Climate change: Five things we've learned from Madrid talks
- 16 December 2019
- From the section Science & Environment
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Kiara Worth/IISD
At the conclusion of UN climate talks in Madrid, our environment correspondent Matt McGrath considers the key lessons.
1. Leadership is REALLY important
COP25 in Madrid only happened because the Chilean government, faced with mounting civil disorder, decided to cancel the meeting in Santiago.
Spain stepped in and in three weeks organised a well-resourced and well-run event.
However, the fact that it was being run by one government, while hosted by another, gave rise to severe difficulties.
Delegates were highly critical of the fact that when it came to the key text about ambition, the Chileans presented the lowest common denominator language first, resulting in a huge number of objections from countries eager to see more ambition on carbon cuts.
Read full article Climate change: Five things we've learned from Madrid talks
Greta Thunberg: 'They try so desperately to silence us'
- 6 December 2019
- From the section Science & Environment
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg says young people are "bringing change" to the Madrid climate talks and will not be silenced.
At a news conference Miss Thunberg said that she hoped the negotiations would yield "something concrete"
Read full article Greta Thunberg: 'They try so desperately to silence us'
Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months
- 24 July 2019
- From the section Science & Environment
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clintspencer
Do you remember the good old days when we had "12 years to save the planet"?
Now it seems, there's a growing consensus that the next 18 months will be critical in dealing with the global heating crisis, among other environmental challenges.
Read full article Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months
Cyclone Idai: What's the role of climate change?
- 20 March 2019
- From the section Science & Environment
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Getty Images
Unless a rich benefactor steps in, the role of human-induced climate change in Cyclone Idai is unlikely to be clearly determined.
The scientists with the expertise simply don't have the resources to do the large amount of computer modelling required.
Read full article Cyclone Idai: What's the role of climate change?
Paris climate pullout: The worst is yet to come
- 1 June 2018
- From the section Science & Environment
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Getty Images
President Trump's announcement a year ago that he was withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement may have been the best and worst thing that could have happened to the deal, at the same time.
"The most important piece of good news, and it wasn't a foregone conclusion, is that other countries have stayed in and doubled down on their general determination not to walk away, not to let the US 'cancel' the agreement," said former US climate envoy Todd Stern, speaking at a meeting organised by the World Resources Institute in Washington this week.
Read full article Paris climate pullout: The worst is yet to come
Trump team kicks the Clean Power Plan into the long grass
- 10 October 2017
- From the section Science & Environment
In California and the western US, wildfires made more likely by climate change, continue to rage in the vineyards and forests.
In President Trump's Washington, a bonfire of climate regulations is also burning brightly.
Read full article Trump team kicks the Clean Power Plan into the long grass
Hurricanes: A perfect storm of chance and climate change?
- 21 September 2017
- From the section Science & Environment
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NASA
The succession of intense and deadly tropical cyclones that have barrelled across the Atlantic in recent weeks have left many people wondering if a threshold of some sort has been crossed. Is this chain of hurricanes evidence of some significant new frontier in our changing climate?
The answer is mostly no, but with worrying undertones of yes.
Read full article Hurricanes: A perfect storm of chance and climate change?
Hurricane Harvey: The link to climate change
- 29 August 2017
- From the section Science & Environment
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Getty Images
When it comes to the causes of Hurricane Harvey, climate change is not a smoking gun.
However, there are a few spent cartridge cases marked global warming in the immediate vicinity.
Read full article Hurricane Harvey: The link to climate change
The world's not laughing, Donald, it's crying
- 1 June 2017
- From the section Science & Environment
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EPA
President Trump's statement is a very clear repudiation of the Paris climate agreement and international efforts to fund climate mitigation and adaptation in poorer countries.
In many ways it is far worse than many observers had expected.
Read full article The world's not laughing, Donald, it's crying
Fragile future for US nuclear power
- 30 May 2017
- From the section Science & Environment
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Getty Images
No one died, there were no direct health impacts, but the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear accident burned so deeply into the US psyche that it has helped limit the future use of the power source across America.
A major factor in turning the accident into a "disaster" was timing. Just 12 days before the 1979 accident that saw a partial core meltdown at one of the two reactors at the Pennsylvania plant, The China Syndrome was released in cinemas across the US.
