The UK generated no electricity from coal on Tuesday morning for what is believed to be the first time since the 19th century, in a major milestone in the decline of the polluting power source. Gosden, the Telegraph’s energy editor, adds: “National Grid confirmed that none of Britain’s coal stations were running between midnight and 4am. Experts from Argus Media and Carbon Brief said they believed this was the first time there had been no coal running since the era of central electricity generation began with the construction of the UK’s first coal plant in 1882. Coal was Britain’s biggest power source as recently as 2013 but is becoming increasingly unprofitable due to the carbon tax and low gas prices that favour burning gas, and the expansion of subsidised renewable sources like wind power.” Simon Evans, Carbon Brief’s policy editor, also spotted yesterday – and tweeted a chart – that, for the first time ever, solar had just generated more electricity than coal in the UK over the period of an entire week. Separately, Gosden reports in the Telegraph that a “series of power plant breakdowns and the partial failure of a key electricity import cable forced National Grid to issue an urgent call for more power to keep the lights on on Monday night”. She adds: “The combination of a large number of power plants being shut down for maintenance, the series of unplanned shutdowns and wind power being lower than expected together forced Grid to take the unusual step. Experts said the multiple breakdowns – believed to be primarily old coal and gas plants – showed the urgent need for more investment in reliable new power plants.”

Scientists have been warning for decades that climate change is a threat to the immense tracts of forest that ring the Northern Hemisphere, with rising temperatures, drying trees and earlier melting of snow contributing to a growing number of wildfires, reports the New York Times in a news feature. “The near-destruction of a Canadian city last week by a fire that sent almost 90,000 people fleeing for their lives is grim proof that the threat to these vast stands of spruce and other resinous trees, collectively known as the boreal forest, is real. And scientists say a large-scale loss of the forest could have profound consequences for efforts to limit the damage from climate change…Global warming is suspected as a prime culprit in the rise of these fires. The warming is hitting northern regions especially hard: Temperatures are climbing faster there than for the Earth as a whole, snow cover is melting prematurely, and forests are drying out earlier than in the past. The excess heat may even be causing an increase in lightning, which often sets off the most devastating wildfires.” Meanwhile, Associated Press carries the headline: “It’s not just Alberta: Warming-fuelled fires are increasing.”

There is continuing analysis of what made Ed Hawkins’ “temperature spiral” animated gif go viral online. At the IDDRI conference in Paris, Climate Home asks the new head of the IPCC Hoesung Lee what he made of it: “Communication consultants are coming on board, says Lee, as the IPCC seeks to spread its message beyond the science community and small band of journalists covering the environment. He seems interested in Hawkins’ work, but appears unmoved as I describe the flickering temperature records on the GIF as they near 1.5C.” (Carbon Brief reported on the IPCC’s new communications plans last month.) Meanwhile, BusinessGreen says it’s the “spiralling climate crisis GIF every business leader should see”. The tweet of the gif sent out by Simon Evans, Carbon Brief’s policy editor, has now been retweeted about 3,000 times, indicating just how popular the spiral has been over the past couple of days. The Washington Post describes it as “the most compelling global warming visualisation ever made”. Gizmodo adds that it is “one of the most convincing climate change visualisations we’ve ever seen”.

The European renewable heating and cooling sector (RHC) risks not meeting its 2020 targets. That’s according to Nigel Cotton, Advisory Council Chairman at the European Solar Thermal Industry Federation (ESTIF), who said although EU countries have achieved their interim goals, they are further away from meeting 21% of heat demand in the next four years. Speaking at the Renewable Energy Association’s ‘EU-UK Energy Union’ conference in London, he added: “RHC is essential for the long term decarbonisation of the EU energy sector…More support policies are needed in order to meet the 2020 targets for RHC.”

France is examining how it could legally ban the import of shale natural gas from the United States. Ségolène Royal, France’s minister of energy, told lawmakers in the National Assembly yesterday that because France has banned hydraulic fracturing within its own borders, it should also prohibit fracked gas imports, according to AFP. The issue has arisen because two companies, Électricité de France and Engie, have signed contracts to buy liquefied natural gas from the United States, where most of it comes from fracked wells. France’s government has been under pressure from environmentalists to stop fracked gas from coming to the country.

A global market-based measure to curb aviation emissions would cost the airline industry up to $6.2bn in the year 2025, but carriers could face higher charges if governments fail to reach a deal by October, the International Air Transport Association said. Government representatives are gathering this week at the United Nations’s civil aviation agency to negotiate a draft deal on carbon-neutral growth from 2020 which is to be voted on at an autumn assembly. By 2035, the deal would cost airlines up to an estimated $24bn, as air traffic grows, according to figures from the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO. The cost projections are for sample years after the deal would become active in 2021.

The US space agency NASA has appealed to CSIRO to abandon plans to cut a key monitoring program that it says will undermine Australia and the world’s ability to monitor and predict climate change. Brent Holben, the project scientist in charge of NASA’s Aerosol Robotic Network, urged CSIRO to reconsider any plans it had to cut or withdraw its contribution to the program, according to a letter obtained by Fairfax Media. Fairfax Media understands that NASA’s complaint has been echoed by the European Space Agency, and individual national research organisations from Japan, Italy and Germany. Some agencies have been warning their own staff for months to take into account the possible impacts of CSIRO’s cuts. Meanwhile, the Guardian in Australian carries the headline: “CSIRO climate scientists earmarked for redundancy to finally learn their fate.”

Alex Chisholm, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has been confirmed as the new Permanent Secretary at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The UK government has announced that Chisholm will take up his new post on 4 July, taking over from Stephen Lovegrove who is to move to become permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence. BusinessGreen adds: “Chisholm will face a daunting in-tray, including the government’s imminent decision on the Fifth Carbon Budget, the delivery of its new Energy Bill, publication later this year of its promised new decarbonisation and coal phase out strategy, on-going reforms to the Capacity Market, Renewable Heat Incentive, and Energy Company Obligation energy efficiency scheme, and the potential impact of Brexit on the energy market.” The Financial Times, Energy Live News, reNews and the Times also carry the story.

Mathiesen looks over the media coverage of a widely reported recent study and concludes that there has been a “major misunderstanding” about its findings. He says: “The report, published on Friday, tracked the shapeshifting of 33 reef islands in the Solomon Islands between 1947 and 2014. It found that five had been washed away completely and six more had been severely eroded. The study blamed the loss on a combination of sea-level rise and high wave energy. Many media outlets, including the Guardian, jumped to the conclusion that the islands were lost to climate change. But this largely misinterprets the science, according to the study’s author, Dr Simon Albert. ‘All these headlines are certainly pushing things a bit towards the ‘climate change has made islands vanish’ angle. I would prefer slightly more moderate titles that focus on sea-level rise being the driver rather than simply ‘climate change’,’ Albert told the Guardian.” Mathiesen adds: “It appears that in some cases journalists did not contact the researchers and instead quoted from a comment piece the authors wrote on The Conversation website. ‘This is the first scientific evidence,’ said the authors, ‘that confirms the numerous anecdotal accounts from across the Pacific of the dramatic impacts of climate change on coastlines and people.’ This was used to justify erroneous headlines. Albert told the Guardian: ‘I understand why these more dramatic titles are used and it does help bring attention to the issue that I firmly believe will become a major issue for the islands in the second half if this century from climate change.’ Clayton Aldern in Grist agrees: “The flub demonstrates the importance of accurate environmental reporting. When journalists get it wrong, it’s only more fuel for science deniers’ favourite accusation that climate-change rhetoric is alarmist.”

The former prime minister has written an opinion piece for the Mirror setting out why he thinks the UK should vote on 23 June to remain in the EU. His arguments for staying includes: “We must be at the forefront of the fight against climate change through a policy that co-ordinates our use of energy and, by making them part of a common European pool, does not waste our abundant supplies of wind, wave and hydro-power.”

Parents are more likely to be concerned about climate change than people without children, a new study suggests. A survey of around 1,400 people in Sweden finds that parenthood and concern of climate risks are correlated, though only when respondents are asked about the emotional aspects of climate change. Parenthood proves to be a significant factor in the responses to all three questions in the survey that referred to feelings about climate change, the paper says.