<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=Windows-1252">
<style type="text/css" style="display:none;"> P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;} </style>
</head>
<body dir="ltr">
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">1. A decently detailed report by CBS news represents the growing danger that the Amazon rainforest, the West Antarctic, and the Gulf Stream are at least close to their tipping point, beyond which they will have irreversibly moved
to another and less benign state. The piece is an attempt to bring a general audience into the climate conversation. You can’t follow a discussion of the defects of the concept of tipping points, for example, until you know what one is supposed to be.
<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-tipping-points-amazon-rainforest-antarctic-ice-gulf-stream/"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-tipping-points-amazon-rainforest-antarctic-ice-gulf-stream/</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">2.Greenland is probably already committed to contributing 1-2 meters of sea level rise. That tipping point is for the Jakobshavn Basin; the entire ice sheet would raise levels by 7 meters. The article illustrates the difficulty
and uncertainty of tipping point calculations. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/17/greenland-ice-sheet-on-brink-of-major-tipping-point-says-study">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/17/greenland-ice-sheet-on-brink-of-major-tipping-point-says-study</a><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">3. A study published in Nature finds that the Antarctic is likely to reach its tipping p9oint within a few decades.
<a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-05-antarctica-climate-catastrophic-carbon-emissions.html">
https://phys.org/news/2021-05-antarctica-climate-catastrophic-carbon-emissions.html</a><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">4. Fossil gas is beginning to feel the heat as it is overtaken by solar and wind power. Vistra owns 36 fossil gas plants and does not plan to acquire any more. Its CEO said
<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“I’m hellbent on not becoming the next Blockbuster Video. ”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span></span><a href="https://climatecrocks.com/2021/05/17/the-next-blockbuster-video-fossil-gas-soon-to-follow-coals-decline/"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">https://climatecrocks.com/2021/05/17/the-next-blockbuster-video-fossil-gas-soon-to-follow-coals-decline/</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">5. The German government has set newer, more ambitious emissions goals after a high court ruling found that the current law was “insufficient” in response to a suit brought by young activists. The new targets on a 1990 base are
60% cut by 2030, 88% by 2040, and carbon neutrality by 2045. </span><a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-05-germany-ambitious-climate-goals-landmark.html"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">https://phys.org/news/2021-05-germany-ambitious-climate-goals-landmark.html</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">6. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>NASA is promoting the development of commercial electric air travel in the US within the next 15 years.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/18/electric-planes-nasa-carbon-emissions">
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/18/electric-planes-nasa-carbon-emissions</a><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri, sans-serif">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt">7. The International Energy Agency advises that development of new oil and gas fields and the construction of new coal plants must stop this year if we are to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The key pillars of decarbonization
are energy efficiency, behavioral <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>changes, electrification, renewables, hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels, bioenergy, and carbon capture and storage. The IEA roadmap also features doubling the output of nuclear power
by 2050. A low nuclear and low CCS pathway uses more renewables but is more costly and more risky. Internal combustion vehicles would be phased out in large cities by 2030. Renewables need to overtake coal “within five years.”
<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/iea-renewables-should-overtake-coal-within-five-years-to-secure-1-5c-goal?utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20carbonbrief%20%28The%20Carbon%20Brief%29&utm_content=20210518&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner">https://www.carbonbrief.org/iea-renewables-should-overtake-coal-within-five-years-to-secure-1-5c-goal?utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20carbonbrief%20%28The%20Carbon%20Brief%29&utm_content=20210518&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner</a><span style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<br>
</div>
</body>
</html>