July 12 | Climate Now

The News for Thursday 12th of July 2018

Emissions goodnews / U.S. fossil fuel consumption reaches lowest share in a century Houston Chronicle

Extreme rains / Japan hit by worst weather disaster in decades: Why did so many die? Reuters

"The recent rainfall was unprecedented... “The government is just starting to realize that it needs to take steps to mitigate the impact of global warming,” said Takashi Okuma, an emeritus professor at Niigata University who studies disasters."

Photo credit: see #1 below

EU plan / European Commission kicks off process to update EU’s 2050 climate plan Carbon Pulse

"The European Commission will launch a 12-week consultation early next week on revising its long-term low-carbon development strategy – a plan that might take as long as two years to finalise, the EU’s climate chief said Tuesday."

Photo credit: Uwe / Flickr

Millenials / One Third Of 18-34 Year Olds ‘Very Worried’ About Climate Change Huffpost

"Almost one third (31%) of 18 to 34 year olds are very or extremely worried about climate change, according to new research. In comparison, only one fifth (19%) of over 65s identified as concerned."

Photo credit: GINOSPHOTOS VIA GETTY IMAGES

Carbon sequestering / Offset potential of California grasslands to exceed forests amid warming Carbon Pulse

"California grasslands offer a better chance of sequestering carbon than forests under higher temperatures and more intense drought, which researchers say is critical for offset project developers and regulators to consider..."

Photo credit: see #4 below

Sucking it up / CO₂ shortage: why can’t we just pull carbon dioxide out of the air?

Eco-Business

"Excess carbon dioxide is hurting our environment while the a shortage of it is stressing the food and drink industry. Here’s why capturing the most notorious greenhouse gas is not as simple as it seems."

Photo credit: Veeterzy, CC0 via Unsplash

China CO2 / Expectations dim for functional Chinese carbon market before 2020 -survey

Carbon Pulse

"Fewer people believe China’s national carbon market will be fully operational this decade, a new survey has revealed, as policy risks and expectations of lower allowance prices fuel pessimism and hold back industry from making... investment."

Photo credit: see #6 below

Photo Attributions

1st Picture: By Original: "Information for flood prevention" on The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Japan)（国土交通省）, Add animation: Peka (国土交通省「川の防災情報」Xバンドレーダ雨量分布中国、as of 2018-07-10) [CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

4th Picture: By U.S. Forest Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

6th Picture: By allen watkin, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32039098