Daily Briefing | Climate change risk to one in six species

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Climate change risk to 'one in six species'
One in six species on the planet could face extinction if nothing is done to tackle climate change, analysis suggests. If carbon emissions continue on their current path, 16% of animals and plants will be lost, according to a review of evidence. These species "will be on the train towards extinction, but we don't know when it will arrive," says the study's author in The Independent, who ran the story on their front page. While The Guardian reports that creatures in Australia, New Zealand and South America will be hit much harder than North American and Europe, due to a high number of species not found anywhere else. "We urgently need to adopt strategies that limit further climate change if we are to avoid an acceleration of global extinction," the author tells The Telegraph. The Mirror, The Washington Post, RTCC, The New York Times, Reuters, Climate Central, The Conversation, and Time all have similar coverage. The Guardian also brings you animal and plants species most at risk in pictures, and you can read Carbon Brief's take on the research here. BBC News

Climate and energy news

Church of England to sell fossil fuel investments
The Church of England is adopting a new climate change policy and will sell off investments worth £12m in firms where more than 10% of revenue comes from thermal coal or tar sands. The Church said it had a "moral responsibility" to act on environmental issues to protect the poor, who were the most vulnerable to climate change. The Financial Times describes the move as a "a striking victory for campaigners seeking to make fossil fuels as unpopular as tobacco". The church will remain an investor in BP and Shell to try to influence them to reduce emissions, reports The Times. Of its £9 billion investment fund, the church has about £101m invested in Shell and £91.9m in BP, says The Guardian. Reuters andRTCC also have the story.    BBC News

England faces major rise in record hot years due to climate change - scientists
Record-breaking hot years in England have become at least 13 times more likely because of manmade climate change, scientists have discovered. The new study suggests England faces a "significant and substantial increase" of years similar to 2014, which was the warmest in England since records began more than three and a half centuries ago. The researchers say they have "90 per cent confidence" of humans' influence on annual temperatures, reports The Times. The BBC and The Independent also have the story.    The Guardian

Europe calls for tougher limits on super greenhouse gases
The European Commission has called for a tougher limits to emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that have a powerful greenhouse effect. The European Union has already introduced its own law to curb HFCs, used in fridges and air conditioners, but is asking industrialised nations to commit to an ambitious reduction schedule beginning in 2019 and ending in 2034. Earlier this week, Carbon Brief reported on rising HFC emissions.    Reuters

US and Japan miss deadline on cash for UN green climate fund | Reuters
The United States and Japan have missed a UN deadline to firm up promises to provide billions of dollars for a new UN fund intended to help developing nations tackle global warming. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) says donors had signed deals of almost $4 billion, 42 percent of a total promised in late 2014, but this falls short of the 50% needed for the GCF to start operating. In an interview, also inReuters, the GCF's executive director, Héla Cheikhrouho, said she did not know how much cash the fund would have in its coffers by the time of the UN climate negotiations in Paris. Business Green also cover the story. Reuters

Cheaper oil hits Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil profits
Lower oil prices have hit quarterly profits at both Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil, though results were not as bad as expected, says the BBC. Underlying first-quarter profits at Shell fell 56% from a year earlier to $3.2bn (£2.1bn), but analysts had expected profits of about $2.5bn. Exxon Mobil reported a first-quarter profit of $4.9bn, down from $9.1bn last year, but this also beat forecasts. Shell has warned that further jobs and investment are at risk in the North Sea and has cut annual global spending by a further $2bn, reports The Guardian. While The Financial Times says the low oil price has driven American shale oil and gas operations into losses.    BBC News

Eco-battery to slash home energy bills
A household battery pack that could slash electricity bills is expected to be launched today by Tesla Motors, the American car manufacturer. The battery pack can store energy from solar panels and other renewable sources and extract electricity from the grid overnight to be used in peak daytime hours. Tesla has been testing its batteries in secret in homes around California, says The Times. The Times

Extinction 'hotspots' map shows Earth's oceans where marine life is most at risk
Marine animals near North America, Antarctica and New Zealand are most at risk of extinction, according to a new study. Researchers looked at fossils to examine which marine life was under the greatest threat, based on previous rates of extinction. By combining this 'natural' extinction risk with threats from humans and climate change, they created a global map of future hotspots of extinction. The study also find that whales and dolphins are at greatest risk of extinction, reports The Times. Mail Online

Japan outlines 2030 carbon target ahead of Paris climate summit
Japan is proposing to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 26% by 2030 as its contribution to a global summit on climate change in Paris later in the year. Media reports earlier this month said the country was looking at a 25% percent cut from 2013 levels, up from an earlier target of about 20%. Japan is the world's fifth biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.    Reuters via The Guardian

Vote who, go green? Parties diverge on how to save the planet
Damian Carrington takes a look at the green credentials of the main parties ahead of the election. The environment has been neglected since Cameron's 'vote blue, go green' slogan, he says, but energy problems will be back in the spotlight in the next five years.    The Guardian

Climate and energy comment

Pope Francis has given the climate movement just what it needed - faith
After the Vatican's statement on the 'scientific reality' of climate change this week, Chris Mooney in the Washington Post says there seems to be a growing realisation in green circles about the importance of an alliance with the world of faith. Making climate change a moral issue, rather than just a scientific, rational one, is politically powerful, he says. There seems to be a deep connection between caring about other humans and then extending that to nature, he says. Chris Mooney, The Washington Post

New climate science

An increase in the rate of global mean sea level rise since 2010
A new study using a combination of satellite data and observations from the ARGO network of floating buoys finds that globally, sea level has been rising at an accelerated rate of 4.4 ± 0.5 mm/yr for more than three years. This is after accounting for land water storage and ENSO-related fluctuations. The 2010/12 La Niña temporarily masked the real rise in sea level, the paper explains.   Geophysical Research Letters

Spread of Model Climate Sensitivity Linked to Double-Intertropical Convergence Zone Bias
Two problems that plague climate models may be linked, according to a new study. Models that exhibit a strong double-intertropical convergence zone give low values for climate sensitivity, around 2.2C. Based on models that best represent what the ICTZ does in the real world, climate sensitivity might be in the higher end of its range (~4.0°C) and most models might have underestimated it, say the authors.    Geophysical Research Letters

Attribution of the record high Central England temperature of 2014 to anthropogenic influences
A new attribution study finds greenhouse gases from human activity have increased the odds of record warm years in Central England by at least 13-times, and possibly as much as 22 times. In 2014, the region experienced its warmest year since the long running record began in 1659.   Environmental Research Letters