Posted on 8 April 2023 by John Hartz

Story of the Week

Earth Could Warm 3 Degrees if Nations Keep Building Coal Plants, New Research Warns

Several nations plan to build new coal power plants, with China alone approving nearly 100 gigawatts. Each gigawatt is the equivalent of installing more than 3 million solar panels.

Earth is on track to significantly overshoot a critical global climate target, largely because not enough coal-fired power plants are being retired, researchers warned in two new reports. Some nations are even planning new coal projects despite promising two years ago to begin reducing their use of the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel.

In 2021, nearly 200 nations agreed for the first time to phase down “unabated” coal-fired power plants as part of the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit average global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, with a more ambitious goal of staying below 1.5 degrees.

But a new peer-reviewed study, published by two Swedish universities in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found that current commitments by nations to wind down the use of coal-fired power aren’t enough to meet either of the Paris Agreement’s key targets. It says that the planet will likely warm upwards of 3 degrees Celsius by the end of the century unless far more plants shut down over the next five years. 

In fact, the world’s fleet of coal plants actually grew last year, according to a second report released Wednesday by Global Energy Monitor, which tracks energy projects around the world. That report found that coal capacity grew by 19.5 gigawatts in 2022—enough to power roughly 15 million homes—mostly because of new plants built by China and India. While the United States retired a record 13.5 gigawatts of coal power last year, China added 26.8 gigawatts and India added 3.5 gigawatts, with both countries planning to build more new plants this year.

China alone has approved nearly 100 gigawatts of additional coal power plants, an astonishing number in light of the most recent climate report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warned that the next seven years may be humanity’s last chance to rapidly wind down fossil fuel use in order to stave off runaway global warming. Each gigawatt is the equivalent of installing more than 3 million solar panels or over 330 utility-scale wind turbines, says the U.S. Department of Energy. 

Click here to access the entire article as originally posted on the Inside Climate News website.

Earth Could Warm 3 Degrees if Nations Keep Building Coal Plants, New Research Warns by Kristoffer Tigue, Today's Climate, Inside Climate News, Apr 7, 2023

Links posted on Facebook

Sun, Apr 2, 2023

• ‘Slipping through our fingers’: New Zealand scientists distraught at scale of glacier loss by Tess McLure, World, The Guardian, Mar 31, 2023
• ‘How do you laugh about death?’: the comedians tackling climate change by Katharine Gammon, Culture, The Guardian, Mar 29, 2023
• This Simple Math Problem Could Be the Key to Solving Our Climate Crisis by Bill McKibben, Politics, Rolling Stone Magazine, Apr 2, 2023
• The oceans just reached their hottest temperature on record as El Niño looms. Here are 6 things to watch for by Laura Paddison & Rachel Ramirez, World, CNN, Apr 1, 2023

Mon, Apr 3, 2023

• ‘Terrified for my future’: climate crisis takes heavy toll on young people’s mental health by Clea Skopeliti & Sammy Gecsoyler. Enviornment, The Guardian, Mar 30, 2023
• Inside the quest to develop long-range tornado forecasts  by Bob Henson, Eye On The Storm, Yale Climate Connections, Mar 16, 2023
• New oilfield in the North Sea would blow the UK’s carbon budget by Fiona Harvey, Environment, The Observer/The Guardian, Apr 1, 2023

Tue, Apr 4, 2023

• Global warming can aggravate multiple sclerosis symptoms. Here’s what you can do. by Neha Pathak, Health, Health, Yale Climate Connections, Apr 3, 2023
• Potent Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depleting Chemicals Called CFCs Are Back on the Rise Following an International Ban, a New Study Finds by Phil McKenna, Science, Inside Climate News, Apr 3, 2023
• At a glance - What does past climate change tell us about global warming?  by John Mason & BaerbelW, Skeptical Science, Apr 4, 2023
• Lost Decade: How Shell Downplayed Early Warnings Over Climate Change by Matthew Green, DeSmog, Mar 31, 2023

Wed, Apr 5, 2023

• Can cities go climate neutral by 2030? by Ajit Niranjan, Nature & Environment, Europe, DW, Apr 3, 2023
• Another Casualty of Climate Change: Dissolved Oxygen by Lance Frazer, Hakai Magazine, Apr 3, 2023
• ‘Scary’ new data on the last ice age raises concerns about future sea levels by Kasha Patel & Chris Mooney, ,Climate, Environment, Washington Post, Apr 5, 2023
• Is Tornado Alley shifting due to climate change? Scientists explain how warming climate affects tornado activity by Julia Jacobo, ABC News (US), Apr 4, 2023

Thu, Apr 6, 2023

• Moves to crystallise right to a healthy environment spark tension at UN by Isabella Kaminski, Politics, Climate Home News, Apr 4, 2023
• Loss and damage: How can culture and heritage loss be measured and addressed? by Daisy Dunne, People, Carbon Brief, Apr 5, 2023
• It’s messy and slow and drowned in noise, but a change in Australia’s climate policy is under way, Opinion by Adam Morton, Comment is Free, The Guardian, Apr 5, 2023
• For Uganda’s Vanishing Glaciers, Time Is Running Out by John Wendle, Yale Environment 360, Apr 4, 2023

Fri, Apr 7, 2023

• Pricing Nature: Can ‘Biodiversity Credits’ Propel Global Conservation? by Zach St George, Environment 360, Apr 6, 2023
• On U.S. Barrier Islands, African-Rooted Traditions Protect against a Relentlessly Rising Ocean by Sara Novak, Scientific American, Apr 6, 2023
• Skeptical Science New Research for Week #14 2023 by Doug Bostrom & Marc Kodack, Skeptical Science, April 6, 2023
• Guest post: How Boaty McBoatface is becoming instrumental for ocean science by Dr Alexander Phillips, Carbon Brief, Apr 6, 2023

Sat, Apr 8, 2023

• Massive wildfires are taking a toll on Western snowpack, research finds by Kristen Pope, Snow & Ice, Yale Climate Connections, Apr 5, 2023
• A University of Maryland Health Researcher Probes the Climate Threat to Those With Chronic Diseases by Aman Azhar, Justice, Inside Climate News, Apr 7, 2023
• Earth Could Warm 3 Degrees if Nations Keep Building Coal Plants, New Research Warns by Kristoffer Tigue, Today's Climate, Inside Climate News, Apr 7, 2023
• Book review: “The Great Displacement” is a must-read by Jeff Masters, Eye On The Storm, Yale Climate Connections, Apr 6, 2023