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Not Doomed Yet: For Several Hours, the U.K. Glimpses a Coal-Free World

This is ‘Not Doomed Yet,’

Occasionally, the climate-friendlier future seems to peek in to our world. This week, it happened in the United Kingdom, whose coal-fired power plants generated no electricity for several multi-hour spans. As far as anyone can tell, it was the first time this happened since 1882, the year that the country constructed its first coal plant.
There were a complex set of causes. The U.K. just uses less power during the summer, so many coal plants go offline for maintenance. May, June, and July are also the best months for solar power in the northern latitudes, as electricity generation can start before people wake up and continue well through the evening. So this is a natural month for the milestone—yet it is a milestone nonetheless.
In the American context, you can check something like this on the website of California’s grid operator, which posts solar and wind output graphs every day. On Monday, renewable energy generated 30 percent of the state’s power.
It’s been a busy month for climate news, so let’s dive in.
The atmosphere is filling with greenhouse gases. For the week beginning May 8, 2016, the Mauna Loa Observatory measured atmospheric carbon levels at 407.84 parts per million. Atmospheric CO₂ levels will soon peak for the year, as leafed-out vegetation in the Northern Hemisphere begins absorbing carbon.
Carbon-dioxide levels were measured at 403.83 ppm during the same week last year. Ten years ago, they were measured at 385.12 ppm.
Source: The Atlantic