Global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and cement have increased by 1.0% in 2022, new estimates suggest, hitting a new record high of 36.6bn tonnes of CO2 (GtCO2). By Dr Zeke Hausfather and Prof Pierre Friedlingstein Carbon Brief The estimates come from the 2022 Global Carbon Budget report by the Global Carbon Project. It finds that the […]
Fossil fuels have provided a crucial source of energy over the past 200 years. But they also account for 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, enable massive environmental destruction and support many brutal regimes. By Philippe Le Billon, University of British Columbia; Nicolas Gaulin, Wageningen University, and Päivi Lujala, University of Oulu The […]
Five young people whose resolve was hardened by floods and wildfires recently took their governments to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Their claim concerns each country’s membership of an obscure treaty they argue makes climate action impossible by protecting fossil fuel investors. The energy charter treaty has 52 signatory countries which are mostly […]
Microplastics — tiny pieces of plastic less than five millimetres in size — have been found in marine and freshwater animals ranging from tiny zooplankton to large whales. However, researchers are still struggling to understand the impact that microplastics are having on aquatic species. By Garth A Covernton, University of Toronto; Hailey Davies, University of […]
Farmers are coping with a fertilizer crisis brought on by soaring fossil fuel prices and industry consolidation. The price of synthetic fertilizer has more than doubled since 2021, causing great stress in farm country. This crunch is particularly tough on those who grow corn, which accounts for half of U.S. nitrogen fertilizer use. Kathleen Merrigan, […]
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced Europe to rethink its energy policy – especially its deep dependence on Russia for about one-third of its fossil fuel imports. The European Union has negotiated a plan to partially ban imports of Russian oil, although questions remain about issues such as the timing of an embargo and what […]
Everyone who owns a gasoline-burning car has noticed that fuel prices have shot up in recent weeks. And most of us have read headlines about high energy prices driving inflation. But very few Americans have any inkling just how profound the current energy crisis already is, and is about to become. By Richard Heinberg […]
Fossil fuel companies have access to an obscure legal tool that could jeopardize worldwide efforts to protect the climate, and they’re starting to use it. The result could cost countries that press ahead with those efforts billions of dollars. Rachel Thrasher, Boston University; Blake Alexander Simmons, Colorado State University, and Kyla Tienhaara, Queen’s University, Ontario […]
In December 2006, The Economist magazine published a cover drawing of Russian president Vladimir Putin, dressed like a 1930s gangster in a dark suit and fedora hat, under the headline “Don’t Mess with Russia.” Putin held a gasoline nozzle, gripping it like a machine gun. The target presumably was Europe, which relied heavily on Russia […]
On April 9, Keishaa Austin spoke at CCL’s monthly call on behalf of Rewiring America, a nonprofit organization “focused on electrifying everything in our communities.” Keishaa is Rewiring America’s Head of Engagement and Partnerships, and on the call, she discussed the case for electrifying everything and what it would look like for individuals to move toward electrification of their […]
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, funded primarily by the sale of oil and gas, Citizens’ Climate Lobby has launched a campaign calling for a swift transition to clean energy and electric vehicles to reduce the leverage of autocratic petro-states. The campaign uses images inspired by World War-era posters that boosted morale during the fight against […]
The UN’s new IPCC report on the mitigation of climate change says that immediate and deep emissions reductions are needed to limit global warming, along with removing carbon dioxide back out of the air in future. Meanwhile, the world’s governments are urging fossil fuel companies to drill for more oil and gas as fast as […]
My op-ed with Ilana Cohen as it appeared in Sunday’s print issue of The LATimes: By Michael Mann Last month, more than 500 leading academics, climate experts and university affiliates called for an end to the fossil fuel industry funding university climate research. The reason: Faced with the climate crisis, the academic community must play a leading […]
With every fraction of a degree of global warming, climate change impacts will intensify. In the latest installment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, 278 scientists from 65 countries find that the world should peak GHG emissions in the next three years to preserve our chances of meeting the Paris Agreement’s […]
The media has been inundated by images of the ‘freedom convoy’ that began converging on Ottawa on Jan. 28. The convoy reflects our continued inability to find a middle ground when it comes to debates surrounding COVID-19 mandates and proposed vaccine passports. By Krista Collier-Jarvis, Dalhousie University The Conversation The visuals produced by the ‘freedom […]