These 129 reputable European and international organisations have signed up to letter opposing inclusion of nuclear and gas as being ”sustainable” and ”green”.
| France Nature Environnement, France CEE Bankwatch Network European Environmental Bureau (EEB) The Green Tank, Greece Umanotera – Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development, Slovenia Umweltinstitut München e.V., Germany Socio-ecological union international Climate Strategy Group Andy Gheorghiu Consulting, Germany Green Liberty, Latvia 10 BürgerBegehren Klimaschutz Bürgerbewegung Finanzwende, Germany AnsvarligFremtid, Denmark Klimabevægelsen i Danmark (350 Denmark), Denmark Naturschutzbund Deutschland e.V., Germany BirdLife Europe uranium-network.org, Germany eco-union, Spain Mouvement Ecologique (FoE-Luxembourg), Luxemburg urgewald, Germany 20 .ausgestrahlt, Germany 350.org Europe Deutscher Naturschutzring, Germany Stowarzyszenie Pracownia na rzecz Wszystkich Istot, Poland Legambiente, Italy Carbon Market Watch Health and Environment Justice Support (HEJSupport) Counter Balance ZERO – Association for the Sustainability of the Earth System, Portugal Clean Air Action Group, Hungary 30 Alofa Tuvalu, Tuvalu Réseau pour la transition énergétique CLER, France Creatura Think & Do Tank, Finland Women Against Nuclear Power, Finland Women for Peace, Finland The Alliance of the Associations Polish Green Network, Poland FMKK – The Swedish Anti Nuclear Movement, Sweden Polish Ecological Club Mazovian Branch, Poland Stowarzyszenie Ekologiczne EKO-UNIA, Poland Stowarzyszenie Ekologiczno-Kulturalne “Wspólna Ziemia”, Poland 40 Arbeitskreis Indianer Nordamerikas, Austria EuroNatur Stiftung, Germany Our Fish E3G – Third Generation Environmentalism Bioland e.V., Germany Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V., Germany Germanwatch e.V., Germany Fair Finance International National Society of Conservationists – Friends of the Earth Hungary, Hungary Nucléaire Stop Kernenergie – Belgium 50 Tegengas/Dégaze – Belgium IPPNW (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War), German affiliate, Germany Urgenda Foundation, The Netherlands Focus Association for Sustainable Development, Slovenia Milieudefensie, The Netherlands Za Zemiata/Friends of the Earth Bulgaria, Bulgaria Fair Finance Guide, Sweden Corporate Europe Observatory Jihočeské matky, z.s., Czech Republic | WEED e.V. – World Economy, Ecology and Development, Germany 60ShareAction Global Witness Reclaim Finance, FranceFossielvrij NL, The Netherlands Bürgerinitiative “Kein Atommüll in Ahaus” e.V., GermanyThe Peace Movement of Orust, Sweden Global Nature Fund, Germany Climate Action Network International Transport & Environment NewClimate Institute gGmbH, Germany 70 Miljöringen lovisa Finland Réaction en chaîne humaine pour l’arrêt du nucléaire France Calla – Association for Preservation of the Environment, Czech republic Réseau “Sortir du nucléaire”, France BI “Stoppt Temelin”, Germany GLOBAL 2000 – Friends of the Earth Austria, Austria Suomen luonnonsuojeluliitto (Finnish Association for Nature Conservation), Finland Forum Ökologie & Papier, Germany Plattform gegen Atomgefahren Salzburg (PLAGE), Austria Gas Free Pensions, Europe 80 Réseau Action Climat France PSR / IPPNW Switzerland (Physicians for Social Respon sibility /International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) Greenpeace Begegnungszentrum für Aktive Gewaltlosigkeit, Austria Hiilivapaa Suomi, Finland Food & Water Action Europe, Europe International Network for Sustainable Energy – Europe ReCommon, Italy Inter-Environnement Wallonie, Belgique 90 Campagna “Per il Clima Fuori dal Fossile”, Italy Movimento No TAP/SNAM Brindisi, Italy Redazione emergenzaclimatica.it, Italy BankTrack, the Netherlands TerraBlu, Italy Bellona Europa, Belgium Bellona Deutschland, Germany Forum Ambientalista O.d.V., Italy Climate Action Network, Europe Associazione Tarantola Rubra, Italy 100 Friends of the Earth, Europe Trivelle Zero Molise, Italy Environmental Coalition on Standards, Belgium Collettivo No al Fossile Civitavecchia, Italy WWF Forlì-Cesena, Italy Coordinamento ravennate Fuori dal Fossile, Italy The Swedish Anti-Nuclear Movement, Branch Gävle, Sweden NOAH Friends of the Earth Denmark Wiener Plattform Atomkraftfrei, Austria Parents For Future Vienna, Austria 110 Trivelle Zero Marche, Italy Parents for Future Gütersloh, Germany A Sud, Italy European Alliance for the Self-determination of Indigenous Peoples, Austria/France/Germany/Switzerland Mom Loves Taiwan Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft e.V., Germany WISE Netherlands atomstopp_atomkraftfrei leben!, Austria Freistädter Mütter gegen Atomgefahr, Austria Grandparents For Future Austria 120 Parents For Future Oberösterreich, Austria Frauen für den Frieden Schweiz Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) e.V – Friends of the Earth Germany, Germany nternational Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA International), Liechtenstein Rete “Legalità per il clima”, Europe Collectif anti-nucléaire Ouest, France Fédération anti-nucléaire Bretagne, France GasExit Greenpeace, Russia 129 |
Powerful greenhouse gases emitted from Hunterston A nuclear station
| THE release of a refrigerant gas during the ongoing decommissioning of Hunterston A has been revealed at a recent nuclear summit. Hunterston ‘A’ bosses reported two environmental incidents at the station during its decommissioning phase linked to their air conditioning units. Earlier this year, the release of fluorinated gases was noticed. These are powerful man-made gases that can stay in the atmosphere for centuries and contribute to a global greenhouse effect. The incidents formed part of a report to the recent Hunterston site stakeholders meeting. Largs & Millport News 22nd Nov 2021 https://www.largsandmillportnews.com/news/19720653.gas-leak-hunterston-reported-sepa/ |
Latest COP 26 pledges will lead to 16% increase in carbon emissions, NOT the necessary 45% decrease
Let us be clear – Cop26 utterly failed on the only issue that counts:
cutting global carbon emissions. The latest IPCC report stated that we
needed a 45 per cent cut in carbon emissions by 2030. UN analysis of the
latest Cop26 pledges suggests that they will lead to a 16 per cent
increase.
Independent 22nd Nov 2021
IEA: Rate of energy efficiency improvements needs to double to put world on track for net-zero
The IEA is urging other nations to follow in Europe’s footsteps and implement stricter standards and regulations for energy-using products; consider tax incentives for energy efficiency; increase public spending on building and industrial retrofitting and streamlining planning procedures to make efficiency projects more attractive to private finance. Private spending on energy efficiency between 2021 and 2023 is forecast to be more than twice as high as spending by governments.
19 November 2021, source edie newsroom, Sarah George
Globally, energy efficiency has improved in 2021 after a rocky 2020, according to a new analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA). But the rate of progress will need to at least double to put the world on track for net-zero by 2050, the Agency is warning.
19 November), the 2021 edition of the Agency’s annual Energy Efficiency Report reveals that progress is now back on track as the world emerges from the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
2020 saw only a minor (0.5%) improvement to global energy intensity, amid falling energy demands and prices, slowed investment in the energy sector and many energy-using sectors and logistical issues with supply chain and solutions installation.
Global energy intensity is on track to fall 1.9% in 2021, the analysis forecasts. This is a promising yet expected figure – the year-on-year fall was 2% in 2019.
“It is still unclear whether this year’s improved energy intensity will signal the start of a sustained recovery,” the IEA said in a statement.
However, increased investment trends, rising government spending on efficiency – in large part related to recovery plans enacted in response to Covid-19 crisis – new announcements of higher climate ambition and other policy measures offer some encouraging signals.”
To this point, the report forecasts that, by the end of the year, national policies will have helped to generate $30bn of investment in energy efficiency – around 10% of the total set to be allocated between 2015 and 2021.
In recent months, much growth in energy efficiency investment has been concentrated in Europe. Policy supports have included the European Commission’s Renovation Wave and overarching Energy Efficiency Directive, and the UK’s updated Industrial Strategy and Heat and Buildings Strategy.
A long road ahead
Nonetheless, the report emphasises the fact that there is still much more to be done. It highlights the fact that, in the IEA’s scenario for net-zero by 2050, global energy intensity falls by at least 4% each year in the 2020s.
The IEA is urging other nations to follow in Europe’s footsteps and implement stricter standards and regulations for energy-using products; consider tax incentives for energy efficiency; increase public spending on building and industrial retrofitting and streamlining planning procedures to make efficiency projects more attractive to private finance. Private spending on energy efficiency between 2021 and 2023 is forecast to be more than twice as high as spending by governments.
The report emphasises the fact that, while wealthy nations are currently accounting for the majority of global investment in energy efficiency, developing and emerging nations also stand to reap benefits in terms of rapid job creation and economic growth, as well as future-proofing infrastructure and industry. Delivering the 4% annual improvement to global energy intensity, the IEA has forecast, would create four million additional jobs in energy efficiency by 2030, in sectors including construction and retrofitting.
As well as addressing low-hanging fruit using mature technologies, the IEA’s report outlines the potential for implementing the next generation of digital technologies. It states that, by the end of the year, there will be more ‘smart’ connected appliances and sensors in the world than people for the first time. This presents a major opportunity to accelerate energy efficiency improvements.
At COP26, the IEA and the UK Government launched a Product Efficiency Call to Action, which aims to double the energy efficiency of air conditioning, refrigeration, industrial motor systems and lighting by 2030. These four activities account for more than 40% of global electricity demand every year. In total, 14 countries have now signed onto the initiative, which is the largest of its kind. Read edie’s full story here.
Financial hypocrisy in Canada – the pretence that nuclear power is green and cheap
A Global First: BMO Supports Bruce Power with World’s First Nuclear Green Financing Framework, Yahoo Finance TORONTO, Nov. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ – Bruce Power, Ontario’s leading private sector power provider, has taken another industry-leading step in its environmental [?], social and governance strategy by launching the world’s first green [?] finance framework with nuclear use of proceeds.
Acting as Co-Lead Green Structuring Agent, BMO Financial Group (TSX:BMO) (NYSE:BMO), today announced the successful issuance of CAD $500 Million in green [?] bonds under the framework, which is designed to guide future issues of green bonds with a focus on Bruce Power’s Life-Extension Program and investments related to increasing the output of nuclear units and extending the plant’s life beyond 2060.
The framework sets out the guidelines in accordance with the Green Bond Principles issued by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) and the Green Loan Principles issued by the Loan Market Association (LMA) and Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) – ensuring the proceeds are exclusively allocated to green projects and activities that promote environmental sustainability and deliver clear environmental benefits.
CICERO Shades of Green, an internationally-recognized leading provider of independent review and second-party opinions on green financing frameworks, [REALLY?} has given Bruce Power’s Green Finance Framework the highest possible governance score of Excellent, and an overall designation of CICERO Medium Green, acknowledging the role of nuclear power in mitigating climate change and recognizing Bruce Power’s strong risk management processes.
Clean nuclear power is crucial to fighting climate change, and today’s announcement marks another industry-leading step in the company’s environmental, social and governance strategy,” said Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s President and CEO…..
“We’re proud to partner with Bruce Power to build a green framework that facilitates the alignment of the company’s business and financing activities to support nuclear power’s critical role in mitigating climate change,” said Jonathan Hackett, Head, Sustainable Finance, BMO Capital Markets. ………. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-first-bmo-supports-bruce-143800875.html
Climate and biodiversity: mapping the irrecoverable carbon in Earth’s ecosystems
Avoiding catastrophic climate change requires rapid decarbonization and improved ecosystem stewardship at a planetary scale. The carbon released through the burning of fossil fuels would take millennia to regenerate on Earth.
Though the timeframe of carbon recovery for ecosystems such as peatlands, mangroves and old-growth forests is shorter (centuries), this timeframe still exceeds the time we have remaining to avoid the worst
impacts of global warming. There are some natural places that we cannot afford to lose due to their irreplaceable carbon reserves. Here we map ‘irrecoverable carbon’ globally to identify ecosystem carbon that remains within human purview to manage and, if lost, could not be recovered by mid-century, by when we need to reach net-zero emissions to avoid the worst climate impacts. Since 2010, agriculture, logging and wildfire have caused emissions of at least 4.0 Gt of irrecoverable carbon.
Nature Sustainability 18th Nov 2021
Austria prepared to sue European Union if it includes nuclear in green finance taxonomy
Austria ready to sue EU over nuclear’s inclusion in green finance taxonomy, By Nikolaus J. Kurmayer | EURACTIV.com, 18 Nov 2021
Austria’s energy and climate minister Leonore Gewessler told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview that her country was ready to go to court if the EU decides to include nuclear power into the bloc’s taxonomy on sustainable finance.
In October, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU executive would soon table proposals on gas and nuclear as part of the bloc’s sustainable finance taxonomy, a set of rules designed to provide investors with a common definition of what is green and what is not.
A group of twelve EU countries, led by France and Finland, want nuclear energy included, arguing it is a low-carbon energy source and that radioactive waste can be handled safely if appropriate measures are taken.
But Austria would be ready to challenge that decision in front of the European Court of Justice said Leonore Gewessler, the Austrian minister for climate protection and energy.
“There is no legal basis for including nuclear power in the EU taxonomy,” Gewessler said adding that, “Yes, if the EU taxonomy includes nuclear energy, we are ready to challenge that in court.”
Austria is at the centre of a five-country alliance bringing together Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal, which seeks to prevent the inclusion of nuclear energy in the EU’s green finance rules. The alliance was launched during the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
Legal analysis
For Gewessler, “the credibility of the taxonomy is at stake” when deciding how to classify nuclear under the EU’s green finance rules.
The Austrian energy and climate ministry commissioned a legal analysis earlier this year, which found that “that the inclusion of nuclear energy is not compatible with the legal basis of Article 10 of the Taxonomy Regulation,” she said.
“We have a great responsibility here, in terms of taxonomy, to remain consistent and coherent” with the ambitions of the European Green Deal and maintain trust in the financial markets, she argued.
“The considerable damage caused by nuclear energy is well documented historically,” she explained, citing “the dangers of nuclear power itself” as evidenced by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters.
The safe disposal of spent radioactive fuel is also a matter of concern. “We have not yet found a global solution for…the question of final storage,” she said.
Besides, nuclear power “is much too expensive and much too slow to make a contribution” to the bloc’s climate goals, Gewessler continued.
The next-generation French reactor currently being built at Flamanville, whose construction started in 2007, has been massively delayed, with completion now scheduled in 2023 while costs have increased fivefold, she remarked.
Earlier this month, leading French EU lawmaker Pascal Canfin proposed letting nuclear energy and gas in the taxonomy as “transition” energy sources while the bloc pursues its long-term switch to renewable energy sources.
Canfin’s suggestion is to label gas a “transition” investment when it replaces coal and provided strict emission thresholds are met.
But Gewessler rejected that proposal too. “Just because something is less bad than coal doesn’t make it good or sustainable. It is still fossil energy,” she said………..
Austria’s neighbour Germany can always be counted on in the fight against nuclear power.
“Nuclear power cannot be a solution in the climate crisis, it is too risky, it is too slow, it is too expensive,” explained her German counterpart Svenja Schulze, caretaker minister of the environment, on 11 November.
“No climate activist should rely on nuclear power,” she added.
2021
Heritage Foundation – murky think tank funded by the nuclear weapons industry, wants weapons-makers to be exempt from climate and pandemic regulations
“Defense industrial base” is a buzzword that has picked up steam during the pandemic: It sends the message that, whatever happens with the economy and pandemic, we need to make sure we are in “fighting shape” — by keeping military contractors afloat. This concept was invoked to explain why, at the beginning of the pandemic, factories that produce bombs and tankers should be allowed to stay open, even amid the outbreak risk to workers. And it was also used to justify subsidies to contractors during the hardship of the pandemic.
Lockheed Martin is just one of numerous weapons manufacturers that has directly funded the Heritage Foundation. According to a report by the think tank Center for International Policy (CIP), the Heritage Foundation ranks ninth among the top think tanks that received funding from military contractors and the U.S. government from 2014 to 2019. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon were two of those major funders, both of which are among the largest weapons companies in the world and would be impacted by the new regulation.
This case provides a window into the murky world of think tanks, which are often viewed as academic and above-the-fray institutions but operate more as lobbying outfits.
Think Tank Funded by the Weapons Industry Pressures Biden Not to Regulate Military Contractors’ Emissions https://www.rsn.org/001/think-tank-funded-by-the-weapons-industry-pressures-biden-not-to-regulate-military-contractors-emissions.html
Sarah Lazare/In These Times 19 November 21The Heritage Foundation has received considerable donations from the arms industry. And now it’s trying to shield that industry from climate regulations targeting military contractors.
The Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, is publicly opposing a new Biden administration regulation that would force the weapons industry to report its greenhouse gas emissions related to federal contracts. It turns out the Heritage Foundation also receives significant funding from the weapons industry, which makes the case worth examining — because it reveals how the arms industry pays supposedly respectable institutions to do its policy bidding at the expense of a planet careening toward large-scale climate disaster.
The regulation in question was first proposed in an executive order in May. It would require federal contractors to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and their “climate-related financial risk,” and to set “science-based reduction targets.” In other words, companies like Lockheed Martin would have to disclose how much carbon pollution its F‑35 aircraft and cluster bombs actually cause.
In October, the Biden administration started the process to amend federal procurement rules to reflect these changes. “Today’s action sends a strong signal that in order to do business with the federal government, companies must protect consumers by beginning to mitigate the impact of climate change on their operations and supply chains,” Shalanda Young, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said at the time.The Department of Defense is the world’s biggest institutional consumer of fossil fuels and a bigger carbon polluter than 140 countries. Yet its emissions (and those of other armed forces) are excluded from UN climate negotiations, including the recent COP26 talks. The Biden administration itself supports a massive military budget, initially requesting $753 billion for the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, a number that has since ballooned, with the Senate set to vote on a $778 billion plan. Organizers and researchers argue that, to curb the climate crisis, it is necessary to roll back U.S. militarism and dismantle the military budget.
But according to the Heritage Foundation, even this modest proposal is a bridge too far.
Continue readingNo greenwashing in Europe to save the nuclear industry!
No “greenwashing” to save nuclear power! While several states of the
European Union support atomic energy, a collective of associations
dismantles clichés on nuclear power and reminds us that in 2020, renewable
energies (excluding hydraulic) have exceeded the nuclear energy production.
Liberation 19th Nov 2021
The 2015 Paris climate agreement – a weak ‘treaty’, but it is working up to a point.
In many ways, the landmark climate accord, agreed to at a U.N. summit in 2015, is a weak treaty. Despite the fanfare that accompanied its signing, the agreement has no binding limits on emissions, relies on countries to set their own goals for slashing pollution, and rests on an assumption that they can be shamed into living up to their promises.
It’s not even a real treaty: To get the U.S. on board, the architects of the accord crafted it as an “executive agreement” — no Congressional approval needed.
And yet, somehow, the Paris Agreement is working. To a point. The most recent U.N. climate conference, which wrapped last weekend in Glasgow, Scotland, showed signs of progress that would have seemed unthinkable only a few years ago. Under the Paris Agreement, nations have to submit pledges (or
promises, or wishful thinking, depending on who you ask) for how much they will reduce emissions every five years.
That’s the core of the agreement:
Voluntary pledges enacted and reviewed in a soup of international peer pressure that, ideally, will push countries to steadily do more and more.The goal is to use this system of “pledge and review” to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius — or, ideally, 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Grist 17th Nov 2021
https://grist.org/cop26/cop26-shows-the-paris-agreement-is-kinda-sorta-working/
COP 27 in Egypt: growing concern that civil society groups will have restricted access
Concern is growing over plans to host a UN climate conference in Sharm
el-Sheikh next year, in what will be a crucial summit if the world is to
limit global heating to 1.5C. Several green experts and human rights
activists have told the Observer they fear the ability of civil society
groups to protest at the summit will be curtailed by Egypt’s
authoritarian regime, reducing the pressure that can be brought to bear on
leaders and ministers from the nearly 200 countries expected to take part.
Guardian 21st Nov 2021
German banks sceptical about nuclear and gas inclusion in green taxonomy.
German banks sceptical about nuclear and gas inclusion in green taxonomy.
Eight German banks have said there is “limited room” for nuclear and
gas power in the EU’s list of sustainable economic investments, warning
that the ‘green taxonomy’ should only include genuinely
climate-friendly activities.
ENDS Europe 19th Nov 2021
“Rather than contributing to net zero, Bradwell B nuclear plant would be ‘ideally placed’ to become the casualty of climate change.”
CAMPAIGNERS fighting against plans for a new nuclear power station have hit out at claims it is a key asset in the fight against climate change. The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) has refuted a statement saying the Bradwell B power station would be Essex’s “biggest contribution to climate action”. The statement from Bradwell B Power Station came in relation to the COP26 climate discussions in Glasgow and said the project was “ideally placed” to play a “major part” in achieving net zero by 2050 emission goals.
But BANNG has claimed, due to the nuclear power station being on a low-lying site, rising global
temperatures would see it become vulnerable to rising sea levels and other weather events by the end of the century. BANNG’s secretary Varrie Blowers added: “Rather than contributing to net zero, Bradwell B would be ‘ideally placed’ to become the casualty of climate change.”
Braintree & Witham Times 17th Nov 2021
Climate change intensifies disastrous floods in Canada
A state of emergency has been declared in the Canadian western province of
British Columbia after a major storm cut road and rail links in the region.
The Canadian Armed Forces have been deployed to help thousands of stranded
residents who have been trapped since the storm hit overnight on Sunday.
Local officials warned on Thursday that the price tag to rebuild could
exceed C$1bn ($790m, £590m). One woman was killed in a landslide, and two
people are missing. Officials expect more fatalities to be confirmed in the
coming days. One man caught up in the storm told the BBC the scenes
afterwards were like “Armageddon”.
BBC 18th Nov 2021
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59324764
Canada floods: 18,000 people still stranded in ‘terrible, terrible
disaster’. Alarm grows about climate change in British Columbia after
summer wildfires wiped out vegetation that could have slowed flooding.
Guardian 19th Nov 2021
Antarctic ice sheet changed alarmingly quickly in past – and may be happening again now
Our findings are consistent with a growing body of evidence suggesting the acceleration of Antarctic ice-mass loss in recent decades may mark the beginning of a self-sustaining and irreversible period of ice sheet retreat and substantial global sea level rise,”
“When we might see the eventual stabilisation of the ice sheet is unknown, because it will depend significantly on how much future climate warming occurs.”
Antarctic ice sheet changed alarmingly quickly in past – and may be happening again now, more https://www.miragenews.com/antarctic-ice-sheet-changed-alarmingly-quickly-676904/ 19 Nov 21, Patterns of rapid ice loss in the past could predict style of future Antarctic ice sheet retreat.
The melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet may have already passed a point of no return, a new study has found, and scientists say it could contribute to sea level rise over coming centuries and possibly millennia.
The study, published overnight in Nature Communications and co-authored by Dr Zoë Thomas and Professor Chris Turney from UNSW Sydney, used geological data from Antarctica combined with computer models and statistical analyses to understand how recent changes compare to those from the past going back thousands of years.
Our study reveals that during times in the past when the ice sheet retreated, the periods of rapid mass loss ‘switched on’ very abruptly, within only a decade or two,” says Dr Thomas.
“Interestingly, after the ice sheet continued to retreat for several hundred years, it ‘switched off’ again, also only taking a couple of decades.”
Dr Thomas says the Antarctic Ice Sheet went through many of these on/off episodes, each time contributing to global sea level rise as the world warmed at the end of the last ice age, about 20,000 years ago.
The researchers’ findings confirm computer modelling that had indicated that the diminishing ice sheet had passed a critical tipping point leading to irreversible loss of parts of the ice sheet below sea level.
“We have already observed over the last two decades that the Antarctic Ice Sheet has suddenly started losing ice which has contributed to rising sea levels around the world,” says Prof. Turney.
“But the satellite data showing this speed-up only go back about 40 years, so we needed longer records to put this change in context.”
Looking for clues
The researchers examined the gritty sediments released from melting icebergs that settled into mud on the sea floor for clues to the ice sheet’s history of retreat and growth phases.
By counting the amounts of this iceberg-rafted sediment through the core, the scientists were able to identify eight phases with high amounts of debris which they interpreted as retreat phases of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Each phase showed the same pattern – the ice sheet destabilised within a decade, contributed to global sea level rise for centuries to a millennium, and then subsequently re-stabilised equally rapidly.
Combining the sediment record with computer models of ice sheet behaviour, the team showed that each episode of increased iceberg calving reflected increased loss of ice from the interior of the ice sheet, not just changes in the already-floating ice shelves.
Professor Nick Golledge from Te Puna Pātiotio, the Antarctic Research Centre at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington, led the ice-sheet modelling.
“We found that iceberg calving events on multi-year time scales were synchronous with discharge of grounded ice from the Antarctic Ice Sheet,” he says.
Warning signs
Dr Thomas then applied statistical methods to the model outputs to see if early warning signs could be detected for tipping points in the ice sheet system. Her analyses confirmed that tipping points did indeed exist.
“If it just takes one decade to tip a system like this, that’s actually quite scary because if the Antarctic Ice Sheet behaves in future like it did in the past, we must be experiencing the tipping right now,” she says.
Lead author Dr Michael Weber, from the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Bonn, led the team that recovered cores of the sediment from the Southern Ocean.
“Our findings are consistent with a growing body of evidence suggesting the acceleration of Antarctic ice-mass loss in recent decades may mark the beginning of a self-sustaining and irreversible period of ice sheet retreat and substantial global sea level rise,” he says.
“When we might see the eventual stabilisation of the ice sheet is unknown, because it will depend significantly on how much future climate warming occurs.”
1 This Month
22 June – Virtual Event –Climate Change: New Data, New Debate
Monday, June 22, 2026 2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. CT
YouTube. Register here
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25 June- THE PUKE ON NUKES
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From NRC & DOE Deregulation to Techno-Fascist Billionaires Going Nuclear, Plus a Few Songs from Atomic Cabaret REGISTER
26 June – Radiation Trainwreck at the NRC / Join the Protect Better Campaign – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/4ZlZ5_qLSHGiLSCg8FF6Bg#/registration
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
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