XPost: alt.global-warming   
      
   Volvo Cars bets on electric vehicles   
   BBC News via Carbon Brief   
   The Swedish car firm Volvo has announced it is only going to sell   
   electric cars by 2030, BBC News reports, phasing out all car models   
   with internal combustion engines by then, including hybrids. Volvo   
   previously announced that by 2025, half of its sales would be fully   
   electric, with the rest being hybrids, the outlet explains, adding:   
   "Volvo will not be investing in cars with hydrogen fuel cells, as it   
   does not think there will be enough demand from customers. There is   
   also a question mark over hydrogen's availability in comparison with   
   charging points for electric cars, a spokesman said." Volvo - which   
   will also shift all sales online as it cuts out dealerships in   
   negotiating prices - is "the first major carmaker to commit to a   
   global end to any sales featuring internal combustion engines so   
   soon", says the Financial Times. The Guardian reports the comments of   
   chief technology officer Henrik Green, who says: "There is no   
   long-term future for cars with an internal combustion engine#We are   
   firmly committed to becoming an electric-only carmaker and the   
   transition should happen by 2030. It will allow us to meet the   
   expectations of our customers and be a part of the solution when it   
   comes to fighting climate change." Autocar also has the story.   
      
   In other car news, the Daily Telegraph reports that Vauxhall could   
   receive money from a £500m state fund for electric vehicles to secure   
   the future of its Ellesmere Port plant. The Times reports on new   
   research that shows emissions at busy junctions could be halved if   
   cars are turned off at traffic lights. The Times also reports on   
   research by the consumer group Which? suggesting that plug-in hybrid   
   cars can use 4 times more fuel than makers claim. In "real-word   
   conditions", the paper explains, "cars burnt 2.5 times more petrol or   
   diesel than suggested in official miles per gallon (mpg) figures,   
   rising to almost 4 times as much for the worst-performing vehicle."   
   An accompanying Times editorial says "this is not a repeat of the 2015   
   emissions scandal," but that the problem "lies in the standardised   
   laboratory tests to which the whole sector is subject". According to   
   the editorial, anyone wanting for a "green alternative" to fossil-fuel   
   driven cars would "do better to switch straight to an electric car",   
   noting that the latest Tesla can go 300 miles on a single charge and   
   that the cost of fully electric cars are "falling rapidly". However,   
   it notes that more than one third of British houses "do not have   
   access to off-street parking or a garage" and concludes that the   
   required rollout of new national charging infrastructure "will only   
   happen if the govt firmly plants itself in the driving seat".   
      
   In the US, Reuters says that "to go electric, America needs more   
   mines", but warns that Biden administration "will be forced into hard   
   choices that anger one constituency or another". The newswire adds:   
   "Two sources familiar with White House deliberations on domestic   
   mining told Reuters that Biden plans to allow mines that produce EV   
   metals to be developed under existing environmental standards, rather   
   than face a tightened process that would apply to mining for other   
   materials, such as coal." In an editorial, the Los Angeles Times looks   
   at the number of motor vehicles purchased last year that were electric   
   and warns that it "paint[s] a daunting picture". The newspaper says   
   that political will and an increase in spending on "developing and   
   producing clean energy sources, battery technologies and charging   
   capabilities" are needed to expand the number of non-fossil-fuel   
   driven vehicles on the road. However, it adds that "a significant   
   overhaul of electric grids" and innovations to speed up battery   
   charging are also needed, noting that this will have the largest   
   impacts in the US - particularly in "car-heavy California". It is "a   
   sign of hope" that the world is moving to zero-emission vehicles, the   
   piece continues, as some nations, cities and regional govts have   
   pledged to end the sale of gas powered vehicles by 2040. However, it   
   concludes that "much more needs to be done", starting with "policies   
   and programs for getting rid of the gas burners already on the road".   
      
   --   
   GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE: Vital Signs of the Planet   
   NASA, March 2021   
   Carbon Dioxide Concentration   
   Jan 2021 numbers are in: Earth's global average concentration of   
   atmospheric carbon dioxide was about 415 parts per mn, a 32% rise   
   since direct measurements began in 1958 and a 48% rise since   
   pre-industrial levels (1850).   
   Sea Level   
   Global average sea level continues to rise at a rate of 3.3 mm (0.13   
   inches) per year, which is like adding 2.5 times the water in Lake   
   Erie to the ocean every year, or about 25 times that amount per decade.   
   Ice Sheets   
   Greenland and Antarctica have been losing ice mass at a combined   
   average rate of 428 bn metric tons (BMT) per year since 2002.   
   (One BMT is about the weight of 14.7 bn people, or about twice   
   that of everyone alive today.)   
      
   In a Momentous Discovery, Scientists Show Neanderthals Could Produce   
   Human-Like Speech   
   ScienceAlert, 01 Mar 2021 16:13Z   
   Our Neanderthal cousins had the capacity to both hear and produce the speech   
   sounds of modern humans, a new study has found.   
      
   TX Public Utility Commission chair DeAnn Walker resigns   
   The TX Tribune, 01 Mar 2021 22:09Z   
   On Mon, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for PUC Chair DeAnn Walker and   
   Electric Reliability Council of TX CEO Bill Magness to resign.   
      
     TX power crisis deepens as electric companies skip nearly $2.5 bn in   
     charges from Feb blackout   
     CNBC, 02 Mar 2021 0:12Z   
     TX energy companies failed to pay another $345 mn for electricity   
     and other services incurred last month, the operator of the state's grid   
   said.   
      
   Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders propose 3% wealth tax on bnaires   
   CNBC, 02 Mar 2021 01:08Z   
   Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders and other Democrats on Mon   
   proposed a 2% annual tax on wealth over $50 mn, rising to 3% for wealth   
   over ...   
      
   Half a tr corals: World-first coral count prompts ...   
   phys.org, 01 Mar 2021 17:55Z   
   "In the Pacific, we estimate there are roughly half a tr corals," said   
   the study lead author, Dr. Andy Dietzel from the ARC Centre of Excellence   
   for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook ...   
      
   [Not The Bananas!]   
   Banana crops 'devastated' as Tropical Cyclone Niran brings powerful winds,   
   heavy rainfall to north Queensland   
   ABC News, 1 Mar 2021 at 7:58pm   
   A low off the north Queensland coast intensifies into Tropical Cyclone Niran,   
   bringing powerful winds, heavy rainfall and potential flooding to coastal   
   communities.   
      
   [Superbug!]   
   Poo-loving superbug grown to treat sewage water in Australian first   
   ABC News, 1 Mar 2021 at 8:06pm   
   They're the poo-loving superbugs that are greening Queensland's sewage   
   systems with their big appetite. Now a Brisbane wastewater plant has farmed   
   enough Anammox bugs to fill 10 swimming pools.   
      
   Honey yields down 40 per cent for beekeepers in disappointing summer season   
   ABC/SA Country Hour, 1 Mar 2021 at 9:23pm   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)