How BHP's climate stance caught its fellow miners on the hop: Financial Review

" 'Society’s combustion of fossil fuels and industrial processes like steelmaking and agriculture have released greenhouse gases at rates much faster than at any other time in the geological past.'

It could be a line from any climate change rally over the past two decades.

Instead the words came straight from the mouth of BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie, who warned in a speech in London on Tuesday of an "escalation towards a crisis" and signalled the resources giant would push customers to reduce emissions."

Read the Financial Review article 

But is this just 'greenwashing' ?

Heatwave: think it’s hot in Europe? The human body is already close to thermal limits elsewhere :The Conversation

Kolkata India

"And yes, there is a limit.

When the air temperature exceeds 35°C, the body relies on the evaporation of water – mainly through sweating – to keep core temperature at a safe level. This system works until the “wetbulb” temperature reaches 35°C. The wetbulb temperature includes the cooling effect of water evaporating from the thermometer, and so is normally much lower than the normal (“drybulb”) temperature reported in weather forecasts.

Once this wetbulb temperature threshold is crossed, the air is so full of water vapour that sweat no longer evaporates. Without the means to dissipate heat, our core temperature rises, irrespective of how much water we drink, how much shade we seek, or how much rest we take. Without respite, death follows – soonest for the very young, elderly or those with pre-existing medical conditions."

Read The Conversation article

Power prices would be lower under emissions trading scheme, outgoing public service head Martin Parkinson says: ABC News

The outgoing head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet says power prices would be lower now if an emissions trading scheme had been implemented over a decade ago.

"Whatever else you do, Renewable Energy Target, or anything else, they can be no cheaper than putting an explicit price on carbon," Martin Parkinson told 7.30.

"The difference is where's the cost in an emissions trading scheme (ETS)? The cost is quite visible. It's there, it's the price of the permit.

"In the case of the Renewable Energy Target or any other intervention, then often that price is hidden from the view of the consumer. But ultimately the consumer's paying because it's built into the price of power.

"At the moment what we've got is a lot of burden falling on energy prices.

"If we had an ETS it would have smeared that cost across all parts of the economy."

Read the ABC News article 

Related: Can planting trees save our climate?

Major U.S. cities are leaking methane (Natural Gas) at twice the rate previously believed

Natural gas, long touted as a cleaner burning alternative to coal, has a leakage problem. A new study has found that leaks of methane, the main ingredient in natural gas and itself a potent greenhouse gas, are twice as big as official tallies suggest in major cities along the U.S. eastern seaboard. The study suggests many of these fugitive leaks come from homes and businesses—and could represent a far bigger problem than leaks from the industrial extraction of the fossil fuel itself.

“This is an issue that people tend to ignore when trying to estimate methane emissions,” says Kathryn McKain, an atmospheric scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, who wasn’t involved in the new research. When compared with the global amount of natural and human-driven methane emissions, she notes, “These emissions are small, but they’re preventable.”

Read the ScienceMag article

Icelandic memorial warns future: ‘Only you know if we saved glaciers’ / The Guardian

Plaque marking Okjökull, the first glacier lost to climate crisis, to be unveiled in August.

The first of Iceland’s 400 glaciers to be lost to the climate crisis will be remembered with a memorial plaque – and a sombre warning for the future – to be unveiled by scientists and local people next month.

The former Okjökull glacier, which a century ago covered 15 sq km (5.8 sq miles) of mountainside in western Iceland and measured 50 metres thick, has shrunk to barely 1 sq km of ice less than 15 metres deep and lost its status as a glacier.

Read The Guardian article

Solar industry fights back against surge of climate trolls on social media: RenewEconomy

 "Watch out for the trolls. Nearly everyone you talk to in the renewable energy and climate space have noticed a marked increase in trolls in recent months, apparently buoyed by the success of the Coalition government and its re-election campaign based around lies and misinformation, particularly on renewables and electric vehicles."

Read the article

Can planting trees save our climate?

In recent weeks, a new study by researchers at ETH Zurich has hit the headlines worldwide (Bastin et al. 2019). It is about trees. The researchers asked themselves the question: how much carbon could we store if we planted trees everywhere in the world where the land is not already used for agriculture or cities? Since the leaves of trees extract carbon in the form of carbon dioxide – CO₂ – from the air and then release the oxygen – O₂ – again, this is a great climate protection measure. The researchers estimated 200 billion tons of carbon could be stored in this way – provided we plant over a trillion trees.

The media impact of the new study was mainly based on the statement in the ETH press release that planting trees could offset two thirds of the man-made CO₂ increase in the atmosphere to date. To be able to largely compensate for the consequences of more than two centuries of industrial development with such a simple and hardly controversial measure – that sounds like a dream! And it was immediately welcomed by those who still dream of climate mitigation that doesn’t hurt anyone.

Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true. 

Read the RealClimate article