Category: Climate change

This could be the next big strategy for suing over climate change

Read the full story in the Washington Post.

Two California coastal counties and one beach-side city touched off a possible new legal front in the climate change battle this week, suing dozens of major oil, coal, and other fossil fuel companies for the damages they say they will incur due to rising seas.

The three cases, which target firms such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP and Royal Dutch Shell, assert that the fossil fuel producers are collectively responsible for about 20 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions between 1965 and 2015. They claim that industry “knew or should have known” decades ago about the threat of climate change, and want companies to pay the costs of communities forced to adapt to rising seas.

Heritage at Risk: How Rising Seas Threaten Ancient Coastal Ruins

Read the full story at e360.

The shores of Scotland’s Orkney Islands are dotted with ruins that date to the Stone Age. But after enduring for millennia, these archaeological sites – along with many others from Easter Island to Jamestown – are facing an existential threat from climate change.

To avoid climate catastrophe, we’ll need to remove CO2 from the air. Here’s how.

Read the full story at Ensia.

With sufficient investment and strategic deployment, carbon dioxide removal and storage can play a key role in keeping global warming to a level we can live with.

California lawmakers approve landmark extension to climate policy

Read the full story from Reuters.

California’s legislature passed a package of bills that extends the state’s signature plan to address climate change by a decade, sending Governor Jerry Brown a cap-and-trade plan that uses market forces to cuts greenhouse gas emissions.

Key to speeding up carbon sequestration discovered

Read the full story from Cal Tech.

Scientists at Caltech and USC have discovered a way to speed up the slow part of the chemical reaction that ultimately helps the earth to safely lock away, or sequester, carbon dioxide into the ocean. Simply adding a common enzyme to the mix, the researchers have found, can make that rate-limiting part of the process go 500 times faster.

Funding: Climate Program Office 2018

Applications due Sep 11, 2017.
For more information, visit http://cpo.noaa.gov/Grants

CPO supports competitive research through three major program areas: Ocean Observations and Monitoring (OOM); Earth System Science and Modeling (ESSM); and Climate and Societal Interactions (CSI). Through this Announcement, CPO’s activities are seeking applications for seven individual competitions in FY 2018. Prior to submitting applications, investigators are highly encouraged to learn more about CPO and its Programs, as well as specific Program priorities for FY 2018.

The 7 competitions covered by this Announcement are as follows:

  • AC4 – The Role of Reactive Nitrogen in Biogenic VOC Oxidation and Aerosol Formation
  • MAPP – Advancing Earth System Data Assimilation
  • MAPP – Addressing Key Issues in CMIP6-era Earth System Models
  • MAPP – Climate Test Bed – Advancing NOAA’s Operational Subseasonal to Seasonal Prediction Capability
  • OOM – High-quality data sets for enhancing predictions and informing stakeholders
  • SARP – Extreme Events Preparedness, Planning, and Adaptation Within the Water Sector
  • SARP – Coping with Drought in Support of the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)

Funding: FY18 National Climate Change & Wildlife Science Center Program

Applications due September 7, 2017
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=294773

This program was created to ensure that the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center is responsive to the research and management needs of Federal and State agencies to provide science and technical support regarding the impacts of climate change in fish, wildlife, plants and ecological processes. National coordination of research and modeling at regional centers will ensure uniformity of downscaling and forecasting models and standardized information to support management of fish and wildlife resources and regional partnership collaborations. The Climate Science Centers will provide access to the expertise at cooperating universities and supports the mission of the Climate Science Center Program.