One of North America’s largest areas of interconnected glaciers is melting twice as quickly as it did before 2010, a team of scientists said Tuesday, in what they called an “incredibly worrying” sign that land ice in many places could disappear even sooner than previously thought.

The Juneau Ice Field, which sprawls across the Coast Mountains of Alaska and British Columbia, lost 1.4 cubic miles of ice a year between 2010 and 2020, the researchers estimated. That’s a sharp acceleration from the decades before, and even sharper when compared with the mid-20th century or earlier, the scientists said. All told, the ice field has shed a quarter of its volume since the late 18th century, which was part of a period of glacial expansion known as the Little Ice Age.

As societies add more and more planet-warming carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, glaciers in many areas could cross tipping points beyond which their melting speeds up rapidly, said Bethan Davies, a glaciologist at Newcastle University in England who led the new research.

“If we reduce carbon, then we have more hope of retaining these wonderful ice masses,” Dr. Davies said. “The more carbon we put in, the more we risk irreversible, complete removal of them.”

Read it all.

Study Finds Alaskan Ice Field Melting at an ‘Incredibly Worrying’ Pace https://t.co/MjBzzo3n4G

— Sarah Pickman (is also on Bluesky) (@sarahmpicks) July 3, 2024

Scientists like [Magdalena] Osburn have shown that, contrary to long-held assumptions, Earth’s interior is not barren. In fact, a majority of the planet’s microbes, perhaps more than 90 percent, may live deep un­derground. These intraterrestrial microbes tend to be quite different from their counterparts on the surface. They are ancient and slow, re­producing infrequently and possibly living for millions of years. They often acquire energy in unusual ways, breathing rock instead of oxy­gen. And they seem capable of weathering geological cataclysms that would annihilate most creatures. Like the many tiny organisms in the ocean and atmosphere, the unique microbes within Earth’s crust do not simply inhabit their surroundings; they transform them. Subsurface microbes carve vast caverns, concentrate minerals and precious metals and regulate the global cycling of carbon and nutrients. Microbes may even have helped construct the continents, literally laying the ground­work for all other terrestrial life.

Like so much about Earth’s earliest history, exactly where and when life first emerged is not definitively known. At some point not long after our planet’s genesis, in some warm, wet pocket with the right chemistry and an adequate flow of free energy — a hot spring, an impact crater, a hydrothermal vent on the ocean floor — bits of Earth rearranged themselves into the first self-replicating entities, which eventually evolved into cells. Evidence from the fossil record and chemical analysis of the oldest rocks ever discovered indicate that microbial life existed at least 3.5 billion years ago and possibly as far back as 4.2 billion years ago.

Among all living creatures, the peculiar microbes that dwell deep within the planet’s crust today may most closely resemble some of the earliest single-celled organisms that ever existed. Collectively, these subsurface microbes make up an estimated 10 to 20 percent of the biomass — that is, all the living matter — on Earth. Yet until the mid-20th century, most scientists did not think subterranean life of any kind was plausible below a few meters.

Read it all.

We know SO little about our earth. Many wonderful quotable passages. An important article.

The Mysterious, Deep-Dwelling Microbes That Sculpt Our Planet https://t.co/vh4XXYNIgW

— sammyzorba 📚 (@sammyzorba) June 25, 2024

Oceans help cool down the world. Startups are betting they can tweak the chemistry of seas to make them do even more.

It is a radical idea that has yet to be proven on a commercial scale and causes some to worry about potential risks. But at least a dozen young companies are embarking on the world’s first major projects to get oceans to soak up more carbon dioxide, encouraged by billions of dollars in federal and corporate funding for efforts that remove the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.

A startup that uses an electrochemical method to remove carbon from seawater is building its first commercial-scale plants in Singapore and Quebec. Removing the carbon boosts the ocean’s ability to soak up more from the atmosphere. The U.S. government recently awarded it and a competitor with a similar approach some of the first federal funding for carbon removal. 

Another startup is set to pour about 9,000 tons of sand mixed with a yellow-green mineral called olivine near the waters off North Carolina’s Outer Banks. When the sand dissolves in water, it triggers a series of chemical reactions that drive carbon removal.

Read it all.

Oceans absorb about 30% of the carbon from the atmosphere. Startups are developing technologies to rev up that power. https://t.co/oM5JP6VR7H via @WSJ

— WSJ Science (@WSJscience) June 25, 2024

For the first time, researchers have detected a significant dip in atmospheric levels of hydrochlorofluorocarbons — harmful gases that deplete the ozone layer and warm the planet.

Almost 30 years after nations first agreed to phase out these chemicals, which were widely used for air conditioning and refrigeration, scientists say global concentrations peaked in 2021. Since then, the ozone-depleting potential of HCFCs in the atmosphere has fallen by about three-quarters of a percentage point, according to findings published Tuesday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Though small, that decline comes sooner than expected, scientists say — and it represents a significant milestone for the international effort to preserve the layer of Earth’s stratosphere that blocks dangerous ultraviolet sunlight.

The world agreed to ban this dangerous pollutant — and it’s working – The Washington Post https://t.co/Qfa9bSUAii

— Steve Berkowitz (@steveberkowitz) June 12, 2024

Coastal areas up and down the East Coast are sinking at the same time sea levels are rising. Parts of Beaufort, Colleton and Charleston counties sank more than 2 inches since 2007, and some areas on St. Helena Island sank more than 3 inches, The Post and Courier previously reported.

Sinking land — a problem also called subsidence and settlement — can make flooding worse, cause septic tanks to fail, damage underground infrastructure, and cause buildings and bridges to crack.

So can we slow it down? Here’s what we found out.

Parts of South Carolina are sinking, and quickly. Can we slow it down? https://t.co/xVQX3VRcFk

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) June 3, 2024

Prior to joining T. Rowe Price, Poppy Allonby spent more than twenty years at Blackrock, predominately in equity investment roles and latterly as Managing Director, Head of Global Product Group, EMEA & APAC. Between 2014 and 2022, she was on the Church Commissioners’ Board of Trustees and a member of its Assets Committee.

“I am delighted and honoured to join the Church Commissioners as its CIO, an organisation globally recognised as a leader in sustainable investment,” said Poppy Allonby. “My focus will be on delivering strong, consistent returns to meet the Commissioners’ core purpose, which is to support the mission and ministry of the Church of England – and to do so in an ethical, sustainable way.”

The Church Commissioners has provided the Church with over £3.5bn in funding since 2009, with £1.2bn to be distributed during the current 2023-2025 triennium – a 30% increase on the previous triennium, thanks in large part to the excellent investment returns generated by the Commissioners’ Investment team. The fund has delivered 14 years of positive returns, while building a reputation as a global leader in responsible investment.

Exciting news @ccsforengland! Poppy Allonby is their new #endowment CIO. Poppy brings +21 years of expertise to the #CIO role. @Matttoledo1 @ChiefInvOfficerhttps://t.co/XCcQDVITtG#alts #privatemarkets #energytransition #duediligence #compliance #ESG #Vidriofinancial

— Vidrio Financial (@VidrioFinancial) May 31, 2024

Raquel Campos’ water issues started in January, when her condo building’s manager sent residents a message saying that the city hadn’t delivered water to its cistern. Four days later, taps in the upscale residence went dry.

Campos has lived in the wealthy Polanco neighborhood for 18 years and said she has never experienced water issues like this. Her husband paid to shower at a nearby hotel and she called water delivery companies that were overwhelmed with a sudden deluge of requests from the neighborhood. The water in Campos’ building came back within a few days, but with much lower pressure. Water is now delivered about every two weeks. Each unit has paid to cover the cost, increasing their monthly condo expenses by 30 percent.

Water scarcity has long been an issue in Mexico City, with the brunt of the shortages happening in lower-income neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city center. But recently, residents in some of the city’s wealthier neighborhoods have also been running out of water as hot temperatures, low rainfall and poor infrastructure have converged to create a crisis across the sprawling metropolis.

We’ll always have water, just not enough of it.

Mexico City and millions of its residents could run out of water in weeks

– metropolitan area of 22 million gets @ 1/4 of water from system that’s running dry….
could be unable to provide water by 6/26https://t.co/PXeC4OT0kY

— Jan SMH Harper (@SmhJan) May 29, 2024

April was the Earth’s 11th consecutive month of record-breaking heat, with warmer weather already sweeping across Asia and a hotter-than-usual summer expected in Europe.

The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said last month’s temperatures globally were 1.58C (2.8F) above historical averages and marked the hottest April on record. The past 12 months have been 1.61C higher than pre-industrial temperatures, exceeding the 1.5C threshold that policymakers and scientists say could threaten life on the planet.

“Whilst temperature variations associated with natural cycles like El Niño come and go, the extra energy trapped into the ocean and the atmosphere by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases will keep pushing the global temperature towards new records,” Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo said in a statement.

Read it all (registration or subscription).

World Extends Run of Heat Records for 11th Straight Month https://t.co/058Y6sQ6Hd

— Shehzad Younis شہزاد یونس (@shehzadyounis) May 8, 2024

Oceans marked 365 straight days of record-breaking global sea surface temperatures this week, fuelling concerns among international scientists that climate change could push marine ecosystems beyond a tipping point.

The consistent climb in temperatures reached a peak on Wednesday when the new all-time high was set for the past 12 months, at 21.2C.

The world’s seas have yet to show any signs of dropping to typical, seasonal temperatures, with daily records consecutively broken since they first went off the charts in mid-March last year, according to data from the US National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration and the Climate Reanalyzer research collaboration.

Driven by human-caused climate change and amplified by the cyclical El Niño weather phenomenon that warms the Pacific Ocean, this exceptional heat has bleak implications.

Read it all.

„Climate graphic of the week: Oceans set heat records for more than 365 days in a row“ https://t.co/utI21M9PFM

— Özden Terli (@TerliWetter) March 18, 2024

The Church of England in Lancashire has achieved an important milestone in developing its environmental credentials.

The Diocese of Blackburn has been awarded the Bronze status of the national A Rocha Eco Church programme, which encourages churches, schools and dioceses throughout the UK to take practical action in ‘caring for God’s Creation’.

The collective award follows individual bronze awards for Blackburn Cathedral; the Diocesan Offices in Blackburn and the Centre for Christian Discipleship and Prayer at Whalley Abbey, along with 15 parishes in their own right across Lancashire. A further three churches in the Diocese have already achieved silver status; while another 36 have registered and are working towards their bronze status.

Read it all.

Congratulations to @cofelancs on their Bronze Eco Diocese! #Ecochurchhttps://t.co/pECAWKNI6y

— Church of England Environment Programme (@CofEEnvironment) March 11, 2024

A new study of sea-level rise using detailed data on changes to land elevation found that current scientific models may not accurately capture vulnerabilities in 32 coastal cities in the United States.

The analysis, published Wednesday in Nature, uses satellite imagery to detect sinking and rising land to help paint a more precise picture of exposure to flooding both today and in the future.

Nearly 40 percent of Americans live along the coasts, where subsidence, or sinking land, can add significantly to the threat of sea-level rise. While the Gulf Coast experiences many of the most severe cases of subsidence — parts of Galveston, Texas, and Grand Isle, La., are slumping into the ocean faster than global average sea levels are rising — the trend can be found all along the United States shoreline.

Read it all.

A new study of sinking and rising land along American coasts offers a more specific understanding of potential flooding in 32 cities. https://t.co/ZNU2vVYeDr

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 7, 2024

The world’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy rose yet again to a new high in 2023 despite fossil fuel use falling in the advanced economies of the EU and US, the latest International Energy Agency report shows.

Emissions reached a record 37.4bn tonnes as droughts and rising energy demand pushed up fossil fuel use, a rise of 1.1 per cent, or 410mn tonnes, compared to the year before.

This runs counter to the need for emissions to be cut by almost 45 per cent by 2030 to limit long-term global warming to no more than 1.5C since the pre-industrial era. Already the rise in temperatures is at least 1.1C, and last year was the hottest on record.

Higher emissions from India and China helped offset reductions in the EU and the US, as the developing economies remained heavily reliant on coal to meet energy demand even as they also develop cleaner energy. 

Read it all (subscription).

Emissions reach record high despite growth in clean energy, IEA says https://t.co/Z4yLX1GjCA

— Financial Times (@FT) March 1, 2024

It is notoriously tricky to synthesize data from all the world’s weather stations into one measure of global warming, but all of the major efforts to do so for 2023 are now in, and they are also all in distressing alignment: Last year was the warmest recorded in modern history, and it broke that record by an exceedingly large margin, one that conventional climate science has not yet managed to adequately explain.

The big data sets are now all in, and one of them, published by Berkeley Earth last week, contained what counts as an eye-popping assertion even against the backdrop of the record-setting year: The global average temperature was more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the preindustrial level. (Other models had it just below.)

When climate scientists and advocates talk about the risks of breaching 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming — as they have somewhat obsessively at least since it was established as the ambitious climate goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement and since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change described the consequences of exceeding it in its 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C — this isn’t exactly what they mean. That threshold describes a long-term average rather than a single-year anomaly. But because it describes a multidecade average, the measure will always be backward-looking, with the precise moment the world crossed the 1.5 mark clear only in retrospect. This year a handful of prominent scientists have suggested that when we do look back to mark that time, we may well circle 2023.

Read it all.

How hot was it last year?

Read: https://t.co/zfXKwLBnE2

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) January 18, 2024

In 2030, if current projections hold, the United States will drill for more oil and gas than at any point in its history. Russia and Saudi Arabia plan to do the same.

They’re among the world’s fossil fuel giants that, together, are on course this decade to produce twice the amount of fossil fuels than a critical global warming threshold allows, according to a United Nations-backed report issued on Wednesday.

The report, which looked at 20 major fossil fuel producing countries, underscores the wide gap between world leaders’ lofty promises to take stronger action on climate change and their nations’ actual production plans.

Read it all.

The world remains on track to produce far more oil, gas and coal than would be consistent with relatively safe levels of heating, a new report found. https://t.co/jmFx4hY1FN

— NYT Science (@NYTScience) November 8, 2023

The world will experience an “increasingly erratic” water cycle as climate change drives new patterns of both extreme flooding and drought across the globe, the World Meteorological Organization has forecast.

The agency said hydrological cycles were “spinning out of balance” and that more robust monitoring systems were needed, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as it released a report on global water patterns in 2022.

Droughts, extreme rainfall and melting snow and glaciers threatened long-term water security, the WMO said, underscoring the need for monitoring apparatus and better sharing of cross-border data on water patterns.

Read it all.

Global water cycles are ‘spinning out of balance’, weather agency reports https://t.co/y6TM67Tcnb

— Financial Times (@FT) October 12, 2023

Carbon emissions from the global electricity sector may peak this year, after plateauing in the first half of 2023, because of a surge in wind and solar power, according to a climate thinktank.

A new report on global electricity generation found that the growth of renewables was so rapid that it was close to the incredibly fast rate required if the world is to hit the tripling of capacity by the end of the decade that experts believe is necessary to stay on the 1.5C pathway.

It also noted that there had been only a slight increase in emissions in the first six months of the year, compared with the same period a year before.

The findings suggest the world may be close to reaching the peak of the global power sector’s carbon emissions, and they could soon even begin to fall in line with global climate targets.

Read it all.

Global carbon emissions from electric power may peak this year, report says https://t.co/AVuFVBYBDq

— Guardian news (@guardiannews) October 4, 2023

Investors overseeing $23.6 trillion of funds have kick-started a campaign to pressure 100 companies to ramp up the fight against biodiversity loss.

Axa Investment Managers, Robeco, the Church Commissioners for England, Storebrand Asset Management and 186 other participants in the Nature Action 100 initiative have written to companies demanding “urgent and necessary actions” to protect and restore ecosystems, according to a statement released Tuesday.

The targeted companies include BHP Group Plc, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Nestle SA, Bayer AG, Amazon.com Inc. and Unilever Plc. They were selected based on their market values and participation in industries ranging from mining, food and pharmaceuticals to chemicals and forestry that are considered vital to reversing biodiversity loss by 2030.

Read it all.

Investors overseeing $23.6 trillion of funds have kick-started a campaign to pressure 100 companies to ramp up the fight against biodiversity loss https://t.co/YBXl6RtBou

— Bloomberg (@business) September 26, 2023

It’s been about 250 million years since reptile-like animals evolved into mammals. Now a team of scientists is predicting that mammals may have only another 250 million years left.

The researchers built a virtual simulation of our future world, similar to the models that have projected human-caused global warming over the next century. Using data on the movement of the continents across the planet, as well as fluctuations in the chemical makeup of atmosphere, the new study projected much further into the future.

Alexander Farnsworth, a paleoclimate scientist at the University of Bristol who led the team, said that the planet might become too hot for any mammals — ourselves included — to survive on land. The researchers found that the climate will turn deadly thanks to three factors: a brighter sun, a change in the geography of the continents and increases in carbon dioxide.

“It’s a triple whammy that becomes unsurvivable,” Dr. Farnsworth said. He and his colleagues published their study on Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Read it all.

A new model suggests that in 250 million years, all land will collide into a supercontinent that boosts warming and pushes mammals to extinction. https://t.co/9TUqSKRVjR

— NYT Science (@NYTScience) September 26, 2023

Global warming has focused concern on land and sky as soaring temperatures intensify hurricanes, droughts and wildfires. But another climate crisis is unfolding, underfoot and out of view.

Many of the aquifers that supply 90 percent of the nation’s water systems, and which have transformed vast stretches of America into some of the world’s most bountiful farmland, are being severely depleted. These declines are threatening irreversible harm to the American economy and society as a whole.

The New York Times conducted a months-long examination of groundwater depletion, interviewing more than 100 experts, traveling the country and creating a comprehensive database using millions of readings from monitoring sites. The investigation reveals how America’s life-giving resource is being exhausted in much of the country, and in many cases it won’t come back. Huge industrial farms and sprawling cities are draining aquifers that could take centuries or millenniums to replenish themselves if they recover at all.

Read it all.

Readable, emblematic description of problems with water that occur, to different degrees, but with same causes, pretty much everywhere: bad policy, poor enforcement, lack of valuation, sectoral lobbying, poor monitoring, political v hydrological. https://t.co/1bJWE5lykh

— Scott McCready (@scottmccready) September 24, 2023

Most Churches in the Anglican Communion are tackling the realities of the climate crisis every day, a global audience has heard. But the overwhelming nature of the crisis, and the attendant denial and cynicism, have hugely undermined efforts to act for change, the chair of the Anglican Communion Environmental Network, the Rt Revd Julio Murray Thompson, has said.

Bishop Thompson, a former Primate of Central America, was addressing participants from around the world in webinars on the Lambeth Call on the Environment and Sustainable Development (News, 11 August): part of a structured series on how each of the calls — specific requests determined at last year’s Lambeth Conference — is progressing.

A key part of the [partial 2022] Lambeth [gathering] Declaration was the acknowledgement: “We contribute to the problem. We contribute to the solution. We are both local and global. We connect with one another, share our experiences, and can leverage our networks and Anglican identity to mobilise for action. We do not speak from just one position but from many. We do not only speak to others; we speak also to ourselves.”

Read it all.

Anglican environmental chair warns against climate denial https://t.co/4BnOXWDLg9

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 22, 2023

The Government’s decision to row back on its green commitments is shameful and short-sighted, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, has said.

In a speech on Wednesday afternoon, the Prime Minister announced plans to delay Net Zero targets, although he said that he still wished to meet the deadline of 2050. Measures an­­nounced included delaying by five years a ban on new petrol and diesel cars and delaying phasing out gas boilers.

If the country continued to im­­pose existing targets, he said, “we risk losing the consent of the British people and the resulting backlash will not just be against specific pol­icies, but against the wider mission itself.”

Bishop Usher, the C of E’s lead bishop for the environment, posted on social media on Wednesday morning, after news had leaked that Mr Sunak intended to water down the targets: “It will be another shame­­ful day if [the Government] rows back on its Net Zero policies. Shortsighted, it will erode credibility at home & abroad. This isn’t the time to seek political advantage with games. Leadership and action are needed, not delay and procrastina­­tion.”

Read it all.

“Whilst it is right that he has kept our international commitments, postponing changes leave necessary adaptations to the last minute, rather like last-minute exam cramming — a risky gamble" – @bishopnorwich https://t.co/JCbZB6N6AJ

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 21, 2023

As another legislative session draws to a close in Sacramento, the problem lawmakers failed to fix is one of the most urgent facing Californians: the slow-moving collapse of the property insurance market as costs from climate disasters mount.

It “is not even a yellow flag issue. This is a waving red flag issue,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday night when asked about the failure of the Legislature to act.

This year, multiple companies, including the state’s largest home insurer, State Farm, have announced they are no longer taking on new residential and commercial properties, citing wildfire risk. In fact, seven of the 12 insurance groups operating in California — together, responsible for about 85% of the market — have pulled back.

Read it all.

As the UK sweltered under a ferocious autumn sun this week, Christians took part in 13 climate pilgrimages around the UK, from Glasgow to Brighton, to highlight public concern regarding the climate crisis, and to call on the Government to end new oil and gas expansion.

The Met Office announced that the heatwave in England and Wales this week was the first time since records began that temperatures have been higher than 30ºC for six days in a row in September.

The Revd Vanessa Elston, a pioneer priest in Southwark diocese, took part in a pilgrimage in Battersea. She said: “The public are really concerned about the climate issue. We don’t want to be paying sky-high energy bills to fossil-fuel companies in a cost-of-living crisis. Renewables are cheaper; so it’s high time our leaders made them a viable option on a large scale.”

As temperatures rose, leaders of the G20 group of nations met in Delhi, where they called for peace in Ukraine, agreed that the world needed $4 trillion to fund the energy transition away from fossil fuels, and called for accelerating efforts towards a “phasedown of unabated coal power”; they said that poorer nations needed financial support to ensure a “just transition”.

Before the summit, church leaders representing more than 600 million Christians, had called on the G20 leaders to implement progressive carbon taxes and to end subsidies for fossil fuels, which could raise $3.2 trillion for the needed energy transition.

Read it all (registration or subscription).

Christians held a prayer vigil outside World Vision this week, calling on them to stop banking with @Barclays – the largest funder of fossil fuels in Europe.

My latest piece for the @ChurchTimes on growing pressure for charities to clean up their banking.https://t.co/EtrzeomRfm

— Joe Ware (@wareisjoe) September 14, 2023

The world is at “the beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era, according to the leading global energy watchdog, which for the first time has forecast that demand for oil, natural gas and coal will all peak before 2030.

The International Energy Agency projected that the consumption of the three major fossil fuels will start to decline this decade because of the rapid growth of renewable energy and the spread of electric vehicles.

“We are witnessing the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era and we have to prepare ourselves for the next era,” IEA head Fatih Birol said of the projections, due to be published next month in the body’s World Energy Outlook. “It shows that climate policies do work.”

Read it all (registration or subscription).

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates John Henry Hobart, Bishop of New York, 1830

Rector of Trinity Wall Street, 3rd Bishop of New York (1816-30) and founder of General Theological Seminary, he helped promote the extension of the Episcopal Church in Central & Western New York pic.twitter.com/wIkunzNNCd

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) September 12, 2023

The ability of the Church in Wales to bring people together in good conversation and partnership should never be underestimated, the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Andrew John, told the Church’s Governing Body on Tuesday.

In a presidential address that drew parallels with the story of Nehemiah, and focused on challenge and opportunity, he announced the Church’s hosting of a two-day all-Wales climate summit in the second part of next year. It will draw together academics, activists, pressure groups, and stakeholders to discuss the health of the country’s waterways, and the impact of industry, agriculture, and residential domestic use on its landscape.

Wales had the opportunity to redesign its approach to energy, water, land use, and the sustainability of food supply at every level, Archbishop John said. “We are not the experts, save we know what good signposting looks like, and what human flourishing involves. We have a role as people of neutrality that invites confidence.

“Our capacity and commitment to show what human society could look like is well understood and appreciated. We have seen that church must mean much more than gathering and breaking bread on Sunday; that our commitment to justice, to the creation, to the poor might take us into uncomfortable places. That is what the Kingdom of God invites and involves.”

Read it all (registration or subscription).

The ability of the Church in Wales to bring people together in good conversation and partnership should never be underestimated, the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Andrew John, told the Church’s Governing Body on Tuesday https://t.co/bJUxYcLzBw

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 6, 2023

It’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere, when ice typically forms around Antarctica. But this year, that growth has been stunted, hitting a record low by a wide margin.

The sharp drop in sea ice is alarming scientists and raising concerns about its vital role in regulating ocean and air temperatures, circulating ocean water and maintaining an ecosystem crucial for everything from microscopic plankton to the continent’s iconic penguins.

“This year is really different,” said Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and an Antarctica expert at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. “It’s a very sudden change.”

A continued decline in Antarctic sea ice would have global consequences by exposing more of the continent’s ice sheet to the open ocean, allowing it to melt and break off more easily, contributing to rising sea levels that affect coastal populations around the world.

Read it all.

A record low level of sea ice around Antarctica is alarming scientists and raising concerns about its role in ocean and air temperatures. https://t.co/BHajpX5ew7

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 3, 2023

Cardinal Czerny first looked at the new geological epoch of today, called the anthropocene, which has brought about “a staggering turning point in the history of our planet.” Human beings, Cardinal Czerny recalled, have significantly altered all planetary systems: the atmosphere, oceans, continents and ecosystems. What is unprecedented in our time is the combination of various crises, including the ecological crisis, cultural wars, the plight of hundreds of millions of poor people and refugees, and the digital age, with its opportunities and pitfalls.

The Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development went on to emphasise that in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’, he urges us to take into account all aspects of the global crisis linked to climate change and to reflect, in particular, on the cornerstones of an “integral ecology for a new humanity.”

Read it all.

Cardinal Michael Czerny speaks at the 4th International Congress on the Care of Creation held in Lisbon, Portugal, and underscores the urgent need for "transitioning from a fossil-fuel economy to a clean-energy economy."https://t.co/YNC3ebIMm4

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) July 31, 2023

After debate on Charleston City Council began to stir over the next steps for a proposed 8-mile sea wall around the peninsula, city officials presented a timeline for the project, as well as opportunities for negotiation.

Dale Morris, the city’s Chief Resiliency Officer, told members of a newly formed citizen commission July 27 that the city should be finalizing a design agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal partner on the project, in the next few months.

The agreement will dictate some broad priorities for the project, as well as the roles the two government agencies will play in the design process.

Read it all.

After debate on Charleston City Council began to stir over the next steps for a proposed 8-mile sea wall around the peninsula, city officials presented a timeline for the project as well as opportunities for negotiation. https://t.co/g8noOioxeI

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) July 27, 2023

The Gulf Stream is a mighty river in the ocean that powers past South Carolina with such force and momentum that it sucks water away from our coast, lowering our sea level by as much as 3 feet.

It’s also part of a much larger conveyor belt of warm and cool waters called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, a current system that moderates the Northern Hemisphere’s climate like a radiator in a car.

But because of a rapidly warming planet, the AMOC system could collapse between 2025 and 2095, researchers said in a new study published in the journal Nature Communications that’s raising alarms across the globe.

Read it all.

Gulf Stream and Atlantic ocean current system could collapse, causing seas to rise in SC https://t.co/8tFTs5toVv via @postandcourier

— Sandra Bundy (@SandraBundy) July 26, 2023

Water samples raised alarms about Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant and James Island Creek years ago and spurred action.

But more recent testing shows Filbin Creek, where people fish, boat and crab, is far more polluted.

In one June test covering fecal bacteria, Filbin Creek’s reading was more than 120 times the state water quality standard, and no tested creek in the Charleston area has so consistently had bacteria levels exceeding the state standards.

Read it all.

In one June test covering fecal bacteria, Filbin Creek's reading was more than 120 times the state water quality standard.https://t.co/33DoONI4PT

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) July 21, 2023