In
the news
SCIENCE
‘UNDER ATTACK’: Climate Home
News reported that
“dozens” of countries called
out “coordinated attacks”
aimed at “undermining the role
of climate science” at UN
climate talks in Bonn,
Germany, last week. According
to the outlet, the countries
said that UN decision-making
had to remain based on the
“best available science”,
including the reports
of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change. One
negotiator said that India and
Saudi Arabia “opposed calls in
draft texts to encourage
scientific work on scenarios
that would minimise the
magnitude and duration of any
overshoot of 1.5C”, the
article noted. For more, read
Carbon Brief’s
summary of the negotiations.
REPORT
OPPOSITION: “Oil
industry allies” in the US are
targeting a report on extreme
weather attribution, due to be
published by the National
Academies of Sciences,
Engineering and Medicine,
according to Politico.
The outlet reported that the
“heightened scrutiny – which
involves a secretive
opposition research group
scouring scientists’ emails –
has prompted two people to
leave the 15-person panel
tasked with producing the
report”. Separately, the Guardian
reported that the Trump
administration has “reversed
its decision” to dismantle the
Ocean
Observatories Initiative,
a $368m deep-sea observation
system.
SUPER
EL NIÑO: BBC News
reported that the US National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration announced that
El Niño had “officially
begun”. Forecasts suggest the
event could be among the
“strongest ever recorded”, it
added. Meanwhile, a “vigorous
debate” is taking place about
whether climate change is
making the El Niño phenomenon
more intense, according to the
New York Times.
The outlet explained that some
scientists see the run of
"comparatively strong” El Niño
events in recent decades as an
indication that “climate
change is supercharging El
Niño”. However, it added that
“others say there is no clear
evidence to support that
theory”.
|