Tag: Australia

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, May 19. Trump, China and trade: Who blinks first? ...

by Lowell Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Saturday, May 18.  Trump Isolated on Iran as World Sees...

It's not news that the Trump White House leaks like a sieve. It is not (publicly) known who the leakers are. But it is often...

Is it time to stop talking about the low end of climate change predictions? Until now, I've thought of our climate choices as "mild disruption," "wrenching calamity," and "civilization-threatening catastrophe," depending on how quickly and seriously we act to cut carbon pollution. But reading Jeff Goodell's Rolling Stone article on Australia's grim future, I wonder if our continued inaction is putting that first option in the rear view mirror.

The United Nations International Panel on Climate Change issued its 4th Assessment in 2007, predicting a low carbon emissions scenario would see a rise in temperatures by 2100 of about 2 degrees Celsius (about 3 degrees Fahrenheit). The UN continues to cite that 2 degrees C as its goal for maximum temperature rise.

But since that report nearly five years ago, global carbon pollution has continued to rise steadily. And with Washington talking about sticking a new tar sands pipeline in our oil addicted veins, now experts are wondering if we'll act fast enough to avoid the dreaded high emissions scenario: