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A handful of centuries-old sponges from deep in the Caribbean are causing some scientists to think human-caused climate change began sooner and has heated the world more than they thought. Other scientists were skeptical of the study's claim that the world has warmed that much more than thought. He said this study also supports the theory that climate change is accelerating, proposed last year by former NASA top scientist James Hansen. Carbon dioxide and other gases from the burning of fossil fuels are what causes climate change, scientists have established. “They are cathedrals of history, of human history, recording carbon dioxide in the the atmosphere, temperature of the water and pH of the water,” Winter said.

Persons: Malcolm McCulloch, ”, ” McCulloch, “, —, Amos Winter, James Hansen, Natalie Mahowald, McCulloch, Winter, Michael Mann, credulity, ” Mann, El, La Nina, Michael Oppenheimer, ” ___ Teresa de Miguel, ___ Read, Seth Borenstein Organizations: University of Western, Associated Press, Indiana State University, NASA, Cornell University, United Nations, University of Pennsylvania, Caribbean, El Nino, La, Princeton University Locations: Caribbean, University of Western Australia, Mexico City, AP.org

☆ The world successfully tackled a dangerous pollutant. But did it accidentally warm the planet in the process?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

These ghost clouds look beautiful, but they are a visible sign of deadly air pollution. Of all of the theories, however, the impact of shipping regulations is swiftly becoming one of the most discussed. But this is not an argument against cutting air pollution, Diamond said, it’s an argument for tackling it alongside reducing carbon emissions. The cooling impact of air pollution is far outweighed by the heating impact of burning fossil fuels. It’s when air pollution is tackled without also reducing carbon emissions, that “we can get into trouble,” Diamond said.

Persons: ”, Michael Diamond, It’s, Olaf Morgenstern, ” Morgenstern, James Hansen, ” Hansen, ” Diamond, Piers Forster, Diamond, doesn’t, Jason Armond, Annica Ekman, it’s, ” Forster Organizations: CNN, International Maritime Organization, United Nations, Florida State University’s Department of, Atmospheric Science, National Institute of Water, Atmospheric Research, Atlantic, Leeds University, Shipping, Port, Los Angeles Times, Stockholm University Locations: New Zealand, El, Sahara, Tonga, Europe, North America, Asia, Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro , California, Sweden

☆ A critical climate goal may be ‘deader than a doornail,’ and scientists are bitterly divided over it
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“Anybody who understands the physics knows that.”Hansen’s words have heft — he is widely credited as the first scientist to publicly sound the alarm on climate change in the 1980s. Climate change is fueling storms in both the summer and winter. The year came within a whisker of breaching 1.5 degrees, according to data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service. “For all practical purposes we are only going to be looking at 1.5 degrees in the rearview mirror,” he said. Why 1.5 mattersFew scientists will dispute that the world faces a daunting path to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.

Persons: James Hansen, Lauren Owens Lambert, I’ve, Jim, ”, Michael Mann, Hansen, Friederike Otto, “, it’s, Niño, Hurricane Idalia, Joe Raedle, ” Otto, –, Storm Daniel, Karim Sahib, Bill McGuire, ” McGuire, Chris Smith, El Niño, Mann, Samantha Burgess, Copernicus, Otto said, ’ ” Smith, “ we’ve, McGuire, Otto Organizations: CNN, Getty, University of Pennsylvania, Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute, “, United, Hurricane, University College London, University of Leeds Locations: Hampton , New Hampshire, AFP, United States, Europe, Tarpon Springs , Florida, Paris, Libya's, Derna, kilter

The latest calculations from several science agencies showing Earth obliterated global heat records last year may seem scary. Former NASA climate scientist James Hansen, often considered the godfather of global warming science, theorized last year that warming was accelerating. That’s 0.27 degrees (0.15 degrees Celsius) warmer than the previous record set in 2016 and 2.43 degrees (1.35 degrees Celsius) warmer than pre-industrial temperatures. NASA and the United Kingdom Meteorological Office had the warming since the mid-19th century a bit higher at 2.5 degrees (1.39 degrees Celsius) and 2.63 degrees (1.46 degrees Celsius) respectively. It’s the third time in the last eight years that a global heat record was set.

Persons: Nature, ”, Katharine Jacobs, Gavin Schmidt, El, NASA's Schmidt, Schmidt, Samantha Burgess, Europe's, Burgess, James Hansen, Daniel Swain, Russ Vose, Jennifer Francis, Katharine Hayhoe, Randall Cerveny, “, ” Cerveny, Natalie Mahowald, “ I've, Kim Cobb, ” ___ Read, Seth Borenstein Organizations: Associated Press, University of Arizona, El Nino, Service, NASA, AP, UCLA, U.S . National Oceanic, Administration, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental, United Kingdom Meteorological Office, . Records, World Meteorological Organization, Climate Research, Conservancy, NOAA, Arizona State University, WMO, Cornell University, The Associated Press Locations: British, El, Paris, Brown, AP.org

“Each decade since the 1990s has been warmer than the previous one and we see no immediate sign of this trend reversing,” its secretary-general, Petteri Taalas, said. Experts are divided about one of the most important metrics: The rate of warming. University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann has argued warming has been steadily increasing since 1990, but isn't speeding up. He warned that such warming is fueling increasingly dangerous extreme weather events, coastal flooding and many other “disastrous” impacts. Glaciers in Papua, Indonesia are likely to disappear altogether within the next decade,” WMO said.

Persons: Petteri Taalas, James Hansen, Michael Mann, ” Mann, ” Organizations: United Arab Emirates, United Nations, World Meteorological Organization, WMO, NASA, Warming, University of Pennsylvania, ” WMO, AP Locations: DUBAI, United Arab, Dubai, Papua, Indonesia, “, Africa, Kenya, Kilimanjaro, Greenland, Antarctica

☆ 35 Years After Addressing Congress, James Hansen Has More Climate Warnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Delger Erdenesanaa | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Global warming may be happening more quickly than previously thought, according to a new study by a group of researchers including former NASA scientist James Hansen, whose testimony before Congress 35 years ago helped raise broad awareness of climate change. The study warns that the planet could exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, of warming this decade, compared with the average temperature in preindustrial days, and that the world will warm by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050. When countries signed the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015 to collectively fight climate change, they agreed to try and limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius and aim for 1.5 degrees. “The 1.5 degree limit is deader than a doornail,” said Dr. Hansen, now the director of the Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions Program at Columbia University, during a news conference on Thursday. The world has warmed by about 1.2 degrees Celsius so far and is already experiencing worsening heat waves, wildfires, storms, biodiversity loss and other consequences of climate change.

Persons: James Hansen, ”, Hansen Organizations: NASA, Columbia University Locations: Paris

☆ The planet is heating up faster than predicted, says scientist who sounded climate alarm in the 1980s
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Some other scientists, however, have cast doubt on the paper’s conclusions that climate change is accelerating faster than models predict. Hansen, a director at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is a renowned climate scientist whose 1988 testimony to the US Senate first brought global attention to climate change. US scientist James Hansen, pictured in 2013, is credited as the first to publicly raise the alarm about climate change in the 1980s. But while science is clear that the rate of global warming is increasing, the idea that it is accelerating beyond what models predict is controversial. The findings “are very much out of the mainstream,” said Michael Mann, a leading climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania.

Persons: James Hansen —, Hansen, James Hansen, CARL DE SOUZA, geoengineering, ”, Michael Mann, ” Mann Organizations: CNN, Earth Institute, Columbia University, Senate, Getty, University of Pennsylvania Locations: China

Countries pledged in the 2015 Paris Agreement to hold global warming to within 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures but the new paper by a team of scientists, including from NASA and Columbia University, adds to evidence suggesting that this goal is already out of reach. Most emissions scenarios under the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) envision the world breaching 1.5C during the 2030s. EARTH SENSITIVITYThe study's findings, published in the journal Oxford Open Climate Change, result from two factors. The IPCC has given a best-guess estimate that the doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels would yield global warming of around 3C (5.4F). Cleaning the skies, while bringing health benefits and saving lives, accelerates climate change.

Persons: Thomas Peter, James Hansen of, Michael Mann, Pennsylvania's Mann, Klaus Hubacek, Katy Daigle, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, NASA, Columbia University, United Nations, James Hansen of Columbia, Earth Institute, University of Pennsylvania, IPCC, University of Gronigen, Thomson Locations: Gan, Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China, UN, Paris, 1.5C, heatwaves, Libya, Dubai, 4.8C

June 5 (Reuters) - Tighter lending standards from regional banks are making it harder for U.S. hotel developers to secure funding, slowing construction of new hotels at a time Americans' appetite for travel is ripe. Analysts say slower hotel development will also limit profits of blue-chip manufacturers like Caterpillar Inc. , whose commercial real estate customers account for around 75% of construction sales. Overexposed regional banks are now offloading commercial real estate loans at a discount. Troubled regional lender PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) announced in May it would sell $2.6 billion worth of real estate construction loans. Banks started to reduce their hotel loan portfolios in the first quarter of 2023, an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence found.

Persons: Joseph Delli Santi, James Hansen, Andy Ingraham, Ingraham, Evens Charles, Banks, Mitchell Hochberg, Bianca Flowers, Caroline Stauffer, Deepa Babington Organizations: U.S, Silicon Valley Bank, Shopoff, Reuters, Build Central Inc, Hilton, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, Marriott International, Caterpillar Inc, Signature Bank, First Republic Bank, National Association of Black, Developers, Frontier Development, Hospitality Group, Washington D.C, PacWest Bancorp, P Global Market Intelligence, Lightstone, Thomson Locations: Silicon, California, Florida , Texas, Washington, Arizona, New York, Chicago, Bengaluru

Persons: Joseph Delli Santi, James Hansen, Andy Ingraham, Ingraham, Evens Charles, Banks, Mitchell Hochberg, Bianca Flowers, Caroline Stauffer, Deepa Babington Organizations: U.S, Silicon Valley Bank, Shopoff, Reuters, Build Central Inc, Hilton, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, Marriott International, Caterpillar Inc, Signature Bank, First Republic Bank, National Association of Black, Developers, Frontier Development, Hospitality Group, Washington D.C, PacWest Bancorp, P Global Market Intelligence, Western Alliance, Lightstone, Thomson Locations: Silicon, California, Florida , Texas, Washington, Arizona, New York, Chicago, Bengaluru

Entrepreneur Luke Iseman said the sulfur dioxide in the balloons would deflect sunlight and cool the atmosphere, a controversial climate strategy known as solar geoengineering. The Mexican government told Reuters it is now actively drafting “new regulations and standards” to prohibit solar geoengineering inside the country. While the Mexican government announced its intention to ban solar geoengineering in January, its current actions and plans to discuss geoengineering bans with other countries have not been previously reported. GLOBAL GEOENGINEERING BANClimate policy experts said Mexico is in a position to help set the rules for future geoengineering research. David Keith, a professor of applied physics and public policy at Harvard University who has dedicated much of his research to solar geoengineering, called Iseman's launch a "stunt."

☆ ExxonMobil's secret projections of the climate crisis were astonishingly accurate, and a legal expert says that's 'a stick of dynamite' for the oil giant's court battles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

ExxonMobil scientists knew about the coming climate crisis in precise detail, a Harvard study found. The analysis is "dynamite" for an array of lawsuits against ExxonMobil, legal experts told Insider. A growing wave of 'unassailable' evidence suggests Exxon lied about what it knewDespite having accurate predictions about global warming, the oil giant denied it would happen. That's exactly the track global warming is on right now. Those "stranded assets" are now a real possibility, due to global climate goals outlined in the Paris Agreement.

☆ How U.N. climate conferences have tackled global warming
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Andrea Januta | Kim Harrisberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Russell Cheyne/File PhotoNov 2 (Reuters) - This year’s U.N. climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, marks the 27th time since 1995 that world leaders have gathered to confront global warming. Here are some key moments in the global climate conversation:1800s - Throughout the 1800s, several European scientists study how different gases and vapours can trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. 1990 - At the U.N.’s so-called Second World Climate Conference, scientists highlight the risks of global warming to nature and society. 2015 - Global warming passes 1 degree Celsius. Signatories promise to try to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees C of the preindustrial average.

☆ Millennials and Gen Z want to stop a climate catastrophe. But first they have to get elected.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +24 min

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, told young climate activists in 2019, "You didn't vote for me." AP Photo/Gemunu AmarasingheBut most policy debates aren't genuinely existential in the way climate change is. "Younger Democrats tend to have a much more friendly relationship and response to the party's activist class than older Democrats do." Fossil-fuel interests have played a central role in stymieing progress on climate change for decades. Nearly a decade later, Trump ran for and won the presidency — with Gingrich's early and staunch support — while calling climate change a "hoax."

☆ ‘The Sixth Extinction,’ by Elizabeth Kolbert
▼ + stars: | 2014-02-16 | by ( Al Gore | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

There are psychological barriers to even imagining that what we love so much could be lost — could be destroyed forever. If trends continue, the global temperature will keep rising, triggering “world-altering events,” Kolbert writes. “By disrupting these systems,” Kolbert writes, “we’re putting our own survival in danger.”The earth’s water cycle is being dangerously disturbed, as warmer oceans evaporate more water vapor into the air. The extra heat is also absorbed in the top layer of the seas, which makes ocean-based storms more destructive. They struggle to absorb excess heat and carbon pollution — which is why, as Kolbert points out, coral reefs might be the first entire ecosystem to go extinct in the modern era.

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