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☆ Nuclear fusion experiment sets record for time at 100 million degrees Celsius
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Often referred to as the holy grail of climate solutions clean energy, fusion has the potential to provide limitless energy without planet-warming carbon pollution. KSTAR’s work “will be of great help to secure the predicted performance in ITER operation in time and to advance the commercialization of fusion energy,” Si-Woo Yoon said. This announcement adds to a number of other nuclear fusion breakthroughs. But commercializing nuclear fusion still remains a long way off as scientists work to solve fiendish engineering and scientific difficulties. Nuclear fusion “is not ready yet and therefore it can’t help us with the climate crisis now,” said Aneeqa Khan, research fellow in nuclear fusion at the University of Manchester in the UK.

Persons: Woo Yoon, ”, Aneeqa Khan, Angela Dewan Organizations: CNN — Scientists, KSTAR Research, Korean Institute of Fusion Energy, CNN, International, Reactor, Lawrence Livermore, Oxford, University of Manchester Locations: South Korea, France, United States

Those more concerned with the climate crisis are asking a bigger question: what does this all mean for the planet? Gas-powered cars, hybrids and EVs all emit roughly the same amount of pollution to manufacture, until you get to producing the battery. Fully electric cars use large batteries made of materials that require heavy mining. And that would still mean less climate pollution on the road overall. And fully electric cars won’t be truly “green” until the energy that charges them comes from renewable sources, like wind and solar.

Persons: Akio Toyoda, EVs, Joe Biden’s, Toyota’s, Daniel Sperling, —, ”, Sam Abuelsamid, Abuelsamid, InfluenceMap, Biden, Kelley, Albert Gore, Gore, I’m, “, ” Monica Nagashima, Lia, Kena, Stephen Ciccone, ” Ciccone, BEV, ” UC’s Sperling Organizations: CNN, Toyota, Auto, US, Toyota Prius Prime, Toyota Toyota, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Ford, EPA, Gas, American Council for, Prius, EV, InfluenceMap, United, Lexus, Cox Automotive, Zero Emission Transportation Association, Getty, Toyota Motor North America, ” Toyota Locations: California, West Virginia, Canada, Australia, United States, EVs, InfluenceMap’s, Japan, Rockland, Blauvelt , New York

☆ Nuclear fusion: Scientists say they can use AI to solve a key problem in the quest for clean energy
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Scientists pursuing fusion energy say they have found a way to overcome one of their biggest challenges to date — by using artificial intelligence. But experts have only achieved and sustained fusion energy for a few seconds, and many obstacles remain, including instabilities in the highly complex process. “The experiments provide a foundation for using AI to solve a broad range of plasma instabilities, which have long hindered fusion energy,” a Princeton spokesperson said. Fusion energy is the process that powers the sun and other stars, and experts have been trying for decades to master it on Earth. CNNScientists and engineers near the English city of Oxford earlier this month set a new nuclear fusion energy record, sustaining 69 megajoules of fusion energy for five seconds, using just 0.2 milligrams of fuel.

Organizations: CNN —, Princeton University, Princeton Plasma Physics, Fusion Facility, Princeton, CNN Locations: San Diego, Oxford, California

☆ Greenland has lost ice 36 times the size of New York. That’s a huge problem for the planet
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The area of Greenland’s ice loss in the past three decades is roughly 36 times the size of New York City — land that is rapidly giving way to wetlands and shrubs, a study published Tuesday shows. Ice loss has exposed barren rock in parts of the country. Mark Smith/University of LeedsWarmer air temperatures have driven ice loss, which has in turn raised land temperatures. Snow and ice typically reflect the sun’s energy back into space, preventing excessive heating in parts of the Earth. Ice melt also increases the amount of water in lakes, where water absorbs more heat than snow, which increases land surface temperatures.

Persons: Jonathan Carrivick, Mark Smith, ‘, Michael Grimes, “, ” Organizations: CNN, University of Leeds, “ Locations: New York City, Greenland, Kangerlussuaq, Bowdoin, Qaanaaq, Kingdom of Denmark

☆ Migratory species are in a shocking state of decline, landmark UN report shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Angela Dewan | Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Migratory species include some of the most iconic animals on the planet, like elephants. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty ImagesBaby Leatherback sea turtles head to the sea at sunset on Indonesia's Lhoknga Beach in February 2023. Those activities also fragment migratory species’ pathways, sometimes making it impossible for them to complete their journeys. Around 58% of the monitored locations recognized as important for migratory species are facing what the CMS says are unsustainable levels of pressure from humans. “Migratory species have a special role in nature as they don’t recognize political boundaries,” said Anurag Agrawal, professor of environmental studies at Cornell University.

Persons: They’ve, Yasuyoshi Chiba, Chaideer Mahyuddin, Didier Brandelet, Kristin Laidre, Amy Fraenkel, Scott Gibbons, Zheng Yuanjian, Carl de Souza, Sergio Pitamitz, Wolfgang Kaehler, ” Inger Andersen, ”, Anurag Agrawal Organizations: CNN, UN, Convention, Animals, Getty, McCormick, United Nations Environment, Cornell University Locations: Asia, Alaska, Kimana, Kenya, AFP, Beach, Greenland, Elsehul, South Georgia, longline, Chicago, Lake Michigan, Xinhua, Mongolia, UN, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

☆ Her Son Vanished After a 1980 Run-In With Police. She Wants Answers.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Shaila Dewan | Madeleine Hordinski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

She crossed the railroad tracks and scrambled down the banks of the Licking River, calling out the name of her teenage son, Randy, who went to the county fair one night and never came home. Mrs. Cotton, two inches shy of 5 feet tall and unable to swim, would return covered in mud and scratches. Randy Sellers was missing for weeks, then years, then decades. He vanished in 1980, the year before the disappearance of 6-year-old Adam Walsh in Florida would change the way America looked at missing children. Adam’s father, John Walsh, became a household name and a beacon for parents like Mrs. Cotton, who felt alone and ignored by the authorities.

Persons: Wanda Cotton, Randy, Cotton, Randy Sellers, Adam Walsh, Adam’s, John Walsh Locations: Licking, Kenton County, Ky, Florida, America

☆ Climate change: The world just marked a year above a critical limit of 1.5 degrees scientists have warned about
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The past year was 1.52 degrees hotter on average than temperatures before industrialization, according to data from Copernicus, the European Union’s climate and weather monitoring service. That 12-month average was boosted by the hottest January on record, which was 1.66 degrees warmer than the average January temperature in pre-industrial times. Keeping global warming below 2 degrees, but preferably 1.5, was the centerpiece goal of the Paris Agreement, which most of the world’s nations signed onto in 2015. Extreme weather events already made more frequent and severe by long-term global warming are now being supercharged by El Niño, scientists say. The twin threat also supercharged the California storms this week, scientists said, enhancing rainfall and boosting the storm’s destructive power.

Persons: El Niño, Copernicus, Matt Patterson, ” Copernicus, Samantha Burgess Organizations: El, CNN, Global, University of Oxford Locations: Paris, Chile

☆ Nuclear fusion: Scientists just set a new energy record in a step toward unleashing the limitless, clean energy source
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —Scientists and engineers near the English city of Oxford have set a nuclear fusion energy record, they announced Thursday, bringing the clean, futuristic power source another step closer to reality. To generate fusion energy, the team raised temperatures in the machine to 150 million degrees Celsius — around 10 times hotter than the core of the sun. An animation showing how tokamaks generate nuclear fusion energy. “Our successful demonstration of operational scenarios for future fusion machines like ITER and DEMO, validated by the new energy record, instil greater confidence in the development of fusion energy,” Fasoli said in a statement. A view of Torus Hall, where the JET tokamak machine lies.

Persons: Ambrogio Fasoli, ” Fasoli, Aneeqa Khan, Khan, ”, Copernicus Organizations: London CNN —, CNN, JET, EUROfusion, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, University of Manchester Locations: Oxford, France

☆ Climate change: The world just marked a year above a critical limit scientists have warned about
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The past year was 1.52 degrees hotter on average than temperatures before industrialization, according to data from Copernicus, the European Union’s climate and weather monitoring service. That 12-month average was boosted by the hottest January on record, which was 1.66 degrees warmer than the average January temperature in pre-industrial times. Scientists are more concerned with multi-year warming above these thresholds, but the 12-month record shows the world is fast approaching the Paris Agreement’s limits. “Rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop global temperatures increasing.”The climate crisis is driven primarily from humans burning coal, oil and gas for energy. Extreme weather events already made more frequent and severe by long-term global warming are now being supercharged by El Niño, scientists say.

Persons: Copernicus, Matt Patterson, ” Copernicus, Samantha Burgess, El Niño Organizations: CNN, Global, University of Oxford, El Locations: Paris, Chile

☆ EU Commission unveils a plan to slash emissions by 90%. Can it deliver?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The announcement will kick off months of talks that could take up to a year before the European Parliament rubber stamps the target. The European Greens — a faction of environmentally conscious lawmakers from several countries — are expecting big losses in the vote, after making sweeping gains in the 2019 election. “We’re looking at a European Parliament that is more in favor of regulatory freedom for member states,” Dufour said. The Greens had been successful in achieving a strong climate agenda through the EU parliament, he added. She said new conservative or even far-right lawmakers may also back some ambitious climate policies because so many make sense in terms of economics and security, as well.

Persons: —, Wopke Hoekstra, Andreas Solaro, Manon Dufour, ” Dufour, Dufour, Bas Eickhout, ”, Eickhout, Olivier Chassignole, ” Eickhout, I’m, Linda Kalcher, Kalcher Organizations: CNN, European Commission, EU, Parliament, European Greens —, Getty, Conservative, European People’s Party, EPP, Deal, European Greens, Greens, European Greens Party, ”, Green Locations: Lugo , Italy, AFP, Brussels, Bas, Dutch, Lyon, France, Brussel, Ukraine

☆ The US, Russia and China are in a race to dominate new-wave nuclear energy — and win global influence
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Angela Dewan | Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Russia's floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov, leaving the service base Rosatomflot on August 23, 2019. For some experts, nuclear energy — in all forms, large or small — has an important role to play in that transition. Globally, the construction of conventional nuclear power plants dipped following the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. Russia has already built or designed nuclear plants — the traditional type — for China, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, Slovakia, Egypt and Iran. “It certainly dampens the excitement abroad,” said John Parsons, a senior lecturer at MIT and a financial economist focused on nuclear energy.

Persons: Akademik Lomonosov, Biden, Lomonosov, Maxim Shemetov, “ There’s, ”, Josh Freed, China —, Vladimir Putin’s, Bill Gates ’, Luo Yunfei, Kirsten Cutler, they’re, Cutler, ” Cutler, They’re, John Parsons, John Kerry, Thomas Mukoya, Way’s Freed, “, ” Parsons, Mohammed Hamdaoui, ” Hamdaoui, “ It’s Organizations: CNN, Reuters, European Union, International Energy Agency, Energy, World Nuclear, IEA, US, SMR, US Export, Import Bank, International Development Finance Corporation, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, China, Changjiang, China News Service, Nuclear Energy, US State Department, “, MIT, InfluenceMap, The State Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC, Rystad Energy Locations: Alaska, Russian, Russia, China, European, Japan, India, South Korea, Europe, Dubai, America, Poland, North Carolina, Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Slovakia, Egypt, Iran, Lomonosov, Siberia, Russia’s, Washington, Bill Gates ’ TerraPower, Wyoming, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan province, United States, Oregon, Idaho, United Arab Emirates

☆ Alabama Hails Nitrogen Gas Execution, a New Attempt to Address an Old Challenge
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Shaila Dewan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For as long as America has had the death penalty, there have been questions about how best to carry it out. The execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith in Alabama on Thursday, the first American execution in which death was caused by suffocation with nitrogen gas, gave no indication of settling the legal, moral and technical questions that have long bedeviled states as they mete out the ultimate punishment. Most recently, problems with the purchasing, administration and effects of lethal injection drugs have sent states scrambling for alternatives ranging from the old — firing squads, electric chairs and gas chambers — to the untested, like Alabama’s use of a mask to force Mr. Smith to inhale nitrogen instead of air. But after Mr. Smith’s death, the Alabama attorney general, Steve Marshall, hailed the execution as a “historic” breakthrough. He criticized opponents of the death penalty for pressuring “anyone assisting states in the process.”“They don’t care that Alabama’s new method is humane and effective, because they know it is also easy to carry out,” he said in a statement.

Persons: Kenneth Eugene Smith, Mr, Smith, Smith’s, Steve Marshall, “, ” Locations: America, Alabama

☆ Climate summit leader said there’s ‘no science’ behind need to phase out fossil fuels, alarming scientists
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The president of the COP28 climate summit, Sultan Al Jaber, recently claimed there is “no science” that says phasing out fossil fuels is necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, in comments that have alarmed climate scientists and advocates. The future role of fossil fuels is one of the most controversial issues countries are grappling with at the COP28 climate summit. Al Jaber was asked by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and current chair of the Elders Group, an independent group of global leaders, if he would lead on phasing out fossil fuels. While some argue carbon capture will be an important tool for reducing planet-heating pollution, others argue these technologies are expensive, unproven at scale and a distraction from policies to cut fossil fuel use. “They are not going to get any help from the COP Presidency in delivering a strong outcome on a fossil fuel phase out,” he said in a statement.

Persons: Sultan Al Jaber, Al Jaber, Mary Robinson, Robinson, ”, Al Jaber’s, what’s, Romain Ioualalen, Al, ” Joeri, Mohamed Adow, Angela Dewan, Rachel Ramirez Organizations: CNN, ”, Guardian, Elders Group, Abu, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, UN, International Energy Agency, IEA, Stockholm Environment Institute, Change, Imperial College London Locations: Paris, “, Abu Dhabi, Stockholm, UN, UAE

☆ COP28: No-shows and walkouts as Israel-Hamas war looms over crucial climate talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Israeli President Isaac Herzog spent his day on Friday meeting with high-profile leaders at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai. Herzog was supposed to give an address that day calling for action on the climate crisis. The Israel-Hamas war is casting a shadow over the COP28 climate talks. The UK's King Charles III shakes hands with Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai on December 1, 2023. The Middle East has long been wracked with conflict, but the climate crisis was one area that was helping repair old rifts.

Persons: Isaac Herzog, Herzog, King Charles III, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Cyril Ramaphosa, Israel, Rishi Sunak, Israel “, ” Sunak, Iran doesn’t, It’s, Jordanian King Abdullah II, “, ”, Ulrich Eberle, Biden, ” Eberle, Joe Biden, —, Jordan, Ayman Safadi, Al, haven’t, Alden Meyer, ” Alden, “ It’s Organizations: CNN, United Arab, European Union, United Nations, Hamas, Presidential Press, Reuters, South, Israel, UN, Crisis, Gaza, “, UAE Locations: Dubai, Gaza, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, United Kingdom, India, Israel, Iran, China, Jordanian, SeanGallup, UAE, Palestinian, Al Jazeera, Ukraine

☆ King Charles says world heading for ‘dangerous uncharted territory’ as climate crisis deepens
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —King Charles III told world leaders Friday that the warning signs of the climate crisis are being ignored and that the world is heading for “dangerous uncharted territory,” with devastating consequences for lives and livelihoods. The King called for a series of measures, including a ramp-up of public and private finance, to tackle the climate crisis and rapidly increase renewable energy. The King did not attend last year’s COP27 summit in Egypt, after the then UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss advised him against going. CNN understood at the time that, the monarch and government jointly agreed that the climate summit wasn’t the right occasion for the King’s first trip overseas as sovereign. The US announced a commitment of $17.5 million, which some experts and advocacy groups said was “embarrassing.”World leaders including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazil’s President Lula Da Silva, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley are due to address delegates later.

Persons: King Charles III, King, ”, won’t, Liz Truss, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, “, Narendra Modi, Lula Da Silva, Rishi Sunak, Barbados Mia Mottley, CNN’s Lauren Said, Moorhouse, Angela Dewan, Ella Nilsen Organizations: CNN, UAE, CNN’s Royal, United Arab, US, India’s, Brazil’s, UK Locations: Dubai, Pakistan, Bangladesh, East Africa, Egypt, UAE, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Barbados

CNN —The United States is receiving criticism for contributing an “embarrassing” amount of money to a new climate fund adopted Thursday at the COP28 talks in Dubai, offering a pledge more than five times lower than the United Arab Emirates . Some countries pledged money to the fund right after it was agreed. Money from rich nations must now begin flowing into the fund, they said. Several wealthy nations, including the United States, have been reluctant to tie countries’ obligations to their historic emissions. It’s also been contentious because wealthy nations have expressed concern that paying for such a fund could be seen as admission of climate liability.

Persons: Sultan Al Jaber, ”, Ani Dasgupta, Dasgupta, ” “, ” Dasgupta, Mohamed Adow, ” Adow, “, Biden, John Kerry, ” Tom Evans, ” Evans, “ they’re, It’s, Al Jaber —, ADNOC —, Al Jaber Organizations: CNN, United, United Arab Emirates, World Bank, Japan, World Resources Institute, Republican, Republicans, US Locations: United States, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, United Arab, Germany, UAE, COP28, Egypt

☆ COP28 leader hits back at allegations he used climate talks to strike oil deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The COP28 president-designate Sultan Al Jaber has strongly denied accusations that his team sought to use the international climate talks in Dubai to strike fossil fuel deals for the UAE’s state-owned oil and gas company. Al Jaber also runs the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). “These allegations are false, not true, incorrect, and not accurate,” he said at a press conference in Dubai on Wednesday. Al Jaber emphasized that all of his meetings with officials were squarely focused on his COP28 agenda. He added that he was often given conflicting advice on whether he should engage with oil and gas companies in his role.

Persons: Sultan Al Jaber, Al Jaber, ” Al Jaber, ”, ‘, ’ ” Organizations: CNN, Climate, Abu, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Locations: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, UAE

☆ COP28 host UAE planned to use the event to make oil deals, leaked notes suggest
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Angela Dewan | Rosa Rahimi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The UAE has already been at the center of widespread criticism for appointing its top oil and gas chief to preside over COP28. The US, China, France, Germany and the UK are among the countries with briefing notes published by the Centre for Climate Reporting. The briefing notes read as would be expected for such meetings, until the end of each country’s notes, where suggestions to promote ADNOC and Masdar are included. The notes did not suggest oil and gas projects would be discussed with all those countries. For the US, for example, the briefing notes touch on potential renewable energy deals, saying Masdar hoped to grow its presence in the US by carrying out “acquisitions” in the short term.

Persons: Sultan Al Jaber —, Al Jaber, ADNOC, Al Jaber helms, Masdar, ”, Kaisa Organizations: CNN, United, Emirates ’, Climate, Abu, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, BBC, Centre, UN, UNFCCC, Greenpeace International Locations: Abu Dhabi, UAE, China, France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Mozambique, Canada, Australia, Venezuelan, Azerbaijan, Europe, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland

☆ Climate: The UAE is hosting the world’s biggest annual summit. It’s also planning a massive fossil fuel expansion
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

The flurry of forest conservation deals with Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Liberia and Tanzania were announced in the months ahead of the annual United Nations’ COP28 climate summit, being hosted this year in December by the United Arab Emirates. The annual climate summit is where global leaders and negotiators from nearly 200 countries will convene to decide how and when to ramp down fossil fuel use. Its parent company, Global Carbon Investments, has already agreed to transfer $1.5 billion to Zimbabwe in “pre-financing for carbon credits.” That’s more than the country spends on education and childcare, which combined are Zimbabwe’s biggest national expense. Minimum Emissions” slogan is a viable climate solution, even as global temperatures soar and scientists press for rapid fossil fuel cuts. Ironically, COP28 could be the arena that transforms ADNOC into a global oil major.

Persons: CNN —, Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, —, Sultan Al Jaber —, Al Jaber, ”, Sultan Al Jaber, Callaghan O'Hare, Reuters Al Jaber, ADNOC, Jamie Henn, It’s, Henn, “, Philip Morris, ” Henn, Renat Heuberger, Zinyange Auntony, Julia Jones, ’ ” Justin Kenrick, ” Patrick Galey, “ ADNOC, COP28, Bethlehem Feleke Organizations: CNN, Carbon, United Nations, United, Blue, US Department of Commerce, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, US, Reuters, Free Media, Climate Watch, UN, COP28, Global Carbon Investments, Mucheni conservancy, Getty, “, Bangor University, Peoples, Forest Peoples Programme, Shell, BP, Global, Energy Locations: Dubai, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Abu Dhabi, Houston, UN, COP28, Africa, “, Swiss, Mucheni, Binga, AFP, Wales, Azerbaijan, Nairobi

☆ Scientists said the ozone hole was recovering. That good news was premature, one study claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Angela Dewan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But in a new study published Tuesday, some scientists claim it may not be recovering at all, and that the hole may even be expanding. In a paper, published by Nature Communications, they found that ozone levels have reduced by 26% since 2004 at the core of the hole in the Antarctic springtime. They used historical data to compare that behavior and changing ozone levels, and to measure signs of ozone recovery. “Altogether, our findings reveal the recent, large ozone holes may not be caused just by CFCs,” Kessenich said. “Those events have been shown to have strongly decreased the ozone hole size,” he said, “so including those events would probably have nullified any long-term negative trend.”

Persons: ”, Hannah Kessenich, didn’t, ” Kessenich, —, Martin Jucker Organizations: CNN, Nature Communications, University of Otago, University of New, Science Media Center Locations: UN, Montreal, New Zealand, El, Southern, University of New South Wales, Australia

☆ Climate change: The world briefly smashed through the 2-degree warming limit for the first time ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Angela Dewan | Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Provisional ERA5 global temperature for 17th November from @CopernicusECMWF was 1.17°C above 1991-2020 - the warmest on record. Our best estimate is that this was the first day when global temperature was more than 2°C above 1850-1900 (or pre-industrial) levels, at 2.06°C. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world needs to decrease emissions by 45% by the end of this decade compared to 2010 to have any hope of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Another UN report also found that the world is planning to blow the fossil fuels production limit that would keep a lid on global heating. By 2030, countries plan to produce more than twice the limit of fossil fuels that would cap warming at 1.5 degrees.

Persons: Samantha Burgess, Sam Burgess 🌍🌡, Du, ks to Organizations: CNN, Provisional Locations: Europe, @CopernicusECMWF

The law is more burdensome than “red flag” laws in other states, which do not require taking people into custody and evaluating them. When the Sheriff’s Office received the Army report in mid-September, Sgt. Aaron Skolfield went to do a welfare check but did not find Mr. Card. Instead, Sergeant Skolfield worked with Ryan Card, who said he and his father had come up with a way to secure Mr. Card’s weapons. But Robert Card, it said, still “had access to his firearms prior to the shootings.”John Ismay and Dave Philipps contributed reporting.

Persons: Aaron Skolfield, Sergeant Skolfield, Ryan Card, Ryan, Robert Card, “, ” John Ismay, Dave Philipps, Kirsten Noyes Organizations: Sheriff’s, Army Locations: Sagadahoc

Paris CNN —Storm Ciarán has brought hurricane-strength winds to France, the Channel Islands and southern England, leaving more than a million people without access to electricity and forcing hundreds of schools to close. Waves crashing on the Phare du Four in Porspoder, western France, on November 2, 2023, as Storm Ciarán reached the region. Fallen trees and electricity pylons uprooted by the storm were to blame for the cuts. A tree brought down by Storm Ciarán overnight blocking the road at Castle Hill on November 2, 2023 in Falmouth, Cornwall, England. Storm Ciarán follows less than two weeks after Storm Babet, which brought strong winds, heavy rainfall and flash flooding to parts of Scotland and northern and central England, killing several people.

Persons: Paris CNN —, Ciarán, Storm Ciarán, Damien Meyer, Enedis, Hugh Hastings, Ben Birchall, Storm Babet, ”, Friederike Otto, Angela Dewan Organizations: Paris CNN, Channel, Getty, French Transport, Clément, Franceinfo, Isles, Islands, Storm, Met, Met Office, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London Locations: France, England, Finistère, Porspoder, Brittany, Clément Beaune, Jersey, Cornwall, English, Castle Hill, Falmouth , Cornwall, Somerset, Scotland

☆ Maine, a Rare Democratic-Controlled State With Loose Gun Laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Michael Corkery | Shaila Dewan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Maine, a largely blue state where Democrats control both chambers of the State Legislature and the governorship, has a long history of resisting gun control measures. The shootings in Lewiston on Wednesday that left 18 people dead are already fueling renewed calls from gun control groups to expand firearms restrictions in Maine. In regions where hunting is a big part of the culture, “if you are going to talk about restricting gun rights,’’ Mr. Brewer said, “you are going to have a hard time.”The authorities have not made public any information about what type of firearm was used in the Lewiston shootings on Wednesday, nor anything about how the weapon was obtained. Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that advocates for tighter restrictions on guns, ranks Maine 25th in the nation in the strictness of its gun laws, with more permissive laws than nearby Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut.

Persons: Mark Brewer, ’, Mr, Brewer Organizations: Maine Senate, State Legislature, University of Maine, Safety, Maine Locations: Lewiston, Maine’s, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire

☆ A partial U.S. government shutdown is 'very unlikely,' wealth management firm says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailA partial U.S. government shutdown is 'very unlikely,' wealth management firm saysYogi Dewan of Hassium Asset Management says "we get this narrative every single year, it's almost like a soap opera … and then everything's just fine," and adds that the market is "more focused on other things."

Persons: Yogi Dewan, it's Organizations: Hassium, Management

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