Climate Change

Axios reports: President Donald Trump touted his “natural instinct” for science, while claiming that the cause of global warming is in dispute, in an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday. The transcript of this interview was released Wednesday. When asked about scientists’ views that climate change is nearing a point where it can’t be effectively reversed, as the UN …

The New York Times reports: A landmark report from the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change paints a far more dire picture of the immediate consequences of climate change than previously thought and says that avoiding the damage requires transforming the world economy at a speed and scale that has “no documented historic precedent.” The report, issued on Monday …

The New York Times reports: The Environmental Protection Agency plans to dissolve its Office of the Science Advisor, a senior post that was created to counsel the E.P.A. administrator on the scientific research underpinning health and environmental regulations, according to a person familiar with the agency’s plans. The person spoke anonymously because the decision had not yet been made public. …

The Washington Post reports: Last month, deep in a 500-page environmental impact statement, the Trump administration made a startling assumption: On its current course, the planet will warm a disastrous 7 degrees by the end of this century. A rise of 7 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 4 degrees Celsius, compared with pre-industrial levels would be catastrophic, according to scientists. Many …

TechCrunch reports: California plans to launch a satellite to monitor pollution in the state and contribute to climate science, Governor Jerry Brown announced today. The state is partnering with satellite imagery purveyor Planet to create a custom craft to “pinpoint – and stop – destructive emissions with unprecedented precision, on a scale that’s never been done before.” Governor Brown made …

Reuters reports: California Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed a bill requiring the state to source electricity from exclusively carbon-free sources by 2045, a move aimed at combating climate change that clashes with U.S. President Donald Trump’s pro-fossil fuel policies. The law makes California the largest global economy to commit to 100 percent clean energy. Hawaii is the only other …

ABC News reports: As Hurricane Lane lurches north, the Category 2 storm has already dumped more than 31 inches of rain on Hawaii’s Big Island, bringing catastrophic flooding. The dangerous storm could even lead to landslides or mudslides. Rainfall rates in the outer bands of the hurricane may reach 1 to 3 inches per hour, meaning flash flood watches will …

The Guardian reports: The oldest and thickest sea ice in the Arctic has started to break up, opening waters north of Greenland that are normally frozen, even in summer. This phenomenon – which has never been recorded before – has occurred twice this year due to warm winds and a climate-change driven heatwave in the northern hemisphere. One meteorologist described …

NBC News reports: Four Republican senators called Wednesday for an investigation of National Science Foundation grants, saying the federal agency had ventured beyond science and into political advocacy, particularly with its support of a program to encourage TV weathercasters to report on global warming. The four senators called for a probe by the foundation’s inspector general, saying the $4 million …

Bloomberg reports: Automakers urged the White House to cooperate with California officials in a coming rewrite of vehicle efficiency standards, saying “climate change is real.” The plea came in a letter to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the industry’s leading trade group. It said carmakers “strongly support” continued alignment between federal …

Science Magazine reports: The Earth is not warming. The White Cliffs of Dover are tumbling into the sea and causing sea levels to rise. Global warming is helping grow the Antarctic ice sheet. Those are some of the skeptical assertions echoed by Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee yesterday. The lawmakers at times embraced …

The Associated Press reports: Melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are speeding up the already fast pace of sea level rise, new satellite research shows. At the current rate, the world’s oceans on average will be at least 2 feet (61 centimeters) higher by the end of the century compared to today, according to researchers who published in Monday’s …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s description of the climate on planet Earth doesn’t quite match what data show and scientists say. In an interview with Piers Morgan airing Sunday on Britain’s ITV News, the president said the world was cooling and warming at the same time and that claims of melting ice caps haven’t come true. TRUMP: “There …

The Weather Channel reports: Wind chills 50 to 60 degrees below zero have been recorded this weekend in North Dakota and northern Minnesota. The coldest wind chill observed so far is 58 degrees below zero in Hettinger, North Dakota, on Sunday morning. Several daily record lows were set Sunday morning, including Huron, South Dakota (minus 27 degrees), Bangor, Maine (minus …

Talking Points Memo reports: After President Donald Trump tweeted mocking the science behind climate change and touting his decision to pull out of a global deal to combat planetary warming, the Weather Channel shot back. Tweeting out an article that carefully outlines the difference between weather and climate, the publication said that 2017 is still projected to be the warmest …

The New York Times reports: With unusually frigid weather gripping much of the Eastern United States this week, President Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to cast doubt on the reality of climate change, but he appeared unaware of the distinction between weather and climate. Climate refers to how the atmosphere acts over a long period of time, while weather …

Business Insider reports: Donald Trump’s golf resort in Ireland has received permission to build two seawalls to prevent water from eroding part of the course. Local authorities in Doonbeg, Ireland, gave Trump International Golf Links the go-ahead on Thursday to build the two long barriers along a nearby coast. One wall will be 2,000 feet long, while the other will …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump administration released a dire scientific report Friday detailing the growing threats of climate change. The report stands in stark contrast to the administration’s efforts to downplay humans’ role in global warming, withdraw from an international climate accord and reverse Obama-era policies aimed at curbing U.S. greenhouse-gas output. The White House did not seek to …

The New York Times reports: The Environmental Protection Agency has removed dozens of online resources dedicated to helping local governments address climate change, part of an apparent effort by the agency to play down the threat of global warming. A new analysis made public on Friday found that an E.P.A. website has been scrubbed of scores of links to materials …

The New York Times reports: With Tropical Storm Ophelia’s transition to Hurricane Ophelia on Thursday, 2017 became the first year in more than a century — and only the fourth on record — in which 10 Atlantic storms in a row reached hurricane strength. Franklin. Gert. Harvey. Irma. Jose. Katia. Lee. Maria. Nate. Ophelia. Ophelia, far out in the Atlantic, …