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Doubt cast on forced sale of British
Gas
The energy secretary Ed Davey has warned British Gas
could be broken up, if regulators find evidence of market abuse by
the Centrica-owned company. Commentators including Nils Pratley in the Guardian and Nick Butler in the FT are not impressed,
calling it a "party political positioning" and "populist"
respectively. Davey should wait for the results of a review into
power company profits, Pratley argues, while Butler believes that
there should now be a full scale competition review of the gas and
electricity market.
Michael Kavanagh & Guy Chazan
Climate and energy news:
Global warming pause due to Pacific winds, study
finds
"In a study that is likely to irritate climate change
sceptics... scientists in Australia say strong winds in the Pacific
are the reason for a 14-year slowdown in global warming and have
warned that the warming process will soon resume." The author of
the study argues that it's actually surprising the world hasn't
cooled in the past decade, given the study's
conclusions.
The Telegraph
Australia sees greater risk of El Nino weather
pattern
Scientists in Australia believe that the chance of an "El
Nino event", a cyclic change in the atmosphere and oceans causing
warmer global temperatures, is increasing for 2014, but "is
certainly not guaranteed". Commentators have speculated that, given
ongoing manmade global warming, the next El Nino will lead to
record global temperatures. Climate Central has more
detail here.
Reuters
California vows to press ahead with climate change
programs
California plans to extend ambitious carbon reduction
programs beyond 2020. "Results to date show the state can grow its
economy while fighting climate change," a new report from the
state's 'Air Resources Board' says. Emissions cuts after 2020 will
need to be faster in order to meet a 2050 target, it
concludes.
Reuters
UK lawmakers criticise management of Sellafield
nuclear site
"The management of Britain's nuclear site at Sellafield in
northern England is spending too much money and its contract should
be cancelled if it does not improve, Britain's Committee of Public
Accounts said on Tuesday... the cost for cleaning up hazardous
waste at Sellafield is expected to rise above 70 billion
pounds..."
Reuters
White Roofs Could Offset Summer Warming by
2100
A study has found that in six US
cities, painting roofs white "could completely offset the combined
increase in temperatures [by 2100], and if deployed across the
entire megapolitan area, could actually reduce summer temperatures
compared to the 1990-2010 average."
Climate Central
Climate and energy comment:
Committee on Climate Change chief calls for UK
flood policy overhaul
The Committee on Climate Change's chief has accused
successive governments of not spending enough on flood protection.
BusinessGreen interviews the outspoken former minister, Lord
Deben.
BusinessGreen
UK's dependence on gas imports to blame for high
prices not Centrica
The Telegraph warns about the rising price of gas, and lays
the blame on the UK's high level of gas imports. With the telling
the newspaper that "shale won't deliver the cheap energy utopia for
Britain that some members of government have promised", where now
for UK energy policy, the article asks.
The Telegraph
Norway PM: Balance between environment and
economy
Norway is eyeing the possibilities for economic development
as the Arctic sea ice shrinks.
BBC News
Fish may end up in hot water as climate warms the
ocean
Warmer ocean temperatures are likely to mean fish migrate
towards cooler parts of the ocean. The author of a recent paper
examining the phenomena discusses some of the complexities of the
study.
Michael Burrows
New climate science:
Afforestation in China cools local land surface
temperature
China has the largest afforested area in the world - that's
where new trees are established on previously unforested land to
increase take up of carbon dioxide. But knowing where to plant
trees is important to reap maximum climatic benefits, suggests a
new study. Afforestation brings down daytime temperatures but
nightime warming can offset this cooling effect in particularly dry
areas, for example.
Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences
Modelled trends in Antarctic sea ice
thickness
Satellite observations show an increase in sea ice in the
Antarctic. But unlike in the Arctic, scientists have no direct
measurements of ice thickness, and so have limited information
about how sea ice volume is changing. Using a new model
reconstruction of sea ice trends in the Southern Ocean, scientists
estimate sea ice volume has increased by 30 cubic kilometres per
year, or 0.4 per cent. This growth is an order of magnitude less
than the speed of ice loss in the Arctic, the paper points
out.
Journal of Climate
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