The following Pinboard feed contains links to climate change news items, scientific articles and other information that I have bookmarked recently.
FCERM Adaptation Strategy Action Plan (PDF)
Published in May 2021: "One of our first actions is to update our guidance on climate allowances for flood and coastal projects, strategies and planning advice, using the latest UK Climate Change Projections." (date: 03/08/2021)
National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England - GOV.UK
The strategy sets out a vision of a nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change – today, tomorrow and to the year 2100. (date: 03/08/2021)
Managing flood risk in the face of a changing climate - Creating a better place
Blog post from: Julie Foley, Director of Flood Risk Strategy & National Adaptation, Environment Agency (date: 03/08/2021)
2020 saw a lot of #Extremeweather (top 10 for heat, rain and sunshine). Report goes on to say this will be the norm for the future and UK is (still) not prepared. #climateemergency (date: 29/07/2021)
Climate scientists shocked by scale of floods in Germany | Flooding | The Guardian
Climate scientists shocked by scale of floods in Germany. We need to take this seriously here too - extreme summer rainfall is a risk in southern #uk. #climatechange #floods @ReadingCAN (date: 16/07/2021)
Amazon rainforest now emitting more CO2 than it absorbs | Amazon rainforest | The Guardian
Amazon rainforest now emitting more CO2 than it absorbs. Very disturbing news! #climateemergency #forest #emissions (date: 15/07/2021)
How the BBC let climate deniers walk all over it | George Monbiot | The Guardian
Great reminder of the sad part the #media has played: includes shockingly “…Only in 2018, a mere 36 years after Exxon came to the same conclusion, did the BBC decide that #climate science is solid, and there is no justification for both-sidesing it…” (date: 08/07/2021)
Climate crisis ‘may put 8bn at risk of malaria and dengue’ | Global development | The Guardian
Climate crisis ‘may put 8bn at risk of malaria and dengue’ - increase can be mitigated if we reduce #emissions. #climatecrisis #health (date: 08/07/2021)
World ‘must step up preparations for extreme heat’ | Climate change | The Guardian
Great to see #attribution study results so quickly: “…found that human-caused climate change made the [US/Canada #heatwave] extreme weather at least 150 times more likely.” #climatecrisis (date: 08/07/2021)
The study involving dozens of scientists around the world found that 9.4% of global deaths each year are attributable to heat or cold exposure, equivalent to 74 extra deaths per 100,000 people. (date: 08/07/2021)
(date: 06/07/2021)
It’s the mountains of the Pacific coast that have had an essential and unique role in making this particular heat wave possible. Climate change is not just warming the surface of the planet, it’s warming Earth’s entire troposphere – the lowest layer of the atmosphere where all our weather occurs. That’s particularly true in mountainous areas, where temperatures are rising even faster than elsewhere. When snow and ice recedes or even disappears from mountains, the bare soil beneath can warm unimpeded. A 2015 study found that mountainous areas above 2,000 meters (6,500ft) are warming about 75% faster than places at lower elevations. (date: 01/07/2021)
Joe Biden blames #climatecrisis for deadly #heatwave in western US and Canada (date: 30/06/2021)
Up to 410 million people at risk from sea level rises – study | Sea level | The Guardian
Up to 410 million people at risk from sea level rises – study using lidar. #climateemergency #sealevelrise (date: 30/06/2021)
The ‘heat dome’ explained: why the Pacific north-west is facing record temperatures. #climateemergency #extremeweather #heatwave (date: 29/06/2021)
The Guardian view on getting to net zero: the crunch is coming | Editorial | The Guardian
The Guardian view on getting to net zero: the crunch is coming. #climatecrisis #zerocarbon (date: 28/06/2021)
#IPCC steps up warning on #climate tipping points in leaked draft report (date: 24/06/2021)
Oil and gas donors gave over £400k to Tories before North Sea decision. #climatecrisis #emissions #politics (date: 24/06/2021)
Ed Hawkins (Reading University) coloured blue to red temperature stripes (date: 23/06/2021)
Earth is trapping ‘unprecedented’ amount of heat, Nasa says | Climate change | The Guardian
Scientists from Nasa, the US space agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa): new study that Earth’s “energy imbalance approximately doubled” from 2005 to 2019. The increase was described as “alarming”. #climatecrisis #science (date: 19/06/2021)
GAR Special Report on Drought 2021 | UNDRR
The GAR Special Report on Drought 2021 explores the systemic nature of drought and its impacts on achievement of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the SDGs and human and ecosystems health and wellbeing. (date: 19/06/2021)
(date: 19/06/2021)
More than half the trees in two new woodlands in lowland England have been planted not by landowners, charities or machines but by jays. (date: 17/06/2021)
UK failing to protect against climate dangers, advisers warn | Climate change | The Guardian
Follows what I said in my last blog () ... UK failing to protect against climate dangers, advisers warn. #climatecrisis #adaptation (date: 16/06/2021)
The Climate Change Committee is working on an independent advice report, due to be published in June 2021, which will inform the UK Government’s third CCRA (known as CCRA3). This website will host all of the outputs for the UK Climate Risk Independent Assessment (CCRA3) (date: 16/06/2021)
Spring 2021 – Dry | Wet – and heavy going – Chris Beales – climate change | music
Spring 2021 – Dry | Wet – and heavy going – blog from 29 May: on #covid #climatechange #adaptation and recent events (date: 14/06/2021)
Scientists have found the origins of a mysterious, deadly flood in India | Science News
This was no ordinary landslide, says Daniel Shugar, a geomorphologist at the University of Calgary in Canada. “This was a multi-hazard scenario where it was much more fluid and mobile than a landslide would be expected to be. It was a worst-case scenario of rock and ice and [the] height of the fall.” (date: 13/06/2021)
G7 nations committing billions more to fossil fuel than green energy | G7 | The Guardian
G7 nations committing billions more to fossil fuel than green energy. #climateemergency #covid #emissions #politics (date: 11/06/2021)
Major River Thames flood alleviation project passes key milestone - GOV.UK
The Environment Agency and Surrey County Council are leading the partnership which will deliver the River Thames Scheme. The scheme will reduce the flood risk for 11,000 homes and 1,600 businesses in communities along the river. (date: 11/06/2021)
G7 leaders face make-or-break moment in climate crisis | G7 | The Guardian
G7 leaders face make-or-break moment in #climatecrisis. #politics (date: 11/06/2021)
(400) https://twitter.com/trscentre/status/1396149492550885379
Looking forward to this event on water saving. It has a business focus but will be useful for anyone. I’ll be helping to set the scene: where we get our water and what’s in the @ReadingCAN #ClimateEmergency strategy. #rdguk (date: 08/06/2021)
Global carbon dioxide levels continued to rise despite pandemic. Carbon dioxide rose to 419 parts per million in May. #climate #emissions (date: 08/06/2021)
Airships for city hops could cut flying’s CO2 emissions by 90%
(date: 26/05/2021)
Drax carbon-capture plan could cost British households £500 – study | Drax | The Guardian
Lots of eggs in the Drax carbon capture basket. #ClimateCrisis #emissions (date: 25/05/2021)
Bee population steady in Dutch cities thanks to pollinator strategy
Like the Green roof on the bus stop. (date: 25/05/2021)
Sea levels are going to rise by at least 20ft. We can do something about it
(date: 25/05/2021)
Good vibrations: bladeless turbines could bring wind power to your home
(date: 25/05/2021)
Why the tiny copepod is an unsung climate hero
Photo plankton eaters - help sink carbon to ocean floor (date: 25/05/2021)
Climate crisis to put millions of British homes at risk of subsiding | Climate change | The Guardian
#Climate crisis to put millions of British homes at risk of subsiding. #soilmoisturedeficit (date: 19/05/2021)
This really annoys me: if we can’t recycle #plastic in UK we should incinerate and reclaim the energy. #climate (date: 17/05/2021)
Future Flows and Groundwater Levels | UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Home page for the Future Flows project - Haxton, Prudhomme, et al 2012 (date: 17/05/2021)
List of Councils who have declared a Climate Emergency | Declare a Climate Emergency
May 2021 : 300/404 (74%) of District, County, Unitary & Metropolitan Councils have declared a Climate Emergency to date. Also 8 Combined Authorities/City Regions. (date: 10/05/2021)
Adaptation Committee’s latest assessment of progress in preparing for climate change in England, and provides a first evaluation of the Government’s second National Adaptation Programme. (date: 10/05/2021)
Tipping point at 3 degrees - this will bad for all our children: ‘unstoppable’ sea level rise as Antarctic ice sheet melts. #climateemergency #cryosphere #sealevelrise (date: 06/05/2021)
How melting glaciers have accelerated a shift in Earth’s axis | Climate change | The Guardian
How melting glaciers have accelerated a shift in Earth’s axis. #climate #cryosphere (date: 06/05/2021)
Iceland's innovations to reach net-zero – in pictures | Environment | The Guardian
Isolated and challenged by a harsh climate and battered by the financial crisis of 2008, Iceland has successfully moved away from fossil fuels and shifted to 100% electricity production from renewable sources. The island nation has developed high-tech greenhouses to grow organic vegetables and embraced sustainable fish farming, ecotourism, breakthrough processes for carbon capture and disposal, and efforts to restore the forests that were lost in earlier centuries (date: 06/05/2021)
Could vertical forests improve our cities and health? - BBC News
Bosco Verticale in Milan is a pair of residential towers with over 900 trees and 11,000 plants. These were also mentioned in Gardeners World. Great example of urban greening: good for urban cooling; and air quality improvements (date: 30/04/2021)
Co-op to ditch plastic ‘bags for life’ over pollution concerns | Co-operative Group | The Guardian
This has annoyed me for years: #plastic bags for life clearly use a lot more plastic and energy. Compostable bags that can be used in food caddy is better. Education and social values are key. #climate @ReadingCAN #resources (date: 30/04/2021)
New homes in poorer areas of England and Wales face undue flood risk | Flooding | The Guardian
New homes in poorer areas of England and Wales face undue #flood risk. #ClimateEmergency (date: 27/04/2021)
This will cost everyone so much more! Makes me sad and angry. "UK cuts aid to project preparing cities for natural disaster" #ClimateEmergency #adaptation #extremeevents #disaster (date: 27/04/2021)
The Gulf Stream is slowing to a 'tipping point' and could disappear
The Gulf Stream — one of Earth's major climate-regulating ocean currents — is moving slower than it has in thousands of years, a new study suggests. Human-induced climate change is largely to blame. (date: 22/04/2021)
The Guardian view on new climate goals: a destination is not enough | Climate change | The Guardian
This is a good summary of the #politics on #climate change in the run up to #Cop26. There is still a monstrous gap between words and action. (date: 21/04/2021)
Carbon emissions to soar in 2021 by second highest rate in history. #climateemergency #emissions (date: 20/04/2021)
The science of extreme event attribution (EEA)—which connects specific extreme weather events with anthropogenic climate change—could prove useful for engaging the public about climate change. However, there is limited empirical research examining EEA as a climate change communication tool. To help fill this gap, we conducted focus groups with members of the U.K. public to explore benefits and challenges of utilizing EEA results in climate change advocacy messages. Testing a range of verbal and visual approaches for communicating EEA, we found that EEA shows significant promise for climate change communication because of its ability to connect novel, attention-grabbing, and event-specific scientific information to personal experiences and observations of extreme events. Communication challenges include adequately capturing nuances around extreme weather risks, vulnerability, adaptation, and disaster risk reduction; expressing scientific uncertainty without undermining accessibility of key findings; and difficulties interpreting mathematical aspects of EEA results. On the basis of our findings, we provide recommendations to help address these challenges when communicating EEA results beyond the climate science community. We conclude that EEA can help catalyze important dialogues about the links between extreme weather and human-driven climate change. (date: 20/04/2021)
TC - On the attribution of industrial-era glacier mass loss to anthropogenic climate change
Around the world, small ice caps and glaciers have been losing mass and retreating since the start of the industrial era. Estimates are that this has contributed approximately 30 % of the observed sea-level rise over the same period. It is important to understand the relative importance of natural and anthropogenic components of this mass loss. One recent study concluded that the best estimate of the magnitude of the anthropogenic mass loss over the industrial era was only 25 % of the total, implying a predominantly natural cause. Here we show that the anthropogenic fraction of the total mass loss of a given glacier depends only on the magnitudes and rates of the natural and anthropogenic components of climate change and on the glacier's response time. We consider climate change over the past millennium using synthetic scenarios, palaeoclimate reconstructions, numerical climate simulations, and instrumental observations. We use these climate histories to drive a glacier model that can represent a wide range of glacier response times, and we evaluate the magnitude of the anthropogenic mass loss relative to the observed mass loss. The slow cooling over the preceding millennium followed by the rapid anthropogenic warming of the industrial era means that, over the full range of response times for small ice caps and glaciers, the central estimate of the magnitude of the anthropogenic mass loss is essentially 100 % of the observed mass loss. The anthropogenic magnitude may exceed 100 % in the event that, without anthropogenic climate forcing, glaciers would otherwise have been gaining mass. Our results bring assessments of the attribution of glacier mass loss into alignment with assessments of others aspects of climate change, such as global-mean temperature. Furthermore, these results reinforce the scientific and public understanding of centennial-scale glacier retreat as an unambiguous consequence of human activity. (date: 20/04/2021)
Includes: CO2, global temperature, ocean heat, Arctic ice, sea level rise and El Nino (date: 20/04/2021)
2020: Climate indicators reveal worsening climate - Met Office
Globally, 2020 was one of the three warmest years on record, despite a cooling La Niña event. The global average temperature was about 1.2° Celsius above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level. The six years since 2015 have been the warmest on record. 2011-2020 was the warmest decade on record. (date: 20/04/2021)
UK to toughen targets on greenhouse gas emissions for next 15 years | Climate change | The Guardian
UK to toughen targets on greenhouse gas emissions for next 15 years. #climateemergency #emissions #netzero (date: 20/04/2021)
Committee on Climate Change (CCC) Sixth Carbon Budget
Our recommended pathway requires a 78% reduction in UK territorial emissions between 1990 and 2035. In effect, bringing forward the UK’s previous 80% target by nearly 15 years. (date: 20/04/2021)
The question of life, the universe and event attribution | Nature Climate Change
Event attribution, the study of the anthropogenic influence on individual extreme weather events, has been around for about 15 years. * Interest in the role of increasing greenhouse gas emissions on extreme weather has existed much longer * relating emissions to one-off events was only posed in 2003 in the investigation of a summer heatwave that hit France, Italy, Switzerland and neighbouring areas during August 2003. That summer was the hottest at that time since 1500 AD, and the study concluded that anthropogenic emissions at least doubled the risk of heat at that magnitude. * Framing and conditioning is important, e.g. are you asking if heat wave is significantly hotter in natural climate vs real (maybe not 7degC heat vs 2degC climate change) however probability 1-in-20 event to 1-in-10 event is significant. * Consider dependence - e.g. fruit fly might evolve quickly enough ... tortoise can't adapt quickly enough. * Vulnerability-centred attribution: ‘the vulnerability v was exposed to a hazard h that was x times more likely because of anthropogenic emissions’ (or ‘y larger’). (date: 19/04/2021)
Tories accused of corruption and NHS privatisation by former chief scientist. #climate #covid19 #politics (date: 13/04/2021)
Good to see this in black and white. Shame on the car industry for pushing these high pollution SUVs in a #ClimateEmergency. And a wake up call for the people who buy them! (date: 08/04/2021)
UK 3-month Outlook - April to June 2021
More likely to be warmer than normal Precipitation likely to be normal (date: 07/04/2021)
Bill Gates is the biggest private owner of farmland in the United States. Why? #climate #capitalism #1percent (date: 05/04/2021)
Climate-concerned gardeners demand UK ban on peat compost | Climate change | The Guardian
Garden centers and DIY stores are not helping - not offering alternatives. We need to keep the #peat in the ground! #ClimateCrisis #nature @ReadingCAN (date: 02/04/2021)
Climate projections provided by EURO-CORDEX predict changes in annual maximum series of daily rainfall in the future in some areas of Spain because of climate change. Precipitation and temperature projections supplied by climate models do not usually fit exactly the statistical properties of the observed time series in the control period. Bias correction methods are used to reduce such errors. This paper seeks to find the most adequate bias correction techniques for temperature and precipitation projections that minimizes the errors between observations and climate model simulations in the control period. Errors in flood quantiles are considered to identify the best bias correction techniques, as flood quantiles are used for hydraulic infrastructure design and safety assessment. In addition, this study aims to understand how the expected changes in precipitation extremes and temperature will affect the catchment response in flood events in the future. Hydrological modelling is required to characterize rainfall-runoff processes adequately in a changing climate, in order to estimate flood changes expected in the future. Four catchments located in the central-western part of Spain have been selected as case studies. The HBV hydrological model has been calibrated in the four catchments by using the observed precipitation, temperature and streamflow data available on a daily scale. Rainfall has been identified as the most significant input to the model, in terms of its influence on flood response. The quantile mapping polynomial correction has been found to be the best bias correction method for precipitation. A general reduction in flood quantiles is expected in the future, smoothing the increases identified in precipitation quantiles by the reduction of soil moisture content in catchments, due to the expected increase in temperature and decrease in mean annual precipitations. Keywords: bias correction; quantile mapping; climate change; floods; CORDEX (date: 31/03/2021)
Destruction of world's forests increased sharply in 2020 | Environment | The Guardian
Extremely Concerning news about increase in #deforestation in 2020! Dangerous in a time of #ClimateCrises (date: 31/03/2021)
NSW flooding: disaster zones declared as 18,000 people evacuated in Sydney and mid-north coast. #climate #extremeweather #disasterindex (date: 22/03/2021)
#floods in Sidney. #extremeweather #climate (date: 20/03/2021)
(400) https://twitter.com/PCANcities/status/1372556181076635651
RT @UniRdg_SustBE: Great to see @ReadingCAN @ReadingCouncil #rdguk RCCP Partnership mentioned in this new report from @PCANcities @andy_gouldson & team. Strategies often focus on #mitigation not #adaptation and business engagement and people-centred approach is crucial in #climatechange @traceyrc (date: 19/03/2021)
Car industry lobbied UK government to delay ban on petrol and diesel cars | Business | The Guardian
Example of feet dragging in the face of the #ClimateEmergency. Change will need to be directed by strong regulation. #emissions #NetZeroEmissions (date: 15/03/2021)
Destroying #forests and #ecosystems leaves world playing ‘Russian roulette’ with pandemics, say experts #climate #nature (date: 09/03/2021)
The Climate Action Tracker (CAT) is an independent scientific analysis produced by two research organisations tracking climate action since 2009. We track progress towards the globally agreed aim of holding warming well below 2°C, and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. (date: 08/03/2021)
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