Piers Forster and Debbie Rosen at the University of Leeds and Robin Lamboll and Joeri Rogelj at Imperial College London, writing for Carbon Brief, look at the carbon budget estimates of the Global Carbon Project and the IPCC, the methodology and the inevitable uncertainties. They compare it to their own latest report from the CONSTRAIN research project. Where the GCP and the IPCC estimate nine years left of carbon emissions at current emission … [Read more...]
Climate tipping points: what the science tells us about runaway devastating changes
It would be helpful if the science of climate tipping points gave clear answers to what temperature rise will trigger a runaway catastrophe: knowing that temperature rise X will cause calamity Y should focus everyone’s minds to do the right thing. But there’s simply not enough data for the science to do that, though it is clear that destabilisation is underway and major tipping points are approaching. That means we are in the danger zone, says … [Read more...]
COP26 accepted the science like never before. It should make a difference
Leading scientists, writing for Carbon Brief, explain how COP26 gave far greater recognition to science than any of the previous COPs. The scientific evidence from the latest IPCC reports was explicitly acknowledged in the Glasgow Climate Pact. That is a significant advance, say the authors. Decision-making guided by science can focus quantitively on carbon budgets, temperatures, climate change, the causes, and therefore the emissions-reductions … [Read more...]
The EU needs an independent science-led climate watchdog, a European Climate Change Council
Europe does not have the right institutional set-up for robust independent policy evaluation as the region enters a new, complex and radical stage of its energy and climate transition, argue Lola Vallejo (IDDRI), Alina Averchenkova (GRI), Matthias Duwe (Ecologic Institute) and Lara Lázaro Touza (Real Instituto Elcano). This month 12 expert advisory bodies in 11 EU Member States published a letter to EU policy-makers to launch an EU-level body, a … [Read more...]
How to keep winter ice off a Wind Turbine’s blades
Nearly 800GW of wind power have been installed worldwide so far, with plenty more to come. But the Texas freeze in February showed how vulnerable wind turbines are to ice. Hui Hu at Iowa State University summaries his team’s research into solving a problem that can cut generation by 20% or even shut down turbines completely. He explains why existing de-icing solutions for airplane wings offer only a partial solution. Metal airplane wings can be … [Read more...]
