May 2016 Sets New Records

World Meteorological Organization

Global temperature records were broken yet again in May 2016, according to data just released by NASA, which also reported that it was the hottest (northern hemisphere) spring on record. The Japan Meteorological Agency ranked May 2016 as close second to May 2015.
The heat has been especially pronounced in the Arctic, resulting in a very early onset of the annual melting of Arctic sea ice and the Greenland ice sheet. Snow cover in the northern hemisphere was exceptionally low.
The record temperatures in May were accompanied by other extreme events, including very heavy precipitation in parts of Europe and the southern USA, and widespread and severe coral reef bleaching. 
"The state of the climate so far this year gives us much cause for alarm," said David Carlson, Director of the World Climate Research Programme. "Exceptionally high temperatures. Ice melt rates in March and May that we don't normally see until July. Once-in-a-generation rainfall events. The super El Niño is only partly to blame. Abnormal is the new normal."
"The rapid changes in the Arctic are of particular concern. What happens in the Arctic affects the rest of the globe. The question is will the rate of change continue? Will it accelerate? We are in uncharted territory."

Advances in research and observations have increased our understanding of the climate system, and there has also been progress in the science of "attribution" to determine whether a specific extreme weather event was linked to human-caused climate change or to natural climate variability.
The strong El Niño – which has now dissipated – fuelled the high temperatures witnessed so far in 2016. But the underlying cause of global warming remains greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities.
The human-caused rise in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is being given an extra boost this year by the El Niño say a team of climate scientists led by the UK's Met Office, in a paper published in Monday's edition of the journal: Nature Climate Change. As a result, 2016 will be the first year with concentrations above 400 parts per million (ppm) all year round in the iconic Mauna Loa carbon dioxide record.
Richard Betts, of the Met Office Hadley Centre and University of Exeter, is the lead author on the paper. He said: "The atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is rising year-on-year due to human emissions, but this year it is getting an extra boost due to the recent El Niño event. This warms and dries tropical ecosystems, reducing their uptake of carbon, and exacerbating forest fires. Since human emissions are now 25% greater than in the last big El Niño in 1997/98, this all adds up to a record CO2 rise this year."

Temperatures
May was the hottest May on record. Above-average temperatures were especially pronounced in high northern latitudes, according NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. It was the hottest spring (March-April-May) on record. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration still has to issue its global temperature figures for May.
Alaska had its warmest spring on record by a wide margin.  According to Finnish Meteorological Institute statistics, the average temperature in May was 3-5°C higher than usual in most parts of Finland. The all-time record for the average temperature in May was broken at about 20 observation stations.  Most recently, Nuuk in Greenland, saw a June record of 24.8°C on 9 June.
Australia had its warmest autumn on record at 1.86 °C above average, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. More than 53% of the country experienced highest on record mean temperatures, because of strong El Niño Water temperatures to the north and northwest of Australia.

Snow and ice cover
May 2016 set a new record low for the month for the period of satellite observations, at 12.0 million square kilometers (4.63 million square miles), following on previous record lows this year in January, February, and April, according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. May's average ice extent is 580,000 square kilometers (224,000 square miles) below the previous record low for the month set in 2004, and 1.39 million square kilometers (537,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 long-term average.
During the month, daily sea ice extents tracked about 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) below any previous year in the 38-year satellite record. The monthly average extent for May 2016 is more than one million square kilometers (386,000 square miles) below that observed in May 2012.
The Northern Hemisphere had exceptionally low snow coverage for both April and May of 2016 and a record low spring (March, April, and May), as reported from 50 years of mapping by Rutgers University's Global Snow Lab.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on May 20 that Barrow, Alaska recorded the earliest snowmelt (snow-off date) in 78 years of recorded climate history. Typically snow retreats in late June or early July, but this year the snowmelt began on May 13, ten days earlier than the previous record for that location set in 2002.

Precipitation
From period 28 to 31 May, France witnessed exceptional rainfall. For instance, the department of Loiret saw 92.9 mm in 3 days which is without precedent in the past 30 years. Such amounts are only seen once every 10-50 years according to Météo-France. Paris received 3 months worth of rainfall in a month and May was the wettest month since 1960.
Southeast Texas had record flooding. An additional 2-5 inches of rain in the last 24 hours in Southeast Texas where intense storms in the previous 24 hours had totals exceeding 10 inches is causing record floods.

Coral bleaching
The Coral Sea (including the Great Barrier Reef), and the Tasman Sea were highest on record for extended periods since late summer 2016, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. These warm waters have also contributed to surface temperature warmth over Australia and unprecedented bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, according to Australia's independent Climate Council.
There has been widespread bleaching of reefs in many other parts of the world.

Links

• NASA: World temperatures continue to rise
• Global climate experiencing 'fundamental change' says UNWMO: May 2016 Sets New Records
• Australia Simmers Through Hottest Autumn On Record
• Future Summers Could Regularly Be Hotter Than The Hottest On Record

Election 2016: Behind The Battlelines There's Surprising Agreement On Climate Change

Fairfax - Peter Martin

Every so often elections matter. The last one mattered big-time for carbon emissions.
In 2013, we voted to end the carbon tax. In its two years of life, emissions from electricity generation fell an exceptional 10.6 per cent. We now know that in the 21 months since they've climbed 5.6 per cent.

Illustration: Joe Benke

The extraordinary turnaround is appallingly timed for a country which in April signed the Paris Accord agreeing to attempt to hold the increase in global temperatures to between 1.5 and 2 degrees.
Pitt&Sherry energy analyst Hugh Saddler, who compiled the figures, says they are the result of an abrupt change in the mix of electricity generation "away from hydro and back to brown and black coal as removal of the carbon price changed the relative costs".
And a change in attitudes. The political messages that we helped create assured us that saving energy was no longer that important.

Illustration: John Shakespeare

"Many energy consumers appear to have lost interest in taking further steps to use energy more efficiently," Saddler says. "The impact of political leadership is not confined to policy decisions on carbon prices or renewable energy targets – it has an effect on energy consumption behaviour that should not be underestimated."



In Paris we agreed to work towards cutting net global emissions to zero by the second half of the century. Although our first offering was only to cut Australia's emissions to 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, the Paris process ensures that we will be asked to repeatedly revise it in line with what other countries are doing to meet the overarching target.

Steam rises from stacks at the Hazelwood power station, Latrobe Valley. Photo: Arsineh Houspian

Which means we need the means to achieve those reductions. "Direct Action", handouts from the $2.55 billion emissions reduction fund, won't do the trick. For one thing, a process by which bureaucrats assess grants and hand out money for worthy projects is inherently non-scalable. If we end up needing three times or 10 times or 20 times as many grants we would need three times or 10 times or 20 times the decision-making time. Even if we had it, the decision makers would get snowed by "anyway projects". They've no way of telling whether they are paying for work that would be done anyway. Upgrading lighting and increasing fuel efficiency makes sense and would happen whether or not the Commonwealth doled out money for it.
To its credit the Coalition is onto it. It'll review its emissions reductions policies next year, shortly after the election. It has more to work with than its rhetoric about direct action suggests. Buried within the Coalition's legislation, and to date dormant, are the bones of an emissions trading scheme. Big firms that emit more than a baseline will be required to buy credits from groups that are planting and conserving forests to suck emissions back in. A few simple tweaks would enable them to buy credits from competitors that had cut their emissions below the baseline and from overseas. It would be emissions trading as envisioned by the Rudd government and now being forwarded by Bill Shorten. If the baseline was progressively reduced as Labor proposes it would be indistinguishable.
But it wouldn't be enough, and Labor to its credit now recognises this. Its policy is to cut emissions to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 in accordance with advice from the Climate Change Authority. Whereas the Labor of old, and its climate change advisor, Ross Garnaut, thought all that would be needed would be to gradually tighten targets and let prices work their magic, it now recognises that in the real world that means firms closing, people suddenly losing their jobs, and lobbying to remove the scheme at the next election.
That's why its policy includes all sorts of other measures to ensure emissions fall more quickly and with more certainty than trading alone would achieve. Some borrow from direct action. In order to build renewables up to 50 per cent of generation by 2030 it will consider reverse auctions, where firms bid for a government-guaranteed price in order to build, the firms that ask for the lowest price winning. And it'll pay the dirtiest brown coal-fired power stations to close, although out of a levy placed on other power stations rather than its own funds.
It'll identify the regions likely to lose jobs (Victoria's Latrobe Valley is a prime candidate, housing Hazelwood, perhaps the world's dirtiest power station) and work with other employers to create alternative jobs ahead of time.
The Climate Institute's John Connor calls the approach "scaffolding". It is designed to ensure emissions come down predictably, rather than suddenly and frighteningly as the target date for zero net emissions approaches.
What's odd about the election we're in is that each side appears to have learnt from the other and each is likely to introduce a similar mix of policies should it find itself in office, assuming each genuinely supports the agreement signed in Paris.
There's less to vote about, but more chance of achieving lasting progress.


Election 2016: Opponents in agreement. The major parties seem to agree on something this election as The Age's Economics Editor Peter Martin explains.

Links

• This Is The Climate Change Election, Despite What Turnbull Or Shorten Say
• Why Has Climate Change Disappeared From The Australian Election Radar?
• Election 2016: What Are Our Leaders Really Thinking About Climate Change?
• Election 2016: Climate Change Policy A Vote Winner For Majority Of Australians

Revealed: First Mammal Species Wiped Out By Human-Induced Climate Change

The Guardian - Michael Slezak

Exclusive: scientists find no trace of the Bramble Cay melomys, a small rodent that was the only mammal endemic to Great Barrier Reef

The Bramble Cay melomys has become extinct, Australian scientists say. Photograph: Queensland government

Human-caused climate change appears to have driven the Great Barrier Reef's only endemic mammal species into the history books, with the Bramble Cay melomys, a small rodent that lives on a tiny island in the eastern Torres Strait, being completely wiped-out from its only known location.
It is also the first recorded extinction of a mammal anywhere in the world thought to be primarily due to human-caused climate change.
An expert says this extinction is likely just the tip of the iceberg, with climate change exerting increasing pressures on species everywhere.
The rodent, also called the mosaic-tailed rat, was only known to live on Bramble Cay a small coral cay, just 340m long and 150m wide off the north coast of Queensland, Australia, which sits at most 3m above sea level.
It had the most isolated and restricted range of any Australian mammal, and was considered the only mammal species endemic to the Great Barrier Reef.
When its existence was first recorded by Europeans in 1845, it was seen in high density on the island, with sailors reporting they shot the "large rats" with bows and arrows. In 1978, it was estimated there were several hundred on the small island.
But the melomys were last seen in 2009, and after an extensive search for the animal in 2014, a report has recommended its status be changed from "endangered" to "extinct".
Led by Ian Gynther from Queensland's Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, and in partnership with the University of Queensland, the survey laid 150 traps on the island for six nights, and involved extensive measurements of the island and its vegetation.
In their report, co-authored by Natalie Waller and Luke Leung from the University of Queensland, the researchers concluded the "root cause" of the extinction was sea-level rise. As a result of rising seas, the island was inundated on multiple occasions, they said, killing the animals and also destroying their habitat.
It was estimated the area of the cay above high tide has decreased from 4ha in 1998 to 2.5ha in 2014. And worse for the melomys, they lost 97% of their habitat in just 10 years, with vegetation cover declining from 2.2ha in 2004 to just 0.065ha in 2014.
"For low-lying islands like Bramble Cay, the destructive effects of extreme water levels resulting from severe meteorological events are compounded by the impacts from anthropogenic climate change-driven sea-level rise," the authors said in their report.
Globally, averaged sea level has risen by almost 20cm between 1901 and 2010, a rate unparalleled in any period during the last 6,000 years. But around the Torres Strait, sea level appears to have risen at almost twice the global average rate between 1993 and 2014.
"Significantly, this probably represents the first recorded mammalian extinction due to anthropogenic climate change," the researchers said in their report, quietly published on the Queensland government's website last week.
As a result, the Queensland government website now recommends suggested recovery actions not be taken. "Because the Bramble Cay melomys is now confirmed to have been lost from Bramble Cay, no recovery actions for this population can be implemented," it says.
Although small, the island is significant for many people and animals. It is the most important breeding ground for green turtles and a number of seabirds in the Torres Strait, the researchers said, and has long been visited by its traditional custodians, the Darnley Islanders, who caught fish, turtles and birds.
The authors said the IUCN lists one other mammal that was driven to extinction, partly by extreme weather – the Little Swan Island hutia – but introduced cats on the island were considered the main driver of extinction.
In contrast, the researchers say the melomys was driven to extinction due "solely (or primarily) to anthropogenic climate change".
The one hope for the species, the authors say, is that there might be an undiscovered population in Papua New Guinea. They say the melomys might have arrived on Brambles Cay on rafting debris from the Fly River region of Papua New Guinea. If that is true, then either the Brambles Cay melomys, or a close relative, may still live undiscovered there.

There is absolutely no doubt we will lose species due to the increasing pressures being exerted by climate change.

John White, Deakin University

The authors recommend targeted surveys in Papua New Guinea be carried out, to see if they are there.
John White, an ecologist from Deakin University in Australia, who was not involved in the study, said this extinction is the tip of the iceberg. "I am of absolutely no doubt we will lose species due to the increasing pressures being exerted by climate change," he said. "Species restricted to small, low lying islands, or those with very tight environmental requirements are likely to be the first to go."
A report in 2015 found one sixth of the world's species face extinction due to climate change, and scientists have warned that the world is on the edge of the sixth mass extinction.
"Certainly, extinction and climatic change has gone hand in hand throughout the history of the world," he said. "So, if this is one of the first, it is more than likely not going to be the last."

Links

• One in six of world's species faces extinction due to climate change – study
• The Earth stands on the brink of its sixth mass extinction and the fault is ours
• 'It's so beautiful': Indigenous rangers spot rare golden-coloured mole in desert

Renewable Energy Jobs: Future Growth in Australia

Climate Council - Andrew Stock

Building 50% renewables by 2030 would create more than 28,000 jobs nationally, new research by Ernst & Young (EY) and the Climate Council has found.
The Renewable Energy: Future Jobs and Growth report finds that 50% renewable electricity by 2030 will create almost 50% more employment than our business as usual trajectory (34% renewables by 2030).

Key Findings
This report compares two scenarios for the national energy sector – business as usual renewable energy growth (34% renewable electricity in 2030) and 50% of electricity derived from renewable sources in Australia by 2030. Both scenarios show increased uptake of renewable electricity will create employment nation-wide.

• 50% Renewable Electricity (50RE) scenario in 2030 will lead to over 28,000 new jobs, nearly 50% more employment than a business as usual (BAU) scenario.
• Jobs are created in the construction, operation and maintenance of renewable energy installations, as well as in related industries.
• Across the period 2014- 2030, over 80% of full-time employment created by 50RE is additional to the economy.
• Job losses in coal fired electricity generation are more than compensated for by increased employment in the renewable energy sector. However, the transition for employees in the fossil fuel sector must be planned well.

The net effect on jobs of 50RE is positive across Australia and each individual state: every state will experience net job growth.

• New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland will have the largest net growth in jobs, around 11,000 and 6,000 respectively.
• South Australia and NSW will experience the largest per capita jobs growth.
• Victoria will see a net gain of around 4,000 jobs by 2030.

Unlike other industry transitions such as in automotive manufacturing and steel smelting, which have seen many jobs move offshore, a transition to 50RE will create jobs in Australia.

• A large proportion of new jobs gained in the electricity supply sector by 2030 will stem from construction and installation activities related to renewable energy infrastructure. Many of these jobs will be additional to the economy, though location and skills may differ from those currently in demand.
• Most states will see half of all new jobs created in rooftop solar photovoltaics (PV): rooftop solar PV jobs are generally accessible, being located in areas where people already live and work.
• Utility scale renewable power in regional and remote Australia may well offer opportunities to increase employment in those regions.
• Job creation and job transition, together with infrastructure planning, would benefit from a long-term, sector-wide approach to managing the accelerated renewable electricity deployment.

Links

• Download the report
• New world record set for cheapest solar power
• Game On: The Australian Renewable Energy Race Heats Up
• ALERT: Climate Change and Coral Bleaching
• Abnormal Autumn 2016
• Climate change is destroying our reefs. We must phase out coal

Climate Change Makes A Comeback – With The Help Of Social Media

The Conversation - David Holmes

AAP/Lukas Coch

In what has been shaping up as the election that forgot climate change, there are signs emerging in the Coalition's election campaign that it is starting to listen to polls, its own focus groups and social media chat on climate.
So far it is the Great Barrier Reef that has drawn out the biggest campaign fight on climate.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that A$1 billion of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) fund would be directed towards a Reef Fund. 10% of the money from the CEFC will be quarantined to make loans available to farmers in North Queensland.
While Turnbull declared the greatest threat to the reef was global warming, he nevertheless specified that the run-off from farming into the reef was what would be tackled. This is seen to be a measure that could prolong the reef in a region where the Coalition is at risk of losing some marginal seats.
So, one pitch is that saving the reef is about retaining 70,000 jobs that it sustains. But a less believable pitch is that the fund will battle climate change, with Turnbull saying that solar panels for farms in the region will reduce reliance on diesel, and that farmers would have loans for more energy-efficient farm equipment.
Labor's shadow environment minister, Mark Butler, derided the Reef Fund as a "shameless exercise in spin" insofar as such loans have already been available to farmers for years.
Not far from the reef, in the Galilee Basin, is one of the largest coal deposits in the world, which both Labor and the Coalition have approved mining leases for, but which the Greens' Larissa Waters insisted must be stopped if we are not going to:

… further cook the reef.

But on Monday night on the ABC's Q&A, Bill Shorten reaffirmed Labor's commitment to coal. He said:

A Labor government isn't going to ban coal mining in this country … Coal is going to be part of our energy mix for the foreseeable future.

At the same time, he acknowledged:

… when we talk about the reef and when we talk about climate change, they are inextricably linked.

But Shorten's message was identical to Turnbull's in referring to jobs, saying that:

… good environments generate good jobs. 70,000 people make a living from the reef. It generates $6 billion in turnover for the Australian economy.

Weather and climate
In another climate change publicity opportunity, in the wash-up of the east coast storm last week, Shorten and Turnbull spent a day surveying the flood damage in Tasmania – but only Turnbull ventured so far as to link the floods to climate change.
While Shorten was happy to link climate change to the reef, he did not want to go near linking climate and weather:

In terms of climate and weather, today for me is not a day where I will join the dots about extreme weather events.

But Turnbull had no such hesitation. In a rare moment, the Turnbull of old came out in a moment that harked back to his days as environment minister, when he had no problem talking up the dangers of climate change:

Certainly, larger and more frequent storms are one of the consequences that the climate models and climate scientists predict from global warming but you cannot attribute any particular storm to global warming, so let's be quite clear about that.

Turnbull is incorrect about subtropical lows becoming more frequent, but he is right about climate scientists' forecasts that storms will get bigger.
If national policies in Australia and around the world are not calibrated to the 2℃ guardrail, the energy we saw released by last week's storms will pale compared to what might be in store for future generations.
Referring to the Eemian period of 120,000 years ago, which was the last time the global average temperature was as high as the threshold that the Paris agreement is trying to avoid, scientists are uncovering evidence of storms that were of an order not compatible with the built environments of today's human settlements.
In recent research, James Hansen, the author of the book Storms Of My Grandchildren, points to the puzzle of giant rocks in the Bahamas, up to one thousand tonnes, that are in a place they just shouldn't be. Scientists warn these geological freaks harbour a terrifying secret – epic superstorms capable of tossing around boulders like bored Olympians.
But so as to reassure voters, both leaders did talk up the importance of mitigating damage (through the likes of building levies) – but not mitigating climate change itself.
While it was remarkable for Turnbull to discuss climate change at all in this election campaign, he failed to join the dots between the adequacy of the Coalition's emissions reduction targets for Australia realising a responsible contribution to avoiding a 2℃ threshold.

Social media as a barometer of climate concern
A likely explanation as to why Turnbull in particular is reasserting climate change and the reef as an issue – but not asserting any kind of policy that will fix it – may be his reverence for the power of social media, and what it is telling his media team about neglecting climate change.
An analysis of 150,000 conversations on social media in Australia for the first three weeks of the election campaign reveals climate change is among the top five political topics Australians are talking about on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs.
More than half of the discourse is negative towards each leader, with only 22% positive about Turnbull and 35% positive on Shorten. But of these posts, grouped around leaders, the only issue (other than negative gearing) that is common to discussion of both leaders is climate change. Climate change also stands out as the only issue in the top five that was not being aired by the leaders.
The analysis, by Meltwater, is significant in that it is so different from a poll. Those who answer a poll know that it will be aggregated and is likely to have a political impact. Their answers may not actually reflect their concerns as much as it does the desire to have an impact.
Analysis of social media, however, is more likely to capture the "backstage" of what people are actually concerned about in their daily conversations.
Could it be that, buried in these backstage conversations, are clues as to why voters are turning away from the major parties? And that neglect of climate change is a big part of this? Could it also be why the major parties have made panicked preference decisions to block the Greens and independents, who combined may capture 25% of the national vote?
There is evidence also that the Coalition's announcements on the Great Barrier Reef are calculated to neutralise social media concern about it as an issue.
Perhaps it is its focus groups or it could be simply the impact of talk show mega-star Ellen DeGeneres' "Remember the Reef" video-message campaign.
The campaign, which is also part of a promotion for a new film, Finding Dory, has seen Disney, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority collaborate on raising awareness about the threats to the reef.
But more remarkable than this campaign was the barrage of tweets from Environment Minister Greg Hunt, strenuously defending the government's management of the reef.
A further tweet personally invited DeGeneres out to visit the reef to allay her fears. But the fear is mostly coming from Hunt it seems, that the Disney campaign really could get out of control, based on an animated movie that is to be screened just two weeks out from election day.

Links

• A Technical Feasibility Study of Steelmaking by Molten Oxide Electrolysis
• Global coal demand stalls after more than a decade of relentless growth
• The World Nears Peak Fossil Fuels for Electricity
• Coalition turns Clean Energy Finance Corp into election slush fund

YourVote: Great Barrier Reef Should Be Prioritised Over Coal Mining, Survey Shows

Fairfax - Nicole Hasham

A thumping majority of Australians want the health of the Great Barrier Reef prioritised over coal mining, according to a survey of more than 63,000 Fairfax Media readers.
People living in mining states, the lower-educated, older people and men were less likely to agree to such a trade-off.

Queensland's Abbot Point, surrounded by wetlands and coral reefs, is set to become the worlds largest coal port.

However the result suggests neither major party has fully grasped the strength of public sentiment for protecting the natural wonder, which is suffering from declining water quality, and record coral bleaching largely caused by warming oceans.
An analysis of Fairfax Media's YourVote tool, which gauges respondents' beliefs to determine their political leanings, shows about 49,900 respondents – or 79 per cent - "strongly agree" or "agree" that the health of the Great Barrier Reef should be prioritised over coal mining.
Conservationists say the coal industry affects the reef because Queensland projects require port infrastructure, including dredging near the reef, and coal must be shipped through the sensitive marine environment. They also say coal burning more generally contributes to global warming, and subsequent coral bleaching.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy on board the sealink off Magnetic Island near Townsville. Photo: Andrew Meares

Support for protecting the reef over mining was stronger among women (84 per cent) than men (77 per cent).
Such sentiment was lowest in states and territories where mining is a large part of the economy: Queensland (73 per cent), the Northern Territory (75 per cent) and Western Australia (76 per cent).
Those who did not finish high school or undertake further education were also less likely to want the reef's health prioritised over coal mining than those with vocational training or university qualifications.

Labor leader Bill Shorten on a visit to Green Island, off Cairns. Photo: Jason Edwards

A slightly smaller proportion of respondents aged 65 or over were likely to agree with the proposition, while it had highest support among those aged 18-34.
University of Sydney professor Ariadne Vromen, a political sociologist who is advising Fairfax Media on the YourVote project, said the results suggested that neither major party were as committed as respondents were to prioritising the reef over coal, adding "this is actually a really important issue that most Australians agree on".
"The Great Barrier Reef has world heritage status and Australians clearly appreciate what that means," she said.
Both major parties have made significant pre-election pledges to help protect the reef. However critics including the Greens have called for more drastic measures, including blocking new or expanded coal and gas mines such as Adani's proposed Carmichael mine in central Queensland.

Slime blankets coral reef. The effects of coral bleaching include the formation of an insidious layer of slime, now coating a vast area of the Great Barrier Reef, scientists say.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday defended the government's stance on cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions, insisting "heroic efforts by one country … are futile" and nations must act "in a co-ordinated way".
But Australian National University professor Howard Bamsey, a former government negotiator in global climate action, said this rhetoric ignored the economic opportunities created by boldly cutting emissions.
That positive paradigm was "the biggest change in global climate policy in the last seven or eight years", he said.
"Acting unilaterally, providing you have chosen which direction and actions wisely, can make sense for the economy," Professor Bamsey said.
An international effort based on unilateral action would create "a new climate economy" driven by competition. Australia's dependency on emissions-intensive industries meant "we have more to gain in making sure we are not left behind," he said.

Links

• Slime blankets coral reef
• Ellen's Great Barrier Reef campaign
• Coalition's $1 billion funding promise for Great Barrier Reef
• The Great Barrier Reef report the government can't hide from the media
• The real story on the Great Barrier Reef

Renewables Are Poised To Put Global Fossil Fuel Investment To Shame

Grist - Katie Herzog

Shutterstock

As the cost of wind and solar plummets and technology improves, global renewable energy generation is poised to outdo gas in just over a decade, according to an analysis from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
The report, New Energy Outlook 2016, forecasts investments of $7.8 trillion in renewables by 2040. That's much more than what will be invested in fossil fuels, putting renewables on track to overtake gas by 2027 and coal by 2038.

Annual electricity output by the major generating technologies, 2016-40, thousand TWh

Even that massive growth in renewables isn't nearly enough, especially to keep us under the global goal of 2 degrees Celsius of warming. To prevent the worst of climate change, according to Bloomberg, the world will need to see an additional $5.3 trillion in zero-carbon energy.
Fossil fuels are still going to still attract a good chunk of funding in the next few decades — to the tune of $2.1 trillion. This is especially true in emerging economies like India and other Asian markets, where Bloomberg predicts that coal-fired power will increase global emissions to 5 percent above 2015 levels by 2040. India's demand for electricity alone is expected to grow nearly four times by 2040.
Although coal production in the U.S. just fell to its lowest level in 35 years, the era of fossil fuels isn't quite over yet.

Links

• Forget energy storage. We can go renewable without it, scientists say
• Renewables are poised to put global fossil fuel investment to shame
• 6 charts that show renewable energy is getting cheaper
• 9 figures to help you understand the state of renewable energy
• Renewables poised to surge after Paris Agreement