Climate Thoughts with Brian

Category: climate

Human- induced climate change made the recent wildfires in Spain 20 times more likely

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Incendios_de_2022_%28Our%C3%A9m%29.jpg Human-induced climate change made the extreme fire weather that fuelled the recent destructive wildfires at least twice as likely in France and at least 20 times more likely in Spain, according to a new World Weather Attribution (WWA) study. The severe wildfires which have burned across France and Spain, and which now are affecting…
Read more: Human- induced climate change made the recent wildfires in Spain 20 times more likely
Human-caused climate change driving global coral bleaching events

Human-caused climate change, not El Niño, is the driving force behind all global coral bleaching events, argues new research published today in Oceanography. Over the past 40 years, the Climate Central- led paper found that human-caused climate change has been the main driver of coral bleaching risk. The paper argued, ‘Four global mass coral bleaching…
Read more: Human-caused climate change driving global coral bleaching events
Outrage from Leeds residents as planning is approved for new Microsoft Datacentres

Almost 7,000 people have now signed a petition against a Microsoft datacentre in Leeds. The petition states that ‘This proposed megasite, which has already been given conditional planning approval, would consist of giant warehouses full of tens of thousands of AI computer chips running constantlyto power Microsoft’s AI systems. There is overwhelming evidence that this…
Read more: Outrage from Leeds residents as planning is approved for new Microsoft Datacentres
Almost 3,000 excess deaths estimated in England and Wales during recent heatwaves

Public protecting themselves against the direct sun A new combined report from Imperial College London, the Met Office and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine estimated that more than 2,700 people died from heat-related causes in the recent May and June heatwaves. The report states that almost half of these (42%) died as…
Read more: Almost 3,000 excess deaths estimated in England and Wales during recent heatwaves
Fossil fuel emissions have worsened European heatwaves

Climate change unequivocally to blame for record-shattering European heatwave The extreme June heat currently breaking records across Western Europe would have been impossible just a few decades ago according to a rapid attribution analysis by World Weather Attribution (WWA). WWA scientists used both observed and forecast temperature data to analyse the hottest three-day period across…
Read more: Fossil fuel emissions have worsened European heatwaves
WMO: ‘Prepare for El Niño’

El Niño is coming- and we are not prepared. By Storm surge by David Baird, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=123271310 A new WMO El Niño/La Niña Update indicates an 80% likelihood of an El Niño event during June–August 2026. Probabilities for this to continue until at least November are near or above 90%. Although some uncertainty…
Read more: WMO: ‘Prepare for El Niño’
A renewables revolution is an ethical and legal necessity for the UK.

We can be in no doubt that the climate crisis is here. The impacts are being felt around the world: from famines, flooding, dangerous heatwaves and global temperature records being repeatedly broken. We are already in a ‘brave new world’. With the news published today, that we are likely to witness an 80% likelihood of…
Read more: A renewables revolution is an ethical and legal necessity for the UK.
Consultation continues on Hope Moor Wind Farm Proposal

First steps in assessing the environmental impact for Hope Moor wind farm proposal taken in Yorkshire Fred. Olsen Renewables continue their public consultation on their proposals to build approximately 23 wind turbines on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, near to Richmond and Barnard Castle. This planned project would generate more than 150MW of renewable…
Read more: Consultation continues on Hope Moor Wind Farm Proposal
European heat records are broken by spring heat dome

Credit @Tomer Burg The UK has just set a provisional new May heat record with 35.0C recorded in West London, exceeding the 34.8C reached yesterday. France has also seen record breaking heat with 36C recorded in the country’s southwest on Monday as a heat dome sits across much of western Europe. Friederike Otto, Professor of Climate Science,…
Read more: European heat records are broken by spring heat dome
Review of ‘The Response: A Story of Fire and Flood in Britain’s New World of Extremes’, by David Shukman

‘We’re not remotely ready to deal with the worsening conditions that are confronting us now, let alone those still to come.’ David Shukman’s book ‘The Response: A Story of Fire and Flood in Britain’s New World of Extremes’ opens with the stark message that the UK is far away from being resilient to the rising…
Read more: Review of ‘The Response: A Story of Fire and Flood in Britain’s New World of Extremes’, by David Shukman