Qualcomm stormed the beaches of Maui this week to host Qualcomm Tech Summit, an annual boondoggle for media and analysts from everywhere, with a single objective: to debunk “5G misconceptions” allegedly entrenched in the market and trumpeted by the press.
These misconceptions, according to Qualcomm, range from “mmWave is not really happening yet” and “5G rollout will take a long time,” to “where are all the 5G apps?” The communication chip giant insisted that all this can be easily debunked.
Climate models dating back decades were “quite accurate” in predicting warming through present day, new research shows.
A study published Wednesday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters does a comprehensive review of 17 climate models created between 1970 and 2007, comparing how the models predicted global mean surface temperature for 2017.
“The big takeaway is that climate models have been around a long time, and in terms of getting the basic temperature of the Earth right, they’ve been doing that for a long time,” lead author Zeke Hausfather told The Washington Post.
Source: 1970s Climate Models Were Right About the Current Rise in Temperatures – EcoWatch
France’s largest nationwide strike in years has severely disrupted schools and transport.
Workers are angry about planned pension reforms that would see them retiring later or facing reduced payouts.
School and transport workers have been joined by police, lawyers and hospital and airport staff for a general walkout.
President Emmanuel Macron wants to introduce a universal points-based pension system.
That would replace France’s current system, which has 42 different pension schemes across its private and public sectors, with variations in retirement age and benefits.
Source: Macron pension reform: France paralyzed by biggest strike in years – BBC News
Current Earth observation technologies are not accurate enough when it comes to monitoring carbon dioxide emissions, according to delegates at the EU’s space week in Helsinki. A new system set to launch in 2025 should change all that.
The EU’s Copernicus satellite system will get an upgrade in just over five years time, with a new model, Sentinel-7, dedicated to monitoring anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Three satellites are expected to orbit the earth 14 times a day.
Each satellite will be capable of viewing 250km of the earth’s surface during a pass, marking a significant improvement on the current crop of orbiters, the most advanced of which can only see 15km. The European Space Agency has already been in contact with potential manufacturers.
Source: CO2-tracking satellites crucial for climate efforts, say space experts – EURACTIV.com
Heating’s huge impact on the EU’s air quality and greenhouse gas emissions needs new focus and attention, according to policymakers and activists gathered in Bratislava on Thursday (28 November).
EU households use up to 80% of their energy on heating and hot water, according to the European Commission. Buildings also absorb around 40% of the bloc’s overall power output.
In addition to the regular costs associated with generating and distributing that much power, heating also has a more insidious impact: 50% of particulate matter pollution is generated by keeping our homes warm.
Source: ‘Heat our homes, not the planet’: EU clean air forum takes heating to task – EURACTIV.com
Consumers appreciate recyclates in packaging as long as it doesn’t affect the quality, functionality and price of the product. But how do companies remain competitive in view of added costs for high-quality recycling and the low price of virgin plastics? Michael Laermann tries to find the answer.
More and more packaging is made from post-consumer recycled waste. We are already used to bottles made of discarded plastic and packaging made of recycled paper or pulp. More recently, there has been news about food-grade packaging manufactured from such renowned brands as Magnum ice cream, Knorr powdered stock and Zott Italian mozzarella.
For packaged goods companies, the motivation to use secondary packaging material is driven by a shift in consumer awareness and a rapidly changing regulatory environment.
Source: EU Waste Regulation – Blazing a trail for circular consumer packaging? – EURACTIV.com
Global talks tasked with neutralizing the threat of global warming get underway in Madrid Monday (2 December), but their narrow focus on rules and procedures remains out of sync with the world’s climate-addled future.
Mindful of this gap, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned on Sunday that a “point-of-no-return” in the climate crisis is “in sight and hurtling towards us.”
Indeed, three decades after NASA scientist James Hansen made headlines by telling the US Congress global warming had begun, evidence of its dire impacts is so overwhelming that “climate denier” is synonymous with insisting the Earth is flat.
Source: Zero-hour on climate, but UN talks in another time zone – EURACTIV.com
EU cohesion funding for environmental measures has not been spent as planned and EU member states are reluctant to apply the “no environmental harm” principle. EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
“If you think the economy is more important than environment, try holding your breath while counting your money,” said American scientist Guy McPherson.
Indeed, in the eyes of Marc Lemaître, current cohesion policy “is not particularly impressive”, one of the reasons for that being that “member states are pushing back.”
Source: Cash for clean air: Between unbankable projects and unpopular measures – EURACTIV.com
The scale of the energy transition required in Europe and the wider world is huge, as is the financial bill attached to the shift.
Companies are already starting to align their business models around green policies but is there appetite for change?
Source: Sustainable finance: Going green’s crucial ingredient – EURACTIV.com
European policies on tackling agricultural emissions are insufficient, according to auditors. Although solutions do exist, the cost and time factors often mean farmers are not capable of implementing them.
Agriculture is responsible for 95% of ammonia emissions, which contribute to the formation of harmful secondary particulate matter. Three-quarters of it comes from manure and 20% from inorganic fertilizer.
Ways to cut ammonia emissions include improved livestock feeding strategies, more effective ways of using fertilizers and closed manure storage.
However, farmers claim they have neither money nor time for these solutions.
Source: Agricultural emissions: Not enough cash for solutions – EURACTIV.com