A new study co-led by the University of Arizona and the Smithsonian offers the most detailed glimpse yet into how Earth’s surface temperature has changed over the past 485 million years. Published in the journal Science, the study presents a curve of global mean surface temperature that reveals Earth’s temperature has varied more than previously thought over much of the Phanerozoic Eon, a period of geologic time when life diversified, populated land and endured multiple mass extinctions. The curve also confirms Earth’s temperature is strongly correlated to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Over the eon, the global temperature spanned 52 to 97 degrees Fahrenheit. Periods of extreme heat were most often linked to elevated levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. “This research illustrates clearly that carbon dioxide is the dominant control on global temperatures across geological time,” Tierney said. “When CO2 is low, the temperature is cold; when CO2 is high, the temperature is warm.” The findings also reveal that the Earth’s current global temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit is cooler than Earth has been over much of the Phanerozoic. But greenhouse gas emissions from human-caused climate change are currently warming the planet at a much faster rate than even the fastest warming events of the Phanerozoic, the researchers say. That speed of warming puts species and ecosystems around the world at risk and is causing a rapid rise in sea level. Some other episodes of rapid climate change during the Phanerozoic have sparked mass extinctions.
A landslide and mega-tsunami in Greenland in September 2023, triggered by the climate crisis, caused the entire Earth to vibrate for nine days, a scientific investigation has found. The seismic event was detected by earthquake sensors around the world but was so completely unprecedented that the researchers initially had no idea what had caused it. Having now solved the mystery, the scientists said it showed how global heating was already having planetary-scale impacts and that major landslides were possible in places previously believed to be stable as temperatures rapidly rose. The collapse of a 1,200-metre-high mountain peak into the remote Dickson fjord happened on 16 September 2023 after the melting glacier below was no longer able to hold up the rock face. It triggered an initial wave 200 metres high and the subsequent sloshing of water back and forth in the twisty fjord sent seismic waves through the planet for more than a week.
It turns out haze from wildfires can affect lake health, too, according to a study published in June. Researchers looked at data from more than 1.3 million lakes across North America and found that around 99 percent of them had experienced at least one “smoke day,” where wildfire haze can be seen blanketing the air above them, per year from 2019 to 2021. The majority of these lakes saw more than 30 days of smoke annually, even though many of them were located nowhere near a wildfire. The study found that these ashy clouds can block sunlight and deposit carbon, nutrients and toxic metals such as mercury or lead into lake ecosystems, which can alter their chemistry and sometimes fuel algal blooms. A separate study published in May looked specifically at smoke cover over lakes in California—one of the most fiery states in the U.S.—and found similar results.
Severe rains bucketed down on central Europe, Africa, Shanghai and the US Carolinas this week, underscoring the extreme ways in which climate change is altering the weather. Different meteorological phenomena are behind the series of storms, according to climate scientists, though they agree an underlying factor for the supercharged rainfall is global warming writ large. Research has shown that hotter air is capable of carrying more moisture and is more likely to cause intense precipitation.
UTILITIES AND GRID:
- California regulators approve Pacific Gas & Electric’s fourth rate hike in 15 months, saying it is necessary to recoup costs associated with winter storms and wildfire mitigation.
- A study finds increasing numbers of heat pumps, rooftop solar and other clean energy and efficiency measures have helped operators balance the Northwest grid. (OPB)
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers find building out high-voltage transmission projects currently under development in the Western U.S. would enable new clean energy projects and lead to a 73% drop in carbon emissions.
- A California advocate calls on state regulators to reconsider a rule blocking solar contractors from installing residential battery systems, saying it will increase costs and slow the clean energy transition.
- Colorado advocates say utilities’ bid to keep political activity records secret would undermine transparency and a law aimed at ensuring customers aren’t funding political lobbying.
- A federal study finds carbon emissions from the Western U.S. power sector could drop 73% if 12 transmission projects under development are completed by 2030 [Paywall]
Bill McKibben says: The IEA said this week that oil demand around the world is softening because of “surging” sales of electric vehicles. In China, demand for gasoline will peak this year or next and then decline sharply. Britain, where the coal era was born, will close it’s last coal-fired power plant at the end of this month, while California—arguably earth’s most modern economy—has managed to weather its worst heat waves ever without blackouts this simmer thanks to ever-growing batteries of…batteries. (The state’s one big recent blackout came when a gas-fired plant went down in Pasadena).
[His column this week also says] “Pakistanis have been buying dirt cheap solar panels and putting them up in amazing numbers. Pakistan “has become the third-largest importer of Chinese solar modules, acquiring a staggering 13GW in the first half of this year alone.” This is particularly astonishing because the country’s entire official electricity generating capacity is only 46 GW.” [Sign up: [email protected]]
The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians files a lawsuit accusing federal agencies of failing to adequately consider environmental impacts of proposed wind development off Oregon’s coast.
Joys of capitalism. Data show two now-defunct companies abandoned 551 oil and gas wells in Colorado last year, leaving them to the state to plug and reclaim.
The Port of San Diego begins operating two 400 ton electric cranes. And Data show California has acquired, ordered or funded more than 3,000 electric school buses, more than three times that of any other state.
How Big Oil has infiltrated universities and shaped climate research
A new study from American, Canadian and Irish researchers analyzes all we know about how the fossil fuel industry works to prevent universities from telling the truth about climate change. Rick Spence reports that the study finds that the oil and gas lobby spends millions co-opting professors and research institutes, influencing academic curricula, sponsoring university research and stifling dissent. As one co-author notes, “When you pull it all together, you realize how pervasive a strategy this has been.” Read more »
Take Action
The most important thing any of us can do now is to help Democrats (that is climate champions) win elections nationally and in California. You can join 350 Humboldt members as we write postcards and letters to voters who are democrats but have not voted recently. Sundays at 7pm on Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84789051501?pwd=L3pJL0t1am5EblJRVWZhUWFIenpIdz09
Or you can do texting, phone banking, or canvassing with a variety of organizations. Check out the opportunities at https://www.mobilize.us/
It is easy to feel that nothing we do will make a difference but looking at the difference between Trump and the Biden Harris administration makes it clear we can make a difference.