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Global warning: everything you wanted to know about climate change – live Global warning: top climate experts give their advice to Donald Trump – live
(35 minutes later)
2.48pm GMT
14:48
Juliette Jowit
Hoesung Lee: ‘Climate change is a global problem, so individuals should encourage their governments to take action’
Hoesung Lee, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is up next, talking to Juliett.
What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?
We are continuing to emit greenhouse gases and if unabated this will cause further warming and changes to the climate system. This increases the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. Substantial and sustained reduction in emissions are needed to limit climate change.”
What is the best action concerned citizens can take?
Individuals can do many things, depending on their local and personal circumstances. One example is improving energy efficiency. Ultimately [though] tackling climate change is a global problem, so individuals should encourage their governments to take action.
What is your message to President Donald Trump?
I’d like to congratulate Mr Trump on his forthcoming inauguration as President of the United States. We look forward to continuing to work with the new administration, and with American scientists and institutions, on improving our understanding of climate change and how to tackle its impacts and risks, as we have done for nearly 30 years, since the inception of the IPCC.”
2.45pm GMT
14:45
Damian Carrington
Mark Campanale: Fossil fuel investors ‘will be left holding the baby whilst the world has moved on’
Mark Campanale, founder of the Carbon Tracker Initiative thinktank and who conceived the idea that many fossil fuel reserves will be unburnable if the world beats climate change, talks to Damian now:
What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?
There is no doubt now that we’re in the middle of a major technological revolution in the transportation and power sectors. Electrification of the transport fleet and the rise of cheap solar isn’t going to be reversed, actually it will accelerate.
The real question right now is whether technological leaps and cost reductions in renewables can accelerate adoption rates fast enough. The scale of the challenge is enormous – not helped by new investments in fossil fuels exceeding tens of trillions of dollars over the next few decades.
For that reason, we may not be seeing the reductions in fossil fuel power generation capacity that we need. Instead of investors looking at fossil fuel companies as ‘ex growth’ stocks, they are too many that take a ‘business as usual’ growth approach to their investment. Time will tell, but our expectation is that investors [anticipating ‘business as usual’ growth from fossil fuel stocks] will be left holding the baby whilst the world has moved on. The real risk is that the precious years we’ve got to make the difference we need to the future will have been tied up trying to defend the past.
What is your message to President Donald Trump?
If you’re interested in quality, high paying and skilled jobs for the American middle classes, then renewable energy has to absolutely be the place to look. It’s a sector with more employees now than in the US coal industry and with a long way to grow.
What is the best action concerned citizens can take?
Switch to a clean energy supplier like Good Energy, or maybe a community utility and project developer like Mongoose Energy.
2.44pm GMT
14:44
Damian Carrington
May Boeve: ‘The climate movement is more important than ever’
May Boeve, head of climate campaign group 350.org, is next up:
What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?
I think we’ve entered into a new chapter in the climate fight. Renewables have become cheap and widespread enough to represent a real threat to the fossil fuel industry, so they’re beginning to fight back. If we can make it beyond the political barriers coming up worldwide and elect governments who take climate change seriously, we have all the technology we need to make rapid progress and succeed in keeping global warming as close to 1.5C as possible. But it’s going to be a real fight. The work of the climate movement is more important than ever.
What is the best action concerned citizens can take?
Organize. We can’t solve climate change alone. Get together with people and change your community, your country, and the world.
What is your message to President Donald Trump?
Quit. But if you have to stick around, realise that the clean energy economy is the greatest, biggest job creator in history.
2.43pm GMT
14:43
Juliette Jowit
Ed Davey: ‘To fight Isis and make America great again, invest in solar’
Former climate secretary and Liberal Democrat MP now talks to Juliette Jowit
What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?
The Paris agreement surpassed my expectations about what’s possible - although it’s still not enough, given where we are. We have had president Obama’s leadership, Xi Jinping’s (China’s) leadership, and president Modi’s (India’s) leadership. Then we had technological break-throughs, particularly solar.”
What is your message to President Donald Trump?
To fight Isis and make America great again, invest in solar. Where does Isis’ power come from? They are funded by oil and gas, particularly oil.”
2.38pm GMT
14:38
Ian Sample
It would be wrong to think that Donald Trump’s views on climate change reflect those of the American people. While the incoming president is dismissive of the overwhelming scientific consensus that global warming is real, serious and driven by human activity, the US population is not. A survey in November for the Yale program on Climate Change Communication found that 70% of Americans think climate change is real, and just over half, 55%, believe humans are mostly to blame.
The figures are encouraging. But they make clear that the US public, like those in other countries, lags far behind the scientific opinion. The fact is that many people still don’t accept that climate change is driven by human activities, and that it is serious enough to warrant action.
In the Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast today, we explore why climate change risks can be hard for us to take on board. Debika Shome at the TCC Group co-authored a report for Columbia University on the psychology of climate change communication. She explains how the perception that global warming is a problem for people who live far away and far in the future, combines with scientific jargon and the inherent uncertainty around climate predictions to make climate change messages an exceptionally tough sell. But here, another field of science can help. Understand human psychology better, and the messages can be made to hit home, she says.
During the US presidential re-election campaign in 2012, Matthew McGregor, now at Precision Strategies in New York, ran Barack Obama’s digital rapid response team. Matthew is not an expert on climate change, but he does know how to mobilise people to take action. We asked him how he would make people care more about climate change. Facts, he says, are not enough.
Also lending advice is Tima Bansal, professor of sustainability at Ivey Business School in Ontario. The climate change problem cannot be solved without help - and sometimes radical changes in behaviour - from businesses, large and small. But with little incentive to change their ways, what can we as consumers do to force corporations to act in the world’s best interests? As Bansal explains, it could be easier than you think.
2.36pm GMT
14:36
Damian Carrington
Ben van Beurden: ‘We don’t have to sacrifice economic growth’
Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell plc, now:
It’s good news for all of us that [the Paris climate agreement] came into force. The scenarios that we and others have done clearly show that a future of net-zero emissions is technically feasible near the end of the century. And not only can the world achieve it technically, but it also makes economic sense in a societal way. In other words, we don’t have to sacrifice economic growth. That’s the good part.
The remaining challenge is: can it be done commercially? Economically is about the way society can bear it, commercially is about how to make sure the main actors – consumers and companies – can, and will, do the right thing. And if society, through government, doesn’t ensure it makes commercial sense to move to a net-zero emissions energy system, nobody will make the next step.
The good thing is that the Paris agreement raised the bar for everyone. Everybody feels the obligation to act. So in that sense I’m actually very optimistic.
The nature of the challenge of climate change is that it will require unprecedented levels of co-operation between government, industry and society. What often tends to happen in our industry is that you have either isolated advocacy, or people have a very adversarial approach: I’m for, you’re against. In the end this doesn’t resolve anything. It just creates noise for policymakers. We have to move beyond that and start real collective planning for how we are going to achieve the kind of energy transition the world needs.
2.33pm GMT
14:33
Craig Bennett: This is ‘decade zero’
Craig Bennett, head of Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, talks to Damian ...
What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?
The climate impacts of global temperature rises of just 1C have already triggered melting ice-caps, unleashed killer storms and droughts, bleached the world’s coral reefs, choked our cities with pollution and displaced people from their homes. The case for urgent action is now universally accepted by governments, scientists, business and ordinary citizens around the world.
Whilst trillions of dollars are being invested in the renewable energy sector and building a low carbon economy, this is still too little and too slow. This is ‘decade zero’: The decisions we make now on meeting our energy needs, producing our food and protecting our forests will determine if we can keep temperature rises well below 2C and prevent catastrophic climate change. We’re sitting in the last chance saloon but governments still seem unable to break their addiction to dirty energy – unless people power can make them.
What is your message to President Donald Trump?
Renewable energy and the low carbon economy is the world’s greatest job creator. Be smart, and lead from the front. Clean energy, owned by American citizens, acting in the interests of American citizens will not only make ‘America Great Again’, it will save lives and protect your nation too.
What is the best action concerned citizens can take?
Be part of the movement to ‘keep fossil fuels in the ground’. It’s as simple as that. Divest your money from banks that fund it, switch energy suppliers to green energy, support communities saying no to fracking, demand our politicians act now before it’s too late. And join an environmental organisation like Friends of the Earth.
2.31pm GMT
14:31
Damian Carrington
Professor Dame Julia King: ‘Trump needs to build an economy for 2050, not 1950’
Prof Dame Julia King, an eminent engineer and one of the UK government’s official advisers at the Committee on Climate Change is next up, talking to Damian Carrington.
What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?
To have a good chance of keeping global temperature rise to below 2C the world will need to reverse the rise in greenhouse gas emissions and reduce carbon dioxide emissions to zero within the next 50 years or so. This involves switching to clean forms of electricity, transport, cooling and heating, and finding ways to avoid – or mop up – emissions from industry, agriculture, shipping and air travel. We are not currently on track to achieve this, but global momentum is building quickly. What is encouraging is that many companies, cities and citizens are now taking a leading role, alongside pledges and action from governments around the world.
What is your message to President Donald Trump?
If President Trump wants to deliver greater job security for Americans, he should focus on clean and sustainable industries where the US has a competitive advantage. Those are the sectors that are set to prosper. He needs to build an economy for 2050, not one for 1950!
What is the best action concerned citizens can take?
The Committee on Climate Change recently looked at how to reduce UK emissions over the next 15 years. We found that some of the best things people can do to reduce their household-level carbon footprint are:
Save money, by making your home energy efficient, and making choices on food and travel that lower costs and emissions.
Take advantage of new technologies – if you drive, switch to a fully electric vehicle and look at a smart home energy system.
Make your voice heard, by, for example, continuing to talk to your local politician and others to urge them to act, find out what companies your pension fund invests in and write to the trustees to encourage them to switch to ‘low carbon’ investments.
2.27pm GMT
14:27
Damian Carrington
Michael Liebrich: ‘Wind and solar now the cheapest new power sources in much of the world’
Now it’s Michael Liebrich, founder of analyst firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance and who has advised the UN and World Economic Forum on energy, speaking to Damian Carrington.
What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?
The past decade gives us enormous cause for optimism. Relentless growth in global CO2 emissions has been brought to a halt much earlier than anyone thought possible. Wind and solar power have become the cheapest new power sources in much of the world; natural gas is outcompeting carbon-intensive coal; LEDs and other energy efficiency solutions are being installed at scale; and electric vehicles are starting to fly out of showrooms.
But it’s not enough to stabilise emissions: to stay within a 2C carbon budget we have to see emissions cut dramatically and quickly, which remains a staggering challenge. The Paris agreement set out ambitious long-term aspirations, but its near-term commitments don’t add up to much. In particular, if Asian countries build all the coal-fired power stations currently in their plans, then kiss goodbye to the 2C warming target.
What is your message to President Donald Trump?
If I had one minute with president elect Trump my message would be that the best way to ‘Make America Great Again’ is by owning the clean energy, transportation and infrastructure technologies of the future. Not only will this create countless well-paid, fulfilling jobs for Americans, but will also lock in the US’s geopolitical leadership for another generation.
What is the best action concerned citizens can take?
Focus on a few big things. If you are renovating, insist on lots of insulation, good windows, a good boiler and efficient appliances. You can cut your fuel bills by 75% – I know because I’ve done it. If you live in a city, get rid of your car: join a car club, walk or cycle more, use cabs and public transport. Again, I know because I haven’t owned a car in London for 22 years. And don’t fly short-haul, use trains – you’ll get there quicker too.
2.25pm GMT
14:25
Damian Carrington
John Schellnhuber: ‘We are now at a watershed in history’
Prof John Schellnhuber, at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, and who has advised Angela Merkel, the Pope and the EU, now speaks to Damian Carrington.
We are now at a watershed in history I think, because the traditional industrialised countries – US, UK, parts of Europe, Australia – are now more or less giving up being pioneers for climate action and it is emerging economies [like China and India] that are doing the bold steps. The world is upside down really. The old developed world has more or less lost faith in saving the planet and it is the new economies who seem to take the lead. This is the hope we have.
Politicians can’t do it on their own. The political process is so slow and dysfunctional almost everywhere. There are two factors that can accelerate our transition to sustainability. One is clearly technological progress, which is often much faster than anybody expects. The other is civil society, you have to put pressure on your politicians. You have to raise the moral bar much higher. You have ask them ‘do we want to save this planet for our descendents or not?
On the actions concerned individuals can take, Schellnhuber said three things stick out:
Try to avoid using airplanes. Whenever you do a carbon balance sheet, you see flying is just the worst thing you can do regarding your carbon footprint and often it is more convenient to take a train these days. Second is to reduce your meat consumption, if you eat any, and that is also good for your health.
The third one is follow the money: the fossil fuel divestment movement. Tell your bank manager you would like your money be invested into renewables instead of coal, oil and gas industry. At least become a pain in the neck. What companies fear like hell is loss of reputation, as that can break even the big companies’ necks.
Updated
at 2.41pm GMT
2.21pm GMT
14:21
Damian Carrington
Nicholas Stern: ‘Destruction of the environment would reverse economic growth’
Leading climate change economist Lord Nicholas Stern, at the London School of Economics, has also spoken to Damian Carrington for this blog.
Stern said global action on climate change has made substantial progress, with the Paris agreement and the UN’s sustainable development goals creating a global agenda for the first time since the end of the second world war.
It was agreed by everybody and applies to everybody. That is extremely important and quite extraordinary when you think how difficult it is to put together a global agenda with 196 countries.
But he said it was openly acknowledged that the Paris deal leaves a big gap between the current plans and what is needed to avoid 2C of global warming - the danger limit agreed by the world’s nations.
The next very big question is how do we ramp up those ambitions. China, the biggest emitter, is ahead of the game. It said it would peak [its carbon emissions] by 2030, but my guess is it will peak not very long after 2020. That is the key example. I have been working in China for 30 years and the change over the last six to seven is quite remarkable.
India is starting to get much more committed too. So if you look at the two countries with the biggest populations, you do see changes. But the US and Europe will matter greatly to this. It is very important Europe raises its game.
Stern said Donald Trump needs to back the green economy to take advantage of the growing global demand for clean energy, which is being driven by the worldwide commitment to tackling global warming.
If you want to make America great again, building modern, clean and smart infrastructure makes tremendous commercial and national sense, In the longer term, the low carbon growth story is the only growth story on offer. There is no long-term, high-carbon growth story, because destruction of the environment would reverse growth.
Stern said concerned individuals should put pressure on governments and businesses:
Demand explicitly and directly strong action from the politicians, particularly in cities where we know action can be extremely rapid. Do your shopping at firms that are responsible. It does need political, business and civil society push. The reason is that the urgency and scale is not sufficiently understood. We will double the world economy in the next 20 years or so. If we build this new world economy anything like the old one, then we are not going to get down to the [emissions] we have to be. There has to be radical change.
2.16pm GMT2.16pm GMT
14:1614:16
Juliette JowitJuliette Jowit
Prof James Hansen: ‘The single most important thing [individuals] can do is to join Citizens Climate lobby’Prof James Hansen: ‘The single most important thing [individuals] can do is to join Citizens Climate lobby’
Director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, and ‘father of climate change awareness’ spoke to the Guardian’s Juliette Jowit on climate change.Director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, and ‘father of climate change awareness’ spoke to the Guardian’s Juliette Jowit on climate change.
What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?
The global temperature has increased since 1970 at about 0.18C per decade, and it’s going to continue at approximately that rate, because the climate change is driven by environmental imbalance: there’s more energy going in from the sun than out into space, because of the climate change gases.The global temperature has increased since 1970 at about 0.18C per decade, and it’s going to continue at approximately that rate, because the climate change is driven by environmental imbalance: there’s more energy going in from the sun than out into space, because of the climate change gases.
The climate impacts are extremely detrimental, and the worst one is sea level rise, because of the ice sheets going unstable, [and] the economic and humanitarian cost of that is devastating.”The climate impacts are extremely detrimental, and the worst one is sea level rise, because of the ice sheets going unstable, [and] the economic and humanitarian cost of that is devastating.”
What is the best action concerned citizens can take?What is the best action concerned citizens can take?
The single most important thing [individuals] can do is to join Citizens Climate lobby: they [and] other organisations advocate a simple rising carbon fee. People that join are asked to write letters to the editor, op eds [comments in newspapers], write to representatives, legislators, and they do it in a respectful way.The single most important thing [individuals] can do is to join Citizens Climate lobby: they [and] other organisations advocate a simple rising carbon fee. People that join are asked to write letters to the editor, op eds [comments in newspapers], write to representatives, legislators, and they do it in a respectful way.
What is your message to President Donald Trump?What is your message to President Donald Trump?
If [Trump] wants to achieve the things that he claimed he would: improving the situation of the common man, the best way he could do this would be a programme of a rising carbon fee with the money distributed to the public.If [Trump] wants to achieve the things that he claimed he would: improving the situation of the common man, the best way he could do this would be a programme of a rising carbon fee with the money distributed to the public.
2.01pm GMT2.01pm GMT
14:0114:01
Eric HilaireEric Hilaire
Photographs of the melting Greenland ice sheet by Timo Lieber are a beautiful but chilling reminder of the impact of climate change.Photographs of the melting Greenland ice sheet by Timo Lieber are a beautiful but chilling reminder of the impact of climate change.
All photographs use three colours. Each represents a symbolic value: pristine white is the ice sheet, blue is water and black is dirt. These colours form the chromatic point of view and are the clue to reading them. Beyond this simplicity, the pictures are scientific documents that reveal and link the two global phenomenons: global warming and atmospheric pollution.All photographs use three colours. Each represents a symbolic value: pristine white is the ice sheet, blue is water and black is dirt. These colours form the chromatic point of view and are the clue to reading them. Beyond this simplicity, the pictures are scientific documents that reveal and link the two global phenomenons: global warming and atmospheric pollution.
“The images are deliberately abstract.” says Timo Lieber in an interview by Tim Walker. “I didn’t want them to be documentary photographs. You have to get close to find the small, hidden details that help you to understand what you’re seeing. They’re beautiful, but what you’re looking at is climate change at its worst. My favourite is the one that looks like an eye. It’s a half-circle of concentric blues at the top of the image – it’s almost as if global warming is looking right back at you.”“The images are deliberately abstract.” says Timo Lieber in an interview by Tim Walker. “I didn’t want them to be documentary photographs. You have to get close to find the small, hidden details that help you to understand what you’re seeing. They’re beautiful, but what you’re looking at is climate change at its worst. My favourite is the one that looks like an eye. It’s a half-circle of concentric blues at the top of the image – it’s almost as if global warming is looking right back at you.”
2.01pm GMT2.01pm GMT
14:0114:01
Damian CarringtonDamian Carrington
UN climate chief: ‘There is a lot all of us can do to bend the curve towards the world we want and need’UN climate chief: ‘There is a lot all of us can do to bend the curve towards the world we want and need’
Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change - the UN’s climate chief – today gives her views on climate change to our head of environment Damian Carrington.Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change - the UN’s climate chief – today gives her views on climate change to our head of environment Damian Carrington.
What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?What is your current assessment of how the world is dealing with climate change?
There are very positive actions and signals from all areas of society post-Paris [climate agreement] including from governments and cities to business, investors and citizens. But the reality is also that greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere continue to rise and thus national and international ambition needs to rise even more. The world needs to peak global emissions urgently and trigger a steady but significant de-carbonisation of the global economy so that year on year and decade on decade the total achievement is in line with the science. We are on the way towards a better, climate-secure world, but it will be a long journey and only a sense of urgency will get us to the ‘well below 2C target’.There are very positive actions and signals from all areas of society post-Paris [climate agreement] including from governments and cities to business, investors and citizens. But the reality is also that greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere continue to rise and thus national and international ambition needs to rise even more. The world needs to peak global emissions urgently and trigger a steady but significant de-carbonisation of the global economy so that year on year and decade on decade the total achievement is in line with the science. We are on the way towards a better, climate-secure world, but it will be a long journey and only a sense of urgency will get us to the ‘well below 2C target’.
What is your message to President Donald Trump?What is your message to President Donald Trump?
I look forward to working with your new administration to make the world a better place for the people of the US and for peoples everywhere in this very special world.I look forward to working with your new administration to make the world a better place for the people of the US and for peoples everywhere in this very special world.
What is the best action concerned citizens can take?What is the best action concerned citizens can take?
There is a lot all of us can do to bend the curve towards the world we want and need. Get informed and get involved. Be a conscious-consumer for example: there is wealth of information on the environmental footprint of goods and services. Think about how you travel, and try to choose a lower emissions form of transport while offsetting those emissions you cannot avoid right now.There is a lot all of us can do to bend the curve towards the world we want and need. Get informed and get involved. Be a conscious-consumer for example: there is wealth of information on the environmental footprint of goods and services. Think about how you travel, and try to choose a lower emissions form of transport while offsetting those emissions you cannot avoid right now.
2017 is the UN’s International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development – take time to do so research on the sustainability of your holiday and leisure activities.2017 is the UN’s International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development – take time to do so research on the sustainability of your holiday and leisure activities.
If you are lucky enough to have a pension or investments, find out how your money is being used – is it supporting environmentally-sustainable companies or not.If you are lucky enough to have a pension or investments, find out how your money is being used – is it supporting environmentally-sustainable companies or not.
Get more involved in your community and city — actively argue and support public transport policies; renewable energy; energy efficient initiatives and ones to back forests; wetlands and other nature-based ‘infrastructure’.Get more involved in your community and city — actively argue and support public transport policies; renewable energy; energy efficient initiatives and ones to back forests; wetlands and other nature-based ‘infrastructure’.
UpdatedUpdated
at 2.11pm GMTat 2.11pm GMT
1.57pm GMT1.57pm GMT
13:5713:57
HOUR SEVEN: questions and answers, with Damian CarringtonHOUR SEVEN: questions and answers, with Damian Carrington
Thanks Damian. I hope that hour answered lots of your questions. If not, keep them coming. New York will take over from us within the next hour, and our US environment correspondent Oliver Milman will be at the helm.Thanks Damian. I hope that hour answered lots of your questions. If not, keep them coming. New York will take over from us within the next hour, and our US environment correspondent Oliver Milman will be at the helm.
Here’s another fact for you:Here’s another fact for you:
Coming up: what are the best books and films about climate change? What animals are most at risk from climate change right now?Coming up: what are the best books and films about climate change? What animals are most at risk from climate change right now?
Plus: a word with the experts, unfashionable as they may be in some quarters these days. We’ve spoken to a plethora of leading figures climate change debate and found a surprising amount of consensus about what needs to happen next to our climate.Plus: a word with the experts, unfashionable as they may be in some quarters these days. We’ve spoken to a plethora of leading figures climate change debate and found a surprising amount of consensus about what needs to happen next to our climate.
1.56pm GMT1.56pm GMT
13:5613:56
Damian CarringtonDamian Carrington
Last question I’m afraid, but it’s a good one, from ‏@takvera.Last question I’m afraid, but it’s a good one, from ‏@takvera.
@dpcarrington what's probability of multi-metre sealevelrise this century with Greenland, West Antartcica & now Totten glacier unstable?@dpcarrington what's probability of multi-metre sealevelrise this century with Greenland, West Antartcica & now Totten glacier unstable?
Low. Although you are right that those ice caps are very vulnerable to global warming, it takes a long time to melt such big chunks of ice. But in coming centuries, the risk is very real. The last time the Earth had CO2 levels as high as this, sea level was many metres above what it is today. That would wipe out many of the world’s biggest cities.Low. Although you are right that those ice caps are very vulnerable to global warming, it takes a long time to melt such big chunks of ice. But in coming centuries, the risk is very real. The last time the Earth had CO2 levels as high as this, sea level was many metres above what it is today. That would wipe out many of the world’s biggest cities.
1.49pm GMT1.49pm GMT
13:4913:49
Damian CarringtonDamian Carrington
‏@OisinMoriarty asks about electric car takeup.‏@OisinMoriarty asks about electric car takeup.
@dpcarrington @guardian how far from 50 percent of all cars being electric are we@dpcarrington @guardian how far from 50 percent of all cars being electric are we
A long way is the truth, but the takeup is accelerating very fast. There were about 2m electric cars on the world’s roads at the end of 2016. That’s just 1% of the market in Europe and China. But as cheaper models with longer ranges arrive and cities crack down on air pollution, more and more will take to the roads.A long way is the truth, but the takeup is accelerating very fast. There were about 2m electric cars on the world’s roads at the end of 2016. That’s just 1% of the market in Europe and China. But as cheaper models with longer ranges arrive and cities crack down on air pollution, more and more will take to the roads.
1.44pm GMT1.44pm GMT
13:4413:44
Damian CarringtonDamian Carrington
On Twitter, ‏@FourTwoThreeOne asks:On Twitter, ‏@FourTwoThreeOne asks:
@dpcarrington Hi Damian, how bad (& how soon) will climate change Australia? A country which already has wild weather and long droughts.@dpcarrington Hi Damian, how bad (& how soon) will climate change Australia? A country which already has wild weather and long droughts.
Right here, right now is the answer. Scorching heatwaves are already five times more likely thanks to global warming and it’s not going to get better until carbon emissions start to fall. You can read more here.Right here, right now is the answer. Scorching heatwaves are already five times more likely thanks to global warming and it’s not going to get better until carbon emissions start to fall. You can read more here.
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at 1.45pm GMTat 1.45pm GMT
1.40pm GMT1.40pm GMT
13:4013:40
Damian CarringtonDamian Carrington
MercuryBen asks a political question.MercuryBen asks a political question.
Why is it that climate change scepticism is so popular with those on the right-wing?Why is it that climate change scepticism is so popular with those on the right-wing?
I’d suggest two reasons. First is that tackling global warming requires communal action, which for those libertarians far to the right looks just like communism. Communism is evil, therefore climate change can’t exist.I’d suggest two reasons. First is that tackling global warming requires communal action, which for those libertarians far to the right looks just like communism. Communism is evil, therefore climate change can’t exist.
The second reason is that the fossil fuel lobby gives far more money to rightwing politicians, as they are seen to be more “pro-business” than those on the left.The second reason is that the fossil fuel lobby gives far more money to rightwing politicians, as they are seen to be more “pro-business” than those on the left.
But as the Tory politician John Gummer, now Lord Deben, argues today: “Conservatives cannot properly be climate deniers. At the heart of their political stance is a desire to hand on something better to the future than they have received from the past.”But as the Tory politician John Gummer, now Lord Deben, argues today: “Conservatives cannot properly be climate deniers. At the heart of their political stance is a desire to hand on something better to the future than they have received from the past.”
1.34pm GMT
13:34
Damian Carrington
ID5865653 asks an important question about whether aviation can be made greener.
Does anyone know what, if any, progress is being made on making flights more carbon neutral? I know there was a successful round-the-world solar flight in 2016, but that doesn’t seem likely to bear fruit commercially any time time soon. Are the fuel requirements just too large for electric planes etc to be practical?
Flying does have a heavy carbon footprint – about 1 tonne for every economy passenger from London to New York and back. But I don’t think electric planes – like Solar Impulse – will ever carry many passengers. Batteries are just too heavy and solar panels need too much area.
More likely is the adoption of a sustainable biofuel for jets, perhaps from algae, jatropha or even tobacco. But progress has been slow. For freight at least, air ships are a possible future alternative. For now, using a good carbon offset scheme is the only solution.
1.28pm GMT
13:28
Damian Carrington
The livestock industry causes about 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions, and CordTrousers asks:
Any suggestions other than vegetarianism?
Meat does have a heavy carbon (and methane) footprint, but not all meat is equal. Beef has by far the biggest footprint, so cutting out that alone makes a big difference. Reducing meat consumption, rather than going vegetarian, is also an option backed by many, dubbed climatarian or reducatarian.
As it happens, lots of people in rich nations eat more meat than is healthy, so cutting back would help lengthen many lives. Also, lots of new companies are starting to produce vegetable-based substitutes for meat and dairy products, aiming to make them as tasty, healthy and affordable as the originals.
1.23pm GMT
13:23
Damian Carrington
PeppermintSeal wants to know what the impact of ocean acidification might be. Much of the world’s CO2 emissions end up being absorbed by the oceans, which become more acidic as a result.
Regarding the increased acidity in the oceans, what follows from this? More coastal erosion and threat to sea life I’m guessing, but are there other things happening? Does acidity affect salt levels?
Ocean acidification is real but research is still ongoing. This is from a UK research programme: “Already ocean pH has decreased by about 30% and if we continue emitting CO2 at the same rate by 2100 ocean acidity will increase by about 150%, a rate that has not been experienced for at least 400,000 years. Such a monumental alteration in basic ocean chemistry is likely to have wide implications for ocean life, especially for those organisms that require calcium carbonate to build shells or skeletons.”
I think acidification is unlikely to affect salinity or coastal erosion. But rising sea levels and fiercer storms will affect coastlines.
Updated
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1.20pm GMT
13:20
Damian Carrington
Lots of commenters, for example greensocialist147, are arguing that overpopulation is the fundamental problem.
The world’s population is set to rise to 9 or 10 billion by 2050, which definitely makes beating climate change tougher. But the critical thing is the size of their carbon footprints.
If they all cause the same emissions as today’s Americans or Australians, we are doomed to catastrophic climate change. But if, as is difficult but possible, emissions from energy, transport and buildings are reduced to very low levels, then a large global population can live sustainably on the planet. In terms of curbing population growth, poverty reduction, education for girls and availability of contraception for those who want it are vital.
1.17pm GMT
13:17
Damian Carrington
Crucial question next from yourcomment.
Is it compulsory for every article on global warming to feature a photo of a polar bear? Why?
Well, no. But they are beautiful animals and the Arctic is warming far faster than the rest of the planet. But the research here suggests, among many things, that images of real people are effective ways to communicate the significance of climate change, too.
1.15pm GMT
13:15
Damian Carrington
Reader rokealy wants to know how climate change will affect the UK and Europe.
This is such an important matter and delighted that you are covering this in such an excellent way. Really educational yet at the same time quite unsettling. With the rise in temperatures, and various reports coming to conclusions that Europe will get warmer or colder, can you give a clearer picture of what we (Ireland, UK, Europe) can expect to see in our climate in the near future?
The short answer is: more extremes. With more heat in the atmosphere, there’s more energy to drive more extreme events, such as storms. In the UK, the main consequences are more severe flooding and more deadly heatwaves, which the government’s official advisers, the Committee on Climate Change, say are high risks already. Summers are likely to get drier and hotter overall and winters warmer and wetter. But there will also be extreme cold snaps, probably driven by the fast-melting ice in the Arctic.
1.09pm GMT
13:09
Damian Carrington
Next up is a question from Clare Rudkin, on whether global warming can be blamed for specific events.
I would like to know the percent of increase in likelihood of events that seem to be linked to climate change.
Weather has a lot of natural variability, but climate changes increases the chances of many types of extreme weather – loading the dice, if you like. Scientists are getting better and faster at calculating how much the probability of heatwaves etc occurring are increased by global warming.
In some cases, it’s a lot. Warm sea temperatures linked to severe bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef were made at least 175 times more likely, the extreme Russian heatwave of 2010 was made three times more likely, major floods in Paris in 2016 were made almost twice as likely.
Updated
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1.03pm GMT
13:03
Damian Carrington
Hi! I’m Damian Carrington, head of environment at the Guardian, and I’ll be tackling your climate questions for the next 45 minutes or so. Please post anything you’d like to ask in the comments below or tweet me @dpcarrington.
Here’s the first one, from Sandie Elsom.
Congratulations on deciding to focus on this most important of all issues. I’d like to see clear explanations of what the science is saying and just how serious the outcomes will be. I have difficulty convincing family members that climate change is a clear and present danger.
These webpages by Nasa are very good: clear and striking. You could also take a look at the assessment of the world’s scientists produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It concludes that global warming is set to inflict “severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts” on people and the natural world unless carbon emissions are cut sharply and rapidly.
The assessment involved thousands of scientists – probably the biggest scientific review in human history – and was approved by 196 nations, making it as definitive as it gets.
12.56pm GMT
12:56
HOUR SIX: saviour tech
Mark Rice-Oxley
Journalism often tends to focus on the problems, and as such can often give a glum view of the world. But during this hour we’ve heard from:
The Egyptian hydroponics farmer trying to beat the drought
the team at the Thames Barrier in London, the kind of tech that might be needed elsewhere in the world
the British Antarctic Survey, keeping tabs on climate change at the bottom of the earth
some of the innovators offering 21st-century ideas to fix a 21st-century problem
Soon we’re going to hand over to Damian Carrington, our head of environment, to answer your questions. But before we go, can I make a personal plea for you to consider joining us as a member? Journalism is a costly business, as I’m sure you can appreciate from the work that has gone into this product. But we do it because we believe things like this can make a difference, can help build the movement to roll back climate change. If everyone reading this blog gave just a small amount, we would be on a far firmer footing to keep producing work like this.
Support us with a monthly payment or a one-off contribution. Many thanks everyone. Here’s the hourly Twitter card:
Updated
at 1.40pm GMT
12.55pm GMT
12:55
Damian Carrington
When it comes to green tech, the electricity sector has seen the biggest focus so far, with the cost of solar, wind, LED lighting and batteries plummeting in the last decade. The cost of conventional nuclear power has not, but so-called “small modular reactors” (SMR) are now attracting a lot of attention: smaller, cheaper and mass produced is the promise.
An SMR design was recently submitted to regulators in the US, but Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, is not holding his breath. “I do laugh when people talk about SMRs being five years around the corner. The licensing conditions for nuclear – quite correctly – imply a very slow development process because you can’t mess around with it.”
The great hope for nuclear for decades has been nuclear fusion, which carries the prospect of cleaner and limitless energy. However, even those building the biggest fusion experiment in the world – ITER in France – acknowledge that commercial nuclear fusion will not come before 2050, by which time global emissions will already have to be near zero.
Much faster to deliver will be smart grids, which apply data and communication software to make far more efficient use of existing electricity, creating in effect “virtual power stations”. These, along with storage of intermittent renewable energy, are the most important technologies, say experts, allowing countries to move to 100% renewable energy on the grid. Big batteries are already replacing power plants in California.
A breakthrough in battery chemistry to deliver cheaper, more powerful devices is being sought around the world but they are not the only way to store energy – a plant in the UK is already using air compressed into a liquid.
New renewable technologies are also being investigated. Researchers are seeking breakthroughs in solar energy, a truly global energy source, aiming to make panels that capture even more of the sun by, for example, using perovskite crystals instead of silicon.
Updated
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