A thermometer is not liberal or conservative’

Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. She has contributed to more than 125 scientific papers and won numerous prizes for her science communication work. In 2018 she was a contributor to the US National Climate Assessment and was awarded the Stephen H Schneider award for outstanding climate science communication.

Katharine Hayhoe: ‘Fear is a short-term spur to action, but to
 make changes over the long term, we must have hope.’

In 2018, we have seen forest fires in the Arctic circle; record high temperatures in parts of Australia, Africa and the US; floods in India; and devastating droughts in South Africa and Argentina. Is this a turning point? 

This year has hit home how climate change loads the dice against us by taking naturally occurring weather events and amplifying them. We now have attribution studies that show how much more likely or stronger extreme weather events have become as a result of human emissions. For example, wildfires in the western US now burn nearly twice the area they would without climate change, and almost 40% more rain fell during Hurricane Harvey than would have otherwise. So we are really feeling the impacts and know how much humanity is responsible.

Read the story from The Guardian by Jonathan Watts - “Katharine Hayhoe: "A thermometer is not liberal or conservative’.”

Inside the Tent: Big Polluters Work to Shape Paris Agreement Rules at the UN Climate Talks

Should fossil fuel companies that knew their products contributed to climate change for nearly 40 years and did nothing about it now be allowed to have their say inside the UN climate talks?

The IETA Business Hub Lounge at Katowice.

For the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), a business lobby comprised of some of the world’s largest fossil fuel producers and greenhouse gas emitters such as BP, Chevron, Rio Tinto, Eni, Total and Shell, the answer is yes.

“Fundamentally,” the IETA writes, “we believe that our businesses should be part of the climate negotiations — because we intend to be part of the solution”.

IETA has already wielded much influence on the UN climate talks. This year’s climate conference — known as COP24 — is widely considered to be the most important climate meeting of the last three years, with countries aiming to finalise the rulebook to implement the Paris Agreement.

Read the DeSmog story by Chloe Farand - “Inside the Tent: Big Polluters Work to Shape Paris Agreement Rules at the UN Climate Talks."

Australia ranks in bottom three rich countries for environmental policies

Australia's status as one of the largest per capita greenhouse gas emitters in the world has contributed to a bottom three ranking for environmental policy among wealthy nations.

Australia's high per capita emissions reduction are
 holding it back, according to a new global development index.

But Australia has jumped four places overall in the Center for Global Development's commitment to development index thanks to effective foreign aid spending and dedication to open trading relationships.

The annual index – which analyses 27 developed countries for their impact on the world's poor across seven policy areas – found Australia would struggle to improve on its middle-of-the-pack ranking of 14th without boosting foreign aid and efforts to address environmental issues, especially climate change.

Read the story by Fergus Hunter from The Age - “Australia ranks in bottom three rich countries for environmental policies."

Suicides of nearly 60,000 Indian farmers linked to climate change, study claims

Climate change may have contributed to the suicides of nearly 60,000 Indian farmers and farm workers over the past three decades, according to new research that examines the toll rising temperatures are already taking on vulnerable societies.

Tamil Nadu is suffering its worst drought in 140 years.
Protestors claim it has triggered hundreds of suicides. 

Illustrating the extreme sensitivity of the Indian agricultural industry to spikes in temperature, the study from the University of California, Berkeley, found an increase of just 1C on an average day during the growing season was associated with 67 more suicides.

An increase of 5C on any one day was associated with an additional 335 deaths, the study published in the journal PNAS on Monday found. In total, it estimates that 59,300 agricultural sector suicides over the past 30 years could be attributed to warming.

Temperature increases outside the growing season showed no significant impact on suicide rates, suggesting stress on the agriculture industry was the source of the increase in suicides

Read Michael Safi’s story on The Guardian - “Suicides of nearly 60,000 Indian farmers linked to climate change, study claims,”