Today’s top five climate change stories chosen by RTCC
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(Pic: White House /Flickr)
1 – Youth must drive climate ambition says US President
Executive order by President Obama released in November stresses need for youth across the USA to engage “in conversations to re-envision government’s role in addressing climate change,” reports Salon. “When Millennials are in positions of power, we know that climate change will be high on the agenda, and therefore understand that it is our generation that will reap the rewards or manage the clean-up of whatever actions we take or do not take in the coming months and years,” it says.
2 – Australia carbon tax repeal “unworkable”
Businesses are warning Prime Minister Tony Abbott that his plans to retrospectively repeal Australia’s carbon tax are a “recipe for confusion and uncertainty”. Labour and the Green party remain opposed to scrapping the tax, says the Guardian. Abbott made its removal a major part of his campaign for election earlier this year.
3 – Shanghai vanishes in smog
Air pollution hit record highs today in China’s financial capital. The Xinhua news agency reports “air quality in Shanghai was recorded at 303 on the official Air Quality Index (AQI) on Monday morning, crossing the 300 threshold that indicates the most severe level of air pollution on the chart”.
4 – Toxic soup risks from climate change
Flash flooding is raising the risks of high levels of sewage pouring into the sea, according to experts in the Carribbean. They’re taking steps to develop more resilient infrastructure, according to a report on Trust.org. “When you have a huge storm or heavy rain, you have a toxic soup. There is refuse from septic tanks, which is not as dirty as raw sewerage but it’s still rich in nutrients and pathogens. All of that wastewater ends up in the environment as floodwater and you have populations being exposed to that.”
5 – UK channel islands “marine energy hub”
Efforts to promote a small chain of islands off the UK and French coasts as a marine and today energy hub accelerated last week, with an agreement from government agencies to support development, reports BusinessGreen.