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Photo by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash This blog is alive! And so is the blogger. Yes, as you can see, I've survived the apocalypse and am proud to present the 2021 edition of the traditional News Quiz. Unlike the previous year, the news stories related to coronavirus (oops, COVID-19) are kept to a minimum. But just like last year, the quiz is available in three formats: Google Slides, Quizizz and a PDF / editable Google Docs. The first two can be used in both in-person and remote teaching scenarios, while the last one is suitable for face-to-face teaching only. Also, I've kept the multiple choice format from last year to keep the trivia part of the activity brief and devote more time to the language. The quiz is available in two levels: Advanced (B2+/C1 or higher) Intermediate (B1/B2) and three formats, all of which are editable so you can adapt them if you wish. a Google Slides presentation. To edit, click on File -> Make a copy a Google Doc. To edit, click on File -...

A peak methane level of 3026 ppb was recorded by the MetOp-B satellite at 469 mb on December 11, 2021 am. This follows a peak methane level of  3644 ppb  recorded by the MetOp-B satellite at 367 mb on November 21, 2021, pm. A peak methane level of 2716 ppb was recorded by the MetOp-B satellite at 586 mb on December 11, 2021, pm, as above image shows. This image is possibly even more terrifying than the image at the top, as above image shows that at 586 mb, i.e. much closer to sea level, almost all methane shows up over sea, rather than over land, supporting the possibility of large methane eruptions from the seafloor, especially in the Arctic.  Also, the image was recorded later than the image at the top with the 3026 ppb peak, indicating that even more methane may be on the way. This appears to be confirmed by the Copernicus forecast for December 12, 2021, 03 UTC, as illustrated by the image below, which shows methane at 500 hPa (equivalent to 500 mb). Furthermore, ...

5.9 $trillion spent by governments on fossil fuel subsidies in 2020 by Andrew Glikson As indicated by the International Monetary fund , greenhouse gas emissions are funded world-wide by government subsidies totaling $5.9 trillion in 2020 , about 6.8% global GDP, expected to rise to 7.4% of GDP in 2025, or $11million a minute . In the view of some scientists fuel subsidies are ‘adding fuel to the fire of the climate crisis’. Hollow words by dignitaries at COP-out-26 may have led many to believe “leaders” are serious when they raise the alarm of “ one minute to midnight ”, while at the same time allowing the development of new oil, gas and coal mines enhancing the accelerating trend toward an inhabitability of large parts of the planet. The consequences of the continued transfer of extractable carbon to the atmosphere and oceans were summed up by James Hansen, the renowned climate scientist: “ Burning all fossil fuels would create a very different planet than the one that humanity know...

by Andrew Glikson “We are simply talking about the very life support system of this planet.” Hans Joachim Schellnhuber , Germany’s former chief climate scientist (2009) “Burning all fossil fuels would create a very different planet than the one that humanity knows. The palaeoclimate record and ongoing climate change make it clear that the climate system would be pushed beyond tipping points, setting in motion irreversible changes, including ice sheet disintegration with a continually adjusting shoreline, extermination of a substantial fraction of species on the planet, and increasingly devastating regional climate extremes” and “this equates 400,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs per day 365 days per year” . James Hansen et al. 2012 and James Hansen 2012 . Figure 1. The change in state of the planetary climate since the onset of the industrial age in the 18ᵗʰ century. During its last 600 million years-long history planet Earth suffered at least five major mass extinctions, defining the ends o...

  by Malcolm Light Below is Malcolm Light's Arctic methane growth diagram, updated in line with recent mean atmospheric methane concentrations and temperature data.  [ click on images to enlarge ] NOAA mean globally-averaged marine surface data  show high increases in methane levels recently, which were used to generate the trends and curves to the year 2030 in above image. [ from  earlier post  ] NASA temperature data as adjusted by Sam Carana  on the right show the potential for a mean temperature anomaly from pre-industrial of 3°C anomaly to occur late in 2022 (blue trend). By extension, a 4°C anomaly could occur in late 2023 and a 5°C anomaly in late 2024.  Above data was used to determine a trend line for exponentially increasing atmospheric methane increase, as well as where along the trend lines the surface atmospheric temperature anomalies would occur. A surface atmospheric temperature anomaly of 10°C was recorded in France in the summer of 202...