As The Trump Administration Rolls Back Obama’s Clean Cars Program, Meant To Increase The Fuel Efficiency

Direct and indirect employment, as of 2013-2014, in the global renewable energy industry.

Changes in US tree cover since 2000 (purple is gain, red is loss)

Meanwhile, as coal's share of U.S. electricity production declines, wind power capacity has been increasing. By the end of 2010, total wind power capacity exceeded 40,000 megawatts, representing a cumulative investment total of $78 billion since the beginning of the 1980s.

*the slowed growth observed in 2010 is attributed to the delayed impact of the global financial crisis (which impacted the apparent availability of capital for 2010 projects that were being planned in 2009), low natural gas prices and a lower overall demand for energy

As governments discuss climate change in Paris, they’ll be referring to the dire predictions of climate scientists. Here are three visualizations of possible futures based on detailed climate models and summed up by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in their 2013 report. The deeper the red - the hotter things are getting.

The message is clear: we better act fast.

How did they come up with these models? Read or listen to Nell Greenfieldboyce’s story.

Image Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio and NASA Center for Climate Simulation

44% of crocodilians are threatened according to the IUCN. The Chinese alligator, Orinoco crocodile, Phillippines crocodile, Cuban crocodile, Siamese crocodile and Gharial are all considered critically endangered. A conservation success story, the American alligator, once facing extinction, is now considered "low risk", although the American crocodile is "vulnerable".

While the average household today consists of fewer people than 60 years ago (2.55 people vs. 3.37 people), the average house size has increased by over 150%. Bigger houses (despite smaller families) means more energy used to heat and cool, more land cleared to build, and more materials required for construction.

Glass recycling rates in Europe

Carbon dioxide emissions in the UK are falling. CO2 emission fell 5.8% in 2016 from the previous year. Current emissions represent a 36% reduction from 1990 levels, and are at their lowest level since 1894 (outside the 1920s general strikes).

Why? The decline of coal. Coal use in the UK has declined steadily from its peak in 1956, and has experienced a dramatic decline since 2012. Coal use in 2016 dropped 52% from 2015.

The reduction in coal use is a result of multiple factors. The biggest is the expanded use of natural gas and renewables displacing coal. Other factors include an overall reduction in energy demand, the closing of Redcar Steelworks in 2015, and the UK’s carbon tax.

Source

A somewhat pessimistic view of climate diplomacy by Eduardo Porter in the New York Times: In the 30 years since the first international meeting on climate change in 1988 in Toronto, temperatures continue to rise and greenhouse gas emissions are greater than ever. 

Original article

When thinking of ways to make renewable energy cost-competitive with fossil fuels, an important consideration are the market distortions caused by substantial government subsidies to fossil fuels versus subsidies to renewable energy. De-carbonizing the global energy sector will require removing subsidies for fossil fuels.

Numbers from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-13/sustainability-indicator-130-billion-pints-of-beer.html