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Global warning: ominous signs for climate in Trump administration – live Global warning: ominous signs for climate in Trump administration – live
(35 minutes later)
12.03am GMT
00:03
HOUR 17: Answers from Antarctica
Elle Hunt
Another hour has passed – here’s what we’ve covered:
20 January being Penguin Awareness Day, we’ve duly raised your awareness of penguins (let us know below the line if you’d like to be made more... aware)
We heard how residents of the Solomon islands are working to strengthen forests, mangroves, reefs and other natural ecosystems that provide natural barriers to climate change
How a seawall constructed in 1880 in Dunedin, in New Zealand’s South Island, has proved an inadequate barrier given contemporary challenges
The Australian Antarctic Division’s Jason Roberts on his daily flights out over Antarctica – and what he sees
And a selection of your thoughtful, interesting comments – please keep them coming!
As Mikey mentioned, we’re about to hear from Jason for a real-time interview conducted – hopefully not-at-all haphazardly – between the Casey Station on Antarctica and the Guardian offices in Sydney.
We’ve passed a selection of questions you’ve already left for him in the comments, but do send on some more.
11.50pm GMT
23:50
As mentioned below, we have Jason Roberts on standby at Casey Station in Antarctica ready to answer your questions about his work (see previous post), about Antarctica, or anything else!
Fire your questions at us in the comments below or tweet them to me at @mikeyslezak. We’ll get them to Roberts and post the answers shortly.
11.47pm GMT
23:47
Jason Roberts is currently living and working at the Australian Antarctic Division’s Casey Station on Antarctica.
Speaking exclusively with the Guardian this week, Roberts explained why he takes a plane out over Antarctica each day, measuring what’s underneath the ice.
The work is trying to understand what controls changes in the ice, as the climate warms.
“The last time we were in what’s called an interglacial - when we didn’t have the big ice sheets in the northern hemisphere – that was about 120,000 years ago when the climate was about what it’s like now,” Roberts says.
“And all the evidence from around the world suggests that sea level was several meters higher than where it currently is.”
But where exactly all that sea level rise came from is a mystery Roberts is trying to solve. Check out the interview we prepared earlier.
NOTE: We have Roberts on standby, ready to answer your questions. Leave them in the comments below, or tweet them to @mikeyslezak and we’ll come back here with his responses.
11.44pm GMT
23:44
Elle Hunt
This comment, from NoMoreMrNice, praises the live blog form as a means of capturing the complexity of climate change. (In the interests of balance, I’ll try single out some critical comments soon, don’t worry!)
Thank you for this; I've had a full on day at work, so am only catching up on it now, but it's very worthwhile and has been well done.
One benefit of this approach is that it reflects the complexity of climate change. Stories on one aspect are often bedeviled by comments of the 'what about....' nature. It's very hard to keep seeing the issue in the round, as a political, personal, societal, scientific and economic risk and opportunity. But it's so important to see how the parts do fit into the whole. Thank you.
As NoMoreMrNice notes, one of the challenges of reporting on climate change is making it seem like an immediate issue that’s unfolding now, rather than something intangible, far away in the future. These real-time, around-the-world updates are giving – if you’ll excuse the buzzword – a holistic view of the problem.
A few commenters have suggested that we should run the blog for another 24 hours, or at least do so more regularly – though it’s dependant on resourcing of our offices in London, New York and Sydney, the warm response below the line is certainly an incentive to do so!
11.38pm GMT11.38pm GMT
23:3823:38
Eleanor Ainge RoyEleanor Ainge Roy
St Clair beach in Dunedin is threatened by sea level rise.St Clair beach in Dunedin is threatened by sea level rise.
The first seawall was constructed in 1880 to protect the homes and businesses of low-lying South Dunedin, land which experts say should never have been built upon.The first seawall was constructed in 1880 to protect the homes and businesses of low-lying South Dunedin, land which experts say should never have been built upon.
The original seawall is evident in this picture, and was made of loose rocks and debris. The current wall is made of concrete and is six metres high. It is a great place to eat fish and chips while watching the pacific ocean hurl itself against the man-made barrier.The original seawall is evident in this picture, and was made of loose rocks and debris. The current wall is made of concrete and is six metres high. It is a great place to eat fish and chips while watching the pacific ocean hurl itself against the man-made barrier.
“We have a duty and responsibility to inform people about what risks they face living in a coastal environment,” says Dr Sharon Hornblow, a natural risks analyst for the Otago Regional Council.“We have a duty and responsibility to inform people about what risks they face living in a coastal environment,” says Dr Sharon Hornblow, a natural risks analyst for the Otago Regional Council.
“With the issue of sea-level rise we are looking at big storms increasing in frequency and severity...so people that would ordinarily have a fairly low risk of being flooded by the sea may now expect that adverse event to happen every ten years rather than every 100 years.”“With the issue of sea-level rise we are looking at big storms increasing in frequency and severity...so people that would ordinarily have a fairly low risk of being flooded by the sea may now expect that adverse event to happen every ten years rather than every 100 years.”
11.31pm GMT11.31pm GMT
23:3123:31
Elle HuntElle Hunt
Thanks for all your comments below the line – it’s great to see so lively a discussion. This, from Uli Nagelb, was interesting in light of earlier debate over reference to “climate deniers” in the US:Thanks for all your comments below the line – it’s great to see so lively a discussion. This, from Uli Nagelb, was interesting in light of earlier debate over reference to “climate deniers” in the US:
Very good initiative! I think the conversation here in the US is shifting - it seems that even previous climate deniers (Pruitt, Zinke, Perry) are now saying that climate change is real, however, they are not willing to say that it is entirely human induced and can be controlled by changing our behavior fast. We need to address that point more than just the fact that the climate is changing. And the idea of showing positive actions around the world is very good! Maybe another 24 hours! Thanks for all you do!Very good initiative! I think the conversation here in the US is shifting - it seems that even previous climate deniers (Pruitt, Zinke, Perry) are now saying that climate change is real, however, they are not willing to say that it is entirely human induced and can be controlled by changing our behavior fast. We need to address that point more than just the fact that the climate is changing. And the idea of showing positive actions around the world is very good! Maybe another 24 hours! Thanks for all you do!
Earlier in the blog, we referred to “climate sceptics (or doubters, if you prefer that word)”; challenged in the comments, my colleague Emily Wilson had this to say:Earlier in the blog, we referred to “climate sceptics (or doubters, if you prefer that word)”; challenged in the comments, my colleague Emily Wilson had this to say:
I'm told even the word 'sceptic' is extremely toxic in the USI'm told even the word 'sceptic' is extremely toxic in the US
It goes to show how loaded this debate continues to be in the face of apparently indisputable facts. The question of how to bridge the gaps between the two groups remains, as pointed out in this highlighted comment:It goes to show how loaded this debate continues to be in the face of apparently indisputable facts. The question of how to bridge the gaps between the two groups remains, as pointed out in this highlighted comment:
Great effort by the Guardian, but there's obviously a problem of preaching to the converted. What are the best ways to persuade the skeptics?Great effort by the Guardian, but there's obviously a problem of preaching to the converted. What are the best ways to persuade the skeptics?
That’s something that we aim to keep at the forefront of our minds in our coverage of climate change, far beyond singular initiatives such as these. (While it’s great to see the suggestions we keep the blog going for longer, I don’t think Mikey Slezak would be very happy with me for committing to another 24-hour stint – as passionate as he is about rising seawaters.)That’s something that we aim to keep at the forefront of our minds in our coverage of climate change, far beyond singular initiatives such as these. (While it’s great to see the suggestions we keep the blog going for longer, I don’t think Mikey Slezak would be very happy with me for committing to another 24-hour stint – as passionate as he is about rising seawaters.)
11.17pm GMT11.17pm GMT
23:1723:17
Eleanor Ainge RoyEleanor Ainge Roy
Last year five islands in the Solomon islands were consumed by rising oceans. The impoverished Oceanic nation, home to 640,000 people, has seen annual sea levels rise by as much as 10mm in the last 20 years; Choiseul Province, home to 20,000 people, was forced to relocate its provincial hub.Last year five islands in the Solomon islands were consumed by rising oceans. The impoverished Oceanic nation, home to 640,000 people, has seen annual sea levels rise by as much as 10mm in the last 20 years; Choiseul Province, home to 20,000 people, was forced to relocate its provincial hub.
Fred Patison, the country manager for the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, says residents of Choiseul were attempting to strengthen their ecosystems to reinforce their natural safeguards against climate change.Fred Patison, the country manager for the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, says residents of Choiseul were attempting to strengthen their ecosystems to reinforce their natural safeguards against climate change.
Speaking via Facebook messenger from his office in the capital Honiara, Patison says the Solomons have limited resources, so helping the local people preserve and care for their native forests, reefs and mangroves is the most straightforward action.Speaking via Facebook messenger from his office in the capital Honiara, Patison says the Solomons have limited resources, so helping the local people preserve and care for their native forests, reefs and mangroves is the most straightforward action.
“Ecosystem-based adaptation” is, for now, affordable and easily communicated – “although at some point relocation may become an option.”“Ecosystem-based adaptation” is, for now, affordable and easily communicated – “although at some point relocation may become an option.”
He adds that the Solomons were getting uncomfortably hot – a trend noted in other Pacific islands.He adds that the Solomons were getting uncomfortably hot – a trend noted in other Pacific islands.
11.07pm GMT11.07pm GMT
23:0723:07
According to Sydney Aquarium, today is penguin awareness day.According to Sydney Aquarium, today is penguin awareness day.
As they point out, penguins are threatened by climate change as ice melts and sea level rises.As they point out, penguins are threatened by climate change as ice melts and sea level rises.
#PenguinAwarenessDay, did you know that the curious birds are under threat from #GlobalWarning but also plastic pollution from humans?#PenguinAwarenessDay, did you know that the curious birds are under threat from #GlobalWarning but also plastic pollution from humans?
And for your enjoyment, the Australian Antarctic Division have posted this adorable video of penguins being, well, penguins. (And soon we’ll be heading to Antarctica, hearing from a scientist working there right now.)And for your enjoyment, the Australian Antarctic Division have posted this adorable video of penguins being, well, penguins. (And soon we’ll be heading to Antarctica, hearing from a scientist working there right now.)
Happy #penguinawarenessday! Adélie penguins are determined walkers averaging 2.5 km/h. Join our Q&A 1-2pm AEDT at https://t.co/WUlx7WwSnm pic.twitter.com/BDPpGKKrJlHappy #penguinawarenessday! Adélie penguins are determined walkers averaging 2.5 km/h. Join our Q&A 1-2pm AEDT at https://t.co/WUlx7WwSnm pic.twitter.com/BDPpGKKrJl
UpdatedUpdated
at 11.12pm GMTat 11.12pm GMT
11.06pm GMT11.06pm GMT
23:0623:06
HOUR 16: Into the Asia PacificHOUR 16: Into the Asia Pacific
Elle HuntElle Hunt
Good morning from Sydney, Australia – my name is Elle Hunt and I’m helping Mikey Slezak co-pilot the blog in its final eight-hour stretch.Good morning from Sydney, Australia – my name is Elle Hunt and I’m helping Mikey Slezak co-pilot the blog in its final eight-hour stretch.
In the past hour, we’ve learned about:In the past hour, we’ve learned about:
the impact of rising sea levels in the low-lying Pacific island of Kiribatithe impact of rising sea levels in the low-lying Pacific island of Kiribati
how much greenhouse gas the world is emitting right now (warning: this carbon countdown clock, updating in real time, may spike your anxiety)how much greenhouse gas the world is emitting right now (warning: this carbon countdown clock, updating in real time, may spike your anxiety)
the latest on the toxic debate about renewable energy in Australia. The good news: voters aren’t convinced that it’s forcing prices upthe latest on the toxic debate about renewable energy in Australia. The good news: voters aren’t convinced that it’s forcing prices up
Coming up, we’ll head to Antarctica with Jason Roberts of the Australian Antarctic Division, who will be joining us for a real-time Q&A from 11am AEDT.Coming up, we’ll head to Antarctica with Jason Roberts of the Australian Antarctic Division, who will be joining us for a real-time Q&A from 11am AEDT.
Watch his upcoming video interview and let us know what questions you have for him in the comments or on Twitter: I’m @mlle_elle, Mikey’s @MikeySlezak, and the hashtag we’re using is #GlobalWarning.Watch his upcoming video interview and let us know what questions you have for him in the comments or on Twitter: I’m @mlle_elle, Mikey’s @MikeySlezak, and the hashtag we’re using is #GlobalWarning.
Thanks for joining us.Thanks for joining us.
10.44pm GMT10.44pm GMT
22:4422:44
Here in Australia, there’s been a toxic debate about renewable energy. The fossil fuel industry, conservative media and the coalition government have been trying to link blackouts in South Australia, which have been caused by extreme weather, to the high proportion of renewables in that state.Here in Australia, there’s been a toxic debate about renewable energy. The fossil fuel industry, conservative media and the coalition government have been trying to link blackouts in South Australia, which have been caused by extreme weather, to the high proportion of renewables in that state.
They’ve also been arguing that rising power bills around the country are a result of increases in renewable energy in the grid.They’ve also been arguing that rising power bills around the country are a result of increases in renewable energy in the grid.
But today, just as another extreme storm causes a large blackout in South Australia, we have polling from GetUp showing Australians have not been swayed by these arguments.But today, just as another extreme storm causes a large blackout in South Australia, we have polling from GetUp showing Australians have not been swayed by these arguments.
Just over 17% of voters said they thought renewable energy was to blame for rising power prices.Just over 17% of voters said they thought renewable energy was to blame for rising power prices.
Read the full story here:Read the full story here:
10.35pm GMT
22:35
Nick Evershed
This clock estimates how much greenhouse gas the world is emitting right now – and how much we have left to emit if we want to keep global warming within the 2C band considered crucial by scientists to prevent serious damage to the planet.
I’ve calculated that in just the 24 hour lifespan of this blog, the world will pump out more than 112m tons (CO2-e).
You can embed the clock on your own website as well by using the code from the embed button (that’s the purple one with as the symbol).
Updated
at 10.35pm GMT
10.23pm GMT
22:23
First up, we’re starting in the low-lying island of Kiribati. My colleague Eleanor Ainge Roy has filed this from New Zealand:
Kiribati’s climate change officer Choi Yeeting says there are no climate deniers in his island home - because the population of 100,000 people in the central Pacific ocean see the devastating effects of climate change everyday, which in this low-lying atoll nation include rising sea-waters, extensive coastal erosion, increasing temperatures, prolonged droughts and severe fresh water shortages.
“Technically speaking, we are planning ahead that one day we may have to leave our home,” said Yeeting.
“But on the other side of that is a nationalist pride that comes with being an individual from Kiribati and not wanting to go down without a fight. People are trying to think positively and adapt, because leaving our home is the worst-case scenario.”
Former President and renowned climate change activist Anote Tong says when there is a king tide and a moderate westerly wind blowing there is frequent damage to villages and homes, with crops destroyed and fresh water wells tainted.
During his time in office (which ended last year), Tong became famous in the climate change community for taking strong, preventative action to prepare his country for the worst, including building sea walls, buying “fall-back” land in Fiji if Kiribati residents were one day forced to migrate, and investigating the feasibility of building a floating island.
Tong is adamant that the initial purchase of the land in Fiji was an “investment decision” but since Kiribati’s fate has become more dire, Tong says the Fijian government and its people have stepped forward with open arms.
“I have never been in support of our people being given the status of climate refugees. And the reason I say that is we have more than enough time to prepare. And I have always advocated a policy of migration with dignity.” he says.
“But the Fiji government and the people have come forward to say Fiji would welcome people from Tuvalu, and Kiribati, if they should ever need a place to go to. And I think that is the moral response that I have been looking for from the international community. So that should be put on record for someone acting in a humanitarian, moral way to a challenge that is going to mean the destruction of homes, culture and people.”
Updated
at 10.31pm GMT
10.11pm GMT
22:11
Before we move on – a quick update for new readers about what we’re doing here.
Just ahead of a climate sceptic moving into the White House, we’re producing 24 hours of reporting on climate change happening now.
We began with the blog being piloted from London, and had reporting from Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The reins were then taken over by our colleagues in the US, who delivered reporting from the Americas.
And here we are now in Australia, bringing you reporting from everywhere between India and Kiribati.
It’s not all doom and gloom – we have reports about communities fighting climate change, about reasons to be hopeful and posts about what you can do to help limit global warming.
Keep checking back in and let us know what you’re thinking on twitter or below the line.
10.01pm GMT
22:01
Michael Slezak
Hello from Sydney, Australia.
From the office here, we’re going to drive the blog for the next nine hours, taking it through to the 24 hour mark.
As the sun is now moving over the Asia Pacific, we’ll bing you reporting from Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Australia, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Mongolia, India and lots of places in between.
We’ll also turn to Antarctica, and give you the opportunity to fire questions to a climate scientist who is there now, in the middle of a major research project.
You’ll hear from people living on the frontlines of climate change around the region, as well as people at the frontline of the fight against climate change. I’ll be asking some leaders of the climate movement if having a climate denier in the White House, and little progress on climate action in Australia, is a sign the movement is failing.
I’ll bring you a video interview with a scientist working on the frontline of climate change in Antarctica – and give you an opportunity to ask him questions for yourself.
But we want to hear from YOU.
Let me know what’s happening with climate change around you, or how you might be preparing for it or fighting it. Tweet me @mikeyslezak or leave a comment below the line. We’ll try to feature as many of your inputs as we can.
Updated
at 10.05pm GMT
10.00pm GMT
22:00
HOUR 15: scientists, refugees, coal and rainforests
As Amanda Holpuch and Ashifa Kassam reported earlier, climate change will have cascading effects from forests in the American south-east to the far reaches of Canada. Brazil’s leading monitor of the Amazon told Jonathan Watts about the threat of cattle ranchers to the Amazon, and attorney Lauren Kurtz told Alan Yuhas about a campaign to help climate scientists protect themselves under the administration of Donald Trump.
We’re also going to pass the baton to Michael Slezak and Elle Hunt in Sydney, Austraila, for the final sweep of climate change coverage around the world
Fifteen things you can do to make a difference
Adam Gabbatt on New York’s rooftop solar farms
George Monbiot: ‘Commentators seek glimpses of light in Trump’s position. There are none’
The world’s biggest solar farm springs up – in China
The ever-popular climate quiz
And the climate clock, still ticking away
Fact checking @realDonaldTrump: global cooling was a fringe idea #GlobalWarning https://t.co/3n8F5g9E3e pic.twitter.com/LCithH8Ucy
9.54pm GMT
21:54
Jonathan Watts
More from Paulo Barret, head of Imazon, the world’s leading monitor of the Amazon rainforest.
It has been argued that indigenous reserves have the best protected forest. Is that true from what you have observed?
Indigenous lands and many Conservation Units (such as National Parks and National Forest) are the best protected areas. The indigenous peoples that are more protective are the ones that maintained their ancient livelihoods practices, which are dependent on healthy environment such as hunting, fishing and small scale agriculture. By being present in the areas, they also prevent timber extraction by loggers. Unfortunately, Congress wants to amend the constitution to make it harder to acknowledge land rights for indigenous people. Yesterday, the Ministry of Justice announced that it would review all demarcations of this type by Funai (The National Indian Foundation), which will further politicise the process.
What more could be done in Brazil?
INPE, the National Space Agency, uses satellite images to report the annual rate of deforestation and also to produce monthly alerts on hotspots of deforestation. Data from the latter – which is named DETER – is provided to the federal environmental agency to guide field inspections. Overall, the system works well, but in the past three years the government stopped publishing DETER’s data to the general public. The new Environment Minister has promised to resume monthly publication.
The government should also resume the policies that had been effective including improving enforcement, implement and increase the area of Conservation Units. Additionally, government and private sector should work more on incentives for conservation, especially for small landholders. Finally, government should collect the land tax that would curb speculative deforestation and land grabbing.
Looking 20 years into the future, what are the best and worst case scenarios for the Amazon?
The best scenario would combine the implementation of policies that have been effective with new ones, such as incentives for conservation, with the aim of keeping the existing forest. But it is also necessary to invest in restoration given that Brazil has an estimated 28 million hectares of legal forest deficit in the whole country – about half of that in the Amazon. However, Brazil has promised to reforest only 12 million hectares up to 2030 as part of the Paris Climate Agreement.
The worst scenario would be the continuation of weak government and a private sector that fails to understand the importance of forest conservation to sustainable development and fails to execute their stated commitment to zero deforestation. In that case, deforestation and forest fires would continue and we could lose 30% by 2050. That would take the forest to turning point, after which it could lose the capacity to regenerate due a combination of drier climate and frequent forest fires.
Personally, are you optimistic or pessimistic about the prospects for the Amazon?
I am very concerned because of the financial and political crises in Brazil that are likely to last for several years. To offset this, the private sector and the international community should increase their support for forest conservation. For example, large corporations that committed to zero-deforestation should work closely with Brazilian authorities and landholders to curb deforestation.
Updated
at 10.02pm GMT
9.48pm GMT
21:48
Jonathan Watts
The Amazon contains half the world’s remaining rainforest, with an estimated 390bn trees doing the work of storing carbon and regulating the climate. Deforestation is removing those natural air filters.
Early this century, an area the size of Albania was being cleared every year. Since then, the good news is that Brazil, which contains 60% of the Amazon, has taken action to slow deforestation. But pressures on the forest are growing again. I asked Paulo Barreto, the head of Imazon, the leading independent Amazon monitoring organisation, to give me an update on the situation.
Your organisation uses satellite data to measure deforestation. What do the recent results tell us?
The rate of deforestation decreased nearly 80% from 2005 to 2012. But from 2012 to 2016, deforestation rates increased 75% going from 4,571 to 7,989 square kilometres.
Can you explain why progress has faltered?
Deforestation rates increased because after 2012 Congress and the government weakened the environmental laws by pardoning some of the illegal deforestation, reduced Conservation Units, built large infrastructure project without proper environmental licensing procedures and decreased the enforcement of environmental law.
An interactive map by Global Forest Watch tracks the change in forest cover since 2001. It is impressively grim. The pink (decline) areas are far more prominent than the blue (increase) areas. What does this mean for the climate?
This means that the Amazon is a large contributor to climate change by emitting greenhouse gases when the forest is burned. In fact, deforestation is responsible for about half of the Brazilian greenhouse gas emissions.
Which areas have the most rapid deforestation ?
Cattle ranching accounts for 65% of the deforested areas in the Amazon. Deforestation is facilitated by large infrastructure projects, which facilitated transport and attract immigration. In the past five years, this has happened near Belo Monte dam in Altamira and along the BR-163 highway in eastern Pará State and near Porto Velho, Rondônia State, where two dams have been built.
On a more positive note, which areas are seeing reforestation ?
Most reforestation has been by natural regeneration of forests in abandoned pasturelands. Usually, these lands are in areas with poor potential for land use intensification such as riparian areas or zones with high rainfall.
9.41pm GMT
21:41
Throughout his presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised to “save” coal mining, holding rallies where he mimed shoveling and accused Barack Obama of doing “everything he can to kill the coal industry”. Surrounded by advisers who oppose climate regulations, Trump will soon be able to hack through the rules put in place by Obama to curtail pollution. Saving coal, however, is likely out of beyond his powers.
The free market, far more than regulations, has done the work of killing coal. Despite Trump’s insistence that the US is struggling for energy, the natural gas industry has created a supply glut so significant it has cut deeply into the economies of entire nations, Saudi Arabia and Russia among them.
Coal couldn’t compete. Cheaper and cleaner than coal, though – not renewable or green – natural gas operations mushroomed all over the US over the last decade, so much so that they started creating earthquakes and short-lived boomtowns. Trump’s proposals would open up the US for even more gas exploration.
Coal only accounts for about 30% of US electricity, down from about 50% in 2008, and its decline traces back several decades. The industry has lost about 200,000 jobs since 1980 as machines replaced humans in the mines, and as those mines delved into deeper, more expensive and dangerous mountains. Exports peaked in 2012, alongside the high points of growth in China, which has its own coal supplies and has now turned toward cleaner energy. Investment banks have also continued to back away from the industry as renewable technology has become cheaper.
9.36pm GMT
21:36
Ucilia Wang
Clean energy is a hot topic for the political and business bigwigs who gather in Davos for the World Economic Forum this week. The forum has added more sessions on the subject (along with climate change) than ever before.
That’s not surprising, given that solar and wind energy no longer represents mostly a badge of environmental activism. We are seeing an increasing number of companies, including Google, Apple and Ikea, that sign contracts to buy renewable electricity or even build their own solar and wind farms. That’s because the prices for these once-expensive sources of energy have dived since 2009, with 63% drop for solar contracts in the US over the past five years.
Renewable energy investments, which also include geothermal and biomass, increased from $40.1bn in 2015 to $42.7bn in 2016 in the US, according to a new report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Solar being cheaper than coal? This was once unthinkable. Now, it’s already happening in some corners of the world and could spread to just about everywhere by 2025.
9.29pm GMT
21:29
Mark Oliver
Ashifa Kassam, the Guardian’s Canada correspondent this week sent us this dispatch from Lennox Island, off the coast of Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada. On Lennox, she wrote, the island has lost 400 acres in just a few generations and the First Nations community is wondering if it has a future.
Kassam reports that over the past three decades, Danny Tuplin has watched the island’s shoreline inch closer to his two-storey house. Only a few years ago, his home sat 10ft from the water. Then in 2004, a hurricane-strength nor’easter blizzard brought the ocean to his doorstep.“I went out the back door, I took five steps and I was in salt water,” said the 58-year-old.
Touching on similar issues, we have a comment piece by Julian Brave NoiseCat, an enrolled member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen in British Columbia, who says the cornerstone of the climate justice movement must be indigenous rights and sovereignty.
Earlier today we published this piece by Brave NoiesCat in which he writes:
“Many believe the fight to combat climate change hinges on the aligned interests of capital and state. Give the Elon Musks of the world enough time and resources and they will innovate us out of impending climate catastrophe. Get the G20 in a room and they will hammer out a deal and create regulations to enforce it. Or so the thinking in some circles goes. Yet throughout history, the interests of the state have slid into alignment with big oil and big profits rather than lining up with our rivers, our air, our wildlife and our people.
On Friday, men who disavow climate change and profit mightily from fossil fuels will take charge. In a global race to the bottom, there’s no telling how far downriver these shortsighted profiteers will sell our future generations.
Elsewhere on our Comment site today, commissioned for our climate blog, we have a piece by Osprey Orielle Lake, who is marching against Trump on Saturday and argues there is a link between violence against women and the Earth.
Updated
at 9.36pm GMT