Earlier this year, the E.P.A. eliminated greenhouse gas standards for car tailpipes and eased restrictions on planet-warming chemicals used in air-conditioners and refrigerators. Most consequentially, the agency repealed the scientific determination that gave it the legal authority to create climate regulations in the first place.
Under the Trump administration, the E.P.A. has stopped estimating the public health benefits of reducing pollution in the cost-benefit analyses necessary for clean-air regulations. Instead, the agency has estimated only the costs to businesses of complying with the rules.
Glaciologist @matthias-huss.bsky.social
shows that the centre of the Great Aletsch glacier in Switzerland (the biggest in the Alps) lost 6 meters(!) of thickness just this summer.
"No words...", he adds on LinkedIn
Exxon bases its investments in part on these projections
The projections represent accelerated global warming relative to previous scientific projections
The "fearmongers" of 20-30 years ago appear to have been on the conservative side
https://www.reuters.com/business/ene...ne-2026-09-17/Exxon's outlook, which provides the basis for its investment decisions, does not account for the Middle East conflict because it is too early to determine the full ramifications, Joshi said.
"We need a few more years to really understand what the impact is going to be on long-term fundamentals," he said.
Here are more details on Exxon's energy outlook:
- Annual global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are projected to fall #to 30 billion metric tons by 2050, far above the level of 11 billion metric tons that a United Nations body determined would be needed to limit increases to the average global temperature.
- That level of emissions in 2050 implies global temperatures could rise between 2.5 and 3 degrees Celsius, Joshi said.
- Last year, Exxon projected annual 2050 global emissions would be 27 billion metric tons.
- Exxon also lowered its estimate for the amount of carbon that will be captured globally and stored underground. The company forecasts that amount could reach 2 billion metric tons by 2050, down from its prior estimate of 3.1 billion metric tons.
- Oil demand will reach about 105 million barrels per day in 2050, up from the global consumption of 100 million bpd last year. The projection is unchanged from Exxon's previous estimate.
- Global electricity demand is expected to grow 65% by 2050 from 2025, largely in line with Exxon's previous estimate. The demand growth will be driven by industrial sectors and the increasing number of data centers.
https://text.hrw.org/news/2026/09/17...mate-pollutionUS Revokes Limits on Power Plants’ Climate Pollution
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on September 14 that it is repealing limits on climate-warming pollution from coal and gas-fired power plants, the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country.
By gutting the 2024 Carbon Pollution Standards, the EPA is eliminating most of the limits on power plants’ carbon emissions. The move is one of the Trump administration’s most significant attacks yet on the US government’s ability to confront the climate crisis and protect communities devastated by pollution.
The 2024 standards required existing coal plants and new gas plants to capture 90 percent of carbon emissions or shut down by 2039, which would have reduced carbon pollution by an estimated 1.38 billion metric tons through 2047. The Biden-era rule was also projected to help reduce power plants’ emissions of health-harming pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter.
Human Rights Watch has do ented how these pollutants from industrial operations can degrade air quality and harm the health of communities living nearby. Our research in countries like Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Türkiye has shown how coal-fired plants, in particular, can emit pollution that contributes to dangerous levels of air pollution. The Biden administration estimated that the 2024 Carbon Standards would prevent 1,200 deaths and 360,000 asthma attacks in the US in 2035 alone.
...
the projections of Al Gore and early 20th century climate change "fearmongers" were quite conservative compared to observed trends
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/...82?login=false
https://unric.org/en/unep-emissions-...ree-overshoot/Climate: The 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement is no longer viable
The target set in 2015 by the Paris Agreement—to limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2100—has become unachievable within the span of a single decade, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) notes in its 2026 Emissions Gap Report.
“The opportunity to bridge the 1.5°C emissions gap with ‘no or limited’ overshoot has been lost,” states the report, led “The Point of Return.”
Exceeding the 1.5°C threshold above pre-industrial levels is now imminent and inevitable.
“Every additional fraction of a degree and additional year of warming above 1.5°C raises the risk of irreversible changes including in ice sheets, permafrost carbon, ocean circulation and coral systems, along with devastating human impacts,” the report states.
The urgent task is to ensure that global warming remains below the 2°C threshold, with the aim of returning to 1.5°C by the end of the century. This is the only option left, according to UNEP.
smoke coming out of industrial chimneys
To achieve this, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions would need to be reduced by 18% by 2030, 45% by 2035, and 69% by 2040, relative to 2025 levels.
The current trajectory falls far short of this. Even assuming that the commitments made by governments—known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs)—are fully implemented, emissions would only be reduced by 5% to 8% by 2030 and by 11% to 15% by 2035, compared to 2025 levels.
The recommended efforts are “close to 6 per cent every single year until 2035,” declares the UN Secretary General.
...
October 2026 is the third hottest month on record, behind only December 2023 and February 2024
https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...1027231200.htmEarth is warming faster than ever recorded, with scientists detecting a major acceleration in global temperatures since around 2015. A new study reveals that the warming rate has surged to approximately 0.35°C per decade, nearly double the average pace observed from 1970 to 2015. After removing natural climate fluctuations, researchers confirmed the acceleration with more than 98% statistical confidence.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
