Global warming appears to have shifted into a faster gear. After removing the effects of El Niño, volcanic eruptions, and solar cycles, researchers found that the planet has warmed at roughly 0.35°C per decade over the past ten years, compared with just under 0.2°C per decade from 1970 to 2015. The acceleration, which becomes visible around 2013 to 2015, appeared across five major global temperature datasets with more than 98% statistical certainty.
And the reason the prices aren’t worse and the fuel hasn’t run dry is that China massively ramped up its use of coal.
They haven’t. Coal consumption has seen a marginal increase. But ask the Australians about the coal market right now. Chinese coal consumption fell far short of Australian coal mining expectations. That country is spiraling into recession as a result.
The bulk of new energy investment in China has been in solar. And they’ve been building out a grid to match