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The Independent
a day ago
- Health
- The Independent
EPA says power plant carbon emissions aren't dangerous. We asked 30 scientists: Here's what they say
The Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed a new ruling that heat-trapping carbon gas "emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants do not contribute significantly to dangerous air pollution.'' The Associated Press asked 30 different scientists, experts in climate, health and economics, about the scientific reality behind this proposal. Nineteen of them responded, all saying that the proposal was scientifically wrong and many of them called it disinformation. Here's what eight of them said. 'This is the scientific equivalent to saying that smoking doesn't cause lung cancer,' said climate scientist Zeke Hausfather of the tech firm Stripe and the temperature monitoring group Berkeley Earth. 'The relationship between CO2 emissions and global temperatures has been well established since the late 1800s, and coal burning is the single biggest driver of global CO2 emissions, followed by oil and gas. It is utterly nonsensical to say that carbon emissions from power plants do not contribute significantly to climate change.' "It's about as valid as saying that arsenic is not a dangerous substance to consume," said University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann. "The world is round, the sun rises in the east, coal-and gas-fired power plants contribute significantly to climate change, and climate change increases the risk of heat waves, catastrophic storms, infectious diseases, and many other health threats. These are indisputable facts," said Dr. Howard Frumkin, former director of the National Center for Environmental Health and a retired public health professor at the University of Washington. Climate economist R. Daniel Bressler of Columbia University, said: 'We can use tools from climate economics, including the mortality cost of carbon and the social cost of carbon, to estimate the climate impacts of these emissions. For instance, in my past work, I found that adding just one year's worth of emissions from an average-sized coal-fired plant in the U.S. causes 904 expected temperature-related deaths and over $1 billion in total climate damages.' University of Arizona climate scientist Kathy Jacobs said: "Their statement is in direct conflict with evidence that has been presented by thousands of scientists from almost 200 countries for decades. 'It's basic chemistry that burning coal and natural gas releases carbon dioxide and it's basic physics that CO2 warms the planet. We've known these simple facts since the mid-19th century,' said Oregon State's Phil Mote. Andrew Weaver, a professor at the University of Victoria and former member of parliament in British Columbia, said: 'President Trump is setting himself up for international court charges against him for crimes against humanity. To proclaim you don't want to deal with climate change is one thing, but denying the basic science can only be taken as a wanton betrayal of future generations for which there should be consequences.' Stanford climate scientist Chris Field, who coordinated an international report linking climate change to increasingly deadly extreme weather, summed it up this way: "It is hard to imagine a decision dumber than putting the short-term interests of oil and gas companies ahead of the long-term inters of our children and grandchildren." ___ Matthew Daly and Michael Phillis contributed from Washington. The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
India Today
05-06-2025
- Science
- India Today
Global warming: Why India's slower heating rate could be a ticking climate bomb
When we talk about global warming and the resulting changes in weather patterns, could a slower rise in the Earth's temperature actually be a cause for concern? Surprisingly, while many parts of the world are experiencing unpredictable increases in surface temperature, the South Asian landmass, particularly the Indian subcontinent, is warming at a slower rate. At first glance, this might seem like good news for the residents of this region. However, the reasons behind this slower warming are in fact more worrying for our part of the India has warmed less compared to other regions?advertisementData shows that South Asia's rate of warming over the past few decades is slower than the global average. The region's temperature has risen by approximately 0.09C per decade over the last 40 years, which is significantly lower than the global average of 0.30C per decade, and below the 0.23C recorded for regions at similar latitudes. Considering this area has one of the highest population densities globally and has seen significant reductions in green cover, which normally buffers warming, the slower rise in temperature seems unusual. Therefore, understanding the causes behind this phenomenon in India and neighbouring areas is causing slower warming in South Asia, including IndiaIt is beyond doubt that India, especially the Indo-Gangetic Plain, stretching from Punjab and Haryana to Bangladesh, is among the most polluted regions globally. advertisementWhen discussing global warming, greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide come to mind, with atmospheric lifetimes ranging from centuries to millennia. Global efforts have led to significant reductions in GHG emissions. Anumita Roychoudhury, Executive Director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), explains, 'The sources of aerosols and greenhouse gases are the same. While Western countries and others have aggressively reduced both, aerosol levels have not fallen similarly in South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Here, pollution from coal-fired power generation and industry remains high.'How aerosols like sulfates mask warming in India?South Asia's temperature trends, as well as the 2024 Berkeley Earth heat map showing global temperature anomalies, highlight the role of cooling aerosols such as sulfates in masking warming. Aerosol pollutants include particulate matter like PM10 and PM2.5, which pose health risks and are subject to various government reduction policies. Beyond particulates, aerosols comprise sulfates, nitrates, fluorinated gases, and methane in the atmosphere. Sulfates, a major aerosol component, have a reflective power akin to a mirror—they scatter sunlight in the upper atmosphere, thereby reducing warming at the Earth's surface. This 'masking effect' means sulfates reflect sunlight and increase cloud reflectivity, effectively hiding the full extent of greenhouse gas-induced temperature and other aerosols' masking effectThe 2024 heat map shows South Asia's temperature anomaly at 1-2C above the 1951-1980 baseline, less severe than anomalies of 4-6C in the Arctic or 2-4C in northern not only scatter incoming solar radiation back into space, reducing sunlight reaching the surface, but also serve as condensation nuclei, increasing cloud droplet numbers and making clouds brighter and more reflective. The South Asian region, including northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, is a global hotspot for air pollution, with sulfate levels often exceeding 20 g/m annually in cities such as Delhi. Sulfates are not the sole aerosols masking temperatures: organic carbon (OC) from biomass burning (e.g., wildfires, agricultural fires) and fossil fuel combustion, often called brown carbon, also scatters sunlight and cools the atmosphere. Similarly, oxides of nitrogen, sea salts, and mineral salts contribute to sunlight scattering, helping keep the Earth India face delayed global warming and more extreme events?Following global policies, South Asia is also reducing sulfate emissions through initiatives like India's clean air programmes. However, as the masking effect weakens over coming decades, the full impact of long-lived GHGs will become apparent. advertisementRecent projections suggest that by 2050, under a moderate emissions scenario (SSP2-4.5), South Asia could experience warming of 1.5-2C above pre-industrial levels, primarily driven by CO and oxides of nitrogen. While methane reductions (e.g., via improved waste management) may slow near-term warming, the long atmospheric lifetime of carbon dioxide means its effects will persist for centuries, heightening risks such as heat stress, with wet-bulb temperatures nearing 35C, and flooding, as seen recently in several Indian InMust Watch
CNN
07-03-2025
- Science
- CNN
A striking new visualization looks like a flower blooming but tells an alarming story about what's happening to the planet
A striking new visualization made by climate scientist Zeke Hausfather unfurls like a flower blooming in the spring, its colors moving from blue to red. It may look beautiful but what it reveals is an alarming picture of a heating planet. The graphic shows the increase in daily global temperatures between 1940 and the end of 2024 compared to the period before humans began burning huge amounts of planet-heating fossil fuels. It paints a stark picture. As the data spirals outwards, it becomes redder and redder as global temperatures ramp up. Good visualizations can make climate change 'more visceral and understandable,' said Hausfather, the climate research lead at Stripe and a research scientist at Berkeley Earth. Charting the evolution of global temperatures over the past 85 years makes it 'crystal clear how rapidly the planet has warmed over the past few decades, and how worryingly hot both 2023 and 2024 were compared to any prior years,' he told CNN. Last year was the hottest year in recorded history, breaking a record set just the year before. It was also the first calendar year to breach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a critical climate threshold. Scientists have been struggling to fully explain the extraordinary heat of the past few years. While it has been driven predominantly by burning fossil fuels and the natural climate pattern El Niño, these factors alone don't entirely explain the unusually rapid temperature rise. What scientists are clear on, however, is that every fraction of a degree the world warms, the worse the effects will be for humans and ecosystems, including more frequent and severe fires, storms and floods. 'Global warming has accelerated in recent years and poses a major threat to our livelihood and to the natural world if we do not take action to reduce emissions,' Hausfather said.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A striking new visualization looks like a flower in bloom but tells an alarming story about what's happening to the planet
A striking new visualization made by climate scientist Zeke Hausfather unfurls like a flower blooming in the spring, its colors moving from blue to red. It may look beautiful but what it reveals is an alarming picture of a heating planet. The graphic shows the increase in daily global temperatures between 1940 and the end of 2024 compared to the period before humans began burning huge amounts of planet-heating fossil fuels. It paints a stark picture. As the data spirals outwards, it becomes redder and redder as global temperatures ramp up. Good visualizations can make climate change 'more visceral and understandable,' said Hausfather, the climate research lead at Stripe and a research scientist at Berkeley Earth. Charting the evolution of global temperatures over the past 85 years makes it 'crystal clear how rapidly the planet has warmed over the past few decades, and how worryingly hot both 2023 and 2024 were compared to any prior years,' he told CNN. Last year was the hottest year in recorded history, breaking a record set just the year before. It was also the first calendar year to breach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a critical climate threshold. Scientists have been struggling to fully explain the extraordinary heat of the past few years. While it has been driven predominantly by burning fossil fuels and the natural climate pattern El Niño, these factors alone don't entirely explain the unusually rapid temperature rise. What scientists are clear on, however, is that every fraction of a degree the world warms, the worse the effects will be for humans and ecosystems, including more frequent and severe fires, storms and floods. 'Global warming has accelerated in recent years and poses a major threat to our livelihood and to the natural world if we do not take action to reduce emissions,' Hausfather said.
CNN
07-03-2025
- Science
- CNN
A striking new visualization looks like a flower blooming but tells an alarming story about what's happening to the planet
A striking new visualization made by climate scientist Zeke Hausfather unfurls like a flower blooming in the spring, its colors moving from blue to red. It may look beautiful but what it reveals is an alarming picture of a heating planet. The graphic shows the increase in daily global temperatures between 1940 and the end of 2024 compared to the period before humans began burning huge amounts of planet-heating fossil fuels. It paints a stark picture. As the data spirals outwards, it becomes redder and redder as global temperatures ramp up. Good visualizations can make climate change 'more visceral and understandable,' said Hausfather, the climate research lead at Stripe and a research scientist at Berkeley Earth. Charting the evolution of global temperatures over the past 85 years makes it 'crystal clear how rapidly the planet has warmed over the past few decades, and how worryingly hot both 2023 and 2024 were compared to any prior years,' he told CNN. Last year was the hottest year in recorded history, breaking a record set just the year before. It was also the first calendar year to breach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a critical climate threshold. Scientists have been struggling to fully explain the extraordinary heat of the past few years. While it has been driven predominantly by burning fossil fuels and the natural climate pattern El Niño, these factors alone don't entirely explain the unusually rapid temperature rise. What scientists are clear on, however, is that every fraction of a degree the world warms, the worse the effects will be for humans and ecosystems, including more frequent and severe fires, storms and floods. 'Global warming has accelerated in recent years and poses a major threat to our livelihood and to the natural world if we do not take action to reduce emissions,' Hausfather said.
