This ongoing heat wave supports the case made by Cornell scientists and others who argue that methane emissions from the US fracking boom
are a key factor in the unexpected rate of heating since 2014. That fracking boom is being driven by Duke Energy and other utilities burning more and
more shale gas.
Global Temperature Records
2016 was the third year in a row to set the average global temperature record. Of the 17 hottest years, 16 have occurred since 2000. The five hottest years have all occurred since 2010. Read the complete global temperature analysis for 2016 by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
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Please Tell the People: Global Heat Wave Continues in 2017; Methane from Fracking is Major Cause – Note to News Editors from NC WARN
The nation’s largest carbon-polluting utility is trying to build up to 20 fracked gas-fired power plants in the Carolinas alone, plus the $5.6 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline to supply those plants with fracked gas. Thus Duke Energy is responsible for much of the methane emissions that are now driving the climate crisis.
New Initiative Targets 2020 in Race to Tackle Dangerous Climate Change — United Nations Climate Change
London, April 10, 2017: A group of leading climate and business experts today identified the year 2020 as a game changing opportunity to turn the tide on the devastating impacts of carbon emissions. Convened by Christiana Figueres – former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – the group met today in London to encourage urgent action in the next three years.
Calendar says winter, climate says spring — Associated Press
Earth sets heat record for third straight year — The Boston Globe
Folks, it is time to be alarmed about climate change — The News & Observer
Three-year Heat Wave Continues Unabated — Note to Journalists from NC WARN
Hottest Year: Duke Energy’s Role — Commentary by NC WARN
Cornell experts and others say that reducing methane leakage and venting throughout the US natural gas industry is the quickest – and only – way to slow global warming in time. As Dr. Robert Howarth emphasizes, “The climate responds very quickly to methane”, a super-potent heat-trapping gas. So curbing methane is all-important.