for. One big positive from COP28 was the creation of a Loss and Damage fund to address climate impacts in the Global South.
Well, if you have been reading the news or following our blogs, you know the ocean is getting hotter due to humans burning fossilfuels. April 2024 was the thirteenth month in a row that the global monthly sea surface temperature was the warmest on record and the North Atlantic broke temperature records 421 days in a row.
Flooding/SeaLevel Rise/Storm Surge: Water can physically damage and corrode infrastructure, particularly distribution poles and substations. Modernizing our power grid by shifting from fossilfuels to renewables makes sense for many reasons. What is next? Increasing resilience is another important (and often related!)
The ocean has already absorbed 90% of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases and 26% of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans burning fossilfuels. Warmer water also expands and raises sealevels as well as holds less oxygen. So, we’re seeing the ocean heat up, lose oxygen and get bigger.
C, we stand to lose ocean and coastal ecosystems we depend on to sealevel rise, warming temperatures, ocean acidification and other climate impacts. There was also no formal commitment to phaseouts of all fossilfuels, and even some countries supporting phaseouts are planning to expand fossilfuel production.
Local actors seek climate change damages from the biggest fossilfuel companies through state law litigation. It also leaves untouched the litigation that has been bubbling up in state courts against the fossilfuel industry. In the wake of West Virginia v.
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