April 2014 Global Warming Headlines
April
29 - Fossil Fuel Subsidies Hampering Emissions Reductions
The removal of fossil fuel subsidies, estimated to be in around $500
billion globally, could result in carbon dioxide emissions reductions of
up to 13 percent.
April
27 - California's Drought Emergency Deepens
California Governor Jerry Brown has issued his second emergency proclamation on the drought in just three months and has called on Californians to do everything possible to conserve water.
April
25 - Australia's Direct Action Falls Short
Extra funding for Australia's controversial "Direct Action"
emissions reduction strategy appears to falls far short of what is
needed. The Emissions Reduction Fund will now be capped at $2.55 billion over the next four years.
April
24 - Deforestation Increasing Temperatures In The Congo
The Congo could experience around 3C of warming by the middle of the century;
partly due to shrinking rainforest cover.
April
21 - Biofuels Worse Than Fossil Fuels?
While biofuels generate substantially less direct, fuel-cycle greenhouse
gas emissions than petroleum fuels; the IPPC says indirect emissions of
some biofuels can lead to greater total emissions than when using petroleum
products.
April
20 - Overwhelming Consensus
In a recent speech at the Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa,
Al Gore stated over 9,100 scientists have published climate science papers in peer-reviewed journals, and
only one challenged the majority view that climate change is occurring
and humans are responsible for it.
April
18 - Bluebells Flowering Earlier
Long term records show the flowering dates for English bluebells in Ireland have
been five days earlier over the last half century - and some other
species are flowering even earlier.
April
15 - Shale Gas Losing More Green Street Cred
Shale gas is looking even more emissions intensive after a discovery that high levels of methane
are present above shale gas wells during a stage in production not previously believed to be a significant source of emissions.
April 11 - Power Outages Increase
While a bit player, climate change may be playing a role in a major
uptick in the rate of power outages in the United States in recent
decades - and as the planet warms; the more intense and frequent weather
events generated could see the trend continue. Read
more.
April 10 - Biomass - A Massive Carbon Footprint?
A new study has found biomass based power generators emit as much as 50 percent more carbon dioxide than coal plants per megawatt-hour, calling into question the validity of their "green" status.
Read
more.
April 7 - IPCC Blasts Newspaper
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has taken issue with the
way the Mail
On Sunday has characterised the Final Draft of the contribution of Working Group II to the
IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report; saying it gave "a completely misleading and distorted impression of the report through
selective quotation." Read
more (PDF).
April 6 - Tasmania's Climate Change Silver Lining
Tasmania's government has been told it should start readying for "climate refugees" from the
Australian mainland and other opportunities that will occur as the
result of an expected average temperature increase of 2.9 Celsius by the end of the century.
Read
more.
April 5 - 25 Years Of IPCC Warnings
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has received a great deal of attention in recent years; but the body has been warning of the impacts of climate change for nearly a quarter of a century. It was back in 1990 when the
IPCC said climate change was "potentially the greatest global environmental challenge facing humankind".
Read
more.
April 4 - World Bank : Food Wars Loom
Jim Yong Kim, the president of the World Bank, believes battles over water and food, triggered by climate change, will erupt within the next 5 to 10 years.
Read
more.
April 4 - Iceland PM Welcomes Climate Change
Iceland's Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, says "there are great opportunities for Iceland" from the effects of climate change.
Read
more.
April 3 - Marshall Islands Already Suffering Climate Change
Impact
In the Marshall Islands, waves lap at either side of the airport's runway
and some roads are flooded. Read
more.
April 3 - California's Summer Water Supply Grim
Snow is comparatively thin on California's Sierra Nevada mountains, a signal that water could be scarce over the coming summer months. The
snow pack contains around a third of the water it usually does at this time of year.
Read
more.
April 2 - Bumblebees Face Extinction
The International Union for Conservation of Nature says nearly a quarter of European bumblebee species are threatened with extinction; primarily due to climate change and intensive
farming. 46 percent of bumblebee species in Europe already have a declining population.
Read
more.
April 2 - Australian PM 'A Fool' On Climate Change
Greens leader Christine Milne has called Australian Prime Minister Tony
Abbott a "fool" on the issue of climate change. Read
more.
April 2 - IPCC: Deeper Emissions Cuts Needed
Developed nations will need to halve their emissions by 2030 from 2010 levels says a draft report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC). Read
more
April 1 - Increased Evaporation To Hit Agriculture Hard
Up to a third of Earth may experience more dramatic and frequent droughts by the end of this century according to a study published in the
scientific journal Climate Dynamics. Read
more.
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