972 individuals from over 30 countries have joined The Climate Reality Project as leaders, having recently been trained by Al Gore in Denver, Colorado.

Over 2-4 March, in the first training of 2017 and the 34th on the overall, the message was clear: “We need to get active. Large numbers of passionate grassroots activists can make all the difference,” Gore emphasised to a packed convention centre.

Individuals, including three Australians, at the training join a community of over 10,000 people of all ages and walks of life pushing for action on climate change.

Paul Wilkes, a research geophysicist at CSIRO from Perth by day remains a concerned scientist by night. It was this that led him, and close to 3,000 others, to apply for the training.

As someone surrounded with the realities of climate change daily, Paul was “keen to learn more about how to get messages across without scaring people about the situation we have created”. Since returning home from Denver, Paul will continue to give talks throughout Perth with an updated international perspective.


​
In the decade of Climate Reality trainings, a focus on the science and impacts remains steadfast. A highlight for many trainees was a two-hour long panel facilitated by Don Henry, a Climate Reality board member and professor at the University of Melbourne.

Alongside Al Gore, Dr. Henry Pollack and Dr. Kevin Trenberth, the panel fielded questions varying from the future of battery storage for renewable energies to the most effective things Climate Reality Leaders could do upon returning home.

The trainings, which regularly rotate locations, continued to dedicate time to regional impacts, and the importance of localising the impacts, solutions and actions individuals can take.

La Vergne Lehmann, a veteran Climate Reality Leader first trained in 2007, knows this all too well. She returned to Denver to assist newly anointed Climate Reality Leaders in personalising their work upon returning home. As someone who works in the waste and resource recovery sector in regional western Victoria, La Vergne plans to connect her work to the impacts on climate change.

Beyond the science and impacts, a key focus of the trainings is the solutions possible, and how everyone has a role to play.

Glen Garner, based in Brisbane, has spent his career working with the energy and utilities sector to see these solutions being implemented. He continues his efforts by joining the “people power movement” to “changing the political tide and lifting the lid on the ignorance that believes there is no alternatives”.

Glen, La Vergne and Paul join a community of individuals working on climate change from across all sectors of society from farmers and emergency responders to educators and the business sector.

​Apply to the next training in Washington state from June 27-29 here: https://www.climaterealityproject.org/training

I was graded as a journalist in 1986. Upon my grading, I thought it would be a good idea to look up the meaning of the word “news”. I mean, that’s what the job is all about. The definition I found was along the lines of - something unknown to someone. I have kept that in mind for the subsequent 30 years. Why am I saying this? Well, this week’s main “news” on climate change is “news” but doesn’t fit that definition. The news is that we’re heading for the hottest year ever. Well, we sort of knew that.
 
The Guardian reported last month was the hottest April on record globally – the seventh month in a row that has broken the monthly record. “The latest figures smashed the previous record for April by the largest margin ever recorded. It makes three months in a row that the monthly record has been broken by the largest margin ever, and seven months in a row that are at least 1C above the 1951-80 mean for that month. When the string of record-smashing months started in February, scientists began talking about a “climate emergency”. Figures released by NASA over the weekend show the global temperature of land and sea was 1.11C warmer in April than the average temperature for April during the period 1951-1980. It all but assures that 2016 will be the hottest year on record, and probably by the largest margin ever,” the Guardian reported.
 
Sticking with numbers, MSN reported looked at an upcoming eerie coincidence. “6.6.16 is almost the devil's number, but it might be much more than that if a leading scientist's prediction on climate change is correct. CSIRO fellow Dr Paul Fraser has earmarked June 6 ("plus or minus a week") as the day when carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere will hit 400 parts per million (ppm). The atmospheric measuring station at Cape Grim in Tasmania has recorded the current C02 levels in the atmosphere at 399.9ppm. Dr Fraser said the difference between 399 and 400ppm was trivial, but when it does hit 400ppm mark it would be a "psychological tipping point,” MSN reported. "Once it reaches 400ppm at Cape Grim it's very unlikely to drop below 400 again," Dr Fraser told ninemsn. “In the days when I started measuring CO2 in the atmosphere in the 1970s all the texts would say that the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere was 300ppm or 0.03%, the concentration is now 0.04%. It was rising at just over a part per million a year, it's now rising at about 3 parts per million a year. It's certainly going up quicker than we thought it would."
 
Going now a little further down from Tasmania, the Washington Post reports on the melting of ice at the South Pole. “Scientists ringing alarm bells about the melting of Antarctica have focused most of their attention, so far, on the smaller West Antarctic ice sheet, which is grounded deep below sea level and highly exposed to the influence of warming seas. But new research published in the journal Nature Wednesday reaffirms that there’s a possibly even bigger — if slower moving — threat in the much larger ice mass of East Antarctica. The Totten Glacier holds back more ice than any other in East Antarctica, which is itself the biggest ice mass in the world by far. Totten, which lies due south of Western Australia, currently reaches the ocean in the form of a floating shelf of ice that’s 90 miles by 22 miles in area. But the entire region, or what scientists call a “catchment,” that could someday flow into the sea in this area is over 200,000 square miles in size — bigger than California. Warmer waters in this area could, therefore, ultimately be even more damaging than what’s happening in West Antarctica — and the total amount of ice that could someday be lost would raise sea levels by as much as 13 feet.” the Washington Post reported.
 
The Guardian reports on new evidence that poorer countries will suffer the worst effects of climate change has shown that the number of hot days in tropical developing countries is likely to increase markedly as global warming takes hold. “Those living in the poorest countries also have the most to lose, as so many depend on agriculture, which is likely to be badly affected by temperature rises and an increase in droughts, heatwaves and potential changes to rainfall that may lead to recurrent patterns of floods, droughts and higher intensity storms.The study, led by the University of East Anglia, is the first to examine the link between cumulative carbon dioxide emissions and more frequent hot days.
 
Some good news. Renew Economy reports Australia’s leading solar research scientists have achieved another significant milestone, reporting a huge leap in solar cell efficiency that could in time lead to a quantum reduction in solar power costs. “A University of NSW team led by the renowned Professor Martin Green and Dr Mark Keevers has reported a new world efficiency record for solar cells using unfocussed sunlight, the sort of light that falls on the rooftop solar modules on homes and businesses. The striking part of the new record is that it is so far ahead of previous achievements – 34.5 per cent instead of 24 per cent – and is edging closer to the theoretical limits of sunlight to electricity conversion – and more than three decades before recent predictions. (Disclosure: This author is a post graduate masters student at UNSW),
 
In Brazil, there could be implications for climate change policy with the political upheaval generated by the suspension of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.  Think Progress reports environmentalists in Latin America’s largest ailing economy worry that powers in the new administration favor infrastructure development and financial recovery over environmental laws. “As it is now customary in multiple countries, Brazil requires environmental assessments prior to construction projects. But the Senate is now considering a bill that would give fast-track status to projects like roads, dams or ports deemed in the national interest by the president. That would allow developers to move forward simply by saying an environmental impact study is in the works, but bar agencies from halting the project once construction begins. Moreover, there is a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate environmental licensing altogether. These proposals aren’t new, but their political backing could get a push within Brazil’s new interim government,” Think Progress reported.
 
To the Australian election, the Sydney Morning Herald reports strong climate change policy is a vote-changing matter for a majority of Australians, a new poll shows, establishing the issue as an important battleground one week into the election campaign. “According to the ReachTEL survey of 2400 people, conducted for a coalition of environmental groups, 64 per cent of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a party seeking 100 per cent renewable energy in 20 years and 48 per cent said they would be more likely to support a party reducing Australia's net carbon emissions to zero by 2050,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported. This week, there was also a debate between the government and opposition environmental and climate change spokespeople. Renew Economy summed up the debate this way: “Emissions reduction, renewable energy and the Paris climate pact were just some of the topics du jour at the National Press Club on Wednesday.”

According to the Guardian, the 2016 Australian election is the last opportunity to save the Great Barrier Reef, the authors of a new scientific paper have warned. “The government needs to commit to $1bn a year for 10 years to reduce water pollution, which would give the reef a chance to survive the impacts of climate change,” the Guardian reported. There’s plenty more on the Australian election in Weekend Reading on Climate Change.
 
Let’s end on some positive news. In recent weeks, there have been reports of England and Germany running on renewables for a period of time. Portugal joined the club this week. According to Zero.ong, and brought to our attention by SolarCrunch, Portugal ran on renewable energy alone for 4 straight days last week. This 100% was preceded by more than 70 percent of its electricity from renewable sources of energy during the first quarter of 2013, and 63% for all of 2014. Portugal stopped burning coal in 1994.
 
Portugal looks like a quiet achiever in the renewable energy revolution.
 
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The Guardian reports world leaders have failed to come to grips with the epic challenge of phasing out fossil fuels and running the entire global economy almost entirely on clean energy by the middle of this century, experts said this week. “While more than 170 countries converged at the United Nations on Friday to demonstrate their support for the landmark deal to fight climate change reached at Paris last December, economists and scientists warned the accord’s goal of keeping temperatures below 1.5-2C may already be slipping beyond reach,” the Guardian reported.  “While we should be celebrating the signing ceremony on Friday we need to be aware of the gap, where the current contributions add up to and where we need to go,” said Shane Tomlinson, a senior research fellow in energy and climate change at Chatham House.  “Why is it that with an administration that is gung-ho on climate we are in the eighth year and there is no plan at all? No sketch, no white paper, no scenario to 2050?” Sachs told a gathering this week.
 
Plans to build more coal-fired power plants in Asia would be a “disaster for the planet” and overwhelm the deal forged at Paris to fight climate change, the president of the World Bank said last week. The Guardian reported on an unusually stark warning, the World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, noted that countries in south and south-east Asia were on track to build hundreds more coal-fired power plants in the next 20 years – despite promises made at Paris to cut greenhouse gas emissions and pivot to a clean energy future. “If Vietnam goes forward with 40GW of coal, if the entire region implements the coal-based plans right now, I think we are finished,” Kim told a two-day gathering of government and corporate leaders in Washington, in a departure from his prepared remarks. “That would spell disaster for us and our planet.”
 
The World Bank was also active on other impacts this week. The Washington Post reported  the World Bank has released a new report finding that perhaps the most severe impact of a changing climate could be the effect on water supplies. The most startling finding? The report suggests that by 2050, an inadequate supply of water could knock down economic growth in some parts of the world with a figure as high as 6 percent of GDP, “sending them into sustained negative growth.” ”Regions facing this risk — which can at least partly be averted by better water management, the document notes — include not only much of Africa but also India, China and the Middle East,” The Washington Post reported.
 
The World Health Organisation this week released its long awaited report on air quality. The Guardian reports outdoor air pollution has grown 8% globally in the past five years, with billions of people around the world now exposed to dangerous air, according to new data from more than 3,000 cities compiled by the World Health Organisation. Director Maira Neira says India and China need to make ‘massive efforts because the situation at the moment is really bad for the population’
 
Water was also a problem elsewhere. The Conversation reports at least five reef islands in the remote Solomon Islands have been lost completely to sea-level rise and coastal erosion, and a further six islands have been severely eroded. These islands lost to the sea range in size from one to five hectares. They supported dense tropical vegetation that was at least 300 years old. Nuatambu Island, home to 25 families, has lost more than half of its habitable area, with 11 houses washed into the sea since 2011. This is the first scientific evidence, published in Environmental Research Letters, that confirms the numerous anecdotal accounts from across the Pacific of the dramatic impacts of climate change on coastlines and people,” The Conversation reported.
 
The Guardian reported the world is hurtling towards an era when global concentrations of carbon dioxide never again dip below the 400 parts per million (ppm) milestone, as two important measuring stations sit on the point of no return. The news comes as one important atmospheric measuring station at Cape Grim in Australia is poised on the verge of 400ppm for the first time. Sitting in a region with stable CO2 concentrations, once that happens, it will never get a reading below 400ppm.
 
There was some good news on electricity generation in Europe this week. The Telegraph reports Britain generated no electricity from coal on Tuesday morning for what is believed to be the first time since the 19th century, in a major milestone in the decline of the polluting power source. Experts from Argus Media and Carbon Brief said they believed this was the first time there had been no coal running since the era of central electricity generation began with the construction of the UK’s first coal plant in 1882,” The Telegraph reported. Meanwhile, Quartz carried a story that Germany hit a new high in renewable energy generation last Sunday. “Thanks to a sunny and windy day, at one point around 1pm the country’s solar, wind, hydro and biomass plants were supplying about 55 GW of the 63 GW being consumed, or 87%. Power prices actually went negative for several hours, meaning commercial customers were being paid to consume electricity,” Quartz reported.
 
In Australia, the election campaign is in its first full week and climate change dropped to the back of the pack in coverage. The Prime Minister didn’t mention climate change as an issue in his election announcement. The issue figured prominently in announcements by the opposition Labor Party and the Greens. The Sydney Morning Herald reported on a report that recommends putting a price on emissions from the electricity sector has been held back by the Climate Change Authority until after the election, prompting calls from Labor and the Greens that it be made public to inform debate. “The independent authority, whose board is now dominated by appointments made last October by Environment Minister Greg Hunt, was to have released its policy options paper for the power industry by the end of April. The board, though, decided to withhold the report - along with the large Special Review due out by June 30 - until after the election, "assuming it is called for early July," the authority said on its website. A spokesman for Mr Hunt said his office had not seen the reports. He also dismissed the possibility that the government would have withheld a report favouring a wide-ranging carbon price on the eve of an election,” The Sydney Morning Herald reported. It said leaked details of the Climate Change Authority's electricity industry "policy options" report said "a mandatory carbon price of some form is desirable in the sector”.
 
The year to April 2016 in Australia saw increases in electricity demand, electricity generation and emissions from generation in the National Electricity Market, continuing the general pattern of the past seventeen months, according to Renew Economy. “Total electricity demand increased for the fourteenth successive month in the NEM and the eighth successive month in Western Australia. There can be little doubt that the period of falling demand for electricity across Australia has now ended. Total emissions from electricity generation in the NEM increased again in the year to April 2016. Annual emissions were 5.7% higher than in the year to June 2014.”
 
Let’s end on some good news. A clean energy advocate became the Mayor of London this week. Labour’s Sadiq Khan promises to be the "greenest Mayor ever" after being swept into City Hall by a clear majority, according to Edie.  “Boris Johnson’s successor Khan has previously outlined his ambition to ignite a “clean energy revolution” in the capital, with the ultimate aim of running London on 100% green energy by 2050. This bold statement will now be tested during Khan's tenure along with his list of green manifesto pledges including banning fracking in London, planting two millions trees, providing more electric buses, and expanding the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) - as well as attempts to divest the London Pension Fund Authority of its remaining investments in fossil fuel industries,” Edie reported.
 
It is great to have a person in such a high profile role who is ‘fluent’ in climate change and renewable energy. Hopefully, we will see more of that globally. 

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Must see
The Conversation: How Scared or Hopeful Should We Be in a Warming World?
Washington Post: This scientist just changed how we think about climate change with one GIF
 
Great Barrier Reef
ABC: More corals die in northern Great Barrier Reef
ABC: Next term of government will seal Great Barrier Reef's fate, report warns
Guardian: Great Barrier Reef: tourism operators urge Australian government to tackle climate change
 
Australian Election
Climate Change News: Climate change lurks as Turnbull bids to extend Australia mandate
Renew Economy: Labor cites climate, solar and storage in budget reply, reopens door for ARENA funding
Renew Economy: Election off to bad start, but Sex Party supports clean energy
Guardian: Malcolm Turnbull: Labor's climate targets will destroy Australia's bargaining power
The Conversation: Carbon taxes, emissions trading and electricity prices: making sense of the scare campaigns
 
Other Climate Communication Publications
Responsibility Plus Bulletin (Edition 10 May)
This Week in Climate Change (Edition 12 May)
Previous editions of Weekend Reading in Climate Change (Edition 6 May 2016)
 
Economics
Triple Pundit: How Technology is Fighting Climate Change
 
Energy
Climate Institute: "Heroic" assumptions in new government Energetics report
Climate Institute: A Switch in Time
Renew Economy: Queensland releases issues paper for 50% renewables target
 
Impacts
CNN: Canada fires look like climate change
EcoNews: City flooding, rainfall extremes to rise as climate changes
Grist: Climate change is already disrupting societies. A new study doesn’t let us forget it
Guardian: Obama administration warns of ‘climate refugees’ due to rapid Arctic warming
Guardian: Australia quietly adds 49 species to threatened and endangered lists
Guardian: Air pollution: how does it affect you?
World Resources Institute: WRI Says New EPA Methane Standards Will Encourage Industry To Put in Place Low-Cost Safeguards
 
Politics and policy
Climate Change News: UN climate officials release negotiation plan through 2018
Guardian: Greg Hunt: no definite link between coal from Adani mine and climate change
Friends of the Earth: Letter to Australian Prime Minister on charitable status of environmental organisations
New York Times: New York Plans to Make Fighting Climate Change Good Business
Scientific American: Hillary Clinton’s Plan to Combat Climate Change
Sydney Morning Herald: CSIRO chief Larry Marshall's reappointment agreed by Turnbull government but not made public
Union of Concerned Scientists USA: US Must Do More to Meet Paris Climate Change Commitments
United Nations: At climate summit in Washington, UN officials call to take action ‘to the next level’
Vox: Rich countries have pledged billions in climate aid. Why has progress been so slow?
 
Marketing, communication and advocacy
Canberra Times: Four climate myths busted
PSY Post: Psychological link found between climate change denial and belief in free market economics
Think Progress: Scientists May Have Found The Key To Motivating People To Act On Climate Change
 
Opinion
Guardian: Elon Musk: 'We need a revolt against the fossil fuel industry’
 
Science
Carbon Brief: Scientists compare climate change impacts at 1.5C and 2C
Huffington Post: 'Unusually' Thin And Fractured Arctic Ice Hints At Yet Another Record Melt
 
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It started snowing in Australia - snowing with news about climate change, renewable energy and environment policy. The snow storm came as Australian politics and media whipped itself into a frenzy with the unusual combination of a budget being handed down and an election being called within the same week. Ahead of eight weeks of conjecture and the good news is that climate, energy and conservation policy will be at the centre of the debate. It is a bumper edition this week and much longer than normal due to the budget and election.
 
In Australia, we are on the eve of an election (due to be called Sunday 8 May for Saturday 2 July 2016) election and the good news is that there’s plenty of climate change and other environmental news at the centre of poll coverage. By way of disclosure, your correspondent is the endorsed Labor candidate for Warringah. The best way to start is with this summary from Renew Economy: “The Australian Greens have unveiled a seven-point policy plan to wean the Australian economy and electricity network off coal, including an immediate ban on all new coal and gas projects, a tax on coal exports and a carbon price.

Following on the heels of federal Labor’s Climate Change Action Plan, the Greens’ 7-point plan – released on Thursday – aims to put an “urgent brake” on Australia’s fossil fuel emissions, while also investing in large-scale clean energy. And it follows the ALP in calling for the reinstatement of a carbon price – although Greens Leader Richard di Natale has already ridiculed Labor’s proposed version, which he told the National Press Club on Wednesday equated to a carbon price of 3c a tonne. The Coalition, meanwhile, is busy disparaging both, with environment minister Greg Hunt dusting off the party’s tried and tested mantra on ABC Radio National on Thursday, that “the overarching point here is that this is an electricity tax,” Renew Economy reported.
 
The Guardian reports the Greens want millions of households to install renewable energy storage units, saying battery storage could “revolutionise” Australia’s energy system. “They have announced a five-year support package for 1.2m homes and 30,000 businesses, to encourage the take-up of solar storage across Australia. The Greens say the program - estimated to cost $2.9b - could be funded by scrapping concessions to fossil fuel-intensive industries, and are promising to make the policy central to their post-budget and post-election negotiations with the Coalition and Labor.”
 
The Federal Budget came down this week and Renew Economy was unimpressed: “Climate change, prime minister Malcom Turnbull once said, is the ultimate long-term problem that needs to be acted on urgently. But in his first budget as government leader, it is as though the issue does not exist. Climate change was not even mentioned as a word, or a concept, or even an issue – despite Tuesday’s budget apparently being about growth and jobs for the future. There was no new money for climate initiatives and the only mention renewable energy got was to confirm that $1.3 billion in funds would be stripped from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). On the other side of the chamber, Labor last night came out in support of the ARENA. As for Labor, it had to come make a commitment to ARENA this week. It is crucial that the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has clear and long-term access to grant funding to deliver the renewable energy innovation that will create a 21st century energy system, the said today. Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton said there is a clear case for the Federal Government to provide capital grants through ARENA to support innovation in exciting new renewable energy and battery storage technologies.  “We welcome last night’s commitment from the Australian Labor Party (ALP) for future capital grant funding for ARENA. While it is disappointing that this has not been cemented with a firm budgetary commitment, we look forward to working with the ALP to ensure it delivers the necessary level of funding, should the party be successful at the upcoming election,” Mr Thornton said. The Climate Institute didn’t think much of the budget: “ Climate funding cuts and uncertainties dominate in a budget that ignores the fact that if we do not invest in strong, effective action to reduce emissions now, it will simply cost us much more in the not too distant future. The consequences of ongoing failure to tackle climate change will be escalating energy, unemployment and other economic costs over the next few decades.”
 
Now let me try and make sense of news about the Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund:

• The AFR reports: “The Turnbull government has not topped up the $2.4 billion Emissions Reduction Fund – the centrepiece of its Direct Action climate change policy – despite it being expected to run out of money later this year.”
• EcoNews reports: “Fresh doubts have been raised about Australia’s ability to meet the 2020 Renewable Energy Target (RET) promised by the conservative Liberal-National government after a new analysis found that $10 billion of extra investment is needed. That comes at a time when lenders are wary because of changing regulations. In research, released today by BIS Shrapnel, has determined it is “highly doubtful” the 2020 target of 33,000 gigawatt-hours (Gwh) of renewable energy output can be achieved given the stalling of investment over the past few years that means a huge catch-up effort is required. It expects the goal may only be reached one or two years late.”
• The Age reports more than half a billion dollars has been spent in the latest auction under the Turnbull government's Direct Action climate change plan, with the vast majority of the money committed to tree projects. “The results mean that about two-thirds of the $2.55 billion set aside under the government's climate change policy to pay farmers and business to cut greenhouse gas emissions has now been handed out. In the third auction of the emissions reduction fund – a central plank of the Direct Action scheme – about 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide savings were bought from 73 projects at an average price of $10.23 a tonne.”
• Australia’s emissions are continuing to rise and the Emissions Reduction Fund is largely spent, showing once again that it could only ever function as a supporting part of a broader climate change policy framework, The Climate Institute said today. “After three auctions, the Emissions Reduction Fund has now used up 67 per cent of its budget, but has contracted for only three per cent of the emission reductions needed for Australia to be on track meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement it has just signed,” said Climate Institute CEO, John Connor. “In fact, it achieves only seven per cent of the reductions needed to meet the government’s current inadequate 2030 target.” 

Chairman of the Climate Reality Project, Al Gore, this week  said the decision by Australia’s science agency CSIRO to cut climate research should be “re-evaluated at the highest level”, since they limit a source of critical information for the entire world as it attempts to solve the challenges posed by climate change, the Guardian reported. The former US Democratic vice-president also praised the government’s support for renewable energy and the Labor party’s recent climate change policy announcement. “In the face of this harsh new climate reality, there have been political forces in your country working to prevent Australia’s ability to act as the global leader it once was in the effort to solve the climate crisis,” he said, in conversation with Don Henry from the University of Melbourne, and former director of the Australian Conservation Foundation. “The most recent example of this is the announcement of major cuts to Australia’s CSIRO, a global leader and reference point for climate science. These cuts will deeply affect the source of valuable research for the entire world at a time when such information is critical to solving the challenge of our changing climate,” he said. “They should be re-evaluated at the highest level.”
 
Some good news in Renew Economy, the ACT government says it will better its 90 per cent renewable energy target by 2020, and will in fact source 100 per cent of its electricity needs from renewable energy by that date. The ACT’s minister for the environment and climate change Simon Corbell said the switch to 100 per cent renewables was both achievable and affordable. “As leaders in the renewable energy field the ACT is reaping the environmental and economic benefits of decarbonisation,” Corbell said. Importantly, Corbell said the ACT would retain its ranking as having the lowest electricity prices in the country, even with sourcing 100 per cent of its energy demand from renewable energy, Renew Economy reported.
 
Finally on Australia this week, the Sydney Morning Herald reports Australia faces a "perilous" water security future from climate change even as the Turnbull government eyes budget cuts to water programs and CSIRO halves climate investment, Rob Vertessy, the outgoing head of the Bureau of Meteorology, says. “Reservoirs in the Murray-Darling basin are now close to their lowest levels since the Millennium Drought and Tasmania is also facing "serious" issues", Dr Vertessy told Fairfax Media on Friday, his final day as the bureau's chief. "Water shortage is a problem and climate change is going to be intensifying the drought and flood cycle," he said, noting that water demand is increasing. "Australia faces a really perilous water security challenge in the future.”
 
To the weather now and Climate change will render parts of the Middle East and North Africa “uninhabitable” in a few decades, potentially resulting in a huge number of climate refugees, according to a story in EcoWatch. “A new study by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Cyprus Institute confirmed a similar study from the World Bank, which also forecast a dramatic temperature increase in the region. Already, the number of extremely hot days has doubled since 1970 and could increase five fold by 2050. The region is home to more than 500 million people who will be affected by the change,” EcoWatch reported. In recent weeks, I am pretty sure every edition has mentioned drought and heatwaves. The bad news keeps on coming as India is in the grip of an early-summer heat wave, according to Reuters.  It said the heat wave has killed more than 100 people and closed schools, halted construction and affected tourism in some parts. Meanwhile, Huffington Post reports climate change might be behind the terrible fires in Canada. “The conditions that made these wildfires possible — namely, the unusually warm and dry winter the region has experienced — almost certainly had a climate change component,” director of Pennsylvania State University’s Earth System Science Center, told The Huffington Post on Wednesday.
 
Let’s end on some good news. Bloomberg reports solar power set another record-low price as renewable energy developers working in the United Arab Emirates shrugged off financial turmoil in the industry to promise projects costs that undercut even coal-fired generators.
“Developers bid as little as 2.99 cents a kilowatt-hour to develop 800 megawatts of solar-power projects for the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, the utility for the Persian Gulf emirate, announced on Sunday. That’s 15 percent lower than the previous record set in Mexico last month. The lowest priced solar power has plunged almost 50 percent in the past year. Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power International set a record in January 2015 by offering to build a portion of the same Dubai solar park for power priced at 5.85 cents per kilowatt-hour. Records were subsequently set in Peru and Mexico before Dubai reclaimed its mantel as purveyor of the world’s cheapest solar power,” according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
 
Only seven weeks of the election to go. It will be fascinating.
 
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This Week in Climate Change is available here: http://www.climatecommunication.net/review/

It was one of those are unusually positive weeks in the climate change business. Regular readers of this digest will know the ‘good weeks’ are few and far between. Why was it good? The Paris deal was signed by the key players in New York and climate change moved to centre stage in the Australian federal election. But what would be without a jaw dropper somewhere?
 
So let’s start with a story in the Washington Post about an event in New York to sign a deal made in Paris (love dropping the names…).: “The historic agreement on climate change marked a major milestone on Friday with a record 175 countries signing on to it on opening day. But world leaders made clear more action is needed, and quickly, to fight a relentless rise in global temperatures. With the planet heating up to record levels, sea levels rising and glaciers melting, the pressure to have the Paris Agreement enter into force and to have every country turn its words into deeds was palpable at the U.N. signing ceremony. The agreement will enter into force once 55 countries representing at least 55 percent of global emissions have formally joined it, a process initially expected to take until 2020. But following a host of announcements at the signing event, observers now think it could happen later this year. China, the world’s top carbon emitter, announced it would “finalize domestic procedures” to ratify the agreement before the G-20 summit in China in September. The United States, the world’s second-largest emitter, reiterated its intention to ratify this year, as did Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the leaders of Mexico and Australia.”
 
The Conversation has this take on the implications of the agreement: “The New York event will be an important barometer of political momentum leading into the implementation phase – one that requires domestic climate policies to be drawn up, as well as further international negotiations. The signing ceremony in New York sets in motion the formal, legal processes required for the Paris Agreement to “enter into force”, so that it can become legally binding under international law.

Although the agreement was adopted on December 12 2015 in Paris, it has not yet entered into force. This will happen automatically 30 days after it has both been ratified by at least 55 countries, and by countries representing at least 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Both conditions of this threshold have to be met before the agreement is legally binding. So, contrary to some concerns after Paris, the world does not have to wait until 2020 for the agreement to enter into force. It could happen as early as this year.”
 
The Guardian had this take on New York: “Nor does the Paris deal go far enough. It was only a step on a long, hard road. The targets that each country set themselves do not go nearly far enough. Now the gap between reality and the ambition of holding global warming below 2C needs addressing. In Churchillian rhetoric, this is not the end, nor the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.”
 
In Australia, The Conversation, said Australia’s signing of the agreement could prove tricky politically: “This is a major problem because without agreement across political lines, Australia could be signing a treaty with which it cannot comply. Australia is the world’s 13th-largest greenhouse emitter and the highest per capita emitter in the OECD. Now, because of the abolition of the carbon price, its emissions are rising for the first time in a decade. Australia looks set to overshoot even its modest target of reducing emissions by 26-28% by 2030 relative to 2005 levels. And as commitments under the Paris Agreement will become stricter over time, with the deal requiring countries to ramp up their climate pledges every five years, Australia will be in an increasingly difficult and embarrassing position of having made promises it cannot keep. This may set the scene for dithering by the Turnbull government, in much the same way as the Howard government held out against ratifying the Kyoto Protocol for a decade before finally proposing a climate policy when electorally it was already too late. We know that to make a meaningful contribution to combating climate change, Australia needs a credible path to net zero emissions by 2050. To do this the Turnbull government must match its international commitments with effective laws and policies at home. Legislating Australia’s climate targets, setting a national cap on emissions, and pricing carbon pollution are vital if Australia’s signature on the Paris Agreement is to mean anything at all.”
 
Staying in Australia, the Opposition Australian Labor Party (house minority party in US terms) this week released its climate change policy for the 2 July 2016 election. This author (Andrew Woodward) is the endorsed an endorsed Labor candidate for the election. The Labor Policy announcement set the political agenda this week, with Renew Economy reporting: “Labor has sought to outflank the Coalition government by committing to a zero net carbon pollution target by 2050, proposing two separate “low-cost” emission trading schemes, and reinforcing its interim commitments to cut carbon emissions by 45 per cent by 2030, and reaching 50 per cent renewable energy by the same date. The proposal was hailed by most environmental groups, although nearly all noted that in a week of the Paris climate deal signing, more temperature records, and worsening impacts on the Great Barrier Reef, the party could have gone a lot further, and a lot quicker.
The Greens did just that, with Senator Richard di Natale reinforcing his party’s commitment to cut emissions by 80 per cent and reach 90 per cent renewables by 2030 – a target that is not far short of studies produced by Beyond Zero Emissions and the Institute for Sustainable Futures in recent weeks. But the Labor strategy is intent on differentiating itself from the Coalition, and to bait a trap for prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who has been forced to inherit and defend the policies of his predecessor, Tony Abbott, that he often ridiculed as “reckless” and a fig leaf for action. And Turnbull duly obliged, accusing Labor of producing a “jobs-destroying” policy – even though, on the estimates of the Climate Change Authority and others, it is exactly what Australia has signed up for in the Paris agreement.”
 
In other Australian political climate change related news this week:

• Labor: Coverage and reaction to the Labor announcement at my Labor campaign blog.
• Australian Greens: Richard Di Natale addresses the National Press Club on the eve of the 2016 Budget
• The Liberal and National Government: Two announcements - Antarctic and Great Barrier Reef.

 Ending on science news now, in recent months we’ve spoken of drought in Australia and Africa. Now comes news from Weather Underground: “What is most likely the most intense heat wave ever observed in Southeast Asia has been ongoing for the past several weeks. All-time national heat records have been observed in Cambodia, Laos, and (almost) in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. Meanwhile extreme heat has resulted in all-time record high temperatures in the Maldives, India, China, and portions of Africa as well.”
 
So let’s end on a jaw dropper from NASA that surfaced this week in the Insurance Journal: “Think sea level rise will be moderate and something we can all plan for? Think again. Sea levels could rise by much more than originally anticipated, and much faster, according to new data being collected by scientists studying the melting West Antarctic ice sheet – a massive sheet the size of Mexico. That revelation was made by an official with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday at the annual RIMS conference for risk management and insurance professionals in San Diego, Calif. The conference is being attended by more than 10,000 people, according to organizers. It was day No. 3 of the conference, which ends Wednesday. Margaret Davidson, NOAA’s senior advisor for coastal inundation and resilience science and services, and Michael Angelina, executive director of the Academy of Risk Management and Insurance, offered their take on climate change data in a conference session titled “Environmental Intelligence: Quantifying the Risks of Climate Change.” Davidson said recent data that has been collected but has yet to be made official indicates sea levels could rise by roughly 3 meters or 9 feet by 2050-2060, far higher and quicker than current projections. Until now most projections have warned of seal level rise of up to 4 feet by 2100. These new findings will likely be released in the latest sets of reports on climate change due out in the next few years. “The latest field data out of West Antarctic is kind of an OMG thing,” she said. OMG indeed.
 
Disclaimer: Andrew Woodward is the endorsed Australian Labor Party Candidate for Warringah but contributes this column as a Climate Reality Leader and as such its content is strictly politically non-partisan.
 
CLIMATE COMMUNICATION PUBLICATIONS

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Must see
Climate Central: Flirting with the 1.5°C Threshold
 
Signing Ceremony
ABC: PNG asks Australia to stop coal mining, as Paris Agreement signed
Guardian: Australia's solemn climate promise much more than a signing ceremony (note, this was filed before the Labor Party’s climate change policy)
The Conversation: The Paris Agreement signing ceremony at a glance
 
Great Barrier Reef
EcoWatch: Scientists Confirm: 93% of Great Barrier Reef Now Bleached
Guardian: Mourning Loomis Reef - the heart of the Great Barrier Reef's coral bleaching disaster
The Conversation: David Attenborough says the Great Barrier Reef is in 'grave danger' – it's time to step up
The Conversation: Great Barrier Reef bleaching stats are bad enough without media misreporting
Washington Post: ‘And then we wept': Scientists say 93 percent of the Great Barrier Reef now bleached
 
Al Gore
Nothing this week
 
Other Climate Communication Publications
Responsibility Plus Bulletin (Next out Monday 2 May 2016)
This Week in Climate Change (Next out 28 April 2016)
 
Economics
Climate Change News: Saudi Arabia set to reveal vision for post-oil future
Climate Reality Project: The Truth About Climate Action and the Economy
 
Energy
Canberra Times: Canberra at the centre of a renewable energy superpower
Climate Change News: Solar is now cheaper than coal, says India energy minister
Planet Experts: The Dramatic, Unexpected, but Welcome Fall of Coal
Renew Economy: 100% renewables might be fantasy, but it’s what Australia is signing up for
 
Impacts
ABC: Climate change and our evolving sexual patterns
 
Politics and policy
Clean Technica: Australian Coal Export Plans Will Erase Few Benefits Of Country’s Weak Paris Targets
Renew Economy: Pollie Watch: Turnbull surrounded as Nash questions climate science
Sydney Morning Herald: CSIRO eyes alternative plan to climate job cuts as Chairman Thodey faces inquiry
Renew Economy: Turnbull’s evolving climate strategy: When less is more
The Conversation: New climate science centre doesn't make up for CSIRO cuts: experts
 
Marketing, communication and advocacy
Nothing this week.
 
Opinion
Huffington Post: Game on, climate change! This Earth Day, be confident
 
Science
The Age: Global warming changing tilt of Earth's spin axis
Time: Christiana Figures - Force for nature
 
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Two things came to a head this week in climate change and environment protection and both have profound long term impacts on environment. If you are reading this Thursday night Australian time (Thursday AM in Europe and the Americas), many world leaders or their representatives are in New York to officially sign up to what was agreed to in Paris last December. The other notable happening this week concerned the global environment movement ringing the alarm bell on the Great Barrier Reef louder than it has ever been rung before. It was deafening. It needed to be. The barrier reef is at risk of death from the climate emergency. The amount of media coverage in the last week has been the greatest since the first week of December last year when the world met to start work on the deal agreed to in Paris. As a result “Weekend Reading in Climate Change” is a bit longer than normal this week.
 
To New York first. The Guardian reports the US and China are leading a push to bring the Paris climate accord into force much faster than even the most optimistic projections – aided by a typographical glitch in the text of the agreement. “More than 150 governments, including 40 heads of state, are expected at a symbolic signing ceremony for the agreement at the United Nations on 22 April, which is Earth Day. It’s the largest one-day signing of any international agreement, according to the UN. But leaders will really be looking to see which countries go beyond mere ceremony and legally join the agreement, which would bind them to the promises made in Paris last December to keep warming below the agreed target of 2C. So far, the US, China, Canada and a host of other countries have promised to join this year - boosting the hopes of bringing the Paris deal into force before the initial target date of 2020 – possibly as early as 2016 or 2017, according to officials and analysts. That is well before the timeline originally envisaged at Paris. Environment ministers attending the World Bank spring meetings this week said the faster pace indicated serious commitment to dealing with the global challenge.”
 
Policy makers in New York will have their work cut out for them. According to Grist, a Climate Central analysis shows that the world will have to dramatically accelerate emissions reductions if it wants to meet that goal. The average global temperature change for the first three months of 2016 was 1.48 degrees C, essentially equaling the 1.5 degrees C warming threshold agreed to by COP 21 negotiators in Paris last December. February exceeded the 1.5 degrees C target at 1.55 degrees C, marking the first time the global average temperature has surpassed the sobering milestone in any month. March followed suit checking in at 1.5 degrees C. January’s mark of 1.4 degrees C, put the global average temperature change from early industrial levels for the first three months of 2016 at 1.48 degrees C.
 
Australia’s Minister for the Environment, Greg Hunt, says the government is committed to joining new UN climate deal this year, but rejects calls for Canberra to adopt tougher CO2 targets, reports Climate Change News.  Speaking on ABC’s Lateline, Mr Hunt said the process to formally approve the deal would start as soon as he signs the UN treaty in New York on Friday. “We hope to have that ratified as soon as possible and be one of the countries to have that done this year,” he said. Australia would also aim to ratify the 2013-2020 extension to the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty that commits developed countries to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Mr Hunt declined to reveal if the government would consider increasing its proposed level of emission reductions of 26-28% on 2005 levels by 2030. “We will meet and beat our 2020 and 2030 targets,” he said. With a general election looming this year, the opposition Labor Party has committed to a 2030 goal of 45% cuts. The full Lateline interview is on the ABC website.
 
The Climate Institute in the Sydney Morning Herald said, the long-term climate change goals will be missed, and clean energy investment will stagnate, if Australia does not start forcing its dirty coal-fired power plants to close, new analysis has found. “Economic modelling commissioned by the Climate Institute also suggests that putting off closure until after 2030 would force the country into more-extreme measures to meet the longer-term goals of the Paris climate agreement. That could include a hurried closure of more than 80 per cent of existing coal power generation in the five years following 2030, causing significant economic and social disruption, particularly in communities dominated by the industry such as the Latrobe Valley. A smoother transition could be achieved, the Climate Institute argues, by quickly adopting new laws to progressively phase out all high-emitting power plants in the next 20 years. They would sit alongside a carbon price and incentives for cleaner energy alternatives such as renewable and carbon capture and storage technologies.”
 
If this doesn’t happen, then we start manning the life boats - and now we know where! The Guardian reports Australians now can see on a map how rising sea levels will affect their house just by typing their address into a website. And they’ll soon be able to get an estimate of how much climate change will affect their property prices and insurance premiums, too. “The website Coastal Risk Australia takes Google Maps and combines it with detailed tide and elevation data, as well as future sea level rise projections, allowing users to see whether their house or suburb will be inundated. Coinciding with that is the launch of a beta version of Climate Valuation, a website that gives users an estimate of how much climate change will impact their property value and insurance premiums over the life of their mortgage.”
 
Others are already acting. Renew Economy reports Australia’s largest superannuation fund – AustralianSuper – has announced that, from next month, it will offer its members an option that will restrict investments in companies with fossil fuel reserves. The decision will see the fund dump between $190m and $235m worth of fossil fuel stocks. “This is welcome news, as AustralianSuper joins the ranks of dozens of funds that are getting out of fossil fuels. But this is still a far cry from serious climate action, as less than 2% of members will have their fossil fuel exposure partially reduced. The fund will combine its three existing sustainable investment options, creating a new option with approximately $2 billion of assets under management.”
 
Environmentalists in Australia this week were crestfallen with remarks form a senior government figure - Attorney General George Brandis - on climate change science. Renew Economy: “In response to a question from Labor, and on the same day that it was revealed the extent of bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef is far worse than thought, Brandis told parliament on Tuesday: “Senator Carr you’re the one who says the science is settled. I don’t. I’m aware that there are a number of views about the two questions of the nature and the causes of climate change. It doesn’t seem to me that the science is settled at all. But I’m not a scientist, and I’m agnostic, really, on that question.” “The remarks were, of course, leapt upon by Federal Labor and the Greens as proof of the hold that the far right and Abbottistas have over the current government. But the real question must be about at what point does ideology and climate denial trump simple maths about jobs and economics,” Renew Economy said.
 
So to the Barrier Reef. The international and domestic media woke up to the bleaching and long term future of the reef this week and went, well, nuts. Weekend Reading has six stories and they’re just a taste of the coverage. “Scientists say they are fed up with Queensland’s biggest newspaper not covering the worst bleaching event to hit the Great Barrier Reef, so have taken out a full page ad to get the message out,” reports the Guardian.  Organised by the Climate Council, the full page ad in the Courier Mail on Thursday contains an open letter signed by 56 scientists. “One of the reasons we placed the ad in the Courier Mail was that we’ve seen very little coverage of the coral bleaching event in that paper and in fact there was a front-page story that said the coral bleaching event had been wildly exaggerated,” said Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland and one of the signatories of the letter. The letter explains that it is the worst bleaching event in its history, and that it is being driven by climate change. “The Great Barrier Reef is at a crisis point,” the scientists say. “Its future depends on how much and how quickly the world, including Australia, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit ocean warming.” It then calls for Australia to rapidly phase out coal-fired power stations and for no new coalmines.
 
A local tour operator says on its website: “The Great Barrier Reef first began to grow about 18 million years ago. Since this time, various geological events, such as Ice Ages and low seawater levels have interrupted reef growth. The reefs we see today have grown on top of older reef platforms during the last 8000 years – since the last Ice Age.” And we as a society have set it on a course for death in about 250 years. It is heartbreaking.
 
Disclaimer: Andrew Woodward is the endorsed Australian Labor Party Candidate for Warringah but contributes this column as a Climate Reality Leader and as such its content is strictly politically non-partisan.
 
CLIMATE COMMUNICATION PUBLICATIONS
 

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• This Week In Climate Change (Thursday): Read or Subscribe
• Weekend Reading On Climate Change (Friday) : Read or Subscribe
• All Publications: Flipboard and Apple News App
  

 
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• About me: I help marketing, advertising, communications, corporate affairs and sponsorship leaders do business in the age of climate change.
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Must see
ABC: Australia 'the most outstanding rogue nation' on climate change: Bill McKibben
ABC: Climate change has dropped off the political radar (and this is a big problem)
Grist: Extreme heat? Check. Ice loss? Check. Any other records we can shatter?
Renew Economy: Turnbull’s Jekyll and Hyde climate and clean energy policy
Renew Economy: Australia’s energy system is outdated and a shambles. It needs a reboot
The Conversation: Ideas for Australia: A six-point plan for getting climate policy back on track
The Conversation: Ideas for Australia: Let's retire the idea that Australia 'depends' on digging up coal and other resources
The Conversation: Australia's carbon emissions and electricity demand are growing: here's why
 
Signing Ceremony
Climate Change News: Dalai Lama, Archbishop Tutu sign interfaith climate statement
Climate Works (Australia): The road from Paris to a low carbon future
Climate Institute (Australia): Signing the Paris Agreement means Australia must take real action at home
EcoWatch: Interactive Map Sheds Light on Potential Impact of Paris Climate Agreement
GreenBiz: The 5 biggest shifts since the Paris climate talks
New Matilda: Greenpeace: Australia's Carbon Exports Are Killing The Reef
The Conversation: Signing the Paris Climate Agreement is easy – what comes next for Australia will be hard
The Independent: We have killed the Great Barrier Reef
United Nations: Paris Signing Marks Critical Next Step to Sustainable Future Climate and Sustainability
World Bank: Carbon Pricing: Building on the Momentum of the Paris Agreement
 
Great Barrier Reef
Climate Council: Climate change is destroying our reefs. We must phase out coal
Environmental Justice Australia via the Guardian: Coral vs Coal: if Greg Hunt faces the truth he can save the Great Barrier Reef 
Huffington Post: The Great Barrier Reef Is Screwed If Climate Change Continues
Science: Climate change disables coral bleaching protection on the Great Barrier Reef
Scientific American: Coral Crisis: Great Barrier Reef Bleaching Is "The Worst We've Ever Seen”
Sydney Morning Herald: Is this the end of the Great Barrier Reef?
 
Al Gore
Quartz: Al Gore is hugely optimistic when it comes to one thing about climate change
 
Other Climate Communication Publications
Responsibility Plus Bulletin
This Week in Climate Change
 
Economics
HBR: The Data Says Climate Change Could Cost Investors Trillions
Renew Economy: The tax that shall not be named
Renew Economy: South Australia: the frontier state for transforming an industrial economy
Tech Insider: One dramatic chart shows why electric cars are about to become mainstream
 
Energy
Business Green: Modelling shows move to 100 per cent renewable energy would save Australia money
Clean Energy Finance Corporation: What we do - Clean Energy Finance Corporation
Quartz: How Narendra Modi is getting India to save on electricity
Renew Economy: New report shows 100% renewable by 2030 can save Australia money
The Conversation: One day we won't need a Renewable Energy Target, because we'll have good climate policy
World Economic Forum: 4 charts that show the rise of renewables
 
Impacts
Climate Group: US states not well prepared for future climate change threats, study finds
New Matilda: "The Sea Walls Are Out In The Sea": World's First Climate Refugees Ask For Australia's Help
Outside Online: Climate Change Is Melting Everest
US News: Sustainability 101: Your Guide to Traveling Responsibly
 
Politics and policy
Climate Group: How Adelaide in South Australia is going carbon neutral with the help of LED street lights
New York Times: Liberal Biases, Too, May Block Progress on Climate Change
The Nation:  Can Markets Solve Climate Change? This Democratic Socialist (Bernie Sanders)  Thinks So.
 
Marketing, communication and advocacy
Nothing this week.
 
Opinion
e360 Yale: For James Hansen, the Science Demands Activism on Climate by Katherine Bagley: Yale Environment 360
Paul Gilding: Don’t be Fossil Fooled – It’s Time to Say Goodbye
The Conversation: US firms knew about global warming in 1968 – what about Australia?
 
Science
Guardian: Study: Humans have caused all the global warming since 1950
 
CLIMATE COMMUNICATION PUBLICATIONS
 

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• All Publications: Flipboard and Apple News App

 
MORE INFORMATION
 

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• Follow: @climatecomm
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• Call: +61411623980
  

So it was another one of those weeks, which are increasing in frequency and severity (sound familiar?) where there was some significant scientific studies raising an aspect of the impact of climate change. This week they all seem to talk about the rapid melting of ice and they came one after another. It is even now starting to impact how the earth rotates. It is like when you use a hair dryer to rapidly de-ice a fridge. This is an emergency.
 
“Sea levels could rise nearly twice as much as previously predicted by the end of this century if carbon dioxide emissions continue unabated, an outcome that could devastate coastal communities around the globe, according to new research published Wednesday. The main reason? Antarctica,” reported the Washington Post. “Scientists behind a new study published in the journal Nature used sophisticated computer models to decipher a longstanding riddle about how the massive, mostly uninhabited continent surrendered so much ice during previous warm periods on Earth. They found that similar conditions in the future could lead to monumental and irreversible increases in sea levels. If high levels of greenhouse gas emissions continue, they concluded, oceans could rise by close to two meters in total (more than six feet) by the end of the century. The startling findings paint a far grimmer picture than current consensus predictions, which have suggested that seas could rise by just under a meter at most by the year 2100.”
 
EcoWatch tells us the decline of Arctic sea ice is already setting records in 2016, with the winter peak in March clocking in as the lowest since satellite records began, scientists say. “With abnormally warm conditions right across the Arctic, some regions experienced temperatures 4-8C higher than average. While this meant slower ice growth in some places, in others it caused a dramatic thinning by 30cm in one week, according to early model results.” Climate Change News reports almost 12 per cent of Greenland’s ice sheet was melting on Monday, according to data crunched by the Danish Meteorological Institute. “Polar researchers thought their models were broken when they first saw the results. It beat by almost a month the previous record for a melt of more than 10%, on 5 May 2010. Temperature readings on the ice were in line with the numbers, however, exceeding 10C in some places. Even a weather station 1840 metres above sea level recorded a maximum of 3.1C, which data analysts said would be warm for July, let alone April. Greenland’s usual melt season runs from early June to September. “Too much. Too early,” tweeted the World Meteorological Organisation,” the website reported.
 
The Guardian tells us climate change projections have vastly underestimated the role that clouds play, meaning future warming could be far worse than is currently projected, according to new research. “Researchers said that a doubling of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere compared with pre-industrial times could result in a global temperature increase of up to 5.3C – far warmer than the 4.6C older models predict. The analysis of satellite data, led by Yale University, found that clouds have much more liquid in them, rather than ice, than has been assumed until now. Clouds with ice crystals reflect more solar light than those with liquid in them, stopping it reaching and heating the Earth’s surface. The underestimation of the current level of liquid droplets in clouds means that models showing future warming are misguided, says the paper, published in Science. It also found that fewer clouds will change to a heat-reflecting state in the future – due to CO2 increases – than previously thought, meaning that warming estimates will have to be raised. Such higher levels of warming would make it much more difficult for countries to keep the global temperature rise to below 2C, as they agreed to do at the landmark Paris climate summit last year, to avoid dangerous extreme weather and negative effects on food security.”
 
The consequences? Melting ice sheets are changing how the earth rotates. Yes, really. EcoWatch reports “Driven by dwindling polar ice, climate change is actually changing the way the Earth spins, new research shows. Melting ice sheets are contributing to the change in polar motion, a term scientists use to describe the “periodic wobble and drift of the poles,” according to NASA.
 
The outgoing head of the UNFCCC (the United Nations body which leads negotiations and staged last year’s conference) has been talking up the move by nations to act on climate change. “The global climate change agreement brokered in Paris in December by 195 nations will come into effect two years earlier than originally planned, the top United Nations climate diplomat predicted,” reported Bloomberg. “You heard it here first: I think that we will have a Paris Agreement in effect by 2018,” Christiana Figures said during a question-and-answer session after delivering a lecture Monday at Imperial College London. “The prediction suggests that countries may initiate efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions earlier than expected, and increases the chances of meeting the pact’s ultimate goal of limiting the increase in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since industrialization began,” Bloomberg said.
 
The World Bank this week released details of its  Climate Change Action Plan to help countries meet their Paris COP21 pledges and manage increasing climate impacts. “A key focus is boosting the resilience of people and communities to climate shocks, with new efforts to expand early warning systems, climate-smart social protection, and urban and coastal resilience. The Bank Group is ramping up action in renewable energy, sustainable cities, climate smart agriculture, green transport and other areas – with ambitious targets for 2020, the bank said in a statement.
 
Renew Economy says Australia in danger of losing top 10 ranking in the global solar market. “The recently released International Energy Agency 2015 Snapshot Report show that the PV market grew again in 2015 to 50GW, up from 40GW in 2014. The total installed capacity in the IEA PVPS countries and key markets has risen to at over 227 GW and, unlike the Australian market, shows no signs of slowing. In Australia, with the Solar Flagships fields coming on line over 2015, the total installed capacity in was 935MW, keeping Australia in the top ten for installed capacity in 2015. But Australia may no longer keep its place in the top ten for installed capacity. India will almost certainly move up the table in 2016, leaving Australia at the bottom of the leader table. Korea and France are installing at a rate that could see Australia lose its long-held position in the top-ten countries for installed solar.
 
Bloomberg is reporting that wind and solar are experiencing unstoppable growth. “While two years of crashing prices for oil, natural gas, and coal triggered dramatic downsizing in those industries, renewables have been thriving. Clean energy investment broke new records in 2015 and is now seeing twice as much global funding as fossil fuels. One reason is that renewable energy is becoming ever cheaper to produce. Recent solar and wind auctions in Mexico and Morocco ended with winning bids from companies that promised to produce electricity at the cheapest rate, from any source, anywhere in the world, said Michael Liebreich, chairman of the advisory board for Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).”
 
Finishing on some news with big ramifications, a group of youngsters has had a major win in their efforts to sue the United States government over climate change. Think Progress reports an Oregon judge ruled Friday that their lawsuit, which alleges the government violated the constitutional rights of the next generation by allowing the pollution that has caused climate change, can go forward. Federal District Court Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin ruled against the federal government and fossil fuel companies’ motions to dismiss the case, deciding in favor of 21 young plaintiffs and Dr. James Hansen. Filed in August, the complaint alleges that the U.S. government has known for half a century that greenhouse gases from fossil fuels cause global warming and climate change. “If the allegations in the complaint are to be believed, the failure to regulate the emissions has resulted in a danger of constitutional proportions to the public health,” Coffin wrote. He called the lawsuit “unprecedented.”
 
And no that wasn’t a typographical error or spell checking changing, the presiding judge really is named Thomas Coffin. Quite a coincidence.
 

Photo: NASA
https://www.thenation.com/article/big-chill-tensions-arctic/


Editor’s note: Items that didn’t make the cut this week - see the Climate Comm Blog.
 
Disclaimer: Andrew Woodward is the endorsed Australian Labor Party Candidate for Warringah but contributes this column as a Climate Reality Leader and as such its content is strictly politically non-partisan.

CLIMATE COMMUNICATION PUBLICATIONS
 

• Responsibility Plus Bulletin (Tuesday): Read or Subscribe
• This Week In Climate Change (Thursday): Read or Subscribe
• Weekend Reading On Climate Change (Friday) : Read or Subscribe
• All Publications: Flipboard and Apple News App

 
MORE INFORMATION
 

• About me: I help marketing, advertising, communications, corporate affairs and sponsorship leaders do business in the age of climate change.
• Follow: @climatecomm
• Email: inbox@climatecommunication.net
• Visit: www.climatecommunication.net 
• Call: +61411623980
  

Must see
United Nations: April 22 Paris Agreement Signing in New York - Update to Event, Guide to Subsequent Ratification
 
Great Barrier Reef
Guardian: Great Barrier Reef: new chapter opens in the fight to save natural wonder from mining
Guardian: Greg Hunt rebuked by film-maker after Great Barrier Reef verdict
Guardian: Mass coral bleaching now affecting half of Australia's Great Barrier Reef
New York Times: Climate-Related Death of Coral Around World Alarms Scientists
 
Al Gore
Business Insider: Neil deGrasse Tyson and Al Gore on the future of our planet — and everything else
Buzzed: Attorneys General Will Investigate Energy Firms For Climate Deception this week
Harvard Gazette: Gore sees progress on climate change
Huffington Post: Al Gore calls for fossil fuel divestment at Harvard
 
Climate Communication
Responsibility Plus Bulletin
This Week in Climate Change
 
Economics
Climate Reality: The Truth About Climate Action and the Economy
Climate Group: Doubling todayâs share of renewables will create 24 million jobs, boost GDP by $1.3 trillion and save 4 million lives a year
World Resources Institute: Putting a Price on Carbon: Ensuring Equity
 
Energy
IRENA: 2015 Sets Record for Renewable Energy, New IRENA Data Shows
Grist: This chart shows the United States’ mind-blowing clean energy potential
Guardian: The death of US coal: industry on a steep decline as cheap natural gas rises
Northern Daily Leader: Wind farm go-ahead: $400m project near Glen Innes to create 200 jobs
One step off the grid: Calculating the return on investment of my Tesla Powerwall battery storage
Renew Economy: Nothing accidental about South Australia’s shift to clean energy
Renew Economy: Australia could be world leader in solar-powered electric vehicles
Vox: There are still 1,500 new coal plants being planned worldwide — enough to cook the planet
 
Impacts
ABC: Impact of climate change on daily diet means more kangaroo, less beef: research
Business Green: 57 tube stations at high risk of flooding, says London Underground report
Climate Reality Project: Not a pretty picture: Climate Change and health in four infographics
Guardian: Drought-stricken California looks to Australia for tips on recycling water
Renew Economy: The Coalition’s hidden carbon tax
Union of Concerned Scientists: Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate
 
Politics and policy
Grist: Clinton and climate activists have some real disagreements over fossil fuels
Guardian: Report highlights environmental dangers of leaving EU
Reuters: Political storm clouds outlook for Brazil's climate change plan
Sydney Morning Herald: If the CSIRO won't do research for the public good, who will?
The Conversation: CSIRO must ensure climate science is maintained
Washington Post: Obama’s rapid move to join the Paris climate agreement could tie up the next president
 
Marketing, communication and advocacy
Nothing this week.
 
Opinion
Nothing this week.
 
Science
Grist: The planet is a big, wobbly top — and melting ice is changing how it spins
Scientific American: Should the World Ditch the 2-Degree Celsius Target?
Shaping Tomorrow’s World: Consensus On Consensus
The Conversation: Burning fossil fuels is responsible for most sea-level rise since 1970
 
CLIMATE COMMUNICATION PUBLICATIONS
 

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• This Week In Climate Change: Read or Subscribe
• Weekend Reading On Climate Change: Read or Subscribe
• All Publications: Flipboard and Apple News App

 
MORE INFORMATION
 

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Over the course of three days, participants heard from world-class scientists, communicators, organisers, strategists, innovators, and of course, the Climate Reality Chairman and Former US Vice President, Al Gore.
 
The program taught the 700 in the room how to share their story, to understand the science, and how to inspire hope for an alternative way of doing things. Held in the Philippines, it was wonderful to have so many local people in attendance. I learnt both from them and the guest speakers the climate challenges faced by this southeast Asian archipelago, and the defiance and strength they have showed in the face of such adversity.
 
The Climate Reality Leaders came together connected by a shared apprehension about the state of our planet. They left with the ability and drive to recruit others to wield the collective energy it takes to make systemic and transformative change. The new Climate Reality Leaders are now part of a much greater group, united by solidarity, hope and action.

The scale of the challenge
 
As a farmer I am interested in producing enough food for a burgeoning global population and navigating unprecedented obstacles while reducing our environmental footprint are some of the defining challenges of our time.

A visit to the Philippines is a powerful reminder that we are dangerously pushing planetary boundaries. Due to our actions, climate change poses an existential threat to human rights. For the world’s poorest, life is a high-wire act, with no safety nets. Some of the people who will feel the impacts most acutely are those who live and work closest to the land – farmers.
 
Building resilience
 
By 2030 there will be an extra 1 billion people on this planet to feed. That is around 28 harvests away. In that time we must refine and redefine our production system.
 
Change is eminent and the challenge is immense, but we must push forward. The question is – how? The good news is that many of the tools needed to reduce carbon emissions and poverty in poor rural communities are quite basic. Technology to advance needs to be made available and affordable, access to finance for both men and women, insurance, improved crop and livestock varieties, education, healthcare, renewable energy and greater markets.
 
These efforts and others – to ensure social equity and uphold human rights – are needed to transform people’s lives. Greater resilience, stability, prosperity and sustainability will give farmers the security and dignity they so desperately need.
 
Farmers in wealthier nations can also support their less well off counterparts across the seas. Sharing knowledge plays a key role in understanding the environment in which farmers live and work, and developing best management practices. Reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions has beneficial influence to the globe. Providing skill training and helping to create social support structures can have long lasting value.
 
Lessons for Australia
 
The Paris Agreement has been signed and it is now time for the Australian government to step up and put in place a long-term plan to achieve the pollution reductions, including policies to clean up and modernise our energy sector. It is also up to us as individuals – as farmers – to innovate and excel in order to enhance our production, our natural environment, and our communities.
 
Australia will ratify the Paris Agreement on April 22 in New York. The agreement will be reviewed and upgraded in response to science, referring to the legally binding requirement that all countries periodically review and revise their pledges.
 
Australia needs to reduce emissions in line with what the experts recommend. To meet responsible 2030 reduction targets, and beyond, in a cost-effective manner, we will need bipartisan support to put a price on carbon. A mandatory emissions trading scheme (similar to the EU, China, California) is likely to be effective. A polluter-pays principle approach will ensure that those doing the damage pay for it.
 
There is a need for complementary fundamental climate change research, adaptation and mitigation measures. It is imperative that research funding levels are not just sustained but increased. To make informed decisions we need access to the best information on the climate system and appropriate responses. Australia must continue to provide leadership in all aspects of climate change research.
 
Innovation and productivity have long underpinned Australia’s agricultural prosperity and competitiveness. Investment in research and development has enabled this. It has been the farmers’ commitment to continuous improvement based on that R&D that the Australian agricultural sector is a global leader. Farmers use the best knowledge available to make decisions on the land, to ensure our agricultural practices are sustainable.
 
Practical solutions are available right now. Farmers can help capture carbon through soil sequestration projects and afforestation, and reduce GHG emissions through appropriate use of fertilisers and managing better livestock feed and bloodlines. Clean, reliable and affordable renewable energy is ready to be harnessed. We are blessed with open skies and vast horizons – the potential for solar and wind energy are huge.
  
The Climate Reality Leadership Corps provided me with greater knowledge on how climate change is impacting different regions of the world, and reinforced the science behind this complex and intricate transformation. I will use this new knowledge to improve the conversations I have on this topic.
  
The networks formed were a central value of this workshop. It was wonderful to meet with so many proactive and inspiring people from all over the world working in climate change action roles. Forming partnerships between sectors and collaborating is an important step in tackling climate change in an effective and efficient manner.

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants graduated at Climate Reality Leaders. Armed with new knowledge and skills, they are ready to promote a better way and accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy.

Photo: ​Jojo Mamangun

People care about their health. This is obvious in the top three 2016 New Year’s resolutions were “enjoy life to the fullest”, “live a healthier lifestyle” and “lose weight”. And not only do we care about our own health, we care about the health of our children, the health of our friends, partners, extended families and even the health of strangers. So many people in our communities undertake selfless acts to help others – volunteering, donating to charities, donating blood and even donating organs. But how many people know that the biggest threat to health is climate change?

It wasn’t until I became a medical student that I became aware of the links between climate change and health. Once I knew, there was little I could do to avoid improving my knowledge and taking action on this. Climate change and health grew to consume just as much of my time and energy as my medical degree. I began working with other passionate young people who had the same vision to improve the health of our planet and the people living on it.

The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations taken on the ambitious mission of ensuring that every medical student and other young people are aware of the health effects of climate change and have the resources to share this knowledge with others and effectively advocate for action. One of the means to achieve this has been the development of a training manual, titled Climate and Health: Enabling Students and Young Professionals to Understand and Act Upon Climate Change Using a Health Narrative. Over 15 authors, all medical students and junior doctors, across five continents came together to create this tool with the support of the World Health Organization and collaboration with the United Nations Alliance on Climate Change Education, Training and Public Awareness.

We realised that there are very few resources available that explain the links between climate change and health in a language that young people and the general population can understand. UNFCCC Communications and Outreach Coordinator, Nick Nuttall states in this manual that “everyone needs to be equipped with an understanding of the evolving risks but also the opportunities for improved lives and livelihoods from acting on climate change and realizing sustainable development”.

The manual is split into two sections: “knowledge” and “capacity building”. The knowledge section looks at climate science, the concepts of health, social determinants of health, the health impacts of climate change as well as the health co-benefits of action on climate change such as cleaner air, better diets and more opportunity to exercise. We also go into detail about international politics on climate change, including key moments, the role of health in the negotiations and the planning and outcomes of the Paris Agreement. The capacity building section looks at practical ways to apply the knowledge of climate change, health and politics. We go into detail about educating, running workshops and campaigning, based on methods used by IFMSA students from around the world. We also provide template workshop agendas and links to many resources for further reading and specific topics.

Our motives for creating this manual are multi-faceted. We are entering a profession where our core-business is the health and wellbeing of individuals and our communities. In addition to this, our careers will span over the following decades, when we will be dealing with the increasing health impacts of climate change. As we have been repeatedly told, our generation is the first that is dealing with the consequences of climate change and the last that has the opportunity to act.
​
The health impacts of climate change are numerous and complex, but with the right policies, there are many health benefits that can be achieved. We hope that this training manual will be widely utilised by students, young professionals and the wider community in the work towards achieving a healthier future. ​

What’s becoming clearer and clearer in the environment movement is the move to the mainstream of the economic implications of climate change. For many years it was academia, think tanks, environment groups and others warning of the economic consequences. While they’re still doing this, and forcefully, and well, more and more central bankers, high level economic groups and mega business are buying into the issue. With good reason, too.
 
Reuters reports trillions of dollars of non-bank financial assets around the world are vulnerable to the effects of global warming. This is according to a study on Monday that says tougher action to curb greenhouse gas emissions makes sense for investors. “Rising temperatures and the dislocation caused by related droughts, floods and heatwaves will slow global economic growth and damage the performance of stocks and bonds, according to the report, led by the London School of Economics. "It makes financial sense to a risk-neutral investor to cut emissions, and even more so to the risk-averse," lead author Professor Simon Dietz, an environmental economist, told Reuters. If the rise were limited to 2C by 2100, the study's central scenario put the total of current financial assets that could be damaged at $1.7 trillion. But if the temperature rose a further 0.5C by the end of the century, $2.5 trillion would be at risk under the most likely scenario.
 
Climate change poses a serious danger to public health – worse than polio in some respects – and will strike especially hard at pregnant women, children, low-income people and communities of color, an authoritative US government report warned on Monday. The Guardian said a report formally unveiled at the White House, warned of sweeping risks to public health from rising temperatures in the coming decades – with increased deaths and illnesses from heat stroke, respiratory failure and diseases such as West Nile virus. “Every American is vulnerable to the health impacts associated with climate change,” John Holdren, the White House science adviser, told reporters on Monday. “Some are more vulnerable than others,” he went on. These included pregnant women, children, the elderly, outdoor workers, low-income people, immigrants, communities of color and those with disabilities or pre-existing medical conditions.
 
In Australia, Conservationists and traditional owners have been floored by Queensland’s decision to grant mining leases for Adani’s mega-coalmine while two court challenges are unresolved. The Guardian reports the Queensland government has cleared the last major state hurdle for the Indian miner to proceed with its $22bn coalmine (which would be Australia’s largest), rail and port project in the Galilee Basin and at Abbot Point. But even Adani says it won’t make a final investment decision on the project until legal challenges by “politically motivated activists” are concluded, and it has the last approvals it needs. Two groups fighting the mine in separate court battles have accused the state government of a morally bankrupt backflip that endangers the Great Barrier Reef and trashes Indigenous rights. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) traditional owners both said the mines minister, Anthony Lynham, gave assurances that no leases would be issued until their court challenges were resolved.

Despite the approvals and subsequent uproar, many say in financial markets say the mine will never proceed. Respected columnist Michael West in the Sydney Morning Herald said the approvals were simply a political move. “Adani is not going to happen; the construction, that is, of the leviathan Carmichael mine, the world's largest thermal coal mine in the hinterland of the Great Barrier Reef. Much is the wailing and gnashing of teeth at the move by the Queensland government to approve the project but this approval is entirely political. The evidence is compelling. Carmichael is the whitest of white elephants. It is all about the appearance of commitment to jobs, jobs that will never occur unless the coal price doubles, and it is about the government not getting bashed up by the opposition for being anti-jobs and abandoning its election commitments. Even Adani is coy. No sooner had the Indian conglomerate been granted approval than it deferred the project for another year. Buried in the detail of its press release was this: "opportunity for final investment decision and construction in 2017”.”
 
Still in Australia, Renew Economy reports Australia’s electricity emissions continue to rise and are now 5.5 per cent higher than they were before the carbon price was dumped, putting Australia against the global trend which is seeing energy emissions flat-lining even as the global economy expands. “Pitt & Sherry analyst Hugh Saddler says in his latest monthly survey that total emissions from electricity generation in the National Electricity Market (all but Western Australia and the Northern Territory) increased again in the year to March 2016. Saddler blames the rise in emissions on a number of factors. One is the removal of the carbon price, which paved the way for more burning of coal, black coal in particular. Another is the rise in coal generation in Queensland to support the exports of liquefied natural gas – which will contribute an extra 8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year. A third is the increase in demand, driven largely by LNG requirements in Queensland but also rebounds in peak demand in other states, particularly in response to the unusually hot summer worsened by the “El Niño” effect, which has exacerbated the rise in global temperatures.”
 
In science news this week, The Conservation reports the summer of 2015-2016 was one of the hottest on record in Australia. But it has also been hot in the waters surrounding the nation: the hottest summer on record, in fact. “While summer on land has been dominated by significant warm spells, bushfires, and dryness, there is a bigger problem looming in the oceans around Australia. This summer has outstripped long-term sea surface temperature records that extend back to the 1950s. We have seen warm surface temperatures all around Australia and across most of the Pacific and Indian oceans, with particularly warm temperatures in the southeast and northern Australian regions,” The Conversation reported.
 
Finally, some good news from the auto industry. Inside EVs, reports plug-in electric vehicle sales have been on the rise of late – setting 5 consecutive monthly records, but March’s result was a whole other animal. “It was a beast. While the prior four monthly records have seen small year-over year gains, ranging from 3.8% to 12%, March obliterated all previous results for the month. And in so doing, also set a new all-time record for the United States for any month.
 
And EV’s got a big boost this week, according to Renew Economy. “Adios gas-powered cars.” That was the reaction of Barclays analyst Brian Johnston over the weekend to news that Tesla Motors had received orders for nearly 200,000 of its Model 3 electric vehicle in less than two days. “By nightfall on Saturday, that order tally had jumped to 276,000. That’s more than $US280 million in zero-cost capital to Tesla, from the $US1,000, $A1,500 and €1,000 deposits, and total orders for more than $A13 billion of electric vehicles. It is – by a long shot – the fastest growing customer order book in the history of the automobile industry. And for a car that will not even enter production for 18 months, and has a price tag of $US35,000.” If you want more coverage on the Tesla story, take a look at this week’s Responsibility Plus Bulletin.
 
Finally, the ABC is reporting, Australia will be among the first countries in the world to sign the Paris agreement on climate change, with a "very senior" representative being sent to a signing ceremony in New York later this month, according to government sources. “UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited heads of governments to partake in a formal signing ceremony. France, Canada, the United States and China have all indicated they will be sending senior government representatives to the occasion. Dozens of others are expected to attend,” the ABC reported. Now that’s good news.
 
Note: Andrew Woodward is the endorsed Australian Labor Party Candidate for Warringah but contributes this column as a Climate Reality Leader and as such its content is strictly politically non-partisan.
 
CLIMATE COMMUNICATION PUBLICATIONS
 

• Responsibility Plus Bulletin (Tuesday): Read or Subscribe
• This Week In Climate Change (Thursday): Read or Subscribe
• Weekend Reading On Climate Change (Friday) : Read or Subscribe
• All Publications: Flipboard and Apple News App

 
MORE INFORMATION
 

• About me: I help marketing, advertising, communications, corporate affairs and sponsorship leaders do business in the age of climate change.
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• Call: +61411623980
  

Must see
Beyond Zero Emissions: Australia as a renewable energy superpower – the business case for zero emissions transition
Bloomberg: China Wants to Power the World
New York Times: A Renewable Energy Boom
Renew Economy: Malcolm Turnbull has been our hottest PM. And that’s not OK
Sydney Morning Herald: Tony Abbott's harmful legacy lives on in climate silence
United Nations: United Nations and climate change
 
Al Gore
Nothing this week.
 
Climate Communication
Responsibility Plus Bulletin
This Week in Climate Change
 
Economics
ABC: World to face recession if climate change ignored: John Hewson
Climate Change News: 21 countries show how to grow GDP while cutting emissions
 
Energy
See the stories about the Tesla Model 3 car launch in Responsibility Plus Bulletin
Huffington Post: Clean Energy Is Worth Trillions, John Kerry Says
New York Times: China’s Carbon Emissions May Have Peaked, but It’s Hazy
 
Impacts
Huffington Post: Even Saudi Arabia Is Preparing For The End Of Oil
Huffington Post: Climate Change Will Make Us Sicker And Make Our Food Less Nutritious
New York Times: NASA Is Facing a Climate Change Countdown
 
Politics and policy
Age: No 'science for science sake': emails show CSIRO plans to abolish climate research
Bloomberg: Sorry, Republicans: Ending Obama's Climate Rules Is Harder Than It Looks
EcoWatch: This Country Isn't Just Carbon Neutral ... It's Carbon Negative
GreenBiz: Berkeley's journey from revolution to resilience
Guardian: Greg Hunt's claim of 'peak emissions' attacked by climate experts
One step off the grid: Thousands of Canberra homes to receive subsidised battery storage
Renew Economy: Canberra and Adelaide leading world in climate disclosure, action
 
Marketing, communication and advocacy
Buzzfeed: The Government Needed 22 Focus Groups To Create The Green Army Ad Campaign
Sydney Morning Herald: More than half of NSW sees coal and GSC negatively: poll
 
Opinion
Reuters: Half of natural World Heritage sites at risk from industry
 
Science
The Conversation: Veggie is the most low-carbon diet, right? Well, it depends where you live
Christian Science Monitor: How are birds coping as climate change turns up the heat? It's complicated.
Vox: An unprecedented disaster is unfolding in the Great Barrier Reef
NASA: A NASA first: Computer model links glaciers, global sea level
New York Times: Global Warming Gives Science Behind Nuclear Winter a New Purpose
 
CLIMATE COMMUNICATION PUBLICATIONS
 

• Responsibility Plus Bulletin: Read or Subscribe
• This Week In Climate Change: Read or Subscribe
• Weekend Reading On Climate Change: Read or Subscribe
• All Publications: Flipboard and Apple News App

 
MORE INFORMATION
 

• About me: I help marketing, advertising, communications, corporate affairs and sponsorship leaders do business in the age of climate change.
• Follow: @climatecomm
• Email: inbox@climatecommunication.net
• Visit: www.climatecommunication.net 
• Call: +61411623980
  

Must see
Grist: Scotland closes its last coal-fired power plant
New York Times: Wall Street’s Retreat From King Coal
Independent Australia: The crazy saga of the great CSIRO sell-off
The Nation: Global Warming’s Terrifying New Chemistry
The Nation: How Do You Decide to Have a Baby When Climate Change Is Remaking Life on Earth?
Renew Economy: Five things we learned about Malcolm’s attempts not to be Tony
 
Al Gore
Nothing this week.
 
Climate Communication
Responsibility Plus Bulletin
This Week in Climate Change
 
Economics
Sustainable Brands: How the World’s Most Wasteful Country Is Leading the Shift to a Circular Economy
 
Energy
GreenBiz: The new clean energy powers: Europe slides, developing nations surge
Grist: 9 figures to help you understand the state of renewable energy
Renew Economy: Rooftop solar could provide nearly half of US electricity demand
The Conversation: FactCheck Q&A: is Australia the world leader in household solar power?
Vox: Wind and solar are growing at a stunning pace (just not enough to stop climate change)
 
Impacts
Climate Reality: Striking NASA Selfies Show the Earth Is Changing
The Conversation: Will global warming make you fat?
 
Politics and policy
Guardian: The good, the bad and the shell game – what Turnbull's clean energy shift means
Guardian: Climate change may be a burning issue – but election campaign tells another story
The Conversation: Turnbull's renewable fund could drive much-needed investment, but…
 
Marketing, communication and advocacy
Nothing this week.
 
Opinion
The Conversation: Times demand a Sustainable Development Commission to replace the Productivity Commission
 
Science
ABC-TV - 7.30 Report: Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching at 95 per cent in northern section, aerial survey reveals
Guardian: New survey finds a growing climate consensus among meteorologists
The Conversation: What does the science really say about sea-level rise?
The Conversation: Farming in 2050: storing carbon could help meet Australia's climate goals
The Conversation: Mass extinctions and climate change: why the speed of rising greenhouse gases matters
 
CLIMATE COMMUNICATION PUBLICATIONS
 

• Responsibility Plus Bulletin: Read or Subscribe
• This Week In Climate Change: Read or Subscribe
• Weekend Reading On Climate Change: Read or Subscribe
• All Publications: Flipboard and Apple News App

 
MORE INFORMATION
 

• About me: I help marketing, advertising, communications, corporate affairs and sponsorship leaders do business in the age of climate change.
• Follow: @climatecomm
• Email: inbox@climatecommunication.net
• Visit: www.climatecommunication.net 
• Call: +61411623980