China Set To Surpass Its Climate Targets As Renewables Soar

New Scientist

"The latest figures confirm China's record-breaking shift toward renewable energy, away from coal" 

China's future: who needs coal? Xu Yu/Xinhua Press/Corbis

CHINA is surging ahead in its switch to renewables and away from coal – a move it claims will allow the nation to surpass its carbon emissions targets.
The country's solar and wind energy capacity soared last year by 74 and 34 per cent respectively compared with 2014, according to figures issued by China's National Bureau of Statistics this week.
Meanwhile, its consumption of coal dropped by 3.7 per cent, with imports down by a substantial 30 per cent.
The figures back up claims made last month by Xie Zhenhua, China's lead negotiator at the UN climate talks in Paris last December, that the country will "far surpass" its 2020 target to reduce carbon emissions per unit of national wealth (GDP) by 40 to 45 per cent from 2005 levels.
"The latest figures confirm China's record-breaking shift toward renewable power and away from coal," says Tim Buckley of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, an energy consultancy in Cleveland, Ohio.
"It's a really positive signal, a perfect example of an emerging economy trying to shift the way it develops," says Ranping Song of the World Resources Institute think tank in Washington DC. China is due to issue its next five-year economic plan this month. "So it's a perfect time to see how serious they are about tackling emissions," Song says.

Global Warming May Be Far Worse Than Thought, Cloud Analysis Suggests

The Guardian - Oliver Milman

Researchers find clouds contain more liquid – as opposed to ice – than was previously believed, threatening greater increase in temperatures

Under a blanket of clouds, tourists watch a meltwater waterfall on an icecap. Photograph: Ralph Lee Hopkins/National Geographic Society/Corbis

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 world has already warmed by 1C since the advent of heavy industry, driven by CO₂ concentrations soaring by more than 40%.
A lack of data and continuing uncertainty over the role of clouds is to blame for the confusion about warming estimates, said Ivy Tan, a graduate student at Yale who worked on the research with academics from Yale and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
“Models have been systematically underestimating the amount of liquid in clouds, meaning that we aren’t fully appreciating the feedback,” she said. “It could mean our higher limit of warming is now even higher, depending on the model, which means serious consequences for us in terms of climate change.
“This is one of the largest uncertainties left in climate change. We need to understand these feedbacks a lot better.”
Scientists have been trying to get to grips with the extent clouds and water vapor will influence the warming already under way. A paper published last year found that short-term fluctuations in clouds have large impacts on the net rate of heat gain by the Earth.
One of this paper’s authors, Dr Kevin Trenberth, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said research has already shown “major errors in climate simulations associated with clouds”.
Trenberth said there is “some art” to working out the role of clouds, given their annual cycles and distribution, with uncertainty over whether climate sensitivity is significantly changed.
“I think the paper is fine as a first step but it is not the last step, and much more is needed to establish how clouds change as the climate changes,” Trenberth said of the Yale study.

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Barrier Reef Coral Bleaching Labelled 'Major And Significant' As Attenborough Warns Of 'Grave Danger'

ABC News - Stephanie Smail | Kerrin Binnie

'Twin perils threaten its very existence'

Sir David Attenborough says the Great Barrier Reef faces twin perils from climate change. (Supplied)

Coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef is "major and significant", federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt says.

Key points: Full severity of bleaching not yet clear, Minister says Global warming 'threatens reef's existence': Attenborough Some reef growth observed in southern areas

Mr Hunt was commenting after he received his latest briefing from the Reef 2050 Independent Expert Panel about the current bleaching.
The Minister's latest remarks come as prominent naturalist Sir David Attenborough declared the reef to be in "grave danger".
"The event is still unfolding and the full extent and severity of bleaching may take several weeks to manifest," Mr Hunt said.
He said the most severe bleaching had been observed between Cape York and Cooktown on the far northern part of the reef.
It has increased between Cooktown and Tully with moderate to severe bleaching listed.
"If major disturbances such as bleaching events occur more regularly, this will affect the reef's ability to recover," Mr Hunt said.
Coral bleaching occurs due to increases in water temperature.
Bleaching can kill or stunt the recovery of the coral.

Sir David Attenborough says the Great Barrier Reef could be gone within decades. (ABC News)

In a documentary being aired on the ABC this weekend, Sir David said while the reef had proven itself to be resilient, it was in "grave danger".
"The twin perils brought by climate change, an increase in the temperature of the ocean and in its acidity threaten its very existence," Sir David said.
"Do we really care so little about the Earth on which we live that we don't wish to protect one of its greatest wonders from the consequences of our behaviour."
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is expected to release an update on the state of the reef in coming days.
Australian Institute of Marine Science chief executive John Gunn said while there had been bleaching across the northern reef, there has been some growth elsewhere.
"In the south, we've seen an almost doubling in the amount of coral that we last saw in 2012," Mr Gunn said.
"From a really low base, it's the worst conditions for the reef previously but it has rebounded quite excitingly.
"The centre of the reef has rebounded as well."
But Mr Gunn said coral cover had dropped across northern sections of the reef.
"Largely we can see this is the result, as in 2012, of storms, bleaching and crown of thorns that are the primary killers of the Great Barrier Reef," he said.

Part one of David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef can be seen from 7:40pm this Sunday on ABC TV.

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